-Items-Items to Go ForCore
Seriously, this is all you need to start raping (early game that is). This, and a shoe. Other items exist to only help you rape faster (and with more chances of hero death^^).
Never goes wrong on anyone. The stats somewhat help your HP.
The boots
Attack speed to kill faster and the extra health/mana early game helps with the survivability/spam.
BoT wouldn't be core on Eredar. Chances of your target escaping are close to zero anyway (thanks to Demonic Purge, and if you can't kill him in that 4 seconds you probably don't deserve to kill him anyway), so you don't need the extra movespeed from BoT to kill, though mobility is never bad.
Phase is just retarded when you are casting Shadow Poison every 3 seconds.
Arcane Boots is viable on Eredar, but I would prefer Treads over it, because Treads gives more flexible options with survivability and mana, while Arcane Boots just make you a little too fragile. Also, Treads gives attack speed, which you will need while trying to kill a target under Demonic Purge. Of course, replenishing mana is always helpful, especially with 4 active skills.
To sum up, get Treads if you want to semi-carry, get Arcane if you want to support.
The orbs
Of all the orbs there are, Deso is my personal favourite on Eredar. You need to kill as fast as possible while your target is under Demonic Purge. Deso fits the bill. Be warned that if you take this build you need to have a lot of control over your hero's health. Playing at 1-2 hp/sec regen the whole game isn't going to reward NCing behaviour or taking too much damage such that you have to run back to fountain constantly.
Another orb which does the same thing. Kills fast, but in this case your lifesteal will help you stay out on the field for longer than if you used Deso. Good news is that it is cheaper than Deso. Bad news is that not only does it kill slower than Deso, it kills you faster than Deso as well.
I wouldn't really recommend skadi to be used. Tried it in one game and the results weren't too fantastic. Sure I didn't die, but I didn't get many kills either. Illusions only last for 6 seconds, Demonic Purge lasts for 4. Better to make good use of them and kill fast. Still, if you want to get skadi, make sure to abuse the fact that it stacks with lifesteal.
Extensions
To play an effective Shadow Demon, it is imperative to 'get the jump' on enemy heroes. Eredar is a scary hero if played properly, if there's only one hero that is. To prevent that hero from running away (when he sees you), you can use Blink to initiate your combo so that he cannot escape in time.
Furthermore, you can use Blink + Disruption to get away if you are trouble. Be warned, however, that Blink disable duration is 3 seconds, while Disruption disable duration is 2.5 seconds. With godlike reaction, your opponents can hit you again before you have time to double click your dagger.
Orchid Malevolence is my personal favourite extension item. In every case, silence gets outclassed by hex, but not for Eredar. Firstly, Demonic Purge completely stops whatever attack your target is doing, combined with stopping your target from moving. All you need is to silence him, and the effect is just about as lethal as a hex (barring the fact that he can still use items to get out). Secondly, Orchid > Guinsoo in terms of DPS, which Eredar needs to kill quickly.
Never been bad on any hero, never will be bad on any hero. After Orchid and Demonic Purge has finished, hex them and set them up for even more damage.
Good item to raise DPS, could replace Deso as a primary DPS item, or else get it after Orchid and/or Guinsoo.
Combos well with Purge, screws invis heroes hard.
Not really an extension. Forgot Treads, get Arcane Boots, if you are getting Dagon. It is viable to build Eredar as a caster, with damage amplification. Loses out very quickly late game though.
Situational. Any carry worth focusing down needs this.
Tanks further. You will need all the HP you can get anyway, since you don't want to be stuck at 1-2 hp/sec the whole game.
Solves Eredar's survivability problems early game, but I'm not too huge of a fan of Vanguard, having been repeatedly nerfed to oblivion, especially for ranged heroes.
Armour problems that need to be solved? Both do the job equally well at increasing armour. Get Shiva if you want to be more defensive. Get Assault Cuirass if you want to be more aggressive.
Adds more to the combo, gives some sort of escape tool, and can be an initiating tool.
Not really an extension. This leads you onto the support route. Get Arcane Boots over Treads if you are going for support Eredar.
Rejected items
Long gone ever since utility items like Bottle and Magic Stick have taken over. Bracers to solve HP problems are still acceptable, I suppose.
-Play Style-
Choosing your laneIf you are playing the semi-carry build, solo mid. You have a great lane control skill. Abuse it, solo mid with it, beat the shit out of any other solo that comes your way. Furthermore, levels are great, aren't they?
If you are playing the support build, lane with a carry.
Early Game (1-7)Assuming you picked Eredar, there can be 2 ways you can go. Interestingly enough, Eredar is one of the rare few heroes who I believe can start with a Bottle. This is due to his base damage and animation, which is good enough to last hit in lane, unlike other heroes like SF/DS who start with pathetic damage. Wand + Branches (upgrade to Stick later) will be the main choice of build for most, giving some stats and damage. If you get Bottle first, at least keep an eye out for the first rune so you can pick it up after you finish drinking. If you get Branches + Wand, at least have a courier.
Anyone wanting to kill you after you just came out? Use Disruption on them, run. As usual, play passively, until you reach level 3. That is where things start getting interesting. Use Shadow Poison on the opposing hero immediately. If it lands, good for you. If your opponent stays, continue throwing Shadow Poison at him. If he backs off, move forward towards the creep line and behind the enemy creep wave, forcing him not to get any last hits and denies (not recommended if you don't know how to handle your creep aggro properly). If you manage to do your job well, you should be overleveling your opponent at any rate.
That situation is for solo mid opponents only though. If you face a dual lane, however, things get bad. Eredar cannot face a dual lane at any rate effectively. Even if he poisons one of them (unless the opponents have no brains and stick together), the other is still there to leech the gold and experience. In this case, try to harass them as possible with Shadow Poison, but don't be expecting results you can see if it was a solo instead of a dual lane.
At level 6, you have a rather neat combo that allows you to get rid of your target (assuming there's only him of course). The whole combo needs 475 mana and some skill.
1. Be within range of your target
2. Cast Shadow Poison (if it misses, back to Step 1)
3. Cast Shadow Poison again (if it misses, you have one more chance at the cost of 50 more mana, or else you go back to Step 1)
4. Cast Disruption on your target
5. When he gets back, cast another Shadow Poison (unless you suck so hard you can't even land Shadow Poison when it is set up
6. Cast Demonic Purge on target
7. Cast another Shadow Poison on target
8. Hit more
9. Release the poison
If you didn't kill him, at least you should have forced him back. That's good enough. Be careful of counter attacks while using this combo though. I played one game with SF where I landed all 3 razes on a dumb Eredar who was retarded enough to think that Demonic Purge was god and that he could run towards me without any fear. He died.
If you play Eredar as a support, lane with a carry and babysit him with Shadow Poison. If the carry has a disable, that makes killing all the more easier. Tactics for killing would still be the same.
Mid Game (8-16)If you want, you can be ganking, but farming up and getting overleveled while killing anyone who comes to your lane can be attractive as well. You aren't that Medusa who needs to rice for 40 minutes though, so don't overdo it. And watch out for ganks, being extremely easy to kill considering your health isn't extremely high.
If you choose to gank, try picking the lanes that have been pushed a lot. It may seem suicidal with your health to dive deep into enemy territory for kills, but normally those are the lanes where there is only one hero farming alone.
If you choose to farm, make sure that you grab every last hit possible, because every moment of free farm should be cherished well. With your damage and animation, it shouldn't be that hard, especially if there is nobody to take the lane from you. If someone comes to take the lane from you, tactics early game will still prove useful in chasing the unlucky fellow off. Also, don't wander off too far when there are missing heroes. Don't wait for your allies to tell you that someone is missing and then hey, he turns up in your face and owns you. Especially if you are playing the semi-carry build, you cannot afford dying.
If you are playing support, protect the carry by using your disabling skills to stop whoever ganks him, or set up a counter gank. Remember that you can help your carry dodge projectiles by using Disruption on him as well.
Late Game (17-25)Over time, your carrying potential will start to weaken and slowly fall (unless you played support). Now, your role is to be an anti-carry. Disruption will take the enemy carry out for a while, buying your team time to rape the others. The illusions that spawn from the carry will also be powerful enough to cause some distraction in the fight. Soul Catcher and Demonic Purge will make sure he falls quickly without offering too much resistance.
Before every team fight, throw a Shadow Poison into the fight. Remember that it gives vision of enemy heroes in addition to the damage. Also useful to scout Roshan safely if you suspect the enemy team is there. Considering the mana cost and cooldown late game, it's no harm to throw out a couple of these randomly just to scout.
-Friends/ Foes/ Counters-FriendsAnyone that has a disable so that you can stack Shadow Poison. Other than that, Eredar is perfectly capable of killing on his own, or if he's supporting, helping others on his own.
Foes
Resistant to Demonic Purge and Soul Catcher. Throw in Pounce, and you never have a hope of killing him.
You can't stop his Charge Of Darkness from landing, and from then on if you are unlucky it's permabash. With the cast time on all your spells, it's extremely hard to launch a counter attack.
Like Slark, Jugger is capable of screwing up your debuffs with his Blade Fury. Hit him regardless even if he's using Blade Fury, and laugh in his face if he tries to Omnislash you. Use Disruption on yourself.
Image heroes like TB and PL are fine to kill, although Shadow Demon excels 1v1 and is supposedly weak to all image heroes. However, these guys will give you a hard time. Not only are you unable to pin down the real illusion, their spells will dispel Soul Catcher and Demonic Purge as well, rendering you unable to kill them. Counter it with Orchid if possible, but Orchid will be owned by Manta, which will then be screwed by Guinsoo (so it all depends on your farming speed if you want to kill these guys).
The only hero in the whole game that plays 2 on 1, and Eredar specifically excels one on one.
And you thought Syllabear was bad when he plays 2v1. This guy plays 4v1. H4X0RS!!!!!
Doing solo against someone who has this will make your job a lot harder, because of your Shadow Poison spam you will rack charges up for them extremely fast. Make your shots count in order to maximise damage.
Counters everything you throw out. Who asked Eredar to have 4 active spells?
Your combo activates after a set period of time. Demonic Purge will get reflected if your opponents know what they are doing, and with enough luck they might even reflect Shadow Poison if you don't release it at the right time.
Counters
Dodge projectile stuns with Disruption.
Buffs are removed by Demonic Purge.
Giving you your own personal army of illusions after you cast Disruption on him.
Counters Diffusal carriers (to a small extent), as Diffusal carriers will find themselves getting raped by it when they get hit by Disruption.
-Solo Mid Matchups-Eredar can beat most of the common mid solos in the game with ease using his Shadow Poison. However, there are a few mid solos that can stay on lane with him.
Extremely potent against Eredar. Not only is OD able to hold his own against Shadow Poison by sapping Eredar of his mana, but with psychic powers can also use Astral Imprisonment himself before the poison takes effect, causing no damage to him.
Mana burners, rendering Eredar unable to spam his spells effectively. KotL isn't that big of a threat because his leak needs you to move to be effective, and Illuminate just places a Shadow Poison on him.
Every time a Shadow Poison comes his way, Phase Shift screws it up. Try to wait until he uses Phase Shift for whatever reason, which gives you a free setup for your Shadow Poison.
Refraction easily shuts Shadow Poison down. There is no true way to counter TA solo mid using Eredar. You need to stack Shadow Poison charges, then burn her Refraction charges completely (even one charge will save her from your Poison), an extremely hard job to do considering that TA can just back off a little and wait for the Poison to automatically take effect. The only consolation is that Meld won't help her here, since Shadow Poison hits invisible units, and TA can't move under Meld. Another good thing is that, at level 6, purge her Refraction off and let the rape proceed.
Thats the end of the guide. I hope that all the new hero lovers will give this guide a try and see what potential eredar actually has. If you like these guides plz let me know.
Credits:
Playdota for the images
Channel eleos for having the new map and let me claim the heroes info^^..also test him
