Dark Seer is a very powerful laner who dominates the offlane against almost any match-up. Ion Shell allows him to push the lane up against the enemy carry’s tower which makes it harder for them to last hit and also allows you to get last-hits on creeps very easily, as it zones enemies away from the creep-wave. The combination of the lane being pushed in from Ion Shell and the mobility from Surge makes it very hard for enemies to kill you unless they have a large amount of lockdown.
Wall of Replica is a spell which is usually ignored until later in the game. This is because it requires high levels of Vacuum to be effective and also relies on enemies creating strong illusions to deal damage. The hero has very high strength gain for an intelligence hero, which makes items which tank him up further very strong on him, as they allow him to survive fights much longer and deal more damage up close with Ion Shell. Team-fighting items are very popular on the hero, as he can farm very quickly at all stages in the game, which means that he can farm items which help his team win fights more easily.
@ Valve
[/column]Dark Seer Skill Build
- Ion Shell
- Surge
- Ion Shell
- Surge
- Ion Shell
- Vacuum
- Ion Shell
- Vacuum
- Vacuum
- Talent
- Vacuum
- Wall of Replica
- Surge
- Surge
- Talent
- Wall of Replica
- –
- Wall of Replica
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Dark Seer pulls all enemies in the area of effect to the cast point where upon they take damage. This spell interrupts channeled spells and breaks trees near the center of the cast. Vacuum is usually skilled lastly as your other two spells are stronger in the early game and because the skill requires some levels in it before it can be used very effectively. It can be good to get one level early if you have very few spell interrupts on your team however.
This spell has incredible synergy with a number of other spells in the game and is good with essentially any area of effect spells. It has a very long cooldown, so be careful about how you use the spell, and if you intend to combo it with the spell of an ally, try to communicate this to them and consider at all times their positioning in addition to your own.
Dark Seer places a ball of energy on the target which deals damage to any nearby enemies. The shell can be cast on allies or enemies but does not damage the target it is cast on. This spell should be maxed first in every situation because it allows you to completely dominate your lane against melee heroes and farm jungle creeps very quickly. Keep spamming this spell on either one of your or the enemy’s melee creeps to keep the lane pushing into the enemy tower. The spell makes it very hard for melee heroes to farm the lane and will burn through their regen quite quickly. Many ranged heroes may be able to deal with the damage from it, but will suffer from struggling to last hit under tower or taking too much damage from your creeps.
If you aren’t being pressured by the enemy supports, you can be very greedy and get away with quite a lot from your lane. There are many ways to potentially farm very efficiently in the early game with Dark Seer, for example you can stand behind the enemy tower and meet the enemy’s creepwave and clear it quickly, which pressured the enemy hero even more and allowing you to farm the nearby jungle camps in the downtime. You can also pull the enemy creep wave over to a jungle camp to clear both quickly with the Ion Shell which may be even more efficient. The enemy heroes in the lane probably won’t be able to trade hits with you while you have Ion Shell on you. If any enemies try to contest you, place another Ion Shell on a nearby creep to double the damage output of the spell.
In team-fights, keep the spell on your melee heroes who will be up close against enemies and try to dish out as much damage as you can with it, but be careful about taking too much damage if you put it on yourself. This spell will make even the best Dota 2 players struggle against Dark Seer in any game.
Dark Seer applies haste on a targeted ally or himself, providing them with maximum movement speed and preventing them from being slowed for a short period of time. This spell is usually maxed secondly, after Ion Shell. Surge is a very strong spell at almost all stages of the game, especially against lineups with strong slows. During the laning phase, be careful about how you use the spell if the enemies have several disables, as they will usually wait for you to use Surge before using them. Keep this in mind and avoid getting disabled right after using it.
It’s common to leave this skill at level 2, since the duration increases by 1.5s with each level which is 50% more than the level 1 duration, making it efficient to do so. At max level, it only has a 10 second cooldown, so try to use it on your core heroes who benefit from getting in and out of fights quickly.
@ Valve
Dark Seer creates a wall of light which slows and summons illusions of any enemies who pass through it. Dark Seer has full control of the illusions and will last until they are killed or until the wall expires. If an illusion is killed, it can be spawned again if the enemy walks through it once more. Aghanim’s Scepter increases the damage of the illusions. The spell is usually left until later in the game when illusions will deal more damage and when you have several points in Vacuum, as you will be able to combo the two spells and utilize them more effectively. The spell is an incredibly powerful late game ultimate, especially with an Aghanim’s Scepter, as the illusions deal near full damage.
It can be good to place the wall preemptively in a location where the enemy will be forced to pass, such as on the ramp leading to your high-ground, or near the Roshan pit if you’re about to fight by Roshan. Try to select a target for the illusions to attack, as they can potentially be used to bring down a strong enemy very quickly.
In general, the extra damage is a much more valuable talent. 12% Evasion can be helpful if you’re facing a lot of physical damage dealers and if you’re unlikely to be attacking enemies a lot. However, +90 damage will help you to farm faster and kill squishy heroes a lot more easily. With Surge and Ion Shell, Dark Seer can attack enemies quite easily. His high health pool and tankiness will allow him to front-line very easily. Overall, the massive damage increase is almost always a lot more impactful than the relatively small evasion bonus.
The extra Vacuum AoE is usually more preferred. This is because it’s a very powerful spell which can manipulate enemies’ positioning, and an increase to its AoE means you may affect more enemies. This is especially powerful if you have allies with strong AoE spells or disables. On the other hand, the extra health regen may be more helpful if you need to tank up or if you’re taking lots of damage in team-fights.
The AoE Surge is a very powerful buff to the spell, especially if your allies are likely to be stood near one another. If you have a mix of ranged and melee heroes on your team, this may be less likely to be the case, however it still may be good. It can also be strong if the enemy team has relatively few stuns but perhaps lots of slows, as your allies cannot be slowed during Surge. On the other hand, the cooldown reduction will almost always be helpful. Wall of Replica has a very long cooldown, and all of Dark Seer’s spells are active. In addition to this, it’s common to purchase many active items such as Pipe of Insight, Mekansm or Blink Dagger.
The Parallel Wall will spawn a secondary wall behind the target point. As a secondary wall, it will spawn independent illusions which can be very powerful against heroes who are strong in the late game, particularly illusion carries such as Phantom Lancer or Luna. In general, the extra wall is never a bad talent choice, as it makes the spell a lot more impactful and efficient in the late game.
On the other hand, the extra Ion Shell damage can be good if you have many melee heroes on your team. The damage per second will increase from 90 to 240 which is a massive increase. If you can use the spell on two or more targets in a team-fight, you can potentially deal a massive amount to enemies, especially if the enemy team has many melee heroes also.
Dark Seer is a very powerful offlaner, although his strength comes mostly from Ion Shell. This means that you should get at least one Clarity and Enchanted Mango to ensure that you have enough mana for spamming the spell during the laning phase. Basic health regen such as Tangos and Healing Salve provide you with enough sustainability to tank harass and creeps which is important in case you transition to the jungle to farm. Lastly, a Stout Shield is always necessary as it allows you to take a lot more damage than usual. It also allows you to tank more damage from creeps which is helpful if you want to jungle or tank a creep-wave behind a tower.
A Soul Ring provides you with some extra strength but most importantly a spammable form of mana regeneration. The cooldown on Soul Ring is quite a lot longer than the cooldown of Ion Shell however, which makes it often necessary to purchase both a Soul Ring and Arcane Boots in every game of Dota 2 esports.
Arcane Boots provide Dark Seer with even more mana regeneration and can be built into Guardian Greaves later. Dark Seer is a powerful team-fighting hero who can contribute a lot to fights from relatively early. Arcane Boots help your team even more in early fights.
A Helm of the Dominator is a strong early game item on Dark Seer for a few reasons. It provides a helpful attack speed and health regen aura for your allies which help them to fight more effectively in the early game and provides a powerful active which has a lot of synergy with Dark Seer. Dominating a creep allows you to Ion Shell a target which moves very fast, especially in the early game before enemies buy mobility items, and you can also use it to combo Vacuum with later. If you dominate a Centaur or a Hellbear, you can Vacuum nearby enemies on top of the creep and follow up with the spell of the creep, potentially allowing you to stun or nuke and slow several heroes. Overall, it’s a very strong early game item with a lot of synergy with Dark Seer.
A Hood of Defiance allows you to tank more magical damage in the early game and can be built into a Pipe of Insight later.
A Mekansm is a very strong item on Dark Seer. This is because it allows him and his allies to team-fight exceptionally well, especially if you manage to get it in the early game. Dark Seer also has no issues farming throughout all stages in the game, is very mobile and quite tanky, all of which make him a very strong Mekansm carrier.
A Magic Wand can be a great item to get in the early game if you are facing a lineup with lots of spells. The burst healing may be the difference between life or death for you or an ally, as you can use Vacuum and Surge to help your allies survive.
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Guardian Greaves are a popular pickup on Dark Seer because they combine two very popular items on the hero – Arcane Boots and Mekansm. They suit the style of building team-fighting items, as they greatly benefit your team and they provide you with more survivability in the mid game. The self purge allows you to get rid of most negative status effects such as silences and slows, and this may give you more of a chance to cast your spells in team-fights if you are getting locked down and silenced.
A Pipe of Insight is another great team-fighting item for Dark Seer in the mid game. It allows his team to soak up a lot more magical damage and this will give his team another edge in team-fights.
A Lotus Orb can be a very strong item on Dark Seer, especially if you’re facing many powerful single target spells. It can allow you to front-line even more easily, as enemies will be less likely to cast their spells on you. The self-purge can also help you to deal with slows and silences, however Guardian Greaves are a much more popular item on the hero, and these also provide a self-purge. However, if you skip the Greaves, a Lotus can be another good alternative.
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An Aghanim’s Scepter can be an incredibly strong item if your ultimate is being utilize effectively. At max level, it will make the illusions deal 40% more damage, for a total of 140% damage output. This makes it incredibly strong against illusion heroes.
A Scythe of Vyse is a strong late game item on any hero, and as an intelligence hero, the stats greatly benefit Dark Seer.
A Shiva’s Guard is a great item on Dark Seer, as it makes him a lot tankier and provides him with a powerful active slow. The slow can be combined with Vacuum to impact several heroes at once, and the attack speed slow will make it harder for enemies to deal with the illusions spawned from Wall of Replica.
A Refresher Orb will allow you to spawn additional illusions from Wall of Replica. It’s incredibly strong with an Aghanim’s Scepter or with the Parallel Wall talent at level 25. It can also be good for Vacuum combos, as you’ll be able to use the spell twice, giving your allies two chances to combo their spells together and controlling enemies for even longer.
A Crimson Guard can be a very good item if you’re facing a lineup with mostly physical damage. The damage block can be helpful in team-fights and will go a long way in keeping you and your allies alive.
A Blink Dagger can be a very strong item if you have allies on your team who can follow up with a Blink + Vacuum combo. For instance, a hero such as Enigma or Magnus will be able to easily get a big ulti off if you get a good initiation.
If you’re playing against lots of magical damage, silences or other disables, then a Black King Bar can be a very strong item. Dark Seer excels at team-fighting, and a BKB can significantly help you to do so.
A Necronomicon can be a good item to get on Dark Seer, as you can use Ion Shell on the melee necro unit. This can be good because the enemies will have to run from it or try to kill it and suffer taking a lot of damage. However, a Helm of the Dominator can also accomplish this to a large extent. It’s quite an expensive item, but it can be good if you need more pushing power or if you’re playing against invisibility heroes.
If you’re facing heroes such as Riki or Clockwerk, a Force Staff can be very helpful. It will allow you to escape from enemies when you are disabled or silenced and cannot escape through Surge.
A Ghost Scepter provides you with the ability to keep yourself alive against physical damage dealers who can burst you down quickly. Heroes such as Ursa or Templar Assassin may struggle to kill you if you purchase a Ghost Scepter. However, there are many other items which may help you, but a Ghost Scepter my definitely be worth it if you’re facing more than one such hero.
An Aeon Disk can be an incredibly powerful item in many situations. If you’re playing against heroes who can disable you and kill you while you’re disabled, then an Aeon Disk will definitely keep you alive long enough to get your Vacuum and Wall of Replica combo off, along with any team-fight items such as Pipe of Insight or Guardian Greaves.
A Blade Mail can be a very strong item if you’re playing against heroes who can burst you down quickly, either with magical or physical damage. It will keep you alive a lot longer in team-fights, or cause enemies to take a large amount of damage. Dark Seer also has a large amount of health due to his high strength gain.which means he can soak up a large amount of damage as well.
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Roots and stuns prevent you or your allies from fleeing during Surge. Similarly, enemies who have debuffs will be able to purge Surge from you or your allies.
Oracle is perhaps the strongest counter to Dark Seer, certainly during the laning phase. This is because he can purge whichever unit you target Ion Shell with. He can also purge Surge from you, which makes it very easy for him to set up a kill on you if any hero with a stun ganks you.
Dark Seer can cast Ion Shell on any allies with invisibility and they can harass enemies completely away from the lane. This will force enemies to buy dusts or sentries to try to deal with them. This can potentially win you the lane if a hero such as Riki or Bounty Hunter come to help your lane.
Any hero with an AoE nuke or disable is very strong when combined with Dark Seer.Consider purchasing a Blink Dagger to initiate team-fights with Vacuum more easily, as this will allow your teammates to follow up with their abilities.
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