How to Master Necrophos in Dota 2: The Ultimate Guide for Every Rank (2026)

Why Necrophos Is the Ultimate Attrition Hero

Necrophos occupies a unique space in Dota 2. He is primarily played as a midlane or offlane core who excels in drawn-out fights and sustained engagements. Unlike burst heroes who want to blow someone up in two seconds, Necrophos wants fights to last 15-20 seconds because every second that passes, Heartstopper Aura is chipping away at the enemy team’s HP while Death Pulse heals him and damages them simultaneously.

According to Dotabuff, Necrophos currently holds a 52.8% winrate across all brackets with a pick rate around 8-9%, making him one of the more consistently successful heroes in pub games. His winrate spikes to 54%+ in Divine and Immortal, where players understand how to abuse his timing windows and avoid the common pitfalls that plague lower-ranked Necrophos players.

What makes Necrophos truly terrifying is Reaper’s Scythe. This ultimate does not just kill an enemy hero — it adds extra time to their respawn timer. In the late game, this can mean a 100+ second death timer on an enemy carry, which is often enough to end the game off a single pick. No other hero in Dota 2 punishes death this severely.

Abilities Deep Dive

Death Pulse (Q)

Death Pulse is Necrophos’s bread-and-butter spell. It sends out a wave of death energy that damages all nearby enemies and heals all nearby allies, including Necrophos himself. At max level, it deals 275 magic damage and heals for 130 HP on a 5-second cooldown. The radius is 475 units, which is deceptively large.

Hidden mechanics most players miss:

• Death Pulse heals Necrophos even if no enemies are hit. Use it while farming to top yourself off between camps.
• The projectile speed is 400 — it is not instant. Against fast-moving heroes, you need to account for travel time when trying to secure kills.
• Death Pulse provides a brief moment of vision in the area it travels through. This can scout Roshan pit or fog areas during fights.
• With Ghost Shroud active, Death Pulse healing is amplified by 75% at max level. A single pulse heals for over 225 HP — that is almost a Mekansm every 5 seconds.

Ghost Shroud (W)

Ghost Shroud is what separates good Necrophos players from great ones. When activated, Necrophos enters a ghost form that slows nearby enemies by 20% and makes him ethereal — meaning he takes no physical damage but takes amplified magic damage. The critical part: it also amplifies all healing and HP regeneration Necrophos receives by 75% at max level.

Critical interactions:

• Ghost Shroud + Death Pulse is the core combo. Pop Ghost Shroud, then spam Death Pulse for massive healing while being immune to right-click carries.
• Ghost Shroud applies a movement slow aura around Necrophos. This is not a debuff on enemies — it is an aura, so it cannot be dispelled by BKB or Manta. Enemies simply move slower while near you.
• Items like Holy Locket, Guardian Greaves, and Mekansm are amplified by Ghost Shroud. A Guardian Greaves heal during Ghost Shroud restores a massive amount of HP.
• Warning: Ghost Shroud makes you take 40% increased magic damage at max level. Activating this against a Lina or Lion with finger ready is a death sentence. Time it only when physical damage is the primary threat.

Heartstopper Aura (E)

Heartstopper Aura is one of the most underrated passives in Dota 2. It drains 1.6% of max HP per second from all enemies within a 900 radius at max level. This damage is flagged as HP removal, meaning it goes through everything — BKB, Ghost form, damage reduction, and even Refraction charges. Nothing blocks it.

Why this ability is secretly broken:

• Against a hero with 3,000 HP, Heartstopper drains 48 HP per second. Over a 20-second teamfight, that is 960 HP drained from every enemy hero nearby — for free, without pressing a single button.
• It also provides Necrophos with HP and mana regeneration for each unit that dies within the aura radius. This is why Necrophos sustains so well in lane — every creep death feeds him regen.
• The regen from Heartstopper stacks with Ghost Shroud amplification. During Ghost Shroud, each nearby death gives even more HP and mana back.
• Heartstopper Aura persists through death. If Necrophos dies in a teamfight but enemies linger near his corpse, the aura keeps draining their HP.

Reaper’s Scythe (R) — Ultimate

Reaper’s Scythe is Necrophos’s signature ability and the reason he is feared in every game. It deals damage based on how much HP the target is missing — the lower their HP, the more damage it deals. At level 3 with Aghanim’s Scepter, it stuns for 1.5 seconds during the cast and adds a massive respawn time penalty to the killed target.

Key mechanics:

• The damage formula is 0.6/0.75/0.9 damage per missing HP. If an enemy hero is missing 2,000 HP, Reaper’s Scythe deals 1,200/1,500/1,800 magic damage. With the stun duration, they cannot BKB or use escape abilities during the channel.
• Aghanim’s Scepter increases the respawn penalty and disables buyback for the killed hero. This single item can win games by removing the enemy carry for 120+ seconds in the late game.
• Reaper’s Scythe goes through Linken’s Sphere if you use another single-target spell to pop it first. Coordinate with allies who have targeted abilities.
• The kill must come from Reaper’s Scythe itself to apply the respawn penalty. If an ally last-hits the target during the stun, you lose the bonus.

Skill Build Order

Standard Mid Build maxes Death Pulse first for lane dominance and farming speed, takes one early point in Ghost Shroud for survivability, then fills out Heartstopper. Offlane Build prioritizes Heartstopper second for the passive lane pressure it provides in a 1v2 scenario. Greedy Aura Build is situational — use it against melee-heavy lanes where the constant HP drain forces them out of lane before they can threaten you.

Item Builds by Rank Bracket

Why Item Builds Differ by Rank

At lower ranks (Herald-Crusader), games go longer and fights are more chaotic. Guardian Greaves provides a safety net because low-rank supports often forget to buy utility items, so you end up being your own sustain engine. Holy Locket amplifies all your self-healing during Ghost Shroud for insane survivability in drawn-out pub brawls.

At Archon-Legend, players start grouping earlier and taking more coordinated fights. Kaya and Sange becomes essential here because it gives you spell amplification (more Death Pulse damage and Scythe damage), status resistance (harder to lock you down in fights), and the HP/mana to sustain through mid-game skirmishes.

At Ancient-Divine and above, the game tempo is faster and Necrophos needs to hit his timing windows precisely. Radiance is rushed because the miss chance synergizes with Ghost Shroud (physical attackers miss AND deal no damage to ethereal Necrophos), and the burn damage stacks with Heartstopper Aura for disgusting passive damage output. Phase Boots are preferred for the active movespeed burst to chase down kills after landing Scythe.

Immortal players often skip Holy Locket entirely in favor of faster Aghanim’s Scepter timing. The buyback disable is game-winning at high MMR where players always have buyback ready. Refresher Orb is the ultimate late-game luxury — double Reaper’s Scythe means two enemy heroes permanently removed from a teamfight with extended death timers.

Situational Items Worth Considering

• Eternal Shroud: Against heavy magic damage lineups. The spell lifesteal stacks with Ghost Shroud healing amplification for absurd sustain.
• Blade Mail: Excellent against heroes who burst you during Ghost Shroud. The amplified magic damage you take gets reflected back.
• Lotus Orb: Dispels silences and reflects single-target spells. Core against Orchid carriers.
• Black King Bar: Sometimes necessary despite Ghost Shroud. If the enemy has both physical and magical burst, you need BKB to survive initiation.
• Rod of Atos: Cheap, effective catch tool. Root an enemy before walking up with Heartstopper and finishing with Scythe.

Laning Phase Masterclass

Mid Lane Necrophos

Necrophos mid is all about sustained lane dominance through attrition. You are not trying to burst the enemy mid down. You are trying to slowly drain their HP with Heartstopper Aura while using Death Pulse to secure ranged creeps and heal yourself simultaneously. Most mid matchups become unplayable for the enemy by level 5 because they have been drained to 50% HP without you ever committing to a trade.

Laning fundamentals:

• Stand near the enemy. This sounds basic, but many Necrophos players sit back and only use Death Pulse from range. You want to be in Heartstopper Aura range (900 units) as much as possible. The passive damage adds up enormously over the first few minutes.
• Use Death Pulse to secure ranged creeps AND harass. Position yourself so the Death Pulse wave hits the ranged creep and the enemy hero simultaneously. This gives you the last hit, the heal, and the harass damage in one spell.
• Control runes aggressively. With Death Pulse sustain, you should always be at higher HP than your lane opponent. Walk to the rune with confidence — if they contest at 60% HP while you are at 90%, you win the fight.
• Buy a casual Cloak if struggling against magic-heavy mids. Against heroes like Lina, Zeus, or Invoker who can punish Ghost Shroud’s magic vulnerability, an early Cloak keeps you alive through their burst.

Offlane Necrophos

Offlane Necrophos works differently. You are usually laning against a carry and a support, which means you cannot freely stand in their face. The key is using Heartstopper Aura to drain the support’s HP while they try to zone you, and using Death Pulse to secure last hits under tower when the lane pushes in.

Offlane-specific tips:

• Max Heartstopper second in the offlane. The aura punishes both the enemy carry and support for standing in lane, and the regen from nearby deaths keeps your HP topped off even under pressure.
• If the support leaves lane to stack or pull, immediately pressure the carry. Most carries cannot trade with Necrophos 1v1 in the first 8 minutes because Death Pulse + Heartstopper + Ghost Shroud makes you nearly unkillable.
• Ghost Shroud is your panic button. When two heroes commit to killing you, pop Ghost Shroud and run toward your tower. The slow aura makes it harder for them to chase, and the healing amplification from Death Pulse and regen can save you.
• Power spike at level 6: Once you have Reaper’s Scythe, you can kill almost any carry at 40-50% HP. Coordinate with your support for a kill attempt the moment your ult comes online.

Lane Partner Synergies

Necrophos pairs well with heroes who can slow or stun enemies in his Heartstopper Aura range. The longer enemies sit near Necrophos, the more HP they lose passively.

• Ogre Magi: Bloodlust gives Necrophos attack speed for last-hitting, and Ogre’s stuns keep enemies in Heartstopper range.
• Grimstroke: Ink Swell on Necrophos while he walks at enemies with Ghost Shroud is devastating. The stun guarantees a Reaper’s Scythe follow-up.
• Undying: Double the attrition. Decay + Heartstopper Aura drains enemy HP and strength simultaneously. The lane becomes unplayable for most dual lanes.
• Dazzle: Shallow Grave prevents Necrophos from dying during Ghost Shroud, and Poison Touch slows enemies in Heartstopper range.

Mid and Late Game Transitions

Mid Game (15-30 Minutes)

Necrophos’s mid game revolves around Radiance timing and tower pressure. With Radiance completed (ideally by 16-18 minutes if mid, 19-22 minutes if offlane), you become a walking area denial tool. Heartstopper Aura + Radiance burn deals over 3% max HP per second to anyone near you, and the Radiance miss chance stacked with Ghost Shroud makes you extremely difficult to kill with physical damage.

Mid-game priorities:

• Push towers with your team. Necrophos excels at siege because defenders slowly lose HP to Heartstopper Aura while trying to hold the tower. After 30 seconds of siege, the enemy team is at 70% HP before a fight even starts.
• Target the enemy carry with Reaper’s Scythe. The respawn penalty scales with game time. A carry killed by Scythe at 25 minutes can be dead for 60+ seconds, giving your team a massive window to take objectives.
• Farm aggressively between fights. Radiance + Death Pulse clears waves and jungle camps quickly. Necrophos should be one of the top networth heroes on your team by 25 minutes.
• Do not fight without Reaper’s Scythe available. Necrophos without his ultimate is significantly weaker. If Scythe is on cooldown, farm and wait for it to come back before committing to a fight.

Late Game (30+ Minutes)

Late game is where Necrophos becomes genuinely terrifying. With Aghanim’s Scepter, Reaper’s Scythe disables buyback on the killed target. In a game where both teams have buybacks ready, this is the single most powerful ability in Dota 2. Killing the enemy Position 1 with Scythe at 45 minutes means they are dead for 100+ seconds with no way to return.

Late-game teamfight positioning:

• Stay at the edge of fights during the initial burst phase. Your job is not to initiate — it is to survive the first 5 seconds and then walk in when the enemy team has blown their cooldowns.
• Activate Ghost Shroud when enemy right-click carries try to focus you. Then spam Death Pulse to heal back the magic damage you take.
• Look for Reaper’s Scythe targets who are below 50% HP. The damage scales with missing HP, so using Scythe on a full-HP target wastes the ability.
• With Refresher Orb, you can use Reaper’s Scythe twice in a single fight. This is a game-ending combo that removes two enemy cores from the map.

When Necrophos Falls Off

Necrophos can struggle in the ultra-late game (60+ minutes) if the enemy carries have Satanic, BKB, and Linken’s Sphere. At this point, your Reaper’s Scythe becomes harder to land and carries can lifesteal through Heartstopper Aura. If the game reaches this point, you need your Refresher Orb and precise positioning from coaching-level game sense to remain relevant.

Counters: Heroes That Destroy Necrophos

1. Anti-Mage

Anti-Mage is Necrophos’s worst nightmare. Mana Break drains Necrophos’s mana pool rapidly, and without mana, Necrophos cannot cast Death Pulse or Ghost Shroud — rendering him useless. Counterspell reflects Reaper’s Scythe, and Blink makes it impossible to chase Anti-Mage with Heartstopper Aura. The matchup is almost unwinnable for Necrophos past 25 minutes.

How to play around it: End the game before Anti-Mage comes online. Pressure towers early with Radiance timing and try to keep Anti-Mage’s farm suppressed. If you must fight him, get Scythe of Vyse to hex him before he can Counterspell.

2. Huskar

Huskar thrives at low HP, which means Heartstopper Aura and Death Pulse actually help him by activating Berserker’s Blood. Huskar’s Burning Spears deal magic damage that goes through Ghost Shroud with amplified damage, and Life Break closes the gap instantly. Ghost Shroud against a Huskar is suicide because of the magic damage amplification.

How to play around it: Build an early Heaven’s Halberd or Eul’s Scepter. Disarming Huskar or cycloning him during Life Break removes his threat temporarily. Never activate Ghost Shroud when Huskar is nearby.

3. Ancient Apparition

Ice Blast is the hardest counter to Necrophos’s entire kit. The anti-heal effect disables Death Pulse healing, Ghost Shroud healing amplification, and all item-based regen. A Necrophos who cannot heal is just a slow-moving hero with mediocre damage output. The shatter threshold also means Ghost Shroud’s amplified magic damage can push you below the kill threshold faster.

How to play around it: Build BKB to prevent Ice Blast from hitting you during fights. Position yourself away from the teamfight cluster so AA cannot hit multiple targets including you with a single blast. Play more conservatively and avoid extended fights where Ice Blast cooldown resets.

4. Lifestealer

Lifestealer’s Feast drains HP based on current HP percentage, meaning Necrophos’s large HP pool actually works against him. Rage gives full magic immunity, making Death Pulse, Ghost Shroud’s slow, and Reaper’s Scythe completely useless for its duration. Lifestealer can simply Rage and right-click Necrophos to death through any defensive item.

How to play around it: Ghost Shroud when Rage is NOT active (Lifestealer takes no benefit from physical attacks on ethereal targets). Build Halberd or Shiva’s Guard to slow his attack speed. Coordinate with your team to kite him after Rage expires.

5. Oracle

Oracle’s False Promise completely negates Reaper’s Scythe by delaying all damage and healing the target afterward. Fate’s Edict makes an ally immune to magic damage, which means Death Pulse and Reaper’s Scythe deal zero damage to the protected target. Purifying Flames combined with False Promise provides more healing than Necrophos can output in damage. Oracle makes your entire kit irrelevant.

How to play around it: Bait out False Promise before committing Reaper’s Scythe. If Oracle uses it defensively, wait for it to expire and then Scythe the target. Build Aghanim’s Scepter to ensure the kill sticks if you can time your Scythe to land as False Promise ends.

Heroes Necrophos Destroys

1. Alchemist

Alchemist loves long fights and relies on Chemical Rage regeneration to survive. Necrophos counters this perfectly — Heartstopper Aura drains percentage-based HP that Chemical Rage cannot fully offset, and Reaper’s Scythe on a low-HP Alchemist deals massive damage since Alch often fights at lower HP thresholds. The respawn penalty is devastating because Alchemist falls behind in farm when dead for extended periods.

2. Huskar (When Ahead)

This might seem contradictory to the counters section, but when Necrophos gets ahead of Huskar in levels and items, the matchup flips. Reaper’s Scythe absolutely destroys Huskar because Huskar naturally fights at low HP, meaning Scythe deals maximum damage. If you can avoid Ghost Shroud and just walk at Huskar with Heartstopper + Death Pulse + Scythe, he melts.

3. Spectre

Spectre is a late-game carry who relies on being tanky and hard to kill. Necrophos’s Heartstopper Aura ignores Spectre’s Dispersion damage reduction, and Reaper’s Scythe with Aghanim’s disabling buyback on a Spectre at 40+ minutes can single-handedly end the game. Spectre has no way to dodge or reflect Scythe.

4. Bristleback

Bristleback’s entire identity is turning his back and being unkillable. Heartstopper Aura does not care which direction Bristleback is facing — it drains HP regardless. And because Bristleback naturally takes fights at lower HP thresholds, Reaper’s Scythe finishing him off is extremely reliable. His lack of burst also means Necrophos can comfortably Ghost Shroud without fear of being deleted.

5. Dragon Knight

Dragon Knight’s high HP regen from Dragon Blood gets completely outpaced by Heartstopper Aura at max level. Dragon Knight has no burst to threaten Necrophos during Ghost Shroud, and his single-target stun is easily played around. Necrophos slowly grinds Dragon Knight down in lane and in teamfights — Dragon Knight simply cannot sustain through the percentage-based drain.

How Pros Play Necrophos in Current Patch

In recent competitive Dota 2, Necrophos has seen selective but impactful picks primarily in the offlane role. Pro teams value him for his ability to create asymmetric teamfights through Reaper’s Scythe respawn penalties, particularly in the mid-to-late game where a single Scythe kill can open up Roshan or high ground pushes.

Teams like Team Falcons have deployed Necrophos as a tempo offlaner, rushing Radiance into Aghanim’s Scepter to hit a 25-30 minute timing window where they force fights with the buyback-disable threat. The strategy revolves around grouping as five with Necrophos’s aura providing passive damage while the team looks for a pickoff with Scythe.

Notable trends in pro Necrophos play:

• Phase Boots over Power Treads is almost universal at the pro level. The movement speed active helps Necrophos position for Scythe and maintain Heartstopper Aura uptime on priority targets.
• Aghanim’s Scepter is almost always the second major item after Radiance. Pros prioritize the buyback disable over raw survivability because coordinated teams can protect Necrophos better than pubs.
• Refresher Orb as a third item is becoming standard in games that go past 35 minutes. Double Scythe in a single fight is the ultimate win condition.
• Pro teams often pair Necrophos with heroes like Magnus (Empower + Skewer setup), Enigma (Black Hole into Scythe followup), or Faceless Void (Chronosphere into guaranteed Scythe) to ensure the Scythe lands on high-value targets.

For more insights on how professional players approach the game, check out our guide on the Pudge Guide which covers similar pro-level analysis for another iconic hero.

Rank-Specific Climbing Guide

Herald to Guardian: Foundation Basics

At this bracket, the most important thing is simply staying alive and pressing your buttons. Most Herald-Guardian players die with full mana because they forget to use spells. With Necrophos, your goal is:

• Use Death Pulse every time it is off cooldown in fights. Every. Single. Time. The healing and damage add up enormously.
• Stand near enemies during fights so Heartstopper Aura drains their HP. You do not even need to right-click — just being close to people wins fights at this rank.
• Build Guardian Greaves as your first big item. The active heal is a massive teamfight swing, and low-rank players often forget to buy healing items.
• Use Reaper’s Scythe on the enemy hero with the lowest HP in a fight. Do not save it for the “perfect target” — any kill is a good kill at this bracket.

Crusader to Archon: Adding Game Sense

At this bracket, you need to start timing your power spikes and making deliberate decisions about when to fight.

• Radiance timing matters. Track your Radiance completion time. If you hit it before 20 minutes, immediately start grouping with your team and forcing fights. If it is delayed past 24 minutes, consider skipping it for Kaya and Sange.
• Start paying attention to enemy BKB timers. A carry with an 8-second BKB is a bad Scythe target. A carry whose BKB is on cooldown or has been shortened to 6 seconds is a free kill.
• Learn to farm the jungle between fights. Death Pulse + Radiance clears medium and large camps in seconds. You should be hitting 500-600 GPM consistently.
• Communicate Scythe cooldown to your team. Type in chat when your ult is ready so your team knows when to take fights. At this rank, coordination wins games.

Legend to Ancient: The Macro Leap

Legend-Ancient is where Necrophos players need to transition from “I fight when my team fights” to “I dictate when my team fights.”

• Play around Scythe cooldown religiously. Your team should only be taking major fights when Reaper’s Scythe is available. Between Scythe cooldowns, farm aggressively and maintain map pressure through split-pushing with Radiance.
• Start reading the enemy team’s win condition. If they have a late-game carry like Spectre or Anti-Mage, your job is to end the game before they come online by using Scythe kills to create extended death timers and take objectives.
• Itemize defensively against the enemy’s biggest threat, not their whole lineup. If the enemy has a single Orchid carrier, a Lotus Orb solves the problem. Do not panic-buy BKB unless multiple heroes threaten you.
• Ward aggressively when your team is ahead. Necrophos with Radiance can walk into the enemy jungle alone because most heroes cannot kill him quickly enough through Ghost Shroud + Death Pulse sustain.

Divine to Immortal: What Separates the Top 1%

At Divine and Immortal, Necrophos games are decided by Scythe target selection and cooldown management. The mechanical execution is expected — what separates top players is decision-making.

• Always Scythe the highest-impact target, not the easiest target. Killing a support with Scythe is almost always wrong unless they are saving for buyback on a crucial timer. The respawn penalty should go on the enemy Position 1 or 2.
• Abuse fog of war and smoke to find Scythe pickoffs. At this rank, Necrophos is often played as a pickoff hero in the mid game — smoke behind enemy lines, find their carry farming a camp, and Scythe them below 50% HP.
• Manage Ghost Shroud timing with precision. At Immortal, enemies will bait out your Ghost Shroud and then chain magic damage to burst you. Only use Ghost Shroud when you have confirmed that the enemy’s major magic burst abilities are on cooldown.
• Consider Overwhelming Blink as a late-game item. The AoE slow and damage on blink allows you to jump into fights, immediately slow everyone (stacking with Ghost Shroud slow), and start the Heartstopper drain from inside the enemy team.

If you are struggling to break through a specific rank bracket, MMR boosting or personalized coaching from Immortal-rank players can help identify the specific mistakes holding you back.

Tips and Tricks

Animation Cancels and Hidden Mechanics

• Death Pulse has no cast point. It is instant. You can cast it while moving, turning, or even during other animations. There is zero reason to ever stop moving to cast Death Pulse — use it as you walk.
• Ghost Shroud into Death Pulse is the core combat rotation. Always activate Ghost Shroud BEFORE casting Death Pulse in fights. The 75% healing amplification applies to the Death Pulse self-heal, making each pulse significantly more effective.
• Reaper’s Scythe stun pierces Linken’s Sphere… kind of. The stun portion is blocked by Linken’s, but you can pop Linken’s with any cheap single-target item (Rod of Atos, Eul’s, Orchid) and then immediately Scythe.
• Heartstopper Aura damage counts as HP removal, not damage. This means it does not trigger Blade Mail, Dispersion, or any on-damage effects. It also does not cancel consumables like Salve or Clarity — enemies can still use regen items, they just regenerate slower.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using Ghost Shroud against magic burst lineups. If the enemy has Lina, Lion, and Zeus, activating Ghost Shroud means you take 40% more damage from all three of them. Only use Ghost Shroud when physical damage is the primary threat.
• Scythe-ing full-HP targets. Reaper’s Scythe damage scales with missing HP. Using it on a hero at 90% HP deals almost no damage. Wait until they drop below 50% HP for maximum value.
• Not buying detection. Ghost Shroud makes you ethereal, but it does not make you invisible. However, enemies often buy Shadow Blade to escape Heartstopper Aura and avoid Scythe. Carry Dust — it is worth the gold.
• Standing too far from fights. Heartstopper Aura has a 900-unit radius. If you are standing 1,200 units from the fight “to be safe,” you are wasting your most consistent damage source. Get close. Let the aura work.
• Ignoring Aghanim’s Scepter. The buyback disable is the single most game-changing aspect of Necrophos’s kit. Delaying Aghanim’s to build other items is almost always a mistake in games that are competitive.

Advanced Mechanics Only High-MMR Players Know

• Heartstopper Aura stacking with Radiance burn. At max level Heartstopper (1.6% max HP/sec) plus Radiance burn (60 DPS), enemies take approximately 2.5-3% of their max HP per second just by standing near you. In a 20-second fight, that is 50-60% of their HP pool gone from passive effects alone.
• Scythe damage calculation happens at the END of the stun. This means if allies deal damage to the target during the stun, the target will have less current HP when Scythe resolves, resulting in MORE damage. Coordinate with your team to pile damage on the stunned target.
• Ghost Shroud movement slow is an aura, not a debuff. This means it is not blocked by BKB, Manta dispel, or any purge. Even BKB’d carries move slower near you. This interaction alone makes Necrophos valuable in late-game fights against BKB-reliant carries.
• You can deny yourself with Death Pulse damage. If Necrophos is at extremely low HP and Death Pulse’s self-damage would kill him… actually, it does not — Death Pulse cannot kill Necrophos. But enemies sometimes forget this and assume your pulse will finish you off when you are at 10 HP.