Epic's Monsooner

Epic's Monsooner

Skills:

Necro
Monsoon
Divine
Guardian Ward
Bonus Life/Life Regen/Abolish Magic
Demon Spawn

Skill Leveling Order:

Main level Monsoon, off level Guard Ward, level Demon Spawn @ 8, 16, 24, 32, 40. Throw 1 pt. into Divine Shield if needed in situations of escape, debuff, (Doom roots, Wrath of Hell, Cripple, etc.) Generally, your divine shield is to remove yourself from any situations, or possible interrupts during monsoon channelling. If you do not need in these situations, focus Guardian Ward, Monsoon, and Demon Spawn.

Build Mechanics:

The workability of this build is found upon three fronts. The first is the well spread out points through both magic damage, physical damage. Guardian ward coupled with demon will grant a large bonus to intels usual weaker auto attack. Monsoon, while expensive and a channel, deals a massive amount of magic damage. Furthermore, this magic damage is not absorbed by AMS. This is especially crucial because aside from spell reduction rush and kiting one cannot counter this. On that note, demon spawn allows for one to ensure your opponent completely sustains the entirety of monsoon and a large time of sustained damage from Guardian Wards Attack - if your macro does not fail. I will talk more about this in the how to play section below. But essentially, the early game weakness of monsoon due to kiting is negated by the 5+ second stuns brought by demon spawn. Lastly, this build doesn't have a usual arch of early game/mid game/late game. Most builds that focus on a specific arc are at their points stronger than this; however, as an all game build this powers through any point with relative easy; and when played well, you will not have to deal with catching up, nor winning before you drastically fall off. I have found that this works right through till deep end game unless playing a very deep end game designed strength build with a hard counter to this such as vortex. So essentially the mechanics revolve around buffing all potential aspects of a build, or in other words, covering all your bases - and strategically casting your spells that run off a tight synergy with each other. If one thing is countered, you can switch to another section and vice versa... For example, if you find yourself against avatar, you can switch over from monsoon and main level divine and ward - if you find yourself against a auto attack destroying build - you can switch to monsoon shield. If you find yourself not countered, you can destroy with the usual set up. However, mechanically because of its versatility, the playability becomes mechanically complicated and precision is absolutely necessary for success.

*What are your strengths and weaknesses? how will you overcome your biggest weakness?

As mentioned, the versatility, ability throughout the entire game, limited countability, and ability to farm very fast become its greatest strengths. Strength wise, between the sustained damage from all three Guardian Ward, Monsoon, and the Buffed Demon during your initial burst will drastically damage your opponent till late game in duels. This gives you a massive advantage, as before they will even attack you, they will be under half for agility, around half for intel, and usually around a third-half for strength. Guardian Ward buffs you and your demons armour, attack speed, and damage greatly.. As well as providing a decent amount of dps from its own attack. Essentially, your opponent will be sustaining damage from 3 sources, and 2 of which are buffed to much beyond their normal power... and lastly stuck within one of the higher DPS spells in the game. The farming, while complicated, is very fast. Guardian Ward at many times can finish off spawns itself, farm low level spawns itself. Guardian Ward and Demon can farm a spawn itself that is equal to your level. And as always, monsoon mangles farming. For this build to work as well as it has worked for me, it all comes down to outfarming your opponent. You WILL NOT be able to survive late game against most strength or agility builds if they have managed to stay with you level and stat wise all game. Your biggest strength is the ability to win all duels in early and mid game, and drastically become a power farming house with your huge dps and skills.

Weaknesses result mostly from vortex. Vortex will fuck your life up if you let it level for two main reasons: a) it will inset skill Ward from about level 6 and beyond b) its huge aoe will drain your mana completely before you can even cast demon. If your opponent has vortex, use this to your advantage. Generally, vortex builds will level much slower than you will if you play this right.. Antagonize them endlessly, gank, ensure they will never reach late game. Farm there side and generally make their life a living hell. If, however, this cannot be done I suggest snagging a lightning sword and a great deal of mana regen - especially if they are playing strength or agility which most vortex builds tend to be. Vortex will drain their mana as well, thus, lightning sword will cancel out their regeneration and ensure it'll never rise back above 0. This means they will not be able to recast vortex - which is a good thing - nor use any of their other skills. With intel's potential for a lot of mana regeneration, one can essentially rob them of their regeneration through lightning weapons, then tank their damage long enough to regenerate enough to cast your skills. This will then cause them to refocus in killing off demon throiugh its stuns, and the ward buying you additional time. There remains the possibility of them running lightning orb as well... Which in turn you are fairly screwed. Vortex is a bad counter to this; however, it is rarely used, and it does not destroy you till deep into the game... so the best reaction is to win early if you see this. Abolish magic innate will string your GWard, but it is survivable.. Remember the main burst of your damage comes from your stun lock, if they counter your ward this way, they are already heavily damaged and you should be able to take them out with demon, auto attack, and monsoon. Other than that, your last main weakness is being drastically outfarmed. This should not happen, but if it does it is because of two reasons: a) You screwed up with sloppy farming yourself... Which to counteract is simply experience and playing better the next game b) you're running against a purely power farming build... against these however, you generally have a huge advantage within duels because of your PVP potential with Gward, Demon, and disables. Lastly, the only other big disadvantages would be interruptions (stuns/silences/ etc.) which is counteracted by your divine shield, or more intelligent casting of your skills. If they attempt to disable you soon, start randomizing when you decide to present your burst. Cast one duel instantly, wait 10 seconds next duel, 20 seconds next, 10 seconds next, 20 seconds, instantly. Or any other order you want.. Keep them on their toes.

How should this build be played?

This build depends on farming as its biggest weapon. This is because its biggest strength is the initial burst damage through the demon spawn stun lock. Therefore, the bigger level advantage you have, to bigger DPS you have, the more burst damage you have, and the faster they die through this. To farm properly with this, you must think with every spawn. I generally don't use guardian ward in my first round of farming out the gate. With Tiara and Necro you can get two level 1 monsoons and a level 2 monsoon out - these will more or less one shot the initial level 1 spawns. Simply monsoon the first spawns, they die faster, and guard will waste your mana to do this. Later I use GWard strategically to deal with spawns with spell immunities, or high hp spawns with a combo of monsoon. If you have one strong spawn and a weak spawn on a particular side, I'll throw demon and a guardian ward in the weak spawn then run directly to the stronger spawn and take out with monsoon. This build to farm properly takes a certain level of critical thought, there is no real mechanically repetition I can tell you to use, because the game is randomized creeps, you must be thinking ahead of the best way to kill these spawns off as you go. Therefore, creeping patterns and knowing what will be within your path in the next 2-3 spawns is essential. As you run from base to spawns look at the 2-3 you plan on clearing and know what you're going to cast where, as cooldowns on your spells are long. You will generally can only use Gward at every second spawn, and sometimes will have to wait several seconds for monsoon to cooldown. If you want to play this build, learning how it reacts and farms through general experience is your best method... Simply play and see how your persobal style plays with it.

Item wise, as you will see, I play this with a large emphasis upon DPS with agility and damage as opposed to any defensive style items. This is because burst damage in stuns is essential, and Guardian ward gives you additional armour and regen. Lastly, the more DPS you have, the faster you farm. With a long ranged hero like Necromancer, you can kite a lot of the creeps and not allow melee to even hit you as you clear post-monsoon. In tougher spawns, Gward will as mentioned give you enough bonus regen/armour to take the additional damage.

The cast order is also crucial in duels. I usually drop Guardian Ward, Then hit with Demon Spawn, Cast Monsoon quickly during their initial stun, and then quickly switch to the demon spawn skill set before the stun runs up and cast the demon stun.. When properly timed they should be stunned for the duration of monsoon. If they have have a mana burn or a silence which will interrupt your guard -> demon timing and allow them to kite outside of Ward range, switch to Demon -> Gward -> Monsoon... This will not allow you to keep them stunlocked for the duration of monsoon, but will be better than having your entire burst interrupted.

Because of your huge farm potential, you will also want to slow down their farming. Thus, play aggressively and attack their spawns as much as you can. THis is especially true if you end up with a large level differential. Go after their middle and weakest spawns as much as you can, and also predict their pattern. If you see them running behind base to a corner, go to the spawn infront of that, if they have 2 spawns beside each other that are drastically underleveled, go one shot these with monsoon. Typically, against Strength and Intel you will have a hard time ganging with this build - however, against agility you can gang fairly easy, so take advantage of this ... as agility poses a large problem in Demon/Ward with lightning orb and critical strikes to you post-midgame. That being said, if any class is close to you and they have low Hp, stun with demon and hit with monsoon. If your cooldowns are up, and you believe you can kill them within your burst window NEVER pass this opportunity up... ESPECIALLY if they are strength.

Items:

As mentioned, I run a high intel/agi build (DPS focus). Generally, it is fairly low armour and lowish HP. I depend on the additional armour from ward, demons disables, my range, and DPS bursts for survival.

I start with Glittering Tiara and Boots out the gate, and rush a crown of ages upgrade for first duel.Monsoon and Ward are fairly mana intensive at the start, so you will definitely need the regen and mana bonuses from these. For first duel, you need to read your opponents build to make a decision on potions. The first several duels are fairly crucial to win to gain a level advantage, so buying potions (ams/hp) is essential if needed. From Crown I run a duel thief's mask into mid game. From there I take a general decision of upgrading my Crown of Ages, or getting Cloak of Unseen first. If you don't necessarily need spell reduce grab a arch magus cloak to maintain evasion, then upgrade crown of ages (this is more stats for cheaper) then upgrade archmagus to cloak. If you need the spell reduce, Cloak of Unseen first, then upgrade crown. From here upgrade to burning Halo. Generally after this begin gearing towards A warriors set and weapons. once you get a warriors set upgrade to Shroud (if you are way ahead grab shroud first... as you should be able to survive the massive HP drop). Also begin working towards weapons. You will have to make a decision on orb type based on your opponents build... In a general game setting, a frost staff is one of the best you can grab, because of the additional disable compliments the life of your demon and ward. However, don't always go this route.. Especially since its countered through the AGi +110 ring or divine shield. If they are running high evasion, get fire.. If they are running a low attack speed build (seen on lots of strength) get stone, really low or really high armour corruption can help etc. Following this, gear towards boots and possibly a magic essence. My end game items generally reflect my opponents build and trying to negate their strengths. I will build in what ways I believe will extend my advantage further, and thus, I never use the same end game items. If they're running an autoattack dps, I'll obviously sub in a shield... If they're running huge spell damage I'll rush black knights much quicker and so on.

Conclusion:

This build because of its built in versatility depends on you being able to critically think through situations and use the versatility to your own advantage. If you cannot bend your play style to meet the demands of your opponents build, you will not succeed, however, if you can do this - this build will win you many games. Your early and mid game play wins you the game, if you are sloppy, you lose. Although, this is an all game build, it is very very strong early and mid game, and you need to push this advantage as hard as you can because your skills become countable in late game. Generally, in end game with immortals items your ward is useless, monsoon is useless.. Which leaves you with divine and demon. Demon will die easy, but you can get 3-4 stuns and 2-3 cripples off with it before it dies. However, it is best to win before it comes to this. I hopefully covered the general play of this build, but if anyone wants any clarity or has questions.. Please post below.

Quote :

This build because of its built in versatility depends on you being able to critically think through situations and use the versatility to your own advantage. If you cannot bend your play style to meet the demands of your opponents build, you will not succeed, however, if you can do this - this build will win you many games. Your early and mid game play wins you the game, if you are sloppy, you lose. Although, this is an all game build, it is very very strong early and mid game, and you need to push this advantage as hard as you can because your skills become countable in late game. Generally, in end game with immortals items your ward is useless, monsoon is useless.. Which leaves you with divine and demon. Demon will die easy, but you can get 3-4 stuns and 2-3 cripples off with it before it dies. However, it is best to win before it comes to this. I hopefully covered the general play of this build, but if anyone wants any clarity or has questions.. Please post below.

I would like to point out; that this right here is what makes a build fit into the "best" category. This build has no real weakness, and the only reason it should ever lose (with exception to vortex) is if you are outplayed by your opponent.

Some thoughts for anyone who plays AGAINST this build:

A shield can help you a lot against this build; however you will need to farm fast to be able to afford a shield and not be butt-hurt in the process. This build has "good" farm. If you are decent at the game; you should be able to keep up with it while farming. You will really want to survive a duel or two early; and not get ganked, to make sure you live long enough to get a solid counter. This brings me back to my shield thought. Getting a prismatic shield, overall, will counter 100% of this build. Huge armor and straight up damage reduction will counter both ward and demon (making the demon stun your only problem) while the high spell damage can counter monsoon. On any build; if you make it to late game and can afford building up a stone shield, or prismatic shield; I highly suggest it. You will still need to OUTPLAY your opponent, but that is your best chance at a counter.

Windwalk on an item. If you time a wind walk well; you can go invis while demon spawn is cast on you. Necromancer has a highly visible cast animation; as do a lot of heroes who this build could be used on. If you time a windwalk well; you can avoid the initial burst DPS that makes this build so strong.

Heals/crowd controls will also go a long ways against this build. Burning down a ward and demon spawn while your opponent is hexed, befuddled, soul burned, terrified, ect; can equate to a lot less damage taken over the process of a duel. I would even consider an ice staff in some situations.

***With those item choices in mind; the user of this build can get an ice staff, and wreck your day. they can also get WW on an item, and go invis while they channel monsoon; or kite while the monsoon CD wears off.***

Guardian ward had true sight, rushing wind walk would only give a slight chance for 1-2 duels . Also, if this happens to you while playing this build (well timed WW) buy a Gem of True Sight.

And I agree on prismatic, there is a few other items items that really hurt this in end game... But I won't enlighten everyone on how they can beat it.. That parts up to you guys

Didn't you run this against my healer?

Couldn't tell you, we've played way too many games together for me to remember what I've ran against you at any specific point :p.

Im like 100% sure I have played and beaten this build when used by you epic. I think I had a mild counter to you though; I want to say it was Mind Rot that I had picked; which in turn made you rage every time you attempted to cast. There are a few skills that hurt this other than vortex; I just don't like to say "you should pick X skill to counter this" because you never know what your opponent is picking. Unless there are 10+ common skills that counter something; it isn't a point worth making; that said, "lol, mind rot."

End Game I would think that a scepter of the primarch+axe would work wonders. Insta-gib that ward; kill the demon. Most late game builds would beat this in the late game; simply because the ward would be 1 shot and monsoon is worthless that late in the game. The problem is using a late game build and being able to keep up with this build.

Nope I've played this once against you and you rag quit. That was a different build with rot fun. But the points you made are already mentioned except for the scepter axe. This build gets it's power over late game builds from a big advantage in early and mid, hence my huge emphasis on maintaining a large level differential and perfect efficient farming throughout the article :p.

A gppd cpunter to this build would be sonic boom you can interupt his monsoon even if he is ww or devine plus you have the benefit of getting out of range on gward (at least at beg nad lets face it you need the early duels if your gonna make it past mid game against this guy).

I'm guessing you over looked Demon Spawn. He should have enough to nail you with Monsoon the first time around and generally staying out of range of the ward just buys time for him to nail you with monsoon again with the help of the cooled down Demon Spawn stun. Worse case scenario is you only eat about 3 seconds of monsoon the second time around. Now if you said Atma's curse and struck first well then we're talking about a different story

Like i said not a prefect counter but even with demon spawn sonic would help separate things out for a few seconds. and since necro cast time is so bad you hit with a fast caster just right you might be able to stop his demon. But it would be silly to try to build a perfect counter for this build due to the flexability. You are probably better off using a strong build and adapting as game progresses. Gotta play aggressive or you will get crushed.