Dark willow is an intelligence hero that
remains a formidable force at all stages
of the game.
Her first spell creates a circular maze of
traps that root and damage any enemy
that steps into one. In combat, this spell can
be quite tricky and unreliable. Her
second spell makes her untargetable
for five seconds; her next attack ends
the effect but deal bonus damage based
on how much time Willow spent in that
state. This will be your main tool of
harassment in the laning stage and will set
you up for a kill once you reach level 6.
If you find yourself in a hairy
situation and have only a teleportation
scroll as your means of escape,
you can dramatically improve your
chances by activating Shadow Realm
before using the scroll to ward off any
disable that could disrupt your channeling.
Her third spell Cursed Crown stuns the
target and enemies around the target four
seconds after casting - you can use this
to keep the enemy in range of your first
ultimate. Willow has two Ultimates: bedlam
her first ultimate, summons a wisp
which revolves around Willow for four
seconds attacking any nearby enemy
with magic damage; this will be your
main source of damage in the ganking
phase, and is best used in combination
with her first or third spell to keep
the enemy in range. Her second ultimate
Terrorize, will launch your wisp on the
target area, terrifying any enemies in the
area of effect, which forces them to run
towards their fountain for a certain
duration; this is most often used to stop
enemy teams push. You cannot use your
first ultimate until your wisp returns
to you and that could take a while.
Now that we have studied what the spells
do, let's explore on how you should level
them. At level 1, take your second spell
Shadow Realm as it can get you out of
tough situations. At level 2, take your
first spell Bramble Maze for some damage
at your disposal. At level 3, get another
level of shadow realm for more damage
and a shorter cooldown. At level 4, choose
your third spell Cursed Crown; you won't
need more levels of cursed crown until
all your other spells are maxed.
You should max shadow realm at level 7,
following which you should favor bramble
maze. Take your ultimate as soon as
available.
Willow is best played as a solo mid as
she scares extremely well with levels. In
the laning phase, you should tailor your
approach based on the opponent you're facing.
If you're facing a ranged caster like
outworld destroyer, it might be best to
reserve Shadow realm for defense; that
is to use shadow realm to dodge enemy
spells or attacks. On the other hand, if
you're up against a melee hero like
Tiny or Pudge, it is best to use shadow
realm as often as you can to bring
their health down or even harass them out
of lane entirely. Dark Willow is a
strong counter to Pudge: not only does
the aforementioned strategy of
continuous bombardment work wonders
against him, but your spells completely
neutralize his one-on-one. A surprisingly
effective and easy strategy is to let
him hook you in range, activating your
shadow realm to make yourself
untargetable before he uses his ultimate on
you, then you use your third and first
spell to trap him in place before
activating your first ultimate to tear
him down.
Finish with a charged up attack from
shadow realm to secure the kill. Once your
max your shadow realm at level 7,
you're ready to gank for your teammates.
Open with cursed crown and cast bramble
maze along your enemies' escape route to
cut them off. Once they are immobilized
activate bedlam to bring them down.
Facing multiple opponents might be a
frequent challenge when ganking so it's
advisable to use shadow realm for its
defensive benefits rather than as your
opening salvo. Much of this also applies
to mid and late-game team fights, with
the addition that terrorize gets more useful
as the game drags on. If your team is
losing a fight, your second ultimate can
get the enemy team to back off long
enough to buy time for your team to make
a hasty retreat. Terrorize has the
longest cooldown of any of Willow's spells so
you need to be judicious with your use
of it. Now that we have covered spell
build and gameplay, it's time to talk
about what items and talents you should
pick. As dark willow, I start each match
with a mantle of intelligence, Circlet
health and mana regeneration. If I'm
doing well, I rush Gloves of haste that
I upgrade into a quick hand of Midas.
Dark willow is a ganker's dream hero and
as such you'll have little time for
farming as the game progresses. A hand of
Midas will thus substantially boost your
XP and gold income as you roam around
a map to ambush your enemies. If you're
not rushing a Midas, your first purchase
should be boots of speed. If you haven't
used any of your regeneration items,
you could upgrade your mantle and circlet
to a null talisman to free up an item
slot for your boots. Later in the game,
you could further upgrade a null
talisman to a Dagon if you want more
burst damage, though personally I have
seldom felt the need. Once you get your
boots of speed, you should save up for a
blink dagger. Blink dagger is great for
positioning and will allow you to
initiate ganks much more quickly. It can
also be used to escape from a bad
situation if you use your shadow realm to
ward off enemy damage for long enough to
get Blink off cooldown. Around time you
have blink dagger, you'll have been
presented a choice to pick up your first
talent: 125 cast range or 20 attack damage.
You should always pick the additional
cast range as the attack damage can be
had through items.
Speaking of items, your second major
purchase should be scepter of divinity,
which has both offensive and defensive
uses. Aggressively, it makes a great
combination with your third spell Cursed
crown: cast Cursed Crown on an enemy
hero, then use the scepter to disable him
for two and a half seconds; once the
cyclone ends, your target will have about
a second to react before Cursed crown
stuns him. Defensively, you can use it on
yourself to dispel any silences, which
otherwise pose a serious threat to
Willow. If you still feel the need for
additional maneuverability, you might
want to purchase a Force staff. If you're
going up against melee carries, you may
want to upgrade this into a Hurricane
Pike later into the game. Your boots of
choice should be arcane boots, which will
help offset the mana cost of your
spells; however, I often disassemble them
later on to build Boots of travel, which
will give you even more mobility and
will scrap the need for teleportation
Scrolls for the rest of the game.
When the time comes to pick your second
talent, you'll have to choose between an
additional 90 gold per minute or an
additional 40 movement speed. If you're
short on gold, the bonus income could be
worth considering,
though the benefit starts to taper off
once you've filled your six item slots.
In contrast, the 40 movement speed boost
never stops being useful no matter how
long the game lasts and can make it much
harder to pin Willow down. Your third major
item should be either sheep stick or an
orchid malevolence. I usually opt for
orchid as I usually upgrade that into a
Blood thorn which synergizes extremely
well with her final talent.
However, sheepstick may prove necessary
to lock down particularly slippery
enemies such as Puck. When you are asked
to pick your third talent, I recommend
upgrading your Shadow Realm instead of
the 10% spell lifesteal. This late in
the game, Shadow Realm's burst may lack the
punch needed without the damage
upgrade. The 10% lifesteal can
theoretically heal you for 450 health if
all of your spells hit their targets, but
that's extremely unlikely given how
fragile Willow is. Your final talent is a
no-brainer: always, always picked it to
enter attack speed as it makes you a
machine gun that can shoot through heroes
creep waves and towers for breakfast.
The alternative - an additional second of
terrorize - is useless in comparison and
should never be picked. Your last item
purchase should be a Nullifier, which
will prevent your target from activating
any items. Combining this with your stun,
root and bloodthorn will make it
impossible to defend against, retaliate
or get away from your barrage of magical
and physical damage.
Lastly items that can be useful from time to
time include Black king bar, which will
make you immune to some otherwise
dangerous spells and moon shard which
can be consumed to provide attack speed
without occupying an item slot. To finish
up this guide let's talk about counters.
Though Shadow Realm makes Willow
untargetable she remains vulnerable to
area of effect spells and disables. As
such, she is countered hard by heroes such
as Magnus, enigma, puck and few others.
Additionally, she remains vulnerable
ambush by stealth, such as a legion
commander who has built a shadow blade.
In such situations,
Linken's sphere can be a lifesaver and is
highly recommended. Lastly, she is
countered hard by Black King bar, as it
completely neutralizes your spells.
That concludes this guide on Dark Willow.
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