Nevermore the Shadowfiend Guide by NXM.NunnoX
Written by admin on September 22nd, 2008This guide was created by NXM.NunnoX. Good job!
I have decided to write a guide for the Nevermore, the Shadowfiend because he is one of my favorite heroes in DotA Allstars, and in my opinion, very hard to play. His primary nuke can be devastating, his Necromastery can destroy last hit depending heroes and his ultimate also can be devastating. Now that sounds a little bit to imbalanced, but it isnt. Shadowraze definitely requires some skill(although not as much as most think), Necromastery requires some serious last hit skills and his ultimate is only useful if timed correctly and if you are able to use it. His ultimate needs an item. Let it be Lothar’s Edge or Black King Bar.
The Shadowfiend should be played as a carry hero, so farming and staying alive are very important for him.
Skill Build
Level 1. Necromastery
Level 2 and 3. Shadowraze
Level 4. Necromastery
Level 5. Shadowraze
Level 6. Necromastery
Level 7. Shadowraze
Level 8. Necromastery
Level 9. Presence of the Dark Lord
Level 10 and 11. Requiem of Souls
Level 12 – 14. Presence of the Dark Lord
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Requiem of Souls
Level 17 – 25. Stats
Additional notes
Getting Necromastery at level 1 is a must, but you can switch the order of Necromastery and Shadowraze thereafter. It depends on your lane control. If you aren’t able to get any creeps, level Shadowraze as soon as possible. If you just have too few damage to do anything against your enemy, level Shadowraze. If your opponent isn’t in your lane quite a while (example: when you solo Beastmaster, he ganks a lot) level Necromastery.
You can get Requiem of Souls at level 9, and Presence of the Dark Lord at 10, it doesn’t matter at all.
Explanation
This build is the cookie cutter build, the build that always should be used. Shadowraze is your primary weapon of achieving lane control, but don’t underestimate Necromastery. Requiem of Souls is a good ultimate, yet not so devastating as many think. At level 1, it sucks, it deals less damage then Shadowraze then so you’d better use that mana for Shadowraze.
Item Build
This actually is the main reason why i decided to write this guide. So many items work on the Shadowfiend. I think the best idea to get to a decent item build is thinking in steps, so let’s start:
Step 1
The very first step is buying 2 Circlets and 2 sets of Tango’s, that is for me the ideal start on the Nevermore.
Step 2
Buy Bottle. For a hero who always should solo mid this will always remain the best item. It establishes your lane control. Get it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, KTHX.
Step 3
Buy Boots of Speed.
Step 4
Lothar’s Edge or Black King Bar? In the previous version, you should always get Dagger. It owned. Nowadays, it has been nerfed, and Lothar’s has been buffed. However, Lothar’s provides little in teambattles, in my opinion. However, it also depends a lot on your line-up. Against an line-up with Beastmaster and Magnus, BkB has very little use, since both ultimates go trough BkB.
Anyway, get one of these items as soon as possible, just after Boots of Speed.
/
Step 5
In my opinion, staying alive is the MOST important factor for a carry hero. So in my opinion, Bracers are almost always preferable over Wraith Bands. But for 70% it is personal preference. So now use your 2 Circlets that you have already bought to finish your Bracers/Wraith Bands. If you go for Treads, you only have 2 slots left (Power Treads, TP-scroll, Bottle, BkB/Lothar’s), so you should buy 2 of them. With Boots of travel, you have 3 slots left, so get 3 of them.
/
Step 6
Boots of Travel or Power Treads? In this version, my opinion goes for Power Treads. Boots of Travel is more farm orientated. It mostly depends on the current game. Are we losing, need i to get powerful fast? Get Power Treads. Do we have 4 (early game) ganks heroes, do i need to be the powerful one later? Get Boots of Travel. Again, my opinion goes for Power Treads, but for a more farm orientated game, go for Boots of Travel. If you go Power Treads, you should get or a AGI Treads, or STR Treads. My vote again goes for STR Treads. REMEMBER: When going for Power Treads, ALWAYS CARRY A TP-SCROLL, I REPEAT, ALWAYS CARRY A TP-SCROLL. With that being said, remember that Power Treads takes two slots(Treads + Scroll(s)). Anyways, extremely late game, always get Boots of Travel. It saves you a slot +it makes you able to teleport anywhere on the map where a creep is, that ability is invaluable.
/
Step 7
So you have finished what i call the core build, so what now? In the earlier versions, Skadi was the shit. In the newer versions, Skadi is just too slow. Skadi is an EXCELLENT item on Nevermore, don’t get me wrong, but i think it is too slow. Yet if you are farming extremely well, and if you got Boots of Travel, Skadi still is an excellent choice. Anyways, i think it is too slow so you’d better move on to other items. In my opinion, the very two best items after the core build are Stygian Desolator and Helm of the Dominator. As you notice, they both are Orbs, so you cannot get them both. They both are cheap (the other even MUCH cheaper), and they both give you mid game bonuses. Stygian isn’t one of the best very late game items, so you should buy it before the 40 min mark. Stygian is also a lot more expensive. So you should get Stygian if you are farming decently well mid game, and you need some quick assistance to your team (if your team does (really) fine, get Skadi) get Stygian. However, if your team does need quick(er) assistance, and you aren’t farming that well get Helm of the Dominator. Other items like Mjollnir and Butterfly own, but they take TOO long to farm and don’t give any survivability unlike Skadi. (My opinion goes for Stygian)
An other advantage of Helm of the Dominator is that it can be upgraded to Satanic, which is one of the power items very late game.
On a further note, Skadi leaves the path open for other orb effects like Lightning, unlike Stygian and HotD.
You won’t have enough item slots, you should sell a Bracer/Band or Bottle by now. I would go for selling Bottle.
/
/
Step 8
Buy Butterfly. This item is the shit by now. It not only gives you tremendous DPS, it also helps a lot against heroes like Mirana and Terrorblade by now. Again you won’t have enough item slots, sell a Bracer/Band or Bottle now.
Step 9
Filling the last slots. If you went Skadi, you should buy a Mjollnir or a Satanic. If you went Helm of the Dominator, you should finish Satanic. With Stygian, you should go for Buriza by now. Again you won’t have enough item slots, sell a Bracer/Band or Bottle now.
/
/
Step 10
If you went Boots of Travel, you will have one slot (semi) free. With Skadi and Helm of the Dominator, get Buriza. With Stygian, get Heart of Terrasque.
If you went Power Treads, sell it and get Boots of Travel.
/
Step 11
If you went Power Treads and you sold it by now, repeat step 10.
Strategy
First off you should buy 2 Circlets of Nobility and 2 Set’s of Tangs. You don’t need very much early regeneration because you are going for Bottle anyway.
In 90% of all cases you should go solo mid. Solo mid is the most ideal lane for the Nevermore. He can farm there undisturbed and he can fight uphill to get the maximum out of his Razes and last hits.
The Shadowfiend has the potential of a great solo hero. Yet against some heroes, he is gonna lose horribly if not played extremely cautious. Your worst solo enemies are these, especially the first one;
Viper the Netherdrake
Boush the Tinker
Dual lanes, such as the Slayer and the Skeleton King
and 
Your best bet against these heroes is using Shadowraze © to it’s maximum. You can hit creeps at 900 range then (Raze has a 225 AoE if i remember correctly). A Viper cannot hit you from there. Remember when facing heroes as Viper, always wear a TP-Scroll, so you can always teleport back to base when you are getting Orb-owned.
The most important factors for carries are staying alive and FARM. Farm is possibly the most important thing in whole DotA, no hero can go without farm, and especially not carries. Normally i don’t point out “checkpoints” too much, but for a hero like Nevermore, the best farmer in the game, you really should have reached the 200 cs by the 50 minutes mark, preferably even a little sooner.
The things that “make” Nevermore is his ability to farm and his early lane control. He is one of the very few agility heroes that have such lane control. Yet don’t go too aggressive in your lane. Even with a hero with so potential, you should play “careful”. This all because you cannot afford to die. A 0-0 Nevermore with 100 cs does better in general than a 5-3 Nevermore with 70 cs.
Anyways, coming back to the things that make Nevermore, he isn’t naturally the most powerful carry, not by far. Any Terrorblade rapes Nevermore by the 60 min mark if they are almost equally farmed. But Nevermore can farm more than any other hero in the game because he has the potential of destroying creep waves in less than 3 seconds, over and over again. Of all carry heroes, Nevermore is probably the weakest, yet with his potential to farm, Nevermore suddenly gets a lot stronger. That is why Nevermore should always have the most creep score in the game. This is of course not always possible, but you should at least try to. For a comparison, if you have the same cs as a LightOfHeaven in any game, you are doing fine.
If you have chosen to get Boots of Travel, you must have a different play style then when you would have gone for Treads. With Boots of Travel you should always look for the spot in the map where there are a lot of creeps. Use your Razes to destroy the wave and take another wave. Then go back and get some neutrals and wait for your TP to cooldown again. Remember, don’t go in the dangerous spots unless you surely know that you cannot be ganked or that you can escape the gank. Always watch your mini map, not only to look for nice farm spots, but you should always know for 50% where the enemies are.
In team battles, it depends a lot on your items how to play. For example, you wait for the best time to use your Black King Bar. When magic immunity is activated, walk further in and make sure to kill at least one enemy support hero (Lina/Lesh/Lich/low HP heroes). Make sure you don’t die directly after the 9 second during magic immunity.
However, if you have Lothar’s, you must make sure they cannot spot you when you go invisible. So you depend more on your (supporting) allies that they can save your ass with Sentries for example.
When having Skadi, you can go LITTLE more aggressive in team battles, you have more EHP now.
Anyways, in general, make sure not to die in team battles, if you survive during it, you are doing fine. Preferably go stand behind trees, make sure you are attacking enemy heroes and get as much razes off as possible. Now your tanking ally should go in (Skelly/Sven for example). If you can THEN activate BkB and get Requiem of Souls off. When having Lothar’s you must initiate, however, you have to make sure your allies will go in after you so that you can back off a little.
You can in general playing carries like this: Always wear a TP-Scroll and farm and farm. Then you see your team is having a fight, and TP to your team. Rarely YOU should be the one looking for a gank. It’s ok to assist in ganks (although also not too much), but you’d better farm and only be there during important battles.
Farming
Early game, you should try to reach the maximum amount of souls as soon as possible, you can do this with last hit or with Shadowraze. Try to mix both methods to reach the best result. For me, early game is almost over when you have level 4 Shadowraze.
Mid game you SHOULD, so it goes as fast as possible, use 2 Razes to destroy a whole creep wave, i always do it like this: Attack a creep at maximum range with your normal attack. Then press C and then press X. If you want to save some mana, attack all melee creeps twice and the ranged creep(s) once, then use Shadowraze (X). If you want to save a lot of mana, just auto attack-last hit/last hit them. This isn’t very preferable since you are wasting your potential to farm then.
Late game comes when 2 Razes aren’t enough to destroy a whole wave. If you aren’t pushing (so intentionally farming) you must attack all creeps once, and then use press X and C. You also can attack all melee creeps twice and the ranged creeps once and then use Shadowraze (X), you will have enough damage for that by now. “Why shouldn’t i just use X and C first and then attack the remaining creeps?” I have done this for a long time, but after experience i noticed that you ALWAYS miss at least 2 creeps. With the same easiness (first attacking, then Razing) you will get all creeps, whole game long. For the same reason you shouldn’t use your 3 Razes.
Replays
In general, i REALLY advise you to look at some replays where LightOfHeaven, Loda or Maelk. Especially the first two are at this moment the very best carry hero players in the world.
The first two replays are mine. I haven’t been able to find a truly nice Nevermore this version (6.52e, 1.22). I will add so one in time. If you can find one where Loda is playing Nevermore, tell me.
Download Replays:
26
PM
thx for the guide…because i will play with nevermore from today…
thanks
14
AM
Thx 4 all your hard work brother.
17
PM
good guide. but now i prefer manta style on nevermore~
Power Threads, Lothar, Manta style, Butterfly, and buriza always own
25
PM
my faviorate hero is nevermore
13
PM
Great guide for me..
thanks a lot..
could you give some guide about anubarak and sand king and post it at google’s first page?
e-mail me at alvin_steviro@yahoo.com
thanks a lot..
18
AM
pwede
30
AM
sory i think its better to use 6 bracers then butterfly
2
AM
uhmm, if ur playing nevermore you should get ur ulti immediatly and build this items:
1.assault cuirass
2.p.threads
3.desolator
4.butterfly
and in my opinion dont come to close with ur enemy
19
PM
hahaha,nice job… hey what version is it?
21
AM
u have tried ur best!!
but i pre -
1 BOT
2lothar
3 sange yasha
4 burza
5 butter
6 heart or assault
26
AM
Thx. Now i get a rough idea how to play this hero.
I think i will get:
1)Satanic (6150)
2)BOT (2700)
3)Lothar (3400)
4)Butterfly (6000)
5)HOT (5500)
6)Buriza (5800)
Total Cost: (29550)
7
AM
Zory ; but I am not know DOTA
13
AM
wat a guide ^^
try mine ^____^
-Bot
-Lothars
-Bfly
-Guinsoo
-Bkb
-Necronomicon
-Skadi
^^,
20
AM
i think nevermore just one of the hardest hero to played in dota..whatever ur item,,play with ur style..
me :
-skadi
-travel
-cuirras
-HOT
-linken
-Soulboster+preverence,im forget d name.
25
AM
Tang ina shet,mga bobo b kau,e2 mlupet n build:
kelens dagger
bottle
BoT
desolator
tarrasque
bfly
30
AM
mga bobo noobs e2 maluper
bot
sange
lothars
manta style
desolator
2
AM
Thanks a lot!!!
Your guide was OK!!
7
AM
Mga b0b0 wala lht keong kwenta manood nlng keo ng dota mga walang kwenta kaung nag dodota dapat gamet ni nevermore
-kelens
-manta
-blfy
-bkb
-BOT
-heart
un lng ung gamet nun mga b0b0 no0bzz
14
PM
erm i think nevermore is a veli noob hero u juz take some magic resistance hero like magina or QoP can own edi lolz
19
PM
Hey guys…. good day!!! i am beginner in dota and i would appreciate if somebody could give me the best guide for nevermore… they say it’s one of the strongest char. from beginning to end game… is this thru? but it depends on the user isn’t it?
23
AM
thanks for the item guide i will learn to be pro usind nevermore
24
PM
TAE.MGA NOOB.
E2 GAMIT.
-lothars.
-BKB.
-BOT.
-BUTTERFLY.
-MANTA.
-DESOLATOR/SKADI
27
AM
i think..
item guide..
> satanic
> mkb
> buridza
> tarras
> butter
> BOT
thx for greet guide . . ^_^
30
AM
I’m so wonder to see Video SK-gaming
let I tell the story
Once there is a scared tower and SF Loda hit on that,whenever Leoric use Teleport to save the tower …. Actually Loda is go back because tower on there and Half HP he have
seconds late he come back to the tower<<I think SO CRAZY ON HIM
when leoric use storm bolt on him
He avoid it with Blink dagger and destroy the tower… WOW WOW WOW
For his SF!remember this
NO VIPER AND TINKER CAN HARRASSING HIM
THANKS
1
PM
LOTHAR’S EDGE IS ALWAYS PRESENT IN NEVERMORE!!!!
LOOK AT tanginaa’s COMMENT ABOVE.. HIS ITEMS ARE ORB EFFECTS!! HAHA HE IS A NOOB!!!
my build is
PHASE BOOTS=its better than threads in v6.63
LOTAHRS=for its ulti!! of course
BFLY=all AGI heroes need this!!
CUIRASS=armor and IAS
nevermore needs bottle!!
10
AM
nice job…
wat a nicE guiDe..
tq
17
PM
thx alot,wish u could add me and teach me in game =\ JudgeElf001
17
PM
Best Guides ever tyvm =)
19
AM
i think this the best item for nevermore
-satanic
-buttterfly
-lothar-edge
-monkey king bar
-bottle
-desolater
30
PM
i think the best item for nevermore
butterfly
bottle
treads
lothars
desolator
heart
8
AM
best item 4 shdow friend
*BOT
*BOTTLE
*FLY
*MANTA
*CUIRAS
*DIVINE
10
AM
I think the best items for shadow fiend are:
BOOTS OF TRAVEL
LOTARS EDGE
BKB
TARASQUE
BUTTERFLY
SATANIC
14
AM
i think nEvermore is the one of best hero in dota…..
*b0t
*buterfly
*satanic
*linkens
*bkb
*H0t
22
AM
i think..
*lothar’s
*manta
*butterfly
*threads
*bottle
gOdLike?
26
AM
1.BOt
2.lothars
3.bkb
4.manta
5.desolator
6.kellens dagger/butterfly
26
PM
try this
BOT
Manta
Butterfly
diffusal
lothars
bkb
Ultra killlllll…..!!!!!!!!!!
28
AM
my item if hero is nevermore:-
28
AM
my item if hero is nevermore:-
*lothar
*butterfly
*treads
*satanic
*burizza
*monkey king bar
try it,i sure it will be and can be *Rampage*!!!!
29
AM
i think>
*manta
*skadi
*lotahr’s
*bottle
*boots of travel
*BkB!!!
2
PM
Good guide, good hero… but difficult to play!
7
PM
nub kayo lahat e2 tama
-satanic
-bottle
-bfly
-skadi
-phase boots
-assault cuirass
10
AM
MY ITEM BUILD:
*Boots OF TRAVEL
*DAGGER OR LOTHARS
*MANTA
*BUTTERFLY/DESOLATOR
*CUIRAS ASSUALT
*HEART OF TARRASQE/SATANIC
23
AM
your all noobs the best items for nevermore is (6 BOTTLES)
23
AM
Check kuroky at Aeon quite while before join the MYM. He build lothar > BoT > manta > bfly > satanic > then divine rapier. He own the game from mid game till ends altough his enemy are some fnatic players that pick Mirana and Morph which quiet imbalance early and mid game. Less than 30 mins the enemy break the last mid tower and got more powerfull creeps at mid. But it reversed at the end of the game. So amazing play by all of both players. You can download the replay at gosugamers.com and search a replay titled amazing which one of sentinel player named Aeon.kuroKy that pick the Nevermore.
26
PM
vovo uNg tama e2 oH sa late game
1.bottle
2.tango
3.ironwood branch
4.magic stick
5.bracer
6.bkb
31
PM
Ur guide is nice..
but i wanna advice to use..
1.Kalen’s Dagger for ultimate
2.Diffusal Blade for ultimate
3.BOT for Movement speed
4.Vanguard for protection
5.Buriza-Do-Kyanon for double damages
6.Ages of immortal(Roshan) for 2 lives
23
PM
all guide is good
-for me-
1. dagger for ultimate
2. avatar for protection
3. hyperstone for attack speed
4. mkb for true strike damage
5. butterfly additional
25
AM
Thanks so much for the guide
Really helped me a lot
I will use this hero from now on
Continue to post some more
pro gamer
31
AM
If u see nevermore being picked just get anti Mage
13
PM
kilala ko po ikaw
19
AM
imba build SF is ..
BOOTS
BOTTLE
OBSERVER WARDS
BUTTER
MANTA
SATANIC..
try this….:)
6
PM
my build for NeverMoRe:
1 dagger
2 satanic
3 manta
4 butterfly
5 linkin sphere
6 bkb
19
PM
ang mga weak nyo nmn di kayo ttagal skin cgurado…
Lothar
BoT
Manta
Deso
Linken
Asssult Cuirass
yan lang build ko jan sure baal na beyond GODLike ako jan..
mag samsama pa kayo mga weak kayo
19
PM
People in Phillipnes are more imbalanaced player than Other countries so all of you are just another noob to be killed of you go here…
1
AM
Bot lothars deso dagger butterfly bkb
10
AM
Guys….your build suck..
1.Power Treades
2.Lothars
3.Desolater
4.divine
5.divine
6.buriza
10
AM
your crits are 1000+ if you want you can sell lothars for Heart or something with hp
12
PM
tsk…im from the phil and it makes me laugh wen i read all the grammatical errors of my fellowmen..ha3
nev ult build(1st item to last)
loth
bot
manta
skad
hotd or mjo
hot for a REAL FUCKING HIGH HP SF____THANKS
2
AM
see u ppl speak shit english let me make it more simple..
BkB
Threads
Deso
Butterfly
Buriza
27
PM
bottle
threads
BKB
dagger
manta
fly
28
PM
The 6 build item you should need for nevermore are:
1.boots of travel or power treads
2.desolator,satanic or skadi
3.lothars edge,bkb or kellens dagger
4.buriza
5.butterfly
6.etherial blade or mantha style
2
AM
all i know the best build for sf without using bkb is…
.lothars.
.linken.
.manta.
.satanic.
travel.
butterfly..
/…depend on the strategy being used..
6
PM
ang tatalino nyo mga tga phils :D
bot
dagger
bkb
satanic
etheral blade
manta
sarap kaya try mow :D