Necrophos (Rotund’jere) is the green lord of the strongest magical heroes in Dota 2. The character is part of a team strategy with the ability to heal allies and exhaust enemies. At the same time, Necrophos can easily stand on the line alone and without support.
Rotund’yer wields the dark magic of vampirism. Long battles for enemies will be a torment if you do not collect items like a Nullifier. You should play with extreme caution against such a hero, choosing in advance the counter—peak of Necrophos – characters who can neutralize his strengths and withstand constant damage to health.
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Who is Necrophos in Dota 2
Necrophos is a dangerous opponent with impressive health and fast regeneration. He can be found anywhere: at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the forest, at Roshan or on the liner. The hero is used to put pressure on opponents to carry, control the line, or participate in mass fights where he is able to change the outcome of the battle.
The main weaknesses of Necrophos are complex control and dependence on objects. Therefore, it is most often chosen by experienced players who are able to competently build the positioning and timing of abilities.
After the December 2022 updates, the hero became one of the strongest characters. The win rate in duel matches exceeds 54%, and in team battles, the magician is able to single-handedly destroy two or three enemy heroes of the “Strength” category.
Necrophos Abilities
Low movement speed, Necrophos compensates for slowness with increased attack range and powerful spells. 5×5 battles, where he is able to simultaneously inflict damage and heal allies.
The hero has five magical abilities:
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Death Pulse – releases a wave of energy that damages enemies and restores health to allies.
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Ghost Shroud – transforms the hero into a spirit, making him invulnerable to physical damage, but vulnerable to magic.
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Heartstopper Aura (Cardiac Arrest) is a passive aura that exhausts nearby opponents and accelerates the recovery of Necrophos’ own health. With the development of the ability, the effect of vampirism increases.
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Reaper’s Scythe (Reaper’s Scythe) is a powerful spell that stuns an enemy and finishes him off if his health drops below 50%.
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Death Seeker — turns the hero into a deadly projectile that rushes to the chosen target and activates the Death Pulse effect upon collision.
With the ability to ignore physical damage, Necrophos is especially dangerous for heroes who rely on damage from their hands — representatives of the “Strength” class.
Counterpikes and strategy against Necrophos
At the beginning of the game, Necrophos is focused like a dog on killing neutrals and accumulating gold to buy key artifacts that enhance his magical damage and mobility. However, it can be contained if you identify a counter peak in time and start crushing the magician in the early stages.
Until he receives the Reaper’s Scythe, Necrophos is vulnerable: heroes with high magical damage can quickly eliminate him. Experienced players advise constantly chasing the magician, preventing him from farming and slowing down the exit to the mid-game. This tactic will not only weaken his position, but also give your team an advantage in development.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
You can find it in any role and position on the map, as if in a difficult one, but in 90% of the MFA — Necrophos heals himself and inflicts devastating blows to enemies.
The hero has the ability to quickly restore health, so he should be destroyed first. If you let it run wild, the battles against the enemy carrier lose all meaning. It is important to eliminate the magician quickly in order to weaken the opponent’s team during team battles for the midline.
Tinker is one of the best counter-picks against Necrophos on the MFA.
Experienced players use a clever tactic: they attack Necrophos with a hero with powerful physical damage, forcing him to activate the protective skill Ghost Shroud. After that, mages with a strong procast finish off a weakened opponent.
The fastest heroes to deal with Rotund are Lina, Invoker and, of course, Tinker.
On the line
On the line, Necrophos hunts heroes with plenty of health. By the time he goes online, he gets vampirism, turning the damage done into healing. Therefore, it is useless to expose tank heroes against him – he will simply suck the life out of them.
Counter Necrophos in Dota 2 with peak heroes with silence skills. Without the ability to cast spells, this magician becomes vulnerable and loses all his power.
Doom is one of the best counter-peaks: its ability prohibits Necrophos from using skills, completely depriving him of magical power.
Heroes who can stop Necrophos at the expense of silence: Doom, Night Stalker, Silencer, Death Prophet.
Necrophos’s Passive ability — can it be knocked down?
His vampiric passive cannot be knocked down by spells or artifacts. Steel and impenetrable at any stage of the game.
Who will counter Necrophos the best
Do you want to choose a hero who can resist Necrophos? Then it’s worth taking a look at the winrate. Below are the characters with the best scores against him.:
Winrate Hero vs Necrophos
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Muerta – 56%
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Ancient Apparition – 55%
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Leshrac – 55%
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Viper – 55%
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Skywrath Mage – 55%
The statistics only take into account dueling battles, without team clashes.
Who is Necrophos strong against
Necrophos is especially dangerous against heroes with high health and regeneration. According to the analysis, he copes best against Tidehunter, Pudge, Dragon Knight and other “fat men”.
Hero – Winrate of Necrophos
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Spectre – 56%
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Huskar – 55%
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Wraith King – 54%
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Phantom Lancer – 55%
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Naga Siren – 56%
In general, the hero shows a high win rate against almost all physical characters.
How to counteract Necrophos with objects
To reduce the effectiveness of Necrophos, it is important to select the right artifacts.:
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Black King Bar (BKB) — protects against the deadly blow of Reaper’s Scythe;
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Linken Sphere — provides additional protection from magical damage;
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Lotus Orb — reflects enemy spells, including Reaper’s Scythe, back at the opponent.
You need to collect these items as early as possible — it is extremely difficult to play against Necrophos without protection, especially on the MFA.
Tips from esports Players
Standing on the line against Necrophos, with whom it will be a hundred times easier to stand up against this unpleasant opponent.
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First of all, play carefully and always keep in mind the recharge of his ultimate Reaper’s Scythe. Usually, Necr calls his team to attack exactly when the scythe is ready. Try not to be exposed to this skill: each death from Reaper’s Scythe enhances it by passively restoring health and mana, and the more such kills, the more difficult it is to stop it in the future.
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The hero is heavily conditioned in terms of parameters from Death Pulse treatment and passive damage from Heartstopper Aura, as well as from the Ghost Shroud ability, which makes him invulnerable to physical attacks. If these abilities can be interrupted or reduced in effectiveness, Necrophos quickly loses its durability and becomes an easy target.
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It is important to remember that the longer the battle lasts, the stronger the Necr becomes. Therefore, the best option is to destroy it quickly, using abilities with high magic damage and a short cooldown. If your peak does not allow you to do this, try to keep it under constant control with the help of diables and objects that restrict movement or treatment.
The overall strategy
It is better to act aggressively against Necrophos from the first minutes without trying to charge yourself with Heartstopper Aura and be treated through Death Pulse. The most effective heroes are those who have strong damage at the beginning of the game and the ability to interrupt treatment or impose silence.
Items with reduced regeneration and healing — such as Spirit Vessel, Scythe of Vyse, and Shiva’s Guard—are great to limit his survival rate. Control skills and silence prevent Necrophos from using Ghost Shroud and Reaper’s Scythe, and mobile heroes can easily escape from under his attack. The main thing is to focus Nekra in fights as early as possible, before he gets the key items and goes out into the lane, where he becomes a real problem.
Conclusion
Necrophos is a strong and treacherous opponent, capable of destroying the hero with one blow. You should play carefully against him: pick up counter-picks, collect artifacts and act as a team. Experienced players advise attacking in a group and avoiding single duels.
The Dota 2 forums are still discussing the imbalance of Necrophos’ powers after the 2022 update — players believe that the hero has received too strong abilities and needs to be recycled.
