Shadow Fiend Overview

Lore & Bio

"So, you're curious where I come from? There's one easy way to find out for yourself."

People said Nevermore owns the soul of a poet but the truth is he has thousands of them. For centuries, Nevermore the Shadow Fiend has reaped as many souls as possible. Souls of priests, slaves, beggars, criminals, knights or heroes, no soul can slip through his hand. No one has a slightest idea what he is going to do with the huge amount of various souls as they have no guts to even glimpse into the Abyss where Nevermore resides. 

Maybe anyone who looks at him is swallowed alive, is hanged in the halls of a bizarre temple or has their souls drowned in bewitched brine. Some even think that Nevermore is just a puppet which is controlled by a puppeteer from other dimensions, no more no less. The intense darkness and evil radiating from him makes his thoughts a secret to others. If you are curious about the destination of the souls which are stolen by Nevermore, you might sacrifice yours to figure out or wait for the Shadow Fiend to find you.

In-game, Nevermore is described as: 

“Capturing souls from every kill he makes, Shadow Fiend is always gathering his power. Every assault, each carefully aimed raze that kills an enemy, brings him closer to unleashing his gathered souls in a deadly blast of scouring energy.”

Attribute & Stats

• Strength: 19 + 2.7 each level;

• Agility: 20 + 3.5 each level;

• Intelligence: 18 + 2.2 each level;

• Health: 580;

• Health regeneration: + 2.15 each second;

• Mana: 291;

• Mana regeneration: + 1.2 each second;

• Damage: 39 - 45;

• Amor: 4.33;

• Magic Resistance: 25%;

• Turn Rate: 0.9;

• Attack Range: 500;

• Projectile speed: 1200;

• Attack Animation: 0.5+0.54;

• Movement: 305;

• Sight Range: 1800/800;

• Base Attack time: 1.6 seconds per attack;

• Damage Block: 0;

• Collision size: 24.

Abilities & Talents

Notes:

The cooldown reduction can stack with other sources of cooldown reduction.

Skills building guide

The first thing that might draw your attention is that we don’t add one point in the ultimate ability when reaching level 6. The reason for that is because for the early game, the Requiem of Souls does not have a lot of effect as the amount of souls collected from Necromastery is so limited. Therefore, the ultimate will not cause too much damage as expected to finish any enemy hero. That’s why we max out Shadowraze and Necromastery first. 

The Presence of the Dark Lord can be maxed out respectively with the ultimate ability as these spells are more useful in the mid or late game when the teamfight or the combat occur more frequently.

This build can make the Shadow Fiend a difficult match-up in the mid lane especially for melee heroes as he can harass the enemy with Shadowraze and the advantage from the long attack range. Besides, maxing out Necromastery is also the way to get Nevermore’s damage accelerated quickly in the short term.

Abilities

Shadowraze

Shadowraze (Short)

Effect: Shadow Fiend demolishes the circular ground in front of him to harvest the soul dealing magical damage to opponent units in the affected area. The enemies receive more damage if they are hit by Shadowraze consecutively.

Mana cost: 75/80/85/90

Cooldown: 10 (Talents:7)

Range: 200

Base Damage: 90/160/230/300 (Talents: 210/280/350/420)

Damage Increase per Stack: 50/60/70/80

Stack Duration: 8

Effect Radius: 250

Cast Animation: 0.55+0

Notes:

There are three Shadowraze abilities that appear in the ability box. Leveling one and others will be leveled too.

Not available in Ability Draft mode.

Dispellable

The true range that Shadowraze can hit is between 50 and 450 in front of him.

When an enemy gets hit, a hidden debuff will affect them. This hidden debuff serves a purpose to count the number of Shadowraze hits the target with its period.

• When Shadowraze is cast on the target, the damage is set, then the debuff is placed and the damage is caused finally.
• The ability damage is not affected by the stack.
• A number indicates the amount of debuff will be refreshed.
• There is no limitation for stacking the debuff.

Any enemy unit gets hit by Shadowraze three times continuously will receive damage up to 420/660/900/1140 (Talents: 780/1020/1260/1500).

The hidden debuff which is used to count continuous Shadowraze hits on the enemy lasts for 3 seconds.

Shadowraze

Shadowraze (Medium)

Effect: Shadow Fiend demolishes the circular ground in front of him to harvest the soul dealing magical damage to opponent units in the affected area. The enemies receive more damage if they are hit by Shadowraze consecutively.

Mana cost: 75/80/85/90

Cooldown: 10 (Talents:7)

Range: 450

Base Damage:90/160/230/300 (Talents: 210/280/350/420)

Damage Increase per Stack: 50/60/70/80

Stack Duration: 8

Effect Radius: 250

Cast Animation: 0.55+0

Notes:

Available in Ability Draft mode

The true range that Shadowraze can hit is between 200 and 700 in front of him.

Fully Apply other notes from Shadowraze (Short)

Shadowraze

Shadowraze (Long)

Effect: Shadow Fiend demolishes the circular ground in front of him to harvest the soul dealing magical damage to opponent units in the affected area. The enemies receive more damage if they are hit by Shadowraze consecutively.

Mana cost: 75/80/85/90

Cooldown: 10 (Talents:7)

Range: 700

Base Damage:90/160/230/300 (Talents: 210/280/350/420)

Damage Increase per Stack: 50/60/70/80

Stack Duration: 8

Effect Radius: 250

Cast Animation: 0.55+0

Notes:

Not available in Ability Draft mode

The true range that Shadowraze can hit is between 450 and 900 in front of him.

Fully Apply other notes from Shadowraze (Short)

Necromastery

Necromastery (Passive)

Effect: Nevermore throws a gleaming projectile to reap the soul from the low HP enemy unit, gaining bonus damage. He will get more souls if he kills a hero with this spell. Nevermore loses nearly half of the accumulated souls when he dies.

Max Souls: 11/14/17/20 ( Upgraded by Aghanim’s Scepter: 25)

Soul Gain Kill: 1

Attack Damage Bonus per Soul: 1/2/3/4 (Talents: 4/5/6/7)

Souls Lost on Death: 40%

Notes:

Undispellable

Nevermore can collect souls from almost all units, including wards and allies. But there are some exceptions. He can’t get the soul from Observer and Sentry Wards, illusion,Tempest Doubles and buildings.

• The number of collected souls is illustrated on the status buff icon.

When he dies, if the amount of souls is an odd number, it is rounded up.

• That means he still has at least 1 soul even when he only obtains 1 soul before dying.
• If he receives the rebirth effect from items or his allies. He keeps all his current soul.

Damage is dealt and the soul is collected without delay regardless of visual effect.

The amount of red particles circling around his chest depends on how many souls Shadow fiend have.

When reaching the maximum soul capacity, Nevermore can get the attack damage bonus up to 11/28/51/80 (Talents: 44/70/102/140)

With the upgrade from Aghanim’s Scepter, the attack damage bonus Nevermore can get is 25/50/75/100 (Talents 100/125/150/175) when the souls reach their peak capacity.

• The amount of lines created when casting Requiem of Souls depend on the extra souls.
• If selling Aghanim’s Scepter,the number of souls is kept even when it exceeds the default capacity. However, the damage dealt will be restricted to the default max souls.

Presence of the Dark Lord

Presence of the Dark Lord (Aura)

Effect: Nevermore radiate the aura surrounding him which reduces the armor of any foes who dare to stand close to him.

Radius: 1200

Amor Reduction: 4/5/6/7 (Talents: 8/9/10/11)

Aura Linger Duration: 0.5

Magic Resistance Reduction: 14% (only activate when having Aghanim’s Shard)

Notes:

The debuff effect lasts for 0.5 seconds and is radiated around Shadow Fiend

This ability only affects enemies in vision of Nevermore

With the talent attained in level 15, the aura does have effect on buildings.

Requiem of Souls

Requiem of Souls (No Target, Magical)

Effect: Shadow Fiend releases the lines of reaped souls surrounding him to deal damage. Any enemies in the affected range of Requiem of Souls will be feared and be slow for 0.8 seconds with each line they get hit. The closer the enemies to the Shadow Fiend, the more damage they receive. When Nevermore dies, this ability will be cast instantly and automatically no matter whether it is in the cooldown or not.

Cast Animation: 1.67+0.77

Mana cost: 150/175/200

Cooldown: 120/110/100 (Talents: 84/77/70)

Damage per Line Release: 80 / 120 / 160

Movement Reduction: 25%

Travel Distance of Each Line: 1000

Width of Starting Lines: 125

Width of Ending Lines: 350

Necromastery Souls per Line: 1

Slow Duration per Line: 0.8

Maximum Slow Duration per Line: 2.4

Upgradable by Aghanim’s Scepter:

• Effect: The released souls will return to Nevermore and deal less damage than the previous wave but heals Shadow Fiend the amount that equals to the dealt damage.
• Damage per Returning Line: 32/48/64
• Heal per hit Hero on Returning Line: 32/48/64

Notes:

While casting this ability, Nevermore’s collision size is disable which means other units can go through him.

The amount of souls he gathered with Necromastery will directly affect the damage of Requiem of Souls.

In Ability Draft mode, without Necromastery, Requiem of Souls can not work.

Below are the mechanism of these damaging lines:

• The effect area of each damaging line is shaped like a cone.
• The range between each line is the same.
• The traveling speed and time of these lines are 700 and 1.43 seconds respectively.
• The opponent’s units in the range of 1350 are still affected by this ability.
• Each damaging line can hit the same unit once.

When the enemy units get hit by the Requiem of Souls, they will be fueled with fear and slow down for a specific period.

• The effect can last 0.8 seconds for each line hit and can top up to 2.4 seconds.
• The affected opponents run in the opposite way with the caster.

The damage is dealt first then the debuff.

This spell is cast immediately when the Shadow Fiend dies in spite of his mana or cooldown.

• As 40% of his souls are lost when this spell is cast so the number of lines will be 6/8/10/12 (15 with Aghanim’s Scepter) lines at max.
• No fear applies, just movement reduction.
• If he receives the rebirth effect from items or his allies.The Requiem of Soul is not cast.

With the upgrade from Aghanim’s Scepter, right after these lines reach to the end, they will return to Nevermore.

• The second wave will return to the latest location of the Shadow Fiend, not where he cast the spell.
• When the lines start to return, their track will be locked and not follow Nevermore.
• The total distance of the second wave travels is 2000.
• The width of the returning lines is reversed with the first wave.
• The second wave causes 40% damage and applies movement reduction and fear.
• The Requiem of Souls is cast instantly while he dies and doesn't have the returning lines.

The healing amount Shadow Fiend receives depends on the dealt damage and it is applied right after the lines stop.

• Each hit heals for 32/48/64 no matter how much damage the lines cause.
• The healing effect is only activated when damage is dealt to heroes and their illusions.

Effective items guides

Early game

Tango

Help you heal and regenerate your health so you can stay in the lane longer for farming.

Healing Salve

Help you heal and regenerate your health so you can stay in the lane longer for farming.

Slippers of Agility

Slipper of Agility gives Nevermore a small amount of attack speed and attack damage allowing you to last hit the creeps easier in the early game.

Clarity

Clarity provides mana regen which helps Shadow Fiend cast the spell more frequently and collect more souls by using Necromastery.

Magic Stick

Magic Stick is a source of mana and health restoration which helps Nevermore to cast more Shadowraze.

Bottle

Bottle is extremely useful as you can use it to restore HP and mana and to capture runes and use it later when needed.

Infused Raindrops

Infused Raindrop works as a shield to guard Shadow Fiend against a certain amount of magic damage.

Mid game

Magic Wand

With the Magic Stick that you purchase in the early game, Magic Wand is a good choice as it can grant you a small bonus and have room for other items.

Boots of Speed

Boots of Speed can be upgraded into Power Treads if you need more attack speed and strengths, you can switch to the Blue one for more mana to use the abilities.

Shadow Blade

Shadow Blade is a useful tool for Shadow Fiend to escape from the sudden gank or to find a great position for his ultimate in combat or teamfight.

Dragon Lance

Dragon Lance grants Nevermore 140 attack range and more points on base stats which helps him harass the enemy and last hit creeps better.

Late game

Black King Bar

Besides the health and damage bonus which is granted by Black King Bar, the Ability of BKB can guard his Requiem of the Souls from being disabled while casting.

Hurricane Pike

Hurricane Pike is a valuable upgrade from DragonLance which allows Nevermore to free throw the enemy units for 5 seconds regardless of range limitation. When encountering the melee heroes, this item can help him kite the opponents and finish them when their HP is low.

Butterfly

With Butterfly, you can deal more damage per second and increase your survivability while dueling with physical reliant heroes.

Situation items

Blink Dagger

Blink Dagger can increase the mobility of Nevermore and put him in the great position to cast Requiem of the Souls.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity: create a tornado and hurl the enemy in the air for 2.5 seconds which gives Shadow Fiend more time to wait for their allies to come and to recharge the Requiem of Souls. Besides, it can be used to counter Blink Dagger.

Eye of Skadi

Eye of Skadi: The Shadow Fiend is granted with a huge amount of bonuses. This item can slow down the enemy and reduce heals, health regeneration and lifesteal of the target which allow him to have a leg up in dueling.

Assault Cuirass

Assault Cuirass can provide negative armor debuff, attack speed and massive armor gain for Nevermore so your chance of survivability will increase and deal more damage. A great combination with the Presence of the Dark Lord.

Daedalus

Daedalus: deal more damage by the chance of critical damage.

Satanic

Satanic: grants Shadow Fiend lifesteal ability.

Desolator

Desolator: Work wells with Presence of the Dark Lord, reduce the enemy armour.

Silver Edge

Silver Edge: an upgrade from Shadow Blade which grants you more physical damage and enemy passive disability besides Invisibility.

Diffusal Blade

Diffusal Blade: grants Nevermore with burning mana effect and more physical damage. Besides, when activating the item’s ability, the enemy is slow for a few seconds.

Monkey King Bar

Monkey King Bar: grants damage attack and armor piercing.

Boots of Travel

Boots of Travel: provides him with enormous movement speed to roam and split push effectively.

Aghanim's Scepter

Aghanim’s Scepter: increases the soul capacity of Necromastery and grants the returning wave of the ultimate which directly increases the damage of Requiem of Souls.

Manta Style

Manta Style: confuses the enemies by creating two illusions of him, Shadow Fiend will have more time to deal damage and wait for their allies to come.

Scythe of Vyse

Scythe of Vyse: morphs the target into a harmless swine which gives him more time to use his combo and finish the target.

Ethereal Blade

Ethereal Blade: You can consider this item when the opponents have various sources of physical damage or when your team deals mostly magic damage.

Enemies & Allies

Allies

Bane

With Nightmare and Fiend’s Grip can hold the enemy long enough for Shadow Fiend to use up his abilities and finish the enemy.

Clockwerk

Clockwerk: enemy will be trapped by Power Cogs which make Nevermore easier in casting his Shadoraze on the enemy.

Enigma

Enigma’s Black Hole and  Requiem of Souls of the Shadow Fiend are the wombo combo which can deal tons of damage and kill the enemy instantly.

Legion Commander

Legion Commander: Press the Attack grants Shadow Fiend attack speed which means he can do more damage. Besides, Legion’s ultimate can hold enemies in the circular area which is great for Requiem of Souls.

Magnus

Magnus: Skewer and Reverse Polarity can put enemy heroes in the great position for Nevermore to cast Requiem of Souls. Besides, Empowers also grants Shadow Fiend bonus damage.

Slardar

Slardar: Corrosive Haze and Presence of the Dark Lord are the great combination which can reduce the armor of the enemy units significantly. Furthermore, Slithereen Crush can put the enemy into the great position for Shadow Fiend ultimate.

Tidehunter

Tidehunter: Ravage can put the enemy into the great position for Shadow Fiend ultimate.

Vengeful Spirit

Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror’s works well with Presence of the Dark Lord which can reduce the armor of the enemy units significantly. Nether Swap can move Shadow Fiend to the safe place and get him out of the gank. Magic Missile can put the enemy into the great position for Shadow Fiend ultimate.

Counters

Axe

Axe: Berserker's Call and Counter Helix will make Shadow Fiend difficult to farm creeps as he needs to hold the position not too close to the creeps. Battle Hunger reduces attack speed which makes Shadow Fiend struggling to farm. Axe is so tanky which can absorb most of the damage from Shadow Fiend in the early game.

Razor

Razor can take advantage of high physical damage of Necromastery by using Static Link to steal it. Nevermore's health is quite low which means he can be vaporized easily by Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm.

Bane

Bane: Enfeeble reduces the damage of Shadow Fiend which makes him struggling to farm. Brain Sap can be used to prevent Shadow Fiend from playing aggressively by constantly harassing him. Nightmare can put Nevermore into sleep mode and let the jungle do the rest. Fiend’s Grip disables Shadow Fiend totally and he can not deal any damage in the teamfight or combat.

Bounty Hunter

Bounty Hunter: Requiem of Souls will be dispelled by Shuriken Toss. With Shadow Walk and Jinada, Bounty Hunter can easily approach and kill Shadow Fiend. Shadow Fiend can not run away from Bounty Hunter when he casts Track even with Shadow Blade.

Disruptor

Disruptor: Glimpse and Kinetic Field can put Shadow Fiend in the position that is easy for jungle to gank and get the kill. Requiem of Souls will be dispelled by Static Storm.

Doom

Doom acquires the disable abilities from the neutral creeps such as War Storm and Ensnare which can be ideal for the gank. With the combination of creep abilities, Scorched Earth, Infernal Blade, and Doom, Shadow Fiend can not run away even with the help from Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade and death is inevitable. With a large health pool, Doom can endure the enormous physical damage from Shadow Fiend and finish him first. With the damage bonus from Radiance, Doom can easily kill Shadow Fiend with his combo.

Dragon Knight

Dragon Knight: Requiem of Souls will be dispelled by Dragon Tail. Shadow Fiend’s damage will plummet if Dragon Knight casts Breath Fire. Dragon Knight is quite tanky because of his high strength and Dragon Blood which makes him more endurable while dueling with Shadow Fiend.

Luna

Luna: Requiem of Souls will be dispelled by the ministun talent of Lucent Beam and Eclipse. Luna can clear the creep wave real quick with Moon Glaives and Luna Blessing and push the creep wave close to the Shadow Fiend’s tower which makes him struggling to last hit the creep. With the great timing, Eclipse can instantly kill Shadow Fiend and leave no room for him to react, especially when Luna buys Aghanim’s Scepter and Ethereal Blade.

Night Stalker

Night Stalker: Requiem of Souls will be dispelled by Void. Night Stalker silences Shadow Fiend by activating Crippling Fear which means Shadowraze or Requiem of Souls can not be cast. By casting Dark Ascension and using Gem of True Sight, Night Stalker can easily hunt Shadow Fiend down. Night Stalker is quite tanky which makes him more endurable while dueling with Shadow Fiend.

Pugna

Pugna: Decrepify slows Shadow Fiend down and makes him receive more magical damage by reducing his magic resistance.

Sniper

Sniper: Nether Ward will deal more damage if more mana is used to cast the spell which means Shadow Fiend must be careful when casting Requiem of Souls and Shadowraze. Shrapnel makes Shadow Fiend’s Blink Dagger less effective. With the long range abilities like Take Aim and Headshot, Sniper can deal damage on Shadow Fiend without worrying about his retaliation.

Spirit Breaker

Spirit Breaker: Early gank from Spirit Breaker using Charge of Darkness can make Shadow Fiend struggling in early game farming. Nether Strike and Charge of Darkness can stop Requiem of Souls from being cast.

Tinker

Tinker: Laser can blind Shadow Fiend for a few seconds which prevent him from dealing damage. Shadow Fiend can not stand a chance against a combination of Tinker’s abilities and his items ( such as Dragon 5 and Ethereal Blade) and death is inevitable.

Ursa

Ursa: It’s nearly impossible for Shadow Fiend to get away from Ursa when he casts Earthshock and uses Blink Dagger. The physical damage caused by Overpower and Fury Swipes all Ursa to finish Shadow Fiend immediately. With Enrage, Ursa will have more endurance while dueling with Nevermore.

Tidehunter

Tidehunter: Kraken Shell blocks the high physical damage from Necromastery and debuffs the damage reduction from Requiem of Souls. Without Black King Bar, Requiem of Souls will be dispelled by Ravage.

Viper

Viper: Nethertoxin decreases the damage from Necromastery and disables Presence of Dark Lore. Magic resistance that Viper receives from Corrosive skin makes him survive in the affected area of Requiem of Souls. Viper Strike and Poison Attack are great tools to help Viper dominate the line when dueling with Shadow Fiend.

Zeus

Zeus: Arc of Lightning can help Zeus farm easily without any concern of being hit back by Shadow Fiend because of its long attack range. Lightning Bolt can make Nevermore in lane time become a disaster as he needs to sacrifice an amount of HP to last hit a creep. Thundergod’s Wrath and Lightning Bolt is used to reveal Shadow Fiend’s location while using Shadow Blade.

Items Counter

Eul's Scepter of Divinity

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity: the cyclone is created to interrupt Requiem of Souls or to save the allies or the user.

Orchid Malevolence

Orchid Malevolence discontinue Requiem of Souls.

Bloodthorn

Bloodthorn silences Shadow Fiend.

Scythe of Vyse

Scythe of Vyse discontinue Requiem of Souls.

Abyssal Blade

Abyssal Blade disables Shadow Fiend

Assault Cuirass

Assault Cuirass: reduces the effect of Presence of the Dark Lord and Shadow Fiend physical damage.

Favorable Matchups

Clockwerk

Clockwerk: When dueling with Clockerk, Hurricane Spike is the item that Shadow Fiend will buy as it helps him get away from Power Cogs easily. Besides, destroying Power Cogs also increases Necromastery stacks.

Meepo

Meepo: a melee hero like Meepo always struggling in dueling with a ranged hero like Shadow Fiend.

Nature's Prophet

Nature’s Prophet: destroying his treants increases Necromastery stacks. Boots of Travel and Shadow Blade can help Shadow Fiend counter Nature’s Prophet when he tries to split push.

Silencer

Silencer: With Black King Bar, Silencer spells can not affect Shadow Fiend.

Slark

Slark: Even with the protection from Shadow Dance, Slark can not stand a chance against Shadow Fiend’s AoE spells.

Game plan

Early game

You must focus on farming as much as you can. Use the Necromastery to last hit the creep and get your power accelerated quickly. You should try to control the runes as they are gonna give you more time to farm and only go back to the fountain for the complete item. 

Only spamming Shadowraze on the enemy when you know it is a sure kill. If you are an underdog in your lane, try to hold your position to farm and avoid any unnecessary skirmish and wait for the jungle to help you secure the skill. When clearing the creep wave, you can increase your golds by farming the neutral creeps in the jungle near the mid lane.

Mid game

Your priority is still farming but be ready to engage in any imminent fights. As you can deal tons of damage , you must be present in any team fight. Don’t be an initiator as you don’t have any tools to do that. Just hold your position well and do as much as damage as you can

Late game

Your objectives in the late game are quite the same with the mid game but this time you and your team might play around the keys objectives like Roshan and towers. As you are insanely strong when the game is dragged to the late so you must find a great position to cast Requiem of Souls and then win the combat or even the game.