Eozm's Guide to Aiushtha, the Enchantress

Updated for 6.59

http://planetdota.blogspot.com/

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Skill Build3. Item Build4. Skills Strategy5. Combat Strategy6. Laning7. Farming8. Jungling9. Ganking10. Team Battles11. Replays12. Conclusion13. Change Log14. Credits

1. Introduction

I am pretty sure that that there was at least one guide on Enchantress. Well I don't know any, so

that is why I decided to write a guide on Enchantress. However, when you read this, I am assuming that you know at least the basics on using Enchantress. Enchantress is a great ganker as she has a disable of her own, either the actual spell or dominated creep, along with the hero killing spell, Impetus, which deals more damage as the target is further away from Enchantress. To the enemies, Enchantress is a very hard hero to kill due to her two slows which slows movementspeed and/or attackspeed and a healing ability. She is quite item independent, so she is also the chicken buyer and ward placer.

I really dislike posting Item Build, but I had no choice for my guide as I did not have any other guides to compare it with. The Item Build suggested is what I typically get, but I'm sure there are better alternatives. Please try not to argue with me about items, as that is what I do not want to do.

My goal is that this guide will help you in terms of "strategy" when using Enchantress. That means that this guide will be text-heavy, and possibly, completely imageless. I have hard time posting images as I just totally suck using photoshops and stuff.

2. Skill Build

For complete details about Enchantress and her skills, click here.

Level 01 | UntouchableLevel 02 | Nature's Attendants/Enchant*Level 03 | Nature's Attendants*/EnchantLevel 04 | Nature's Attendants*/EnchantLevel 05 | Nature's Attendants/Enchant*Level 06 | ImpetusLevel 07 | Nature's Attendants/Enchant*Level 08 | Nature's Attendants/Enchant*Level 09 | Nature's Attendants*/EnchantLevel 10 | Nature's Attendants*/EnchantLevel 11 | ImpetusLevel 12 | UntouchableLevel 13 | UntouchableLevel 14 | UntouchableLevel 15 | StatsLevel 16 | ImpetusLevel 17-25 | Stats

Note: * indicates that the first skill listed is what I normally raise.

1 level of Untouchable at the beginning is raised simply because there is a chance that a creep might attack you, or you are harassed by your enemy. 30% might not slow much against your enemy hero, but enemy creeps tend to stop their entire movement, meaning that they just stand still under the effect of Untouchable. This will allow you to out-run the enemy creeps or get less

harassment if you happen to be attacked. This will also allow you to net a kill without too much serious consequence. Then a level of Enchant is raised to start dominating some neutrals for an early game kill or defence.

2 levels of Nature's Attendant is raised as levels 3~5 are the key moments for early game kills. The heal will allow Enchantress to stay in the lane since level 2 of Nature's Attendant heals 500 health points. Then Enchant is maxed to maximize the ganking capability due to the disables (from the spell itself or from dominated creeps). After that, Nature's Attendant is maxed as it allows Enchantress to heal more health points. Untouchable is maxed before Stats because it allows Enchantress to tank more during the late game where pushes occur. Obviously, Impetus is raised whenever possible for ganks.

3. Item Build

Enchantress is a ganker as well as a supporter. She should roam, ganking with her slow, Impetus and heal. Enchantress is quite item independent too. I only added the Item Build because I did not have any other guide to link for the Item Build. I really hate to actually post in item build as there are too many items that Enchantress can get. However, I strongly recommend that you get Eul's Sceptre or Guinsoo for Enchantress.

[Click on the images to view their description]

Boots of Speed is a no-brainer. I get 3 Null Talismans because Enchantress needs high mana-pool to support Impetus. In addition, compare to the great Impetus, her farming capability is quite low. Getting 3 Null Talismans will provide decent damage, mana pool, health, and minor armor bonus. The actual core of my Enchantress item build is Eul's Sceptre. Personally, I prefer Eul's Scepter of Divinity over Guinsoo, mainly because of the +20 movement speed and the cyclone that it provides which is significant in chasing/fleeing. Also, it is cheaper than Guinsoo. However, if your allies could really use another disable, then go with Guinsoo. Finally, because Enchantress is item independent, she should be the one buying the chicken (crow) and placing wards as she roams to gank.

Alternate/Luxury Item Build

Boots of Travel is gotten for the +90 movement speed. Enchantress is a ganker, and needs to be mobile to gank, defend, push, etc. effectively. Also, she needs to be able to chase her opponents and +85 movement speed really helps. Heart is gotten to tank the enemy's damage. Enchantress is actually a pretty good tank during team battles because of her Untouchable, as it reduces your opponent's attack speed by 90% if they hit you. Getting a heart will beef her up even more! Radiance is gotten not only for the damage, but also for the immolation. This item, again, will make your enemies focus on you because immolation does hurt. Not to mention, it's very easy to farm with this item.

I also recommend that you get Guinsoo That way, you will be able to chase easily, have 3 disables max to benefit your team. If you want to further enhance your semi-carry/ganker capability, buy Orchid's Manevolence. This item will provide you with great mana regeneration, attack speed, and ability to amplify damage on your targets while silencing them.

Lastly, Shiva's Gaurd. Yes, this item will further increase your tankability late game by providing armour. Also, it also reduces your opponent's attack speed by 25%. Not to mention it stacks with Untouchable! The intelligence bonus is quite nice too. I'd like to also note that the Arctic Blast will not stack with Enchant, so don't be foolish and enchant a hero then use Arctic Blast thinking that you'll reduce your oppononent's movement speed by 80%.

Once again, I will not argue so much for the Item Build. I just added this because this is what I use. I don't really mind what you use. My guide is more geared on Strategy than any other thing. Please help me by not arguing about my item build. That is the last thing I want to do.

4. Skills Strategy

There are so many ways to use Enchantress's skills to their max potential. Here are some combination of skills that I'd like to point out. These are just basic skill strategies.

Dominate DisablesMake sure that you dominate neutral creeps that has disables. Since you will be raising this skill, at least one point, you will be able to dominte 1 or 2 neutral creeps. If you only raised one level of Enchant, then the slow is only 10%. Since that's case, neutral creeps can provide a better disable. Here are some neutral creeps and their abilities.

Centaur - Stun and Endurance Aura, which increases attack speed by 15%. Also can tank damage.Furblog - Slow which gives 150 damage. Useful in early game. Also can tank damage.Dark Troll - Ensnare and ability to raise skeleton armies.Ghost - Frost attack. Very useful throughout entire gameHellcaster - Very low life, but has purge. Get this guy against self-buffers or summoners.Alpha Wolf - Not really a disable, but the command aura is nice.

These creeps can be used for ganking or just pushing. Enchantress is sort of like Chen, with ability to multi-dominate creeps.

This is what Tucker likes to call Neutral Creep Ganking.

This is what Tucker liked to call Neutral Creep Pushing.

Dominate Images/SumonsYou can actually Enchant enemy images and summons. This can really help you out a lot. For example, if you are up against Terrorblade who doesn't have Manta Style. He can practically summon only one image. If you Enchant one, you can turn it against him. In addition to that, you can Enchant summons, such as other team's Necronomicon warriors or Banehallow's wolf. Funny thing I found is that you can enchant the mini-pandas when Pandaren Brewmaster uses Primal Split.

Perfect example of what I meant. "I" mentioned in the explanation is "Tucker."

Creep StackingYou can stack creeps using your dominated creep. The neutral creep spawns per minute as long as there are no corpse, units or anything revealing the area of spawn. Do this by hitting the creeps at approximately X:53 and just running away from the camp. I usually do this on Ancient Creeps near Roshan as you can load up +1000 gold after few stacks. However, do realize that it is very difficult for Enchantress to actually kill the Ancient Creep Stack, so allow your carry or other heroes such as Axe to finish them up. Your allies will love you.

Chase ImpetusBasically, this is casting a disable, such as Enchant, on the fleeing enemy and keep harassing with Impetus.

Final ImpetusThis one is great. I just call it Final Impetus because every time I do this, I always kill. When chasing, cast Impetus and run back, creating more distance between you and your enemy. This will cause the Impetus pure damage to increase since you are creating more distance between you and your enemy. Only do this if you know that you will get a kill. This is useful because it saves time as you don't have to chase so much. More importantly, if there happen to be any enemy hero coming after you, you have more time to flee.

Tucker (Enchantress) casts Final Impetus on Magnus, knowing that it would kill him and incase, runs back for the extra damage.

Notice how Tucker (Enchantress) was able to harass Doom with significant damage.

Same idea for this. However, notice how Impetus is real nice in terms of harassing. You can always out-harass as long as you have the mana.

Extreme ImpetusI'm not sure if this still works. I will find out later in the day today. Basically, this is casting Impetus then making your distance from your enemy as far as possible. How? Well there are many ways you can do this.

1. Let your ally Vengeful Spirit cast Nether Swap after you cast Impetus.2. Let your ally Dark Seer cast Surge on you after you cast Impetus.3. Let your ally Barathrum run back with you after you cast Impetus.

And so on. Just any method that can get you to stay extremely far from your target before your Impetus hits your opponent.

Team HealDon't forget that Nature's Attendants has 300 AoE. Huddle with your teammates and cast this spell to heal the entire team. Max heal capacity is 900.

Bait HealThis is another reason why Enchantress is such an anti-ganker and a fun hero to play. Similar to Rigwarl as Totallnewbie stated, Enchantress is one of the best baiters in the game. With her low life, she can be the bait untill your allies come to kill the ganker chasing you. When your allies come, that's when you Enchant and cast Nature's Attendants. In most cases, your enemy will be fleeing as soon as your ally arrives, giving you room to heal and Final Impetus if you think that will get you a kill/assist or keep chasing. Don't forget that your enemies are still coming for you though! Don't try to be a hero with 100hp!

Slow and SlowEnchant can slow the opponent's movement speed and Untouchable can slow the opponent's attack speed. Also note that when enemy creeps are under the effect of Untouchable, they tend to just stand there and not chase you until they can attack again.Use this to your advantage when ganking!

Heal, Slow and SlowSame as above except you add a heal to either flee or save an ally. Nothing special.

5. Combat Strategy

A good player needs to know the abilities of every heroes in DotA. Also, a good player has good map awareness and know which allies are near you and which enemy heroes are missing. Most importantly, you must have experience. Here are some other imporatant facts which you must drill into your minds when playing Enchantress.

Mana ManagementAlways. Always manage your mana. It isn't wise to spam your heal early in the game when your lane partner already has a regeneration item. Let him use that up first. Also, use Impetus only when the enemy starts to back after he last hit/deny so that you can maximize the harass damage. Always make sure that you have Don't ever spam your skills!

Heal ProperlyNature's Attendant has 300 AoE. You really don't want to run around with boots when your ally has slower movement speed while using this skill. Make sure that your ally is right next to you for the duration so that they can benefit the heal to its max capacity.

Studying Your EnemyKnow your enemy, his skills and his items. Also watch the way your enemy plays. Does your opponent last hit/deny very well? Does he know when to retreat when you go up to him? Does he help his ally? Did he just disappear and reappear in your lane? If he did that, it probably means that he checked for a rune. Determine the level of your opponent's play skill. You need to empathize and predict your opponent's movements. Always, constantly check your opponent's health, mana and items!

Aptitude, Assurance and AggressionThe three mental A's you need to have. Aptitude. Be smart, and play smart. Know wheter you can fight your opponent, when you can bait, or how you should swap. Think like your opponent. Assurance. Be confident. Never be a chicken and back away when you can still fire another Impetus when the enemy starts backing away to assist. Aggression. Be aggressive. Never hesitate to harass when the opportunity arises.

Chasing Your OpponentYou have either the slow effect of Enchant for your disable, or the dominated creep's disable, or Eul's Scepter/Guinsoo disable. What I'm trying to say is, chasing your opponent is Enchantress is quite easy. Don't forget to cancel your Impetus animation as they cause delay. She has a tendancy to spin her spear for some reason.

Animation Canceling/Orb WalkingWell the general idea is that when your hero casts a spell, the animation takes place. Once the effect of the spell has occured, there is some delay time from casting, such as backswing. This signifcantly wastes time when chasing or running away. In order to cancel the animation, you must issue another command such as moving or attacking. By doing so, the new command will cancel the delay and perform the new issued command. Orb Walking is manually casting your spell that can be auto casted to not attract creep agravation.

For Enchantress, after casting Impetus and Enchant, or any other items, make sure that you click your target again with Impetus or whatever to cancel the animation and proceed with chasing. I highly suggest that you never auto-cast your Impetus. It will help with animation canceling, as you can just simply click "T" and click your target as soon as you click the target for Impetus.

Creep Advantage

Usually the case is, if your life is lower than your enemy's, he will get greedy and chase you, regardless of the slow from Untouchable and the fact that your creeps attacking your enemy. Just try to let him attack you until your creeps arrive. When the creeps arrive, cast your heal and then slow your enemy and keep attacking the hero with your creeps. This is probably the least likely method to use to kill any hero. In most cases, you will be roaming, and not fleeing in a 1 on 1 situation.

Placing WardsMost important places to place wards are near runes. Make sure you place it near there to see what and where runes are. You really need them as you need to constantly use bottles. Also, your team will need the wards for scouting purposes. Place them during ganks/farming/team battles. Predict where your opponents will be and place them there.

I highly recommend that you read mugen89 and Shorttail's Guide To Warding.

6. Laning

If you wish to start ganking as soon as possible, I highly recommend that you go solo to reach level 6 as soon as possible. Enchantress has a great lane-staying capability due to her heal. However, if you are planning to baby-sit, then try to go to bottom/top lane and heal your ally while dominating neutrals for your advantage. Always last hit/deny and manage your mana. Honestly, there are just too many combinations of lane partner/enemy(ies) you can encounter. I can't really cover much on laning. However, whatever the case is, always last hit/deny creeps. Here is the general concept.

1 on 1You might have difficulty as you have to play rather pasive, but do not fret as you have great lane-staying ability. I highly recommend that you only use Nature's Attendant when your lane enemy pushes towards your tower.

1 on 2This is somewhat similar to 1 on 1 lanes. As long as they are not double nukers/stunners, you should do similar to 1 on 1. If they are double/nukers and stunners, I suggest you either ask for a lane swap or ask an ally to come to tank the damage. Even though having a lane partner will reduce your farming capability, it is better to have a steady farming pace than low farming pace by constant death. If you actually play smart against double nukers/stunners, you can actually get a kill! Don't forget that Enchantress has a heal. Greedy players will come and get you if you seem to have low health. Use your creeps, tower, and heal to your advantage! They will be the one backing away if they come right at you. In any case, last hit/deny as always and try to know which hero to harass. You can also dominate neutrals and use them to your advantage. With correct timing and good communication, your ally with disable can come to aid you for an early game kill.

2 on 1 or 2 on 2I don't recommend a dual lane, since it will delay your Impetus, but it is fine. If you have a disabler for ally, you two can actually get a kill. Again, dominate the neutral creeps and use them to your advantage. Just coordinate well with your ally and get some kills.

7. Farming

Basically, there are three ways Enchantress can farm.

Creep KillingBecause of Enchantress's mediocre base damage and high attack swing time, she isn't the world's greatest farmer during early game. Since you should have a decent lane control, you should be able to stand next to the creeps for easier last hit.

Hero KillingProbably your main farming method as you will be going around ganking and killing heroes with your deadly Impetus, slow and ability to heal. Well, hero killing isn't really considered "farming" but I just included it here as killing heroes give you gold. Try to kill heroes as much as possible to get money for your items. But always work within limits! Don't go killstealing without permission!

Neutral Creep KillingI only do this when dominating creeps and killing the creeps that I have attracted or just simply getting my life back. However, if you decide to go jungling, then this will be your main early game farming method. See below to learn how to Jungle with Enchantress.

8. Jungling

I have included a link to Guide - Enchantress Speed Jungle by PS2MAN. This is a great guide regarding Jungling Enchantress. The strategy will allow you to farm very well, but it is micro-intense so I do not recommend this if you cannot micro properly. Also, if you can't jungle or dislike it, then don't bother jungling as it is a very hard skill indeed.

9. Ganking

Enchantress is capable of solo ganking heroes. She has an orb-walk ability, a disable, a heal as her skills. Although it is very nice to gank with allies, it is perfetly okay to go ganking alone. The main reason is because if you go solo lane and level up faster, your allies won't be able to support gank as they won't even have their ultimates yet, or their level is just too low to roam and go ganking with you.

Determining the RoleYou are the ganker, period. Don't argue with me. Maximize her ganking capability. As I have stated above, you can solo gank, if you have to. Otherwise, try to gank with an ally by engaging from different directions.

Before GanksKnow which enemy to target if there is more than one. Plan with your teammates and know when exactly you will gank. Know your hero and know your enemy. Check his items, levels, skills he raised, health, mana. Those are the must.

During GanksMake sure you use your Enchant if they start to run away. Always animation cancel every time you Impetus to catch up more easily. Make sure that your ally is coming from the other direction so that your enemy can't escape. Be aware of your enemy's movement because he might juke you, meaning he will pretend to go somehwere, and when you are next to him, he will just turn around and head off to the intended place.

After GanksIf there are any enemy heroes missing, they are probably coming to the spot where the enemy hero was killed. You can heal or team heal and fight again! Just make sure that you or you and your teammates have enough mana left for another kill. If you decided to go for another battle, don't be over foolish and greedy as that will bring your doom.

10. Team Battles

Team Battles occur during big pushes, usually in the middle lane. Here are some helpful tips.

Determining the RoleThis may sound funny to Enchantress beginners, but she is actually a nice tank. If you did go for Heart and Shiva's Guard as your luxuries, then you should definitely be the tank. Why? Well, first of all, because of the Untouchable and attack speed negation aura. The enemy's carries will deal less damage since they cannot attack you as fast as they would normally do due to your 115% attack speed reduction. In addition, you are able to heal 900hp in 10 seconds using Nature's Attendants. If there are better tanks, be the second hero to engage in the battle. I highly recommend that you tank with Enchantress.

Otherwise, just support by healing your allies, slowing the enemies, hexing the enemy carry if you got Guinsoo, and just Impetus at any hero, even if you guys are in close range of combat, just for the fun of it.

Before Team BattlesCheck your items. If you got both Eul's Scepter and Guinsoo, then decide which item you will use on which hero. I personally recommend that you hex the enemy's carry and fly their tanks as

they are the ones who often has disable or the annoying Radiance. Just like ganking, know your opponents' items, skills, health, mana, levels, etc. These are crucial as knowing these can affect your battle significantly. Place your wards before the actual Team Battles so that your team can know where your enemies will appear from if they happen to disappear.

During Team BattlesWhile tanking, cast your heal, even if there is only one teammate next to you. The main goal is to kill everyone with minimal death. Use your skills from the items, such as Shiva's Guard with the Arctic Blast and all. Hex the carry, cyclone the tank. Slow the fleeing enemies and kill them all!

After Team BattlesIf you're team won and if you are still alive, then Congraturlations! Continue with the pushing until your enemies are alive. However, do note that their skills will still in be in cooldown will not be refreshed by their death. If your team can, stay for another fight and finish with the pushing. Don't forget that with you are able to heal 900hp with your healing skill!

11. Replays

No replays as of yet! I will add one as soon as possible!

12. Conclusion

To me, Enchantress is the funnest unorthodox tank to play. She starts off as a ganker/supporter with her Impetus and Nature's Attendant, then becomes a great tank during late game, and often carries the team to victory. I believe that time, effort and skill is required to play Enchantress with max potential. I hope that my guide helped you. However, if you disagree with my playstyle, then that's fine with me. Don't forget, this is my strategy. I strongly encourage you to try your own strategies and create different ways of playing this great hero.

I'm not sure if this quote exists in the world. Someone else probably said it, but this is why I thought of while writing my guides. Practice makes Permanent. Keep practicing, but you'll never be perfect, which is why you will practice forever. However, the skills you have obtained through your effort will be permanent. All you need to do is drill in the concepts in your mind and practice! I hope you enjoyed reading my text-heavy, image-less guide and still learned something out of it. Comments and feedbacks please! Thank you!

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