Gameplay

Playstyle
Shadow Fiend is a ranged carry who collects the soul of every unit he kills, growing stronger with each soul claimed. Because of this, he benefits from a high attack damage potential, but also suffer punishing setbacks if he dies. The Shadow Fiend can also unleash all the souls he has gathered, devastating enemies over a wide area with Requiem of Souls. While highly effective as an offensive hero, Shadow Fiend has no defensive abilities and needs help from teammates to position his abilities.
Pros	Cons
Gains damage from kills. Fast farmer. Good balance of early game magic damage and late game physical damage. Extremely high physical damage.	Loses damage upon dying. No escape mechanism. Requires good positioning. Low starting damage.

Ability Builds

Generic Shadow Fiend
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Talents

Tips & Tactics

General

• Shadow Fiend is nearly always played in the mid lane.
• Unlike other carries, Shadow Fiend's heavy damage depends on his Necromastery count. This means that dying will make him significantly weaker, especially in the late game.
• Shadow Fiend has no movement or escape abilities, making him easily gankable. Make sure there are wards to spot any potential gankers moving to the mid lane.
• Survivability is essential for Shadow Fiend early in the game.
  • A Shadow Fiend with few souls will have a hard time regaining footing in the mid game.
  • Play conservatively and take few risks until he has a decent health pool and soul count.
• Denying creeps gives souls, so it is more important to Shadow Fiend to get both last hits and denies then most other characters.
• More tips needed.

Abilities

Shadowraze

• Shadowraze's low mana cost means it can be used during the laning phase to score last hits and harass the enemy.
• Each Shadowraze has a different range, and should be used based on the distance the enemy is from you.
• A Shadowraze cast can be stopped using the Stop command (S by default).
• Shadowraze's nuke damage is considerable during the early game, and allows Shadow Fiend to gank.
• Use Shadowraze early if you're having trouble building souls. A level 1 Shadowraze deals 90 damage, which is much higher than the 35-41 base attack damage you start with.
• Multiple Shadowrazes allows Shadow Fiend to clear creep waves very quickly.
• Use Shadowraze in early game fights, when it deals more damage than your attacks.
  • During the late game, Shadow Fiend's attacks should deal higher DPS than using Shadowraze.
• Enemies take more damage from Shadow Raze after each successful hit.
• To land all three Shadowrazes on distant but stationary targets, move forward a little after each Shadowraze. This is particularly effective when engaging targets who are already disabled, or fighting a teammate.
• Shadow Raze (Medium)'s distance is about equal to Shadow Fiend's base attack range.
• Use Shadowraze to chase melee heroes when they are running in a straight line. Remember it also has a small area of effect.
• Use Shadowraze to finish off enemies juking in the trees.
• Shadowraze does hit invisible enemies, giving Shadow Fiend three chances to kill off a dying target.
  • Use Shadowraze immediately after the enemy goes invisible for increased accuracy.
• It is possible to hit all three ranges of Shadowraze on a stationary unit without moving between them.
• Binding directional movement can be useful for situations where there is an obstacle between Shadow Fiend and the target. Without it, one has to click closer to Shadow fiend while moving or risk missing the Shadowraze when turning due to pathing.
• More tips needed.

Necromastery

• Level Necromastery first to help Shadow Fiend start accumulating souls early, which lets him last hit more easily.
• Necromastery receives souls from all kills, including denies. This, however, doesn't mean you should prioritize denies over last hits.
• Jungle creeps are a safe and easy way to farm up souls with Shadowraze. This is a good way to regain souls during a tough mid lane or after a death.
• Denying Plague Wards builds up souls, especially useful at the beginning of the game.
• More tips needed.

Presence of the Dark Lord

• Combined with Necromastery, Presence of the Dark Lord lets Shadow Fiend deal heavy damage with physical attacks.
• Stay near enemies to keep them under the effect of the armor debuff.
• Since armor reduction is negligible during the early game, Presence of the Dark Lord is best leveled during the mid game, as Shadow Fiend has a very low basic attack damage without items or points in Necromastery.
• Combined with Desolator, Assault Cuirass, Stygian Desolator and the -4 armour talent, a total of 32 armour reduction can be achieved.
• More tips needed.

Requiem of Souls

• Requiem of Souls is one of the most powerful abilities in the game in terms of magical damage.
  • At very close range, Requiem of Souls may kill almost any hero.
• Requiem of Souls has a brief charge time, meaning that positioning is extremely important to its proper use.
  • Use the invisibility from Shadow Blade to sneak up next to an opponent before using Requiem of Souls.
  • Wait for teammates to stun, root, or slow enemies before using Requiem of Souls.
  • Begin charging Requiem of Souls next to a target that is cycloned or hidden by abilities like Astral Imprisonment, unleashing the full damage on them when the disable ends.
  • Requiem of Souls can be stopped during its channel time with the Stop command (S by default). Use this to cancel a poorly positioned cast, or to bluff and intimidate nearby enemies.
• Requiem of Souls is often skipped at level six, as it does little damage without the extra souls gained from higher levels of Necromastery, and can be hard to land without additional items like Shadow Blade or Black King Bar.
• When preparing to use Requiem below a unit that is cycloned the timing can change the amount of damage that will be dealt significantly. This is because it is possible to wait where the enemy unit will land, but they will be moved to the side of Shadow Fiend upon landing. However, there is a fraction of a second where the enemy lands in exactly the same spot as Shadow Fiend if timed and positioned correctly, meaning that all sides of Requiem can hit.
• When retreating, use Requiem of Souls as a defensive cover for your allies and a deterrent against pursuing enemies.
• Teamwork is very helpful when trying to land a good Requiem of Souls.
  • Let an ally such as Earthshaker initiate team fights before jumping in with Requiem of Souls.
• Requiem of Souls doesn't need to be cast in the middle of the enemy team to deal damage, as it can be hard to cast because you might be focused in the middle of a team fight. So try to use it where it can hit the enemies as the slow and damage reduction debuff is powerful enough to win you the team fight.
• More tips needed.

Items

Starting items:

• Tango provide the necessary health regeneration to help you staying in lane.
• Healing Salve can save Shadow Fiend when activated at the last moment.
• Slippers of Agility compensate for your low starting damage by allowing you to last hit easier in the laning phase. The more last hits you get, the stronger you become, so this is important.
• Clarity lets Shadow Fiend use Shadowraze more often in lane, helping him build up his Necromastery.

Early game:

• Regular Stick will help do nothing in particular for your Shadowraze.
• Bottle is crucial for surviving in lane, and capturing runes.
• Infused Raindrops will provide you with the mana regen to sustain Shadowrazes throughout the jungle, as well as provide a little bit of tankiness with the magic damage absorption.

Mid game:

• Magic Wand will save inventory space and provide a small attribute bonus.
• Power Treads increase your damage output with attack speed and agility, as well as survivability and sustainability when switched to strength or intelligence.
• Shadow Blade provides Shadow Fiend with an escape mechanism, and helps him position for Requiem of Souls. The invisibility fade time means you won't be visible until you're close to actually casting Requiem of Souls. Using this item and getting directly on top of an enemy and unleashing your ultimate will usually lead to a one-hit kill.
• Dragon Lance gives additional attack range and attributes.

Late game:

• Black King Bar provides good health and damage, but more importantly, can be used to ensure Requiem of Souls is not interrupted.
• Hurricane Pike is a natural upgrade from Dragon Lance that can push enemies away while providing infinite range for up to 4 attacks.
• Butterfly increases your DPS and makes you much more survivable against enemy carries who are reliant on their physical attacks.

Situational items:

• Blink Dagger gives Shadow Fiend some much needed mobility, and can be used to jump into fights with Requiem of Souls.
• Arcane Blink allows Shadow Fiend to jump into a fight using Requiem of Souls with a massive reduction to the long cast time, giving the enemy significantly time to react while being an upgrade to Blink Dagger.
• Eul's Scepter of Divinity can be used to cyclone an enemy, giving Shadow Fiend the time to charge Requiem of Souls and hit the enemy upon landing. It is also a great counter to heroes that rely on Blink Dagger to get away since enemy heroes will take 50 damage upon landing.
• Eye of Skadi grants a massive attribute bonus. In addition, its attack modifier's slow pierces spell immunity, ensuring enemies cannot kite you too easily.
• Assault Cuirass increases your team's DPS and survivability while reducing the other team's DPS and survivability. The armor reduction aura also stacks with Presence of the Dark Lord.
• Daedalus increases damage output and scales well into the late game.
• Satanic allows Shadow Fiend to quickly regain health by lifestealing during late game teamfights.
• Desolator, in combination with a maximized Presence of the Dark Lord, reduces an attacked enemy's armor by 14, increasing the physical damage it takes even further.
• Silver Edge is a natural upgrade from Shadow Blade, and provides break to disable passive abilities.
• Diffusal Blade improves Shadow Fiend's physical attacks, providing a boost to agility as well as allowing his attacks to burn mana. The active grants Shadow Fiend a light disable, something his own skills are lacking.
• Monkey King Bar increases attack damage, and counters enemies with evasion with magical damage procs.
• Boots of Travel is commonly picked up during the late game to push lanes and move around the map more efficiently.
• Aghanim's Scepter greatly increases the damage from Requiem of Souls, and raises Necromastery's maximum soul count.
• Manta Style is good for disjointing and confusing enemies, giving Shadow Fiend a little extra time to deal damage. It is also excellent for attacking towers and buildings.
• Scythe of Vyse is a good combination with Blink Dagger, granting a good disable, allowing Shadow Fiend to find kills more easily without Requiem of Souls, by easily getting off triple Shadowraze hits.
• Ethereal Blade is a good situational item, if you are going magical build, providing a big nuke due to Shadow Fiend's high agility, and giving a 40% increased magical damage, and a slow, which eases hits on Shadowrazes.