Nephilim

Summary:

The Nephilum(Neph) is a very versatile hero with a unique skill set. He is an AGI based hero with balanced stat-gains.

Advantages of the Neph are:

+ VERY versatile with 26 spells total. Has heals, nukes, disables, and good utility.

+ Decent base damage and a fast base attack.

+ No skill cooldowns! Can spam his spells very quickly for powerful effect.

+ Several playstyles work well.

+ Makes great use of crystal as he can pump all attributes and skills and get solid gains from them.

Disadvantages:

- Melee only.

- No dispel magic (except 1 really lousy one)

- Very limited Area of Effect(AoE) damage or debuff spells.

- No AoE buff to assist troops in fighting.

- Individual spells are typically weaker and less efficient than standard.

- Tends to deplete mana very quickly.

Base Stats:

STR 19 +1.95 per lvl
AGI 22 +2.3 per lvl
INT 15 +1.55 per lvl

Base Dmg: 40-52. Has a Fast attack speed.
Base AC: 12
Move speed: Pretty fast base move speed.

A Weapon Upgrade via crystal adds +6-10 damage, which is about average. Its actually pretty good considering his fast base attack speed.

Skills Chart

At any given time, the skills displayed will be rows 1 through 5. The same skills will always line up no matter what order they are chosen in. Using any skill will result in the row incrementing and the next set of skills available. Think of all 5 skills (4 masteries and 1 ultimate) as a Jackpot wheel, except each column is glued to the others so they all move together. Every use of a skill results in 1 click of the wheel.

War(W) - - - - - -Flame(E)- - - - Shadow(R) - - - -Blood(C) - - - - Ultimate(T)

1 Retaliation - -Scorch - - - - -Evasion - - - - -Adreneline - - - Execute

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2 Distract - - - Blastwave - - - Spellblind - - - Lifetap - - - - - - Immortals Breath

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3 Shred - - - - -Scintellate - - Dusklash - - - - Close Wounds - - Ignus Salvo

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4 Swipe - - - - -Flame Gate - - -Black Globe - - -Pain - - - - - - Nights Eye

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5 Plunder - - - -Conflagerate - -Shadowveil - - - Vampiric Bite - -Betrayal

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Skills explained: (The lvl1 and lvl6 stats are given for each)

Innate: False Alliance - 90 mana. Indefinite duration. Forces a player to treat Neph as an ally, and thus cannot attack or hurt Neph. However, player is still shown as hostile to Neph and if Neph attacks player, this spell is broken. Do not overlook this spell as it cycles your skills and really irritates an enemy player...ESPECIALLY an offensive hero-attacking one like Tree or Aero or Infiltrator.

War:

Retaliation - Anything that attacks Neph in melee range is instantly counter attacked. Its thorns aura on steroids. A very strong skill, although it does require Neph to get beat up quite a bit.

• 1: 25 mana. 20 damage + 0.5 AGI for 8 seconds
• 6: 55 mana. 45 damage + 1.0 AGI for 18 seconds

Distract - Forces nearby enemies to attack a designated ally. Cannot be used on self! Pretty worthless, except maybe if you get stuck and can use it to help escape.

• 1: 20 mana
• 6: 30 mana

Shred - Direct damage that requires melee range. Hits hard, but STR dependency and no range limits its usefulness.

• 1: 70 mana. 95 dmg + 0.7 STR
• 6: 155 mana. 270 dmg + 1.45 STR

Swipe - Direct damage to nearby foes in front of character. Fairly weak damage and little AoE. Pretty worthless.

• 1: 65 mana 50 + 0.4 STR
• 6: 160 mana 125 + 0.9 STR

Plunder - Melee range attack that steals gold, dispels 1 buff. Also can be used against Wall of Ice. (woopie) This is your only dispel. Theoretically useful vs a foe with a powerful buff like a heal over time.

• 1: 36 mana. 6-9 gold.
• 6: 61 mana. 36-54 gold.

Flame:

Scorch - Direct damage spell. Decent range. Usable vs creeps.

• 1: 45 mana. 55 +0.75 INT
• 6: 125 mana. 145 1.6 INT

Blastwave - Small AoE blast that does minor damage and slows down foes for 6 seconds. A great utility spell for chasing a hero, especially right before adrenaline or a stun expires.

• 1: 65 mana. 32 + 0.6 INT Also -20% move for 6 seconds
• 6: 160 mana. 77 + 1.0 INT Also -50% move for 6 seconds

Scintellate - A very nice self-buff that restores mana over time and also gives an immolate aura to damage nearby foes.

• 1: 60 mana. +150 mana over 30 seconds. 6 damage to surrounding foes.
• 6: 90 mana. +350 mana over 30 seconds. 21 damage

Flame Gate - A short range teleport. Great for chasing, escaping, and quicker movement past cliffs,etc. Range increases as it levels up.

• 1: 60 mana
• 6: 35 mana

Conflagorate - Converts an area of trees into 3 tree warriors under your control for 30 seconds. A nice insta-meat shield for troops.

• 1: 50 mana. 240HP, 11-13 damage normal attack, 0 armor.
• 6: 100 mana. 620HP 36-61 dmg. (May vary depending on map. I got a lower value on Stormpire)

Shadow:

Evasion - Adds physical evasion for 10 seconds. Not very useful for the cost and low duration.

• 1: 30 mana. 10% evade for 10 seconds
• 6: 100 mana. 45%

Spellblind - Prevent spellcasting by affected troops/heroes for 6 seconds. Situationally useful although a bit expensive.

• 1: 65 mana. small area
• 6: 100 mana. much bigger area.

Dusklash - A very powerful Nuke at decent range. Does additional damage that is then healed a bit later. The idea is if the target dies, the heal is irrelevant. This is much better than Scorch due to lower mana cost.

• 1: 45 mana. 60 + 0.8 INT. 20% more temporary damage for 5 seconds.
• 6: 85 mana. 170 +1.4 INT 45% for 10 seconds.

Black Globe - A powerful spell that reduces armor on heroes for 90 seconds! Also makes 1 item worthless for a while, and is extremely cheap! On a creep, simply Phases it out for a short time.

• 1: 20 mana. -5 armor for 90 seconds. Itemhoze or creep Phase for 8 seconds.
• 6: 35 mana. -20 armor. Itemhoze for 28 sec

Shadowveil - Immediately turns hero invisible and can pass through units. Does extra damage upon first hit. This is very nice for getting the drop on an enemy hero. Also great for pursuing since creeps cant block you. Very cheap mana cost.

• 1: 35 mana. 12 seconds of invisibility. Attack adds 30 extra damage.
• 6: 55 mana. 32 seconds. Adds 105 dmg

Blood:

Adrenaline - Self buff that increases attack speed and move speed. Cheap and effective for extra damage (siege) or to beat up and chase down an enemy hero.

• 1: 40 mana. 15% attack, +10% move for 12 seconds
• 6: 70 mana. 60% attack, +25% move

LifeTap - No mana cost. Converts 10% of health to mana at a fixed rate of 1 +0.01 STR mana per point of health. Really nice mid/late game since health is easier to regen than mana. DOES NOT IMPROVE AT ALL when leveled.

Close Wounds - A single target heal over time. Very cheap mana cost and heals quite efficiently. Great combo with lifetap, since its in series right after Lifetap.

• 1: 40 mana. 18 +0.1 INT healed per second for 4 seconds.
• 6: 90 mana. 38 +0.15 for 14 seconds.

Pain - A single target nuke that also stuns for 2 seconds. One of your few strong disables. A great spell that is used a lot. Unfortunately it does not level very well. Costs a lot more, but stun is the same and damage gain is weak.

• 1: 50 mana 32 +0.65 INT and stuns for 2 seconds.
• 6: 125 112 +1.23

Vamp Bite - A melee range nuke that does damage and heals you for the same amount. Expensive for its rather low damage, but used since its the only useful offensive spell in combat for Slot 5.

• 1: 60 mana 45 +0.5 STR lifedrain.
• 6: 155 105 +0.95

Ultimates:  (note: only 4 levels for these)

Execute - A very cool graphic single target damage/deathblow/stun. It has a surprisingly long range and teleports Neph to the target hero. Both heroes slowly rise in the air (vulnerable to anti-air attacks at this point), and Neph slaps enemy hero around a number of times equal to the spell level! Enemy is tossed to the ground where Neph originated and is stunned and takes damage.

• 1: 200 mana - 150 damage +1 second stun
• 4: 335 300 + 2.7STR +2.5 second stun

Immortals Breath - A solid one target immediate healing spell. Cure wounds is more mana efficient lategame, but this works immediately and heals quite a bit.

• 1: 160 mana 300 +2.0 INT healed.
• 4: 295 600 +3.5 INT

Ignis Salvo - Your only AoE nuke and it is a good one! Affects heroes, troops, and buildings. Generates fireballs that slowly creep out to targets and do damage. A single target can only be hit by a certain number of fireballs.

• 1: 190 mana 12 fireballs 120 +0.7 INT each, 2 hits per target max.
• 4: 295 24 fireballs, 180 +1.0 INT each, 3

Nights Eye - A rather expensive utility spell that gives you sight on all enemy heroes. Rarely used.

• 1: 140 mana 10 second duration.
• 4: 215 34 second

Betrayal - Turns a targeted hero hostile to his own team. This means the target may attack heroes on his own team, HOWEVER this does not mean he will ONLY do so. In other words, the priority is the same so if the target is already beating on you, dont expect him to change targets just cuz you cast this. It also does NOT make the target get attacked BY his teammates...it is a 1 way thing. This skill is ok if cast on 1 hero when 1 or more enemy heroes is nearby, as long as its cast BEFORE combat breaks out. That way the betrayer will be more likely to attack his buddy.

• 1: 90 mana 6 seconds duration.
• 4: 135 mana 15 seconds

Skill advice:

You need 1 point in ALL skills, as this gives you versatility and the ability to Cycle. Cycling is the art of casting a cheap spell for little or no effect to get to a set of skills that you want. Example: You want to sneak up on a hero. You are at row 2. Cast lifetap, then cure wounds on self, then black globe on whatever is nearby or a flame gate to nowhere. Then you have cycled to Shadowveil.

I recommend focusing on two main skills.

War - Requires heavy STR to do much with. Retaliation is great for use as a tank. Not recommended usually though. Flame - Scorch gives ok direct damage and scintellate really helps with the mana regen. Ok for an INT-based Neph. Shadow - Long duration Shadowveil is the key here for a DPS build. Black Globe is very strong and cheap for hero killing. Dusklash is solid at finishing off a wounded hero. Shadow is highly recommended for a dps build. Blood - Great for DPS hero with a powerful heal, vampiric heal, and adrenaline for pumping damage and pursuit speed. Ultimate - obviously pump this up, as it benefits ANY build with a strong heal, awesome AoE damage spell, and a long range hero-stun/deathblow/damage.

Skill Combos:

There are tons of options for quick-press skill combination orders, but here are a few starters.

1) Use Shadowveil to sneak up on an enemy hero. Attack for bonus damage, then Adrenaline to add more DPS and ability to chase. (or execute) If it wears off, Blastwave to slow enemy, Dusklash for dmg, and Pain to stun and catch up. Goto execute and repeat if necessary(hope not!)

2) HeroKiller: Execute (stun), Lifetap(cycle), Dusklash/Shred/Ignus(dmg), Pain(stun), Vamp Bite(dmg/heal from lifetap). Repeat for an effective stunlock.

3) Lategame Base Siege: Ignus Pwnage(T), Nights Eye(T, 1clik-cycle), ShadowVeil(R, 1clik-cycle), Retaliation(W,1clickcycle), Lifetap(C, mana+1clikCycle). Repeat for total destruction of base.

4) Tank/AoeKill: Shadowveil to get in position without collision, attack and Retaliation for superthorns, Immortals Breath for heal, Close Wounds for more heal, and Flamegate to escape when HPs get low.

Playstyle Options:

DPS focus - This exploits Nephs utility spells, having heals, several ways to slow an enemy and one strong way to catch up to beat up enemy heroes and deliver lots of damage to enemy troops. With his high attack speed, and Adrenaline to boost even further, Neph only needs some additional damage. Orb of Fury is best since it is just as efficient as an orb of battle (including its AoE even vs 1 foe 20% of the time) and has a higher maximum value. Mana is a big problem though so I would recommend getting the mana regen hat, or plan to make trips to the fountain a lot. That is all you really need. From there, Crit gloves or AGI gloves are good, as is leather armor and sun talisman. I would pick Blood for Adrenaline and healing, and Shadow for long lasting invisibility, black globe for armor reduction, and dusklash as a cheap finisher.

INT focus - You want to crank up your INT and mana regen rates and spam your skills to harass and kill heroes. Lategame this is a killer with Ignus Salvo. Item wise, start with orb of skill as both AGI and INT are desirable. Second, grab that Mana regen helm. Pump both of these items up, and eventually grab the Sorc Robes. I recommend Flame for the very handy Scintellate(mana regen from this is quite nice), Scorch as a staple dmg spell, and even Conflag to help push. Then blood for a higher damage Pain, and very strong healing.

STR focus - The idea is to combine strong HPs, Retaliation which is Acid Sheathe on steiroids, and decent healing into one strong tanking package. For items, the Orb of Life is a solid start, followed by the Helm of HitPoints and the Armor of STR/armor most likely. Getting the talisman of the sun would be great if possible. Once again, mana is a big problem. Your main sequence will be retaliation followed by Lifetap (for a big mana boost), then Cure Wounds for a decent heal, Blackglobe&Shadowveil can be used for cheap cycling back to Retaliate. Execute, LifeTap, Shred, Globe, VampBite are STR-based skills that can crush any hero that gets too close. (Execute has long range remember) Blood is recommended for a powerful Close Wounds and Vampiric Bite. War is recommended for Retaliate since it is key. Shred can be used as well. Fire is useless, EXCEPT that Scintellate would be really really nice for both mana regen and immolate. But the 2 above schools are key for the build.