Devourer

[Delfofthebla]

This guide is specifically written for 5v5 Forest of Caldavar - Normal mode public games, and was last updated on 02-13-2011.


Devourer - You're Mine!
http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/images/heroes/6/icon_128.jpg



Stats
Strength: 25 + 3.2
Agility: 14 + 1.5
Intelligence: 14 + 1.5
Armor: 2.96
Movement Speed: 285
Range: Melee






Table of Contents:


Introduction
Pros/Cons
Skills
Skill Builds
Strategy
Items
Proper Skill Usage
Hooking Map
Replays
FAQ's
Conclusion
Changelog



I. Introduction

Devourer is one of my favorite utility heroes. He is a very powerful ganker that is capable of completely isolating players and killing them before their team has a moment to react. Devourer is often underestimated, as he is practically useless if not played correctly. Due to this, I have created this guide to aid players in improving their skills with what I believe to be one of the most powerful heroes in public play.

Early to mid game Devourer is a heavy ganker, but he grows to be a very powerful anti-carry with a bit of pushing power as the game progresses to late game.

II. Pros and Cons

Pros

-Has excellent strength gain.
-Has amazing ganking potential.
-Is a low risk initiator. Devourer has the ability to force the enemy team to initiate, rather than having to charge in and do it himself.
-Can soak up a lot of damage as well as provide large damage output over long periods of time.

Cons

-Has high mana costing abilities.
-Has low armor.
-Has low Agility and Intelligence stat gains.
-Has lowest movement speed in game.
-Requires precision targeting in order to be effective.
-Requires a very good early game to maintain usefulness.
-Requires a lot of time and practice to master.


III. Skills


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Guttling Hook

The Devourer launches his Guttling Hook at a target unit or location. The first targetable unit that touches the hook will be dragged back to the Devourer.


Action: Target Position (All Non-Siege Units)
Type: Physical Push
Range: 1100
Radius: 60
Cast Time: 0.3 seconds
Mana Cost: 140
Cooldown: 14.0 seconds
Activation: Deals 100 / 200 / 300 / 400 Physical damage to target and interrupts channeling abilities. Drags the target to self.

Here's a technical breakdown of Guttling Hooks' travel time, courtesy of ElementUser (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showpost.php?p=1011537&postcount=28).
Guttling Hook travels at a speed of 1600 units/second. Since it extends up to 1100 units, its max travel time over 1100 units is 0.6875 seconds in 1 direction. If you count the time it has to travel back, then it has a true max travel time of 0.6875 x 2 = 1.375 seconds.
This is your primary ganking tool. You can use this to isolate heroes, save allies, and even interrupt devastating ultimates from the opposing team. It does physical damage, and a very large amount at that. It's one of the highest damaging non-ultimate nukes in game.

There are so many ways to use this ability, and it is the very reason Devourer is viewed as such a hard hero to play. It's very easy to miss or even hit the wrong target with this ability, which can effectively kill you or your teammates.

Notes:
-After the hook reaches it's maximum range, it will start returning to your current position. This means you can change the "return location" by moving or portal keying to the desired location before your hook hits its target.
-There is a 0.3 second cast time before the hook is actually launched. You can interrupt the ability by pressing "S" during that time to prevent yourself from missing a hook. This is an important technique to practice as you increase your hooking skills. If you know you're going to miss before the hook has even launched, there's no point in risking in.


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Decay
The Devourer allows himself to decay, draining his Health over time and releasing poisonous gasses that both damage and slow nearby enemy units.

Action: Toggle
Radius: 250
Activation: Applies Decay to enemy targets in radius and deals 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 Magic damage per second to self.

The movement slow persists for 2 seconds after an enemy leaves the Decay radius.

Decay Effects
20% Movement Slow
25 / 50 / 75 / 100 Magic damage per second
Decay is amazing. It allows you to get off massive damage on disabled heroes (Such as ones you are well, devouring) and even chase down survivors. Albeit having a small AOE, you can usually catch 2-3 heroes during team fights. (Assuming you're not in the forest finishing up one of their stragglers.) When used properly, you can get off a couple melee attacks while chasing someone down, too.

Notes:
-Interrupts your attack animation.
-You can use it to help last hit during the laning phase. By simply toggling it on for a split second you can dish out a small burst of damage before your auto attack goes off.
-You can use it to kill yourself and deny their team of gold and experience.
-The slow stays for 2 seconds after they leave the radius. This means you can spam it once every 2 seconds to keep enemies slowed down. This is most useful when running away.
-You can toggle this on and off at will, even while channeling Devour.
-This ability is buffed by your ultimate.



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Cadaver Armor
This grotesque armor increases the Devourer's Magic Armor and permanently adds strength for each nearby hero kill or each kill he makes.

Action: Passive
Adds: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Magic Armor
On Kill: Permanently adds 1 Strength to self per hero kill.
Aura: 400 (Enemy Heroes)
Aura Effects:
On death, when not killed by the devourer, permanently adds 1.5 strength to the devourer.
Cadaver Armor will provide you with a little more magic armor, and allow you to start building up a massive amount of strength. As long as you remain in team fights and gank frequently, this skill will really start to beef itself up. It's not uncommon to see this add +40 to +60 strength by the end of the game.

Notes:
-If you get the killing blow on a hero you will gain strength no matter how far away they are.
-As long as you are within a 400 AOE of a hero kill, you will get the strength bonus regardless of who killed the hero.
-If you deny yourself with Decay and have points spent in Cadaver Armor, you gain strength as if you had killed an enemy hero.



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Devour (Om Nom Nom)
The Devourer grabs a target enemy and feasts on their flesh, dealing massive damage for every second he feeds.

Type: Superior Magic
Range: 160
Channeling Time: 3 Seconds
Mana Cost: 100 / 130 / 170
Cooldown: 30.0 Seconds
Activation:
Applies Devour to target enemy for 3 seconds or until channel is canceled.

For each second of channel, a charge that lasts 7 seconds is added to Devourer. Each charge increases damage by 15 / 25 / 35, increases maximum health by 75 / 125 / 175, and increases the radius of Decay by 30 / 40 / 50.

Devour Effects:
Revealed
75 / 125 / 175 Magic damage per second

This ability can be boosted by Staff of the Master.

Staff Effect: Heals self equal to the damage done. Deals additional (0.75 * Strength) Magic damage per second.
Devour is an amazing ability. It heals you, buffs your base damage, extends your decay radius, and disables a chosen target for 3 seconds.

Devour synergizes well with his other skills. You can Hook an enemy hero, Devour them, and proceed to burn them down with Decay. The amount of damage you obtain from this combo is amazing during early-mid game, and is almost always a sure kill. Late game you will primarily use this ability to disable the enemy carry or initiator before a teamfight begins.

The ability is upgradable with Staff of the Master, giving it a major damage increase that will heal you for the damage it does. This is particularly useful for non-stop team pushing. With a low cooldown of 30 seconds, you can heal a good portion of your health in just about every fight you engage in.

Notes:
-This ability is superior magic. That means that the entire effect of the skill will work through magic immunity, but the target will not be damaged. You will still get charges and the target will be disabled. If you have Staff of the master, you will still be healed while the target is magic immune.
-The channel starts when you are within 160 range of the target, but it is very possible for them to run well outside of that range before you actually disable them. This can sometimes prevent you from reaching them with decay until it reaches +1 or +2 charges.
-If the target is moved away from their original position they will still be devoured, even though they are nowhere near you.
-At max level and max charges, this ability will;
*Heal you for 600 HP.
*Give you 105 extra base damage.
*Extend the radius of Decay by 105 (For a 355 total radius).


IV. Skill Builds

The "Pro Hooker" build

1. Decay
2. Guttling Hook
3. Guttling Hook / Cadaver Armor
4. Cadaver Armor / Guttling Hook
5. Guttling Hook
6. Devour
7. Guttling Hook
8. Decay
9. Decay
10. Decay
11. Devour
12. Cadaver Armor
13. Cadaver Armor
14. Cadaver Armor
15. Stats
16. Devour
17-25. Stats

Explanation
While some would argue that you don't need to level Guttling Hook since the range is the same across all levels; I still believe it's worth leveling above everything else. If you level Decay above Guttling Hook, you will be required to chase a hero for at least a couple seconds longer just to match the damage you get from landing a hook. Not to mention decay damages you too, whereas hook does not. Due to this, I opt to max Guttling Hook first.

Pickup Cadaver Armor at either level 3 or 4. Base it on how your lane is going. If you think you can get an easy kill at level 3, then take cadaver for the strength bonus. If it doesn't look like you'll be able to do so without level 2 Guttling Hook, then simply put Cadaver off until level 4. In order to get really beefy by late game you need to pick up cadaver before you start killing people. Cadaver Armor will reduce the overall magic damage you take by a small amount, and will also allow you to start building your strength up. Decay is maxed next, so that you can maximize your DPS during the midgame. Cadaver Armor is maxed as the game progresses to lategame, and you start taking more magic damage.

If you're not confident in your hooking ability, then this may not be the best build to go for. Decay is rather easy to deal damage with as long as you chase; whereas you must actually land a hook to benefit from the skill points.

The "Chaser" build

1. Decay
2. Guttling Hook
3. Decay / Cadaver Armor
4. Cadaver Armor / Decay
5. Decay
6. Devour
7. Decay
8. Guttling Hook
9. Guttling Hook
10. Guttling Hook
11. Devour
12. Cadaver Armor
13. Cadaver Armor
14. Cadaver Armor
15. Stats
16. Devour
17-25. Stats

Explanation
This build is primarily focused around chasing and having good team support. You take one level of Guttling Hook so you can still hook heroes when you really need to, but you won't be relying on it for damage. Decay will be your primary source of damage, and is leveled above everything else. You pick up Cadaver Armor at either level 3 or 4 so that you can start building up strength, but isn't maxed until late game. Base it on how your lane is going. If you think you can get an easy kill at level 3, then take Cadaver for the strength bonus. If it doesn't look like you'll be able to do so without level 2 Decay, then simply put cadaver off until level 4. Hook is taken next for the extra damage boost. If you have trouble hooking then try to do so after you're ult ends and they are trying to run away.

Something to note is that while Decay boosts your damage output, it also boosts the rate at which you kill yourself. When choosing this build it is recommended you have some sort of "support" role to lane with you to ease the burden on your health loss.

V. Strategy

Maximizing your early game effectiveness is extremely important for Devourer. He's a hero that relies on his early game edge, and you won't have one if you don't properly plan things out beforehand. Choosing the safest lane, preying on heroes that are easily killed are vital to your success.



Choosing a lane



Solo Mid: If you're confident in your ability to hook well, ask for solo mid. If not, don't risk it. The solo is a very important role for your team, and devourer can be easily shut down.

The main benefit from mid is having the large ganking potential. Devourer is a ganker, and one of the best at that. You should have your bottle before you roam, and always try to gank the lane with the rune. Every 2 minutes the rune will spawn, and you better be there. A lucky haste or regen rune is all you need for a double kill. Another major benefit from middle is the ability to easily hook your opponent into the tower. You can pull a hero from the center of the river directly into the range of your tower, as well as slow them while they are within its' range.

Never go mid against a melee hero unless it's a squishy target that doesn't hit hard. Certain melee heroes can be difficult to kill, and in most cases they will out last-hit you too.

The Side Lanes: It doesn't really matter which side lane you're in, each has their own benefits. You can refer to the Hooking Map if you're having trouble deciding. You can usually get a couple hooks from the trees while in a side lane, and you're provided with a lot more hooking opportunities due to the length of the lanes. At the same time however; if the enemies are smart, they will keep their distance and grant you no chance to hook them at all. It's crucial to have a decent laning partner that compliments your abilities when going to a side lane.

Laning Partners and Enemies to Avoid



This is where I will outline the better laning partners, as well as your "worst enemies". Just keep in mind that if somebody is great in a lane with you, it also sucks to have them against you. Treat your greatest allies as some of your worst enemies.



Great Laning Partners
In truth, I prefer to solo most of the time, so I don't often chose a laning partner to go along with. Unfortunately though, you can't always solo, so when that happens you need a good laning partner to keep you fed.

Devourer's laning phase is very important. All you need is 1-3 kills during the laning phase and you can ride the snowball effect for the rest of the game. You're looking for slows, heals, mana regen, stuns, disables. Having just one of these abilities on your side could be all you need. Here's a list of what I've found to be the most effective laning partners for Devourer.

Try not to lane with a carry, ever. Carry's need farm, and they need it a lot more than you do. You wont get any last hits, and you wont get any kills; this is a very bad thing.

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Jeraziah and Demented Shaman both have very powerful heals, something that that helps you immensely when chasing with decay. Though Id much prefer Demented, as a dual melee lane can be difficult against decent players. While Jera's magic immunity can be very useful, I find the slow from demented to be much more powerful. With that said, the damage burst from Devo's hook + Jera's heal is downright ridiculous. Play your cards right and nobody will survive.

Nymphora has pretty much everything you can want out of a hero. Heals, Stuns, and Mana regen. Early game you'll only be receiving two of those however. I find it easier to tell nymph right off which of the two I'd like to get during the laning phase. (I find stun + mana to be the most effective.)
Nymph can practically perma-stun a target when it's leveled up, and the constant flow of mana will give you incredible bursts of damage from your hooks. Late game you'll get the full treatment, as well as free teleports to your victims.

Glacius, Plague Rider, and Slither all have powerful slows. Glacius is probably one of the better laning partners out there. He has a slow, a hold, and even a mana regen aura. He hits like a truck early on so the harass will be pretty strong too. Plague Rider is powerful as well. He's got a good slow with massive damage output. Due to his infinite supply of mana he will give you total control of the lane. Slithers slow is a bit more powerful than Plague Riders, and can hit multiple units. It does less damage, but he still has massive harass potential via auto attacks. A well played Slither will keep the enemy far away from the creeps, preventing them from ever getting any last hits.

Enemies to Avoid
Heroes that you would consider your "worst enemies" are ones that prevent you from getting the killing blow, or disable you start to finish. Devourer has both a toggling ability that kills him slowly, as well as a channeling ultimate. In games where hooking opportunities disappear just as fast as they're made possible, things like silence, mana drain, stuns, disables, blinks, and mini-stuns are your worst enemies.

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The biggest counter to devourer, is long distance stuns or unit displacements. Chipper, Pharaoh, Hellbringer, and Andromeda all counter Devourer in this extremely annoying way. Chipper has 2 slowing abilities, a 3000 range ministun, and magic damage mitigation. He's the bane of my existence, and it's almost impossible to win against a decent chipper solo mid. Pharaoh has a ministun, a mana drain, and a 3000 range stun that pulls himself to you. Hellbringer can stun you and your entire team from a mile away, and will usually cause your hook to lose you the teamfight rather than win it. Andromeda can turn your hook into a swap opportunity, and you will instantly be placed in the center of the enemy team. This will allow them to instantly finish off 1 member of your team. (read: you) and initiate a teamfight where they have the advantage. All of these heroes can destroy you from a ridiculously long distance, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Heroes like Predator and Soul Reaper have percentage based abilities. This is a problem for you late game, as they destroy your ability to be a real tank. Soul Reaper will slowly wither you down by just being in the area, and he will often catch you when you're low (all the time) and make quick work of you when you would have otherwise been completely fine. Predator is the real problem, though. He does damage based on a percentage of your health, and then heals off of said damage. This means that the harder you are to kill, the easier he will be able to kill you and get away scot-free.

Predator and Armadon both reduce armor. Something that Devourer doesn't have a lot of. Not to mention they both have slows and deal a ton of physical damage. Also, Armadon's passive is also a big problem. In most cases you will be hooking him from the side, or from behind (Reduces damge). You also do a massive amount of damage within melee range, and you will trigger his autoquillspray repeatedly. The damage will start to stack a good deal, and without him even having to do anything at all. This will made quick work of both you and your team.

Mana drain can be pretty bad, but it will only be a real problem if you have to deal with it during the laning phase. Vindicator can prevent you from being able to ever hook again without any effort on his part. While he is easy to kill, his aura prevents chain casting; something that you need to do. The best thing you can do against a vindicator is ensure that you always hook him from the fog, so that you do not trigger his aura. Always focus him down before he has a change to ult in a teamfight.

God I hate being silenced. It's not the fact that you can't actually do anything, but rather; if you have Decay toggled on, you can't turn it off. You'll be sitting there, dealing 100 DPS to yourself, and there's nothing you can do about it. In the case of Blood Hunter, if you ever get caught with Decay on, you will be sitting there killing yourself for 15 seconds. Fifteen seconds.



Early Game


During early game your primary concern is last hitting. It's very important to never use your hook unless you're absolutely positive it will get you a kill. You should keep an eye out for hooking opportunities at all times. The opportunities will come and go in an instant, so you must be constantly keeping an eye out for them. Depending on which skillbuild you chose, it may or may not be possible to pull off early kills within the lane. Whichever skillbuild you chose, I find it more beneficial for you to wait until at least level 4 before truly attempting a kill, so that you get the cadaver strength bonus.


Mid Game


After mid game hits you should start roaming, gank as much as possible! Ganks will increase your strength, grant you early items, as well as save your team from getting killed themselves. Keep up your creep farm until you see an opportunity to get moving; you have to look for moments to catch the enemy team off guard. When ganking a lane that has two enemy heroes, always try to make your hooked target as isolated as possible. The further their teammate has to walk to get to you, the more likely you are to get away clean.

Mid game is your prime time, and you should never really stop moving. It's your job as a ganker to help your team out as much as possible, but there's no reason you shouldn't be creeping while looking for opportunities.

Remember to always carry a TP scroll. Never go ANYWHERE without one. If you're allies are pushed up in the lane, TP when the enemy cannot see you, move into the fog and then KILL THEM as they approach.

Late Game

Late game you start to to become a real beast. You should have over 3k HP by now with cadaver alone. Your goal is to hook heroes into your team, and to make sure that the fights end before they even begin. You have a 1100 range hook, make use of it!

You start to lose your "hooking spots" by this point, and so your opportunities are limited. Remember to choose your battles. Sometimes it's more important to hook your idiot teammate out of the battle rather than hooking an enemy to you; starting a teamfight that you can't win.

If you've managed to obtain a SotM by now, you'll be a very powerful anti-carry. If that's the case, try to hook (anyone) into your team, but save your ult for their carry. Even if they have Shrunken you should still ult them. Disabling a carry for 3 seconds can be absolutely devastating for the enemy team. Always focus down their highest dpser as quickly as possible!

VI. Items

Depending on which skillbuild you use, Devourer will require different types of items to allow him to repeatedly gank heroes early to mid game. Though once late game comes around, it's all the same. Below I've displayed a chart to show you the general core builds you should use.



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Starting Items


I think the items are pretty self explanatory. The minor totems give you a few extra stats early on, but can be sold later once inventory space is needed. The Health Potion/Runes of Blight will allow you to maintain your health enough so that you don't have to make fountain trips. With the 1 mana potion you're able to pull off 2-3 hooks before 6, rather than the normal 1-2.




Solo Mid
If you're solo mid, you're going to need a monkey. If you want any chance at rune control, you're going to need wards. If you buy either however you will be completely gimping yourself. Make sure your support will buy at least monkey before you go mid. It's too risky otherwise.

Sidelane
If it doesn't look like your team will be buying monkey and wards. (IE: one or zero support heroes) pick up either one. Try to tell your team that you bought wards and someone else should monkey, as this usually forces your team to buy the monkey. If your team already has both, just pickup an Iron Buckler.

Once you head off to your lane; if you don't already have one, buy an Iron Buckler from the sideshop as soon as possible. It will mitigate the harassment put on you by a decent amount.

Before the Core
You should take note that Devourer has a very low mana pool, and he is also the slowest hero in the entire game. Due to this, it is important that you rush bottle -> marchers as soon as possible.

Before you pick your core build, this is what you want your items to look like. Generally speaking you should be at the peak of your ganking potential once you've obtained these items. Bottle and Chalice should sustain your mana/health while you roam as long as you rune whore. Keep a homecoming stone on you at all times once you've hit level 6 or 7.

Bottle/Chalice will be your primary source of mana regen for the entire game. You will need to be the primary runewhore-er if you want to keep a constant flow of mana.

[Delfofthebla]

Choosing Your Core Build


Ive compiled together three core builds to choose from. You need to analyze the enemy team's heroes/scores and figure out which build will benefit your team the most. Do they have a lot of aoe magic damage? Are they disable heavy? Will their carries dominate your team late game? ect.

Note that all luxuries are entirely situational and you need to use your own judgement to decide which would be the most effective.

"The Anti-Carry" Core - Total Cost - 7006g
An expensive core to say the least, but it's very effective. This build will allow you to dominate everything for the duration of the entire game. Most heroes cannot survive the full duration of your ult after you've completed this core. Especially if your team is wailing on him at the same time. If your team does not have a real carry, this build is usually the best option.

Assuming you are level 16 and have absolutely no strength gain from cadaver (-not possible-) you will heal 1316 health and deal 716 damage from the entire duration of the ultimate. This is in a worst case scenario without accounting for decay damage. In a real game where you are racking up strength throughout the game you are likely to deal/heal much more damage than that.

Once their carry becomes buff, try not to waste your ultimate on lesser heroes. You need to save it for when the "Main Event" arrives.

"The Anti-Carry" Luxury
Once you've managed to complete your core, you should have a good idea of what you need to improve your effectiveness. In most games you'll be lucky to even farm more than 5k gold after your core, so don't count on being able to buy a lot of luxury.

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Mystic Vestments - 400g
This is an extremely cheap way to reduce your incoming damage. You'd be surprised how much damage is mitigated by this measly 400g item.

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Shrunken Head - 3900g
I usually go for this once I've finished my core. Once you obtain SotM, it is vital that your ultimate is not interrupted, and Shrunken head will ensure that you get the full 3 seconds off, allowing you to obtain the full effect; all while making you completely immune to your decay damage.

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Portal Key - 2150g
Portal Key could be a good pickup if you're looking for increased mobility/utility. It will allow you to catch escaping heroes, escape from dire situations, and just in general give you more control of teamfights.

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Frostfield Plate - 4700g
Frostfield Plate will make your presence a menace to their team. You'll have a bit more armor to tank longer, an additional slow to stack on top of decay, as well as a constant attack speed slow to increase your anti-carry effectiveness. On top of that you get a massive mana boost, which allows you to chain your ults endlessly.

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Barbed Armor - 2200g
Barbed could be a good pickup once their team realizes that focusing everything on you is the only way they can win a teamfight. It gives some OK stats, and will deter people from focusing you in teamfights. If you're unable to finish their carry within the duration of your ult, this item will burn him down instantly if he's not careful.

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Behemoth's Heart - 5500g
This item will practically make you invincible. You get a major boost to your HP, increased ult damage, and a nice 0.75% hp/s regen; which scales with your ridiculous health growth throughout the game. If you don't feel like you need any more anti-carry/utility oriented items, this is an amazing item to pickup.


"The Safe Route" Core - Total Cost - 4756g
A significantly cheaper core build compared to the "Anti-Carry" core. If your not having the best farm, or are simply not sure what your team will need late game; this core is your safest option. It gives you pretty decent tanking abilities, while being cheap enough to keep your options open. As you can see from the luxury items, you can go any direction you want once you've finished this build.

"The Safe Route" Luxury
As you can see, you have a lot of options here. You can go with a bit of anti-carry potential, build pure utility, go for tank items, or perhaps even a mix of the three.

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Barrier Idol - 1603g
The great thing about this core is that it is incredibly easy to build Barrier Idol from the base. For a mere 1603 gold, you can mitigate a large amount of magic damage for both you and your team. Assuming your team is up against mass AoE heroes, you can mitigate up to 2000 magic damage for your team. (400 per each hero)

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Staff of the Master - 4300g
Staff is a pretty good pickup if you're looking for a good balance between damage and survivability. It gives you some very nice health/mana boosts, and allows you ult to deal more damage while effectively healing you for a major amount.

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Portal Key - 2150g
Portal Key could be a good pickup if you're looking for increased mobility/utility. It will allow you to catch escaping heroes, escape from dire situations, and just in general give you more control of teamfights. If you rush this item directly after your core you will receive the most benefit out of it. The earlier this item is gotten the more effective it will be.

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Barbed Armor - 2200g
This could be a good pickup if you're being focused a lot. It gives some OK stats and can often ensure you and your "new best friend" aren't interrupted by his pesky teammates.

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Behemoth's Heart - 5500g
This item will practically make you invincible. You get a major boost to your HP, increased ult damage, and a nice 0.75% hp/s regen; which scales with your ridiculous health growth throughout the game. If you don't feel like you need any more anti-carry/utility oriented items, this is an amazing item to pickup.


"The Tank" Core - Total Cost - 5331g
Slightly more expensive than the safe route, but provides you with more survivability. It requires one additional item slot to be effective, but this will allow you to be as tanky as possible for the cheapest price. The entire point of this build is pure survivability with the least amount of risk.

Two things to note about this build.
1) You cannot ever sell your Mystic Vestments. This build is not viable unless you keep them or upgrade them to Shaman's Headdress.
2) HotBL can be disassembled. Doing so is important once late game comes around, as the item becomes less and less effective as the game progresses.

The Lifetube is used in Shaman's Headdress.
The Beastheart is used in Behemoth's Heart.
(Both are luxury items noted in the chart.)

"The Tank" Luxury
The luxury items for this build are pretty black and white. You're splitting up your HotBL and building the best items you can with the pieces. You may find it more useful to pick up Portal Key for the utility, but in most cases you'll be sticking with Behemoth's Heart and Headdress.

http://i38.tinypic.com/192tys.jpg
Behemoth's Heart - 4400g
Even after using the Beastheart from your HotBL, this item is crazy expensive. Try to obtain this as fast as you can, before their team gets crazy farmed. Behemoth's will practically make you invincible. You get a major boost to your HP, and a nice 0.75% hp/s regen; which scales with your ridiculous health growth throughout the game.

http://i38.tinypic.com/11aephj.jpg
Shaman's Headdress - 950g
Uses both your mystic vestments as well as the lifetube from HotBL, Shaman's Headdress only costs 950g to complete. This is an effective item to help you tank longer in teamfights, providing both extra magic armor as well as more health regen. This is also a major stepping item for Barrier Idol, which amplifies your tanking abilities even further.

http://i37.tinypic.com/xemx34.jpg
Portal Key - 2150g
Portal Key could be a good pickup if you're looking for increased mobility/utility. It will allow you to catch escaping heroes, escape from dire situations, and just in general give you more control of teamfights.

http://i35.tinypic.com/11rgn52.jpg
Barrier Idol - 1603g upgrade from Shaman's Headdress
Once you've finished your Shaman's Headdress this could be a nice pickup for your team. For a mere 1603 more gold, you can mitigate a large amount of magic damage for both you and your team. Assuming your team is up against mass AoE heroes, you can mitigate up to 2000 magic damage for your team. (400 per each hero)

http://i38.tinypic.com/ixbl29.jpg
Shrunken Head - 3900g
Shrunken can be useful for a good number of reasons. One being that you can ensure that you get the full 3 seconds off of your ult, allowing you to obtain the full effect. Not to mention that your target will remain disabled for the full duration too, all while making you complete immune to your decay damage. Pick this item up if they have a lot of disables.

VII. Proper Skill Usage

This section will demonstrate how to effectively use each of Devourer's skills properly. Devourer has a large amount of utility due to the sheer amount of possible usages each skill has. To make full use of Devourer you must properly practice each of these techniques.



Hooking Stationary Targets


The best way to aim Devourer's hook, is to click right behind the hero you want to pull. You have a total reach of 1100 units from your current position. Something to note is that Guttling Hook will always extend to the full range; if you click 100 units in front of yourself, it will still extend another 1000 units past the point you clicked. Something you will also need to take note of is that it takes 0.3 seconds to begin launching your hook.

In the below screenshot, Nighthound has just come out of invis to finish off one of our creeps. He cannot see me, so he will no doubt sit in that same spot auto attacking until he is finished. Stationary heroes are the easiest targets to hook.


http://i50.tinypic.com/2s6r8cm.jpg



http://i50.tinypic.com/10pwx1i.jpg

As you can see, Night Hound has been hooked, and is on the way to my position. What's more, is that he has lost a massive 39% of his maximum HP.




Predicting Actions and Movements

The farther ahead you can predict what will happen, the easier it will be to get your opponent to do exactly what you want them to do. If you know what the enemy is thinking, you'll be able to kill them before they even know what happened. Predicting actions isn't easy, however. Rarely do people think in the exact same way as another person. It's even more difficult if you play with varied skill opponents. I've actually missed a lot of my hooks because I was playing against noobier players, and they didn't act as I thought they would because they didn't understand that they were actually in danger.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2gspyx1.jpg

In the above screenshot, I'm running to a position where I can hook Accursed into my tower. Accursed thinks he is safe because there is a creep blocking the "Hook Line" between us, and he's right.

I was looking for an opportunity to catch Accursed off guard. In an effort to do so, I've been trying to predict every action he will take within the lane. He has been denying whenever possible, so it's obvious what he's about to do. That is why I ran to my current position. I know that he is going to deny that creep. Even if he doesn't, the tower will kill it anyways. The moment that creep dies the hook line will be clear. If I wait for the creep to die before I hook though, accursed will move away.

The trick is to make make sure your hook is on the way to your target before the creep dies. If you time it right, the creep will die during its' travel time. This will allow you to hit your target hero before they realize they're in danger.

http://i50.tinypic.com/4r3odw.jpg

As predicted, he denied the creep, and my hook went off just in time. He will soon be in range of my tower, and I will have plenty of time to chase him for the bloodlust kill.

http://i48.tinypic.com/281sehi.jpg

This is where your Decay chasing skills come to play. The tower hit him once, the hook took out a good deal of health, and I must now chase him with decay until he is dead. Decay slows them by 20%. This will usually give you enough time to run in front of the hero and melee attack him. Especially during early game when most heroes don't even have boots yet. If I start running the moment I attack Accursed, he won't be able to get out of my range of decay. Decay slows for 2 seconds after a target leaves your AoE, so even if he does manage to slip by during my auto attacks, I will still be able to catch up to him.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2ciy42.jpg

I was able to melee attack him 4 times during the entire chase.

Even with his shield, he wasn't able to withstand my massive amount of damage. 50 Magic damage per second with a 20% slow is a big deal. Melee attacking whenever possible will boost the amount of damage you output by a decent amount. It helps to only melee attack them when you are right in front of them. This will cause them to stop for a moment, followed by them running around you. You just have to make sure they don't get too far away from your decay radius while you're busy whacking them. Speaking of;


The AoE Range of Decay

The AoE of decay is pretty small, and the graphical effect doesn't help you very much in judging just how close you have to be. As mentioned above, the slow effect from decay persists for 2 seconds after they leave this radius. Just being able to catch a hero within the AoE for a split second could be enough to get them killed. Note that while the slow does stay on their hero, the damage will not be applied during the extra 2 second duration.



http://i36.tinypic.com/33m7qtz.jpg





The 0 charges circle refers to the normal decay radius. This is how far your decay range will extend to most of the time. The rest of the image displays how far your decay will reach after you've accumulated charges from your ultimate. For every second you channel your ult, you get 1 charge. These charges offer many bonuses, such as extending your decay radius. As you can see, 3 charges offers a HUGE increase in range. This is perfect for when the target stuns you directly after you've ulted them. You will almost always keep them slowed/damaged throughout the entire duration of their stun.





Hooking a Moving Target

Let's face it, you aren't going to see stationary targets passed the early game phase. Maybe a few here and there, but not enough to where you can just "ignore" a moving target. In the below screenshot, I'm chasing an underfarmed electrician. Mmm~, my favorite. I'm not much faster than him, but he's got corners to go around, and corners are Devourer's best friend.

http://i46.tinypic.com/invmvm.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/11lq8oo.jpg

Hooking a moving target requires you to accurately judge an enemy heroes movement speed, and then target where you think they're going to run. A smart opponent would know this and they would never turn a corner when you're around. Rather than continuing to follow the blue arrows, he would simply turn the other way.

http://i50.tinypic.com/m8hbw0.jpg

Fortunately for me, Electrician isn't smart. Seeing as how just my hook alone was enough to bring him down to 59% HP, it's unlikely that he will be able to get away.


Bringing Everything Together

Devourer is all about synergy. Every one of his abilities helps the other, and they can all be combined into one powerful-ass combo.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2uos9z6.jpg

I came up from behind Scout just after he came out of invis, so I have a brief amount of time to unleash my combo before he enters stealth and escapes from my wrath.

Scout is a moving target, and so I must predict what he will do. He's already started running to the right, so I can only assume he will continue to do so. I click a small distance in front of his current position.

http://i45.tinypic.com/a4wfma.jpg

I cannot stress how important this next part is.

Many heroes have some form of escape mechanism: Blink, Pseudo-Blink, Invis, or even just really high movement speed. Most of these heroes will queue up these actions the moment you hook them.

What does this mean? It mean's that you need to queue up your abilities as well! The moment you target your hook, ult your target. If you've clicked your target before he's arrived, it will Devour him the moment he arrives; giving him no time to escape.

That is, if you manage to click him. The problem is that you have to actually target the enemy hero with your ult after you've already thrown out your hook. If you take even half a second too long to click him, he's going to be pulled to your position without your ultimate being queued. I can't count how many kills I've missed out on just because I couldn't ult the damn hero quick enough.

http://i46.tinypic.com/wmc6y1.jpg

The great thing about Devour is that it still allows you to toggle Decay while you're channeling it. The moment I've started devouring scout, I toggle decay to maximize my damage.

http://i48.tinypic.com/24cxdv8.jpg

And there you have it. A full combo using every skill at Devourer's disposal. Scout couldn't even withstand the full duration of my ult, so I didn't even need to blindly run after him with Decay toggled on.


Hooking Allies

Sometimes hooking allies is more beneficial than hooking the enemy team. Hook does no damage to allied units, and it can be used to save your teammates from certain death

http://i46.tinypic.com/348msm0.jpg

For one reason or another, I've been severely wounded and am running away in fear like a 8 year old school girl. As I'm running away I notice that my ally Plague Rider is in a pretty bad situation. He's been swarmed and stunned, and will most likely be slowed by Armadon and melee'd until he is dead.

http://i47.tinypic.com/237j3n.jpg

Luckily for him, I was actually paying attention! I hooked plague rider, and began to drag him far enough away from Pestilence and Armadon that they would be unable to kill him. Afterwards I continued to run like a little girl in fear with plague rider trailing behind me.

Your team will love you for this, and you'll prevent the enemy team from getting hero kill gold. Always look for opportunities to save lives!

Blind Hooking

Blind hooking is where you predict a players actions and successfully hook them while they are not on your screen; when you're completely blind.

This is an advanced technique, so don't expect to be able to pull it off right away. It requires a lot of DotA/HoN experience to be able to properly predict a players actions within the fog.

Blind hooks really aren't that hard to pull off once you have a grasp of how people think. In a situation where an enemy is running for his life, he is more likely to make mistakes, such as running in a completely predictable straight line.


http://i35.tinypic.com/x0xk77.jpg

Pebbles has just finished ganking the top lane, and is severely wounded. I noticed him when he initially appeared at top and have been running my fat ass as fast as I could to try and save my team. Unfortunately I didn't make it in time, but I see an opportunity to finish him and rob him of his newly obtained gold. Note that he -can not- see me here. He appeared on my screen for a split second and then immediately faded into the fog.


http://i33.tinypic.com/2ihpdab.jpg

The blue arrows represent the typical path a player will take when running back to their base. Since he has not noticed me, there is absolutely no reason for him to try and juke me. Based on his movement speed, I've deducted that the red target would be the best location to hook.


http://i34.tinypic.com/x2mb5w.jpg

Success! I was surprised to notice he had a mere 3 health remaining. I threw out a split second of decay to finish the job, and proceeded to gank the rest of top as well.


http://i48.tinypic.com/2m6pv94.jpg

Next we have a somewhat late game blind hook. Sand Wraith is half health and is running in fear of the Kraken. He just ulted in hopes to confuse my team and save his life. I'm well aware that he's still there though, and I am within hooking range. Generally speaking, people will run in a straight line towards the fountain when running up their base ramp. Sand wraith is about to do just that.


http://i46.tinypic.com/34r7rs3.jpg

After watching his actions for the past couple of seconds, I try to predict where he is going to run. I've never seen him throw off any crazy juking movements, and just before he enters the fog he's running in a straight line; so I can only assume he will continue to do so.


http://i45.tinypic.com/2dlt45z.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/fyhobm.jpg

It might take Kraken a second to realize that what I have in my hands is not an illusion, but I imagine he will be dead before that happens. Success! :)


VIII. Hooking Map



Throughout the map there are certain locations that Devourer can make excellent usage of. There are a few reasons why you would want to make note of these locations. One is that some of these spots allow you to hook enemy heroes in locations where they are unable to see you, and others are just spots where it is easy to catch enemies off guard. This makes things a lot easier in terms of predicting an opponents actions. If they can't see you, they are less likely to run away in fear hiding behind their precious creeps. Areas where you are "guarded" by cliffs and trees are perfect locations for you to snag enemy heroes.

Please note that each spot isn't strictly useful for the team it is color coordinated for. A good majority of the hooking locations can be used both ways. I simply colored them accordingly to whichever team I felt benefited more from that specific spot. Don't treat this map as a black and white guide for hooking spots.



http://i44.tinypic.com/169gady.png




Try to observe the hooking spots that appear/disappear as the game progresses. If you look closely you can see that the Legion has more ganking locations during the laning phase, while the Hellbourne has considerably more "defensive" hooking spots compared to the Legion. The team you play on will actually change your role as Devourer by a little bit.







IX. Replays

This section is dedicated to replays that used my guide as a basis for the style of play. This section will have a maximum of 5 total replays.

I play against 1550-1800 psr rated players. I don't host noob games, and I kick anyone with "bad" stats. With that said, noobs can still get through. I play pubs, and that's what you're going to see. Devourer is at his strongest when pubs underestimate/feed Devourer, and that's what these replays are most likely going to showcase. Pubs dying to Devourer, over, and over, and over again.

If you have a replay that you think deserves a spot in this section, post it in this thread. I will filter these as time goes by to try and showcase only the best replays that have been submitted. So try not to get too disappointed if you made the section but were later removed.

MatchID: 9255733
(http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=9255733) HoN Version: 1.0.8.2
Submitted by: Delfofthebla
Team: Legion
Score: 14/11/16
Duration: 0:47:51

This was a pretty good replay. Due to the opposing team having a succubus, I opted to lane top with Witch Slayer. (And Succu didn't even go mid, funny that.) Regardless, I was able to stomp the early game, and save my allies many many times. Unfortunately though, their carry was more competent than ours, and they had Nymphora. Even with SotM I wasn't able to keep up with the ridiculous amount of disables and damage being output by their team. We lost.

MatchID: 5849954 (http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=5849954)
HoN Version: 1.0.4
Submitted by: Delfofthebla
Team: Hellbourne
Score: 19/3/11
Duration: 0:35:56

There were a mix of good/bad players on both sides, ending up for a pretty average pub game. I went solo mid against Succubus, which tends to be a tough lane where I end up with no kills within the lane. This was not the case, as I maintained strong rune control and caught her off guard quite a few times.


X. FAQ's

Q. What UI mods do you use?
A. Quite a few! I Currently use 64 non texture based mods. The most common one that I am asked about is "Player Names (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=48839)" by riddie (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/member.php?u=723148). This is the mod that changes the health bar and displays percentages. Feel free to PM me if you want a full list.


XI. Conclusion

Devourer has much utility but he is heavily based around the early-mid game phases. If you don't do well during this time, it's very possible you will be 100% useless late game. Due to this, it can be very disheartening to play Devourer in games where you aren't hooking well. You have to remember not to get discouraged with a bad game! I've seriously had games where I went something like 22-5-15, and then 5-15-22 the next. Just as how a "pro hook" can land your team victory, a missed hook can end up losing you the entire game. Devourer is an excellent hero but he must be played flawlessly in order to maintain his usefulness. You just need to practice, practice, practice!


Don't agree with something?
Think something could be added?
See a grammatical error?
Would it be easier to read if the guide was _______?

Please post any and all feedback! If you explain your thoughts with facts and logical details I would be more than willing to change my guide accordingly!

XII. Changelog

v3.5
-"Skills" section update to accomodate the recent patch changes to Devourer's skills.
-"Items" section updated to include Blood Chalice and Striders.
*Core builds have changed.
v3.4
-Updated the Skill Build section
*Noted the possibility of taking cadaver at level 3 instead of 4 if it looks like you could get an early kill.
-Updated the Strategy section
*Small changes to the solo mid notes.
*Laning partners have been updated.
*Enemies to avoid have been updated.
-"Items" section completely reworked (again).
*Starting Items reworked slightly. There are now two options, One for solo mid and one for a sidelane.
*There are now 3 clearly definitive core builds.
-Removed the "Lategame/Luxury Items" subsection.
*Each Core build has its' own custom luxury item list.
-Updated the Proper Skill Usage section
*Decay radius screenshot/text updated to reflect the most recent patch changes.
*New Blind Hooking scenario added.
-Updated the Replay section
*Added 1 replay.
-Changelog section removed due to post size restraints. I will now only include the latest version in this section.

An archive of previous changes can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2d5bjk2dw5m2a29

[izzmad]

good guide. you covered almost everything, though i miss frostfield plate and post haste, situational. also think about rushing sacrificial stone for when you got glacius (with asap aura max ofc).

[Mallo]

Thanks for this really great guide.

I'm having a question about cadaver armor though. I'm curious about this part: "or 0.03 / 0.05 / 0.06 / 0.09 Strength per creep kill."

Is the strength gain reactive?

For example you are level 8 and put your first point into cadaver armor. Do you get the 0.03 strength for every creep kill you made during the first seven levels of just for new creep kills? And how do higher ranks of cadaver armor affect this?

Do you get a boost whenever you level up cadaver armor, for every creep kill ever made during this game?

And last but not least: How about denys? Do you get a boost from denying creeps?

I hope I did not confuse you with you the first part. Its kind a hard to explain when english is not your native language.

[Delfofthebla]

I created a new thread so that I could reserve the second post, but this results in everyone's comments being "deleted".

So, I'll quote as many posts that have different thoughts in them to somewhat restore the thread.


In your luxury item selection you might want to include Mock of Brilliance for more team presence, frostfield plate for armor, mana, and more team presence, and assault curiass for stronger tanking against armor reducers.

Some in depth analysis of leveling rot vs. hook vs. armor would be appreciated as well.

You also failed to mention that in pub games, as the roamer one of your core items is WARDS. Buying wards on pudge will guarantee more kills than any other item in the game, in addition to helping your team survive. Hooking people from river or creep camps, and knowing when a hero is alone, are game breakers.

Also, you should include a section on good positioning for team fights and strong hook spots.

You also might want to include a little tidbit on how useful a hatchet/tangos can be for making unexpected or unescapable hook areas.

Oh, and one more thing... who are devourer's good lane partners, should you solo, etc etc. What is the best early game strategy for him? Roaming at level 1 or laning until 6?

And a nice alternative to headdress against more physical oriented teams would be HotB/Heart + mystic vestments.

Wards are important for him.

Also, one level of hook is enough now that the range is equal across levels. I get the following:

Hook
Rot
Rot
Armor
Rot
Ult
Then max armor
Max Hook while taking Ult whenever possible.

Getting armor while still in laning phase gives you some cheap strength while still in the laning phase.

Oh. pro tip. Ghost Marchers on every hero is not a viable strategy.

And you might want to get Cadaver early so your Decay doesn't kill you when you're attacking some. All you need is it to slow the person why your team / you beats them up.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I think portal key is great on heroes with massive aoe damage or single target nukes. Portal key is ususally required on heroes like tempest in order to utilize their full potential. Devourer can already initiate a teamfight, and he doesn't need to blink into the center of 5 heroes to do it.

When it comes to decay vs. hook, you really have to mathcraft the whole thing. Once I get my playing guide section complete it will back up the reasoning behind it all. The hook damage is instant, whereas decay requires you to chase for many seconds to reach the same amount of damage you would have gotten from hook. By mid-game, where you will be chasing more, your decay is already leveled up just as much as hook is. I stand behind the hook build.

As for getting cadaver armor earlier, it really isn't all that beneficial. The early levels provide horrid strength gain, and you are much better off getting all levels of the skill at once, when the teamfights start happening.

Yes, devourer gets most of his kills early game, but he gets them from building the hero properly. Hook and Decay are just too important to pass up for a couple levels of Cadaver Armor.

Ghost marchers suck, if you are farming well get post haste, if not then get steamboots.

With the increased range over all levels of hook you don't really need more than lvl 1, and you especially should not be maxing it first.

Nice guide, though at boots: I find that Plated Greaves are a much better choice. As you said, you have lots and lots of health but no armor. This means that those 5 (7 with the buff) armor gives you a massive boost to you EHP (Effective hit points). It also gives some useful statistics, and the buff is very helpful to the team and for pushing.

And in the end, all that Ghost marchers provides is the phase. You never auto attack, so you cant use the +damage. The phase isnt that good for 1000 gold early game.

I see where you are coming from, and I could see those being useful, but I'd still have to say I prefer ghost marchers.

Phase helps you chase through creeps, which is more useful mid to late game when you aren't purely ganking.

If you take a look at the 59 minute mark in my match - 21538277
You will see why I approve of ghost marchers. :smile:

EDIT: The time stated by the replay, not the actual game time of 59 minutes.

I've actually never tried Devourer in a real game, but he looks interesting enough. I'd like for one of these people who advocate Rot above Hook to give some kind of motivation for why. As Delfofthebla is writing, you'd need to chase for a lot longer to get equivalent damage to another level of Hook, and you get the same % of slow, not to mention you do not increase the mana cost of the hooks by leveling that skill. It might be some old school build that everyone swears by, but I just don't get it, as long as you are thinking of the combo :P

Unless of course the reason is that you assume you won't be hitting the hooks, but that is why you practice it, right? I mean, one level of rot certainly seems enough early on to chase with, together with a ranged lane partner... can you even support more levels well with no magic armor and the HP of a low level hero? Enlighten me plix :o

I find the whole debate on boots interesting. Ghost marchers are nice for the phase, but that's really all they provide him because his auto attack is pretty lousy. Steamboots give stats but have the lowest move speed and the attack speed is also useless on him. Post-haste is good on almost any hero so long as you have the money, but I feel it can be put to much better use with him. Plated greaves are great for the armor boost but provide little in the way of stats or chasing ability.

Honestly for me I would still go Ghost Marchers because the extra dmg is nice on him even if he doesn't rely on his auto attack, and the Phase is obviously nice both for chasing and if you get caught in a tough spot and need to escape.

I definitely agree there. Also, when chasing with decay you usually have time to run in front of the hero, which gives you spare time to hit him once. It may not be a major asset to his killing ability but hey, it's an extra 24 damage every time you whack him during the chase.

Hi there,
your guide and the replays were worth watching. I've never played Dev before but will try him right now :smile:

You mentioned Invis-Chasing but didn't give any more insight on that. Maybe you can add something about it. Watching one of the replays I was surprised that scout's invis doesn't break when he gets caught by a hook.

looking forward on any updates
cheers

Good guide. I'm kind of torn on the best item build. I agree with what you've got in there mostly. Good starting items, and bringing a bottle asap is huge for devourer, generally after bottle I turn my 2 minors into a power supply and then get boots and the vestments. After that I finish shaman headress, but what I'm wondering is if it's best to rush staff straight away there or upgrade boots into perhaps plated greaves? I feel like Devourer gets an abundance of marmor but is lacking in regular armor and the 7 armor from the plated greaves can probably go a long way to stopping you from getting beat up too bad.

Anyway, I'm also torn on what to get as my first really big item. SotM or Behem's heart. Both are awesome and it's tough to say which is better.

edit: I guess SotM for pugs since it lets you get kills, but looking at it objectively, behem's is definitely a better item on him.

I see power supply in competitive games using devourer, and I honestly should probably buy it myself more often. I get it on a lot of other heroes, but I guess I just play devourer too oldschool. (Before the item existed in DotA)

As for the question of going for ghost marchers before staff - yes. It can somewhat depend on how your early-mid game gold is coming along. If I'm pretty close to 1200g I'll buy a glowstone and then go for ghost marchers. (Followed by the rest of staff) If I'm not doing "that" good, I'll just go straight for ghost marchers and rush staff as soon as I can.

As for your comment on behe vs staff, that too depends on how well your farm is going. If I've got 7 kills and 1 death by midgame, staff is my first choice. If I'm something like 3-3, I might think of trying to get behemoths.

The problem is that Staff is less useful if you're not doing so good. By the time you get it, you don't have the strength to make it worth the gold you sank into it. Behemoth's heart is incredibly hard to farm if you're not dominating, and you won't be getting the health/mana boosts that you would have gotten if you had just purchased pieces of staff.

Ultimately, I consider Behemoth's Heart a pure luxury. You need a constant flow of health and mana (IE: Parts of Staff) to maintain you're survivability in the mid-late game phase. If you fall behind, you could end up becoming useless, which is why going for behemoths early on can be a real bad idea.

[Delfofthebla]

Thanks for this really great guide.

I'm having a question about cadaver armor though. I'm curious about this part: "or 0.03 / 0.05 / 0.06 / 0.09 Strength per creep kill."

Is the strength gain reactive?

For example you are level 8 and put your first point into cadaver armor. Do you get the 0.03 strength for every creep kill you made during the first seven levels of just for new creep kills? And how do higher ranks of cadaver armor affect this?

Do you get a boost whenever you level up cadaver armor, for every creep kill ever made during this game?

And last but not least: How about denys? Do you get a boost from denying creeps?

I hope I did not confuse you with you the first part. Its kind a hard to explain when english is not your native language.

No, it starts the moment you learn the skill. This is the reason some chose to level it very early in the game. The problem with that though is that the first level offers very little strength gain for both hero and creep kills, so I usually don't get it until level 8, when it starts to matter most.

No, it does not boost previous creep/hero kills after leveling up the skill.

Yes, it counts for denies.

[Mallo]

Thanks!

[Mateui]

This is probably a dumb question, but how can you tell how much strength you've gained thanks to Cadaver Armor? I initially thought it would show up on the skill icon itself much like Vindi's stolen INT, but it's not there, so is it somewhere else?

[Elbioni]

Nice guide by the way, it gave me the motivation to try out devourer. :D



This is probably a dumb question, but how can you tell how much strength you've gained thanks to Cadaver Armor? I initially thought it would show up on the skill icon itself much like Vindi's stolen INT, but it's not there, so is it somewhere else?

When you move your cursor over to the Cadaver armor skill icon, the amount of strength gained shows up in the tooltip.

[Chickenfoo]

Pretty amazing, thanks for the help on landing hooks. I will try to watch some replays.

[Mateui]

When you move your cursor over to the Cadaver armor skill icon, the amount of strength gained shows up in the tooltip.
Aww, thanks.

[Fieri]

Is :pred: a soft counter to :devo: because of carnivorous, or is the extra damage negligible with some armor and the fact that :devo: rarely runs around with full hp? One of my friends who loves to play :devo: always avoids picking him against :pred:, but I'm beginning to doubt his justification for this.

[thugwaffle]

When you move your cursor over to the Cadaver armor skill icon, the amount of strength gained shows up in the tooltip.

Not for me :\ might be Bard's UI

[Delfofthebla]

Not for me :\ might be Bard's UI
I use BardUI myself. Along with 28 other addons. Unless you haven't updated in a long time, I doubt that's the problem.

[Chickenfoo]

Here is a replay of me following this guide...

23805194

-TheTerror (Friend (jerez)
-xKratosx (Friend (Forsaken )

[Delfofthebla]

Here is a replay of me following this guide...

23805194

-TheTerror (Friend (jerez)
-xKratosx (Friend (Forsaken )

Thanks for this chickenfoo. It was nice to see how the "chaser build" played out within an actual game. I hadn't honestly tried it enough to consider it a "worthy" build, but in your game it seemed to go well for you; especially with Jera as a laning partner.

I'd like to see more people submit replays using my guide as a general basis of their builds, as the data helps me tweak and add to the guide based on how things work for each individual player.



Just a quick update on things while I'm at it. I've got a little bit of time inbetween school projects to do a little more work on the guide. I'll try to get a section with "hooking spots" within the week, and possibly a bit more. Chickenfoo's replay also made me realize a tactic that I've been subconsciously using since the last patch, so I'll try to include a section on redirecting missed hooks as well.

[Mallo]

Here's a replay of me landing some decent hooks. I tried to follow your guide, but I skipped the bottle because I had Nymph in my Lane.

Game was over pretty soon. It's nothing special really.

Match ID: 23805242

Thanks again for this guide. I really start to like this hero.

[Blazinghand]

With the new patch, Decay sticks on for a couple of seconds after opponents leave the AoE. Fun times abound?

[izzmad]

gotta do this the Hooker way! ;^|

[Delfofthebla]

With the new patch, Decay sticks on for a couple of seconds after opponents leave the AoE. Fun times abound?
Indeed. This gives devourer have a bit more power when it comes to running away/chasing enemies down. Specifically around corners.

[Delfofthebla]

Just a quick update for everyone.

I've almost got the hooking map done, and you should see that added in soon. If I can find some time this weekend I'll probably add a section on blind hooking as well.

Also, my guide has made it to the premium section! :)

[Hawkseye]

Don't know if anyone considered already that you can use Portal Key not only to jump into enemy's but also you can extend your hookrange with it.

Let's take midlane for example, hook the enemy, while he's being hooked blink behind your tower -> freekill.

[Sync]

Hey, awesome guide! Devourer's a tough one to play, but this guide covers every single one of the necessary topics in order to play him right.

You might want to add that SotM also makes his ultimate scale, dealing an extra 0.75 * Strength per second. By the time you acquire SotM, that's pretty close to a 75 DPS boost on your ultimate (which is now a direct heal as well).

[Ernie888]

sotm for the money you might as well spend it on more HP / tanky items.

Chances are you'll be close to full HP when you initiate in team fights so the heal is meh. And with 4 of your team mates bashing (assuming you did a good initiation like grabbed a guy across the river) then the extra DPS is meh too.

[Delfofthebla]

Hey, awesome guide! Devourer's a tough one to play, but this guide covers every single one of the necessary topics in order to play him right.

You might want to add that SotM also makes his ultimate scale, dealing an extra 0.75 * Strength per second. By the time you acquire SotM, that's pretty close to a 75 DPS boost on your ultimate (which is now a direct heal as well).

I do have it noted that staff increases his ult, but its within the skill description, not the item itself. Perhaps I should add it to both.


sotm for the money you might as well spend it on more HP / tanky items.

Chances are you'll be close to full HP when you initiate in team fights so the heal is meh. And with 4 of your team mates bashing (assuming you did a good initiation like grabbed a guy across the river) then the extra DPS is meh too.

I love getting sotm on Devourer. How "useful" it is depends entirely on how fast you can farm. The components needed to create the item give you some decent bonus's during mid game, which allows you to farm/kill better; getting you more gold to finish it early.

Sure, you could go straight for tanky items, but you'd have to be able to farm them before their team gets buff enough to destroy you. SotM is an amazing item if you get it early enough. The heal may not be "top notch", but you can use it every 30 seconds while simultaneously killing their team off.

[BarneyGumbal]

I used your guide and did well. I ended the game at 5-4-14. I won't post the replay though, the game was pretty noob level and doesn't really showcase anything your replays don't. Early levels in hook though make a HUGE difference to damage output. I'd recommend leveling it first to everyone. If you're really bad with your hooks and the damage isn't worth it, maybe Devourer isn't the right hero.

[Occ1]

Finally a nice Devourer guide.

Some of my own humble observations:

Glacius is a hella good lane partner -> solves mana problem and provides freeze for extended decay time. Demented Shaman is also ridiculously good to have around, since he can heal you, dmg enemies, and provide an extra slow/stun/dot while you chase with decay.
With a good lane partner I like to go shield + regen relic (cheapest part of hood) and farm a second relic asap. Shield is good for early game chasing and ignoring creeps and your victim's teammates.
If you have a bad early game you're typically not going to have a good game period.
Even though I get a shield, I never get HotBL (a silly item for him, imo). Agree with SotM over Behemoth's Heart. SotM gives you sustainability, mana, and can be farmed in nice ~1000g pieces. Actually, as a hangover from when Behemoth's Heart was nerfed majorly, I tend to get Daemonic Breastplate instead after staff (lulz, right?), as it solves one of Devourer's main weaknesses: low armor. Usually at that point I have 12+ hp regen from hood + cadaver armor, and tactical use of his ult provides the rest, so I'm not usually worried about hp pool/hp regeneration. The armor aura and his decay makes him a ridiculously good lane pusher as well. Obviously if someone else is getting this I would go heart instead.

[ElementUser]

Did you ever consider getting Tablet of Command? It's actually a pretty good item on Devourer since it gives him some mana pool & more utility.

Regarding cast time & cast points again....what really matters is cast point, not the total cast time (since the cast backswing can be cancelled). So Guttling Hook's cast point is actually 0.41s (from the game code).

More useful information, Guttling Hook travels at a speed of 1600 units/second. Since it extends up to 1100 units, its max travel time is 1100 is 0.6875 seconds in 1 direction. If you count the time it has to travel back, then it has a true max travel time of 0.6875 x 2 = 1.375 seconds.

Regarding the 900 range & 1100 range cast range & force range thing....S2 actually did a stealth-buff and made it so that the cast range matches the force range, so you'll have to change that (the following is once again from the game code):


range="1100"
forcerange="1100"Also, a typo:


Great Laning Parters"Parters" -> "Partners

[Delfofthebla]

Finally a nice Devourer guide.

Some of my own humble observations:

Glacius is a hella good lane partner -> solves mana problem and provides freeze for extended decay time. Demented Shaman is also ridiculously good to have around, since he can heal you, dmg enemies, and provide an extra slow/stun/dot while you chase with decay.
With a good lane partner I like to go shield + regen relic (cheapest part of hood) and farm a second relic asap. Shield is good for early game chasing and ignoring creeps and your victim's teammates.
If you have a bad early game you're typically not going to have a good game period.
Even though I get a shield, I never get HotBL (a silly item for him, imo). Agree with SotM over Behemoth's Heart. SotM gives you sustainability, mana, and can be farmed in nice ~1000g pieces. Actually, as a hangover from when Behemoth's Heart was nerfed majorly, I tend to get Daemonic Breastplate instead after staff (lulz, right?), as it solves one of Devourer's main weaknesses: low armor. Usually at that point I have 12+ hp regen from hood + cadaver armor, and tactical use of his ult provides the rest, so I'm not usually worried about hp pool/hp regeneration. The armor aura and his decay makes him a ridiculously good lane pusher as well. Obviously if someone else is getting this I would go heart instead.


There are a lot of heroes that are "great" with devourer that aren't on that list. I could go about listing every single hero with a slow/stun, but that wouldn't really be useful. Glacius is definitely a good laning partner for Devourer, he's just not anything special. His aura is global too, so it's not really "necessary" to lane with him to get the benefits.

I've often thought about getting a shield and simply selling it later, but I'm always so concerned with rushing power supply/bottle that I don't ever get around to it; once you've gotten a bottle/PS there's really no need for it anymore.

Getting shield/relic would definitely improve your survivability in your lane, so if you're up against an annoying lane that might be a better choice to make. I just prefer to rush mana sustaining items so that I can gank the crap out of whoever I want, whenever I want. :)


Did you ever consider getting Tablet of Command? It's actually a pretty good item on Devourer since it gives him some mana pool & more utility.

Regarding cast time & cast points again....what really matters is cast point, not the total cast time (since the cast backswing can be cancelled). So Guttling Hook's cast point is actually 0.41s (from the game code).

More useful information, Guttling Hook travels at a speed of 1600 units/second. Since it extends up to 1100 units, its max travel time is 1100 is 0.6875 seconds in 1 direction. If you count the time it has to travel back, then it has a true max travel time of 0.6875 x 2 = 1.375 seconds.

Regarding the 900 range & 1100 range cast range & force range thing....S2 actually did a stealth-buff and made it so that the cast range matches the force range, so you'll have to change that (the following is once again from the game code):


range="1100"
forcerange="1100"Also, a typo:

"Parters" -> "Partners
Thanks for the excellent info, I've incorporated a bit of it into the guide, and fixed the typo. :)

As for the stealth buff, I didn't even notice the change at all. Old habits take forever to break though, it will take me a while to reap the benefits. :(

Tablet has always seemed like overkill on heroes like devo. When it comes to his mana pool, I don't have that many issues once mid-game comes around. Power Supply+Bottle+Glowstone(usually what I buy right after) is really enough to sustain my mana. I definitely see where you are coming from, but I can't imagine too many situations where it would be more useful to push someone rather than simply hooking the target you would have clicked on. The main utility I could see this being used for is to create hooking spots within trees.

My main problem I have with trying out Portal Key/Tablet on Devo is that I'm not normally willing to sacrifice my game in hopes of making use of an item I've never really used before. I'd really just like to see some replays of tablet/portal key in action so I can see the possibilities in the hands of someone who's used them before.

[RocketMoose]

Thanks for the guide, I found it about half way through my first game as devo last night. Ended up 4-6-bunches

My team lost the match cause we didn't have a true carry, not to mention we ended up screwed over by one or two not joining in team fights and making us go 5v4, but I was able to find out some good and bad things about hooking and really just how powerful a combo I can put together, walked up to a level 20 Swiftblade @ level 16, hooked, decayed, and ulti'd. Needless to say, pwned was he.

[BarneyGumbal]

Regarding the 900 range & 1100 range cast range & force range thing....S2 actually did a stealth-buff and made it so that the cast range matches the force range
Omg, thank you! I wondered why people were stepping out of hook range when I thought it was supposed to extend past where I clicked.

Question, does the hook return to where you currently are or where you were?

[Delfofthebla]

Omg, thank you! I wondered why people were stepping out of hook range when I thought it was supposed to extend past where I clicked.

Question, does the hook return to where you currently are or where you were?

The moment that it reaches its maximum range, it will start to return to your current position. That means that if you blink or even move away from your current position, the hook will not follow.

You can actually pull off some funny stuff with portal key using this trick. You can essentially hook a hero and then blink away before they ever arrive. This creates an effect similar to Andromeda's swap.

[Delfofthebla]

I've released V2.2! Looking forward to hearing some feedback on this guys, this was a major update. :)


V2.2
-Added a new subsection called "Hooking a Moving Target"!
-Added a new subsection called "Blind Hooking"!
-Added a new section called "Future Plans"!
-Renamed the "Aiming your Hook" subsection to "Hitting Stationary Targets".
-Updated text & screenshots according to the 1.66 patch. (The Decay slow effect and the hook target range increase).
-Removed more colored text for abilities where I felt it wasn't needed.

[X18]

I play Devourer pretty much exactly like your guide. Here's my replay 11/2/13 (nothing special) 25700945

Got some nice kills early game, it should show the potential of devourer early.

[Foo]

I like your guide but I find that getting decay at level 1 is more useful then hook, especially if you have a haste rune. Haste + decay= bloodlust quite often.

[Extreme_Cake]

You should at least mention HotBL. See this thread: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=67029

[ElementUser]

He did mention it...:/

[Delfofthebla]

You should at least mention HotBL. See this thread: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=67029

Gee, people sure do love to spam that thread everywhere.

I mentioned HotBL, I just didn't give it any props. I've read the thread, and I just couldn't see the benefits. You need to think of just how those numbers are being decided.

Shamans Headdress gives 10 magic armor and an 8HP regen
HotBL+Vestments gives 5 magic armor and a 6HP regen

How could something that gives less magic armor and less health regen actually mitigate more damage than shamans headdress? This concept didn't make sense to me. Then I noticed; the reason his numbers are lower, is because he's comparing them to the base health.

(These values were taken at lvl 16 with max level Cadaver Armor)
Over 15 seconds you take 534 damage with Shaman's Headdress.
Over 15 seconds you take 675 damage with HotBL+Vestments.

Over 15 seconds you're taking more damage with HotBL+Vestments.

That's not the point he's trying to get across though. He's saying that if you buy HotBL+Vestments instead, you will be left with a higher HP value than if you had just bought Headdress; and this is true.

With Shaman's Headdress you start with 1575 health. After the 15 second duration of decay you are left with 1041 health.
With HotBL you start with 1875 health. After the 15 second duration of decay you are left with 1200 health.

Shaman's Headdress = 2050g.
HotBL + Vestments = 2625g.

Instead of just buying a Headdress, you can spend 575 gold more (overall) and you will have a whopping 139 more hp after spamming decay for 15 seconds.

HotBL+Vestments will make you take the most damage over time, but you will end up with the highest health value.

While that's all nice and dandy, the thing is that Shaman's Headdress does more than just mitigate decay damage. It mitigates the other teams spells and abilities as well! Not to mention that you can easily obtain a Barrier Idol from headdress, whereas you would have to spend another 2050g to get to the same point if you go the HotBL route. Barrier Idol mitigates damage for you, and your entire team. The only question is whether or not you're actually going to buy it.

While HotBL+Vestments has its advantage over shaman's Headdress, it also requires that you waste two inventory slots as apposed to just having one. Late game, you don't really have much room to spare. While you could sell your bottle/power supply, I still don't find it worth doing for such a small bit of health.

Overall, yes. HotBL+Mystic Vestments is actually better than headdress. Would I buy it over headdress though? No.

I'm more biased due to my hatred of HotBL and I'd honestly rather buy a bracer than HotBL if I was planning on wasting the inventory slot. The fact of the matter is though, that HotBL is more expensive, wastes an additional inventory slot, and delays your core build for a very minor buff to your health.

[HosainH]

Would recommend taking 1 level in decay early on (for the slow/ganking purposes) and leveling cadavor armor max and hook before taking a second level in it. getting cadavor armor earlier has obvious benefits (much more strength by endgame) and levelling decay up to max before it is quite suicidal especially if your farm is bad. Got a double kill early 25956194 due to not levelling decay to level 2 in a solo lane (would have died if I did).


Is :pred: a soft counter to :devo: because of carnivorous, or is the extra damage negligible with some armor and the fact that :devo: rarely runs around with full hp? One of my friends who loves to play :devo: always avoids picking him against :pred:, but I'm beginning to doubt his justification for this.

barbed armor will rape predator if he jumps you late game no?

[thugwaffle]

I actually don't like the 2 second decay buff at all. Takes a lot of skill away from rotwalking, and it wasn't hard enough to begin with...

How about we buff Devourers starting int instead, pharaoh has more than him and I don't think that's fair :(

[Delfofthebla]

I actually don't like the 2 second decay buff at all. Takes a lot of skill away from rotwalking, and it wasn't hard enough to begin with...

How about we buff Devourers starting int instead, pharaoh has more than him and I don't think that's fair :(
Not entirely sure why you're mentioning the changes here, but I'll toss off some input anyways :P

The buff wasn't "needed", but that doesn't mean it's not useful. I dunno about it taking away skill either, that sounds a bit silly.

It gives him the ability to keep heroes slowed when he normally could not have. Imagine you getting stunned for 1.5 seconds when they are within decay range. After the stun wears off they will most likely still be slowed for a second longer. This gives you the ability to catch up to the hero and resume the chase. That's just one of the possible situations though, it has more uses.

As for buffing his starting int, I doubt that would really solve much. Comparing his int to pharaoh is also a bit silly. They're two completely different heroes that have completely different roles.

[Heave]

You always go Rot(decay) at level one under any circumstances ganking purposes or if u you want to save an ally by slowing enemies or if u want to FB a lane with by ambushing as 3.. only Noobs go hook at level 1

[MetaBrain]

You always go Rot(decay) at level one under any circumstances ganking purposes or if u you want to save an ally by slowing enemies or if u want to FB a lane with by ambushing as 3.. only Noobs go hook at level 1

Hook into tower and then puppet's hold is guaranteed first blood.:pupp:

[ElementUser]

Not entirely sure why you're mentioning the changes here, but I'll toss off some input anyways :P

The buff wasn't "needed", but that doesn't mean it's not useful. I dunno about it taking away skill either, that sounds a bit silly.

Actually to be accurate, the "buff" was actually just an inconsistency fix between DotA & HoN mechanics on Rot/Decay. :)

[Tupimus]

Decay is still the thing to skill at level 1. Who cares about full range hook from skill level 1 if you can't kill anything with it?

Thing is, they can't ALWAYS avoid you, but unless you have Jera laning with you, a single disable WILL make you useless. Or a blink, but hey, blink heroes are weaksauce while laning and are controlled well enough with the threat alone.

[Delfofthebla]

Actually to be accurate, the "buff" was actually just an inconsistency fix between DotA & HoN mechanics on Rot/Decay. :)
I don't remember it doing that before. Did they change that recently or has it just been -that- long? :o


To the nay-sayers of hook at level 1; they're both situational. As MetaBrain said, any kind of disable guarantees first blood at level one. At the same time, decay could have more uses at level one due to the slow being the same throughout all levels. I rarely find myself in a situation where I thought "Gee, I sure do wish I took decay instead of hook.", but I've found myself in plenty of situations where I got a level 1 FB by hooking into my tower.

If you're planning to pick a certain skill, you have to think which one would be less situational, for your specific situation. :)

[ElementUser]

I don't remember it doing that before. Did they change that recently or has it just been -that- long? :o

I don't know, I'm not an expert at the history/changelogs of DotA. But as far as I know it has always been working in that fashion.

It's because in DotA, Rot uses aura application to apply the slow debuff, and the consequence of that method of application is varying lengths of slow between 2-4 seconds (after the enemy is out of Rot's AoE).

See this for further details: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showpost.php?p=951610&postcount=17

[Heave]

If you really think Hook @ level one is Positive on the long run then you sir are a retard. go l2p the game..

[ElementUser]

If you really think Hook @ level one is Positive on the long run then you sir are a retard. go l2p the game..

Honestly, it depends on the situation when you're level 1 & at the rune spots. If the enemy team beelines towards the rune, you can isolate 1 and kill him with the help of your allies. If only 1-2 enemies approaches the rune, Decay is generally better for chasing.

[Delfofthebla]

I don't know, I'm not an expert at the history/changelogs of DotA. But as far as I know it has always been working in that fashion.

It's because in DotA, Rot uses aura application to apply the slow debuff, and the consequence of that method of application is varying lengths of slow between 2-4 seconds (after the enemy is out of Rot's AoE).

See this for further details: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showpost.php?p=951610&postcount=17

Interesting. Thanks for the info as usual. :)


If you really think Hook @ level one is Positive on the long run then you sir are a retard. go l2p the game..
Sigh. The long run? Seriously? Did you not read my last post above yours? Did you even read the guide?


Honestly, it depends on the situation when you're level 1 & at the rune spots. If the enemy team beelines towards the rune, you can isolate 1 and kill him with the help of your allies. If only 1-2 enemies approaches the rune, Decay is generally better for chasing.

My thoughts exactly. I'll probably edit something into the guide to prevent players from making posts like that one. It's situational, and seeing as how the guide is centered around public games, you most likely aren't even going to make use of either one of the skills at level 1.

[MetaBrain]

If you really think Hook @ level one is Positive on the long run then you sir are a retard. go l2p the game..

It's SITUATIONAL. Don't pick the first skill till you evaluate the position you are in.

[PanterA]

great guide...can the author comment on whether blink is good or not..cause i prefer blinking to target + devour+rot+ hook (for nuke) :D

[Delfofthebla]

great guide...can the author comment on whether blink is good or not..cause i prefer blinking to target + devour+rot+ hook (for nuke) :D
The strategy works if you can actually tank the damage, but I don't recommend initiating in that manner. In general I don't believe portal key is worth the farm on Devo, but people have told me otherwise.

The problem is I haven't used portal key enough to see it's full potential. I've been buying it whenever I feel it's "safe to" in order to test it out more, but it's not really impressing me so far. The whole idea behind Devourer is to "force" the other team to initiate by effectively removing one of their heroes from the game. If you're blinking into the center of anything it defeats the purpose.

[BarneyGumbal]

I figured PK on Devourer was so you could blink into a perfect position to pull an enemy out by themselves.

[Delfofthebla]

I figured PK on Devourer was so you could blink into a perfect position to pull an enemy out by themselves.
That's what I assumed too, so I tried this. The problem is that you have to farm your core build before you consider portal key. By the time you have your core build you're no longer laning, and thus won't be pulling many "blink hooks" inside the lane. If you are in a lane, it better be a damn teamfight. In which case, why wouldn't you just blink in and ult? I've find portal key itself to be entirely situational, and I often felt like it was wasted gold.

Again though, this is really just my experience over the few games that I've actually used it in. I honestly just want to see a replay of somebody who uses the damn thing as part of their core; so that I can observe just how they use it and try out their "techniques" myself.

[BarneyGumbal]

You're right that it's situational. What I meant by blinking into position was like, say you're about to team fight at mid lane on Legion side as Hellbourne. You blink up on to the ledge and rip out a squishy disabler and rip him in two. The other team will probably run around to try and catch you but you can just run back then start to push 4v5.

Pretty situational.

[PanterA]

ahhhh ok makes sense...reason i go for blink is cause im noob when it comes to hooking..plus the infinite amount of flaming u get from tard team mates for missing a hook is unbareable..
Also, i tried doing mid and it dint work out well :P ...id rather lane with a stunner or someone inorder to get more out of hoot+rot

[Delfofthebla]

ahhhh ok makes sense...reason i go for blink is cause im noob when it comes to hooking..plus the infinite amount of flaming u get from tard team mates for missing a hook is unbareable..
Also, i tried doing mid and it dint work out well :P ...id rather lane with a stunner or someone inorder to get more out of hoot+rot
Yeah I know what you mean. Even I have games where I do bad with my hooks, and man the team flame really just bogs you down.

As for mid, it's really something that should only do if you're very confident in your ability to hook well. You have to do well against what will usually be a ranged hero, while squeezing in ganks whenever possible. Going to a side lane with a stunner or some other support type is usually the easiest route to take.

EDIT: The weekend has arrived once again! Expect some updates soon guys. :)

[thugwaffle]

Hmm, I still think that some more int and part of the sotm buff on his vanilla ulti would be much better than extra rot time, rotwalking was already easy enough, now it's just plain silly.

And Pharaoh and Devourer are very similar heroes imo. Strength initiators who suffer a small pool of mana but are great at ganking due to good disables and short cooldowns, who both pretty much come down to trapping the carry in late game team fights.

With that said, I'm a bad Pharaoh but a pretty good Devourer. Eh.

[BarneyGumbal]

ahhhh ok makes sense...reason i go for blink is cause im noob when it comes to hooking..plus the infinite amount of flaming u get from tard team mates for missing a hook is unbareable..
Also, i tried doing mid and it dint work out well :P ...id rather lane with a stunner or someone inorder to get more out of hoot+rot
You're really missing out on the mid experience. :p

The only time it's ever bad is if the opposing mid is constantly alert and possibly has your side warded. That rarely ever happens though. If you're reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally interested in learning to do it better though, watch the first ~10 minutes of this replay: 25470227 (http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=25470227). It pretty much demonstrates how most games would go as mid.

[enche]

great guide.

[Delfofthebla]

great guide.
Thanks, glad you liked it. :)


Quick update for everyone. I had plans to edit a few of the sections over the weekend - but I got slammed with a lot of schoolwork on an upcoming project. It may be a while before the next update actually comes through.

I've been experimenting a lot with HotBL+Vestments vs. Shaman's Headdress and there seems to be little to no "noticeable" difference in survivability, even if one exists. With that said, I still need to simulate team fights and calculate all the numbers to see whether or not one is "actually" better.

A big thing I do notice though, is that in order to continue building a late game item, you are forced to sell either your bottle or power supply. HotBL+Vestments takes up an extra slot and thus holds you back as the length of the game increases. Not to mention that it's a lot harder to build up to HotBL compared to shaman's headdress.

After I've finished my classes I'll be taking all the theorycraft and formatting it within the guide. Basically, the item and skill build sections will be getting major overhauls.

[HosainH]

Thanks, glad you liked it. :)


Quick update for everyone. I had plans to edit a few of the sections over the weekend - but I got slammed with a lot of schoolwork on an upcoming project. It may be a while before the next update actually comes through.

I've been experimenting a lot with HotBL+Vestments vs. Shaman's Headdress and there seems to be little to no "noticeable" difference in survivability, even if one exists. With that said, I still need to simulate team fights and calculate all the numbers to see whether or not one is "actually" better.

A big thing I do notice though, is that in order to continue building a late game item, you are forced to sell either your bottle or power supply. HotBL+Vestments takes up an extra slot and thus holds you back as the length of the game increases. Not to mention that it's a lot harder to build up to HotBL compared to shaman's headdress.

After I've finished my classes I'll be taking all the theorycraft and formatting it within the guide. Basically, the item and skill build sections will be getting major overhauls.

i don't see the harm in upgrading your mystic vestments to shamans headress and eventually barrier idol if it gets that late. I thought the idea was that hotbl and mystic vestments is the best combo with the llittle money you have at the early/mid phase.

[Delfofthebla]

i don't see the harm in upgrading your mystic vestments to shamans headress and eventually barrier idol if it gets that late. I thought the idea was that hotbl and mystic vestments is the best combo with the llittle money you have at the early/mid phase.
Quite incorrect. It's a lot easier to buy Headdress than it is to buy HotBL. Not to mention that HotBL+Vestments is well, more expensive.

If you're up for a semi-long read then this post outlines details on the two builds. http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showpost.php?p=1025228&postcount=38 (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showpost.php?p=1025228&postcount=38)

Yes, you could upgrade and get them both, but headdress offers no health or mana. I'm not saying it's bad to have both late game, I just prefer to buy other items. If you're in a game where you will probably buy barrier idol, I honestly think it's best to skip HotBL altogether and just get headdress.

[LMFAO]

Has anyone tried getting a rank each of rot and hook then getting cadaver armor whenever possible? I've seen arguments that it allows your str to get very inflated early game but I don't see how you're, well, killing people with low ranks of rot.

[Pheesh]

Thanks, glad you liked it. :)


Quick update for everyone. I had plans to edit a few of the sections over the weekend - but I got slammed with a lot of schoolwork on an upcoming project. It may be a while before the next update actually comes through.

I've been experimenting a lot with HotBL+Vestments vs. Shaman's Headdress and there seems to be little to no "noticeable" difference in survivability, even if one exists. With that said, I still need to simulate team fights and calculate all the numbers to see whether or not one is "actually" better.

A big thing I do notice though, is that in order to continue building a late game item, you are forced to sell either your bottle or power supply. HotBL+Vestments takes up an extra slot and thus holds you back as the length of the game increases. Not to mention that it's a lot harder to build up to HotBL compared to shaman's headdress.

After I've finished my classes I'll be taking all the theorycraft and formatting it within the guide. Basically, the item and skill build sections will be getting major overhauls.

One thing to consider, and this may be sort of whacky, but can't the lifetube from HoTBL also be used for shaman's headress (in place of the two trinkets)?

If you go for a behemoth's heart after hotbl (not a terrible idea), you could actually break apart the hotbl and use the beastheart for the heart, and hang onto the lifetube if you feel like turning mystic vestments into shaman's. It builds into two items that are great for you. HotBl is arguably at it's strongest early game so it may be an interesting course to try.

[Pheesh]

Has anyone tried getting a rank each of rot and hook then getting cadaver armor whenever possible? I've seen arguments that it allows your str to get very inflated early game but I don't see how you're, well, killing people with low ranks of rot.
level 2 rot is more than enough early game

[Delfofthebla]

One thing to consider, and this may be sort of whacky, but can't the lifetube from HoTBL also be used for shaman's headress (in place of the two trinkets)?

If you go for a behemoth's heart after hotbl (not a terrible idea), you could actually break apart the hotbl and use the beastheart for the heart, and hang onto the lifetube if you feel like turning mystic vestments into shaman's. It builds into two items that are great for you. HotBl is arguably at it's strongest early game so it may be an interesting course to try.

I've heard it before, and it's a great idea if you want to clear an inventory slot without "losing" anything.

While behemoth's heart is a very good item for Devourer, I actually don't buy it that often. SotM is generally the first thing I rush for once I've got my core build down. And as you know, SotM has a ton of parts, all of which boost stats that you need. Having to waste 2 inventory slots on HotBL+Vestments or even Headdress+Beastheart makes it hard to utilize the "buildup" of staff. Making you essentially "sit on" 3k gold worth of items.


level 2 rot is more than enough early game

While I don't disagree there, I have mixed feelings about whether or not it's worth it to take the point away from hook and put it into cadaver. The earlier you get cadaver, the weaker you will be.

Devourer can be so devastating due to each rank of his hook/rot beefing him up so much. By taking cadaver early you are effectively throwing that out the window, and delaying your "full power" to a level later. As you all know, Devourer loses effectiveness the higher level everyone else gets, so it's hard to really say whether or not "one level" of cadaver is really worth it.


I've been pretty busy with school so I haven't had time to really playtest different builds. Hopefully I can get at least a small update before GDC, but no promises on that.

[Delfofthebla]

Big update, yay~

Sorry it took so long, school has had me swamped for a while. There's still more stuff I'd like to tweak with the item section regarding all the headdress vs hotbl crap, but I won't work on any of that until after I get back from GDC.

v2.4
-Minor edits to the text within the "Skill Builds" section
-Major overhaul to the "Items" section. The core build has changed!
-"Strategy" section split! The new sections are "Strategy" and "Proper Skill Usage".
-Added a "late game" subsection to the "Strategy" section. (Seems I actually forgot to add that in...oops?)
-Added an actual subsection to the "Strategy" section for laning partners and enemies to avoid. (Subsection is called "Laning Partners and Enemies to Avoid")
-Text within "Laning Partners and Enemies to Avoid" subsection tweaked.
-New section added! "FAQ's and Debates!"
-"Future Plans" section updated!EDIT:
Another version released. It was just a few simple/small changes.

v2.5
-Minor edits to the text within the "Skills" section. (An important note about Devourer's ult was added.)
-Corrected the total gold value for "Core Build 2" within the "Items" section.
-Removed a couple placeholder stubs that I forgot to remove.

[xHeartAttack]

Big update, yay~

Sorry it took so long, school has had me swamped for a while. There's still more stuff I'd like to tweak with the item section regarding all the headdress vs hotbl crap, but I won't work on any of that until after I get back from GDC.
EDIT:
Another version released. It was just a few simple/small changes.

Sorry if I'm a bit Off-Topic but what is the mod you use for the "HP&Mana Bar over the hero"?

[frog]

Here's a Devo game with a pkey as a core item. If you're going with the chaser build, you should really have a pkey to either set up ganks better or be sure they can't escape.

30701952

[Delfofthebla]

Sorry if I'm a bit Off-Topic but what is the mod you use for the "HP&Mana Bar over the hero"?
Check the FAQ section at the end of the guide.


Here's a Devo game with a pkey as a core item. If you're going with the chaser build, you should really have a pkey to either set up ganks better or be sure they can't escape.

30701952

Cool, thanks for the replay. I just got back from GDC so I haven't been able to check it out yet. I'll give it a look later. :)

[OTBatman]

Good guide.

Something that was said in the guide, and not change too long ago was dev's decay.

The slow effect lasts for 2 seconds after they leave the decay radius.

For w/e reason I see alot of devs running away keeping decay on killing themselves, and taking on about 300-400 damage they shouldn't.

I understand doing this to denie yourself, or cause damage if they are stupid enough to follow and you got the hp, but most of the time you could avoid death all together if you didn't do so much damage to yourself.

[Delfofthebla]

Good guide.

Something that was said in the guide, and not change too long ago was dev's decay.

The slow effect lasts for 2 seconds after they leave the decay radius.

For w/e reason I see alot of devs running away keeping decay on killing themselves, and taking on about 300-400 damage they shouldn't.

I understand doing this to denie yourself, or cause damage if they are stupid enough to follow and you got the hp, but most of the time you could avoid death all together if you didn't do so much damage to yourself.
Yeah I'll actually tap it on and off while I'm running away to ensure they're kept slowed while I'm kept alive, it helps a ton.

[Delfofthebla]

Here's a Devo game with a pkey as a core item. If you're going with the chaser build, you should really have a pkey to either set up ganks better or be sure they can't escape.

30701952

Ok I finally scrounged up the motivation to watch the replay. First off I'd like to thank you for submitting this here. I don't get to see much devourer play from anyone other than the noobs who random him and refuse to swap with me.

I loved this game. I found it amazing that it went exactly how most of mine go.

1. Elitist Noob flames you for picking Devourer, or just in general cries about how your team sucks.
2. Solo mid, rape the crap out of everything and everyone while pulling off hilarious ganks.
3. Become so farmed and fed that you can take on the entire team by yourself.
4. Make comment to the noob who flamed you, he either doesn't reply, or bashes the other team.
5. Farm the enemies fountain.
6. Win the game.

The replay really showcased exactly why I love Devourer. He's the type of hero that has an unlimited amount of potential. If you put a devourer with a group of random people near his skill level, he can create one of the most absurd and entertaining games ever. Devourer can survive and kill in the most ridiculous situations if you know what you are doing, and people will start to fear you for it.

I literally win half of my games because I scare the crap out of the enemy team. Fear becomes one of your abilities, and it will cause them to make bad judgments. The one's that don't hide in fear will charge in expecting their team to follow. They die, and then the team is thrown into disarray from all the flaming; allowing you to rape even harder than you did before. This effect snowballs until you're sitting with 15+ kills farming their fountain as they try and run around like idiots attempting to dodge your hooks.

-----
There were some great moments within that game, and you played Devourer really well. While your skillbuild and items weren't what I usually go for, you played him very similar to how I play him. It was interesting to watch, and it was nice to see how Devourer played with that particular skill/item build.

I made a note every time I noticed Portal key effecting your gameplay at all.
1. You caught 1 hero that would have died anyways. (You didn't get the kill, but you got the strength boost, so that's something.)
2. You rambo'd and got yourself killed once. (I really doubt you woulda done this if you didn't have portal key)
3. You created 1 major teamfight initiation that otherwise wouldn't have happened.
4. You got one kill that you really didn't need to be so dramatic with. (I titled it a "lulz kill".)
5. And finally, you completed 2 killsteals when otherwise you would have been too far away to get.

Overall, I can't say it really made me want to promote portal key. On the contrary, it actually backed up my belief that it's really not worth it.

Devourer has to farm at least 3600 to 4100 gold (not including homecoming stones, which you SHOULD be buying constantly) before he can really consider portal key as a possible purchase. Farming that gold takes a while, and if you die more than twice in the early-midgame phase, it could take a LONG time to see that gold farmed. By the time you have enough gold to finish your core and actually buy a portal key, it's already well into the late game phase; where you can't afford to blink into 5 heroes, or when you can't see the team (preventing you from doing any real initiation).

So, in the end the only thing portal key assisted you in doing is stacking your stats within a game that was essentially already over. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. :))

EDIT: Oh yeah, just a heads up. I'll be adding your replay within the replay section on my next guide update.

[Bjornkloo]

Decay is better at lvl 1, at least if u decide to check rune spawn in the start of the game

[Delfofthebla]

Decay is better at lvl 1, at least if u decide to check rune spawn in the start of the game

I actually had edited the guide to take a "Pick whatever you want" type of stance there, but I must have lost it at some point; so thanks for catching that. :P

While I rarely run into a situation where I -regret- picking hook at level one; I won't deny that Decay is better for checking the first rune. Sometimes level 1 hook can get you FB, and sometimes it doesn't. People will have their own preference for the matter, so I decided to leave it up to them.

(Edited this into the guide, but I'll probably outline the reasoning more in the next update)

[Bumblebees]

If you don't get a haste rune, decay is likely going to be 100% useless. Don't get me wrong, before the increase in hook range I got decay at level 1 as well. You're much more likely to hook an enemy into the tower at level 1 than you are to find a haste rune and manage to chase somebody long enough to get FB.



Gee, people sure do love to spam that thread everywhere.

I mentioned HotBL, I just didn't give it any props. I've read the thread, and I just couldn't see the benefits. You need to think of just how those numbers are being decided.

Shamans Headdress gives 10 magic armor and an 8HP regen
HotBL+Vestments gives 5 magic armor and a 6HP regen

How could something that gives less magic armor and less health regen actually mitigate more damage than shamans headdress? This concept didn't make sense to me. Then I noticed; the reason his numbers are lower, is because he's comparing them to the base health.

(These values were taken at lvl 16 with max level Cadaver Armor)
Over 15 seconds you take 534 damage with Shaman's Headdress.
Over 15 seconds you take 675 damage with HotBL+Vestments.

Over 15 seconds you're taking more damage with HotBL+Vestments.

That's not the point he's trying to get across though. He's saying that if you buy HotBL+Vestments instead, you will be left with a higher HP value than if you had just bought Headdress; and this is true.

With Shaman's Headdress you start with 1575 health. After the 15 second duration of decay you are left with 1041 health.
With HotBL you start with 1875 health. After the 15 second duration of decay you are left with 1200 health.

Shaman's Headdress = 2050g.
HotBL + Vestments = 2625g.

Instead of just buying a Headdress, you can spend 575 gold more (overall) and you will have a whopping 139 more hp after spamming decay for 15 seconds.

HotBL+Vestments will make you take the most damage over time, but you will end up with the highest health value.

While that's all nice and dandy, the thing is that Shaman's Headdress does more than just mitigate decay damage. It mitigates the other teams spells and abilities as well! Not to mention that you can easily obtain a Barrier Idol from headdress, whereas you would have to spend another 2050g to get to the same point if you go the HotBL route. Barrier Idol mitigates damage for you, and your entire team. The only question is whether or not you're actually going to buy it.

While HotBL+Vestments has its advantage over shaman's Headdress, it also requires that you waste two inventory slots as apposed to just having one. Late game, you don't really have much room to spare. While you could sell your bottle/power supply, I still don't find it worth doing for such a small bit of health.

Overall, yes. HotBL+Mystic Vestments is actually better than headdress. Would I buy it over headdress though? No.

I'm not yet convinced, but that's not to say that I can't be. In an actual team fight where spells and abilities are being tossed all over the place, you need to actually mathcraft just which item(s) are more valuable based on the amount of damage you're going to take. It's something that I guess I should get around to doing.

EDIT: After reading my own post over and over again I began to think a bit. I started to simulate a couple situations and I'm beginning to think HotBL may actually be better. I knew from reading the thread originally that you'd have more health, but it didn't really click before.

I'm going to simulate a couple teamfight situations and jot down the numbers for each item. I just may need to revamp my core build if the numbers end up in favor of HotBL. The items section needs an update anyways, so either way you should see some changes there soon.


I just want to mention another aspect of HoTBL that you're missing... you can destruct it.

Headdress can be made with lifetube + vestments + helm. Behemoth's heart can be made with the beastheart.

So if you make HoTBL and mystic vestments, you are not actually wasting an inventory slot. The correct thing to do is buy mystic vestments, lifetube, beastheart, sheild, helm, break HotBL and headdress will instantly make. Sell sheild. Save up for axe of malphi and recipe.

So with the assumption that you are going with just boots, bottle and TP, you have more than plenty of room to hold the 3 items necassary to build up to the ultimate devourer build (behemoth's heart + barrier idol)

[Bumblebees]

I also want to mention that you forgot to note two VERY important things in the early cadaver armor build.

Devourer does not get STR if he gets the kill, and devourer gains STR if he dies (even if you rot yourself to death). If you get early cadaver armor it is generally best to allow your teammate to get all the kills possible, especially if you are on the way to a behemoth's heart.

A lot of devourer players don't realize that when their HP gets low, self-denying or auto-attacking till you die actually can do more for you than going to the fountain and healing then going back out.

If you want to be useful late game, dying as devourer can actually be a viable tactic if you do it intelligently, and being selfless as devourer is often as important as being a selfish carry player.

[Delfofthebla]

I just want to mention another aspect of HoTBL that you're missing... you can destruct it.

Headdress can be made with lifetube + vestments + helm. Behemoth's heart can be made with the beastheart.

So if you make HoTBL and mystic vestments, you are not actually wasting an inventory slot. The correct thing to do is buy mystic vestments, lifetube, beastheart, sheild, helm, break HotBL and headdress will instantly make. Sell sheild. Save up for axe of malphi and recipe.

So with the assumption that you are going with just boots, bottle and TP, you have more than plenty of room to hold the 3 items necassary to build up to the ultimate devourer build (behemoth's heart + barrier idol)

First off, I'm delighted you actually decided to respond to that. I was somewhat curious as to if you were ever going to see it.

I actually did mention disassembling HotBL, but not within the main guide. I'll add the details into it later. I didn't really test the build around splitting the helm up and making the two items, as BH isn't one of my preferred late game items, and my testing was centered around a pure "HotBL vs Headdress" playstyle. In pubs you can get away with SotM over BH, and usually have more "fun" in doing so. Due to this, BH never actually crossed my mind during the HotBL build testing.

The whole thing just seems like a huge waste of time/gold. Sure, you get the small benefit of HotBL over just Headdress for a short time, but you're going to build headdress anyways and sell off part of helm.


I also want to mention that you forgot to note two VERY important things in the early cadaver armor build.

Devourer does not get STR if he gets the kill, and devourer gains STR if he dies (even if you rot yourself to death). If you get early cadaver armor it is generally best to allow your teammate to get all the kills possible, especially if you are on the way to a behemoth's heart.

A lot of devourer players don't realize that when their HP gets low, self-denying or auto-attacking till you die actually can do more for you than going to the fountain and healing then going back out.

If you want to be useful late game, dying as devourer can actually be a viable tactic if you do it intelligently, and being selfless as devourer is often as important as being a selfish carry player.

You put way too much thought into the idea of killing yourself. Devourer is a hero that can turn the tide of battle so easily by just being there. In situations where you have the chance to not die, you should take that chance and...not die. Do you understand how incredibly difficult it is to actually suicide in a situation where 3+ heroes are focusing you down? It can be downright impossible in most situations, and grows harder as the game goes on.

Don't get me wrong, I know the importance of suicide. If I know my death is imminent, I will attempt to kill myself. In doing so, I gain a bit of strength, I prevent the enemy from getting some gold/XP, but I'm still dead. During a game, I'm usually the highest level on the team too, so I'm going to be dead for a while. Dying is not beneficial. The strength you gain is but a mere perk you gain out of a situation where you were you were already going to die.

Putting that all aside for a second, do you seriously not think you gain strength from getting the kill? Can you not read the skill description? I mean, I don't like to make direct attacks on people, but do people seriously trust information that you provide them? Your statement is 100% false. You do gain strength from a kill. You gain gold too.

Let's recap.


When your hero dies, you lose gold. No matter how it happens, your death = gold loss.
You're telling people to not last hit heroes (No hero kill gold)
HotBL has very expensive components. Just one or two deaths early on will delay your progress for a good 10 minutes.
You(bumbly (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/member.php?u=15932)) advocate this expensive build due to it's minimal benefits vs. Headdress. You then recycle the more expensive items from HotBL to build...headdress.

So I'm a little lost here. How do you even manage to build your core in one game? You don't kill heroes, you kill yourself in situations you could have lived in, and you still manage to farm the gold for each piece of HotBL? How late is it when you normally have this item?

I don't feel like mathcrafting all the gold used/wasted/spent, but I might sometime later. Your logic seems a bit flawed in areas, and I don't really understand how you manage to make any of it work within a real game.

[Master0Puppe]

Great guide, just wanted to thank you for writing a very well-written Devourer guide, keep up the good work.

[Bumblebees]

I'm not entirely sure why I wrote that not-getting the kill part. My brain was getting way ahead of me on something else. Obviously wrong there.

The rest of the post you obviously were more interested in replying than actually understanding what you were replying to. Nearly the entire reply post is straw man rhetoric.

I'll leave it to you to figure out what I typed, just like when you had to re-read my devourer build post a few times to get it. I'll take responsibility for my writing style not being clear or something.

If you would like to have a constructive dialogue, please let me know via PM.

[Delfofthebla]

I'm not entirely sure why I wrote that not-getting the kill part. My brain was getting way ahead of me on something else. Obviously wrong there.

The rest of the post you obviously were more interested in replying than actually understanding what you were replying to. Nearly the entire reply post is straw man rhetoric.

I'll leave it to you to figure out what I typed, just like when you had to re-read my devourer build post a few times to get it. I'll take responsibility for my writing style not being clear or something.

If you would like to have a constructive dialogue, please let me know via PM.
It felt like you were wording your entire post around the fact that Devourer did not get strength if he actually got the kill. That is why I worded it the way I did. Nothing seemed logical, and I was pointing out what didn't make sense.

I don't really think we should -take it to PM's- as I'm not trying to make an enemy out of you. I'll admit I could have worded the post in a "nicer" way, but I am genuinely interested in how you make it all work. If you have replays I'd really like to see them.

[Delfofthebla]

Great guide, just wanted to thank you for writing a very well-written Devourer guide, keep up the good work.
Glad you liked it. :)

[iFMagma]

I find it near criminal to mention polly as a lane partner when elec fits that role eatleast as well with good move speed with a powerful slow or great movement with no slow to actually land the hold and a mana shield that can later in the game work with rot.

[Padawanabee]

Of course, then you have 2 melee in a lane. Not the end of the world, but I'm sure the writer listed poly for that reason.

[Delfofthebla]

I find it near criminal to mention polly as a lane partner when elec fits that role eatleast as well with good move speed with a powerful slow or great movement with no slow to actually land the hold and a mana shield that can later in the game work with rot.


Of course, then you have 2 melee in a lane. Not the end of the world, but I'm sure the writer listed poly for that reason.

I'll admit Pollywog is the odd man among the laning partners, and perhaps there are better heroes that would belong on the list. The goal was to outline different roles that work well with devourer, not necessarily the heroes themselves.

An example would be Demented Shaman. He does well with virtually anyone, and Devourer is no exception to that. He brings a heal, a slow, and even damage mitigation. All things that Devourer can directly benefit from. The reason he isn't on the list though, is that it should be obvious on how he is useful to your laning phase.

Here's a quote directly from the laning phase section.

Devourer goes great with a very wide variety of heroes. You're basically looking for heroes that can pump the crap out of your early game farm. Anyone with a stun or high burst damage is immediately a good laning partner, and of course the major support heroes are natural buddies as well. I won't list heroes that fall into those categories. If they've got a stun/slow, they're great to lane with, period.

[McNord]

Very nice guide, it's easy to understand and va lot of work on it.

[M0nk0t0]

This guide, not only was it thorough and amazing, it completely changed my gameplay style with Devourer.

I prefer boots/rune start since I tend to get Decay first for the attempt at "First Blood" during the first rune camp. I did it multiple times since Decay is just so... overwhelmingly strong. Even if they were beating on me, being slowed by me, getting hit by me, and getting stunned/damaged by my teammates at the same time it like guarantees first blood. Being faster than them (thanks to my boots) allows me to block+chase them more effectively.

Keep up the good work man, I'm looking forward to how Devourer and your guide develops (Whom now is my favorite STR hero).

[Blazinghand]

This guide, not only was it thorough and amazing, it completely changed my gameplay style with Devourer.

I prefer boots/rune start since I tend to get Decay first for the attempt at "First Blood" during the first rune camp. I did it multiple times since Decay is just so... overwhelmingly strong. Even if they were beating on me, being slowed by me, getting hit by me, and getting stunned/damaged by my teammates at the same time it like guarantees first blood. Being faster than them (thanks to my boots) allows me to block+chase them more effectively.

Keep up the good work man, I'm looking forward to how Devourer and your guide develops (Whom now is my favorite STR hero).

I am not a fan of boots first, and here's why:
Without boots, you have atrociously slow move speed (285). However, if you get an enemy into your rot, their move speed is reduced by 20%, from an average of 300 to 240. Even if they for some reason got boots and have 350 move speed, they're still lowered to 280, which is STILL slower than you.

Which is to say, if you're good enough with positioning, even if you go for rot at level 1 for first blood (at a rune, or coming out of the forest, for instance) the enemy will not escape, even if you don't have boots and they do.

Now, boots WILL let you get in more autoattacks as you chase someone. However, a crushing claw or some stats or regen will let you rot longer and hit harder. However, the lack of laning power that results from getting boots instead of a hatchet and/or some regen and stats is tough to overcome for a ganker who needs like 1.5k in farm to get off the ground.

So, I don't start with boots. If it gets you kills, by all means, go ahead. However, it's nice to have a mana potion so that if I should need more than one hook every 4 minutes, I can pull it off.

[Phyrio]

I liked your guide but there are some points you need to emphasize.

1) Devourer is a hero that benefits greatly from outleveling his opponents. Yes, I realize you could say this about every hero, but devourer especially has a huge advantage when he is 1-2 levels higher than the guy he's decaying. Denying 20-25+ creeps in the laning phase does wonderful things.

2) Part of the appeal of the hero is a good devourer can identify who's bad on the opposing team and repeatedly kill them. This leads to a major team advantage late game.

3) I have been playing around with Devourer lately and getting staff of the master first and I must say it's lackluster. The most appealing thing about it is the extra mana from glowstone and wizards staff. Other than that, the heal on ult isn't too amazing. If at all possible you should get heart first, though granted this isn't always possible even for the best devourers.

[M0nkoto]

I liked your guide but there are some points you need to emphasize.

1) Devourer is a hero that benefits greatly from outleveling his opponents. Yes, I realize you could say this about every hero, but devourer especially has a huge advantage when he is 1-2 levels higher than the guy he's decaying. Denying 20-25+ creeps in the laning phase does wonderful things.

2) Part of the appeal of the hero is a good devourer can identify who's bad on the opposing team and repeatedly kill them. This leads to a major team advantage late game.

3) I have been playing around with Devourer lately and getting staff of the master first and I must say it's lackluster. The most appealing thing about it is the extra mana from glowstone and wizards staff. Other than that, the heal on ult isn't too amazing. If at all possible you should get heart first, though granted this isn't always possible even for the best devourers.

After playing Devourer a lot (Using a few practice accounts to get used to him) I'm pretty confident I can answer your three points.

1) Yes, you can say that about every hero, but considering he's a melee hero with one of the lowest base speed he will have a tough time denying at the start because the regardless of which lane you're in (if you're in a 1700+ or just in general a high-tier game) you will always face some sort of counter to denies. If you're Hellbourne, the top safe lane will usually have a ranged babysitter that can deny well. The middle lane, most of the time it's a ranged hero or on occasion, Blood Hunter who denies/last hit better than Devourer since he can just silence you before you decay to scare him off and get last hits easily. The dangerous bottom lane... well you're closer to their tower so its pretty obvious why its more difficult to deny/last hit well. Essentially, in a game where everyone is decent, getting 20+ deny during early game is quite difficult.

2) Dude... this applies to every ganker/carry type hero in this game... Who doesn't exploit weaknesses? Not trying to talk you down or anything but a guide really isn't required to tell you to take advantage of an opponent's weakness in a game where the element of surprise is essential.

3) Getting the Staff is purely based on preference. I actually like getting the staff because it is quite handy. It doesn't just heal you for the damage it does, it also increases the damage it does (+75% of your str as magic dmg added into Om Nom Nom's dmg). Also, due to its short cooldown it is actually possible to use on non-hero targets to heal yourself so you don't have to run back to heal. If you get decent mana regen items (IE Nome's if your teammates are lazy), have Glacius on your team, or rarely cast Guttling Hook, your mana pool should generally be close to max anyways so just cast Om Nom Nom when you need a quick heal. 30s goes by very quickly in this game. Getting Behemoth's Heart is any tank's goal, but I've never found it necessary. Usually, due to my Cadaver Armor giving me roughly +40-50 str end game, I didn't need to get Behemoth's heart. My usual final items are a Bottle, Barrier Idol, SOTM, Helm of the Black Legion (Cheap and useful), Enhanced Marcher/Post Haste, and either Nome's or Portal Key depending on the game.

[Delfofthebla]

I liked your guide but there are some points you need to emphasize.

1) Devourer is a hero that benefits greatly from outleveling his opponents. Yes, I realize you could say this about every hero, but devourer especially has a huge advantage when he is 1-2 levels higher than the guy he's decaying. Denying 20-25+ creeps in the laning phase does wonderful things.

2) Part of the appeal of the hero is a good devourer can identify who's bad on the opposing team and repeatedly kill them. This leads to a major team advantage late game.

3) I have been playing around with Devourer lately and getting staff of the master first and I must say it's lackluster. The most appealing thing about it is the extra mana from glowstone and wizards staff. Other than that, the heal on ult isn't too amazing. If at all possible you should get heart first, though granted this isn't always possible even for the best devourers.

The thing with devourer is that he can be played in so many different ways. People are more efficient with different items due to how they play the hero. It's hard to really explain how I (personally) benefit more from SotM than I do from say behemoths. It all depends on how much experience you have with the hero and what you're good at doing. If it's more useful for you to go with behemoths, by all means - do it.

On your leveling comment, I definitely agree. That is why I recommended the solo mid lane. The problem is being able to actually pull it off without hurting your team. You have to play very aggressively, and make use of your levels while you still have the edge.

I tend to play Devo in a semi-carry type of way. I start out solo mid (in almost all of my games), I then kill mid a couple times, gank the lanes that need it, reach bloodbath status by 20 minute mark, and then proceed to kill their entire team by myself over and over until they concede. If I fail to make them concede before endgame, I usually lose the game.

And I'm sure that "strategy" doesn't work that well for many people. SotM is useful for me because I'm doing so well. It's an item that only works if you didn't really need it in the first place. It keeps you in the field longer, enhances your damage, and keeps that damage rising throughout the rest of the game. Hell, I don't even have time left to buy the thing in most of my games. I'll have won before it's even halfway completed.



3) Getting the Staff is purely based on preference. I actually like getting the staff because it is quite handy. It doesn't just heal you for the damage it does, it also increases the damage it does (+75% of your str as magic dmg added into Om Nom Nom's dmg). Also, due to its short cooldown it is actually possible to use on non-hero targets to heal yourself so you don't have to run back to heal. If you get decent mana regen items (IE Nome's if your teammates are lazy), have Glacius on your team, or rarely cast Guttling Hook, your mana pool should generally be close to max anyways so just cast Om Nom Nom when you need a quick heal. 30s goes by very quickly in this game. Getting Behemoth's Heart is any tank's goal, but I've never found it necessary. Usually, due to my Cadaver Armor giving me roughly +40-50 str end game, I didn't need to get Behemoth's heart. My usual final items are a Bottle, Barrier Idol, SOTM, Helm of the Black Legion (Cheap and useful), Enhanced Marcher/Post Haste, and either Nome's or Portal Key depending on the game.

That sums up my thoughts on SoTM pretty well.

[Hygao]

Nice... I like Devourer... But you hooked Zephyr more on '' good luck '' . Maybe he was going too the shop, or going back, but still nice guide!

[Delfofthebla]

Nice... I like Devourer... But you hooked Zephyr more on '' good luck '' . Maybe he was going too the shop, or going back, but still nice guide!

That's all blind hooking is. People can do a large number of things within the fog. The only thing you can do is predict their actions before they enter the fog, and hope that they don't do anything else while you can't see them.

[blueseph]

It gives some OK stats and can often ensure you and your "new best friend" aren't interrupted by his pesky teammates.

that made me laugh way, way harder than it should have.

[Xizel]

Is it me, or is Pudge easier to play than Devourer? I hate how the animations in this game, while with the same variables, distorts your perception.

[Delfofthebla]

that made me laugh way, way harder than it should have.
:P


Is it me, or is Pudge easier to play than Devourer? I hate how the animations in this game, while with the same variables, distorts your perception.

It's hard for me to give a real answer due to how long it has been since I've played pudge. I personally have done better with Devourer than I ever have with pudge. This is largely due to the major changes that the "new environment" had on my skill level as a player.

I hear people say that he's harder than pudge, but I don't really see where that is coming from. You should have less delay in HoN than you did in DotA. Not to mention that S2 has buffed Devourer to be better than pudge, I can't count how many times I've actually hit people during the hooks return trip.

[Reaper]

How do you guys deal with "blinking" characters? I recently had to lane vs Magebane and Wretched Hag. It was the most frustrating game ever. Ulti in que doesn't really work perfect, I could've had 10 extra kills if they didnt just blink away after I grabbed them.

[Delfofthebla]

How do you guys deal with "blinking" characters? I recently had to lane vs Magebane and Wretched Hag. It was the most frustrating game ever. Ulti in que doesn't really work perfect, I could've had 10 extra kills if they didnt just blink away after I grabbed them.

There really isn't too much "you" can do about it to be honest. There needs to be some sort of initiation from one of your other team mates. The key is to do as much damage to them in the brief amount of time you can hold them (3 seconds + stun/disable from teammate)

If you can hook someone and have them stun during the hook travel time, that is your best bet. If you can't do that, you simply have to have a teammate stun them before you use your hook, so that you can devour them while they can't move. This is also more beneficial for you if you sometimes have trouble landing hooks. Their stun will allow you to easily hook and disable the blinking hero. There's no point however, if you don't think you have enough damage to kill them during your ult.

Other than that there is the "Blink Hooking" technique. Unfortunately it's probably one of the most difficult hooking techniques. Not even I am very good at it. I only manage to pull it off against Valkyrie.

Basically, you run at the enemy hero that can blink. They see you, and blink away in an attempt to run away. Before they actually blink, you have to fire a hook at the location you think they're going to blink to. Yup, you have to hook their target blink location before they even do it themselves. If you do it right they will blink right in front of your hook, and have no escape mechanism for a short time. If you can manage to pull it off that is.

[Blazinghand]

How do you guys deal with "blinking" characters? I recently had to lane vs Magebane and Wretched Hag. It was the most frustrating game ever. Ulti in que doesn't really work perfect, I could've had 10 extra kills if they didnt just blink away after I grabbed them.

Hag's blink is slow enough that if you ult her as she comes off of your hook, it will interrupt the blink.

[Delfofthebla]

v2.6
-Updated skill build to promote getting Decay at level 1.
-Added text in "Core Build 2" informing the ability to dissasemble HotBL for Headdress+Behemoth's Heart.
-Fixed a typo in the "Predicting Actions and Movements subsection"
-Added another Replay! Thanks frog (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/member.php?u=6145) for your submission!
-Future Plans section updated.


Been a while since the last update. Between me being busy with school and me not playing HoN as much, it took me a while to get around to it. I still haven't gotten around to finishing that stupid hooking map though, but hey! I should finish it eventually!

[Proteuz]

(im)patiently waiting for hooking map! Liked the guide.

[Anizer1]

Awesome guide.

No mention of void talisman whatsoever? I've tried it in some games and found it to be quite effective.

While this might be a prime example since the opposing team had 3 carries I would still be happy if you were to watch this replay and maybe give comments to it.

My style of play is more like initiating with rot+(ult)+hook rather than risk missing a hook, at least early in the game.

Btw the early game kinda sucked, fun ensues when I purchase the talisman.

21/7

39239699

[Delfofthebla]

Finals are over and I've finally got some free time, yay~

Expect some updates soon!


Awesome guide.

Thanks, glad you liked it. :)


(im)patiently waiting for hooking map! Liked the guide.

The hooking map will be in the next update that will happen sometime this week. (Sooner than later!)


No mention of void talisman whatsoever? I've tried it in some games and found it to be quite effective.

While this might be a prime example since the opposing team had 3 carries I would still be happy if you were to watch this replay and maybe give comments to it.

My style of play is more like initiating with rot+(ult)+hook rather than risk missing a hook, at least early in the game.

Btw the early game kinda sucked, fun ensues when I purchase the talisman.

21/7

39239699

Due to the fact that I play only public games I don't often see the item used and thus it rarely ever even crosses my mind. I haven't seen the replay yet but I'll check it out soon. I'm curious to see if it can be used effectively.

The thing with talisman though is that it only protects you from physical damage, and then prevents you from being able to use your melee. (Something that I'd like to say adds a decent amount of damage to your chases.) In a most situations I'm not dying due to the enemy's auto attacks but rather the prolonged usage of decay, as well as the incoming flow of nukes. As you mentioned though, being up a 3 carry team would make it a lot more useful than usual.

[SockRolid]

You should put Chipper among the well synergizing heroes.
With the shield chipper can apply, devourers rot AoE range increases, aswell as migating 20% (at lvl 4) of all magic damage into the AoE.
Meaning, if he does 100 dmg at lvl 4 decay, it will do 120 damage instead in a larger AoE, and aswell as reducing the damage devourer takes hismelf from it.
But as you said, the ones that synergize well, works well against him!:smile:

EDIT: Also, chipper has his slow and rocket, if he successfully hits with both of them, the target will burn for some extra damage and have a much bigger slow applied on him. And if he slips away (which i doubt he does) Chipper can finish him off with his rockets. Just picking 1 skill into the shield by chipper can turn the tides in a fight.
I've tried this once, and it works so well. A double kill and firstblood after 5 minutes only.

[Delfofthebla]

You should put Chipper among the well synergizing heroes.
With the shield chipper can apply, devourers rot AoE range increases, aswell as migating 20% (at lvl 4) of all magic damage into the AoE.
Meaning, if he does 100 dmg at lvl 4 decay, it will do 120 damage instead in a larger AoE, and aswell as reducing the damage devourer takes hismelf from it.
But as you said, the ones that synergize well, works well against him!:smile:

EDIT: Also, chipper has his slow and rocket, if he successfully hits with both of them, the target will burn for some extra damage and have a much bigger slow applied on him. And if he slips away (which i doubt he does) Chipper can finish him off with his rockets. Just picking 1 skill into the shield by chipper can turn the tides in a fight.
I've tried this once, and it works so well. A double kill and firstblood after 5 minutes only.

They just changed Chippers 3rd ability (And I knew they would) which is why I chose to not mention him yet. He's still undergoing a lot of balance changes and I don't want to add him in during that phase. Honestly speaking though, I've always found chipper to be more of a nuisance than anything.

Sure, he slows, he has good burst damage, and he can mitigate magic damage, but he also enjoys running out in front of you and blocking your path. His rockets follow the exact same mechanics as hook does, so he gets in your way a LOT during the laning phase. It drives me nuts. I'm not even sure chippers bother leveling the shield early. It seems like it would be more useful late game, after the laning phase has you know, ended.

All in all, yeah, he can bring something to the lane, but I'd much rather have someone else as my laning partner with him in his current state.

[Delfofthebla]

The hooking map has arrived! I'd like to get as much feedback on this as possible, as I honestly discovered half of the locations during the process of making the map. I'd like to have it as clean as possible, so if you see that I'm missing an important spot, or if I listed one that isn't even useful, please let me know!



-Added the "Hooking Map" section! -Hurray~
-Added the ability to "Jump" to each section from the Table of Contents.
-Changed some text within the "Skill Build" section.
-Changed a lot of text within the "Items" section.
-Italicized the more important information within the "Laning Partners" subsection.
-Added more info regarding Pharaoh's abilities within the "Greatest Enemies" subsection.
-Conclusion section had a few minor edits done to it.

[SideKick1]

:slit:
Is a terrible enemy for Devourer, his autoattack stops your regen which means you'll be damaging yourself even more from decay.

Going bot with a stunner/disabler and :Marchers::RunesOfTheBlight: with decay skilled level 1 will more often then not net you an easy First Blood and possibly a double kill.

[Delfofthebla]

:slit:
Is a terrible enemy for Devourer, his autoattack stops your regen which means you'll be damaging yourself even more from decay.

Going bot with a stunner/disabler and :Marchers::RunesOfTheBlight: with decay skilled level 1 will more often then not net you an easy First Blood and possibly a double kill.

There are plenty of heroes that can deal a good amount of damage to devourer in the laning phase, but it's so much easier to kill them than it is for them to kill you. Slither is extremely squishy, and is very easy to kill. Are you leveling decay above hook? If so that's probably why you have trouble with him. Whenever I'm up against slither all I have to do is hook him and chase for a second and he's usually dead.

As for the Boots+Tree eaters at start, I'd have to say I don't really approve. If they have even one stunner the entire strategy is foiled and you're now left without any useful starting items. It's much more beneficial to buy the items I mentioned and wait for hooking opportunities.

[CheshireCat]

Hallelujah! An actual guide on devourer! :D Noone takes him seriously, even in pubs, although he is pretty much only for having fun in pubs. :)

[FrostyPanda]

For the love of god I can't seem to pull off good hooks with devo, and whenever I get raged for not ganking early game and go on to do so, I end up losing a ton of exp/gold and falling behind. It could probably have something to do with be getting 10fps ingame with my bad comp.

Is there anyway to train myself to get past the graphics lag? Any particular training scheme you can suggest? (ie. to get better at last hitting use glacius). Otherwise I suppose I'll have to just live not playing devo at home =/

[Delfofthebla]

Hallelujah! An actual guide on devourer! :D Noone takes him seriously, even in pubs, although he is pretty much only for having fun in pubs. :) I find him to be a very useful hero, and is able to create situations that other heroes just can't do. It's a real shame you don't get to see him in competitive games.


For the love of god I can't seem to pull off good hooks with devo, and whenever I get raged for not ganking early game and go on to do so, I end up losing a ton of exp/gold and falling behind. It could probably have something to do with be getting 10fps ingame with my bad comp.

Is there anyway to train myself to get past the graphics lag? Any particular training scheme you can suggest? (ie. to get better at last hitting use glacius). Otherwise I suppose I'll have to just live not playing devo at home =/
Yikes. I don't think it's worth trying to learn to hook @ 10fps. The game moves too fast and you will miss a LOT of hooking opportunities just because you couldn't even see it happen. Lagging in the middle of teamfights pretty much destroys your ability to hook anything properly.

I'm amazed you even want to play this game with that much lag.

[Blazinghand]

For the love of god I can't seem to pull off good hooks with devo, and whenever I get raged for not ganking early game and go on to do so, I end up losing a ton of exp/gold and falling behind. It could probably have something to do with be getting 10fps ingame with my bad comp.

Is there anyway to train myself to get past the graphics lag? Any particular training scheme you can suggest? (ie. to get better at last hitting use glacius). Otherwise I suppose I'll have to just live not playing devo at home =/


I don't suppose you could turn your graphics settings down any lower? You simply can't land hooks above a certain amount of lag.

Assuming you have this much lag, basically your best chance to gank would be to get into melee and turn on rot (using an invis or haste rune, or just pure badassery coming out of the forest in a flank position etc) and doing a point-blank hook to stack on some more damage.

[pemo]

Sure, he slows, he has good burst damage, and he can mitigate magic damage, but he also enjoys running out in front of you and blocking your path. His rockets follow the exact same mechanics as hook does, so he gets in your way a LOT during the laning phase. It drives me nuts. I'm not even sure chippers bother leveling the shield early. It seems like it would be more useful late game, after the laning phase has you know, ended.

All in all, yeah, he can bring something to the lane, but I'd much rather have someone else as my laning partner with him in his current state.

:cool::cool:

[ElementUser]

Just a little gripe lol


Here's a technical breakdown of Guttling Hooks' travel time, courtesy of ElementalUser (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showpost.php?p=1011537&postcount=28).

ElementalUser ≠ ElementUser

:(

[Delfofthebla]

Just a little gripe lol



ElementalUser ≠ ElementUser

:(

Ahhh my bad lol. Fixed for ya :P

[Griddler]

Skill build question -

I normally just get 1 rank in hook at level 2, then focus on gas/armor. Reason being armor mitigates dmg of gas. Make shaman's in lane to further mitigate it. Get armor instead of more hook early on to build some str and further reduce self-pwnage by gas.

I'll have to try the hook-max (old school - this is how it was always done before s2 made lvl 1 hook have max range) style; but it seems like you're putting all your eggs in 1 basket. Miss hook = you fail to deal dmg now ><

[Zahnfleisch]

Awesome guide for the most fun hero of HoN.

Had an awesome match yesterday against a raging CD: 41194596

:devo:

[Delfofthebla]

Skill build question -

I normally just get 1 rank in hook at level 2, then focus on gas/armor. Reason being armor mitigates dmg of gas. Make shaman's in lane to further mitigate it. Get armor instead of more hook early on to build some str and further reduce self-pwnage by gas.

I'll have to try the hook-max (old school - this is how it was always done before s2 made lvl 1 hook have max range) style; but it seems like you're putting all your eggs in 1 basket. Miss hook = you fail to deal dmg now ><

That's exactly why it's called the "Pro Hooker" build. I use it because most of the time, I don't miss my hooks. It's a massive amount of burst damage that costs mana(Rather than HP) and allows me to spare myself of massive decay damage from chasing. Not to mention if you are soloing mid you don't actually have the luxury of chasing them that long, and I find hook to be more useful for quick ganks. Everything is decided in an instant.

As you said though, if you miss a hook it majorly screws you over. If I'm having a bad day and I miss just 2-3 of my early game hooks it can sometimes end up destroying me for the rest of the game.

For that reason, I'd recommend using the Chaser build to most people until they're bored of landing hooks and not getting any real damage from it. If you're confident enough not to miss, there's no reason not to use the Pro Hooker build.


Awesome guide for the most fun hero of HoN.

Had an awesome match yesterday against a raging CD: 41194596

:devo:
Glad you liked it. :)

[ChaLkDust]

On a side note, can Dev and Andromeda use portal key? IceFrog banned it's use, though I'm not sure why.
If you have portal key, you can jump in and devour rot him, then catch him with hook if he runs.
BTW, what happens if nymph or ophelia teleports you while hooking someone?

[Delfofthebla]

On a side note, can Dev and Andromeda use portal key? IceFrog banned it's use, though I'm not sure why.
If you have portal key, you can jump in and devour rot him, then catch him with hook if he runs.
BTW, what happens if nymph or ophelia teleports you while hooking someone?

Yes you can use it in HoN. It was banned in DotA because it allowed you to "relocate" players into areas where they could not escape from.

As for the teleport question, I'm not too sure. Perhaps it would attempt to pull them towards the direction of where you teleported to, but then stop once the unit traveled 1400 units. (Or whatever cap it was that they set.) That or it would immediately stop pulling them once you teleport.

Try it out yourself in practice mode and get back to me. :P

[Blazinghand]

Yes you can use it in HoN. It was banned in DotA because it allowed you to "relocate" players into areas where they could not escape from.

As for the teleport question, I'm not too sure. Perhaps it would attempt to pull them towards the direction of where you teleported to, but then stop once the unit traveled 1400 units. (Or whatever cap it was that they set.) That or it would immediately stop pulling them once you teleport.

Try it out yourself in practice mode and get back to me. :P

I've got an idea, and I'll pitch it to you: throw out a hook, and then portalkey too. The hook's return path should change quite a bit and make hook dodging enemies throw a huge fit.

[h0lyh3x0r]

thx man this was a great help .... i got the hooking part pretty good allready, but the map was usefull and so was your itembuild! the start build you showed is much more helpfull than just a bottle for a starter as i allmost allways do :D GJ, keep it up

[DownandDirty]

One item i never see on Devourer is Magic immunity. Its quite effective - only if you get a great farm going on tho. Stops people interupting your bite. makes you immune to your own damage which can be alot - its situational tho and requires fast farming but it can be a game changer.
I understand Dev isnt the best farmer as i said it will require some good early kills.

[AusKipper]

Ok, first off, i'm a noob, so if my comments are totally retarded, feel free to enlighten me as to why, but please do so in a polite manner:

Firstly Devourer is my favorite char to play in HON, and i'm not sure why he gets so much hate, because he is the only character I can play well.

Secondly, my skill build hasn't been recommended (and i dont know what it is exactly) but i'll say in words what it is, and why.

Level 1 i get rot, can be useful, and theres no reason to be standing around with full health in lane as devourer, you might as well go rot them a bit and quite often you will find they immediately run out of XP range :)

Level 2 I get hook, and as soon as i get it i take the first opportunity to hook someone into the tower (no point standing around with full mana either)

After that I max Cadever armor flat out, and here is why:
-It means rot affects you less
-level 1 rot slows just as well as level 4, and while it does less damage to them, it does less to you as well
-I can start building up my strength gain :) (which of course is devourers secondary mission in any game, I got 70+ once!! (i'm sure others have done even better)

I take ulti at level 6 of course, and ever available lever there-after

After I have maxed the armor I max rot, and then max hook, and then stats.

I'm sure the above skill build is a bad choice for some reason, but its what I use, and what I like :)

Second: Items (this is where i get really unconventional)

Starting Items: Buckler and Trinket or restoration (WHAT no stats, no runes? totally insane right? well i find the trinket ends up giving me more health back than the runes ever would, and the bucker REALLY reduces damage early game)

Next:
-I get the marchers
-finish off sharmans headress
-finish off steam boots
-get lifetube
-get platemail
-finish HoTBL
-Get BeHe (by this stage the game is normally ending, which is a pity, cos now i can run around with rot 24/7, and am VERY hard to kill)
-Finish Demonic Breastplate
-In the unlikely event the game is still going I get another Axe of malphai (+25 str) to fill the last slot.

Because I am a silly noob I almost never carry a homecoming stone. If you arnt as silly as me you will have some fun at some times with the above build buying items from the secret shop when you dont have enough space and have to leave an item at base while you make a special trip. (ie, when you have sharmans, boots, hotbl and platemail, you wont have enough spare slots to carry both parts of BeHe while you save up for the recipe, but i'm sure you will decide what item to leave behind)

In games where my team is doing well (and thus I am doing well because I am standing around absorbing all the +str from their kills) the above build will make me quite unkillable (nothing is funnier than watching a pyro/witch ult do absolutely nothing to you) and can often get a few kills when your ganked 5v1 just by standing their gassing (sure, most 5v1 ganks your going to die, so you might as well take a few with you right? :) )

Anyway, thats my skill/item build :) and i win some games with it, no matter how "bad" it is.

*edit*

There is of course 1 major problem with devourer, and that is he is slow, and even with the 20% move speed slow, by the time your enemies have their ghost marchers and frostburns they are still outrunning you. Because devourers are too poor (or too busy buying tank items) to buy post hast I think it would be nice if there was an update where either:
-Rot gets + range and an increase in movement speed slow
-Devourer gets more base movespeed

The above should really be in the suggestions thread, but i think i saw it there already.

[Cornopolis]

I've been playing :devo: a lot, especially since the recent overhaul of HoN. I have to say my starting items are different, I start straight with a :Bottle: even if laning. 3 lots of regen mean 3 kills. I get Hook, then Decay, Armour (seeing as I tend to get lots of early ganks, it pays off), then max hook and decay, while getting devour as often as possible.

My items are always :Bottle: first, then boots, then:ShamansHeaddress:. Then I upgrade boots to :EnhancedMarchers:, and start building:StaffOfTheMaster:. Once I have those, I can roam non stop eating people, using rune to refill my bottle. Bear in mid I play :devo: as a heavy ganker, not as a tank.

I'll try and post a replay soon to show how my build works - there's maintenance at the mo :/

Hope my ideas aren't too whacky, and that they might be helpful to someone.

[Delfofthebla]

Ok, first off, i'm a noob, so if my comments are totally retarded, feel free to enlighten me as to why, but please do so in a polite manner:

Firstly Devourer is my favorite char to play in HON, and i'm not sure why he gets so much hate, because he is the only character I can play well.

Secondly, my skill build hasn't been recommended (and i dont know what it is exactly) but i'll say in words what it is, and why.

Level 1 i get rot, can be useful, and theres no reason to be standing around with full health in lane as devourer, you might as well go rot them a bit and quite often you will find they immediately run out of XP range :)

Level 2 I get hook, and as soon as i get it i take the first opportunity to hook someone into the tower (no point standing around with full mana either)

After that I max Cadever armor flat out, and here is why:
-It means rot affects you less
-level 1 rot slows just as well as level 4, and while it does less damage to them, it does less to you as well
-I can start building up my strength gain :) (which of course is devourers secondary mission in any game, I got 70+ once!! (i'm sure others have done even better)

I take ulti at level 6 of course, and ever available lever there-after

After I have maxed the armor I max rot, and then max hook, and then stats.

I'm sure the above skill build is a bad choice for some reason, but its what I use, and what I like :)

Second: Items (this is where i get really unconventional)

Starting Items: Buckler and Trinket or restoration (WHAT no stats, no runes? totally insane right? well i find the trinket ends up giving me more health back than the runes ever would, and the bucker REALLY reduces damage early game)

Next:
-I get the marchers
-finish off sharmans headress
-finish off steam boots
-get lifetube
-get platemail
-finish HoTBL
-Get BeHe (by this stage the game is normally ending, which is a pity, cos now i can run around with rot 24/7, and am VERY hard to kill)
-Finish Demonic Breastplate
-In the unlikely event the game is still going I get another Axe of malphai (+25 str) to fill the last slot.

Because I am a silly noob I almost never carry a homecoming stone. If you arnt as silly as me you will have some fun at some times with the above build buying items from the secret shop when you dont have enough space and have to leave an item at base while you make a special trip. (ie, when you have sharmans, boots, hotbl and platemail, you wont have enough spare slots to carry both parts of BeHe while you save up for the recipe, but i'm sure you will decide what item to leave behind)

In games where my team is doing well (and thus I am doing well because I am standing around absorbing all the +str from their kills) the above build will make me quite unkillable (nothing is funnier than watching a pyro/witch ult do absolutely nothing to you) and can often get a few kills when your ganked 5v1 just by standing their gassing (sure, most 5v1 ganks your going to die, so you might as well take a few with you right? :) )

Anyway, thats my skill/item build :) and i win some games with it, no matter how "bad" it is.

*edit*

There is of course 1 major problem with devourer, and that is he is slow, and even with the 20% move speed slow, by the time your enemies have their ghost marchers and frostburns they are still outrunning you. Because devourers are too poor (or too busy buying tank items) to buy post hast I think it would be nice if there was an update where either:
-Rot gets + range and an increase in movement speed slow
-Devourer gets more base movespeed

The above should really be in the suggestions thread, but i think i saw it there already.

Hm, quite a unique playstyle you have there. When it comes to the actual skillbuild, I find that it's best the player chooses whatever he does best with. The only thing I can do is provide feedback on what you're gaining/losing from choosing that build over another.

You're chosing to handicap yourself and rely on your team to buff you up. If that's what you're playstyle prefers, so be it. I however, prefer to be more direct and in control of everything. I also prefer the fights to end the moment they start. For that reason, I max hook above everything else as it is the quickest and most powerful of Devourer's damaging abilities. I also don't like to chase with decay for extended periods of time early game. It's too damaging and risky for me, and so I level decay secondary.

Honestly speaking, I think that you're reducing your early-game usefulness by more than you need to by leveling Cadaver above everything else. It lowers your damage input by a large amount, and the strength you gain is minimal. Also the damage mitigation from cadaver isn't needed because you aren't actually doing that much damage to yourself.

Though there are better skillbuilds, I don't think yours is hurting you as much as your itembuild is. I'm very surprised it works for you, and I'm somewhat curious as to why you chose half of your items. You mentioned how you have trouble keeping up with people, and it's your itembuild that makes that difficult. If there were two items I'd suggest a Devourer to never ever build, it would be Steam boots and Demonic breastplate.

They're both designed around their attack speed buffs, something Devourer does not need. You shouldn't have to rely on your melee damage to kill heroes. Steam boots provide the lowest movement speed bonus of all the boots. Plated greaves offer 10 more movement speed, more generalizes stats, and 7 armor (which devourer lacks). Plated greaves allow you to skip on armor related items and focus on other things, such as health and magic armor.

That's just my take on it all anyways. I find your item/skillbuild to be a bit confusing, but if it works, it works. I just feel that if you practiced with the *real* item/skillbuilds, you could have a lot more fun with Devourer. :)


I've been playing :devo: a lot, especially since the recent overhaul of HoN. I have to say my starting items are different, I start straight with a :Bottle: even if laning. 3 lots of regen mean 3 kills. I get Hook, then Decay, Armour (seeing as I tend to get lots of early ganks, it pays off), then max hook and decay, while getting devour as often as possible.

My items are always :Bottle: first, then boots, then:ShamansHeaddress:. Then I upgrade boots to :EnhancedMarchers:, and start building:StaffOfTheMaster:. Once I have those, I can roam non stop eating people, using rune to refill my bottle. Bear in mid I play :devo: as a heavy ganker, not as a tank.

I'll try and post a replay soon to show how my build works - there's maintenance at the mo :/

Hope my ideas aren't too whacky, and that they might be helpful to someone.

I find bottle at start to be unnecessary for a couple of reasons.
1. You have no need to be spending that much mana that early, and are thus wasting gold.
2. You probably don't have a courier, and are spending time going back to the base to buy rather than ganking or farming.
3. Last hitting early is a little tougher due to the lack of early stat items.
4. You could regen more health with a Health Potion+Tree Eaters than you do with bottle

Think of it this way.
1 x health potion = 100g, and heals 400 health.
3 x Runes of Blight = 90g, and heals 345 health.
(Total health regen is 745 health)
1 x mana potion = 50g, and regenerates 100 mana.

Total cost = 245g

Bottle has 3 charges and heals 405 health, and regenerates 210 mana.

Total cost = 600g

The main use of bottle is to provide a constant flow of health and mana while roaming, and giving you the ability to make use of runes the "moment" that you need them. It is by no means a useful starting item for anyone. If you buy the above listed starting items (not bottle) and are running out of health/mana before you can afford a bottle, you're doing it wrong.

Other than the starting item your playstyle is similar to mine. I play him as a heavy ganker that becomes a tank due to all of the kills I've been getting. SotM on devo is a tanking item, don't let anyone tell you it isn't.

Have you tried getting plated greaves? You'd be surprised how much it improves your survivability throughout the game, and the constant 70ms is decent enough to make you not miss ghost marchers.

[AusKipper]

Honestly speaking, I think that you're reducing your early-game usefulness by more than you need to by leveling Cadaver above everything else. It lowers your damage input by a large amount, and the strength you gain is minimal. Also the damage mitigation from cadaver isn't needed because you aren't actually doing that much damage to yourself.

Though there are better skillbuilds, I don't think yours is hurting you as much as your itembuild is. I'm very surprised it works for you, and I'm somewhat curious as to why you chose half of your items. You mentioned how you have trouble keeping up with people, and it's your itembuild that makes that difficult. If there were two items I'd suggest a Devourer to never ever build, it would be Steam boots and Demonic breastplate.

They're both designed around their attack speed buffs, something Devourer does not need. You shouldn't have to rely on your melee damage to kill heroes. Steam boots provide the lowest movement speed bonus of all the boots. Plated greaves offer 10 more movement speed, more generalizes stats, and 7 armor (which devourer lacks). Plated greaves allow you to skip on armor related items and focus on other things, such as health and magic armor.

That's just my take on it all anyways. I find your item/skillbuild to be a bit confusing, but if it works, it works. I just feel that if you practiced with the *real* item/skillbuilds, you could have a lot more fun with Devourer. :)



Ok...

On the skill build, I think I have decided to level decay more highly than cadevour armor, but i'm still going to level cadevour over hook. (I am still too noob, and miss too many hooks for it to be worth the extra damage for the occaisonal hook I may land, and probably 1/3 of my hooks are used for saving allies from certain death.. well in some games at least)

I think they must have updated plated boots or something, because I went and had a look at them, and they where much better than I remember. Certainly from now i'll be packing plated boots instead of steam boots (but the activation skill does annoy me quite a bit, i wish there was an autocast or something, or that the activation skills where just passive with maybe a mana drain, but the boots are still decent without the activation so not to worry)

As for the demonic breast plate, its very much an end game item for me, thus games very rarely go on for long enough for me to end up with it anyway, however, i find by that stage my rot has become impotent, so I need to rely on my auto attack a bit more (by this stage, even with no pure damage items, i'm normally doing 250ish damage) so the attack speed boost helps with damage output, and the armor makes me an uber tank :) (4500-5000 life + 25 armor + 19 magic armor = very hard to kill so i end up being a punching bag while the damage dealers on my team do the killing, remember playing noob games, so not always smart enough to ignore me)

So in summary:

Buying plated boots from now on, even though the activation will annoy me because I will feel i'm not getting the most out of my boots when i dont use it

Leveling rot over cadevour (still getting 1 level early though) now

Still buying Demonic breast plate even against your recommendation because dying annoys me greatly (more greatly than not getting lots of kills)

[AusKipper]

Just finished playing a game of Devourer: Match ID: 42871981

It was a no-respawn timer match, and I ended up with +112 str!!

Its certain that I was the hardest player on our team to kill :) (though some of them could still damage me, Thunderbringer and Witch just couldn't do anything)

I played pretty bad to be honest, I died more times than I killed, and didnt land many good hooks, but anyway.

[Delfofthebla]

One item i never see on Devourer is Magic immunity. Its quite effective - only if you get a great farm going on tho. Stops people interupting your bite. makes you immune to your own damage which can be alot - its situational tho and requires fast farming but it can be a game changer.
I understand Dev isnt the best farmer as i said it will require some good early kills.

I don't think it's the farm that prevents people from buying it. Magic immunity is primarily useful for heroes that need to do a lot of chasing, need uninterrupted initiation, or uninterrupted autoattacks. One stun can ruin them, and so they buy shrunken head.

1 stun doesn't ruin Devourer. In fact, it does almost nothing to you. If you're in the center of 5 heroes and you get stunned, guess what? You're still dealing 100 dps to everyone around you. It's not worth the money in terms of mitigating decay damage either, shaman's headdress/barrier idol do that much better, and passively.

The only real reason you might want shrunken head is for your ult, which is only up for 3 seconds on a single target. You should rarely be getting interrupted in the first place. Mid game you should be ganking and thus NEVER get stunned during your ult. Late game you should be forcing initiation and the target should be dead before you even finish channeling your ult.

Shrunken head just isn't needed on Devourer.


Ok...

On the skill build, I think I have decided to level decay more highly than cadevour armor, but i'm still going to level cadevour over hook. (I am still too noob, and miss too many hooks for it to be worth the extra damage for the occaisonal hook I may land, and probably 1/3 of my hooks are used for saving allies from certain death.. well in some games at least)

I think they must have updated plated boots or something, because I went and had a look at them, and they where much better than I remember. Certainly from now i'll be packing plated boots instead of steam boots (but the activation skill does annoy me quite a bit, i wish there was an autocast or something, or that the activation skills where just passive with maybe a mana drain, but the boots are still decent without the activation so not to worry)

As for the demonic breast plate, its very much an end game item for me, thus games very rarely go on for long enough for me to end up with it anyway, however, i find by that stage my rot has become impotent, so I need to rely on my auto attack a bit more (by this stage, even with no pure damage items, i'm normally doing 250ish damage) so the attack speed boost helps with damage output, and the armor makes me an uber tank :) (4500-5000 life + 25 armor + 19 magic armor = very hard to kill so i end up being a punching bag while the damage dealers on my team do the killing, remember playing noob games, so not always smart enough to ignore me)

So in summary:

Buying plated boots from now on, even though the activation will annoy me because I will feel i'm not getting the most out of my boots when i dont use it

Leveling rot over cadevour (still getting 1 level early though) now

Still buying Demonic breast plate even against your recommendation because dying annoys me greatly (more greatly than not getting lots of kills)
Glad to see you're taking some of my advice, good luck to you :)

[dilde]

Accursed can shield you and mitigate the damage from Decay. This keeps you from doing too much damage to yourself, and then proceeds to blow up whoever you are Decay-Chasing. He also has a heal that can be used as a nuke, which can help when you're in a pinch.

Not too many people play Pollywog Priest these days


These places need some fixing :P

[BarneyGumbal]

As for the demonic breast plate, its very much an end game item for me, thus games very rarely go on for long enough for me to end up with it anyway, however, i find by that stage my rot has become impotent, so I need to rely on my auto attack a bit more (by this stage, even with no pure damage items, i'm normally doing 250ish damage) so the attack speed boost helps with damage output, and the armor makes me an uber tank :) (4500-5000 life + 25 armor + 19 magic armor = very hard to kill so i end up being a punching bag while the damage dealers on my team do the killing, remember playing noob games, so not always smart enough to ignore me)

So in summary:

...

Still buying Demonic breast plate even against your recommendation because dying annoys me greatly (more greatly than not getting lots of kills)
If you're finding you're lacking decent damage lategame, you should give SotM a try. The extra magic damage scales nicely, especially if you've built up enough Strength to hit for 250 damage.

[AusKipper]

If you're finding you're lacking decent damage lategame, you should give SotM a try. The extra magic damage scales nicely, especially if you've built up enough Strength to hit for 250 damage.

I find that my damage late game is adequate for say squishy int chars etc. (who can also do pretty much nothing to me by that stage of the game)

If an agi carry (ie madman) has lifesteal and my devour is on cooldown, I die before I can kill them, though generally still much slower than anyone else would

Depending on the items on certain tanks (ie, if they brought mostly tank items and not damage dealing items), we can get in epic battles where neither one can kill the other for ages.

Mostly with my item build late game I am a punching bag that can be used to displace characters (with my hook) or hold them for 5 seconds while others on my team kill them.

There was a dev game I played a long time ago, where me and a Maliken where up in the top lane fighting each other for I swear a solid 2 minutes lol. eventually a damage dealer on my team showed up and we killed him.

Also late game its not uncommon for things like pyros or witches to suddenly appear, ulti me, auto attack for a while (i sometimes just ignore them and go on killing creeps which somehow makes it funnier) and then give up and run away lol

[Renzorrr]

http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=43847186

Excellent person playing devourer, pretty good hooks. Towards endgame more team-saving hooks.

[Delfofthebla]

V2.8
-Small formatting changes to the replay section.
-Future plans reworded/updated.Next version released, but nobody jump for joy or anything. It's mostly an unnoticeable update.


These places need some fixing :P

Yeah, I suppose they do. I'll fix it up a bit in the next update. I don't plan on making any real changes to the guide until after the next patch though. It's possible that the patch will slightly effect my skill build, and I prefer to do a lot of updates all at once.


http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=43847186

Excellent person playing devourer, pretty good hooks. Towards endgame more team-saving hooks.

Replay not available. :/

I really wish S2 would prevent that from happening, half the replays I try to watch these days are ones that aren't available. And of course, the ones that are available I have absolutely no desire to watch.

[FloPPyPiLLoW]

Is :pred: a soft counter to :devo: because of carnivorous, or is the extra damage negligible with some armor and the fact that :devo: rarely runs around with full hp? One of my friends who loves to play :devo: always avoids picking him against :pred:, but I'm beginning to doubt his justification for this.

I avoid picking dev vs pred in pubs because dev cannot beat a pred solo. The extra damage is completely negligible however the healing he gets from it makes it so you can't kill him. This does change a bit if you get SoTM but usually that's 35+ minutes in and pred has already taken your butt virginity. I would say he's a hard counter to him. I am suprised this wasn't anywhere in the guide.

[Delfofthebla]

I avoid picking dev vs pred in pubs because dev cannot beat a pred solo. The extra damage is completely negligible however the healing he gets from it makes it so you can't kill him. This does change a bit if you get SoTM but usually that's 35+ minutes in and pred has already taken your butt virginity. I would say he's a hard counter to him. I am suprised this wasn't anywhere in the guide.

I just don't find it to be that big of an issue. Pred is a minor problem compared to the other heroes out there. You just have to make sure you initiate instead of him. Or ensure that you're not the one being leaped on. (Which honestly isn't that hard to do if you have wards or are the one ganking a lane) You can still hook him while he's stoneskinned, and usually he will just start running for it after you land one. you can start your normal routine up afterwards and burn him down with decay+devour.

Since this seems to be a hero people have difficulties with, I might edit something into the guide about him later.

[Saeth]

Add Chipper to great lanning partner because of magic damage shield. That would mb help someone :)

p.s. check your inbox.

[raaaiiiii]

By no means am I a great player, I hover between 1650-1700 psr... But I love playing devourer. That being said, I play with a slightly different skill order than most. I max hook first, but I take one level of decay and max cadaver second... I usually play support/disablers so I prefer grabbing someone and relying on my teammate to dps them down.

Match ID: 45021453

Not too proud of the overall game, but I do have a few nice hooks after the 30min mark. Once, I run into ss at the top rune, and after eating-decaying him a bit he goes invisible. Thanks to sand wraith, I know which direction he runs for a bit, but I lose him in the fog in the top lane. I manage to hook him once I get to the top lane - hooking into the jungle. Another good hook is during a team fight, I hook ss right after he goes invis and starts running away. The final hook that I am proud of is one where I run into Deadwood at the bottom rune, he starts to run towards mid and decides to portal key into the fog. I hook up and pull him back down.

My reaction after pulling people is pretty slow since I don't always expect my hooks to actually grab people :P.

[AwareBrah]

How is a hero that can blink away a counter to dev more than any other hero? At least if you have an idea where they went you can grip them back

[Delfofthebla]

First off, sorry for lack of updates guys. Lack of motivation to update and then general absent mindedness got in the way. I'll hopefully get the next update out sometime this weekend.

With the latest patch, I've decided that Ghost Marchers are once again the most valuable boots, and I'll be changing my guide to reflect this.


How is a hero that can blink away a counter to dev more than any other hero? At least if you have an idea where they went you can grip them back

I find that to be one of the hardest hooking techniques Devourer has. Not to mention it's almost impossible to get within range of one of these heroes without hooking them to you in the first place.

You walk up to ult them -> they blink out -> you most likely miss your hook
You hook and ult them -> they blink out - > hook is on cooldown.

I say they're a counter because they destroy your early game farm. Devourer relies on his kills in order to maintain good GPM early-mid game. If You aren't able to gank heroes, you won't be getting the gold needed to keep your usefulness up.

[Teboga]

On the HotbL+Mystic vestments topic, if you can aford another 575g + 1 inventory slot for you core, you can also go:

Shaman's Headdress + Mystic vestments - extra magic armor
Shaman's Headdress + Bracer - more stats
Shaman's Headdress + Ringmail - more armor
Shaman's Headdress + Health Tube - more regen (a little bit more expensive though)
Shaman's Headdress + Refreshing Ornament - more stats, more regen and one step closer to Barrier Idol

If these are considered on the calculations maybe Shaman's Headdress will be the undisputed best item for Devo.

Cheers.

[Delfofthebla]

On the HotbL+Mystic vestments topic, if you can aford another 575g + 1 inventory slot for you core, you can also go:

Shaman's Headdress + Mystic vestments - extra magic armor
Shaman's Headdress + Bracer - more stats
Shaman's Headdress + Ringmail - more armor
Shaman's Headdress + Health Tube - more regen (a little bit more expensive though)
Shaman's Headdress + Refreshing Ornament - more stats, more regen and one step closer to Barrier Idol

If these are considered on the calculations maybe Shaman's Headdress will be the undisputed best item for Devo.

Cheers.

Shaman's and vestments don't stack, otherwise HotBL wouldn't have anything on Headdress. It's due to this that HotBL is considered in the first place.

The rest are all good suggestions, with RO being the best choice if your team is in need of BI.

[Proteuz]

lately when I play devourer I've found that getting a hatchet from my fountain is vital to getting firstblood against cautious players. Generally I cut into the trees before the game even starts and I hook before they even know I'm in their lane. The great thing about cutting into the trees is you can do it in places that you can block them with while your partner/tower hits them. The easiest lane to do this is Hellbourne top, I cut in directly below the tower and wait until I have a easy oppurtunity to hook their squishier hero. Hopefully you were able to convince someone else to get your courier so you can ferry out your bottle.

If I have a really good early game I get Post Haste for all those ganking opportunities. There is nothing like clearing out a creep wave top and then instantly porting bot and hooking their carry who thinks he has free farm.

[Luda]

With the latest patch, I've decided that Ghost Marchers are once again the most valuable boots, and I'll be changing my guide to reflect this.

Good to hear, although I would give plated greaves honorable mentions for certain situations where you'll be exploited for having low armor, ie: armadon, legionnaire, pestilence. Legionnaire and armadon in my opinion could be added to the worst enemies list. Both can potentially just tank the rot and kill you with their abilities that do physical damage, which will tear through devourer's low armor. Another small addition is that cadaver armor even adds strength on non-creep kills like forsaken's skeletons and slither's wards.

The main difference in my playstyle from the 'hooker' build is taking cadaver armor instead of decay at level 4. This is because the time between 4 and 8 should be devour killing prime time, so the few kills could land you an extra 3 or 6 strength depending on how active you are at the time. And if the game doesn't end early, the more strength you have, the more chances you have of being effective mid-late game. The only thing you lose is the 25 damage per second from decay, which is almost as much benefit as detriment at low levels. Before you pick up mystic vestments and cadaver armor, decay deals damage at a 1:1 ratio between devourer and the target(s). Between levels 4 and 8, devourer gains 250 hp just through leveling, and has more time to get mystic vestments and strength through cadaver armor to make it easier to use decay without dying. This is a thing of personal preference, but I found it worth mentioning. And if the game doesn't end early, the more strength you have, the more chances you have of being effective mid-late game.


Yeah I'll actually tap it on and off while I'm running away to ensure they're kept slowed while I'm kept alive, it helps a ton.
You should put this up in the guide, it's a great decay trick, and most people don't even realize how it works.

A pro trick that most people don't use is stopcasting hooks. It has a shorter cast time than it used to (0.4s -> 0.3s), but you can still prevent failed hooks if your realize that your opponent has changed position quickly enough. When hooks cost 140 mana, this can help you out a TON.


Another tip illustrated in this video I found is blocking heroes with decay on. Blocking heroes is something people don't think about often, but when playing devourer it can make a huge difference. There's a great example here at 0:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eE8icR5QTs

In the second video by this same player, he shows another great trick of playing devourer. The slither he's laning against is out of direct hook line of fire due to hugging the creeps. Devourer throws a missed hook behind the creep wave, but then repositions himself to catch the hero on the hook's return. Truely professional devourer play. Watch it at 2:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_vH9rkilZU

An additional small hook tip you can mention is the near-lane spots in the jungle in which you can hook people and trap them in the trees. They're marked on your map, but it's worth mentioning to let people know that you can trap heroes in them.

Hope you like my suggestions, great guide otherwise.

[Delfofthebla]

Good to hear, although I would give plated greaves honorable mentions for certain situations where you'll be exploited for having low armor, ie: armadon, legionnaire, pestilence. Legionnaire and armadon in my opinion could be added to the worst enemies list. Both can potentially just tank the rot and kill you with their abilities that do physical damage, which will tear through devourer's low armor. Another small addition is that cadaver armor even adds strength on non-creep kills like forsaken's skeletons and slither's wards.

The main difference in my playstyle from the 'hooker' build is taking cadaver armor instead of decay at level 4. This is because the time between 4 and 8 should be devour killing prime time, so the few kills could land you an extra 3 or 6 strength depending on how active you are at the time. And if the game doesn't end early, the more strength you have, the more chances you have of being effective mid-late game. The only thing you lose is the 25 damage per second from decay, which is almost as much benefit as detriment at low levels. Before you pick up mystic vestments and cadaver armor, decay deals damage at a 1:1 ratio between devourer and the target(s). Between levels 4 and 8, devourer gains 250 hp just through leveling, and has more time to get mystic vestments and strength through cadaver armor to make it easier to use decay without dying. This is a thing of personal preference, but I found it worth mentioning. And if the game doesn't end early, the more strength you have, the more chances you have of being effective mid-late game.


You should put this up in the guide, it's a great decay trick, and most people don't even realize how it works.

A pro trick that most people don't use is stopcasting hooks. It has a shorter cast time than it used to (0.4s -> 0.3s), but you can still prevent failed hooks if your realize that your opponent has changed position quickly enough. When hooks cost 140 mana, this can help you out a TON.


Another tip illustrated in this video I found is blocking heroes with decay on. Blocking heroes is something people don't think about often, but when playing devourer it can make a huge difference. There's a great example here at 0:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eE8icR5QTs

In the second video by this same player, he shows another great trick of playing devourer. The slither he's laning against is out of direct hook line of fire due to hugging the creeps. Devourer throws a missed hook behind the creep wave, but then repositions himself to catch the hero on the hook's return. Truely professional devourer play. Watch it at 2:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_vH9rkilZU

An additional small hook tip you can mention is the near-lane spots in the jungle in which you can hook people and trap them in the trees. They're marked on your map, but it's worth mentioning to let people know that you can trap heroes in them.

Hope you like my suggestions, great guide otherwise.

First off, thanks for the feedback Luda. You have some pretty good points. I definitely agree that Armadon can tear you up. He's given me quite a few troubles in the past, and for a few other reasons you didn't mention as well. I might add him in on the next update.

You definitely have my thinking on the early cadaver. I've thought about it a few times, but ended up just going for decay in the end. The damage you gain is minimal, and early cadavar could indeed benefit you more than decay. I'm going to experiment a bit with this build, and see if I can make more use out of it. If that is indeed the case, I'll change the guide accordingly. :)

I'm going to admit that I need to work on my hook canceling skills. It's one of the things that I really need to work on. I'll add something about it in the guide though.

I'll try to work something in on both the decay escape and decay blocking techniques.

I've gotten some good return hooks off, but never anything like that within the laning phase. I suppose I've just never really tried. It feels too risky to be able to properly pull off when you've only got a few hooks early game.

The problem with all this is that I only reserved 2 posts for the guide. I honestly never even dreamed that I would need to fill 3 posts in order to have everything within the guide. It had probably a quarter of the content it does now, and I've only got about a half a post's worth left combined between them. I don't know how much more I can cram into the guide before it's completely full.

[fascistrabbi]

Quick question:

I just thought of it, so I haven't had a chance to test it. Also, I'm not good at hooking yet.

Since Dev's hook returns to his current location, can you throw a hook that will surely miss, say to the side of the creep blocking an enemy hero, and then portal key to the side to land a hook on its return path?

This uses extra mana than just pkey in and ult, but if you pkey to the side you could possibly still get him away from creep or a tower. I know this would be very situational and maybe not worth the cost/difficulty, but I was curious if it would work.

Great guide by the way.

[Delfofthebla]

Quick question:

I just thought of it, so I haven't had a chance to test it. Also, I'm not good at hooking yet.

Since Dev's hook returns to his current location, can you throw a hook that will surely miss, say to the side of the creep blocking an enemy hero, and then portal key to the side to land a hook on its return path?

This uses extra mana than just pkey in and ult, but if you pkey to the side you could possibly still get him away from creep or a tower. I know this would be very situational and maybe not worth the cost/difficulty, but I was curious if it would work.

Great guide by the way.

Not sure if I imagined the situation right, but at the very least that's how the mechanic works. The hook won't ever drag someone over 1450 units though, so it's impossible to extend the length by so much with portal key.

Imagine it like this. You throw out a hook. Before the hook reaches it's maximum distance, you portal key to your desired location. You blink in, hook reaches maximum distance. There is now a line drawn between the hook and you. The hook will no longer change path, even if you move or somehow portal key again. This makes it incredibly difficult to actually pull off such a hook, and it's honestly not worth it in the least.

If you have portal key, you should either be using it to hook from a fogged/trapped location, or be portal keying in with your ult. There's no need to use such a ridiculous method.

[Delfofthebla]

I turned out to be a bit busier over the weekend than I would have liked, but I've finally finished the update!



V2.9
-Added armor and movement speed values to Devourer's stat section.
-Updated "Pro Hooker" build to have you pick up Cadaver at 4 instead of 8. Thanks Luda (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/member.php?u=34780) for getting me to try out this build change!
-Updated Core builds to replace Plated Greaves with Ghost Marchers due to the recent patch changes.
-Renamed the "Honorable Mentions" subsection in the "Items" section to "Items to Consider"
-Completely reworked the Strategy section. More allies and enemies added!
-Added a new subsection to the "Proper Skill Usage" section; "Hooking Allies"!
-Replays removed. This section was outdated and all replays from Beta were deleted. I'll update this with some suitable replays as soon as I can.
-Small change to the text within "Faq's and Debates" section.
-"Future Plans" section updated.

[loybuckz]

You can check out this awesome premium guide by Delfofthebla (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/member.php?u=326016) @ http://honcentral.blogspot.com/

[MVG]

hey guys, dev is my fav hero ever! I play super aggresive, usually works out in my favour!
some dev matches...
2317706
2115401
1893764
1802446

[SUBS]

just like to point something else useful with this hero, its close to what that guy said about buying boots/runes first, alot of if's, but if your team creep blocks & u get a haste rune its a sure bet u can get bloodlust/double kill, at level 1, wait to 0:20 or if the enemy show, then pick the rune, rush to their lane, decay and 3 people auto attacking/using nukes if they have them should be enough to drop any hero at level 1 (considering decay last 2 secs you can go for broke by slowing both heroes if they're close enough, toggling off decay for a sec then back on as u close the gap - situational option)

my opinions on solo mid;
(varies slightly dependent on situation)

Start build:
:LoggersHatchet: :IronBuckler: :RunesOfTheBlight:
(565g)
38g spare,

(obviously with someone else getting wards/courier)

hatchet:
helps u get that bottle out quickly, also standard uses as a juke tool, and being able to cut a tree down to get that little bit closer for a forest to lane hook can sometimes clinch it (also advanced if you cut a hole in the trees, which u then hook someone into, you being at the exit they can get stuck, hon pathing... somtimes they run through the trees, leave enough space & get the angle right it works most the time

also the other important use of hatchet 1v1 is to insure your lead, if you can get a 1 level lead on your opponent it pretty much ensures mid control also no contest on runes if they try to take em its an easy kill for you.



Next items (in order of purchase):
:Bottle: :Marchers: [:FortifiedBracelet:] :ShamansHeaddress: :EnhancedMarchers:/:PostHaste: personally prefer post haste only taking ghost marchers if I'm doing poorly
(:MysticVestments: ->:HelmOfTheVictim:/:TrinketOfRestoratio :TrinketOfRestoratio) always vestments first

so your inventory around 15-25mins is (your core done)
:Bottle: :ShamansHeaddress: :LoggersHatchet:
:PostHaste: :IronBuckler: :FortifiedBracelet:
(listed this as a point to where u said u don't like buying iron shield just to sell it later), considering u still have it at this point (and hatchet is the next item to go replaced by :StaffOfTheMaster:, how often do you actually start making behe's heart? considering i always build it :AxeOfTheMalphai: first, after i buy this i sell my shield),honestly its worth doing on a few strength heroes, :pred: [:magm:] :phar: :devo: :pest: :pand:, it really does give harass & towers a kick in the teeth as well as increasing your survivability

[ ] = optional

reason on the str bracer, 200 extra hp helps you survive decay better, seeing as in the early it does the same dmg to you as your opponents. I've played versus a lot of devourers they put me in the gass i just stand in it auto attack them and they will die before i do, obviously I'm not the only person who can tell the difference here, it's a weakness these 2 items help u compensate (i actually prefer the 3str and 96 gold to power supply for this, if u don't go for it), as a lot of people who just get gassed and try to run, leaving devourer free to hit you (this is also a reason i get the iron shield early, as well as it allowing you to play much more aggressive in the first levels getting them crucial denies)

followed by
[:BarrierIdol:] :StaffOfTheMaster: :BehemothsHeart: ..........:ShrunkenHead:
[ ] = optional

this is designed at devourer solo mid, requires rune whoring & when i play it after i have bottle boots, thats the lane stage done gank gank gank, 15min conceed is your objective.



also on a side note to your lane good/bad post (although devourer is a great mid):

:pest: = a **** to be against, you may have 3k hp, and a tonne of magic armour, but those bugs make you soo god damn squishy

:mage: = obviously with a baby sitter, a decent magebane keeping you oom, pretty much makes u useless, considering a hook is required to kill him
------------------------------------------------------
:soulr: = probably my favorite lane partner, (if played well)
monstrous auto attacks & that ***** of an arua, the offensive/defensvie heal getting droped on people ibn your gas is about as affective as can be.

-about as useful as laning with jereziah but the advantage being this hero is ranged

[Delfofthebla]

Small version update, yay~


v3.0
-Added a note to "Core Build 1" regarding the purchase of Plated Greaves.
-Added more detail to the "Choosing a Lane" subsection, as well as a jump link to the hooking map within the paragraph.
-Switched around the format in the "Strategy" section. (I placed the "Laning Partners" subsection above the game phase subsections.)
-Added more detail regarding Armadon's strengths against Devourer.
-Added an actual subsection dedicated to "Early Game".
-More detail added to the "Mid Game" subsection.
-More detail added to the "Late Game" subsection.

To the people who have submitted match ID's, my apologies but I haven't been able to check out any of the recent ones yet. I'll try to get around to it sometime this week, as the replay section is in need of updates. (All beta replays were wiped, and I haven't actually added any of mine yet.)

[Delfofthebla]

just like to point something else useful with this hero, its close to what that guy said about buying boots/runes first, alot of if's, but if your team creep blocks & u get a haste rune its a sure bet u can get bloodlust/double kill, at level 1, wait to 0:20 or if the enemy show, then pick the rune, rush to their lane, decay and 3 people auto attacking/using nukes if they have them should be enough to drop any hero at level 1 (considering decay last 2 secs you can go for broke by slowing both heroes if they're close enough, toggling off decay for a sec then back on as u close the gap - situational option)

my opinions on solo mid;
(varies slightly dependent on situation)

Start build:
:LoggersHatchet: :IronBuckler: :RunesOfTheBlight:
(565g)
38g spare,

(obviously with someone else getting wards/courier)

hatchet:
helps u get that bottle out quickly, also standard uses as a juke tool, and being able to cut a tree down to get that little bit closer for a forest to lane hook can sometimes clinch it (also advanced if you cut a hole in the trees, which u then hook someone into, you being at the exit they can get stuck, hon pathing... somtimes they run through the trees, leave enough space & get the angle right it works most the time

also the other important use of hatchet 1v1 is to insure your lead, if you can get a 1 level lead on your opponent it pretty much ensures mid control also no contest on runes if they try to take em its an easy kill for you.



Next items (in order of purchase):
:Bottle: :Marchers: [:FortifiedBracelet:] :ShamansHeaddress: :EnhancedMarchers:/:PostHaste: personally prefer post haste only taking ghost marchers if I'm doing poorly
(:MysticVestments: ->:HelmOfTheVictim:/:TrinketOfRestoratio :TrinketOfRestoratio) always vestments first

so your inventory around 15-25mins is (your core done)
:Bottle: :ShamansHeaddress: :LoggersHatchet:
:PostHaste: :IronBuckler: :FortifiedBracelet:
(listed this as a point to where u said u don't like buying iron shield just to sell it later), considering u still have it at this point (and hatchet is the next item to go replaced by :StaffOfTheMaster:, how often do you actually start making behe's heart? considering i always build it :AxeOfTheMalphai: first, after i buy this i sell my shield),honestly its worth doing on a few strength heroes, :pred: [:magm:] :phar: :devo: :pest: :pand:, it really does give harass & towers a kick in the teeth as well as increasing your survivability

[ ] = optional

reason on the str bracer, 200 extra hp helps you survive decay better, seeing as in the early it does the same dmg to you as your opponents. I've played versus a lot of devourers they put me in the gass i just stand in it auto attack them and they will die before i do, obviously I'm not the only person who can tell the difference here, it's a weakness these 2 items help u compensate (i actually prefer the 3str and 96 gold to power supply for this, if u don't go for it), as a lot of people who just get gassed and try to run, leaving devourer free to hit you (this is also a reason i get the iron shield early, as well as it allowing you to play much more aggressive in the first levels getting them crucial denies)

followed by
[:BarrierIdol:] :StaffOfTheMaster: :BehemothsHeart: ..........:ShrunkenHead:
[ ] = optional

this is designed at devourer solo mid, requires rune whoring & when i play it after i have bottle boots, thats the lane stage done gank gank gank, 15min conceed is your objective.



also on a side note to your lane good/bad post (although devourer is a great mid):

:pest: = a **** to be against, you may have 3k hp, and a tonne of magic armour, but those bugs make you soo god damn squishy

:mage: = obviously with a baby sitter, a decent magebane keeping you oom, pretty much makes u useless, considering a hook is required to kill him
------------------------------------------------------
:soulr: = probably my favorite lane partner, (if played well)
monstrous auto attacks & that ***** of an arua, the offensive/defensvie heal getting droped on people ibn your gas is about as affective as can be.

-about as useful as laning with jereziah but the advantage being this hero is ranged

Thanks for the feedback SUBS, sorry for taking so long to get back to you.

You have some good points in there, and some of your tactics I already used, but forgot to make mention to them in the guide (oops? :D).

Right now I'm trying to figure a better starting build for Devo. Almost nobody recommends what I do, and I'm beginning to feel gimped early compared to other melee heroes (possibly due to my starting build.). I'm going to try using hatchet more to see how well I do (Mostly concerning mid solo), but I never have a problem getting my bottle early, as I can usually swipe first blood with a tower hook.

My problem with post haste is that Devourer is sooooo slow without real boots. You're a ganker and if you're gimping yourself in chases by holding out for late game post haste, it's very likely you'll never make it to that point, or you'll have used up your usefulness by then, and Post Haste is really all you can buy to still actually be worth something.

On your question about Behemoth's heart, I almost never build it. For me it's a late late late game item that's only built after I've gotten my core+ sotm. Most games don't last long enough for me to ever finish even SotM, so for me to get both SotM and BH is quite rare.

You have a good point on most of those heroes in the lane, but SR stands out the most. I rarely get the pleasure of laning with one though, so I haven't been able to really see the power of the lane with those two in it. I'll try and play with a few friends and test out the combo a bit, and edit it into the guide if I feel like it was actually effective.

[Moogs]

reason why portal key is so beast on dev (this is the very reason blink dagger was banned on pudge in TDA games in dota) is that when he hooks someone, he can blink backwards and pull players into ridiculous places that are difficult to escape. basically its like having an extremely long hook.

also, frostwolf skull is excellent because it makes his abilities slow (especially useful with hook)

[Contempt]

reason why portal key is so beast on dev (this is the very reason blink dagger was banned on pudge in TDA games in dota) is that when he hooks someone, he can blink backwards and pull players into ridiculous places that are difficult to escape. basically its like having an extremely long hook.

also, frostwolf skull is excellent because it makes his abilities slow (especially useful with hook)

frost wolf makes his hook slow? i did not know hook is effected by orbs. this is true?

[JarJar]

frost wolf makes his hook slow? i did not know hook is effected by orbs. this is true?

Just tried Frostwolf+Hook. Doesn't slow.

[Delfofthebla]

reason why portal key is so beast on dev (this is the very reason blink dagger was banned on pudge in TDA games in dota) is that when he hooks someone, he can blink backwards and pull players into ridiculous places that are difficult to escape. basically its like having an extremely long hook.

also, frostwolf skull is excellent because it makes his abilities slow (especially useful with hook)

You're correct in saying that it was banned because it would allow you to "trap" players, but I don't remember anyone saying anything about "an extremely long hook". At the very least, it doesn't do that in HoN. There is a maximum range of 1450.

Also, frostwolf skull only applies the slow to "target" abilities, and hook isn't one of those. Your ult will slow, but what's the point..?

[babsa_90]

In games where the enemy have heroes like armadon, nymph, or other heroes that use a lot of spells, i will buy a mana battery because it's simply amazing with dev's low mana pool, and usually pays for itself by the time i need the slot filled.

[daveistealth]

Awesome guide, sir.

[Delfofthebla]

In games where the enemy have heroes like armadon, nymph, or other heroes that use a lot of spells, i will buy a mana battery because it's simply amazing with dev's low mana pool, and usually pays for itself by the time i need the slot filled.
Yep. I find it to be core in all situations myself; it's a very powerful item.


Awesome guide, sir.
Good game :P. Shame I couldn't keep my farm up for lategame. Glad you liked the guide though. :)

[Thirteen37]

http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=4766768
Awesome guide, also a replay of me doing fairly well against wretched hag middle. Also good hooks and etc., game doesn't last long. I wouldn't consider myself pro but I think I do fairly well. Dev is one of my favorite heroes and nice explanation of the different ways to hook.

[coolstorybro]

Add Andromeda to heroes to avoid early game. Early game an Andromeda can rock you with the 2 sec ranged stun. Also, hammerstorm can too. When you have rot on and are stunned for 2 seconds you can't turn it off and you take massive damage that is self inflicted.

[pwn_U_fast]

One of my favorite gankers/intiators.

I would suggest getting a hatchet early game if you are going top hellbourne or bot legion. The hatchet is very awesome to allow you get further into the trees and move into better ganking locations. in addition, knocking down the right trees can prevent a hooked enemy from escaping.

I'd have to check for match ID for a replay, but on top hellbourne, you can chop two tees to open up almost the entire tree area by your tower. additionally, there is only one escape path. What happened for me was a level 2 gank against witchslayer and magebane. We had a DC, and i was solo top, so i bought a hatchet. I started chopping trees right away and moved into position at about the 2 min mark. I waited patiently for witch to steal mana, and then immediately grabbed him. He was pulled into the trees, stunned me (actually could have escaped, but ran back into the trees to avoid the tower). at that point, i ran to block the escape exit, and magebane blinked in. i was able to autoattack witch and mage to death with the aid of the tower, and not a single point in decay.

i have found that chopping trees can be the best way to get multiple ganks by yourself.

here is the replay if you wanna check it out. we actually end up conceding cuz of the dc, such is life:

http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=4962506

[pwn_U_fast]

lately when I play devourer I've found that getting a hatchet from my fountain is vital to getting firstblood against cautious players. Generally I cut into the trees before the game even starts and I hook before they even know I'm in their lane. The great thing about cutting into the trees is you can do it in places that you can block them with while your partner/tower hits them. The easiest lane to do this is Hellbourne top, I cut in directly below the tower and wait until I have a easy oppurtunity to hook their squishier hero. Hopefully you were able to convince someone else to get your courier so you can ferry out your bottle.

If I have a really good early game I get Post Haste for all those ganking opportunities. There is nothing like clearing out a creep wave top and then instantly porting bot and hooking their carry who thinks he has free farm.

lol totally did not read this post before i posted mine. touche. and i agree hatchet + dev ftw. and top hellbourne is EPIC ganking spot for him. u can usually get firstblood in less than 2 min.

[Delfofthebla]

Just got back from vacation so I'll throw down an update on my current plans for the guide.

The items section is going to get a pretty big overhaul. It's the most outdated and I've switched up my core a bit recently, so I've decided to completely rework it.

As many of you have noted, loggers hatchet can be pretty useful for Devo. I've been playing quite a few melee heroes lately and the moment I switched back to Devo I really felt naked without the hatchet. With the recent change to trees not falling in the fog anymore, it has become even more useful than before.

The hooking map might get an update around the same time, but no guarantees. At the very least, it's on my radar. I plan to add spots that are only useful when cutting trees down (via tree eaters or loggers hatchet).

Hopefully after all that; I'll devote some time to watching replays people have posted, as well as sifting through my own, so that I can finally get some more replays up on the guide.

[Delfofthebla]

New version has arrived!


v3.1
-Reworded "Introduction" section.
-Reworded and added a few things to the "Pros/Cons" section.
-Skills section got a small update.
*Added more detail to hook canceling.
*Added another note to decay.
*Added 3 notes to cadaver armor.
*Reworded Devour notes a bit.
-Moved the "Strategy" section above "Items" section.
-Parts of the "Strategy" section were reworded slightly.
-Changes to the "Items" section.
*Changed recommended starting items.
*Loggers Hatchet added, updated core builds to reflect this.
*Post Haste is now the recommended pair of boots.
*Core build names changed
-Replay section updated.
*Added more details/disclaimer type notes to the replay intro.
*Added team to the replay statistics.
*Added HoN version number to the replay statistics.
*Added the first replay since release! (Finally)
-Due to lack of space remaining within the guide, as well as the lack of need for it; I've removed the "Future Plans" section.
-Changelog font size lowered.

So, I wanted to do a lot more for this update, but after leaving all this work sitting in my browser for a day or two, I started to fear a browser crash might be coming, and decided to post it up.

Items section was updated, but I still have more I want to do with it. I finally got around to adding a replay of one of my recent games, but I still need to sift through all the others and find some more.

[pwn_U_fast]

New version has arrived!

I like the changes to the starting items. I completely forgot to mention in my post what you said too, it helps IMMENSELY for last hitting creeps as well. Espicially since he is so dang slow, it gives you a much better chance to get last hits because you can attack before the creeps before your enemies. Getting cadavar level 1 early, combined with extra last hits from the hatchet, really gives him a good strength boost too. :smile: Nice work on the update.

[hluu]

Would blood chalice be a good item for this hero?

the replay was nothing spectacular, kind of cringe worthy. There are some pro devourer plays from h4nn1 or tarano.

[Delfofthebla]

Would blood chalice be a good item for this hero?

the replay was nothing spectacular, kind of cringe worthy. There are some pro devourer plays from h4nn1 or tarano.

Somebody didn't read the disclaimer :) I'm not here to write up a huge guide and then link replays to people who play at much higher tiers than myself. This is a public guide and I will post public replays. I still need more, but I want them to be at a public level.

To answer your original question, I'm not quite sure yet. It was introduced after I moved from Dota to HoN, so I've never used it before. It seems like it has potential, but you'd have to drop another item to get it.

But I ask you, what would you be willing to give up for this item? Power supply? Bottle? Replace your Hatchet and spend another 800g for an early game item? There's no reason to do this, and you already drain a good deal of your health to do damage with decay. I'd honestly have to test it out, but I really don't think Devourer needs Blood Chalice.

[pwn_U_fast]

But I ask you, what would you be willing to give up for this item? Power supply? Bottle? Replace your Hatchet and spend another 800g for an early game item? There's no reason to do this, and you already drain a good deal of your health to do damage with decay. I'd honestly have to test it out, but I really don't think Devourer needs Blood Chalice.

The answer is nothing. The health and mana regen needed to support hooking/decay can be sufficiently supplied by mana battery/upgraded version (i forgot the name). Also, a good dev would never give up his hatchet (IMO) so he can maintain the much needed creepkills/gold for scaling.

BTW you should check my replay for the tree hooking on top hellbourne. I don't have time to look at a lot of replays, but the first 5 min is when i start cutting trees and get the dk. So if you were wondering what trees to cut, that would be a really good replay. its jsut a couple posts up.

[pr1zrak]

Great, its big work. Nice idea to share yours means about night hooking. Ty man

[Curry]

Hey there! First of all, thanks for your guide, it really helped me out and I became to love Devourer. My favorite hero at the moment. And of course, the most hilarious to play with.
Although, I'd like to point out that it takes a lot of games to learn him well enough. And most of the time you'll be humiliated by your team with hooks you failed.
A fun fact: you can land 15 perfect hooks and fail just one for your team to go on rampage: "dude u suck with devourer, never play him again!!!". So, you have to be perfect hooking machine ^^.
The last thing i wanted to point out. A strong counter to devourer, missing from your guide. Tundra. His owl gives supreme map control (no more sneaky hooks) and his low cooldown ultimate is just way too powerful.

[pwn_U_fast]

Hey there! First of all, thanks for your guide, it really helped me out and I became to love Devourer. My favorite hero at the moment. And of course, the most hilarious to play with.
Although, I'd like to point out that it takes a lot of games to learn him well enough. And most of the time you'll be humiliated by your team with hooks you failed.
A fun fact: you can land 15 perfect hooks and fail just one for your team to go on rampage: "dude u suck with devourer, never play him again!!!". So, you have to be perfect hooking machine ^^.
The last thing i wanted to point out. A strong counter to devourer, missing from your guide. Tundra. His owl gives supreme map control (no more sneaky hooks) and his low cooldown ultimate is just way too powerful.


thanks and glad you like him. I never liked him until i started getting good at hooking, which ya takes about 15 games and a lot of raging teammates. I think the best fails tho are when you have a clear kill and hook your teammate away and accidentally save the opponent. ROFLZ and Instant Rage. What really is a make or break for any hero is LoS and FoW. You have to figure out how to use those two things to your advantage with whatever hero your playing. I was really bad with heroes that require good use of FoW and LoS, like devourer and deadwood. Now that i'm improving at that, i notice more opportunities to gank with heroes like deadwood and devourer.

[Delfofthebla]

Hey there! First of all, thanks for your guide, it really helped me out and I became to love Devourer. My favorite hero at the moment. And of course, the most hilarious to play with.
Although, I'd like to point out that it takes a lot of games to learn him well enough. And most of the time you'll be humiliated by your team with hooks you failed.
A fun fact: you can land 15 perfect hooks and fail just one for your team to go on rampage: "dude u suck with devourer, never play him again!!!". So, you have to be perfect hooking machine ^^.
The last thing i wanted to point out. A strong counter to devourer, missing from your guide. Tundra. His owl gives supreme map control (no more sneaky hooks) and his low cooldown ultimate is just way too powerful.

Glad you liked the guide. I agree it can be pretty hilarious when you're doing really good. I sit there and crack myself up while I rape there whole team sometimes. I can see what you mean about Tundra, I may add him in the next update. On top of his supreme map control, he also has two additional units that will get in the way of your hooking.

(This also reminds me that I should mention multiple unit heroes as counters to devourer.)


thanks and glad you like him. I never liked him until i started getting good at hooking, which ya takes about 15 games and a lot of raging teammates. I think the best fails tho are when you have a clear kill and hook your teammate away and accidentally save the opponent. ROFLZ and Instant Rage. What really is a make or break for any hero is LoS and FoW. You have to figure out how to use those two things to your advantage with whatever hero your playing. I was really bad with heroes that require good use of FoW and LoS, like devourer and deadwood. Now that i'm improving at that, i notice more opportunities to gank with heroes like deadwood and devourer.


thanks and glad you like him.
???
Anywho...

I personally always liked him. When I was first introduced to DotA, he was the second or third hero I had randomed. I thought he was a really unique and cool hero, but I bet I was really terrible with him.

Now that I have a good deal of experience with him, I've gotten really good at hooking heroes within the fog. If it's for just a split second, or perhaps even a couple of seconds, I'm able to predict there movements and hook if I believe an opponent would be within range. It's really satisfying to be able to pull that off frequently, as most of your hooking opportunities happen when heroes turn corners into the fog.

[thelulz]

A very nice guide indeed and after reading it a few times and playing a few games to get a hold of hooking i played a matchmaking game which went really well and was played after your guide.

The replay is here: http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=7189989

There are a few noobs in the game, those people that stand still. But despite that i pull off a few nice hooks and some weird survivals. Pred was rocking the show this game thanks to the good start i got mid.

I ended up with 10/4/19 and the content contain many things from this guide, maybe even a save but i doubt it. There also are a few "DONT DO THIS" moments, and just seeing the replay should be enough to spot them. But those dont do things apply to all heroes, so i aint messing up my team with failed hooks or anything like that.

By the way i want to suggest that you add a thing to the guide that i just really noticed. When you go mid and face a range hero they will harass you and it will hurt, although if you only show your ulgy face from far away the creeps will kick the harassers ass, if he is a fool and hits you that is. Its still some useful info for all melee heroes going mid, especially when you have the movement speed of devourer. So in conclusion, move into range and run out of it, if done right one attack from the enemy should hit you while your enemy takes a hit from 1-5 creeps depending on their position.

[Luda]

Great pubskill replay for you. I even get blink. Rawr.

7236563

[much2much]

How come you relented on your boots position?

[Delfofthebla]

A very nice guide indeed and after reading it a few times and playing a few games to get a hold of hooking i played a matchmaking game which went really well and was played after your guide.

The replay is here: http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=7189989

There are a few noobs in the game, those people that stand still. But despite that i pull off a few nice hooks and some weird survivals. Pred was rocking the show this game thanks to the good start i got mid.

I ended up with 10/4/19 and the content contain many things from this guide, maybe even a save but i doubt it. There also are a few "DONT DO THIS" moments, and just seeing the replay should be enough to spot them. But those dont do things apply to all heroes, so i aint messing up my team with failed hooks or anything like that.

By the way i want to suggest that you add a thing to the guide that i just really noticed. When you go mid and face a range hero they will harass you and it will hurt, although if you only show your ulgy face from far away the creeps will kick the harassers ass, if he is a fool and hits you that is. Its still some useful info for all melee heroes going mid, especially when you have the movement speed of devourer. So in conclusion, move into range and run out of it, if done right one attack from the enemy should hit you while your enemy takes a hit from 1-5 creeps depending on their position.

Not a bad replay. It's very good for someone who hasn't played Devourer for a very long time, as you do get off some nice hooks in there. :)


Great pubskill replay for you. I even get blink. Rawr.

7236563

Haven't got around to it quite yet, will hopefully watch it later tonight. :)


How come you relented on your boots position?

I honestly hadn't given post haste a chance when I had suggested other boots. Pre-nerf Plated greaves were great due to their added survivability/stat buffs. Once they were nerfed, I had decided that Ganker boots were more viable due to phase. The problem is that your Boots were always gotten after headdress, which by the time you had farmed, you didn't really need ghost marchers anymore.

I always carry around TP scrolls, and I have problems building my late game items due to lack of inventory space. I simply decided that the slowest hero in the entire game would benefit more from the fastest boots, which also clear inventory space.

There are more reasons though, Post Haste are excellent boots for heroes that can farm them.

[Liquoid]

In DoTA, you HAD to get Hood of Defiance before level 1 passive in order for them to stack.
Is this still so in HoN with Shaman's Headdress and Cadaverous Armor?

[Delfofthebla]

In DoTA, you HAD to get Hood of Defiance before level 1 passive in order for them to stack.
Is this still so in HoN with Shaman's Headdress and Cadaverous Armor?

This was fixed in DotA ages ago, and was never a problem in HoN as far as I'm aware.

You can get either of them at any time and they will stack. :)

[Rorix]

just wanted to stop by and thank you dude for your guide
read it last week and i've been practicing my hooking skills
today i went 16-0 with devourer thanks to your tips

awesome guide, well explained with tips and tricks
+1 to you sir

[jonsyr]

I just want to thank you for the great guide! Read it a few days ago and have started to practise playing Devourer in no stat games. I've started to get the hang of how to hook works and the time for it to travel and now I'm landing almost every hook!

Had fun one game with Devourer and got really good farm (due to the players that wern't very good) and managed to end the game with 395g/m and 714exp/m.

At the end of the game I had a Icebrand (tried to get it into a frostwolf's but we won before I was able to), Portal Key, Post Haste, Barrier Idol, Mock of Brilliance and a Behemoth's Heart.

Now that I feel more confident with Devourer I'll try him out in a real game with good players!

Thanks again for the great guide!

[Kalium]

Excellent guide!

One thing is missing though. You should include, somewhere in your guide, the words "Pull them fukers in", and it would be perfect. :P

[oMMi]

great guide, since reading it (after first 2-3 games) i found that dev is 1 of the if not THE most fun heros to play... I normally play in low skill games so players stand stationary for way too long... But i get good blind hooks off because yeah ... low skill players run in straight lines :p. Thanks a lot anyways~~ definately deserved premium.

[Delfofthebla]

just wanted to stop by and thank you dude for your guide
read it last week and i've been practicing my hooking skills
today i went 16-0 with devourer thanks to your tips

awesome guide, well explained with tips and tricks
+1 to you sir

Thanks, glad you liked it.


I just want to thank you for the great guide! Read it a few days ago and have started to practise playing Devourer in no stat games. I've started to get the hang of how to hook works and the time for it to travel and now I'm landing almost every hook!

Had fun one game with Devourer and got really good farm (due to the players that wern't very good) and managed to end the game with 395g/m and 714exp/m.

At the end of the game I had a Icebrand (tried to get it into a frostwolf's but we won before I was able to), Portal Key, Post Haste, Barrier Idol, Mock of Brilliance and a Behemoth's Heart.

Now that I feel more confident with Devourer I'll try him out in a real game with good players!

Thanks again for the great guide!

No problem. Glad you liked the guide. :)


Excellent guide!

One thing is missing though. You should include, somewhere in your guide, the words "Pull them fukers in", and it would be perfect. :P

Ruuude! Deadheadfred is my idol! :P


great guide, since reading it (after first 2-3 games) i found that dev is 1 of the if not THE most fun heros to play... I normally play in low skill games so players stand stationary for way too long... But i get good blind hooks off because yeah ... low skill players run in straight lines :p. Thanks a lot anyways~~ definately deserved premium.

Thanks, and glad you liked the guide.

What's funny for me is that whenever I'm up against low skill players I usually do terrible, due to me being used to average players. I'm so used to normal people that I expect the noobs to move when they're in danger, and try to hook accordingly. Naturally they won't move and I end up looking like an idiot. :rolleyes:

[pwn_U_fast]

What's funny for me is that whenever I'm up against low skill players I usually do terrible, due to me being used to average players. I'm so used to normal people that I expect the noobs to move when they're in danger, and try to hook accordingly. Naturally they won't move and I end up looking like an idiot. :rolleyes:

LOL. Me too. You can never underestimate the lack of activity a noob will make.

Tip of the Week - "stand by tower and pull them fukers in!" lol. gotta love deadheadfred.

[Mateui]

Maybe adding in a small section on strategy for Devourer mid only would be nice. My advice to people in this setting, always skill Cadaver armor up ASAP. You'll end up being 2000 HP above the other Devourers who go the usual Hook + Decay build. Since so many players will be dying all the time, it just makes sense to capitalize on that since it'll help you immensely both early game and late game.

[Delfofthebla]

Maybe adding in a small section on strategy for Devourer mid only would be nice. My advice to people in this setting, always skill Cadaver armor up ASAP. You'll end up being 2000 HP above the other Devourers who go the usual Hook + Decay build. Since so many players will be dying all the time, it just makes sense to capitalize on that since it'll help you immensely both early game and late game.

I've thought about adding a section on mid, but there really isn't any room left in the guide to add anything else. (I've literally hit my limit. I can probably fit a few replays, but that's all it will let me add at this point.)

As for your advice on cadaver, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree there. I've heard subtle mentions of this build a few times, but I've yet to see it actually be worth something. Whether or not it "works" isn't the point, it's the fact that the cadaver build completely destroys the role Devourer is supposed to fill.


I'm one of the "We don't need a tank god damnit" players. Devourer is a GANKER and a late game ANTI-CARRY. He is not a "tank" and such a role is pointless and unnecessary. If you don't max either hook or decay first, you will not be able to gank a damn thing. At the very least, you'll have to heavily rely on your teammates to do all the work for you. You will be 100% utility without any damage output, and I don't agree with that. Especially if you're mid solo.

It would be flat out impossible to kill a decent mid player, and your lack of damage output is probably allowing said player to freefarm while you do nothing. The only reason Devourer is even allowed to mid is because he can mid and gank the sidelanes very easily, and repeatedly. By maxing cadaver first, you won't be able to finish the fights fast enough, and they will likely escape or kill you instead.

[Strongdoctor]

The latest patched slightly remade his ultimate. Update thread, thank you.:devo::devo:

[Delfofthebla]

The latest patched slightly remade his ultimate. Update thread, thank you.:devo::devo:

Yeah I was planning too, after the changes settled in. As seen in 1.0.8, they're already tweaking him again, so I'm going to wait a bit longer before changing the guide.

I really am loving these changes though. The change to cadaver allows you to really stock up on strength early, and re-enforces the current build I suggested, where cadaver at level 4 is the most beneficial. The new ult is pretty hilarious on top of being much more useful. It allows you to heal from your ult early on, so you're able to get a taste of the SotM effect much earlier in the game. Not to mention the massive radius/base damage increase. You become such a beast after your ult channels it's ridiculous.

I've been playing him a lot since the update, and I can't say my playstyle has really changed at all, so I doubt there will be any major changes to the guide in regards to items or skillbuilds, but we'll see.

[Escorponox]

There is a good devo VoD in Honcast played by Tsm vs SK in the alienware tournament.

[Delfofthebla]

There is a good devo VoD in Honcast played by Tsm vs SK in the alienware tournament.

While it was fun to watch early on, the team really lost control halfway through. He had some really unorthodox items too, it was weird. If he was planning to rush staff he should have just rushed staff. Instead he picked up a void (???) and then never got anything else.

Unfortunately tsm just got owned in picks, and didn't pick up the slack after Devo's "Reign of Terror" ended, resulting in a loss.


Back to the topic of his build though, it intrigued me. I'd honestly never thought about rushing staff before. It does actually benefit you more than HotBL and Headdress. It's just that I had always gotten staff afterwards, so it had never crossed my mind. I'm going to experiment with the build a bit and see what comes out of it.

[pwn_U_fast]

While it was fun to watch early on, the team really lost control halfway through. He had some really unorthodox items too, it was weird. If he was planning to rush staff he should have just rushed staff. Instead he picked up a void (???) and then never got anything else.

Unfortunately tsm just got owned in picks, and didn't pick up the slack after Devo's "Reign of Terror" ended, resulting in a loss.


Back to the topic of his build though, it intrigued me. I'd honestly never thought about rushing staff before. It does actually benefit you more than HotBL and Headdress. It's just that I had always gotten staff afterwards, so it had never crossed my mind. I'm going to experiment with the build a bit and see what comes out of it.

I watched that game, and the one caster is 100% right tho (i think it was henry who seems to make a lot of stupid comments even though he was an epic player) devo just doesn't scale well into late game in that patch. i saw the changelog and the ultimate has been greatly reworked, it now expands decay radius/dmg (i think) and increases his health. much better for teamfighting. although they did take of his str gain from non hero units, kind of a big nerf there.

[Delfofthebla]

I watched that game, and the one caster is 100% right tho (i think it was henry who seems to make a lot of stupid comments even though he was an epic player) devo just doesn't scale well into late game in that patch. i saw the changelog and the ultimate has been greatly reworked, it now expands decay radius/dmg (i think) and increases his health. much better for teamfighting. although they did take of his str gain from non hero units, kind of a big nerf there.

Yeah, the ult increases the radius, but not the damage. The nerf to creep kill strength really only matters once late late game starts rolling around.

[pwn_U_fast]

Yeah, the ult increases the radius, but not the damage. The nerf to creep kill strength really only matters once late late game starts rolling around.

true true, i guess they also increase the str gain to 2 at all levels and for heroes only, so it may be a slight nerf but not too bad if the dev plays his role of ganker like he should - then he will get kills and continue to see the benefit of the cadavar armor.

my only fear is that in pubbies there are so many ks'ers that you may often set up ganks, and not see any benefit because some ahole kills him at 15 heealth instead of letting you get the kill, but then again that's not competitive play soo...

ohh i remember why henry was annoying me - one of the other casters was like, i think he should have got mystic vestments. and i was in agreeance. they had a lot of nukers (witch, ss, forsaken). henry was like you never get mystic alone, ever. its either shamans or not. i kept thinking how can you say that? ive seen plenty of devs get the early mystic vestments to tank nukes and never finish shamans. they just go right into the staff or pk. it increases his survivability greatly against nukers especially with 1+ pts in cadavar. i just didn't like how he kept saying all or none. i don't like that philosophy towards item building in hon. sometimes it is beneficial to only get one component until later on when you have ridiculous farm.

[YouJustGot]

I reckon this game I played has some nice/alright hooks..
Just thought I'd chuck it up :)

Match ID:7610114

[SilverStars]

What's funny for me is that whenever I'm up against low skill players I usually do terrible, due to me being used to average players. I'm so used to normal people that I expect the noobs to move when they're in danger, and try to hook accordingly. Naturally they won't move and I end up looking like an idiot. :rolleyes:

That's actually a brilliant strategy. I tried it in one of my games.

Golden Rule: When you see Devourer, hit "H".

Okay, maybe it doesn't always work, but it's still brilliant.

[Kluckmuck]

8846685 (http://replays.heroesofnewerth.com/match_replay.php?mid=8846685)

Replay of me playing Devourer and my friend playing Nymph, where we use her ulti to setup alot of ganks.

[Delfofthebla]

That's actually a brilliant strategy. I tried it in one of my games.

Golden Rule: When you see Devourer, hit "H".

Okay, maybe it doesn't always work, but it's still brilliant.

Just base it on each players skill level. If Devourer is better than you, hit H. If he sucks, just run away when you see him. Of course if he's good you have to mix it up a bit, as repetition will allow him to adapt and predict you the next time.

[Sheriff]

Why does devo need a guide

just pull them fukers in near towers

[Delfofthebla]

The latest update has arrived! Some pretty big changes with this version. I'm still too lazy to update replays (Mostly because I either do too good or too bad. It's hard to find a middleground replay where I don't completely stomp or get stomped. <.<)

The blind hook section is pretty crappy, I'm going to update it with more generic blind hooks once I get the time. Anywho, enjoy!


v3.2
-Updated skill descriptions and notes to reflect the 1.0.8 patch.
-Removed coloring for ability names throughout the guide.
-Skill build descriptions altered slightly
-"Chaser" skill build updated. (Cadaver Armor lvl's 2-4 aren't taken until level 12-14 now.)
-"Chossing a Lane" subsection updated.
-"Enemies to Avoid" subsection updated slightly to include more details on Predator.
-"Items" section updated.
*Starting build separated for solo mid/sidelanes.
*Core builds updated.
*Luxury items updated.
-"Blind Hooking" subsection trimmed down. This section will receive a complete rework sometime soon.
-"FAQ's and Debates" section renamed to "FAQ's".
-Removed the HotBL vs. Headdress subsection from the "FAQ's" section.

[Littlehorn]

I've been playing Devourer a lot lately. I have to say that I didn't like the hook build that much. It does well on paper heroes, but on average it didn't seem to be enough off the hooks for my newbie state. So I went more rot than hook and it served me well.

[Delfofthebla]

I've been playing Devourer a lot lately. I have to say that I didn't like the hook build that much. It does well on paper heroes, but on average it didn't seem to be enough off the hooks for my newbie state. So I went more rot than hook and it served me well.

The decay build is definitely more beneficial to someone who isn't completely comfortable with devourer, but once you get the hang of hooking I highly recommend trying out the hook build instead.

Even on "non-paper" heroes it still works just fine. Assuming you follow the "Pro-Hooker" build, you can unleash 400 physical damage in an instant, followed up by 300 magic damage by level 7. That's 700 damage before reductions, and without hitting the target with your massive post-ult base damage. The decay build damage comes close, but it requires you to chase for the full duration, and is much riskier in the sense that it damages you for the same amount it's damaging them.

[Littlehorn]

It could just be the sync of my skills after the hooks. I hook fine and have been catching people very well. Some blind hooks and some where they are running in between creeps. It's just that sometimes I can't do enough dps when I nomnom on their face and rot. Other times, it's like paper.

But, it could be my delay between hook and my ult with my rot. It's not very speedy sometimes. :D

[Swulle]

I've found that if I'm at a a sidelane and not going for rune control, Blood Chalice does the job of Bottle and does it even better then it ever has done. I just tap it and lose a miniscule part of my large health pool, and tada, I can hook again.

I suggest everyone to try it atleast once, considering how slow devourer is for rune dominance and how many other heros in your team can benefit from them more. Especially when you already have two guys in your team with a bottle.

[Littlehorn]

I've found that if I'm at a a sidelane and not going for rune control, Blood Chalice does the job of Bottle and does it even better then it ever has done. I just tap it and lose a miniscule part of my large health pool, and tada, I can hook again.

I suggest everyone to try it atleast once, considering how slow devourer is for rune dominance and how many other heros in your team can benefit from them more. Especially when you already have two guys in your team with a bottle.

I've been using the powerlines like the guide suggests and it works well as a early buy over bottle. I will try the chalice and see what happens.

[pwn_U_fast]

That's actually a brilliant strategy. I tried it in one of my games.

Golden Rule: When you see Devourer, hit "H".

Okay, maybe it doesn't always work, but it's still brilliant.

depends on the play style of the dev. if he is an active ganker who will launch hooks while in sight range, standing still is not the best option, because he will probably have positioned himself to land a hook and is counting on you not moving/being able to react. if he's of sight, and you are moving around, he's probably going to try and anticipate your movements, so seeing a hook come on screen, hitting h probably is your best solution or you may walk right into his hook path.

[commy]

Had a tough time mid against a corrupted disciple.

Conduit destroys you, he can outrun you with his passive and his ultimate works while you're devouring him.

Any tips for facing cd, or should I just not bother?

[Delfofthebla]

Had a tough time mid against a corrupted disciple.

Conduit destroys you, he can outrun you with his passive and his ultimate works while you're devouring him.

Any tips for facing cd, or should I just not bother?

When it comes to the laning phase the only thing you can really do is kill him. If he's smart enough to conduit you, it may be difficult to get a lot of creep kills in early. Always look for hooking opportunities. If he's really trying to keep conduit on you, it may be possible he will chase you a little bit; making him vulnerable to hooks. Only get close to creeps when it's time to last hit, and always keep him afraid of what you can do to him if he slips up.

When it comes to mid-late game I honestly don't have that much trouble with him. His ult isn't that powerful on it's own, and if you did a full hook+rot+decay combo on him he shouldn't be able to live through it as long as you have a teammate nearby. Once you get your SotM your ult will completely destroy him.

Yes he's a very fast hero that can get pretty beefy if he gets an early edge. If you're laning against him, it shouldn't be too hard to completely shut him down before he gets to that point; he's incredibly squishy early on.

[Qwernakus]

Excellent guied, but i feel you missed one crucial part of high-end hooking: Hooking, then moving to adjust hook for return trip.

Seing as the hook also pick up on the return trip AND return to your CURRENT position, you can effectively hit enemies that wouldnt otherwise have been hit by moving sideways after you throw the hook. For example, a glacius is running from you, beelining towards legion base from bot lane. You come from east-northeast, throw you hook, but alas! The hook was aimed too far ahead! The hook flies 300 units ahead of Glacius, on his path, but wont hit him.

BUT. You now move south! As the hook begins to retract, you are now parralel with Glacius's beeline, and therefore, the hook is also pulled along that line. Seeign as glacius is there too, HE get hooked and pulled to you!

This tactic can also be used to circumvent creep waves: hooking towards the edge of the creepwave so hook extends behind it, move behind creepwave on your side, allow hook to retract and hit enemy on return.

[Liquoid]

Excellent guied, but i feel you missed one crucial part of high-end hooking: Hooking, then moving to adjust hook for return trip.

Seing as the hook also pick up on the return trip AND return to your CURRENT position, you can effectively hit enemies that wouldnt otherwise have been hit by moving sideways after you throw the hook. For example, a glacius is running from you, beelining towards legion base from bot lane. You come from east-northeast, throw you hook, but alas! The hook was aimed too far ahead! The hook flies 300 units ahead of Glacius, on his path, but wont hit him.

BUT. You now move south! As the hook begins to retract, you are now parralel with Glacius's beeline, and therefore, the hook is also pulled along that line. Seeign as glacius is there too, HE get hooked and pulled to you!

This tactic can also be used to circumvent creep waves: hooking towards the edge of the creepwave so hook extends behind it, move behind creepwave on your side, allow hook to retract and hit enemy on return.

Phase Boots synergize well.

[gex0r]

wow really sick guide, this makes me wanna give him a try ;)

[pwn_U_fast]

Excellent guied, but i feel you missed one crucial part of high-end hooking: Hooking, then moving to adjust hook for return trip.

Seing as the hook also pick up on the return trip AND return to your CURRENT position, you can effectively hit enemies that wouldnt otherwise have been hit by moving sideways after you throw the hook. For example, a glacius is running from you, beelining towards legion base from bot lane. You come from east-northeast, throw you hook, but alas! The hook was aimed too far ahead! The hook flies 300 units ahead of Glacius, on his path, but wont hit him.

BUT. You now move south! As the hook begins to retract, you are now parralel with Glacius's beeline, and therefore, the hook is also pulled along that line. Seeign as glacius is there too, HE get hooked and pulled to you!

This tactic can also be used to circumvent creep waves: hooking towards the edge of the creepwave so hook extends behind it, move behind creepwave on your side, allow hook to retract and hit enemy on return.


This is a really good point. There used to be an excellent video. it might be on youtube. I couldn't find it anymoer, and i'm not sure if this trick still works, but here it is.

Dev + Port Key = crazy hooking.

What you do is start by setting up a hook in an area where it normally wouldn't be a very good idea. If you have a portal key, you can start the hook, and portal to a new location. they hook will continue on its path, and return to you as normal. the thing about this is, you can be way out of tower range, hook, port towards the tower, and pull the hero and extra 1500 units, because the hook will return to Devo's new location. I saw this happen when his teammate was pushing a lane hard, and FA was hiding way back, not trying to get creep kills. dev walked into the woods on legion side, set out a hook, and ported to the tower. he drug FA all the way back to the tower, decayed and ulted ftw.

[JONNyG]

^
I think they patched that lol but I do know you can get some extra range on the hook with a pkey, just not THAT much :P Maybe I should get a pkey after my core in one of these games and see what kinda hooks I can pull off ^^. Btw an update of this guide should include nymph as a ridiculous lane partner. Her long range stun + mana means easy and infinite hooks, and she can also port you half way across the map to the top of any hill to get completely unexpecting targets :D

[Delfofthebla]

wow really sick guide, this makes me wanna give him a try ;)
Glad you liked it. :)


Excellent guied, but i feel you missed one crucial part of high-end hooking: Hooking, then moving to adjust hook for return trip.

Seing as the hook also pick up on the return trip AND return to your CURRENT position, you can effectively hit enemies that wouldnt otherwise have been hit by moving sideways after you throw the hook. For example, a glacius is running from you, beelining towards legion base from bot lane. You come from east-northeast, throw you hook, but alas! The hook was aimed too far ahead! The hook flies 300 units ahead of Glacius, on his path, but wont hit him.

BUT. You now move south! As the hook begins to retract, you are now parralel with Glacius's beeline, and therefore, the hook is also pulled along that line. Seeign as glacius is there too, HE get hooked and pulled to you!

This tactic can also be used to circumvent creep waves: hooking towards the edge of the creepwave so hook extends behind it, move behind creepwave on your side, allow hook to retract and hit enemy on return.

There are a few reasons I've neglected to include this tactic within the guide.
1: When it comes to simple redirections of missed hooks, I do it so naturally that I never notice them. I've also gotten pretty good at simply stopping missed hooks before I launch them, so these events are very rare in my games. As such I can never find them in my replays to showcase.
2. I never intentionally miss a hook and attempt to redirect it. The whole thing has always seemed very risky and I can never find the right opportunity to try it out. I haven't experimented enough with it to trust the tactic, and so I never do it. It would be quite silly for me to suggest a tactic that I myself never do.
3. Until my recent purging of unnecessary sections, the guide was full. Flat out 100% full. I simply didn't have room to add anything else, and I'm still not sure I do.


^
I think they patched that lol but I do know you can get some extra range on the hook with a pkey, just not THAT much :P Maybe I should get a pkey after my core in one of these games and see what kinda hooks I can pull off ^^. Btw an update of this guide should include nymph as a ridiculous lane partner. Her long range stun + mana means easy and infinite hooks, and she can also port you half way across the map to the top of any hill to get completely unexpecting targets :D

Yeah, I need to update the laning partners/enemies section a bit. The problem is that I seriously solo mid 90% of the time, so I rarely get the chance to actually test out laning partners.

General things I'd like to do to the section;

Laning partners:
Remove Elec/Puppet.
Add more detail to Nymph.
Add Glacius.

Enemies to avoid:
Add Hellbringer.
Add Andromeda. (She's always been one of my most hated heroes to go against, I have no idea why I don't already have her in there.)
Remove magebane. (Magebane is pretty trashy, and with the newfound updates to Devo's ult there's really no reason you can't kill him just as easy as the rest of the carries.)

On the note of updates, I apologize for leaving it in such a scrambled state for so long. The current core build section needs more clarification/updating, and I just haven't been motivated enough to do so.

Some more things I've been meaning to do;
1.Rework the blind hook section. The examples used were super terrible and didn't properly showcase simple blind hooks. They were both super complicated/luck oriented. I'm going to skim through my replays later and see if I can find some generic ones.
2. Update the hooking map. In my last update I mentioned spots on the hooking map that you could create via loggers or runes of blight, but I never updated the map to actually show those.
3. Replays section update. This has got to be one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my guide. I feel like I cannot show most of my replays because they either end within 15-25 mins from me absolutely dominating, or it's a 70 minute long game where I'm only useful for wasting the enemy teams stun/disables.

[TszHin]

the map with the hooking spots r a great help!
thanks!

[Dragnmn]

Maybe add some Phe`v/Violation_ replays? He's rather good with Devourer, you're bound to find some good plays. On top of that they are rather high level.

[pwn_U_fast]

2. I never intentionally miss a hook and attempt to redirect it. The whole thing has always seemed very risky and I can never find the right opportunity to try it out. I haven't experimented enough with it to trust the tactic, and so I never do it. It would be quite silly for me to suggest a tactic that I myself never do.

basically the best time this is used, if you are soloing mid and the fuker is tower hugging and you want him dead. wait til he retreats to the next wave of creeps, and a reasonable player will try and stay behind the creeps. if you can move to a side of the creeps non-challantly, as to not alarm your opponent, you can throw hooks just to the left or right of the creep wave, and then run towards the center and yank your opponent. this tactic is EXTREMELY useful for catching an opponent off guard, but THIS IS NOT A NOVICE TACTIC.

This tactic is extremely risky because a miss will leave you very vulnerable to a counter spell or something of that nature, and you will have little mana after the hook is cast. this is something you should literally practice on the practice server. try and throw hooks past creep waves and catch the archer. its tough, but when you can start doing that, you'll get the idea of grabbing a real hero on the hooks return trip.


I found some OK videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbpUnwMve6A

this is an example of TPing (not using PK) on an old patch. he actually pulls the fuker all the way to base. epic stand by tower and pul them fukers in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbrPwaFCmVE&feature=related

this video actually shows the concept of moving to catch a hook on the return trip.

[Jho92]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbpUnwMve6A

this is an example of TPing (not using PK) on an old patch. he actually pulls the fuker all the way to base. epic stand by tower and pul them fukers in.


I dont get why it failed the first time on the video.
Is this tactic still work?

[pwn_U_fast]

I dont get why it failed the first time on the video.
Is this tactic still work?

I haven't verified the teleporting one. I know the PK trick still works - to what extent and distances i'm not sure of, and obviously hooking on returns will probably never be changed.

[Delfofthebla]

I haven't verified the teleporting one. I know the PK trick still works - to what extent and distances i'm not sure of, and obviously hooking on returns will probably never be changed.

Last time I checked, the maximum distance the hook will drag anyone is 1450.

So yes, you can still hook and get TP'd by ophelia, or portal key away, and the hook will start pulling them to you. But after they hit that distance it will just -stop- pulling the target.

[pwn_U_fast]

Last time I checked, the maximum distance the hook will drag anyone is 1450.

So yes, you can still hook and get TP'd by ophelia, or portal key away, and the hook will start pulling them to you. But after they hit that distance it will just -stop- pulling the target.

well there is the answer. using the pk is still a viable tactic, imo, because i don't think the hook extends 1450 units, so it would allow you to pull your target further.

[ChemiZt]

You should add heroes with good slows like slither/glac to the good laning partners section. I'd consider slither the best hero (they're going to nerf his slow to 600 range at lvl 1 next patch so won't be quite as good) to lane with devourer. Both slither and glacius have long range slows which allow devourer to land a very consistent hook. If the guy you're going for is less than about 500 range it should be pretty much guaranteed with one of those slows.

[commy]

Just a theoretical question. You mention that if electrician grips someone and then you hook them that you will pull both targets in.

Now...

If you're playing duplicate heroes, and you got 9 electricians to grip one another, would you pull the whole lot of them fukers in?

[Delfofthebla]

You should add heroes with good slows like slither/glac to the good laning partners section. I'd consider slither the best hero (they're going to nerf his slow to 600 range at lvl 1 next patch so won't be quite as good) to lane with devourer. Both slither and glacius have long range slows which allow devourer to land a very consistent hook. If the guy you're going for is less than about 500 range it should be pretty much guaranteed with one of those slows.

I've been revamping a lot of stuff for the next update. Both glacius and slither were added. :)


Just a theoretical question. You mention that if electrician grips someone and then you hook them that you will pull both targets in.

Now...

If you're playing duplicate heroes, and you got 9 electricians to grip one another, would you pull the whole lot of them fukers in?

Yessir.

[Delfofthebla]

Geez, no matter how much I edit/add to this guide, it never feels complete.

Latest version has arrived!



v3.4
-Updated the Skill Build section
*Noted the possibility of taking cadaver at level 3 instead of 4 if it looks like you could get an early kill.
-Updated the Strategy section
*Small changes to the solo mid notes.
*Laning partners have been updated.
*Enemies to avoid have been updated.
-"Items" section completely reworked (again).
*Starting Items reworked slightly. There are now two options, One for solo mid and one for a sidelane.
*There are now 3 clearly definitive core builds.
-Removed the "Lategame/Luxury Items" subsection.
*Each Core build has its' own custom luxury item list.
-Updated the Proper Skill Usage section
*Decay radius screenshot/text updated to reflect the most recent patch changes.
*New Blind Hooking scenario added.
-Updated the Replay section
*Added 1 replay.
-Changelog section removed due to post size restraints.This update is -huge- and I'd really appreciate some feedback from those that have read the guide before this update. The item section is my main concern here. I tried to make it more adaptable and clear of the paths you should take based on your game.

Before anyone says it though, I made this update before the 1.0.9 patch. I'm well aware of the blood chalice changes and I'll try to experiment more with this item when I get the time. For now though, it's not going in the guide.

[Exactable]

Blood Chalice.

Striders.

Always, never, sometimes? Why(not)? Discuss.

[Delfofthebla]

Blood Chalice.

Striders.

Always, never, sometimes? Why(not)? Discuss.

Haven't had the chance to experiment with blood chalice yet. The same goes for Striders, but I can't imagine how they would be worth it on Devo.

Yes, Devourer is a powerful roamer. And yes, Striders would allow him to lane hop more frequently. But that's -all- they do. The movement speed loss you take the moment you engage is too much. Devourer is the slowest hero in the entire game. Not having that increased ms in combat is bad. As the game goes on and the opponents get their boots, you'll be lucky to chase anyone anymore. I stand by ghost marchers.

[pwn_U_fast]

Haven't had the chance to experiment with blood chalice yet. The same goes for Striders, but I can't imagine how they would be worth it on Devo.

Yes, Devourer is a powerful roamer. And yes, Striders would allow him to lane hop more frequently. But that's -all- they do. The movement speed loss you take the moment you engage is too much. Devourer is the slowest hero in the entire game. Not having that increased ms in combat is bad. As the game goes on and the opponents get their boots, you'll be lucky to chase anyone anymore. I stand by ghost marchers.


I 100% agree the burst MS in combat is absolutely necessary on a hero like devo. given his horrid base MS.

[Ambro]

About Striders and Blood Chalice, I truly think they're the best items you can possibly make on Devourer at the moment. Let me explain.

I've been playing this hero quite a lot lately and 8 / 10 of my games were successful (I usually play 1600 / 1650+ games, so I'm not pretending this works in high level games).

Blood Chalice simply means infinite mana, bought along with Shaman's Headdress. 150 mana every about 30 secondes is exactly what you need to keep perma-ganking, and 150hp with Chalice + Shaman's is hardly more than 12 seconds of regen, assuming that you don't use it to net a kill. They're just too cheap and way too powerful together not to be considered as core now. You need to activate Chalice as soon as you see a sure kill approaching. This duo makes the bottle useless on Devourer.

Striders. These boots are the way to go imho, because they make your roamer days SO easy. Sure you lose the advantage after you've engaged, but it also means that you CAN engage even without hook (just come from behind with a perma-haste). It means fast rune-checking, fast lane-swaping, fast escaping after being noticed on a dangerous spot.

This is why you should get them, but mostly you should get them because the reasons you usually shouldn't aren't true with Dev :

1 : "You shouldn't cause you need stronger boots." > You need other items, not stronger boots. I used to be tortured with the choice of rushing important items or delaying them to buy PH or Plated Grave (Ghost are just plain stupid imo, you don't make good use of the +dmg, and need armor. The +ms isn't needed to chase with decay if you use it effectively, unless you're facing a scout.)

2 : "You shouldn't cause you need to farm and therefore won't be getting the bonus often -attacking creeps" > You almost never static farm with Devourer.

In a nutshell : these boots are too good for their very low price not to be bought on a hero with such a low boots-dependancy and who needs other items much more.

Striders + Chalice + Shaman's Headdress < 3400g and provide you everything you need till late-game to fill you role.

In comparison, Ghost + Bottle + Shaman's / HotBL > 4200g, that's 800g to buy wards and fasten your 3rd tier item.

[pwn_U_fast]

^^

With decay yeah striders are handy when you got your ult cuz u can hook/decay/devour. but if that doesnt kill him and he's ranged, he'll be able to get out of decay range and auto attack you til your dead because your ms is so fuking slow.

edit: but ya, early game blood chalice + striders is probably op if your good solo mid with dev, it would allow for really epic rune control too.

[Delfofthebla]

About Striders and Blood Chalice, I truly think they're the best items you can possibly make on Devourer at the moment. Let me explain.

I've been playing this hero quite a lot lately and 8 / 10 of my games were successful (I usually play 1600 / 1650+ games, so I'm not pretending this works in high level games).

Blood Chalice simply means infinite mana, bought along with Shaman's Headdress. 150 mana every about 30 secondes is exactly what you need to keep perma-ganking, and 150hp with Chalice + Shaman's is hardly more than 12 seconds of regen, assuming that you don't use it to net a kill. They're just too cheap and way too powerful together not to be considered as core now. You need to activate Chalice as soon as you see a sure kill approaching. This duo makes the bottle useless on Devourer.

Striders. These boots are the way to go imho, because they make your roamer days SO easy. Sure you lose the advantage after you've engaged, but it also means that you CAN engage even without hook (just come from behind with a perma-haste). It means fast rune-checking, fast lane-swaping, fast escaping after being noticed on a dangerous spot.

This is why you should get them, but mostly you should get them because the reasons you usually shouldn't aren't true with Dev :

1 : "You shouldn't cause you need stronger boots." > You need other items, not stronger boots. I used to be tortured with the choice of rushing important items or delaying them to buy PH or Plated Grave (Ghost are just plain stupid imo, you don't make good use of the +dmg, and need armor. The +ms isn't needed to chase with decay if you use it effectively, unless you're facing a scout.)

2 : "You shouldn't cause you need to farm and therefore won't be getting the bonus often -attacking creeps" > You almost never static farm with Devourer.

In a nutshell : these boots are too good for their very low price not to be bought on a hero with such a low boots-dependancy and who needs other items much more.

Striders + Chalice + Shaman's Headdress < 3400g and provide you everything you need till late-game to fill you role.

In comparison, Ghost + Bottle + Shaman's / HotBL > 4200g, that's 800g to buy wards and fasten your 3rd tier item.

When it comes to Blood Chalice in the side lane, I think you're pretty spot on. If you're unable to rune whore for the entire game, bottle isn't that effective. If you're mid though, Bottle is much, much better. The thing is that bottle regens your HP as well, and you can't ignore that. Shaman's may give you some regen but it's nowhere near enough to the point that you would never need the heal from bottle. Remember that the kill effect from Chalice only gives you back the health it took from you, there is no health regen involved.

When it comes to your opinion on boots, I strongly disagree. Have you ever seen a competitive match with Devourer? Every single time, they get Ghost Marchers. It's the #1 most effective boot for Devourer.

Phase allows you to chase more effectively. I cannot count how many times I've just "barely" killed someone thanks to the phase from ghost marchers. They're also the best ganking boots in terms of speed. Yes striders allow you to roam better but they are 100% completely useless once you engage. For a hero that is based around chasing, I just don't think they are worth it yet.

You mentioned the damage bonus on GM being worthless for Devourer. Wrong. As the game progresses to mid-game, your ult+hook combos aren't always enough to finish the job. The damage from Ghost Marchers paired with the base damage boost from your ultimate; make your auto attacks absolutely devastating. Not to mention that you can't always hook+ult when you're trying to kill someone. Sometimes you have to decaychase and nothing else. That + 24 damage per hit is going to end the chase by at least a second or two. (That's time that you can spend doing something else, like not killing yourself via decay.)

[Athl33t]

striders ALWAYS on devo.

I dont care what the pros are doing. They're doing it wrong.


This is how it goes.

Run up to unsuspecting hero and ult them/activate decay.

If they try and run just stand still and pull those fkers back in.


continue to do this all game till your fed like a carry.

[Ambro]

About the +MS you seem to think essential on GM, with Decay most if not all (Scout / Pest... being exceptions) heroes will never have more than 340ms if they remain in its range (wich is huge, and even bigger after ultimate). So, why exactly would you need more MS ? If you remain focused, they can't escape. Plus, maybe pros get GM cause... Striders weren't out yet ? And still, they probably won't change their habits before months, because "pros" play like other "pros". In anyway, I doubt real "pro" pick Devourer unless it is for fun (there are some exceptions of course). It is less than a situationnal hero to pick in high-level games.

But admitting you're right about "pros", if you're "pro" you should have a "pro" team, right ? So, why the hell are you planning on buying chasing items ? In a "pro" game, your one and only role is to kill ennemies early on, and force them to engage after that. Hell, you should never be expecting to kill on your own one and only one ennemy after mid-game like you'd do earlier. Both teams will have wards and will be sticking at least by little groups. Therefore, the +DMG is not that useful on Dev. Especially when the 700g you have spent on GM could be used to buy SotM wich REALLY increases your effectiveness in DMG and survavibility.

About the Bottle, it's effective, yes. But even mid I wouldn't rune whore anymore, and let either my team mates from side lanes take it or wait for the mid-opponent to go for it and try to catch him.

From what I've experienced in the 15 or so games I've played as Dev since the last patch, you never need to go fountain to reg. Chalice + Shaman's mean +11 HP regen. That means +13 at least with your natural regen. Since you roam most of the time, you'll always be full HP within less than 2mn.

[Delfofthebla]

About the +MS you seem to think essential on GM, with Decay most if not all (Scout / Pest... being exceptions) heroes will never have more than 340ms if they remain in its range (wich is huge, and even bigger after ultimate). So, why exactly would you need more MS ? If you remain focused, they can't escape. Plus, maybe pros get GM cause... Striders weren't out yet ? And still, they probably won't change their habits before months, because "pros" play like other "pros". In anyway, I doubt real "pro" pick Devourer unless it is for fun (there are some exceptions of course). It is less than a situationnal hero to pick in high-level games.

But admitting you're right about "pros", if you're "pro" you should have a "pro" team, right ? So, why the hell are you planning on buying chasing items ? In a "pro" game, your one and only role is to kill ennemies early on, and force them to engage after that. Hell, you should never be expecting to kill on your own one and only one ennemy after mid-game like you'd do earlier. Both teams will have wards and will be sticking at least by little groups. Therefore, the +DMG is not that useful on Dev. Especially when the 700g you have spent on GM could be used to buy SotM wich REALLY increases your effectiveness in DMG and survavibility.

About the Bottle, it's effective, yes. But even mid I wouldn't rune whore anymore, and let either my team mates from side lanes take it or wait for the mid-opponent to go for it and try to catch him.

From what I've experienced in the 15 or so games I've played as Dev since the last patch, you never need to go fountain to reg. Chalice + Shaman's mean +11 HP regen. That means +13 at least with your natural regen. Since you roam most of the time, you'll always be full HP within less than 2mn.

I just want to clear this up real quick. My comment about the pros(read: competitive players) using GM was to debunk your "Ghost are just plain stupid, you don't make good use of the +dmg, and need armor." comment. I'm well aware that striders haven't been out long enough to be picked up on a hero that is rarely picked competitively in the first place. I've even stated that I've yet to even use them. My statements come entirely from my experience with the other boots, and Devourer's movement in general.

Have you ever been slowed before? Stunned even? There are situations where you will need that speed boost in combat, whether you can think of them right now or not. The fact of the matter is, you can be hindered. Ghost marchers are crucial in these situations. I really don't want to go through every possible situation that could occur during a gank, but I can't imagine that you've never been in one before. You cannot tell me you've never seen enemies run away with less than 100 health all because you were blocked by creeps or were just slightly slower than them. Even if your team is backing you up, you want to be within melee range so that you can get the strength bonus from the kill. You need to be in the middle of the fight, at all times.


Honestly I'd have to experiment with blood chalice mid before I can really comment on that part. I rarely ever buy Shaman's anymore so I'd lack the massive regen you speak of. (I usually go with the Anti-Carry Core from the guide) After doing the math; It's definitely a lot more worthwhile manawise to go chalice, but I've honestly never had mana issues as long as I stay on top of the runes. I do have health problems though, and bottle is the only thing that allows me to keep roaming. Trading off the one item that keeps me sustained for one that supplies me with unneeded mana isn't a decision I really want to test out right now.

I could see it working as long as you paired it with Shaman's or HotBL, but without trying it out myself first I can't really recommend it.

[DemoniWaari]

GM against striders.
Yeah that's a tough one ;< though it really just depends on what YOU like. Striders offer you more MS out of combat, and thus giving you better mobility and better hook spots (naturally) and they give you the opportunity to just walk to the enemy and just devour + decay him. And they give you better rune control.
GM's don't offer these things, but the thing that they DO give, is the MS boost while in combat. I need to be clear on one thing, I don't really want to MS boost on combat, I want the PHASE.
Let me ask this: how many times have you not got the kill because the enemy is not stupid and he phases through creeps and you have to go all the way around the creeps to keep the distance at minimum?
I hate that. I really do.

Striders
+Cheap
+Mobility out of combat (read: better hooks and rune control)
-In combat they're useless.

GM:
+Phase
+Combat MS boost
+Damage boost (pretty minor with devo though)
And really no downsides. Sure there are some compared to striders but overall none.

Now the question I ask myself is do you want the in combat boost or the out of combat boost. And do be honest I want the out of combat boost.
Devourer is a good ganker alone, in the start, but at the start you don't really need that in combat MS boost because most of the time you hook from the forest and kill the enemy very quickly.
In middle game and late game your point is not really to kill the enemy anymore, merely just to disable and deal a bunch of damage. But more importantly you displace the enemy from their group. Now you're a group ganker with a displacement. You don't need that in combat MS boost here because you don't deal all the damage and you're not the only ganker here!

In conclusion I do think striders are better, but as I said it's just about what you LIKE =) sure I'd love to get that phase but I can manage!

[Ambro]

@Delfothebla : I'm sorry, I realize I was wrong bringing the "it's new argument" :( I also realize that I might seem a little bit aggressive, but it isn't intentionnal, English isn't my first language and it seems that I tend to use pretty direct and non-diplomatic terms.

I guess we won't swing in the same way about the boots, so... It's cool :D

Although I do know what it is to be stunned and slowed (...), I also can think of any of the ways you'd think necessary to have Phase / +MS, but I honnestly can't blame any of my fails on the lack of MS or attack DMG, at least not recently (at all) and I also think that they're not worth buying it. =)

[Athl33t]

Trust me you need to update your guide to include a strider + chalice build because it DESTROYS your old build. You dont need burst move speed in team battles because you only have a small burst of dmg you can do until you get another hook or ult.

This is my tactic...

see group of enemies..
AOE disable from my team..
devo runs in for ult grab
grows to kong size
runs around and cleans up survivors with large decay radius.

you dont need GM because they dont escape your decay and if they do you just pull that fker right back in.

[OfTheWind]

When it comes to your opinion on boots, I strongly disagree. Have you ever seen a competitive match with Devourer?

First off Delf, long time fan of this guide, first time poster. Great job, really, one of the most extensively analytical guides out there.

What I wanted to post was a request, mainly. Competitive replays are EXTREMELY difficult to find, and I think if you or someone could compile/update high level games where a devourer shows up it would be completely awesome. I would definitely insta-bookmark this page if that were to happen, for sure.

on Ghost Marchers vs. Striders, I just want to add that the speed boost you get while chasing is directly correlated to more auto attacks as well, so Ghost Marchers damage advantageous is more than just the + damage stat.

It's not as simple as "if they can't leave decay, they will die"... a faster gank time is crucial because of factors like distance from tower fire, reinforcing allies, and escape cooldowns.

[Delfofthebla]

@Delfothebla : I'm sorry, I realize I was wrong bringing the "it's new argument" :( I also realize that I might seem a little bit aggressive, but it isn't intentionnal, English isn't my first language and it seems that I tend to use pretty direct and non-diplomatic terms.

I guess we won't swing in the same way about the boots, so... It's cool :D

Although I do know what it is to be stunned and slowed (...), I also can think of any of the ways you'd think necessary to have Phase / +MS, but I honnestly can't blame any of my fails on the lack of MS or attack DMG, at least not recently (at all) and I also think that they're not worth buying it. =)

No worries, I didn't assume you were being aggressive. I was simply relaying my thoughts on GM vs. Striders to you the best I could. If you're more comfortable with striders, then by all means, go for it.


First off Delf, long time fan of this guide, first time poster. Great job, really, one of the most extensively analytical guides out there.

What I wanted to post was a request, mainly. Competitive replays are EXTREMELY difficult to find, and I think if you or someone could compile/update high level games where a devourer shows up it would be completely awesome. I would definitely insta-bookmark this page if that were to happen, for sure.

on Ghost Marchers vs. Striders, I just want to add that the speed boost you get while chasing is directly correlated to more auto attacks as well, so Ghost Marchers damage advantageous is more than just the + damage stat.

It's not as simple as "if they can't leave decay, they will die"... a faster gank time is crucial because of factors like distance from tower fire, reinforcing allies, and escape cooldowns.

I could try and scrounge up some, when I get the time. Exactly my thoughts on GM as well. The faster you are, the more auto attacks you will dish out. And if you've just ulted someone, those attacks are nothing to joke about. Devourer hits hard.

[Athl33t]

You really dont have to chase them at all thats the point.

striders allows you to run in at ur enemy so fast that you initiate with ult and clean up with hook.

[Jho92]

"so fast" that's not like he teleports...

If the hook+decay+ult combo is not enough, GM just allows Devourer to chase the enemy and you are luckier to kill him.While striders dont allow this.


I think this is just the question about the combo, do you want "run,ulti,decay,chase,hook" or "hook,decay,ulti,chase,hook if you have enough time".


But I think the second combo is safer cause it has the surprise effect.

[pwn_U_fast]

you all make good points. next time i play dev ill try stiders and give you my feedback.

[Athl33t]

I adapted my technique to the 1st way because i was tired of getting ks'd that way I can get the last hit with my hook :D

[pwn_U_fast]

I adapted my technique to the 1st way because i was tired of getting ks'd that way I can get the last hit with my hook :D

ksing arsehole! jk! i need to get better at last hitting hero kills to. i hate ksers.

[Jho92]

So you are aggressif. Me, i'm offensif :D

[pwn_U_fast]

So you are aggressif. Me, i'm offensif :D

I love this thread. /spam