Accursed

[Padawanabee]

Accursed



http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5338/shot0015tgp.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/shot0015tgp.jpg/)



Introduction


Accursed is a strong tank/support hybrid. He mixes a heal/nuke and a damage shield/nuke with good strength and an ultimate that makes him very tough to kill. This makes him a support hero who lengthens the lives of his teammates, even as he proves a difficult target to take down.

Accursed was originally a direct port of Abaddon, Lord of Avernus from DotA, though he had 12x the badassery of that model. He recieved some balancing after being banned every game for months, and differs slightly from Abaddon.

Pros and Cons

Pros
Powerful support and laning capabilites.
An ult that reverses incoming damage that keeps you a low-priority target while supporting.
Versatile to an extent based on item choice.
Flaming sword.

Cons
Skillset becomes considerably weaker late game, item dependent to prevent that.
Above average dependency on allies, like all support.

Skills

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9639/64pxaccursedskill1.gif (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill1.gif/)

Cauterize
At the cost of some of his own health, Accursed bursts the air around a target, dealing damage to them if they are an enemy or healing them if they are an ally.

Target unit (not self)
Magic damage
Range: 750
Cooldown: 6 seconds
Mana cost: 75
Deals 100/150/200/250 Magic damage to enemy units or heals allied units for 100/150/200/250 Health. Deals 50/75/100/125 Magic damage to self.

This is your main heal and nuke. 250 to heal or nuke is a decent amount, and 75 mana is cheap for what it does. The most interesting aspect of the ability is the health investment. Half of any damage or healing you do is dealt in damage to you. Normally, this would be a huge problem. But with Accursed's skillset, we can sometimes use this damage to our advantage.


http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5317/64pxaccursedskill2.gif (http://img34.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill2.gif/)
Fire Shield
Accursed covers a friendly unit in a shield of flames protecting them from damage and removing harmful effects. If the shield is damaged to its breaking point, it will explode, dealing Magical damage to nearby enemies equal to that of the damage absorbed.

Allied target
Magic damage
Range: 400
Mana Cost: 100/105/110/115
Cooldown: 18/15/12/9
Removes most debuffs and stuns, then applies Fire Shield to target for 15 seconds. Fire Shield prevents 110/140/170/200. Once full amount is absorbed, damages enemies in 700 radius for 110/140/170/200 Magic damage.

A powerful skill, and probably the one Accursed is best known for. In addition to the actual numbers of 200 heal followed be 200 AoE nuke as well as an almost complete debuff removal, this skill can be used in various mind games. Also, once combined with cauterize it gives Accursed incredible early game potential and laning power.

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/4191/64pxaccursedskill3.gif (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill3.gif/)
Sear
Causes Accursed's attacks to sear his target, slowing their movement speed. Any ally that attacks the affected unit will be buffed with increased attack speed and movement speed.

Passive, applied on target
Attack modifier
Places a debuff on any unit you attack. That debuff slows them by 5/10/15/20 for 4.5 seconds, and any friendly unit that hits them, during that time gains 10/20/30/40% attack and 10% movement speed for a short time.

Note: Accursed gains the movespeed and attack speed bonus every time he hits a unit.

The first item of note is that this ability sets your sword ON FIRE. Seriously, your model looks 3x cooler. This and the 10% movement speed at all levels suggests you get at least 1 level of this early. This spell is useful in many situations once leveled. Keep in mind that this effect works not only on you, but on anyone hitting the target it's been applied to, making this ability a form of offensive support.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3452/64pxaccursedskill4.gif (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill4.gif/)
Flame Consumption
Accursed summons a powerful fire tornado around himself which, when fueled with damage, causes him to regain his life. When not in cooldown, this ability automatically activates when The Accursed drops below 400 Health.

Active, applied on self
Removes debuffs and applies Protective Flames to self for 3/4/5 seconds. Protective Flames, 100% of damage taken converted to health.

This is the ability that makes you a tank, and very hard to kill. While this ult is not on cooldown, you don't need to fear ANY form of burst damage unless it can stunlock you completely. Magmus ult, Moon queen ult, Behemoth combo, all these things act as a heal if you're ult is up and used correctly.



Skill Build
Classic
Level 1. Fire Shield
Level 2. Cauterize
Level 3. Fire Shield
Level 4. Cauterize
Level 5. Fire Shield
Level 6. Flame Consumption
Level 7. Fire Shield
Level 8. Cauterize
Level 9. Cauterize
Level 10. Sear
Level 11. Flame Consumption
Level 12. Sear
Level 13. Sear
Level 14. Sear
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Flame Consumption
Level 17-25. Stats


This is the classic build you'll see on many Accursed's. Fire Shield and Cauterize give unmatched lane control and gank power, provided you have the mana to support it. Over 6 seconds you can deal 700 magic damage (Shield self, Cauterize enemy, Cauterize enemy after cooldown, shield explodes) plus whatever an ally deals or you deal in melee. Accursed is an extremely versatile hero with this build, and that 700 can just as easily be used to heal/shield an ally.



Mine
Level 1. Fire Shield
Level 2. Sear
Level 3. Cauterize
Level 4. Cauterize
Level 5. Cauterize
Level 6. Flame Consumption
Level 7. Cauterize
Level 8. Fire Shield
Level 9. Fire Shield
Level 10. Fire Shield
Level 11. Flame Consumption
Level 12. Sear
Level 13. Sear
Level 14. Sear
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Flame Consumption
Level 17-25. Stats


I personally find the 10% movement speed and visual effect of one level of Sear worth it early on. I also don't see the need of leveling up Fire Shield so quickly, considering you only get 30 shield/AoE nuke power per level. Granted, leveling up Fire Shield from 1 to 4 halves it's cooldown from 18 to 9, even so I find leveling up Cauterize and having a 250 nuke every 6 seconds by level 7 to be worthwhile. You still have the same result by level 10, so try it out if you're bored of the classic build.



Items



Initial Items


http://i36.tinypic.com/33o4aro.jpghttp://i36.tinypic.com/33o4aro.jpghttp://i36.tinypic.com/ibxlz4.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/dxmz3k.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/313jh2d.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/2wd9esz.jpg/)


Minor Totem- 53g
Minor Totem- 53g
Guardian Ring- 175g
Mana Potion x2 - 100g
Runes of the blight x6- 180g

*Replace the Guardian Ring and 1 mana pot with wards or a monkey courier if your team needs you to buy one of these.

Total- 561 gold

Basic regen, some stats, and a Guardian Ring you can turn into a Ring of the Teacher at Outpost.

Working on our core

There are several cheap items that work well on Accursed before working on a big purchase. I will list them in order of importance and convenience (distance, cost, space) on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest.

Mana Battery
Importance: 5 Convenience: 5

A very effective item that can be purchased at the outpost. Good source of burst regen, something Accursed can definitely make use of. While more effective when laning against things like Nymphora/Armadon, it is useful against all lanes and in team fights, even mid game. Convenience rated 5, since you might have the two totems used to make this a Power Supply anyway.

Logger's Hatchet
Importance: 3 Convenience: 4

Accursed is a melee hero, so he can obviously make good use of this Hatchet. Can be picked up at the Outpost.

Iron Buckler
Importance: 3 Convenience: 4

An effective defensive item that can be purchased at the outpost. At no point would you upgrade this to a HotBL, you only use it for a HUGE damage reduction against creeps. Since Accursed spends a lot of time in the middle of fights, that 20 reduction can quickly add up.

Marchers
Importance: 5 Convenience: 2

Obviously, you'll want to pick up Marchers at some point in the first 10 minutes of gameplay.

Power Supply
Importance: 3 Convenience: 4

If you decided to pick up a mana battery, you'll want to purchase this upgrade to open up a few inventory slots.

Fortified Bracelet
Importance: 2 Convenience: 4

You need one of these for your health pool. If you're not a fan of Power Supply, you would want a second Bracelet to cover the stats.


Core Build



(http://img690.imageshack.us/i/2wd9esz.jpg/)http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4066/sff52q.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/sff52q.jpg/)http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2wd9esz.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img690/2wd9esz.jpg/1/)http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/sff52q.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img690/sff52q.jpg/1/)http://i35.tinypic.com/172r06.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/143q5it.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/a59izo.jpg

Nome's Wisdom - 2600
Fortified Bracelet or Mystic Vestments - 400-510g
Power Supply - 494g
Ghost Marchers or Plated Greaves - 1500/1503
Total - 5000g (approx.)

You can use the two extra spaces for whichever items you'd prefer, normally a Hatchet or an Iron Buckler will be taking up one or two of my slots.

Nome's covers mana needs, while also giving support auras. Plated Greaves and Mystic Vestments both give +5 armor each, but you can opt for Ghost Marchers or a Fortified Bracelet to replace them. A Power Supply is an obvious and good choice.

So what next?
Accursed is a very versatile hero, and which items you choose to get specialize Accursed toward the role you want to focus on. It's generally accepted that you can focus on Tanking, Supporting, or Damage with Accursed. I've listed the items more or less under which role the fit, with some example builds at the end.


Specializing


Support items


These items emphasize Accursed's role as a supporter and healer. In addition to having two support skills available already, he is very hard to kill. Having the ability to keep your allies alive as long as you are alive gives the enemy an incentive to kill you, no easy task.

In short, you extend the life of the team, keeping everyone else alive so long as you are alive.



http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4532/6fyrfl.jpg (http://img198.imageshack.us/i/6fyrfl.jpg/) http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/172r06.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img33/172r06.jpg/1/)Astrolabe - 2306 - Heals all allies in the AoE for 250. An obvious support item and a good one.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1161/nobrly.jpg (http://img35.imageshack.us/i/nobrly.jpg/) Barrier Idol - 3653 - An effective item, you'll almost always want one against an AoE heavy lineup.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2056/qq4dnl.jpg (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/qq4dnl.jpg/) Abyssal Skull - 2050 - A situational support item, it's various auras add up to a nice item. After the addition of the improved Nome's was added to the Core, both this item and Ring of Sorcery are sorta unecessary, as it should cover all of your mana needs.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/2686/s625xc.jpg (http://img4.imageshack.us/i/s625xc.jpg/) Ring of Sorcery - 1700 - If you're having mana problems (many do) or have a caster-heavy lineup, go ahead and grab one of these. Again, with Nome's in the core you'll probably want to pass on additional mana supplementing items, as it covers those needs well.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1262/1zoezx5.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/1zoezx5.jpg/) Daemonic Breastplate - 5550 - Gives a significant armor and attack speed boost to yourself, and a decent boost to allies. Gives negative values to enemies, as well.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4401/1iogwj.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/1iogwj.jpg/) Frostfield Plate - 4700 - It's aura is supportive, it's int helps Accursed cast longer, it's activated ability slows and damages an AoE, and it's armor keeps us alive longer.


http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/8469/w0n86t.jpg (http://img32.imageshack.us/i/w0n86t.jpg/) Tablet of Command - 2200 - A nifty item I'll use occasionally. Useful in pushing yourself and fleeing allies, especially up and down cliffs. Alternatively, you can use it to push ranged heroes into close range.




Tank Items


If you just build Accursed as a Tank, you won't do anything. The enemy team will simply ignore you, killing your teammates and saving you for last. These items are used to help you live longer, use them alongside your other roles.



http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/4865/2mxpi6t.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/2mxpi6t.jpg/) Behemoth's Heart - 5500 - The obvious choice for tanking, this item adds Strength and hp regen. A luxury item, only grab it if you're being focused, and dieing before your teammates.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6452/22ncjd.jpg (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/22ncjd.jpg/) Staff of the Master - 4400 - This affects Accursed's ult, making it last quite a long time.


http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9403/2ilm0i1.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/2ilm0i1.jpg/) Shrunken Head - 3900 - If disables are a problem, grab a Shrunken Head.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3207/2d6zvb.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/2d6zvb.jpg/) Barbed Armor - 2200 - If the enemy is focusing you, grab this cheap item to make them pay for it.



DPS items


http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2nkq9th.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img40/2nkq9th.jpg/1/)http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6073/2usijqb.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/2usijqb.jpg/) http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2usijqb.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img200/2usijqb.jpg/1/)Mock of Brilliance - 5150 - Accursed is a very good Mock carrier, one of the best. His skillset emphasizes endurance. With this item, enemies are forced to either kill Accursed or take 40/sec each from it's aura.


http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3363/2akl0dz.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/2akl0dz.jpg/) Insanitarius - 2850 - An effective item on any strength hero looking to do damage, it is very effective on Accursed. Its activatable ability is very good for mind games, although it's 40/second damage is not effected by either Fire Shield or Flame Consumption.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2562/ejcyvc.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/ejcyvc.jpg/) Symbol of Rage - 6150 - If you're already doing good damage, this item will turn that damage into tankyness with lifesteal. Definately a luxury.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8962/2hn9abo.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/2hn9abo.jpg/) Brutalizer - 3100 - Between Sear and items like Enhanced Marchers, Insanitarius, and Daemonic Breastplate, Accursed can get a very good attack speed. Good enough to warrant items that scale with attack speed.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8923/2nkq9th.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/2nkq9th.jpg/) Charged Hammer - 5500 - Between Sear and items like Enhanced Marchers, Insanitarius, and Daemonic Breastplate, Accursed can get a very good attack speed. Good enough to warrant items that scale with attack speed.

The hammer adds 70 attack speed on it's own, as well. And its activated ability can be placed on Accursed or a teammate for funsies.




Rejected items

Helm of the Black Legion- may sound like a cheap way to solve your hp problems, but you're better off going with the core and working on your Behemoths heart. Just get the beastheart for the extra 250 hp and turn it into your heart later. Remember, most of the time we'll WANT people blowing up our Fire Shield, which Helm defends against, and we have plenty of survivability early.
Shieldbreaker and Frostwolf skull - Both of these items work as BUFF PLACERS. If you'll recall, Sear is a buff placer and it does not stack with either of these.

Notes:


Obviously you can focus on multiple roles.

In general, support is more powerful early game and DPS more powerful late game. You might want to focus your item build on what your team needs.

[Padawanabee]

Item Builds
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2wd9esz.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img197/2wd9esz.jpg/1/)





Most of the time, you won't want to focus on just one role. The majority of Accursed games you'll build a hybrid of his three roles. Many of the items fit into multiple roles, like Frostfield Plate and Mock of Brilliance. If enemies are attacking you because of Mock, you are effectively supporting your teammates by tanking, even while doing damage. So it does all three roles.

In short, there are many good items on Accursed. You'll want to pick and choose how to specialize Accursed, usually based on what your team needs.

After getting your core there are many ways you can go. Here are a few examples I sometimes work toward.

Example 1 - The Bastion

*Best used with teams high on damage, but lacking in support.

This build focuses on Accursed being a very hard target to kill, and yet forces the enemy team to do just that before they can kill your teammates. It is a Tank/Support hybrid.

First off, we'll want some extra healing power, so let's grab an Astrolabe.

Then, we use our Post Haste to farm a lane, and then teleport into team fights when they come up, using our skills and Astrolabe to keep our allies alive. While doing this, we slowly build a Mock of Brilliance. This makes us a prime target, as we can do 120/second if 3 enemies are within range, even while healing, shielding, and hitting for over 150 damage.

Now that we have the enemies attention, let's beef up our hp by making a Barrier Idol and Behemoth's Heart. We still support our teammates with Barrier Idol, and at the same time gain colossal hp and magic defense.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/8655/posthaste.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/i/posthaste.jpg/)http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4532/6fyrfl.jpg (http://img198.imageshack.us/i/6fyrfl.jpg/)http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1161/nobrly.jpg (http://img35.imageshack.us/i/nobrly.jpg/)
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/4865/2mxpi6t.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/2mxpi6t.jpg/)http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6073/2usijqb.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/2usijqb.jpg/)http://i35.tinypic.com/172r06.jpg

We have two activatables that help keep the team alive. We have Post Haste to teleport wherever we're needed. The magic armor from Barrier Idol and physical Armor from Frostfield Plate, combined with Behemoth's Heart, keeps us alive and doing our job for a long time. Mock of Brilliance damages nearby enemies for as long as they leave us alone. Nome's is just a nice item all-around.


Example 2 - The Juggernaut

*Best used with teams that already have enough support or early game potential, but need some damage potential late game. Accursed will basically become a stand-in for a harder carry. Of the builds listed this is the one I use least often.

This build focuses on how difficult to kill Accursed is, and turning him into a DPSer. We'll get crazy DPS, even while continuing his role as a tank.

Alternatively, you could get Enhanced Marchers for this build, as they are a bit cheap to make.

The first item on the agenda is a cheap but significant damage boost. That would be Insanitarius. Although it's health degeneration bypasses both Fire Shield and Flame Consumption, it's immediate health boost and combat bonuses offer Accursed a significant source of damage and tankiness.

Next, we'll want to make sure disables won't be a problem, while boosting our damage. Shrunken Head and Mock of Brilliance should cover those.

Then, we'll make a Charged Hammer. It adds attack speed which, when combined with Sear, Enhanced Marchers, and Insanitarius gives us an amazing attack speed for it's proc to go off. We can also use it's activated ability on our self.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9403/2ilm0i1.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/2ilm0i1.jpg/)http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6073/2usijqb.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/2usijqb.jpg/) http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2usijqb.jpg/1/w64.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img200/2usijqb.jpg/1/)http://i38.tinypic.com/2qls7cz.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/172r06.jpghttp://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3363/2akl0dz.jpg (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/2akl0dz.jpg/)http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8923/2nkq9th.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/2nkq9th.jpg/)

Between Shrunken Head and our ult, we can spend about 15 seconds immune to magic or reversing damage. We have insane attack speed, hitting hard and proccing Charged Hammer. HP is fine, but most of our survivability comes from the Shrunken Head and our ult.

Example 3 - The Aura Maniac

This incarnation of Accursed helps his team just by being there. Each item we build gives a passive aura, allowing him to pursue enemies or heal allies, even while supporting his team with an inventory full or auras.

First, we make an Abyssal Skull. We follow up with Mock of Brilliance, Frostfield Plate, and Daemonic Breastplate.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4401/1iogwj.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/1iogwj.jpg/)http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/8640/172r06.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/172r06.jpg/)http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/8655/posthaste.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/i/posthaste.jpg/)
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2056/qq4dnl.jpg (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/qq4dnl.jpg/)http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1262/1zoezx5.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/1zoezx5.jpg/)http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6073/2usijqb.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/2usijqb.jpg/)

5 aura items, 3 positive for our allies, 3 negative for our enemies. Daemonic Breastplate does both.

From Qwernakus:

Example 4 - Enduring Damage

For use when the enemy has a lot of nukers/your team is powerful but lacks slows and stuns/Your team lacks a tank.


Start out with Trinket of Restoration, Runes of Blight and Minor Totems.

http://i36.tinypic.com/33o4aro.jpghttp://i35.tinypic.com/16j4ffm.jpghttp://i38.tinypic.com/313jh2d.jpg

Rush the Shamans Headdress in lane. Then get Plated Greaves. Now, get a Talisman of Exile for early mana problems.

http://i36.tinypic.com/2jchkdj.jpghttp://i36.tinypic.com/13yfq5x.jpghttp://honwiki.net/w/images/thumb/b/bd/Plated_Greavesitem.gif/60px-Plated_Greavesitem.gif (http://honwiki.net/wiki/Plated_Greaves)

Now, get a Frostfield Plate for the active. From here on, a Behemoths Heart would be good to handle any carries or make you invincible. Finish off with Daemonic Breatplate.

http://i35.tinypic.com/1iogwj.jpghttp://i35.tinypic.com/2mxpi6t.jpghttp://i35.tinypic.com/1zoezx5.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/2jchkdj.jpghttp://i36.tinypic.com/13yfq5x.jpghttp://honwiki.net/w/images/thumb/b/bd/Plated_Greavesitem.gif/60px-Plated_Greavesitem.gif (http://honwiki.net/wiki/Plated_Greaves)


Conclusion

Notice that these are not builds, but examples. Just about every game I play Accursed I use different items, and I don't believe there is one build that is the best for every occasion. I believe in the core of Fortified Bracelet, Power Supply, Nome's Wisdom and Post Haste (arguable), but after that the item choice will be dependent on what your team needs.

[Padawanabee]

Strategy



Skill use and synergies


Fire Shield

Fire Shield places a buff on a friendly target. It will remove stuns and most debuffs from the target, and then place a damage shield for 200 on the target. If 200 damage is dealt the shield is destroyed, dealing 200 in a 700 range AoE. It can be used defensively or offensively.

The most likely target for who to place Fire Shield on is a friendly hero, Accursed included, who's being attacked. If the ally is running, this buys them time to run, and depending on the situation the ally may turn around and begin fighting again. The enemies have a couple choices at this point. They can either fight, deal the shield's damage, and take the nuke, all while being attacked. Or, they can run, waiting for the shield to wear off.


An effective offensive use for the shield is to place it on Accursed himself. You can then do a number of things. You can charge an enemy, and they'll have the same dilemma as the enemies in the previous paragraph. You can also use Cauterize to break the shield, dealing both Cauterize's damage and Fire Shield's damage at the same time.

One of the best targets for Fire Shield is an initiator, blinker, or stealthed ally. Placing Fire Shield on Legionnaire right before he blink+taunts is an almost assured 200 damage nuke, while protecting Legionnaire. Placing Fire Shield on Magebane before he blinks in gives enemies a tough choice. Giving Night Hound Fire Shield before he pounces can even have the added benefit of being hard to see, so that enemies may try to fight Night Hound before they realize you shielded him.

Fire Shield is usually wasted on creeps, but if you have mana to spare feel free to cast it on a creep being focused by a tower or enemy creeps to harass a lane. You can even place it on a low hp friendly creep, and begin denying the creep to make sure the shield explodes.

In addition, Fire Shield removes debuffs. For those not used to the term, this means hostile effects such as damage over time, stuns, slows, and some harder disables are removed. If your ally is held by pollywog's net or electrician's grip and you cast Fire Shield on them, they're freed from the immobilize.

Notes:


Removes most debuffs and stuns. This is often the main reason Accursed is picked.

Effective targets include fleeing allies, Accursed himself, initiators and blinkers/stealthed allies, and friendly creeps below half life.
A nifty trick to break your Fire Shield if you're just farming is to right click an enemy hero. The creeps will aggro you, even if the hero you targetted was all the way across the map. So right click an enemy top lane when you're bot lane and hit s right away, all nearby creeps will aggro you. This works with Legionnaire as well.




Cauterize

Cauterize is a nifty heal/nuke with a cooldown of 6 seconds, 600 range, and 75 mana cost at all levels. It's most interesting feature is its health investment. Half of the damage healed or dealt is dealt in damage to Accursed, himself, making it hard to keep casting this spammable ability. Fortunately, our skillset helps to offset this investment to a degree.

Deciding how to use the skill is rather easy. If an enemy needs a nuke or an ally needs a heal, you cast it. Most of the strategy involves taking care of that health investment. Generally speaking, you'll be using this skill to heal allies more often than to kill enemies. Allies don't mitigate part of the damage, and offensive Cauterizes are best used to kill a fleeing enemy with low hp.

The easist spell combination is to place Fire Shield on yourself before casting Cauterize. The 125 health lost will go to the shield. In addition to protecting your health pool, there's the added benefit of dealing damage to the shield. If you use Fire Shield on yourself and cast Cauterize twice, you can deal up to 700 magic damage to an opponent.

Flame Consumption also reverses the 125 dealt to Accursed. Obviously, you won't be using your ult cooldown just to reverse the Cauterize damage, but if your ult goes off in a team fight you might as well toss a Cauterize on a teammate for the 250/125 heal to both of you.

Notes:


Healing Cauterizes are 25% stronger on average than damaging Cauterizes, since magic defense is not involved
A very versatile skill if you can find ways to negate the damage to Accursed.
Cannot be used on self
The 125 damage to self can be used to deny yourself.



Sear

Upon hitting an enemy unit with his right-click attack, an enemy unit gains a debuff for 4.5 seconds. That debuff slows the enemy by 5/10/15/20%, and gives any friendly unit attacking the unit 10% movespeed and 10/20/30/40 attack speed. The buff is applied to Accursed the first time he strikes an enemy unit.

It's most obvious use is to chase an opponent. You slow him down, and speed up anyone attacking him. As long as you keep swinging at him the slow stays, giving your teammates time to catch up. Also, 40 attack speed is a significant amount, most of a Warpcleft, giving you a hefty damage boost once leveled.

Notes:


Speed bonus applied to all friendly units attacking the debuffed units, effective offensively and defensively.
Sets your sword on fire for a cool visual effect.
10% speed bonus at all levels suggests picking up one level early, and ignoring the following 3 until more important skills are maxed.




Flame Consumption

When Accursed falls below 400 hp, or when you activate the ability, Accursed is surrounded by very noticeable blue flames. It immediately removes almost all debuffs, and for its duration any damage you would take is instead used to heal you.


You will usually want to use this ability as late in a fight as possible. It activates on it's own if you're under 400, so in most cases actually activating it will be a mistake. As long as your ult isn't on cooldown noone will want to focus you over the Moon Queen at half life. If you activate your ult early, you're just as fragile as the rest of the team.

Generally, let the ultimate go off on it's own. However, there are some rare moments you'll want to activate your ult. If you see Magmus channeling his ultimate and noone's gonna stun him, throw your ult on, charge him, and enjoy the full heal. This tactic is twice as funny if you got Barbed Armor earlier.

To summarize, let the ult take care of itself unless you see a HUGE amount of preferably AoE damage coming your way, in which case enjoy the 3/4/5 seconds of healing.

Keep in mind that when your ult activates a rather noticeable visual effect (blue flames) appears on your hero. Any smart enemies will stop attacking you at this point, so don't rely on it's healing powers in some scenarios.

Notes:


Can be countered by a couple of tactics, the first being simply not damaging Accursed for 5 seconds, and then finishing him off once it wears off.
Legionnaire's ultimate will kill you if you are under 625 hp, ultimate or no.
Pyromancer or Witch Hunter ultimates can kill you while you're at 600 hp, completely bypassing your ultimate.
You aren't immune to disables during the ultimate.



Synergies






http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5317/64pxaccursedskill2.gif (http://img34.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill2.gif/)+http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9639/64pxaccursedskill1.gif (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill1.gif/)
High mana cost, but any damage Cauterize would deal to you is instead dealt to the flame shield if the shield was cast on yourself, possibly for even more damage dealt. You are a surprisingly powerful nuker early game if you use this combo right.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3452/64pxaccursedskill4.gif (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill4.gif/)+http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9639/64pxaccursedskill1.gif (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill1.gif/)
Cooldown inefficient, but if you're in a position where you NEED a cauterize and you NEED health more than your minute long cooldown, any cauterize cast while your ult is on will heal you for 125. On the other hand, if you're down to 350 hp and your ult actives on it's own, go ahead and throw out a cauterize if it's not on cd.



(http://img10.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill1.gif/)

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5317/64pxaccursedskill2.gif (http://img34.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill2.gif/)+http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/4191/64pxaccursedskill3.gif (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill3.gif/)+http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9639/64pxaccursedskill1.gif (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill1.gif/)+http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9639/64pxaccursedskill1.gif (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill1.gif/)

Once you get all your abilities leveled, here's your general tactic in a 1v1. Shield yourself and hit the badguy to apply Sear. While chasing him, drop 2 Cauterize's on him to break the shield for a hefty nuke, keeping up with him due to the advantage of sear. If anything goes wrong, well, you still have your ult.






http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/8655/posthaste.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/i/posthaste.jpg/)+http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3452/64pxaccursedskill4.gif (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/64pxaccursedskill4.gif/)
If you're in over your head and need to GTFO, this combo. would be the veritable ace up your sleeve. Run, juke, hide, do whatever it takes to get your enemy/enemies to blow their stuns on you. As soon as every inturrupt and stun is on cooldown, or once you get a ways into the fog of war, pop your ult and teleport out. They can't kill you with your ult on, so if they can't cancel the teleport you're free.




BFF's and worst enemies


Best Friend's Forever

Heroes with surprise attacks
Example: Wretched Hag


Anyone with the ability to surprise an enemy, either with an invis or a blink, is a good ally to throw Fire Shield on. It allows an aggresive hero like magebane or wretched hag to blink into the middle of an enemy formation and let the nukes fly. Also, throwing Fire shield on Night Hound or Legionnaire before they run in throws in a mind game effect, as enemies are less likely to want to focus them with that 200 shield/nuke present.



Heroes thematically designed to charge into fights
Example: Blood Hunter


A Blood Hunter, Dark Lady, or the previously mentioned Magebane will LOVE you if you drop a Fire Shield on them prior to engaging the enemy. These heroes are all relatively fragile heroes who deal the most damage at melee range.



Worst Enemies

Heroes with disables/chasing abilities
Example: Pestilence


Heroes with disables like Pollywog or Succubus can stop you from escaping when you use borrowed time. If your ult goes off you have a short amount of time to GTFO. If you spend those 5 second of ult stunned or otherwise incapable of escaping, you're a sitting duck for the enemy team.

On the flipside, you are actually a powerful counter to these heroes when they are chasing someone other than you. While you can get disabled just as easily as the next guy, casting Fire Shield on an ally will oftentimes save them from an untimely death to permastun.



Heroes that can bypass Flame Consumption.
Example: Legionaire


An ultimate like Pyromancer or Legionaire's will bypass Flame Consumption completely. Pyromancer has a 1k damage nuke he can throw at us when we have 600 hp, for example.



Favorite Enemies

Burst damage
Example: Devourer


Any hero with a high damage combo. or damage that, once fired, can't be retracted are not a problem for Accursed. Whether it be Magmus channeling his ult or Pollywog dropping wards, Tempest's meteor+ult combo. or Voodoo's CG+ult, our ult counters these abilities that would normally be a guaranteed kill on any other hero. Also, if it's an ally being focused you can drop your 2 spells to seriously help them out, but a magmus ulti is still gonna mess up everyone on your team but you.



Damage over Time and powerful debuffs
Example: Slither


A long enough DoT will still give us trouble, but we have two tools to use against these types of heroes. Anything we can't simply purge with a use of Fire Shield or Flame Consumption will deal damage to either of those two.



Neutrals and Jungling

Accursed is not a jungle hero, best leave that to Tempest. However, Fire Shield is useful for supplementing your income with the occasional camp. In addition to pulling if you were lucky enough to get the long lane, you can gain a couple hundred easily. The best way to do this is probably to stack a wave or two, and then throw Fire Shield on yourself. Spread the damage around so that every enemy is around 200 life (or 400, if you're gonna drop 2) and watch as the shield BLOWS THE WHOLE CAMP TO SMITHEREENS!


Gameplay

Early game

Get your items and head either top or bottom. Try to lane with the weakest early gamer on your team, they could use the support. Solo mid and a level advantage are wasted on you, but if you have the chance to play an aggressive lane with another strong laner, by all means go for it. Fire Shield synergizes wonderfully with heroes like Magebane and Legionnaire. You have an excellent attack animation and powerful spells, keep your enemy on their toes.

Keep in mind, however, that laning with a carry type will seriously hamper your early game farm. If you're laning with Magebane, your shield+his blink will seriously mess with the enemies. But since Magebane needs farm a lot more than you, you should definitely be giving him the majority of the last hits. This type of lane will slow down your farm tremendously. At the same time, if Magebane has as good of an early game as Accursed can give him, your late game farm is kinda meaningless, no?

Since you'll be top or bottom, and probably have extra room for items, go ahead and pick up your choice of Mana Battery, Iron Buckler, and Logger's Hatchet at the outpost. You can pick up Marchers, and finish Power Supply and a Fortified Bracelet when you go back to base.

You have a couple choices at this point. If your teammates are having trouble in a lane you might want to switch to help them, or help gank an enemy. You don't have any real disable, but you can throw down some hefty damage by level 5.

However, if your lane's are doing fine and you have the chance to farm, do so. If you can farm up Post Haste, rather than having to fall back on Enhanced Marchers, it will do wonders for your mid game. Being able to farm and then tp to support your teammates is a blessing for Accursed's late game.



Mid game

At this point you should have your core, provided you did well in your lane. Which you should have unless you were babysitting Chronos/Dark Lady against 2 nukers/disablers. Feel free to farm and defend towers at your leisure, as with Post Haste you can get to most team fights in 5-10 seconds. Whether you play an amazing Accursed or a poor one, your gameplay will depend largely on your allies.

Accursed can do good damage and chase at this point, but trying to kill enemies alone will generally just make you start feeding. If you want to gank an enemy, you're almost always going to need the help of a teammate. On the other hand, any gank involving Accursed will usually involve no casualties on your side.

That said, feel free to particapate in any ganks on any farmers your team can find. This is probably your strongest game phase, with your heal and your shield maxed. You can turn the tide of any team fight or gank you participate in, and you should be participating in ALL of them, there's not excuse not to if you were smart and got Post Haste.

At the same time, pay attention to your gold supply. Accursed's main abilities lose power in the late game. Fire Shield's removal of debuffs remains useful, but the 200 shield doesn't scale well. If you want to continue supporting your team to a large degree you will need additional items, either support or dps, to cover for your non-scaling spells.

By the end of this phase, you hopefully did one of two things. You either farmed into a DPS semi-carry yourself, or kept the other team low enough that a level 16 Accursed with a Bracelet, Power Supply, and Post Haste makes them run in terror.


Late Game


Flame Shield and Cauterize begin to lose effectiveness this late. You should still be spamming them, as your mana pool is significantly better to compensate, just don't expect one Fire Shield to save a fleeing ally. Constant use of these abilities, coupled with Barrier Idol and Astrolabe, will still be a significant asset to your team, however.

If you farmed your core and a couple damage items, you should be good. Accursed is very hard to kill at all points of the game, and Sear works on percentages. In short, the two abilities that qualify Accursed as a DPS/Tank hybrid are the two that scale well into the late game.

Really, at this point, you've either decided the game by doing well mid game (farmed or kept them weak) or you're gonna have to hope your allies did better. You can carry in very special situations, but it's more likely you'll be outcarried by an agility based hero if they weren't ganked earlier in the match.

[Padawanabee]

Since I was new to making guides, I never reserved extra posts in my original Accursed guide, and I ran out of space long ago. I have a mod deleting the old guide, and this will be the new one.

Also, reserved.

[Pheesh]

Good to see more takes on accursed.
What are your thoughts on elder parasite on accursed?

People are tentative to attack you when it is activated, and if they do, the additional damage you take can often be beneficial (if triggering your own fire shield, or in the event ult fires).

[Padawanabee]

I can see how Elder Parasite could be very effective for mind games on Accursed. However I have not tried it myself and wouldn't really recommend it. Most heroes I get it on have passive procs or a chasing theme such as Rampage, and Accursed has nothing but Sear, which already increases our IAS by a significant amount.

[Octavv]

Well... My build of Accursed never contains Cauterize.. I prefer spending them on +stats... + insane dps, dmg, armor, etc... Instead of cauterize I put points on sear... Because I am more resistant I can go after an enemy on unsure paths and I sometimes battle 2 guys at once.. pop shield and attack, and if it explodes I just put it back on.. I have minor problems with my mana because I only use one spell. I am not sure but I think +armor items help maintaing the shield up better so you could use it one after another without taking damage(NOT SURE)...I buy 2 bracelets, ghost marchers(I think that's how they are called now), abyssal skull, insanitarius, brutalizer.
I don't specialize in support but in heavy melee dmg. Works like a charm..

[Drasha]

I am going to recommend 2 talismans + a bottle over a ring of sorcery if you have mana problems its easier to get and you might not even need the bottle unless you are never going back to the fountain.

[Vulpes]

Heroes with strong Disables / Stuns are actually your favorite enemies and the main reason for picking Accursed.
To call Succubus "one of your worst enemies" when your Shield - even at level1 - completly nullyfies her Ult seems.. somewhat off.

I also disagree with Hatchet and Stout Shield, the latter in particular.
You are a Str Hero with, at the very least, a 110 "pseudoheal";
Nothing should happen to you in the laning phase of the game.
After that, you got 3 seconds of invicibilty, again - no room for a purely defensive item.
Hatchet just seems like a waste of money, you will most likely lane with a ranged carry/semi-carry anyways, who will want to take the last hits.

Nomes Wisdom is totally great on him, as it provides good stats and makes your Cauterize really spammable; Would actually call it a core item.
And, though he is somewhat item dependant, i would love to at least see a sidenote on Wards and Courier.. he is a support, after all.

[Garche]

I usually go Brutalizer and Thunderclaw, eventually going to Charged Hammer. The bonus AS from his attack speed is just so, so delicious.

[nyxon]

Hehe.. this is my itembuild :-)

Staff of mastery
Postal
Insan
Parasite
Rifshard
Savage

^^ you totally rape em! (my mate tryed this build i showed. End up with Huge stats :p)

/BTW* why are you not saying anything about Parasite. 100 ias/10%ms is insane! (and u always have your ulti as protection ^^)

[Padawanabee]

Again, unlike heroes such as Chronos, Rampage, or Hammerstorm you have no abilities that scale with attack speed. You also have no real need for additional move speed. Thus, getting Elder Parasite is not the best way you could be spending your money, unless you're going to follow it up with additional items that scale with IAS, such as Brutalizer, Charged Hammer, and Savage Mace.

The reason I put Succubus under worst enemies is that, while you can easily remove disables, and indeed you are often picked only to counter a disable-heavy lineup, she can sleep you just as easily as any other hero. You can't cast Fire Shield on yourself during that time, obviously. So, while you are her worst enemy in a team fight she is your personal worst enemy if you get within range of her. It was a couple months back when I wrote that, however, and I do think the paragraph needs changing, now that you've brought it up and had me look at it, though.

Also, Iron Buckler and Logger's Hatchet is useful on any melee hero, and while you may not care for them spending 225-250 gold and an inventory slot you are not using for effective bonuses works for many situations.

@Garche Honestly, with the bonus IAS from Charged Hammer you'd hardly be feeling the +40 from Sear. True, the attack speed bonuses stack and the movespeed bonus is nice, but really anyone who can spare the 7k to make those two items is going to be attacking fast and stunning often.

Also, while I rarely purchase mana regen in my Accursed games, if you do choose to buy it I would recommend Abyssal/Arcane/Nomes more than a bottle and talismans. Neither bottle nor talismans add benefits to your teammates, while the other three do.

[qlue]

I actually agree with most of Padawanabee's guide.

The dissenting comments against Pada's item build seems to be premised around playing Accursed as a killer, which he is not.

Accursed?s main job is to:

1.Keep his team mates alive (hence, Cauterize is more important as a healing spell early-mid game then it is as a finishing move)
2.Enable his team mates to do damage in an unconstrained environment

Early to mid-game, the combination of shield + cauterise on your laning partner gives you a 1 up advantage. Very few, if any, can deal enough damage past your shields and cauterise to kill your teammate, allowing them a lot of space to get early kills.

Stout shield is situational. I don't always get it and even when I do, I sell it once I reach level 6 (it works against your ulti). In saying that, if you're laning against 2 melee heroes, it allows you a very good buffer to play aggressively as it mitigates early-game damage. Push the enemy heroes back with your laning partner and allow your partner to deny/last hit.

As a tank, your most important job is to keep enemies off your team mates. Accursed's skillsets, coupled with the typical mentality to 'not' hit him because it's wasted damage, makes him a very strong support tanker. Don't sit and wait for enemies to come to you... go to them. Draw in the damage but most importantly, keep the damage dealers away from your most squishy heroes. If you're constantly looking for heroes that you can kill, then you're not doing your job as a tank, even if you end the game with a win or high kill ratios.

[Vulpes]

Just thought of it, I'd like to have a short comment on denying yourself with Cauterize;
I do it quite often early game if there is no way for me to survive a gank.

[Atilus]

my idem build is:
ghost marchers
hack and slash
wispering helm
rift shards
then if the games alows build wispering helm into symbol of rage

it works really well fo chaseing heros down because you have hack and slash + sear and the life steal with a hard fast hit give for major surviveablity combined with your ult. i admit im not the best player but i dont beleive ive gone negaitive with this build (i could be wrong) and ive seen my friends use it to great effect.

[Padawanabee]

I changed the item builds around a bit, and added Nome's Wisdom to his core, since I get it every game now. The 16 int, 100% mana regen, and 1/sec aura solves your mana needs better than any other item, for only 2300. And that's just a third of what the item does.

And thank you, Febz. In most situations Accursed's role is to keep his teammates alive, not to kill enemies. An enemy team has to focus down a beefy str type with a survivalist ult, or deal with constant heals, slows, and his shield which can remove a debuff every 6 seconds. I also liked that he added the "hitting Accursed is wasted damage" mentality because it's definitely there.

While you can build him like Atilus and his friends do, you'd get much better results if you'd just rolled an agi type at the beginning. You'll get the best results if you focus on support while playing Accursed.

[Qwernakus]

I have a suggestion for a skill build:

Enduring Damage
For use when the enemy has a lot of nukers/your team is powerful but lacks slows and stuns/Your team lacks a tank.

Start out with Trinket of Restoration, Runes of Blight and Minor Totems.
Rush the Shamans Headdress in lane. Then get Plated Greaves. Now, get a Talisman of Exile for early mana problems. Now, get a Frostfield Plate for the active. From here on, a Behemoths Heart would be good to handle any carries or make you invincible. Finish off with Daemonic Breatplate.

[Meczor]

Buy behemopths heart and symbol of rage, ur unkillable. I play very offensive with Accursed, not any fag suport.

[Padawanabee]

Buy behemopths heart and symbol of rage, ur unkillable. I play very offensive with Accursed, not any fag suport.

Real men play Accursed straight DPS, none of that tanking ****.

Oh and Qwern, are you sure you don't want to name your build "should have just picked Armadon"? I'll put it in.

[Genesyx]

I tend to find balance between being a carry and support
Yes he is splendid support, but he ain't a shabby killer as well with the correct items

IMO, using accursed as a PURE carry is wasting his skills utility .However, using him as a pure support is also wasting his capability to chase people and almost-unkillable body

Find a balance people,thats my accursed way BD

[klind]

I completely agree with Pada's Guide.

Whenever I pick accursed, I am expected to support and help my team, which anyone who knows how to cast a spell can do. The tough part is convincing your opponents to attack you, and making Accursed a threat late game is an easy sure-fire way to do it.

Mock in particular helps since it increases effective health thanks to the evasion bonus, and increases dps by a huge amount. The team will have to focus you, and being the smart accursed you are, they won't be able to knock you off.

Really though, as was mentioned by Pada, Accursed is versatile; his greatest strength comes from being the everyman. Sticking to one build is stupid: you have to be very item savy and know what to get with him for the situation at hand.

Good guide Pada, it's given me some ideas I can't wait to try out!:smile:

[Lyneux]

Nice guide. I dunno why it's not in the premium. T-up!

[Skull4er]

frostwolfs, shieldbreaker and frostburn are all great items on accursed, rotating through your attack modifiers is not really a hard act. just add it under conditional use or something like that.

frostburn helps greatly with chasing and slowing down enemys.

frostwolfs makes you a tanky beast and solves all manaproblems, the slow coupled with sear is strong too.

shieldbreaker is simply one of the best dps items for its gold. just hit every 5-6second the button to switch the modifers and everything is good.

[zeroeffect]

How do you switch the modifiers?

[Skull4er]

with "," and ".", i changed them to space, so that it is REALLY EASY to switch them infight.

[Paradigm_]

Accursed is much better as a support/tank IMO. Let the other players carry. Get nomes + shaman's headdress and keep everyone alive.