Accursed
From the official Heroes of Newerth Forum by Nuro
Story:
Many have speculated as to what great, damned warrior now lives in torment within the burning armor that marches alongside the Hellbourne army. The Accursed, as he is known, screams in agony as he bring fiery devastation to his foes, but his actions seem driven more by a desire to find oblivion than by malice.
Contents:
- Introduction
- Skill Overview
- Ability Build / Reasoning
- Skill Use / Skill Combinations
- Starting Items
- Core Items
- Late Game Items
- Items to Avoid!
- Laning
- Tower Diving Kills
- Team Fights
*****
Accursed, is a very strong laning and tanking hero. Not only does he make it difficult for the opponents to kill him but he also uses his skills to make it difficult for the enemy to kill his teammates aswell.
Accursed is my favourite hero as he can be played in two few different ways. A Supportive tank or a Tank that deals a lot of damage.
Accursed is a port from DotA, known as Abaddon, Lord of Avernus
Introduction:
Accursed, is a very strong laning and tanking hero. Not only does he make it difficult for the opponents to kill him but he also uses his skills to make it difficult for the enemy to kill his teammates aswell.
Accursed is my favourite hero as he can be played in two few different ways. A Supportive tank or a Tank that deals a lot of damage.
Accursed is a port from DotA, known as Abaddon, Lord of Avernus
*****
Pros and Cons!
Cauterize - [Q]
At the cost of some of his own Health, Accursed bursts the air around a target, dealing damage to them if they are an enemy or healing them if they are an ally.
Activation:
Deals 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 Magic damage to enemy units or heals allied units for 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 Health. Deals 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 Magic damage to self.
Mana Cost: 75.
Cooldown: 6.0 Seconds
Alright Cauterize is your healing / damaging ability that really defines who you are by using it. You can either as stated above use it to deal bursts of damage to enemies to your enemies or heal the allies on your team that are being focused, This should always be used every 6 seconds as long as you have the life to spare for its activation.
*Below is an image of the Range of Cauterize.
Fire Shield - [W]
Accursed covers a friendly unit in a shield of flames protecting them from damage and removing harmful effects. If the shield is damaged to its breaking point, it will explode, dealing Magical damage to nearby enemies equal to that of the damage absorbed.
Activation
Removes most debuffs, then applies Fire Shield to target for 15 seconds.
Fire Shield Effects
110 / 140 / 170 / 200 damage shield. Once full amount is absorbed, damages enemies in 700 radius for 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 Magic damage.
Mana Cost: 100 / 105 / 110 / 115
Cooldown:18.0 / 15.0 / 12.0 / 9.0 Seconds
This is the bread and butter of Accursed. Chuck this on your main initiator or caster that requires the most use out of this absorb shield. In a team fight your initiator will be taking the most damage so you want this fire shield on him as very quickly it's going to explode and hit up to 5 people for a combined total of 1000 damage every 9 seconds at Level 4.
*Below is an image of the Radius of Fire Shield.
Sear - [E]
Causes Accursed's attacks to sear his target, slowing their movement speed. Any ally that attacks the affected unit will be buffed with increased increased attack speed and movement speed.
On Attack
Applies Sear to enemy target for 2 seconds.
Sear Effects
5 / 10 / 15 / 20% Movement Slow
When attacked, applies Burning Strikes to attacker for 4.5 seconds.
Burning Strikes Effects
10 / 20 / 30 / 40 Attack Speed
10% Movement Speed
Mana Cost: 0, Passive.
Cooldown: None.
Sear is great for slowing down those escaping enemies. Use your phase boots to catch up and then auto-attack them to allow your allies to catch up to them and kill. In team fights if applied to the enemies initiatior (Auto-attack the enemy) your allies that also attack him will gain the respective attack speed buff which really helps with heroes such as Arachna, Soulstealer, Madman and other Agility carry heroes.
Flame Consumption (Ultimate) - [R]
Accursed summons a powerful fire tornado around himself which, when fueled with damage, causes him to regain his life. When not in cooldown, this ability automatically activates when The Accursed drops below 400 Health.
Activation
Removes debuffs and applies Protective Flames to self for 3 / 4 / 5 seconds.
Protective Flames Effects
100% of damage taken converted to Health
Automatically activates when Accursed's health drops below 400.
Mana Cost:0
Cooldown: 60.0 Seconds
This ability is such a life saver in SO MANY situations. This ability only lasts for 3/4/5 seconds so it is important to time the execution of your ultimate to the time which you will be taking the most damage. (Remember this ultimate is not only passive when you are below 400 health but you can also press [R] to activate it aswell.) A good time to use your ultimate on Accursed would be against a nuker such as Pyromancer, as soon as he has used his AoE stun on you and then Dragon Flame the only thing left to do is for him to ulti, so a situation like that is a prime time to use it, although this may only work in nooby'er games as a team will normally wait for your ulti to expire before casting any big nukes on you.
In higher games I normally use this ulti when im below 50% health and am anticipating a few strikes from a few opponents. Higher PSR people won't normally use their ultis on you until you have use your ulti but they will still get you low using their '[Q]' '[W]' and '[E]' abilities, which is probably the best time to use your ultimate.
*Below is an image of Accursed with Flame Consumption activated.
The way Accursed uses his abilities together and one after the other to benefit is what makes me so happy during the day time. The way in which he is designed was so well done by S2.
Skill Use - Cauterize:
As Cauterize is a heal and a nuke it is important to look out for your teamates health and your own before you cast it on anyone. If a teammate's health is beginning to drop use it on them but remember it deals half the heal in damage to yourself so make sure you have enough HP to use it!
Skill Use - Fire Shield:
Many people ask me who they are supposed to cast Fire Shield on in team battles. Well, in team battles, if you have the chance, it should be put on your initiator of the team fight.! Whether it be yourself or somebody else. Another use of the Fire Shield is that it removes an array of debuffs from your allies. This can be useful for things like Succubus' Mesmerize or Blood Hunter's Ultimate, Fire Shield when used to remove debuff's is such a useful ability to have in so many situations.
Skill Use - Flame Consumption:
As mentioned in the skill overview this ability needs to be used when you suspect a nuke to yourself from the enemy so that you can top up and refresh your health pool. This ulti also has a relatively short cooldown so in many situations of small ganks i have been able to survive the iniation and heal back to full health using ulti and then run out and have the ultimate up again for the next time they try to kill me.
Skill Combination - Cauterize + Fire Shield:
This combination is both useful in laneing and in team fight situations. If you place fire shield on yourself when you are trying to push a lane, make sure you are the first to reach the wave so the creeps are focusing you. You will notice that by the time these die you will most likely still have the Fire Shield on you, especially if you have another hero with you. This is why this combination is so great. Once you have your Fire Shield on you, and are soaking the creeps damage, use your Cauterize ability to deal half the damage back to you which at max level is half the amount of damage needed to break your Fire Shield which will then explode from this and creep damage and will cause a lot of damage to the enemies creeps, getting you a few last hits on the way and it will increase your gold income and the efficiency of which you are pushing the lane.
Sikll Combination - Cauterize + Flame Consumption:
Your Ultimate Flame Consumption heals you for 100% of damage taken to you while this effect is active, which includes the 'backlash' of your Cauterize ability. So when your low and your Ultimate is active and your Cauterize is off cooldown, USE IT, damage the enemy with a nuke and heal yourself at the same time, brilliant right?!
Pros and Cons!
Pro's:
- Great Support with heals and damage absorbs to keep enemies topped up and therefore keeping your team in battles for longer periods of time.
- Easy to harrass enemies in your lane.
- Fire Shield removes most debuffs.
- Abilities work together as combinations and synergy's.
- A short cooldown ultimate that will have enemies fearing your presence.
- Large health pool
- Passive auto attack slow to stop enemies from escaping.
Cons:
- A smart team will generally not attack you during your ultimate. So you require lots of practice at timing your ultimate for the predicted spells and abilities on you.
- Very reliant on a good bunch of allies that won't run out of battle when you have Fire Shield on them and are Cauterize'ing them.
- Takes time and practice to get your Skill combinations and tower diving kills (see guide) perfected.
- Great Support with heals and damage absorbs to keep enemies topped up and therefore keeping your team in battles for longer periods of time.
- Easy to harrass enemies in your lane.
- Fire Shield removes most debuffs.
- Abilities work together as combinations and synergy's.
- A short cooldown ultimate that will have enemies fearing your presence.
- Large health pool
- Passive auto attack slow to stop enemies from escaping.
Cons:
- A smart team will generally not attack you during your ultimate. So you require lots of practice at timing your ultimate for the predicted spells and abilities on you.
- Very reliant on a good bunch of allies that won't run out of battle when you have Fire Shield on them and are Cauterize'ing them.
- Takes time and practice to get your Skill combinations and tower diving kills (see guide) perfected.
Skills:
Skill Overview:
Cauterize - [Q]
At the cost of some of his own Health, Accursed bursts the air around a target, dealing damage to them if they are an enemy or healing them if they are an ally.
Activation:
Deals 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 Magic damage to enemy units or heals allied units for 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 Health. Deals 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 Magic damage to self.
Mana Cost: 75.
Cooldown: 6.0 Seconds
Alright Cauterize is your healing / damaging ability that really defines who you are by using it. You can either as stated above use it to deal bursts of damage to enemies to your enemies or heal the allies on your team that are being focused, This should always be used every 6 seconds as long as you have the life to spare for its activation.
*Below is an image of the Range of Cauterize.
Fire Shield - [W]
Accursed covers a friendly unit in a shield of flames protecting them from damage and removing harmful effects. If the shield is damaged to its breaking point, it will explode, dealing Magical damage to nearby enemies equal to that of the damage absorbed.
Activation
Removes most debuffs, then applies Fire Shield to target for 15 seconds.
Fire Shield Effects
110 / 140 / 170 / 200 damage shield. Once full amount is absorbed, damages enemies in 700 radius for 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 Magic damage.
Mana Cost: 100 / 105 / 110 / 115
Cooldown:18.0 / 15.0 / 12.0 / 9.0 Seconds
This is the bread and butter of Accursed. Chuck this on your main initiator or caster that requires the most use out of this absorb shield. In a team fight your initiator will be taking the most damage so you want this fire shield on him as very quickly it's going to explode and hit up to 5 people for a combined total of 1000 damage every 9 seconds at Level 4.
*Below is an image of the Radius of Fire Shield.
Sear - [E]
Causes Accursed's attacks to sear his target, slowing their movement speed. Any ally that attacks the affected unit will be buffed with increased increased attack speed and movement speed.
On Attack
Applies Sear to enemy target for 2 seconds.
Sear Effects
5 / 10 / 15 / 20% Movement Slow
When attacked, applies Burning Strikes to attacker for 4.5 seconds.
Burning Strikes Effects
10 / 20 / 30 / 40 Attack Speed
10% Movement Speed
Mana Cost: 0, Passive.
Cooldown: None.
Sear is great for slowing down those escaping enemies. Use your phase boots to catch up and then auto-attack them to allow your allies to catch up to them and kill. In team fights if applied to the enemies initiatior (Auto-attack the enemy) your allies that also attack him will gain the respective attack speed buff which really helps with heroes such as Arachna, Soulstealer, Madman and other Agility carry heroes.
Flame Consumption (Ultimate) - [R]
Accursed summons a powerful fire tornado around himself which, when fueled with damage, causes him to regain his life. When not in cooldown, this ability automatically activates when The Accursed drops below 400 Health.
Activation
Removes debuffs and applies Protective Flames to self for 3 / 4 / 5 seconds.
Protective Flames Effects
100% of damage taken converted to Health
Automatically activates when Accursed's health drops below 400.
Mana Cost:0
Cooldown: 60.0 Seconds
This ability is such a life saver in SO MANY situations. This ability only lasts for 3/4/5 seconds so it is important to time the execution of your ultimate to the time which you will be taking the most damage. (Remember this ultimate is not only passive when you are below 400 health but you can also press [R] to activate it aswell.) A good time to use your ultimate on Accursed would be against a nuker such as Pyromancer, as soon as he has used his AoE stun on you and then Dragon Flame the only thing left to do is for him to ulti, so a situation like that is a prime time to use it, although this may only work in nooby'er games as a team will normally wait for your ulti to expire before casting any big nukes on you.
In higher games I normally use this ulti when im below 50% health and am anticipating a few strikes from a few opponents. Higher PSR people won't normally use their ultis on you until you have use your ulti but they will still get you low using their '[Q]' '[W]' and '[E]' abilities, which is probably the best time to use your ultimate.
*Below is an image of Accursed with Flame Consumption activated.
*****
Other:
Level 1. Fire Shield
Level 2. Sear
Level 3. Cauterize
Level 4. Cauterize
Level 5. Cauterize
Level 6. Flame Consumption
Level 7. Cauterize
Level 8. Fire Shield
Level 9. Fire Shield
Level 10. Fire Shield
Level 11. Flame Consumption
Level 12. Sear
Level 13. Sear
Level 14. Sear
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Flame Consumption
This is a skill build suggested to me by a few posters in this thread + others that have PM'd me. This build provides a 10% movement buff that can be taken advantage of through Sear aswell as an opportunity to use Cauterize > Fire Shield if that is the playing style of which you prefer. Although if you prefer using Fire Shield from a distance over Cauterize from a 300 range then I suggest you ignore this build and use the one located below.
My Skill Build:
1 - Fire Shield
2 - Cauterize
3 - Fire Shield
4 - Cauterize
5 - Fire Shield
6 - Flame Consumption
7 - Fire Shield
8 - Cauterize
9 - Cauterize
10 - Sear
11 - Flame Consumption
12 - Sear
13 - Sear
14 - Sear
15 - Stats
16 - Flame Consumption
You will see quite a few Accursed's go for Sear early on in their builds, this I believe is stupid as early game all you are doing is last hitting creeps (or should be doing!). Sear works in a manner that your first auto attack on the creep applies the Sear attack buff, any following auto attacks made to that same opponent will then provide you with your auto attack speed buff, which is why it is not so necessary for you to get this early on as you shouldn't be getting that many auto attacks in on creeps.
Fire Shield and cauterize need to be levelled as soon as possible as these are your main skills you are using every cooldown possible to keep your team alive. Not only this but Fire Shield is a magnificant harassing technique to lane with, which will be explained later on in the guide. Cauterize is also useful when your enemies start getting low and you can combo your Fire Shield's and Cauterize's together to do some serious damage, which is also explained later.
Ability Build / Reasoning:
Other:
Level 1. Fire Shield
Level 2. Sear
Level 3. Cauterize
Level 4. Cauterize
Level 5. Cauterize
Level 6. Flame Consumption
Level 7. Cauterize
Level 8. Fire Shield
Level 9. Fire Shield
Level 10. Fire Shield
Level 11. Flame Consumption
Level 12. Sear
Level 13. Sear
Level 14. Sear
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Flame Consumption
This is a skill build suggested to me by a few posters in this thread + others that have PM'd me. This build provides a 10% movement buff that can be taken advantage of through Sear aswell as an opportunity to use Cauterize > Fire Shield if that is the playing style of which you prefer. Although if you prefer using Fire Shield from a distance over Cauterize from a 300 range then I suggest you ignore this build and use the one located below.
My Skill Build:
1 - Fire Shield
2 - Cauterize
3 - Fire Shield
4 - Cauterize
5 - Fire Shield
6 - Flame Consumption
7 - Fire Shield
8 - Cauterize
9 - Cauterize
10 - Sear
11 - Flame Consumption
12 - Sear
13 - Sear
14 - Sear
15 - Stats
16 - Flame Consumption
You will see quite a few Accursed's go for Sear early on in their builds, this I believe is stupid as early game all you are doing is last hitting creeps (or should be doing!). Sear works in a manner that your first auto attack on the creep applies the Sear attack buff, any following auto attacks made to that same opponent will then provide you with your auto attack speed buff, which is why it is not so necessary for you to get this early on as you shouldn't be getting that many auto attacks in on creeps.
Fire Shield and cauterize need to be levelled as soon as possible as these are your main skills you are using every cooldown possible to keep your team alive. Not only this but Fire Shield is a magnificant harassing technique to lane with, which will be explained later on in the guide. Cauterize is also useful when your enemies start getting low and you can combo your Fire Shield's and Cauterize's together to do some serious damage, which is also explained later.
*****
Skill Use / Skill Combinations:
The way Accursed uses his abilities together and one after the other to benefit is what makes me so happy during the day time. The way in which he is designed was so well done by S2.
Skill Use - Cauterize:
As Cauterize is a heal and a nuke it is important to look out for your teamates health and your own before you cast it on anyone. If a teammate's health is beginning to drop use it on them but remember it deals half the heal in damage to yourself so make sure you have enough HP to use it!
Skill Use - Fire Shield:
Many people ask me who they are supposed to cast Fire Shield on in team battles. Well, in team battles, if you have the chance, it should be put on your initiator of the team fight.! Whether it be yourself or somebody else. Another use of the Fire Shield is that it removes an array of debuffs from your allies. This can be useful for things like Succubus' Mesmerize or Blood Hunter's Ultimate, Fire Shield when used to remove debuff's is such a useful ability to have in so many situations.
Skill Use - Flame Consumption:
As mentioned in the skill overview this ability needs to be used when you suspect a nuke to yourself from the enemy so that you can top up and refresh your health pool. This ulti also has a relatively short cooldown so in many situations of small ganks i have been able to survive the iniation and heal back to full health using ulti and then run out and have the ultimate up again for the next time they try to kill me.
Skill Combination - Cauterize + Fire Shield:
This combination is both useful in laneing and in team fight situations. If you place fire shield on yourself when you are trying to push a lane, make sure you are the first to reach the wave so the creeps are focusing you. You will notice that by the time these die you will most likely still have the Fire Shield on you, especially if you have another hero with you. This is why this combination is so great. Once you have your Fire Shield on you, and are soaking the creeps damage, use your Cauterize ability to deal half the damage back to you which at max level is half the amount of damage needed to break your Fire Shield which will then explode from this and creep damage and will cause a lot of damage to the enemies creeps, getting you a few last hits on the way and it will increase your gold income and the efficiency of which you are pushing the lane.
Sikll Combination - Cauterize + Flame Consumption:
Your Ultimate Flame Consumption heals you for 100% of damage taken to you while this effect is active, which includes the 'backlash' of your Cauterize ability. So when your low and your Ultimate is active and your Cauterize is off cooldown, USE IT, damage the enemy with a nuke and heal yourself at the same time, brilliant right?!
*****
Items:
Ring of the Teacher (500), Runes of Blight (90).
Total: 590g
While playing Accursed early game you will using Fire Shield quite often to harrass the enemy, and as a tank you shouldn't be going back to base too often so a constant mana replinishing item such as ring of the teacher is important to have.
With the very little gold you have left after buying your ring I suggest getting Runes of Blight or a Health Potion if you like just to keep your health topped up after an enemy nuke.
Fortified Bracelet x 2 (1020)
As a strength hero it is important to have 2 Fortified Bracelets on you to increase your mana and most of all your strength which in turn increase health and damage.
Enhanced Marchers (1550)
Enhance marchers are great for Accursed as they can be used for chasing down the survivng opponents that used blink daggers or speed increasing abilities to get away. Use your Enhanced Marchers to catch up to them and then auto-attack them to decrease their movement speed using your Sear ability to allow your allies to catch up and use their stuns / nukes to finish that opponent off.
Homecoming Stone (135) each.
Homecoming stones are so important to any heroes inventory, unless you have Post Haste as this has inbuilt teleport functions. No 'buts' no questions, GET IT. I also normally carry 2 if i have the money when i leave base just incase im in a lane and need to teleport to another lane for a gank and then i can just teleport out afterwards.
As mentioned earlier, there are two (2) ways to play Accursed, Supportive tank or as a tank that deals mass damage. Both are viable but each path is chosen depending on team / player preferences. Regardless of your path i would suggest the following items for you late game build, although i would skip getting Astrolabe if you are more focused on the damage side of things.
Ring of Sorcery (1700)
Has been brought to my attention that Ring of Sorcery may be a viable source of mana for yourself and your team mates in most situations. A ring of sorcery not only increases your max mana but it gives you the Use effect of restoring 135 more every 33 seconds. This combined with Astrolabe makes a good combination in team battles for supplying mana and health to those getting low.
There are times which I would advise against the Ring of Sorcery. This time is really up to your own discression of whether or not you would need it. Keep in mind your teammates abilities, if you have a glacius you may not need it, if you have a Nymphora you may not need it. If your running out of mana in team fights by all means take it, but if your mana pool is fine or there is someone else that is already going for this item then you may not need to get it.
Astrolabe (2306)
As a support role and a tank it means you will be up in the heat of the fight which puts you in great positions to use the Astrolabe on allies in trouble. Not only does this item heal but it gives a passive +3 health regen aura to allies which is also useful.
Barrier Idol (3653)
As a support role it will be your job to supply your team with not only mana and health but magic absorbsion as well! Get this before astrolabe if they have a lot of magic damage.
Abyssal Skull (2050)
At this point in time you may need to sell your Fortified Bracelets off 1 by 1 to make room for your new items including the Abyssal Skull. This item its self is a great support especially if you have a melee heavy team. Not only this but i believe Accursed should really have some lifesteal on him as he begins to hit really hard lategame with all the following items he gets and with his Sear buff improving his attack speed significantly. So at the same time of getting some lifesteal, lets support some more and grab that, plus team bonuses, yay!
Behemoth's Heart (5500)
This item gives you around an extra 1000 max health with a lot of regen also! This will just increase your survivability in team fights which means your helping your teammates more with more Fire Shields, more Catuerize's and more damage your taking that they aren't. The 35 strength on this also means a lot more damage on your attacks which means more lifesteal!
Mock of Brilliance (5150)
If you have managed to reach this point in the game i reccomend a Mock of Brilliance for a 40 damage per second decay on enemies and also a nice +60 damage on your attack swings. A great item for someone so reliant on their auto attack for damage output.
Helm of the Black Legion (2255)
This item for Accursed really isn't worth the money it costs. Sure it provides max health and regen, but there are so many other items that you could get over this. Also, when your ultimate is active, the 40 avoided damage on this items means 40 damage your not getting healed for.
Post Haste (2700)
The teleport function in these boots are great but really Enhanced marchers are so much better for Accursed. Plus they are really quite expensive. Don't get these!
Shieldbreaker (4400), Frostwolf's Skull (6150)
Shieldbreaker and Frostwolf's Skull are both buff placers and as Accursed's Sear ability is also a buff placer it means that these will over write the Sear ability with these instead which isn't helpful in any way, shape or form.
Thanks to 'Padawanabee' for the information on buff placers.
Gameplay:
Laning:
When picking your lane, you will want another hero becuase it makes life so much easier for you, and for them. Once you are in your lane i try to avoid casting any spells until level 3, which is when you have level 2 Fire Shield. This is when the fun and harassment begins.
Ok so you have just got Level 2 Fire Shield, now at this level it does cost quite a bit of mana so you want to make sure that you always have enough for 1 more cast of it that you can save for yourself or your teammate incase something goes pear shaped and need it for survival. But until then your going to use it to decay your enemies health away. The way Fire Shield harrassment works is when you see your ally creep being focused by the heroes or is going to be last hit by the heroes you cast fire shield on them ASAP. Their damage and the other creeps damage is going to burst the Shield fairly quickly, dealing considerable damage to their heroes. My favourite time to use this is also when you have pushed up to the enemies tower and it is focusing your creep with both their heroes next to it. This is a prime time for your Fire Shield as I guarantee they will not have a chance to get away from it before it explodes.
Also, if your full mana and your laning partner is getting low, use a Cauterize on them. Your Ring of the Teacher will get your mana back pretty quickly and it saved them having to waste gold on Runes of Blight charges of Health Potions.
Starting Items:
Ring of the Teacher (500), Runes of Blight (90).
Total: 590g
While playing Accursed early game you will using Fire Shield quite often to harrass the enemy, and as a tank you shouldn't be going back to base too often so a constant mana replinishing item such as ring of the teacher is important to have.
With the very little gold you have left after buying your ring I suggest getting Runes of Blight or a Health Potion if you like just to keep your health topped up after an enemy nuke.
Core Items:
Fortified Bracelet x 2 (1020)
As a strength hero it is important to have 2 Fortified Bracelets on you to increase your mana and most of all your strength which in turn increase health and damage.
Enhanced Marchers (1550)
Enhance marchers are great for Accursed as they can be used for chasing down the survivng opponents that used blink daggers or speed increasing abilities to get away. Use your Enhanced Marchers to catch up to them and then auto-attack them to decrease their movement speed using your Sear ability to allow your allies to catch up and use their stuns / nukes to finish that opponent off.
Homecoming Stone (135) each.
Homecoming stones are so important to any heroes inventory, unless you have Post Haste as this has inbuilt teleport functions. No 'buts' no questions, GET IT. I also normally carry 2 if i have the money when i leave base just incase im in a lane and need to teleport to another lane for a gank and then i can just teleport out afterwards.
*****
Late Game Items:
As mentioned earlier, there are two (2) ways to play Accursed, Supportive tank or as a tank that deals mass damage. Both are viable but each path is chosen depending on team / player preferences. Regardless of your path i would suggest the following items for you late game build, although i would skip getting Astrolabe if you are more focused on the damage side of things.
Ring of Sorcery (1700)
Has been brought to my attention that Ring of Sorcery may be a viable source of mana for yourself and your team mates in most situations. A ring of sorcery not only increases your max mana but it gives you the Use effect of restoring 135 more every 33 seconds. This combined with Astrolabe makes a good combination in team battles for supplying mana and health to those getting low.
There are times which I would advise against the Ring of Sorcery. This time is really up to your own discression of whether or not you would need it. Keep in mind your teammates abilities, if you have a glacius you may not need it, if you have a Nymphora you may not need it. If your running out of mana in team fights by all means take it, but if your mana pool is fine or there is someone else that is already going for this item then you may not need to get it.
Astrolabe (2306)
As a support role and a tank it means you will be up in the heat of the fight which puts you in great positions to use the Astrolabe on allies in trouble. Not only does this item heal but it gives a passive +3 health regen aura to allies which is also useful.
Barrier Idol (3653)
As a support role it will be your job to supply your team with not only mana and health but magic absorbsion as well! Get this before astrolabe if they have a lot of magic damage.
Abyssal Skull (2050)
At this point in time you may need to sell your Fortified Bracelets off 1 by 1 to make room for your new items including the Abyssal Skull. This item its self is a great support especially if you have a melee heavy team. Not only this but i believe Accursed should really have some lifesteal on him as he begins to hit really hard lategame with all the following items he gets and with his Sear buff improving his attack speed significantly. So at the same time of getting some lifesteal, lets support some more and grab that, plus team bonuses, yay!
Behemoth's Heart (5500)
This item gives you around an extra 1000 max health with a lot of regen also! This will just increase your survivability in team fights which means your helping your teammates more with more Fire Shields, more Catuerize's and more damage your taking that they aren't. The 35 strength on this also means a lot more damage on your attacks which means more lifesteal!
Mock of Brilliance (5150)
If you have managed to reach this point in the game i reccomend a Mock of Brilliance for a 40 damage per second decay on enemies and also a nice +60 damage on your attack swings. A great item for someone so reliant on their auto attack for damage output.
*****
Items to avoid!
Helm of the Black Legion (2255)
This item for Accursed really isn't worth the money it costs. Sure it provides max health and regen, but there are so many other items that you could get over this. Also, when your ultimate is active, the 40 avoided damage on this items means 40 damage your not getting healed for.
Post Haste (2700)
The teleport function in these boots are great but really Enhanced marchers are so much better for Accursed. Plus they are really quite expensive. Don't get these!
Shieldbreaker (4400), Frostwolf's Skull (6150)
Shieldbreaker and Frostwolf's Skull are both buff placers and as Accursed's Sear ability is also a buff placer it means that these will over write the Sear ability with these instead which isn't helpful in any way, shape or form.
Thanks to 'Padawanabee' for the information on buff placers.
Gameplay:
Laning:
When picking your lane, you will want another hero becuase it makes life so much easier for you, and for them. Once you are in your lane i try to avoid casting any spells until level 3, which is when you have level 2 Fire Shield. This is when the fun and harassment begins.
Ok so you have just got Level 2 Fire Shield, now at this level it does cost quite a bit of mana so you want to make sure that you always have enough for 1 more cast of it that you can save for yourself or your teammate incase something goes pear shaped and need it for survival. But until then your going to use it to decay your enemies health away. The way Fire Shield harrassment works is when you see your ally creep being focused by the heroes or is going to be last hit by the heroes you cast fire shield on them ASAP. Their damage and the other creeps damage is going to burst the Shield fairly quickly, dealing considerable damage to their heroes. My favourite time to use this is also when you have pushed up to the enemies tower and it is focusing your creep with both their heroes next to it. This is a prime time for your Fire Shield as I guarantee they will not have a chance to get away from it before it explodes.
Also, if your full mana and your laning partner is getting low, use a Cauterize on them. Your Ring of the Teacher will get your mana back pretty quickly and it saved them having to waste gold on Runes of Blight charges of Health Potions.
Tower Diving Kills:
While laning your going to be getting the enemy heroes to pretty low health using your Fire Shield harrassment technique but your going to find it hard to kill the opponent due to the lack of any really big nukes which means they will be running away on really low healths, especially if you have a ranged ally hero in your lane with you.
Due to this I have found on so many occassions it useful to Tower Dive for a kill especially if your ally has a slow ability. But before tower diving you must make sure that you have your Fire Shield on yourself and must be reasonably close to the enemy that's escaping. At this stage the tower will be focusing you and should only take a few attacks from the tower to destroy your shield, exploding, and hopefully killing him. Also make sure you have your Flame Consumption off cooldown so that when you are getting focused and drop to low health the tower will just heal you for the damage you have lost.
While this will get you many kills it's not something that can be explained in words how to perform. You will have to spend many games looking like a noob (especially if your just learning to play Accursed). Before going for this type of a kill you MUST make sure that you check your map before hand and check if anyone is missing from other lanes that could possible come up behind you and stuff you up in front of the tower or just right out kill you without the tower.
*Below is an image of character placement during my most recent tower dive kill. My character is the Accursed with lots of spell animations over the top of him ^_^, killing the electrician, at the time the tower was focusing me with it's attacks, which is what triggered the fire shield damage and then I ran away just afterwards.
Due to this I have found on so many occassions it useful to Tower Dive for a kill especially if your ally has a slow ability. But before tower diving you must make sure that you have your Fire Shield on yourself and must be reasonably close to the enemy that's escaping. At this stage the tower will be focusing you and should only take a few attacks from the tower to destroy your shield, exploding, and hopefully killing him. Also make sure you have your Flame Consumption off cooldown so that when you are getting focused and drop to low health the tower will just heal you for the damage you have lost.
While this will get you many kills it's not something that can be explained in words how to perform. You will have to spend many games looking like a noob (especially if your just learning to play Accursed). Before going for this type of a kill you MUST make sure that you check your map before hand and check if anyone is missing from other lanes that could possible come up behind you and stuff you up in front of the tower or just right out kill you without the tower.
*Below is an image of character placement during my most recent tower dive kill. My character is the Accursed with lots of spell animations over the top of him ^_^, killing the electrician, at the time the tower was focusing me with it's attacks, which is what triggered the fire shield damage and then I ran away just afterwards.
Team Fights:
In team fights your role is to make sure you have Fire Shield on anyone that is taking direct damage or has a debuff on them. Removing things like Succubus' mesmerize of Blood Hunter's Ultimate is really game breaking stuff that saves lives. Remember that people aren't going to stop attacking someone with a 200 damage absorb shield just because they have a 200 damage absorb shield so keep it on people that are close to numeroues allies to increase exploding damage.
Just remember to keep Cauterize'ing allies if you have taken the support role or Cauterize'ing enemies if you have a Jeraziah, Demented Shaman or anyone else that heals your allies for you, then your safe to lay in some nukes on the focused enemies.
Just remember to keep Cauterize'ing allies if you have taken the support role or Cauterize'ing enemies if you have a Jeraziah, Demented Shaman or anyone else that heals your allies for you, then your safe to lay in some nukes on the focused enemies.
Teleport Trick:
If you ever get in the position where you are ganked or about to die from a few enemies then read on! In many situations the above has happened to me on accursed where I am either ganked in an awkward position or am the last survivor of the team in a team battle and am being chased down. Once you fall below your 400 health your ulti will kick in, at this point of time you will notice your enemies take a step away from you so you can't hit them, at this point in time use your Homecoming Stone shortkey and get the hell outta there! This works quite often as they have usually just used all their stuns on your fellow teammates and have nothing left to use on you, that or they have shifted their attention to another teammate or tower and you can teleport out! This takes practice and doesn't always work but in situations with a low disable enemy team its normally worth trying it out!
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