Strategy Guide for Lucifer the Doom Bringer

by the_rock_rjc (as of v6.60)

http://planetdota.blogspot.com

Table of Contents
How to use: Type CTRL + F [?] and hit Enter twice to reach the section you want

[1]Introduction
[2]Stats
[3]Weaknesses and Strengths
[4]Skill Information
[5]Skill Build
[6]Recommended Item Build
[7]League Item build
[8]Usage of Shiva's Guard
[9]Usage of Refresher Orb
[10]Item Build theme
[11]Crucial Doom Disables, Non-Disables & Counters
[12]Tip on execution of Fire & Ice
[13]Strategy
[14]Role in the Team
[15]Complimentary & Counter heroes
 [16]Doom Priority
[17]CREDITS

[18]Replay(s)

[1] Introduction

I have been trying to come out with an original idea for my favourite hero, dear old Lucifer, who
has been around for a long time. There is GreatCrusade's Tanker Radiance/Heart build,
Guyoverthere's Caster Refresher-Doom build , so there's no space left for an additional value-
added guide. Or so I thought.

While doing this guide, I also came up with the idea of a series of hero guides, under a common
theme. And so Elemental was born. Currently, I have only Lucifer, Azgalor and Rootfellen(the
last one are in the works) in the series, but more will certainly emerge.

My original idea for Lucifer is called Fire & Ice . In my guide, Fire encompasses the Within, the
theme focused on eliminating Lucifer's weaknesses and the representative spell is Doom; Ice
encompasses the Without, the theme focused on enhancing Lucifer's Strengths and the
representative spell is Arctic Blast. Together, the two spells make up the core spell combo.

[2] Stats

Strength: 26+3.2/level (primary stat)

Agility: 11+0.9/level
Intelligence: 16+2.1/level
Base Damage: 53-69
Base MS: 300
Base Attack Time (BAT): 1.7
Attack Range: 150
Cast Point: 0.3
Cast Animation: 0.5 (can be cancelled)
Attack Point: 0.5
Attack Animation: 0.7 (can be cancelled)

Note: Lucifer cannot attack or pick up items below ~150 range using the right click command;
Either back Lucifer away or use the attack command instead.

[3] Weaknesses and Strengths

Why this order? Because in my guide, Weaknesses are my Fire and Strengths are my Ice, and
must be addressed in that order. This will also serve as a reference when explaining the item
build.
QUOTE
Weaknesses

* No slow/stun, difficult to escape or chase

* No spell-tanking passive, easily killed by magical nuking
* Low Starting Int (16) for a spell-caster, overall mana pool is small
* Low armor gain, easily killed by DPS

QUOTE
Strengths

* Most powerful single-target Disable: Doom, locks-out enemy hero in a fight

* Very high Strength gain per level (3.2), tanking potential
* High Movespeed with Scorched Earth, good chasing potential

[4] Skill Information

*In this section, I will give elaborations only. For reference to the 4 skill descriptions, click here.

Devour (E)

Casting range: 300

Best creep HP to cast: 580/ 480/ 380/ 280

Lucifer is unable to devour Ancients, Roshan and magic-immune creeps. You immediately get
the normal bounty of creep(not shown) once Devour is cast, with the additional 10-40g(shown)
after the creep is digested. Devoured enemy creeps no longer gives enemy players vision of
Lucifer. You cannot "miss" a creep with Devour or level Devour while digesting a creep(so be
aware when skill points are available).

You can still use Devour to defend your tower by Devouring the lead creep and making sure the
rest home in on Lucifer.

Scorched Earth (T)

Casting range: 900 (i.e. mid-point of SE can be placed at a max of 900 without Lucifer moving)
Area of Effect: 1400(diameter)
You can either use this skill to run or to chase; better to be the hunter. The MS Lucifer gets with
Scorched Earth on No Boots, Boots of Speed, Power Treads, Phase Boots and BoT are 389, 454,
474, 480, 500 respectively. Simply add 26 to the number if Lucifer has Eul as well. Scorched
Earth also affect your own non-Lucifer units, like Dominated creeps.

A small trick to utilise for Tower Defense(original credit is mine):

Lvl? Death! (V)

Casting range: 600

Only targets heroes. Deals a mini-stun of 0.01 second, which cancels Channeling.

*Special discovery: Lvl Death! is tabulated in 2 periods(with about 1 second in between): In the
1st period, the damage of the normal nuke and 1/2 the bonus nuke(if any) is dished out, followed
by the 2nd period where the remaining 1/2 of the bonus nuke is accounted for. Therefore, do not
be surprised if your target dies even before the 2nd period kicks in.

* Lvl? Death now deals both the actual and bonus nuke as Attack type Spells, Damage type
Magic. All heroes have 25% natural spell resistance. Extra items like planewalkers/hood add to
that % (with diminishing returns).
 Doom (D)

Level 3X - Deals 90 damage per second. Lasts 16 seconds. Cooldowns: 90/80/70(From

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade)
Cast range: 650

Against enemy heroes, Doom effectively does 360/630/960 damage after spell resistance. Since
they cannot cast spells or use items personally, a well-prepared and calculated assault from
Lucifer usually results in death. Level 1 Doom can target neutral creeps, while Level 2 and 3
Doom cannot.

* Now you can use Doom at least once (twice with Aghanim) in between waiting for Refresher's
cooldown, which means even more ganking power.

[5] Skill build

Level 1: Devour
Level 2: Lvl Death!
Level 3: Devour
Level 4: Scorched Earth
Level 5: Devour
Level 6: Doom
Level 7: Devour
Level 8: Scorched Earth
Level 9: Scorched Earth
Level 10: Scorched Earth
Level 11: Doom
Levels 12-15: Stats
Level 16: Doom
Levels 17-22: Stats
Levels 23-25: Lvl Death!

Farming and Survival are the focus during the early game, so max Devour by level 7 to
accelerate your gold-earning speed. With level 4 Devour, you will gain double the average creep
gold(through the +40 bonus) every 15 seconds. Another important consideration is that a Devour
now guarantees creep gold and experience, so creep pulling by enemy harassers are no longer a
significant headache for Lucifer.

The skill build looks defensive, but it does have its time for offense. Lucifer’s best point to kill
an enemy hero during early game is at level 6; both you and your enemy hero's level. Firstly,
even if you level a little more slowly than your adversary, just drop LvlDeath! on him/her once
the magic number comes up. Secondly, at level 6, you can rely on either multiple lvl 1 LvlD!s to
harass/kill the enemy hero or on your lvl 1 LvlD!+Doom combo to ensure the kill. A small
demonstration by me (from my prey's POV):
(For those who are confused, the sequence was: I Lvl Death! --> Lion uses Tango --> I Doom,
followed immediately by Lvl Death!, Lion runs and dies.)

You can also go ganking with your team; If coordinated well, you can effect many kills easily
with the above combo.

Scorched Earth is maxed at level 10. The reason for this unconventional leveling is that this is
approximately a good time Lucifer is alternating between the lane and the jungle to farm his 1st
main item, and SE puts him in good stead to move around quickly. The attack speed boost also
helps quite a bit, as he can take out a neutral creep camp with less hassle.

Why 4 levels of stats from levels 12-14 instead of Lvl Death!? Firstly, this is so that there is a
sufficiently large mana pool for the Double Fire & Ice combo if you are going for Refresher
immediately in the extended build. Secondly, Lvl Death! is not chosen due to the fact that at the
stage of the game where heroes can more or less shrug off the shrinking damage output, Lvl
Death! should be relegated in favour of more useful HP-pumping.

Finally, I would like to stress a mistake that Doombringer players actually commit, and that is
not leveling Doom when they can. This is also mentioned in Guyoverthere07's guide, but I am
making it an important emphasis now. It is relatively cheap, the best single-target DoT disable in
the game, and not to mention your ULTIMATE! Don't leave homethe fountain without it.

[6] Recommended Item Build

*To begin with, I must state that the core build is focused on removing Lucifer's weaknesses
first, while leaving the exploiting of his strengths to a later time.

Core Build: Fire

Early game:

*Ring of Regeneration x2
*Voidstone
*Boots of Speed, Belt of Giant Strength, Gloves of Haste, Recipe --> Power Treads(Strength)
*Helm of Iron Will, Planewalker's Cloak --> Hood of Defiance

The early game core items are Power Treads and Hood of Defiance. Follow the above build, and
you have a manageable laning time as the Ring of Regens and Voidstone provides sufficient
HP/MP regeneration to sustain Lucifer. Once Hood of Defiance is completed, it removes one of
Lucifer's main Weaknesses, AND sets the foundation for late-game tanking. (Since you can now
complete Hood of Defiance using the Side Shops, it should not be skipped.)
Middle game:

*Total Gold: 9775

The slow, intel boost and armor from Shiva's Guard effectively erases the last 3 listed
Weaknesses. Try to keep a low profile and keep off the active radar of the enemy team while
farming Shiva(so as not to have unnecessary deaths and lose gold), except for ganks where you
put your Doom to good use.

Fire & Ice spell combo: Doom and Arctic Blast. It is very straightforward; Initiate an assault on a
hero with Scorched Earth to give you the speed edge, Doom(range of 650), close in and Arctic
Blast(range of 500, extended range of 750)(combo deals a total of 510/780/1110 after hero
resistance), and attack.

Usually the team-fights start around this point of the game, so it is unlikely that you can farm
easily henceforth or that the game will last long enough to allow you to obtain more heavy
caliber items, but Lucifer is sufficiently well-equipped with his Fire & Ice spell combo, and is
more than capable of influencing the outcome of the battle.

Extended Build: Ice

*Here comes the point when you play Lucifer as your team's secondary carry by obtaining
Radiance. After which, take advantage of Lucifer's natural core competencies, Doom and HP, via
Refresher and the new Heart of Tarransque. These 2 items will further enhance what Lucifer
already has, giving a more-than-proportionate increase in fighting value.

Total gold: 16125

After Radiance, you must decide the order of the Strength themes that you want to promote.
Refer to Section 10 for the Item Build theme.

Rejected Possible Extended Items

*Firstly, you must note that the following items are NOT rejected items per se. The fact that they
are here already speaks quite loudly that they are viable items for Lucifer; all other items are
strictly put on the sidelines.

QUOTE
Butterfly would make Lucifer a physical DPS hero, which is unnatural. In this sense, you would
be forcing him into a role that is not suited to his Strengths.

Again, physical DPSer. And you have more than enough armor already. Does not fit in the Item
Build theme.

Miscellaneous Items

There is no need for any justification for the uber Chicken.

One of the additional reasons I chose Power Treads over Boots of Travel was because the speed
difference, even with Scorched Earth factored in, is little, and I prefer the IAS boost to facilitate
farming. The above is another reason, for i see little value in duplicating Teleport, while Lucifer
is suited to staying in a specific lane rather than zipping here and there.

Does this item need an introduction or elaboration? No. Nonetheless, to add my 10-cents worth,
for those players who like to go on the offensive aggressively, I guarantee that you will definitely
have sufficient mana to spam your Lvl Death!s and Doom at the magic number 6(Section 5)
using the Bottle.

[7] League Item Build

*You absolutely do not need this section. Either you can play Lucifer or you cannot; if you can
play, there are enough clues and you will have figured out what is the League way to go for my
Fire and Ice Item Build.

But I will show the essential items in order of completion:

The main differences are Bottle and Boots of Travel, but that is all I will elaborate on this issue.
Thanks.

Actually, there is another competitive build I use these days, and I am inserting it here in the
jungle of text. The item build is, in order of completion, Guinsoo/Diffusal Blade/Radiance/Power
Treads/Heart of Tarransque/Refresher Orb. This particular build is a modified ganker's
build(Boring!), and puts the Hex and Purge to good use.

[8] Usage of Shiva's Guard

*As a way of emphasis, position Lucifer such that when Arctic Blast is activated, the expanding
frost circle will hit most/all of the enemy heroes, especially during team fights. Do wait for the
opportunity and suppress the urge to be impatient.

[9] Usage of Refresher Orb

*As a Lucifer player, you must understand the role that Refresher Orb plays. Its ability should
only be used in team fights, as opposed to using it as and when Doom had been cast. If you had
utilised the Refresh ability during a normal hero engagement, you are most likely to find yourself
in a position where you cannot execute your Double Fire & Ice spell combo as planned.

[10] Item Build theme

QUOTE
Fire
For a holistic approach, I must say that Lucifer is not a natural tank. And he has, as I mentioned
in the "Weaknesses" section and stressed in the item build, he has 4 primary "deficiencies": No
Slow/Stun, no Passive Enhancer, low Armor, a low mana pool. With the item build, you
eliminate Lucifer's weaknesses. Shiva also contributes AOE slow and damage against the enemy
team, so that your team has an easier time hammering on them. Overall, this build achieves its
objectives of nullifying weaknesses (and enhancing 1 of the strengths via the spell combo). After
the core items, you can further increase your value-addedness by taking up additional profiles.

QUOTE
Ice
Why Radiance first? Reason: You draw attention away from your team's primary carry hero to
yourself, because as a carry hero with Radiance Lucifer is very dangerous to be ignored. After
which, with reference to Section 3, the Extended build enhances the Strengths of Lucifer.
Refresher doubles Fire & Ice, which effectively also doubles your magical worth in a team fight.
Heart obviously makes you a Tanker, so that you can absorb damage for your team, thus
protecting the weaker heroes behind you.

The best part of this extended build is that the respective Strength themes compliment each other,
so you can go ahead and obtain the above items in any order without worrying about duplicating
capabilities(which incurs diminishing returns). There is a catch here. While it seems the most
attractive path, it is not always clear-cut whether Double-Doom is the best way to go before
tanking; if you are facing an enemy team which comprises primarily of Tankers, it is your call to
decide if you want to obtain Heart before Refresher

[11] Crucial Doom Disables, Non-Disables & Counters

An easy glance to the important things Doom disables and does not disable. For the full listing,
refer to Guyoverthere07's Doombringer guide.

*Doom can be cast on heroes with magic-immunity

Disables:

QUOTE
In General
All activatable item and hero abilities(including consumables)
All Channeling
Leveling skills
Picking up/Dropping actions

QUOTE
Offensive
Critical Strike ; Bash ; Splash Damage (All Cleaves and Anchor Smash) ; Orb effects(except
Stygian Desolater and Melee Skadi) ; Immolation(from Radiance) ; Storm Seeker ; Pulse Nova ;
Caustic Finale ; Geostrike (affects only Doomed Meepo) ; Electric Rave ; Headshot ;
Frostmourne ; Germinate Attack ; Corrosive Breath (DK's Elder Form 1) ; Frost Effect (DK's
Elder Form 3) ; Poison Sting ; Splitshot ; Blade Fury
QUOTE
Defensive
Damage-blocking ; Gem of Truesight ; Evasion ; Permanent Invisibility ; Invisibility under
Broodmother's Web ; Last Word ; Sand Storm ; Voodoo Restoration ; Moonlight Shadow

Does not Disable:

QUOTE
In General
Any kind of +stat, +dmg, +hp/mana, ias, ims, or regen(including from items)
Any type of buff
Any type of Auras

QUOTE
Offensive
Feast ; Blood Bath ; Thirst ; Backstab ; Greater Bash ; Charge(while in progress) ; Unholy
Rage(Satanic) ; Auto Fire ; Juxtapose ; Phantom Edge ; Goblin Greed ; Moon Glaive ; Beast
Rage ; Diabolic Edict ; Counter Helix ; Desolate ; Rot(cannot be turned off) ; Morph(cannot be
turned off) ; Overload ; Psi Blades ; Berserker Blood ; Necromastery ; Shukuchi ; Vendetta ;
Insatiable Hunger

QUOTE
Defensive
Wind Walk(Lothar) ; Wind Walk ; Nature's Guise ; Meld ; Back Track ; Dispersion ; Gravekeeper
Cloak ; Spell Shield ; Refraction ; Mana Shield ; Untouchable ; Flesh Heap ; Bloodstone ;
Reincarnate ; Bristleback(Dmg reduction & Quill) ; Spiky Carapace ; Corrosive Skin ; Dragon
Blood ; Craggy Exterior ; Damage return(Blademail)

Doom Counters

*Denying Doomed hero after HP falls below 25%. This will waste Lucifer's effort in casting
Doom, because he does not get the kill. Loss of enemy gold is but a small consolation.

The following can block(B), remove®, Waste-Doom-time(W), and pure-pause Doom(P).

QUOTE
Linken's Sphere B
Borrowed Time R
Kraken's Shell R
Song of the Siren W
Chronosphere P
Astral Imprisonment P
[12] Tip for execution of Fire & Ice spell combo

2 ways to execute the combo.

#1:

- Fire(Doom),
Scorched Earth not shown
 - Ice (Arctic Blast)

- Death of Enemy
Hero

#2:
So why is it recommended to execute Fire and Ice in the 1st way as mentioned in Section 6?
This is to pre-empt any possible escape by enemy heroes who have escape mechanisms. With
Scorched Earth, you boost yourself to a very high MS(474 or 500) which means you can
outdistance most enemy heroes, and placing Doom ensures that they have no way of avoiding the
follow-up Arctic Blast. After which, the Slow effect guarantees that you will close in for the kill.

A word of caution: Do not try to Fire and Ice a hero who is already retreating away from
Lucifer, as you will most likely be unable to land the Arctic Blast and thus end up wasting your
Doom(which has a longer casting range).

[13] Strategy

QUOTE
Early game (Level 1-7)
Theme: Lane farming, Survival and Sniping(via Lvl Death!)

First of all, you need to choose a lane to do your thing. My recommendation is for Lucifer to go
down the side lanes, where you will have less possibility to pairing off against a ranged hero; I
prefer to go Sentinel left lane, and Scourge right lane, where it takes less time to retreat to your
fountain if needed.

Use Devour to score your instant creep kills while adhering to the "Best creep HP to cast".
Utilise your Ring of Regens to keep Lucifer's HP above 50%; this is approximately the ball-park
limit where it is still safe for Lucifer to escape alive from a possible stun-spell combo. Maintain
your MP at a level where you can fire off 2 Lvl Death!s in a row(i.e above 170) to force a retreat
or score a kill when enemy heroes reach level 6. If you are more ambitious, keep 235 MP in
reserve so as to execute your Lvl Death!+Doom combo.

An important point to note is that during this stage of the game, Lucifer must stay in the lanes so
as to maximise his farming potential. Jungling is, by far, much slower to accumulate equivalent
gold as Lucifer's damage and attack speed are still not high enough to clear the neutral creeps
fast enough.

QUOTE
Mid-game (Level 8-16)
Theme: Alternating Lane+Jungle Farming, Tower Push, Ganking

At the beginning of the mid-game, all heroes will have become mobile, as they obtain their
Ultimates and start to max out their normal skills. For Lucifer, it is the most dangerous phase, as
you need to farm your 1st high-cost item Mystic Staff. To accommodate this requirement,
Lucifer must alternate between the lane(where it is very prone to enemy ganks) and the
jungle(where the gold returns are still lower but less risky); use Scorched Earth to your
advantage where you move from place to place quickly. Additionally, you will need Scorched
Earth as your insurance against death when pitted against mid-game hero-killers like Night-
Stalker. Put your level 4 Devour to good use against hardy creeps like Centaur Stompers,
Fulborg Slammers and Satyr Hellcasters, to minimise your HP loss.

While the name of the game for Lucifer is still intensive farming, do join up with your
teammates to push down the enemy perimeter towers, so that their sphere of influence is
reduced. This would allow more successful ganks against enemy heroes by your team. Once the
job is completed, duck back into the jungle and lie low for a while, as the enemy team would
have, by now, gathered in numbers to avenge the loss of their tower.

Ganking for the Doombringer is very straightforward: You *bring Doom*. Do not hanker for the
hero kill; all my calculations for achieving the Fire & Ice item build excludes the factor of gold
from hero kills. Moreover, there is no need to be greedy, for with Devour Lucifer already has a
solid advantage to out-farm his allies. So be gracious, and allow your teammates to finish off the
targeted enemy hero, and congratulate yourself for having assisted in the assasination.

Once Shiva's Guard is obtained, prime yourself and your team immediately for the upcoming
teamfights, and unleash the Fire & Ice combo.

Below are 2 benchmark pictures to reference:

QUOTE
Late-game
There is no longer a need for me to state the themes or the strategies for this stage of the game.
Refer to Section 10.

[14] Role in the Team

For the Fire & Ice spell combo Build, Lucifer's role is very simple: Bring Slow and *Bring
Doom*.

Then your role would evolve to being your team's secondary carry hero. After which, you can
decide what else you want to bring to the table: Offensive magic support-disable or Defensive
tanking. The best part of my guide is that you will be all 3 eventually; the 3 different profiles are
not mutually exclusive. And how can that be possible, since in most traditional (and even
premium) guides it is imperative to focus on 1 and at most 2? This is due to the extensive
research and subsequent focus on Lucifer's Weaknesses and Strengths; the Core build sets the
foundation for Lucifer's multi-faceted role.
[15] Complimentary & Counter heroes

For Complimentary heroes, I feel that Lucifer is so versatile he can partner a wide range of
heroes.

*Heroes with slow and projectile-stun attacks, be it physical or spell. For example: Crystal
Maiden(spell), Broodmother(physical). The reason is that either the slow/stun allows Lucifer to
place the Doom, and/or that the slow/stun allows Lucifer and gang to catch up with the Doomed
hero to do some serious damage which results in death.

QUOTE
Notable Mentions:

Pugna - One word: Decrepify.

Undying - Another one word: Plague

QUOTE
Others:

Silencer - LOL, NO word. His curse of the silent helps to bring down enemy heroes
when combined with Doom, while he can safely bang away behind Lucifer with his Glaives of
Wisdom

Doombringer-counter heroes

*In most cases, Strength heroes are Lucifer's "counter-heroes" because of their huge HP pool and
HP regeneration rate. However, the counter-strategy to these counter-heroes is simple: Just
IGNORE them; do not Doom these characters unless they are packing Radiance(the immolation
will be disabled by Doom)

QUOTE
Notable Mentions:

Abbadon - The Lord of Avernus is a very good counter against Doombringer, as his
Ultimate Borrowed Time removes Doom whether you like it or not, rendering your assault
against him half-baked and unsuccessful. Do not target him with Doom; cast it on a more
suitable target instead, like an intel hero.

Tidehunter - His Kraken Shell is your bane; during every single second of Doom the
ability has a % probability of removing the Doom debuff. I have seen it throw Doom off in the
1st second. There's a sign hanging around the Tidehunter's neck saying "Do NOT Doom".

SpiritBreaker - Barathrum will still make mincemeat out of you with decent attack
speed, even when Doomed, as his Greater Bash is NOT disabled. Once he scores a GB on
Lucifer, it is highly likely Lucifer will be GB-locked to death.

Axe - Even without his damage-blocking and spell-enhancements under Doom, his
counter-helix and Hp regen will still defeat you. The only way out is to run, but that in itself
defeats your purpose as well. Not to mention that his early game will make you cry...

The following heroes are not counter-heroes per se, but will sure irritate you to no end:

QUOTE

Pudge - It is quite unlikely that Lucifer can ever score a kill on this semi-antimagic
tanker, unless you manage to place a Doom while he is Rotting.
 Tanaya - Her primary abilities are not disabled by Doom.

[16] Doom Priority

*These enemy heroes must be Doomed(Doom is effective against them) as they are instrumental
at deciding the outcome of any team fight.

QUOTE
AOE Ultimates
Disablers:

Non-Disablers:

QUOTE
DPS
Physical attacks: These heroes utilise godlike-AS/Crit/Evasion/Lifesteal/Orbs to kill enemy
heroes quickly while surviving.

Permabash:

[17] CREDITS
A very big thanks to the following Guide makers, as I had drawn much information from their
respective guides on Doombringer:

Guyoverthere07, especially for the template

GreatCrusade

Other Credits:

-NIL-, after 6.58b

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