Pharaoh - Full strategy guide

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Pharaoh: Strategy guide




The Hellbourne unearthed this creature from the shifting sands of the Great Waste. He could originally speak but a single word, which
has become his name "Pharaoh." It seems he must once have been a mighty king, wrapped as he is in golden finery, but now he is simply a monster, summoning forth his dead servants from the grave and conjuring fire and fear across the land.

Ok, so you've just joined a single draft game and your choices are Ophelia, Mage Bane and Pharaoh. Your opponents lack any intelligence, both in game and IRL, so Mage Bane is out of the question. Not having an APM of 400, Ophelia is a no go, so you're forced to click on your strength choice: Pharaoh. How has Tutankhamen entered Heroes of Newerth? Where is Egypt located on Forests of Caldavar? Why do you feel so close to Sand Wraith now? I cannot say, but how do you use Pharaoh to ensure your team's dominance over your enemies? Perhaps I can help you there

First off, let's take a look at the ol' Pharaoh's attributes:

Basic info:
Attack Damage - 53-57 (This will improve)
Attack Range - 125 (Melee. If you're running towards an oncoming Panda, you'll attack first)
Movement Speed - 310 (Pretty high. One of the best in the game. Impressive, for a 5,000 year old dude)
Armour - 2.9 (meh)

Attack Animation [How fast Pharaoh hits his target, after beginning his attack]: One of the best in the game. Pharaoh has no problem last hitting.

Initial:
Strength - 24 - This is your primary attribute
Agility - 13 (Poor)
Intelligence - 17 (Decent)

Gain (per level):
Strength - 2.4 (Good)
Agility - 1.2 (Poor)
Intelligence - 1.3 (Poor)

Ok, he isn't a massive tank, DPS or caster, but he doesn't need to be. Pharaoh is all about the infinite range green **** and zipping towards people because he doesn't give a damn about personal space.
Before we start, I'd like to say that I recommend Staff of the Master for Pharaoh, unlike a lot of other people. Why?
1. Intelligence/Mana = good
2. 20 second cool down = good
3. You can use the ultimate to escape now. This is good.

[Invalid, since the patch to seperate the allied-targetable ulti from the normal one]:

The thing to be careful of is that you don't hit an ally instead of an enemy when trying to attack. The massive advantage of a 20 seconds cool down is worth it though, especially once you have a decent mana pool. I have used the boosted ultimate to initiate and to chase down the same hero, because there's always that team who says "WHAT? SCOUT'S USING HIS ULTI ON MALPHAS? QUICK! RUN THE OTHER WAY".


My skill build is as follows (you may disagree, in which case post, but I can explain that it is circumstantial):

EARLY HARASSMENT (PUBS):

1. Tormented Soul
2. Hellfire
3. Tormented Soul - The level up of Soul is for harassment. Hellfire level 4 shouldn't be needed very early on.
4. Hellfire
5. Tormented Soul
6. Wrath of the Pharaoh
7. Tormented Soul/Wall of Mummies [Mummies ONLY if you plan on ganking/killing a laning opponent soon with Wrath of the Pharaoh]
8. Hellfire/Wall of Mummies [Mummies is ONLY if you plan on ganking soon]
9. Hellfire/Wall of Mummies [Mummies only if you plan on ganking soon and didn't level 8 it]
10. Hellfire/Wall of Mummies [Mummies unless you haven't level 4'd Hellfire yet]
11. Wrath of the Pharaoh
12. Wall of Mummies
13. Wall of Mummies
14. Wall of Mummies
15. Stats
16. Wrath of the Pharaoh
17-25. Stats

LANE BABYSITTER:

1. Tormented Soul
2. Wall of Mummies
3. Hellfire
4. Hellfire
5. Hellfire/Tormented Soul (Hellfire if you're going to gank at level 6)
6. Wrath of the Pharaoh
7. Hellfire
8. Hellfire/Tormented Soul (Hellfire if it isn't level 4 yet)
9. Tormented Soul
10. Tormented Soul
11. Wrath of the Pharaoh
12. Wall of Mummies
13. Wall of Mummies
14. Wall of Mummies
15. Stats
16. Wrath of the Pharaoh
17-25. Stats

Competent ganker/Initiator [True role]:
Note: You may be ganking before level 6. This is also a solo mid build.
[This is my recommended build]:

1. Tormented Soul/Wall of Mummies

2. Wall of Mummies/Tormented Soul [Mummies if you got Soul level 1.]

3. Hellfire

4. Hellfire

5. Hellfire

6. Wrath of the Pharaoh [By now, almost regardless of the situation, your skills should be 3/1/1/1]

7. Hellfire
8. Tormented Soul
9. Tormented Soul
10. Tormented Soul

11. Wrath of the Pharaoh [4/1/4/2]

12. Wall of Mummies
13. Wall of Mummies
14. Wall of Mummies
15. Stats

16. Wrath of the Pharaoh

17-25. Stats



Hellfire (Magic):

Every .75 seconds, for 10 seconds, a random target within a 300 unit radius around the Pharaoh is impacted, dealing 10/30/50/70 magic damage and stunning for .1 seconds.
Cost: 75 Mana
Cooldown: 32/28/24/20 seconds

This spell is your main source of damage when chasing down enemies early game. Ministuns also help you gain ground on your opponents.

Main Uses:
1. To harass. In the early game, when you are laning against that pesky Nymphora and her bloody butterflies, simply pop on Hellfire and run towards her, hitting her every time you get close. She will be slowed by the stuns, receive magic damage from the effect and physical damage for each attack that you hit her with. If you do enough damage, but she gets behind a tower, creep wave and/or Hellfire finishes, you can launch a Tormented Soul and finish her off. Yeah, you can harass with this ability. It's pretty annoying, too, [Hypothetical] when you activate your health potion [when you're against a Pharaoh] because that opposing Pharaoh has just used his Soul and you know that it's in cooldown and suddenly he's running towards you with that fire crap around him. He's almost certainly faster than you in the early game, too, because you are not a noob and you didn't get boots over stat/regen items (such as the potion that you just used). Just one attack from the Hellfire lands, your potion is dispelled and MAYBE you're still low enough to be killed easily. Enjoy your death. I'll enjoy my BLOODLUST.

2. Damage. When you zip towards someone with your ulti, it's always nice to have 70 magic damage inflicted upon them every second or so (no, they won't be hit by ALL of them :/ You are NOT as lucky as that Blacksmith who gets the 4x multi cast EVERY BLOODY TIME. Creeps will absorb hits too). If you are close already, and are about to chase but haven't got Hellfire in cooldown (this won't happen often), pop it on and enjoy your extra kill. If you're ready to ambush, but your ulti is in cooldown (or you're saving it for that Ophelia in the trees... Bloody Ophelia and her Minotaur... And her Catman Champion and her... Her... Secret underwear... And always jumping into fights when she's not welcome and using her Ulti to heal that Accursed whom your ally Legionaire was just about to decapitate), you simply pop Hellfire, run to the hero whom you are ambushing and try to stay ahead of them while attacking.

3. Prevention. You have a nice ministun. That means that when Tempest activates his ulti near you, one plume hits him and suddenly, BAM. No more channelling spell. Enjoy your 200 second cooldown, Tempest. This can be used for any close range channel (that is, the opponent needs to be close to you to use it) or to prevent Voodoo Jester from keeping that annoying Spirit Ward alive for long. 'What's what Jester? Kill MY allies? HAH! I have 8 *old* friends for you to meet.'

4. Kongor. It's funny.


Wall of Mummies:

Pharaoh summons some old friends to surround him. These guys get pissed when you try and approach the Pharaoh, so they'll push you away with their goddamn RED LIGHTNING and deal 55/70/85/100 TRUE damage and drain the same amount of mana. Pharaoh can kill these guys in a single hit, but others have to hit them three times. If they're not brutally murdered, they'll last for 3/4/5/6 seconds. Max pushes: 1 each.
Cost: 50/60/70/80 Mana
Cooldown: 15 seconds

Less versatility than Pharaoh's other spells, but c'mon. 100 True damage, -100 mana, a protective wall, a prison for close by enemies and assurance that Pharaoh IS related to ancient Egypt? This is a MUST for any decent player. Some people will say "Oh, stats are better than Wall of Mummies". If anyone says this, tell them that there's a really cool program in their HoN folder called 'Uninstall.exe'.

Main uses:
1. Escape. Ok, you've just scored a Quad kill, but that freaking Swift blade is RIGHT BEHIND YOU. He looks like he's about to spin like a drunk ballerina, and you have 50 hp so you won't survive this. Being the pest that he is, this Swift Blade has Post Haste and a Geometer's Bane, so merely running is useless. Your ulti is not in cooldown, but you have 83...84 mana. WHAT DO? Simple!
Step 1: Conjure a Wall of Mummies.
Step 2: Kill the mummy furthest away from the Swift Blade.
Step 3: Run
Step 4: Laugh as he realises that your Valkyrie team mate is ahead and has just hit him with a 5 second stun
Step 5: ???
Step 6: Profit.
Even without the Valkyrie's stun, your wall is a large obstacle, just pushed him back a decent distance and the other mummies will also push him (and deal damage) if he gets close to them. There is no way that this guy is going to catch you.

1b. You can also use this spell at the top of a ramp and continue running, or, if you won't make it back home, take advantage of the Mummies' life spans and use a Homecoming Stone. If you're surrounded but won't be stunned or killed for at least 3 seconds, teleport home.

2. Offense. It's simple, really. When you zip in with Wrath of the Pharaoh, you can conjure a wall around you and your cell mate. Since you just zipped into him and you have Hellfire on (hopefully...), he will realise pretty quickly that he's screwed. The only exceptions to this are:
Legionaire: "Hur durrr WHIRLING BLADE"
Accursed: "DAMAGE me? More like heal me. Ha HA!"
Predator: "All your HP are belong to me"
Swift Blade: "You keep firing magic around yourself. I'll spin like a pus*y and we'll see who the REAL harassing b1tch is here."
Magebane/Wretched Hag/Chronos: "TRAP ME? More like I'll blink away!"
Ophelia: "Oh God, how did I get here? I am not good with computer" (in other words: just kidding. Ophelia is usualy easy pickings)


3. Finisher. So, you're chasing down someone who has faster or equal movement speed to you. If you use Hellfire, you'll fall behind. Your ulti is in cooldown or you have little mana. Your opponent has Jeraziah's magic immunity, and thus Tormented Soul will be useless for 20 seconds. You have but one option remaining: WALL OF MUMMIES. Ok, you are pretty close but not close enough to attack and your opponent has <101 HP. Wall of Mummies spawns around you with a decent radius, and they have a nice range too, so if you pop it (with an extremely low cast time), one of the mummies will be able to perform a push against the running hero. This push deals TRUE damage, so armour and magic immunity is useless. Voila! You have just become this game's PIMPASAURUS REX.

4. Kongor. Again, it's funny.

4.b. Are you actually thinking of how this will help you against Kongor?

Tormented Soul (Green ****; Magic):

Pharaoh unleashes some dead guy who can fly AS FAR AS HE WANTS on the map. He has a blast radius of 600 and deals 80/120/160/200 magic damage upon impact. The Soul reveals the target area for 10 seconds after impact.
Cost: 50/55/60/65 Mana
Cooldown: 30/25/20/15 seconds

Ok, this skill is just... Just great. There is nothing bad about it. It has SO MANY USES. Goddamn...

1. Beginning of the game. Ok, AS SOON as the game start, hit skill #3 to level up, then release a soul towards your opponents' well/pit. The point of this is for LOS. You will be able to see their items and possibly which heroes are going where, so as to arrange for the best teams for top/bot. Wait in your well/pit until your cooldown is over, and immediately target the closest opposing middle tower. If their hero has arrived already, they will be damaged for roughly 60hp (after armour). The reaction is often hilarious. Don't move yet, though. Wait for the 30 seconds to pass and shoot another soul in the same direction (even if there was no hero there first time). If a hero was there the first time, they'll likely be there the second time. Note that you should have done all of your buying between the first two souls. The launching of three souls will give you 12 seconds (if you timed it correctly) to get to your lane. This is more than enough time to block creeps. You won't be beaten by them if you don't screw around.
[Note that you may wish to target the two rune locations, rather than the middle tower. If your opponents are better than "Pick Scout instantly and level Vanish first" then this is a better idea.]

2. Early harassment. So... you're laning, likely with another friendly hero (though having Pharaoh solo mid is TOTALY ACCEPTABLE if there's no Arachna etc. on your team), and likely against two heroes. How do you assure dominance? Spam souls! If you're like me, you got at least one Mark of the Novice to begin with (often I go 2 for the mana + regen, or 1 and a crown) and a mana potion or 3. This way, you can always be using your soul. The advantage is that you'll do very well in the early game. Waiting until level 2 soul to use a second one to harass (once you start laning) is smart due to the increased power for no extra cost. Regardless, I find it useful to shoot souls very often, either to damage the opposing heroes, dispel their potions (after they're weakened enough by your harassing) or last hit that Warlock which is out of yours and your melee team mate's range. Remember that the radius is large, so there's no reason to miss either hero with a soul unless one is running back to base. If you harass well, you can easily pick up early kills with this method. I find it easier to take the offensive lane (top for Legion, bottom for Hellbourne) because you will be inadvertently pushing with the souls, but the tower doesn't hurt (in fact, it takes decent damage quite quickly, especially with ballistae/catapults arriving) much because your attacks (souls) damage everything in the area enough to actually beat the tower over time. Unless you're against a strong pair (like Electrician and Swift Blade), you'll generally win the early game with this method, because your denying, last hitting and harassing potential is so great (remember that harassing = running back to base which means less experience for them, more free farm for you). If one of your allies has a low HP opponent who is beginning to sit further back and focus on gaining some EXP, rather than running, perhaps popping a deny or two into the fray every so often, then you can send a soul to scare them into retreating (and thus giving your team mate the level advantage) or, if they're low, finish them off, giving yourself a decent gold boost, your ally an EXP boost and your entire team the pleasure of hearing the other team rage at you.

Tormented Soul is extremely good for harassing... Words do not explain...

3. Killing. Your Soul has unlimited range and a good damage area. You can shoot it into Chronos' Chrono Field, fire it on yourself to damage all around you or try and guess when their invisible unit is/will be (works well against Keeper, if he's really low). Overall, it's a low damage nuke, but when you think about it, hitting 5 heroes + a possible creep wave for 200 damage each every 15 seconds with a mana cost of 50 per shot is better than 400 damage every 45 seconds for a mana cost of 180 (Codex), and I haven't even begun talking about range. The opportunity to steal a kill will present itself constantly. Take it. If you're being a b1tch to your opponents, your team may as well be saying "Oh you" and besides, it allows for you to get your Staff and Breastplate/Heart faster. Chances are, being an initiator, it isn't really a kill steal, rather a kill reclaim.

3b. Chasing kill. (I have done both of the following):
1. A Predator has just begun to run away at top. Your teammate was slain by the ruthless Legion beast and you have sworn revenge. You send a soul, predicting where Pred will be. It hit, reducing him to <50 hp. Ok, he's between his two outer towers. There's still time. You keep denying/last hitting until the Soul is out of cooldown, before you launch it. New target: Tar pit. A few seconds later, the soul lands, and the Predator who was less than a second from the healing of the pit is killed. Congratulations: You are now this game's PIMPASAURUS REX. Also, there's a 50% chance for a R-R-R-R-RAGE QUIT. Your team will commend you; the guy who was killed by the Predator will laugh his ass off etc. Gotta love the soul.
2. Scout has just become invisible. You are at the bottom lane, on the Hellbourne team. Your creep wave is at their base tower and so are Pyromancer and Warbeast, trying their best to fend off the wave. You send a soul to damage them and the imminent Legion wave, so that your next wave will have a chance to over run them and have another go at the tower (when Pyro and Beast are gone). Your soul lands and the message "[LjP]Gumbie just pwned [LjP]Politix's head for 235 gold" pops up. You look to see what happened and realise that Scout's dead body is on the rim of where your soul landed. Ego +10. Again, PIMPASAURUS REX.

4. Scouting. When you and your team mates are about to rush/push, you can scout the forest with the Soul. You can also scout Kongor at any time to see if your opponents are attacking him. If they are, swoop in and harass them with your team. It's so funny to genocide them AND steal the Kongor kill. Scouting with the soul is also useful when your opponent has run into the forest with low HP to lose you, you launch in the Soul and in return gain LOS of where they are before using Wrath of the Pharaoh to finish them off. All in all, the Soul is useful for scouting in many ways. You can even target a rune just after one is supposed to respawn. Either it's there and you know what it is, or it isn't and you at least know that there's one at the other end.

5. Ancient stacking. Send a soul to the Ancient camp to lure out the creeps just before the spawn point.

Wrath of the Pharaoh (Return of the Pharaoh when boosted; Superior Magic):

Pharaoh launches a projectile which travels 2000/2500/3000 units, taking .5 seconds to reach its target. Upon impact, stuns target and drags The Pharaoh towards the target over .5 seconds, dealing 100/200/300 magic damage and stunning all enemy units that come within a 200 unit radius of The Pharaoh for 1/1.5/2 seconds. Will latch onto any enemy organic unit or, with Staff of the Master, an allied hero. This skill is also very rude.
Cooldown: 80/60/40 seconds
With Staff: 20/20/20 seconds
Cost: 150 Mana

Now, this is the ultimate ability. It's pretty cool. When you latch onto an opponent, you're dragged to them very quickly and you stun them, meaning that once you hit them, they are helpless. With Staff, you can also use it as a quick escape. With a recent patch, pressing "D" over "R" will cause the ulti to hit allies (with Staff). Using the ordinary "R" command means that you can't hit allies. "D" will still hit enemies.

Main uses:
1. Initiating/Ganking: As Pharaoh, you are an exceptional initiator, purely due to this ability. You can send in a soul to ensure that there are no enemies around the target, and then Wrath them to paralyse them and, upon reaching them, trap them within your Wall of Mummies, while your Hellfire and normal attack eat them up. You do not need team mates around to successfully gank someone using this method early on.

2. Chasing: If you didn't use the ulti to initiate, or have a Staff (for the low cooldown), you can Wrath a running opponent before they get out of range (3,000 is nothing to laugh at). If you hit, the runner is screwed. At the very least, a runner will be reduced to little HP. Your normal attack will finish them off successfully. If the rest of your team has ganked someone, but that someone is getting away, you can easily block them off through the trees by zipping in and activating Hellfire, Wall of Mummies etc. You, as Pharaoh, are an excellent initiator and finisher. It's also bloody funny when you latch onto an invisible Scout/Night Hound and finish them off with this one.

3. Escape: Ok, there are two ways to escape:
1. Latch onto a friendly hero who is a few thousand units away and enjoy the ride.
2. When you are running from offensive heroes, you can turn around, if they're going to catch you regardless, and use this ability on them all to stun them, before running either way (probably the first way, unless there's an ally coming behind the attackers). If 300 is enough damage, you can even get a few kills by hitting someone or launching a soul on your location. Chances are you were, and still are going to get killed by the chasing party. You may as well pick off one or two of them, and maybe even survive, if you have some form of support item, for example, a Homecoming Stone. You could use the stone immediately after stunning, giving them only 1 second to stun/kill you after they're freed from their own stun.


Overall strategy:

Early game: Ok... Pharaoh is a harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. When he isn't launching Green **** at people, he's latching onto them and speeding towards them only to imprison them right next to him. Bloody pervert. In the early game, you want to be, as I said before, harassing the **** out of your opponents. They will be annoyed, and the funny thing is that if they're melee, they can't do anything about it. You should rake in gold pretty early on, so buy a Ring of the Teacher at least [When not mid], because all the mana regen you can get is welcome and since you're generally a babysitter, you should be supporting. As the game progresses and everyone begins to get level 6+, you may think about harassing other lanes, too, if you're not ready to gank yet (you should be though). Sending a Soul to a team mate who is trying to push a tower is invaluable to them, as it damages all the opposing creeps nearby, and good for you, as you can snag gold out of it. Meanwhile, you can also push your own tower by doing the same thing to yourself. Once you reach level 6-7, you want to be ganking. Initiate your gank on a solo hero by sending in a Soul and then ulting the target hero before the Soul hits. Activate Hellfire and then bring up a wall. You will be able to auto-attack your opponent to death with the extra damage from hellfire. Your Wall will also do decent damage to everything around it. After you kill something, you should have sufficient HP to do more damage. You can send a Soul to another lane to harass your opponents, or try and push the lane which you just ganked (if the tower is already low, which isn't likely, but possible).
For early game ganking, Pharaoh is so effective that you should be able to pull it off every time, provided that your team mates are as skilled as your opponents. You are one of the best early/mid game ganking heroes in the game...

If you send in a level 4 Soul to any opponents, then you're dealing 150 damage after damage reduction (let's assume that no one has gone for magic armour THIS early in the game). Twice is 300. 300 damage early on is VERY significant, and is dealt to every opponent in the area, not just one. Just remember to harass a lot and you'll do fine. This is important to remember while you're laning.

Mid game: ok, your team has made it to the mid game and you're all decently levelled, but so are your opponents. You have your Ghost Marchers and you're now building towards a Barrier Idol, since one of your opponents is Plague Rider. What to do... Well, your team is likely looking to push a few towers so be with them, but send the Souls:
1. Towards other creep waves to score some extra gold/pushing power.
2. In the forest around where you're pushing, when you can't see your opponents on the map. This is so that you have warning of any incoming ganks.
Pushing towers on top of the creep kills that you score with your Souls will keep you richer than anyone else on the map. When it comes time to gank, you know what to do, since you've read the previous 4,500 words in this guide... Heh
The midgame should run smoothly. Remember that you're the initiator. It's your job to zip in and have your teammates follow. You'll be aiming to out level your opponents, since Pharaoh is not a late game hero, though he can hold his ground. Since you should be richer than anyone else, you'll be able to get a Heart and/or a Frostfield Plate pretty quickly. The Heart is good for survivability but the Frostfield Plate is good because once you ulti, you can nuke/slow everyone around you. It also reduces DPS significantly because of the Attack Speed downgrade.

Late game: So... Late game, eh? You don't like it here since you're Pharaoh. It's times like these that you wish that the Hellbourne had just left you in the Great Waste. Regardless, you have to try and stay useful. At this point in the game, I like to build Pharaoh with a Frostfield, Behemoth's Heart, Staff of the Master and/or ToC, and be aiming for a Daemonic. You're still an initiator. If you have all of these items, then... I dunno, you're a support tank by this point... Get a damn Sheepstick for all I care. If Pharaoh can get this farmed, either your opponents are bad, or you're in the super-late game, in which case, build disabler... Get what feels right, and if your team is covered, then simply TANK UP MORE. Barrier Idol, Heart, Frostfield, Daemonic, Ghosts, Staff, ToC, Puzzlebox, Sheepstick, Boundeye. Pick 6 and go with it.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

But Gumbie! What items do I get with Pharaoh? How do I begin a game and actually do things effectively?

WELL, SIR. I HAVE THE ANSWERS:

If you are laning top/bottom with 603 gold:

Yellow = Must have's/Core
Pink = Situational
Blue = Consumable
Teal = Discarded during Mid/Lategame Note: Iron Buckler may be turned into a Helm.
Red = Explanation/Info
Green = Components
White = Other


Runes of the Blight. You want to have 6 of these (180 gold)
Mana Potion. You want to have 2 of these (100 gold)
Health Potion. You want to have 1 of these (100 gold)
Crushing Claws. You want to have 1 of these (150 gold)
(Note: I have bought a Talisman of Exile (+3 Intelligence, rather than Strength) when not versing early game harassers, such as Chronos. This allows for more Souls.)
Minor Totem. You want to have 1 of these (53 gold)

Remaining gold: 20

Explanation: Runes of the Blight gives you survivability with the 6 charges each recovering 115 hp. If you are laning with someone, you can donate to them so that you both remain in good health. If you are laning with a Nymphora, Jeraziah or any other healer, then you can substitute one set of Runes for another Minor Totem, or for two extra Mana Potions so that they can constantly heal both of you (if it's Jeraziah, then the heal is a powerful nuke too). The Mana Potions themselves are so that you can spam the Tormented Soul and once you get level 6, you will likely have the mana for an ulti. Crushing Claws + Totem are self explanitory, increasing Mana Pool and Health Pool (der...) and once you have farmed 250 gold, you want to dart to the Outpost and grab:

Iron Buckler. You want 1 of these (250 gold)

And then:

Mana Battery. You want 1 of these (210 gold) [You do not need a Battery if you are mid]

Note: It is strongly recommended that you buy a Logger's Hatchet, but if you're against (a) pathetic laner[s], then do not bother.

If you're mid, grab, at your next chance:

Bottle. You want 1 of these (600 gold).

Note: Wards or a courier are solid investments to complement the Bottle if you're still in the early laning phase of the game. In public games, often you'll need to buy everything yourself, as people don't ward and if they do buy a Courier, they fail to share it. Since Pharaoh's role is, in the early game, a ganker, a bottle is extremely useful for keeping him out of the base for much longer, especially with rune control.

Once the first ganking phase begins, or you're forced to run back to base during the initial farming (very unlikely with Pharaoh, but it does happen), grab:
[EDIT]: As of 1.0.2, Marchers are sold at the Outpost. This means that the first item that you'll need to buy away from a side shop is a Beastheart. You can literally stay out of base until you have Ghost Marchers, Shaman's and HotBL.

Marchers. You want 1 of these (500 gold) [Hur dur 1 boot]

Once you reach 500 gold, and you're near an Outpost/base, grab:

Punchdagger. You want 1/2 of these (500/1000 gold)

Grab two if you have 1000 gold. If you have 1000 gold, are not a part of a current battle and your team is not about to gank an opposing hero, then make your way to the nearest Outpost/your base to buy them and make:

Ghost Marchers. You want 1 of these (1500 gold)
[Note: Steamboots work too. Generally, I like to use Phased to chase down opponents, but Steams are good when you need survivability and have no need for speed.]

Ok, you have your initial items and have begun your core (Ghost Marchers, Helm of Black Legion). You now have a decent damage output, too. If you have the gold, upgrade the Crushing Claws to a

Fortified Bracelet. You want 1 of these (510 gold)

You also want:

Power Supply. You want 1 of these (606 gold)
Mid-game Core:

Ok, Pharaoh has a pretty solid core build. Staff of the Master is an absolute must, because of its excellent build-up, the fact that HP and Mana are often short for the Pharaoh, and a 20 second cooldown makes you far more powerful, not to mention the saving power of the allied hook. Helm of the Black Legion is also useful because of the HP, regen and damage block. If you are against a few casters, then a Shaman's Headdress will not go astray, and can later be turned into a Barrier Idol, giving you a better team presence, as you now have a supporting role.

Staff of the Master. You want 1 of these (4300 gold)
[Note: If you have another initiator on the team (PK heroes such as Kraken, Tempest and Behemoth) then you can bypass the Staff for tanking items]

Components:
Mighty Blade (1000)
Neophyte's Book (1000)
Glowstone (1200)
Staff of the Master recipe (1100)


(When against casters) Shaman's Headdress. You want 1 of these (2050 gold)

Components:
Mystic Vestments (400)
Helm of the Victim (950)
Trinket of Restoration x2 (700)

(When not against casters or against casters and have a steady farm) Helm of the Black Legion. You want 1 of these (2225 gold)

Components:
Iron Buckler (250)
Beastheart (1100)
Lifetube (875)

Late game/Luxury:

Once people begin to advance to levels 16-18, you should have pretty much everything above. If you couldn't farm both the Headdress and the Helm and you're against casters, then I hope that you have the Headdress. The Helm loses effectiveness in the later game but the percentage-based damage reduction from the Headdress is consistent all game. Upgrading the Headdress to a Barrier Idol is essential when against casters (and you should already have a Dress when versing casters...) so... Yeah. Upgrade it. The barrier will make your team happy. There is now a crossroads: Do you play a semi-support, adding a Frostfield plate to the mix (allowing for an AOE nuke+slow) and perhaps a Daemonic Breastplate; or do you go for a DPS build, letting you dominate the poor targets which you trap within your wall? Personally, I'll build a full DPS if I'm the highest level on the team. I'll also do it if there's another excellent initiator on the team (eg. Behemoth) because that way Pharaoh can single a target out (eg. The Tempest who's sitting back and waiting to ulti everyone) and Ulti+Wall+Hellfire that one target, kill them quickly and then join the proper action. If you can take out a Tempest, for example, then your team has a massive upper hand, and you will likely lose very little hp, if any.

SO:

(If you have a Headdress) Barrier Idol. You want 1 of these (3653)

Components:
Shaman's Headdress (2050)
Refreshing Ornament (603)
Barrier Idol Recipe (1000)

DPS build for a Team Carry [No serious team will need you to do this]:

Daemonic Breastplate. You want 1 of these (5550 gold)

Components:
Warpcleft (2100)
Platemail (1400)
Ringmail (550)
Daemonic Breastplate Recipe (1500)

I like to get the Breastplate first off for a DPS build (Second if the Idol is necessary) as it supports your team, has a decent build-up (Armour and attck speed are nice on their own) and has a negative aura for your opponents, making you and your team even more effective.

Frostburn. You want 1 of these (4400 gold)

Components:
Icebrand (2200)
Firebrand (2200)

Interesting pick? Ok, you're DPS, which means that damage, attack speed, increased movement speed AND the Frozen proc together with Hellfire make you one of the best chasers and an excellent DPS. You also get a decent health boost and, best of all: it has a bloody good build-up. Frostburn has one of the best build-ups in the game, in fact, especially for non-Int heros (who aren't getting it anyway).

If the game reaches the point that you have a Staff, Barrier Idol, Breastplate, Frostburn, Ghost Marchers and Helm of the Black Legion and you find yourself with loads of gold, sell off the Helm and buy one of:

Savage Mace (Especially when against a Wingbow user)
Behemoth's Heart (when survivability is an issue/could be after selling the Helm)
Riftshards (If you can level it to 2 straight away, PREFERABLY HIGHER. Shards will have a better damage output than the Mace.
Shield Breaker (When against opponents with low armour to start with, as the armour decrease will do more to them.)

That's it for the DPS build. If you manage everything there, then you should have won a while back...

Now for the semi-support initiator build [Pharaoh's true role]:

Daemonic Breastplate. You want 1 of these (5550 gold)

Components:
Warpcleft (2100)
Platemail (1400)
Ringmail (550)
Daemonic Breastplate Recipe (1500)

Frostfield Plate. You want 1 of these (4700 gold)

Components:
Acolyte's Staff (2700)
Platemail (1400)
Frostfield Plate Recipe (600)

Voila! You now have a massive amount of armour, magic armour, Intelligence, and an area of effect nuke which slows all opponents hit by it by 40% and deals 200 magic damage.

OK, now you have Ghost Marchers, Staff of the Master, Barrier Idol, Daemonic Breastplate and Frostfield Plate. One slot left. What is next? It's situational. Most of the time, Pharaoh will be played in the Semi-support/Initiator style, so there are a few items which come to mind as being appropriate:

Behemoth's Heart. You want 0/1 of these (5500 gold)

Components:
Axe of the Malphai (3200)
Beastheart (1100)
Behemoth's Heart recipe (1200)

Get the heart when you're having survivability issues. Coupled with the massive armour, you're going to be hard to bring down.

Barbed Armour. You want 0/1 of these (2200 gold)

Components:
Broad Sword (1200)
Ringmail (550)
Apprentice's Robe (450)

When you're against heavy nukers or tanks like Legionnaire, a nice whiplash is always welcome. Synergises well with your massive armour (which is increased by this) and Barrier from the Idol. A nice damage boost doesn't hurt either... Well, not you.


More situationals: If you're against fast units, A Frostbrand can do nicely, especially when coupled with the Frostfield Plate. If you're against a blinker or a caster, then a Hellflower can do the trick. Assess the situation yourself, and determine what will counter the majority of your opponents. In the MAJORITY of games, however, a Heart or Barbed Armour will be the way to go to complete this build, as you shouldn't need to be the member of the team to Silence, and the Frostfield Plate should be enough. Still, if Sh1t hits the fan and you have little gold after obtaining those 5 items, then you should always carry a Homecoming Stone or two.

Honorable Mentions:
[One of these is almost always a must for your team]


Puzzlebox: Many people enjoy getting a Puzzlebox on Pharaoh in pubs because once you ulti a lone hero and turn on the spells + Puzzlebox, they're dead within seconds. The level 3 Puzzlebox Mauler also has true sight, so you'll be able to chase down stealth heroes after the fight. The stats given by the Puzzlebox aren't bad, either, so if you're in a pub game and feel like additional lulz, buy a Puzzlebox. First kill is garunteed. After that, you're on your own.

Good uses: Vs. Stealth heroes or long immobilises (Such as Keeper's ultimate... Or Keeper as a hero).



Tablet of Command: Against a team which relies on a single carry, ToC is excellent. It's good on Pharaoh regardless. The basic strategy is to use your ultimate on your target, then use Wall of Mummies. The strategy generally goes like this:
Use ToC on yourself so that the carry is trapped, alone within the wall. An isolated carry is useless.
There are a lot of ways in which ToC comes in handy, especially (but not limited to) comboing with your wall. A personal favourite is when you're in the wall and a melee opponent is attacking the wall, they break through and are about to attack you before you activate ToC on them and they are not only thrown back outside the wall, but the mummy infront of whom they land will perform its push on that hero, making them an easy target for your team...

ToC is fun.

If you are the Mid Solo in a 5v5 game, then buy the same items unless you have a Scout/Keeper/warder on your team who is going to ward up the runes, in which case buy a Bottle. You are a very fast hero and a Bottle with constant refills means that you can lane indefinitely. In proper games, there should be wards and a Courier. In pubs, with no Courier or Wards, you probably shouldn't reley on luck for runes, so I'd go with the safer build. Have the Courier ferry you a Logger's Hatchet and Iron Buckler as soon as possible.


LAST OF ALL:

Each of Pharaoh's skills have a different radius. Hellfire has a radius of 300, Wall of Mummies has an undefined radius, as the wall takes a square position around the Pharaoh (Roughly 150-175 units from the Pharaoh for each mummy), Tormented Soul has a radius of 600 and Wrath of the Pharaoh has a radius of 200 with a range of 3000. The important aspect of the ultimate is the range, however.

1. Hellfire



The black dots indicate the radius of Hellfire. The red circle is the radius of Tormented Soul. Hellfire impacts randomly within that area. The visual effects around the Pharaoh are not the impacts, rather they are an indication of Hellfire being active.


2. Wall of Mummies



A simple visual of the Wall of Mummies. You can easily block a lane for your opponents and at the same time, allow passage for you allies (as the Mummies do not block entirely, but they do push away enemies).


3. Tormented Soul



The radius of the Tormented Soul at the centre of the map. This gives an idea on how easy it is to hit the opposing middle laner, regardless of your lane.


4. Wrath of the Pharaoh



As indicated by the black 'X' between the Ranged Barracks and the Tower (apologies for the contrast), the range of the level 3 Wrath of the Pharaoh (3000) will reach perfectly, from that spot to the direct centre of the Tarpit. It is a nice idea to remember that a level 3 ulti with Staff of the Master can be used from between the two barracks to escape to the Well/Tarpit.


For now, that is everything. I hope that you enjoyed reading the guide. I enjoyed making it. Any input/opinions are welcome, as I am keen to add other peoples' ideas, such as skill builds for different scenarios and such.

Written by Gumbie - A pretty cool guy.

Just remember that Pharaoh is a FUN hero. Playing him, even if you lose, will 99% of the time be enjoyable. All of his abilities are activated, meaning that he has no passives. This means that you have full control of what he does. His killing/attacking methods are often hilarious (eg. Soul to the Well/Pit) and he has a non-linear play style (unlike heroes such as Legionnaire).

[Changelog]:
Fixed Agility gain error from 1.4 per level to 1.2 per level.
Made colour scheme less "gay".
Added a justification to my spell choices.
Fixed some spelling errors.
Added link to IPlayForKeep's guide.
Fixed a few more ?/' errors and spelling.
Item guide added!
Screenshots added.
Full guide update [Since a lot has changed] 28/5/10 (American haters gonna hate)

[Ademys]

The colors are a bit exessive, made the guide a bit hard to read for me atleast.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

The colors are a bit exessive, made the guide a bit hard to read for me atleast.

Oh ok... Colours have been dulled down slightly... Only slightly...


Links to other guides:


http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/sh...ad.php?t=21932
This includes a section on Neutral Creep stacking.


There's also dune_'s guide, of course:
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/sh...ad.php?t=11885
This is the only current premium Pharaoh guide.

[IPlayForKeep]

Wheres the link to my Pharaoh guide

[[E]Tripwyr]

Ok, so you've just joined a single draft game and your choices are Ophelia, Mage Bane and Pharaoh. Your opponents lack any intelligence, both in game and IRL, so Mage Bane is out of the question. Not having an APM of 400, Ophelia is a no go, so you're forced to click on your strength choice: Pharaoh. How has Tutankhamen entered Heroes of Newerth? Where is Egypt located on Forests of Caldavar? Why do you feel so close to Sand Wraith now? I cannot say, but how do you use Pharaoh to ensure your team's dominance over your enemies? Perhaps I can help you there

Wat?

Too many Pharoah guides.

[[RUF]Juice]

One of the more entertaining guides to read. Well written.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Wat?

Oh, don't mind that. I was being silly.

I'm going to add an item guide too. I decided that while Dune_'s is good, I play Pharaoh in a harassing style, which has always worked for me, but has a different item build to Dune_. Pharaoh is quite diverse though.

[[PKA]DocLovin]

One of the more entertaining guides to read. Well written.

This

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Ok, the item guide is now more or less complete. Took me a while, too

Last of all, I'll add some screenshots showing the radius of each of Pharaoh's Attacks and what each looks like. For now, I must sleep... Silly human flaws. I bet that Pharaoh doesn't sleep...

[[COF]Boduar]

TBH wall of mummies should be at 2 or at the latest lvl 4. Why? because its amazing offensively and defensively giving you either blocking potential (zomg im getting owned time to run) or allowing you to stop melee opponents who are attacking your friend(best example was laning against pebbles/hammerstorm I would be able to trap one and push the other back as my lane partner a squishy int sat in 4 seconds of stun ~4+ autoattacks, this saved him from dying at least 2-3x as he got away with a sliver of life). Offensively it gives you 3 seconds worth of autoattacks from both you and a friend at lvl 1. This far outweights an extra 40dmg on your rocket and a slightly shorter CD when it comes to killing potential.

Wall of mummies lvl 2 is obviously taken lvl 12+ because each rank after only gives 1 extra second and chances are in most ganks/fights the person you trap is going to be dead by the time the 3 seconds are up or very very low.


Edit: Just noticed your hellfire ... hellfire should be leveled before tormented soul if you plan on killing anyone in your lane or ganking like you should be at lvl 6+. 2 ticks (1.5 secs worth) of an upgraded hellfire is worth your entire level up of tormented soul. Provided you know how to use hellfire your missing out on hundreds of damage which is needed for ganks/lane kills.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

I agree with you entirely, but my build is for a harassment style. It's situational. If you're laning with a tank, then you shouldn't need so much saving power (unless you're against two harassers, or a combo like Electrician and Swift Blade). If you're babysitting a weaker hero, say, Tempest? Then a level of Wall early would be better.

For overall damage, I find that the lower cooldown and increased damage means that the Souls can be spammed and never miss, whereas the effects of Hellfire are only seen when you're close to an opponent. This means that against ranged heros, you're not going to be able to use it much (or at all) in the early game. Also, with a lower cooldown, if you're opponent uses a potion, you are more likely to have the Soul in cooldown so as to dispell the effects of the potion.

If you'd like to post you usual build here, I'd be happy to include it in the guide. The one there already is for the harassment build. If you're going for a babysit/early ganking style of play, then your build would be much better. I agree that a level in Mummies is important early on, which is why I'll generally get it at level 5 or 7. I have also gotten the level at 6 when my mana is low, because the 50 mana cost is easy to pay up and Wrath of the Pharaoh isn't very effective with no other spells behind it.

So... I'll add a few different skill builds for different situations. I'd be happy to add yours. That was a good point, thanks man.

[FonzieD]

When I play pharaoh I never get staff of the master...the cooldown is nice but I feel like there are better items you can get.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

When I play pharaoh I never get staff of the master...the cooldown is nice but I feel like there are better items you can get.

Your opinions are just as valid as those of anyone else, but I find Staff of the Master to be an absolute must because of the Mana/HP, excellent build-up and the cooldown, coupled with the saving ability. Generally, you can obtain a Staff before level 16, making what would be a 60 second cooldown only 20 seconds.

[Saatana1]

I never played pharaoh and have been avoiding it having some sort of negation towards him. This guide made me laugh and somehow I feel like the return of the pharaoh is at hand. Well written, well done.

[[SALT]L0L]

scrub

[[SALT]Gumbie]

I never played pharaoh and have been avoiding it having some sort of negation towards him. This guide made me laugh and somehow I feel like the return of the pharaoh is at hand. Well written, well done.

I like the compliment and I also like it how you tied in his spell's name

[FonzieD]

Your opinions are just as valid as those of anyone else, but I find Staff of the Master to be an absolute must because of the Mana/HP, excellent build-up and the cooldown, coupled with the saving ability. Generally, you can obtain a Staff before level 16, making what would be a 60 second cooldown only 20 seconds.

Yeah maybe I'll try it out again sometime. But regardless, Pharaoh is the ****, and is by far the most fun hero in the game.

[[SALT]Gumbie]

Yeah maybe I'll try it out again sometime. But regardless, Pharaoh is the ****, and is by far the most fun hero in the game.

Pharaoh and Panda. Nothing quite like "Beating your opponent senseless" but there's also nothing like killing that fleeing Scout with a Tormented Soul, either

[Sinedd]

What about getting Runed Axe on Pharaoh for a decent mana regen, better farm ability and dmg boost?