General Discussion

General Discussion[GUIDE COMPETITION] THE IMBA PRIEST ( DAZZLE GUIDE )

[GUIDE COMPETITION] THE IMBA PRIEST ( DAZZLE GUIDE ) in General Discussion
ZeUs!

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    [size=30] [Color=#008000] THE IMBA PRIEST - DAZZLE - By ZeUs!=) [/color] [/size]
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    [Img]http://www.dota2wallpapers.ru/_ph/1/692151355.jpg[/img]

    [Color=#ffff00]Introduction:[/color]

    Dazzle is a ranged intelligence hero, typically used as a babysitter(lane supporter). Dazzle is one of the best support heroes out there and requires a fair bit of knowledge to play well.
    Your teammates will just love you if you can play him upto the mark. Though i have not played him much, but in my opinion I can play it decently.
    Early game, Dazzle can just wreck enemy carries and provide comfort for his carries.
    Mid game is where Dazzle shines and if you use your skills properly you can own the enemy team pretty hard.
    Late game, you need to coordinate with your teammates and use your ulti at the correct moment and win the game.

    Pros and cons:

    [Color=#008000]+Awesome lane support with 2 skills loved by every carry in the laning phase(Shallow Grave and Shadow wave).[/color]
    [Color=#008000]+High base movement speed [/color]
    [Color=#008000]+Great early burst damage with Shadow wave if u can use it correctly. [/color]
    [Color=#008000]+One of the best life saving skills in the entire game in Shallow Grave. [/color]
    [Color=#008000]+Sexy mohawk! :D[/color]
    [Color=#ff0000]-Somewhat Level dependent.[/color]
    [Color=#ff0000]-Gets depleted of mana in the early game quickly.[/color]
    [Color=#ff0000]-Easy target for the enemy.[/color]

    [Color=#0000ff]Skill builds:[/color]

    I have 3 skill builds which i use most of the times.

    Skill build 1:

    E,Q,W,E,E,R,E,Q,Q,Q,R,W,W,W,Stats,R

    This build is primarily defensive but a little bit offensive as well.
    It devastates melee carries if they try to farm in your presence. Just use your Shadow Wave when they try to last hit a creep, and BOOM, almost half of their HP goes. Now, you have to keep in mind that while using Shadow wave you have to try and use it when the enemy is surrounded by your creeps or any allied heroes. That way, the maximum damage is dealt to the enemy.
    Also, never skip the Shallow Grave at the 3rd level. You could also skill it on level 2 if you see your opponents are too aggressive.
    Skipping Shallow Grave=Disgrace to the hero, enuff said.
    The Posion touch is only for getting a kill or saving your carry. NEVER spam it. I repeat, NEVER. You cannot use it too many times as it has a high manacost.

    Skill build 2:

    E,W,E,Q,E,R,E,W,W,W,R,Q,Q,Q,Stats,R

    This build is extremely defensive. Use your Shadow wave to harrass and your shallow grave to protect. This can be used against an aggro tri-lane though, Dazzle works best in a dual lane. The high range of Shallow Grave can be a huge bonus and help you to give those clutch graves at the correct time!

    Skill build 3:

    Q,E,Q,W,E,R,Q,Q,E,E,R,W,W,W,Stats,R

    This build is primarily aggro build. If you are against a solo offlaner you can give him a hard time with this build. The skilling of Q is given prime importance here and then E. The role of E is to help in those tower dives and 1 early point is skilled in W for that purpose only. Follow this only when you start owning and you want to own more!

    [Color=#008000]Item builds[/color]

    Early game:

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/a/a3/Iron_Branch_icon.png[/img] [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/a/a3/Iron_Branch_icon.png[/img] [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/a/a3/Iron_Branch_icon.png[/img]
    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/1/1c/Animal_Courier_%28Radiant%29_icon.png[/img] [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/f/f6/Observer_Ward_icon.png[/img]

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/f/fd/Tango_icon.png[/img] [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/3/36/Healing_Salve_icon.png[/img] [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/7/77/Clarity_icon.png[/img]
    Start with 3 GG branches(complete into wand later), tango x1, salve x1, and 1 clarity. Buy the courier or wards for your team. Do both if ur team is stupid and picked 4 carries ._.

    Mid game:
    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/b/be/Arcane_Boots_icon.png[/img]
    You should get an Arcane Boots as soon as possible, You are mana dependent and arcane boots are the only boots that you should have!

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/a/a6/Soul_Ring_icon.png[/img]
    You could opt for a Soul Ring, but i personally dont use it much.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/5/58/Urn_of_Shadows_icon.png[/img]
    You can get Urn of Shadows to maximize your healing potential and also increase your mana regen by a tiny bit.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/f/f7/Mekansm_icon.png[/img]
    Mekansm should be built every game on Dazzle. The heal potential improves by a ton with that item. ALWAYS make this sexy item.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/a/a2/Force_Staff_icon.png[/img]
    Force staff is the BEST item that you can get in mid game. Those clutch graves or Ultimates can win games bro. It even improves Dazzle survivability by a ton!

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/f/f6/Observer_Ward_icon.png[/img] [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/3/3e/Sentry_Ward_icon.png[/img]
    Obs ward/Sent ward: Cant stress much about how important it is to get these. Ward the whole map. Really, you cant do much late game, so keep warding. Ward and save lives!

    Late game:

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/0/07/Aghanim%27s_Scepter_icon.png[/img]
    Aghanim's Scepter boosts your ultimate well. It also gives u nice stats. The increased Weave duration really helps.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/8/80/Eul%27s_Scepter_of_Divinity_icon.png[/img]
    Eul's Scepter of Divinity gives good mana regen and works as a cheap hex. Get it if the enemy tries to focus you.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/9/9d/Ghost_Scepter_icon.png[/img]
    Ghost scepter is always the best pick for a support. Get it if it really becomes a hard game.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/5/54/Scythe_of_Vyse_icon.png[/img]
    Scythe of Vyse is hard to get on Dazzle but if it goes extremely late you can make it. Or, if you are stomping this item will make them rage quit. :P

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/7/76/Pipe_of_Insight_icon.png[/img]
    Pipe of Insight helps if the enemy has lot of magic damage. Get it if you face Death Prophet, Invoker, etc.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/4/4b/Necronomicon_icon.png[/img]
    Necronomicon aka RAT book can help a lot in pushing lineups!

    [Color=#ffa500]Playstyle:[/color]

    Early game, just harrass the crap out of enemy carries. You are a very strong laner and have more HP and better movespeed than most supports. Use that shadow wave when u can to take chunks of the enemy carry's HP(when he is surrounded by your creeps).

    Mid game, keep roaming and ganking with your allies. Tower dive is Dazzle's speciality. Kill, Grave, Heal. Simple, eh?
    AND, always carry TP scrolls. TP>Shallow Grave ally>Kill enemy>Profit.

    Late game, stay back, dont get caught. Enemies will try to take you out first as you are the annoying IMBA little guy. Stick with your Fat carry (just hope he is fatter than the enemy).

    [Color=#ff0000]Common mistakes:[/color]
    Not taking a Shallow Grave before level 4. If you do this, you should not be allowed to play Dazzle. Seriously, put 1 point in that grave. It is too awesome to not take!

    Spamming the Q can kill your mana. If u want to spam do it with that E. Never spam the Q, unless u have a good manapool.

    USE the ultimate at the correct time. Very low CD, use it in every fight. It always helps. Never think that you need to always hit both the enemies and allies. Just use the ult when u can! Your team or enemy team its the same. After Aghs though, you can hit both easily with that massive AOE. I have seen people saving their ultimates. DON'T. Use it about 8-10 seconds before a battle.

    [Color=#ff0000]Enemies:[/color]

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/f/fb/Axe.png[/img]
    Axe:This guy just kills your best skill. Shallow Graving is useless with this guy. Please dont pick Dazzle if u see this Red Bodied Madman.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/b/b1/Ancient_Apparition.png[/img]
    Ancient Apparition:This guy's ulti makes your healing useless. Dazzle without healing? NOoooo :( But you can still be okay with this guy coz its only the annoying ultimate.

    [Color=#008000]Friends:[/color]

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/d/d5/Naga_Siren.png[/img]
    Naga:Her illusions provide extra targets for Shadow wave and hence more damage. Ensnare enemy>Mirror image>Surround enemy>Heal. Ez kill.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/1/19/Broodmother.png[/img]
    Brood:The little spiderlings also provide extra targets for ur shadow wave. Plus, they are invis. Sudden damage if u surround enemy with spiderlings and then heal.

    [Img]http://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/9/9f/Pudge.png[/img]
    Pudge:When he gets low hp, use shallow grave and watch the magic. He can kill someone during the duration with rot AND he will SUICIDE immediately when the duration ends coz he has 1 hp. :P

    [Color=#ffff00]Pro games:[/color]
    Don't know much about pro Dazzle players. Will appreciate suggestions from others.

    [Color=#ee82ee]Kuroky:[/color]
    [Youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg8scREPbEk[/youtube]

    [Color=#7f7f7f]Notes:[/color]
    My first guide. Feedback and suggestions highly appreciated. Wrote this very fast, so i may have made errors here and there.
    Thanks for reading this guide. I am still learning but i hope i could help some of you guys :)

    Dazzle is my favourite support hero as u can see by my winrate :P Just sayin!

    Finally, a big thank you to all those who could patiently read upto this point! Congratulations! You got yourself the "Wall of text Conqueror" achievement!

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    Soultrap

      Say something about medallion, necronomicon, desolator, AC or refresher on Dazzle.

      ZeUs!

        @Soultrap
        medallion and necronomicon are okay, but, AC or refresher? Most games u cant even make AC and it is not ur job at all. Refresher is not needed very much coz Dazzle ult does not have a high CD. Desolater? Seriously? You are not a carry? ._.
        Will add necro to the list later. Thanks for the feedback though! :)

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        Soultrap

          All your skills deal physical damage, why not to take Desolator to increase your damage output and provide useful debuff for a team? Desolator debuff lasts 15 seconds, so you only have to attack each enemy once, and their armor will be reduced for the rest of teamfight.

          Refresher = 2 Ultimates, twice the armor buff/debuff and 2 Shallow Graves.

          P.S. Anyway, I'm not allowed to play Dazzle, because I take Shallow Grave at level 10. =)
          http://dotabuff.com/matches/519736580/skills

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          ZeUs!

            Deso is not need coz u are not the damage dealer. Carries are there for it. If u dont have a single carry in your team then u can go for it. Dazzle should be played like a support. Carrying with him is just not good. If u say deso is good then name all the carry items too.
            Yes, refresher is nice, but u can have better items than that. Hex>Refresher. Shallow grave has a cd of 15 seconds at the last level. U really need a refresher for that? IMO, its not very useful, but its okay.

            Soultrap

              What if your carry can't build Deso? Anti-Mage for example.

              Gustaphos

                @ zeus

                It is very RARE that I get a deso on dazzle. If it is getting to the late game though, and no one has one I get it. Why? Because when you hit an enemy/tower the armor debuff of -7 stays on that unit allowing your carries to blow through them. VERY situational but just wanted to bring that up.

                Soultraps refresher idea is valid but that is really EXPENSIVE! Tough to do for dazzle. There seems to be much more team fight items to get for him early on. A sheepstick for a disable for lower cost almost seems more viable. IDK I haven't tried it because its tough to get big ticket items for a 5 slot (Hard support).

                I better create my dazzle guide today! :O

                Soultrap

                  @-hg- Cpt. Caveman
                  I noticed you had Midas in some matches. How much time it takes to get Midas on Dazzle? Is it good?

                  Gustaphos

                    Hey Soul,

                    Well... that is an extremely situational item. The only situation is when i draw "first blood" and it gives me a pile of gold, AND i already have my soul ring AND i know i can grab it before 8 min. This is extremely RARE and have been dabbling in it when I draw first blood. So far it has been working out well, but I do not grab it otherwise.

                    The XP boost is the main reason I grab it. Any slot 4/5 seems to be lacking in gold/xp and dazzle is lvl dependant. Huge help when you can step out of lane, grab a beefy jungle creep for 2.5x the xp and to keep the wards up for the team.

                    ZeUs!

                      @-hg- Cpt. Caveman
                      thanks for the reply. building deso on a hard support is somewhat odd haha.:P plus deso is only a stomping item. i NEVER get it coz i play dazzle as hard supp.
                      anyways how was the guide? any good?

                      FlipFlop

                        Pick dazzle againts mid melee hero is also awesome, your enemy wont get any cs because of ur shadow wave, and because u have grave mostly all enemy smoke gank will fail :3

                        ZeUs!

                          @Flop
                          mid is nice, but its better to give it to someone like Invoker or OD. Dazzle can do mid pretty well but he can do lane supporting best. :D

                          Gustaphos

                            @ Zeus

                            So far so good! I don't like your soul ring comment though! but everyone plays him different. My standard build out the gate is Sage's mask, soul ring recipe then i either get courier or wards. Then I can get the ring of health in the side shop ez for quick 1:00~2:00 min soul ring. Its so powerful early game and allows for more spamming of shadow wave/poison touch for harass and I can easily secure first blood or assist first kill with it. Check out my recent games and filter my recent games by dazzle and check out my builds.

                            I've tried mid before a handful of times and 100% agree that mid vs melee is first blood at my bracket (Just came back to 3k mmr) You can always swap after you hit lvl 6 with a more viable mid hero so he gets the boost then go support another character. I've only lost 1 time out of the 10 mids i've done in dazzle career. It was against an OD in all pick non-ranked for practice. Bad choice! :O

                            ZeUs!

                              @-hg- Cpt. Caveman
                              to be honest, i never actually tried soul ring, coz i had so much success just without it! :P
                              i will try soul ring sometime, but i hope that does not skew my 82% WR :v :P
                              going mid melee against dazzle is just comitting suicide... his shadow wave rapes that guy! :D

                              Gustaphos

                                @ Zeus

                                Whenever I try (now) on new builds/characters I DO NOT play MMR and if you are highly concerned about your WR then do it against "UNFAIR" bots. I don't think the bots are as smart as people but it'll give you a feel for what you will do.

                                For instance, I tried doing a LVL 1 dazzle jungle with buying 4 couriers and using shadow wave and jungling. It didn't work! If I went into a pub match like that people would of SH*T themselves and flamed me!

                                Your 82% win rate I hope you keep it. I was there @ that many plays with him long ago, but no longer the case. I hover around 60% now and have a ton of games with him.

                                Another thing I will put in my dazzle guide later (sorry want to do this) is vs tri lane and going solo lane vs the other team. I have come out on top on this style and really presents a poor exp/gold gain from enemy team since it is tough to kill dazzle and his wave has a great distance.

                                P.S. I do agree on the medallion addition. Since poison touch/shadow wave is PHYS. DMG it is BIG early/mid game and even in late game when enemy team has huge armor. Stacked on your ULT and someone carrying an AC and hitting with DESO there are many times an individual on the enemy team will go well below -25 armor. Big armor AGI. heros will melt against this (PA/DROW) or big STR heros that stack a lot of armor (ALCH/Bristleback/Timbersaw) they will get a big surprise when they are getting hit very hard all of a sudden.

                                Gustaphos

                                  P.S. tanked my rating due to trying new things in MMR last month and while having the flu. Two bad decisions. Dont play with the flu for 3 days straight. It enabled my 12 loss streak for record high, don't play all pick in MMR IMO had more success being cpt. in cpt mode or cpt. draft if you see my other thread or view my wins lately.

                                  All pick is garbage in solo queue IF you are fast enough to click "become captain" you can call out to people of taking a carry that works well with dazzle (Any melee semi/Carry STR based hero, or melee AGI hero)

                                  ZeUs!

                                    @hgt
                                    yeah.. but the problem is if someone clicks capt before me.. some retards will just make another loss fr me -.-

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                                    Soultrap

                                      @-hg- Cpt. Caveman
                                      Minimum armor capped at -20.

                                      ZeUs!

                                        @soul
                                        you sure? coz i think i saw -24 in one of my games...

                                        Gustaphos

                                          @ Soul

                                          This armor buff/debuff was forwarded to you on another forum. -25/+25 is the cap:

                                          http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Armor

                                          @ Zeus

                                          It will show going below -25 on the numbers as the per second duration of the weave is affecting them (saw this with a slardar -20 armor ult and my weave go to -45 armor with medallion stack with AC) but didn't have any more effect on the character and if you hover over them it will show the -% as decreasing as well but has no more effect past -25 armor (-71% phys. damage amplification -25 armor)

                                          Keep in mind the same goes for armor MAX you cannot exceed 25 armor it will show as such, but the armor % is capped in this case as 60% dmg reduction. I do not know why they are not linear on -/+ % damage amp. or dmg. reduction. on armor ask Valve!

                                          ZeUs!

                                            @hg
                                            alright... so the point of refresher is totally useless on dazzle... thanks for the info!

                                            Gustaphos

                                              Well I saw that 1374 people used a refresher orb on him this month... If his max lvl 16 is 1.5 armor debuff * 24 seconds thats -36 armor, then *2 would be -72 armor..... No I would not go refresher orb on him much better items for him than that since the max is -25.

                                              ZeUs!

                                                yep. exactly!

                                                Soultrap

                                                  http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Armor

                                                  Says -20 is minimum. It can be -25 but damage will be the same as with -20.

                                                  But there is no limit on positive armor (I guess), you can use ultimate on your allies twice, to give them +72 armor (with scepter).

                                                  ZeUs!

                                                    according to -hg- Cpt. Caveman, the limit is+25/-25. so idk

                                                    Super Meat Boy

                                                      Regarding some of the items:

                                                      Arcane boots are not the best choice on Dazzle, but should be bought if no one else in the team plans on buying them. Phase Boots for better positioning or Treads for survivability are much better option.

                                                      Mekansm is fine on Dazzle, if there is one else in the team that is a better carrier. Dazzle is already going to be focused hard by a competent team, and by getting Mekansm, you ensure to become their first target to kill during TF.

                                                      Desolator is fine if you're mid hero and going to semi-carry. It synergies nicely with his skill set.

                                                      Soul Ring... I won't get in another debate about this one :) I watched your game -hg- Cpt. Caveman yesterday. I see now why you buy it. You got it early but you didn't buy GG branches or consumables at all, which made that Lion with 47 base dmg hit you like a truck with a regular attack. As soon as you got it, you started spamming Wave as soon as Soul Ring is off CD. Needless to say, you push at an insane rate, and unless you have some push oriented line-up where you want to end the game ASAP, that should never be done. Not only are you an easy target to gank by mid hero, but also if and enemy hero in that lane knows how to last hit under his tower, you're doing him a favor by getting him an easy farm. I watched that one match so it might have been an exception or something.

                                                      Medallion is fine also, but can be skipped if there is not much physical dmg heroes in your team. But it synergies with your skills so there's no harm done if you do make it in that situation. It also helps a lot when killing Roshan.

                                                      Refresher Orb... Just no. Unless you're stomping hard and you want to troll a bit :)

                                                      Urn is also a very good choice to either replace Medallion or go along with it.

                                                      Add every hero with silence to Dazzle enemy list. Bloodseeker, Silencer and such heroes make you useless.

                                                      ZeUs!

                                                        @Super Meat Boy
                                                        silence is almost always a counter to every intelligence hero.. if u make orchid anyone can counter you... so i think silence is a general counter and not a hard counter... i just listed the good counters..

                                                        Super Meat Boy

                                                          The reason why i mentioned silence against Dazzle, is because most of the intelligence heroes can somehow still contribute with their spells once the silence has ended. Dazzle needs precise timing with his Grave to do his job. If silenced at the right moment, you can't use Grave, and the carry will probably die. You can't make up for it after the silence has ended.

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                                                          ZeUs!

                                                            @Super Meat Boy
                                                            Three things I want to mention here:

                                                            1)Getting the grave is where your positioning comes into play. you should never be leading your team. dazzle should always be the clever rat who hides behind the carry/initiator. so if they cant see you how can they silence you?

                                                            2)The other thing to note here is that even in coordinated plays you can only focus on 1 main target. So you either focus on the annoying support and let the carry annihilate you, or you target the fat carry and see him shred you to bits under the protection of the annoying rat. Seldom will you find multi targeted plays where every guy focuses each player(this isn't football and you cannot man mark due to the dynamic nature of doto!)

                                                            3)The huge cast range(maxed out it gives you 1k range) of shallow grave allows you a massive advantage to kick back and observe the action from the sidelines and step right in like a boss when your carry needs you and you'll notice I hinted at this(hello, forcestaff!)

                                                            Thats why, the bottomline is that you need a decent level of expertise to pull off a good dazzle show(hence the words "requires a fair bit of knowledge to play well.")

                                                            Super Meat Boy

                                                              I didn't really mean the heroes with conventional type of silence. I mentioned Silencer, Bloodseeker and such for a reason. You cannot hide from a Silencer ultimate, and Bloodseeker's Rage is not only extremely long, but has a very big range (in other words, he will find you and silence you). Silences from heroes like Death Prophet, Drow Ranger and such are not the ones i talked about.

                                                              ZeUs!

                                                                About BS i don't agree... I have had many games against him and i could stay hidden from him. Its not hard to hide from a BS, especially with the mobility of a forcestaff!
                                                                But, you are correct about Silencer...
                                                                However, his ultimate can win teamfights let alone tackle a single hero! Its like mentioning the obvious... like Magnus RP, Enigma Blackhole, etc... A well timed SIlencer ultimate can counter any hero in the game...

                                                                Super Meat Boy

                                                                  Anyway, it's a very good guide! Just wanted to contribute a little bit from my own experience :)

                                                                  ZeUs!

                                                                    @Super Meat Boy
                                                                    Thanks!
                                                                    Thanks for ur take on it too! Lets keep dazzling everyone! :P