Steelb_l_ade
07-04-2008, 02:31
~Demon Powers~
Infernal Shield Information
The Infernal Shield surrounds the Demon in a magical shield temporarily rendering the Demon immune to all enemy and friendly spells. To increase the effectiveness of this spell it is a good idea to spend at least a few skill points in it as with each level the spell duration increases and the mana cost remains the same, so you get more protection for the mana cost.
Using this spell will prevent the Demon from being healed or being given any beneficial bonus from his team-mates. It is therefore a good idea to either activate the shield before you are badly injured or to receive allied buffs before going into battle, this will help to ensure the Demon has enough life to last the duration of Infernal Shield.
Infernal Shield is best used to close the range on enemy spell-casters that rely on heavy damage long range spells such as Elementalists. As spell-casters generally have low hitpoints this allows you to get close enough to do heavy damage in melee without taking too much damage as you close the distance.
Doing this will also prevent any heroes with particularly high damage ultimates such as Elven Rangers from getting a shot off at you early on. Another effective time to use this spell is when retreating from a fight as it will prevent them from finishing you off with a well placed spell.
Counters
Being as the Demon summons the shield around himself it cannot be directly countered but there are however a few methods of lowering its effectiveness. One method is to use Gladiator's Nets as these are not considered magic and again use your spells once the spells duration is up. Infernal Shield only prevents the Demon from being effected by new spells that are cast on him. If he is already under the effect of a spell such as Freeze, Curse of Doom or Soul Drain and then activates it the spell will still continue to effect him.
Infernal Shield does not grant absolute spell immunity, some spells will still effect him such as the Burrower's Quicksand and the Disrupter's Mana Cataclysm.
Rending Claws Information
Rending Claws is a powerful ability in the Demon's arsenal that allows him to temporarily cripple an enemy unit slowing both their movement speed and attack rate greatly. This spell is of most use against an enemy melee hero that relies on fast, powerful attacks to take down their enemies such as Swordmasters, Berserkers and Ravagores. By using Rending Claws you can dramatically slow their attacks on you allowing you to quickly gain the upper hand and the reduction of their movement speed even prevents their escape!
In a team game this spell when used correctly can change the course of a battle by temporarily disabling an enemy hero with powerful attacks leaving the remaining enemy heroes to be concentrated on. It can also be used in combination with an allied Death Mage's Miasma of Decay or the Voodoo Priest's Shrink to drastically slow a target to a crawl making escape almost impossible.
Rending Claws is also useful for preventing weaker caster or ranged heroes from attempting to escape when badly wounded. This spell is most effective when used against heroes with faster attack speeds as it disables their primary method of damage. Rending Claws is most effective when combined with Demonic Zeal as the chance to Evade and Critical Strike, combined with slowing the enemies attack speed should allow the Demon the upper hand in almost all melee battles. Its one disadvantage is the high mana cost which means it often comes down to a choice between using Rending Claws or Apis Mellifera.
Counters
Rending Claws can be blocked by the Spell Shatter ability found on Spellshatter Armour and the Disruptor's Magic Resistance ability. Another good alternative is to cast a stun or disable ability of your own such as Pounce, Storm Hammer, Curse of Living Death, Mighty Blow or Ice Blast on the Demon and keep him stunned/disabled until the effects of Rending Claws have worn off. Being as Rending Claws only effects statistics, it is advisable to spend the crippled time casting all your hard-hitting magic on the Demon in an attempt to drive it off. As Demon's don't have a huge mana reserve they cannot sustain both Infernal Shield and Rending Claws for any long time period.
Also using Gladiator's Nets, Envenomed Spears, & spells like Paralysing Shot then retreating a little can help to reduce the amount of damage a Demon can do before the crippling ability of Rending Claws expires.
Demonic Zeal Information
Demonic Zeal is a passive hero ability that gives the Demon a small chance to avoid an attack completely and offers him a chance of dealing double damage on any successful hit. This allows the Demon to be capable of dealing great damage in a very short space of time and can make it difficult for an enemy to judge whether or not they are winning a fight vs a Demon. Demonic Zeal is most effective when combined with items that increase attack speed as this will let him get more hits in and thus have a greater chance of performing a Critical Strike. Using this ability with the Rending Claws ability will make things very difficult for an opponent if they have a melee hero of their own and can be a very powerful combination in taking down rival melee heroes.
Demonic Zeal does not stack with the bonuses granted by a Katana.
Counters
Demonic Zeal itself has no counter as it is a passive ability. However, the best tactics to use against a Demon using this in conjunction with Rending Claws is to keep him at a distance for as long as possible while attacking him with as many hard hitting spells as you can. Use items such as Storm Hammers & Envenomed Spears combined with Gladiators Nets to keep him at bay while pummelling him with high damage spells. Effective spells for this purpose include, Fireball, Ice Blast, Nether Blast, Polymorph, Paralysing Shot, Vinewall and Electrocute.
Apis Mellifera Information
Apis Mellifera summons Wheels of Infernos to seek out the enemy and detonate upon impact. The summoning player is granted control of the Wheels once they have been summoned and must direct them to a target before their duration expires else the Wheels simply disappear, causing no damage. This ultimate is without a doubt one of the most powerful spells in the game with the ability of killing multiple low health heroes, or destroying an entire creep camp by dividing the number of wheels per hero rather than focusing all of them and possibly wasting damage. This ability can however be a double-edged sword as the Wheels seek out targets very close to them and detonate automatically on impact causing massive area of effect damage that will severely damage the Demon and his allies if they are within the area of effect. A safe way to use the spell is to make sure you have sufficient free space in front of you to summon the Wheels before casting. This spell can also be used as a last resort as an effective "kamikaze" spell if you are losing a battle against an enemy melee hero as activating it at point blank range the explosions will hit, and probably kill both of you. When combined with items such as the Heart of Woe this can cause a massive blast upon death and will quickly foil entire teams of enemy melee heroes.
Counters
The easiest way to avoid the damage from Apis Mellifera is to prevent the Demon from casting it by usage of Mana Burn or Cursed Arrow and then run right next to the Demon so he cannot use it without severely damaging himself in the process. There are however some alternatives to avoid the main effects Apis Mellifera. The most common option is to dispel the summoned Wheels before they impact on their target using Dispel Wands or hero abilities such as Cleanse and Consume Magic which will expire them without damage to nearby heroes. If you are using a summoning hero such as the Arcane Summoner, Court Wizard, Pit Daemon, Diabolist or Death Mage you can cast summons before the Wheels reach you and allow your summoned creatures to take the impact damage for you. You can also use abilities such as Smoke Form, Burrow and the One Ring to turn invisible and thus avoid being targeted but be sure to move away from other nearby units that the Wheels may impact upon or you will still receive damage. Other useful powers for lowering the effectiveness of Apis Mellifera is to entangle the Wheels using spells like Quicksand or Vinewall. As the Wheels of Infernos are summons they can taken control of by usage of the Arcane Summoner's Summons Mastery power or by using SpellShatter Gloves.
Infernal Shield Information
The Infernal Shield surrounds the Demon in a magical shield temporarily rendering the Demon immune to all enemy and friendly spells. To increase the effectiveness of this spell it is a good idea to spend at least a few skill points in it as with each level the spell duration increases and the mana cost remains the same, so you get more protection for the mana cost.
Using this spell will prevent the Demon from being healed or being given any beneficial bonus from his team-mates. It is therefore a good idea to either activate the shield before you are badly injured or to receive allied buffs before going into battle, this will help to ensure the Demon has enough life to last the duration of Infernal Shield.
Infernal Shield is best used to close the range on enemy spell-casters that rely on heavy damage long range spells such as Elementalists. As spell-casters generally have low hitpoints this allows you to get close enough to do heavy damage in melee without taking too much damage as you close the distance.
Doing this will also prevent any heroes with particularly high damage ultimates such as Elven Rangers from getting a shot off at you early on. Another effective time to use this spell is when retreating from a fight as it will prevent them from finishing you off with a well placed spell.
Counters
Being as the Demon summons the shield around himself it cannot be directly countered but there are however a few methods of lowering its effectiveness. One method is to use Gladiator's Nets as these are not considered magic and again use your spells once the spells duration is up. Infernal Shield only prevents the Demon from being effected by new spells that are cast on him. If he is already under the effect of a spell such as Freeze, Curse of Doom or Soul Drain and then activates it the spell will still continue to effect him.
Infernal Shield does not grant absolute spell immunity, some spells will still effect him such as the Burrower's Quicksand and the Disrupter's Mana Cataclysm.
Rending Claws Information
Rending Claws is a powerful ability in the Demon's arsenal that allows him to temporarily cripple an enemy unit slowing both their movement speed and attack rate greatly. This spell is of most use against an enemy melee hero that relies on fast, powerful attacks to take down their enemies such as Swordmasters, Berserkers and Ravagores. By using Rending Claws you can dramatically slow their attacks on you allowing you to quickly gain the upper hand and the reduction of their movement speed even prevents their escape!
In a team game this spell when used correctly can change the course of a battle by temporarily disabling an enemy hero with powerful attacks leaving the remaining enemy heroes to be concentrated on. It can also be used in combination with an allied Death Mage's Miasma of Decay or the Voodoo Priest's Shrink to drastically slow a target to a crawl making escape almost impossible.
Rending Claws is also useful for preventing weaker caster or ranged heroes from attempting to escape when badly wounded. This spell is most effective when used against heroes with faster attack speeds as it disables their primary method of damage. Rending Claws is most effective when combined with Demonic Zeal as the chance to Evade and Critical Strike, combined with slowing the enemies attack speed should allow the Demon the upper hand in almost all melee battles. Its one disadvantage is the high mana cost which means it often comes down to a choice between using Rending Claws or Apis Mellifera.
Counters
Rending Claws can be blocked by the Spell Shatter ability found on Spellshatter Armour and the Disruptor's Magic Resistance ability. Another good alternative is to cast a stun or disable ability of your own such as Pounce, Storm Hammer, Curse of Living Death, Mighty Blow or Ice Blast on the Demon and keep him stunned/disabled until the effects of Rending Claws have worn off. Being as Rending Claws only effects statistics, it is advisable to spend the crippled time casting all your hard-hitting magic on the Demon in an attempt to drive it off. As Demon's don't have a huge mana reserve they cannot sustain both Infernal Shield and Rending Claws for any long time period.
Also using Gladiator's Nets, Envenomed Spears, & spells like Paralysing Shot then retreating a little can help to reduce the amount of damage a Demon can do before the crippling ability of Rending Claws expires.
Demonic Zeal Information
Demonic Zeal is a passive hero ability that gives the Demon a small chance to avoid an attack completely and offers him a chance of dealing double damage on any successful hit. This allows the Demon to be capable of dealing great damage in a very short space of time and can make it difficult for an enemy to judge whether or not they are winning a fight vs a Demon. Demonic Zeal is most effective when combined with items that increase attack speed as this will let him get more hits in and thus have a greater chance of performing a Critical Strike. Using this ability with the Rending Claws ability will make things very difficult for an opponent if they have a melee hero of their own and can be a very powerful combination in taking down rival melee heroes.
Demonic Zeal does not stack with the bonuses granted by a Katana.
Counters
Demonic Zeal itself has no counter as it is a passive ability. However, the best tactics to use against a Demon using this in conjunction with Rending Claws is to keep him at a distance for as long as possible while attacking him with as many hard hitting spells as you can. Use items such as Storm Hammers & Envenomed Spears combined with Gladiators Nets to keep him at bay while pummelling him with high damage spells. Effective spells for this purpose include, Fireball, Ice Blast, Nether Blast, Polymorph, Paralysing Shot, Vinewall and Electrocute.
Apis Mellifera Information
Apis Mellifera summons Wheels of Infernos to seek out the enemy and detonate upon impact. The summoning player is granted control of the Wheels once they have been summoned and must direct them to a target before their duration expires else the Wheels simply disappear, causing no damage. This ultimate is without a doubt one of the most powerful spells in the game with the ability of killing multiple low health heroes, or destroying an entire creep camp by dividing the number of wheels per hero rather than focusing all of them and possibly wasting damage. This ability can however be a double-edged sword as the Wheels seek out targets very close to them and detonate automatically on impact causing massive area of effect damage that will severely damage the Demon and his allies if they are within the area of effect. A safe way to use the spell is to make sure you have sufficient free space in front of you to summon the Wheels before casting. This spell can also be used as a last resort as an effective "kamikaze" spell if you are losing a battle against an enemy melee hero as activating it at point blank range the explosions will hit, and probably kill both of you. When combined with items such as the Heart of Woe this can cause a massive blast upon death and will quickly foil entire teams of enemy melee heroes.
Counters
The easiest way to avoid the damage from Apis Mellifera is to prevent the Demon from casting it by usage of Mana Burn or Cursed Arrow and then run right next to the Demon so he cannot use it without severely damaging himself in the process. There are however some alternatives to avoid the main effects Apis Mellifera. The most common option is to dispel the summoned Wheels before they impact on their target using Dispel Wands or hero abilities such as Cleanse and Consume Magic which will expire them without damage to nearby heroes. If you are using a summoning hero such as the Arcane Summoner, Court Wizard, Pit Daemon, Diabolist or Death Mage you can cast summons before the Wheels reach you and allow your summoned creatures to take the impact damage for you. You can also use abilities such as Smoke Form, Burrow and the One Ring to turn invisible and thus avoid being targeted but be sure to move away from other nearby units that the Wheels may impact upon or you will still receive damage. Other useful powers for lowering the effectiveness of Apis Mellifera is to entangle the Wheels using spells like Quicksand or Vinewall. As the Wheels of Infernos are summons they can taken control of by usage of the Arcane Summoner's Summons Mastery power or by using SpellShatter Gloves.