Dirge the underestimated

omg im the first . but very nice strategy build dude i dont see a good zombie player yet

i personally think this is a made well guide but u should upgrade to vlads early and guinsoo early to

Good build I like to get Skadi too, only way to ensure a kill. The only things i would change is I would get valdmir's offering the +15% damage is great and life steal will not go unnoticed, not to mention the increase mana regen, and armor to your zombies will help them get the 6 hits you need them to get. I would also think about swapping Heartstopper and soul rip at level 2 and 3 in your skill build the only reason is that Heartstopper Aura while great is just not that effective early game. I know it is still 1% life but a simple ring of regeneration can come close to countering this, and the aura is so small at first that you have to get close to the bad guys and that is not always a good thing. If you are fighting alot of big str heroes then it might be worth getting early other than that soul rip is better for early harassing. At just 75 mana you can cast it all day and it deals enough damage to be worth it, and you don't have to worry about running in close.

nice skill build
i usually get a mekanism so your zombies can last longer hp wise also so they can multiply even better
just a thought ;D sweet guide though

Very nice strategy...
Very different to what I usually use, but in fact, it does make sense...
I like the part about harassing and killing the heroes only moving, and the creeping with the zombies is great, I'll really try to master that...
But overall, your enemies seem you know, a little noobish, they let themselves die too easily for what I can see (either that or you are really a good player....)
Overall, nice job

really nice guide...i gonna try Dirge

Very good strategy powered with some pics and clues.Item build is really good even if expensive.The only difference is I usually buy a dagon right after finishing Radiance

10/10 man good work

Excellent, I'm using this build in five minutes. 10/10

i thought i was the only one that got skadi on dirge! Thats like the way u get kills late game. I like the pictures, and u are rite, he farms well. Unfortunatley, his aura isnt that good. Tide must have been harassed by u or ur creeps in order to be at half. The aura doesnt even fully nutrilize the effects of a ring of regen. with radiance and plague, it does slightly more. I think that icefrog should make the aura around 1.15 or 1.2 % instead of just 1%. Otherwise, it was simple and effective! 9/10 cause i dont agree with ur skill build

Nice build, but i on the other hand max out zombies fast and take down first two towers in the first 10 mnts ^^ i get vladmear and meka radiance is ok but just not top priority

Well I kind of dropped all credibility on this strategy when I got to the part where leviathan died without you laying a finger on him... If you are playing people that bad than this strategy is untested IMO. Same with the bit on Tiny. Any replay to show how BAD they were really?

I've tried heartstopper aura early game, and it didnt do anything worth noting. Secondly, you use zombies in your lane? I cannot stand people who do that, every zombie that dies gives the opponents experience AND potential extra money. One time I was playing an AR game against Dirge, I was Pugna, WOW did I farm well against him. Bottom line, DO NOT use zombies in your own lane. Once you can make 3 zombies (level 5) use them to farm neutrals near your lane, while keeping to the last hitting motto in your own lane. Other than that they are useful for the sole purpose of tanking towers while you tower dive OR taking a tower down when there are no enemys nearby.

Using this strategy you'll undoubtedly be constantly ganked (because you push hard), underfarmed, and of course unable to do jack midgame because your dealing 1% damage per second (yawn, 200 seconds later they die) and they are killing you in under 10. Unless the other team is full of complete idiots this strategy cannot work.

Heartstopper aura getting kills early game? People actually bought that?

Great guide 10/10!!xD but you might want to consider that if your trying to harass an opponent with heartstopper aura they will most likely spam regen items rendering ur aura useless lol other wise good job.

gj! pretty good for a first guide actually! (lol, a special thanks to Goku? are you talking about THE Goku? as in the one from Dragonball Z? lol!) A lot of good info! read more to say why i didn't say all of it was good...
This is NOT meant to be a flame or anything like that. However, i agree with a lot of what the rain9441 said (one of the comments for this guide). Heartstooper is almost useless early game...only good in late game when you go against people with like 3000 health. And even then, you only do like 30 damage each time...while they're probably regenerating around 20 of it per second...not very good! I also agree about using the zombies for neutral creeps and tower kills. Until you get assault and vlads, they are only useful for early game (when people have low hp, damage output, etc). They can only stop feeding when you get either assault or vlads. Of course, a mekansm would help.
hmmmmm... about your screenies... any good leviathan would not die like that! In fact, ANY player with a bit of experience would not die like that. And tiny?? like wth?! Were u going against like really really new to dota (or warcraft in general for that matter) people? MAN!!! no one walks around with like 50 hp...
On the brighter side of things, your tactics would actually work and are effective in general. The item build is good too.
Now to address the part about just using zombies and not having anyone else attack...not a good idea. Any AoE hero can come and totally MASSACRE ALL YOU ZOMBIES!!! Imagine Leshrac...he would be veeeeeeeeeeery RICH if he used just like one or two of his spells! again, use them for towers and soul rip. of course, this may be a bit difficult to do, due to having fewer zombies..which = less heal/damage from soul rip. So, you can aim for necrominicon ( is that what it's called?). That will kinda help you.
If i offended you or anyone, I'm sorry. Just wanted to state my opinion. Hopefully, you take my (hopefully) constructive criticism and use it to good use! Well good luck!

wow...that was a long post...it wasn't supposed to be...lol!

NEW ITEM SHIVA'S GUARD. THAT PLUS RADIANCE.

i rather go mek vlads new armor, own.

wow ive never seen a pro dirge

nice strat

nice strat, decent build 2, lol and to previous post, wat other goku cud he mean ?

GREAT!! Same build but skadi is not my priority...

You miss who are the heroes that could counter this guy? Anyway, the guide is good. I have no idea that Dirge and Raijin could be some new great farmers in DotA!

I'm going to assume you made this before 6.49 because you would surely put those new items on Dirge... well. I can't talk actually. I hate Dirge. Not this guide or those imba items will ever make me like Dirge.

But this guide is good. Only problem I see is, as some people have said, the skill build. I can see why you wouldn't want to push, thats a common tactic among players. But I would remind you that pushing gets even more gold, even if you don't get the tower kill.
Skadi works very well, as does Radiance. I would leave the Dagon out since you're placing it as the optional 5th core item or something (wow that would be effective, 400 damage @ an hour in, not?)
Screenies. Well. Its screenies. You can't go better than screenies. You have screenies therefore your guide is ownage. Detailed attack plan, farming tactics, simplified item build that is achievable. In short, the usual explanation from me: you know what you're doing. I would say 10/10 despite the skill build - the skill build satisfies YOUR goal of getting enough zombies to stay in the lane yet not push, thats fine.
10/10

Oh, excuse the double post, I forgot one thing: you are now the pioneer of Dirge guides on DS. You get a bonus.

i havent use this hero ever

but i think i'll use him now...

I usually get Heart of Tharasque and Cuirass

I would recommend Vladimir's offering an towards the end a Shiva's Guard in place of Skadi..... Helps a lot to the creeps

Nice Srategy, well well pointed, i give you a 10/10

i think his good with heart of tarasque..
and arcane ring..

I'm ok with item build it's really no problem to me but I highly recommend that you max out soul rip first. Soul rip gives you alot more lane control than Zombies, I mean zombies are just potential gold and exp for your opponents(unless you plan to jungle). Heart stopper's is ok early game it works in preventing your opponents from healing back the damage they took from soul rip.

Quickly maxed Heartstoppers is so effing annoying to fight, but that leaves you with minimal Soul Rip or zombies... of course, since he WANTS minimal zombies, that works. Getting the heal/nuke later might not be so powerful as getting it early though.

tnx for the guide, i am trying to follow the guide but i am getting a hard time using him. i am always the one targeted by the enemies so can i first prior dagger sor my escape tnxxxx....

negopai..you're a pro using dirge.,.
nice guide btw..
10/10

Nc gotta try this 1 tnx! btw i'm really confused w/ soul rip can smbody clarify it??XD

thanks god a dirge guide hahahaha

my own item build for dirge:

-Mekansm
-Arcane
-Assault
-Skadi
-Vladimirs
-BoT

uh.. question.. i don't know about this but is heart stopper aura really effective? what if the enemy has a life regeneration items? like vanguard or tarasque, it's just like you have aura for nothing because they will just gain their life back... I think heart stopper aura won't work in that situation...

Good strat,good screnies,10/10 from me!!

i find it hard to get a Sacred Relic at by the end of early game. Even so 10/10

nice strat and item build Negopai, radiance is good paired with his aura and vladymirs is good for you and your zambies, makes you push like hell, nice item build, but regarding with the daogn, I think that your ulti does not decrify magical damage???
can someon check that...^^
btw nice strat although it lack some tactics and your screeniese are lacking caption, but i'll give you 7/10
^^

@DarkSlayer_14
soulrip is a good heal/damage skill. the more allies, the greater heal you will recieve individually, same as, the more enemies, the more damgage they will recieve.

why didnt recomend dagger of escape?? what if the enemy is Long range.. like traxex.. ahehhee. oh well.. its just a comment..

shiva's guard is good for also

nice strat
i would get an eqarly vlads also
btw goku is ftw

sorry to say but those screenies looks as if he was playing with 6.45/.44 ai's.

the opponent must be noob and aniwae its 6.48b not 6.45 ai haha

man, why u dont have any bashers?

man, why u dont have any bashers?

great guide, although i play dirge differently. my items build consists of auras: vlads offering, mekanasm, assault cuirass,and radiance is also very good. dirge is a tank, i rarely go home with all the healing in my disposal. plus he's a very excellent pusher. he's not a great hero killer, but it's nice to play differently every once in a while. however, i dont get heartstopper aura, in fact i get it later in the game. my reason is because it's a very weak aura. 1%? come on! you wont even hurt anyone with that! it's like a very weak radiance, and with suitable life regen,(even without life regen items, only stats) by midgame you wont even notice there's an aura. well, that's how i choose my skills anyway. good guide, i agree with a lot of stuff...

Your strat is well explained but I would change some things ... I completly agree with the idea of the RADIANCE and the BASILIUS but, according to me, POWER TREAD is much better than BOT because you hit much more when your ennemy is under your PLAGUE so you can hunt yourself And I can't bear SOUL RIP, I think it becomes useless very fast and you had better increasing your life with attributes. But don't worry dude : your strat is great

Hi guys and Negopai!

Thanks for the great guide! I would just like to share my experience following this guide:

I chose Dirge to try out this hero for the first time and I had a 3v3 match and I was laned against centaur (hehe how lucky). Theres also another enemy hero; tiny (yehey) on the other lane.

I followed the guide and maxed out Heartstop and then only sent my zombies to attack. It was as he said; Centaur was having a hard time last hitting and attacking me for everytime he tried he would lose 1% of his hp and was forced to stay back and half the time at home. I was free to farm on neutrals while he was away or countering my pushes.

This continued on and it was a piece of cake farming for the radiance. But unfortunately one of our players left the game and it was a 3v2 match. Me and Mirana were able to hold it up for 1:18hr haha with me farming for her items. We didn't win the game but we did have the higher kill count.

This skill/item build sole purpose is to damage enemies from afar; you don't really have to go near and kill them; you can send your zombies to slow them down from pushing or reaching you. Main tactic here is "wait, wait and wait". You just stand there and act like an active damager of 1% per second whilse enemies push; eventually after a min or two they will have a red bar and its about time for your allies to come in for the easy kill, or they run back to their wells. Basicly with you in their presence your limiting their ability to push or farm because the longer they are within your aura they risk the chance of dieing.

As said earlier its a waiting game; you just go back and forth to the colliding creeps with the enemy and him not being able to touch you and you dealing 1% per second to him.

your beast easy enemies are melee str types since they will have a hard time chasing you for a kill with you having no intentions of facing them head on, your like a leech that continuously sucks out dmg from them. They will have 2 choices:

1. continue on with the push and have their hp diminish before their very eyes.
OR
2. run back and farm on neutrals or regen.

Both are a win-win situation for your team.

If they choose #1; then when their HP is low enough; attack or gank time.

best enemies for this strategy: enemies that are melee and having a hard time getting near to damage you.

Worst: nukers/range agi because you have low hp and you can't always rely on your zombies for hp.

The key to survival is that you don't get killed first; the longer you stay in the battlefield the better and thats why you shouldn't bother getting attack speed for this strat and risking your life by going head on.

Wooooh! that was long. Its just that I enjoyed that game I had even thou we lost. I'm the first one to use Dirge in our community and it feels great finding out this hero's strengths.

suggestions: yea the guinsoo should be there since you can act as a disabler too while standing and you do have a large mana pool by mid to late game.

HoT also since you are the very first target of your enemies. Give them a hell of a time to kill you so that the more 1% hp is drained and more dmg your allies dish out.

"uh.. question.. i don't know about this but is heart stopper aura really effective? what if the enemy has a life regeneration items? like vanguard or tarasque, it's just like you have aura for nothing because they will just gain their life back... I think heart stopper aura won't work in that situation..."

--- vanguard is 4-5 hp regen per sec? 1% of 1k hp is 10dmg per sec. If your his lane enemy and you bumped up your aura early; he wont be able to farm much and save up for that vanguard.

and if he did get a HoT; by that time if your doing a good job in farming andnot dieing you would have gotten a radiance already and he would have 2k hp.

2k hp x 0.01 = 20 dmg per second
PLUS
RADIANCE = 35 dmg per sec
===========
TOTAL = 55dmg per second against HoT's 11hp and other minor bonuses to str regen.

Well of course an enemy with 3x or more HoT and pure regen freak would negate this build.... if this ever happens then you need to learn how to deny or your team needs more practice.

"uh.. question.. i don't know about this but is heart stopper aura really effective? what if the enemy has a life regeneration items? like vanguard or tarasque, it's just like you have aura for nothing because they will just gain their life back... I think heart stopper aura won't work in that situation..."

--- vanguard is 4-5 hp regen per sec? 1% of 1k hp is 10dmg per sec. If your his lane enemy and you bumped up your aura early; he wont be able to farm much and save up for that vanguard.

and if he did get a HoT; by that time if your doing a good job in farming andnot dieing you would have gotten a radiance already and he would have 2k hp.

2k hp x 0.01 = 20 dmg per second
PLUS
RADIANCE = 35 dmg per sec
===========
TOTAL = 55dmg per second against HoT's 11hp and other minor bonuses to str regen.

Well of course an enemy with 3x or more HoT and pure regen freak would negate this build.... if this ever happens then you need to learn how to deny or your team needs more practice.

i like the guide, BUT, most of your screenshots are you vs noobs, not to mention that if any1 actually NEEDS a guide for dirge they must be slow in the head, but thx anyway for enlightening all those retards who didnt know how to play dirge

Quote: " DO NOT PUSH! Simple isn't it?"
.........

NO...

Please tell me how are you not going to push with 2,3 or 4 extra creep and possibly 8? You're going to push HARD into the enemy territory... Other wise, the build is great. That's the one thing I'm confused about. Radiance in 20 minutes? No doubt with your strat. Good job...

is it just a coinsidence?? or you just posted this strat. at nov. 1 on purpose... hehe.. nice halloween treat bro... 9/10 for you... IMO only get heartstopper if you are laned with a tank...

I LIKE it Especially with the items,

What a nice guide..

I think it's great! I will test this one. Ty

very nice strat!!!

special thanks to goku

just a question´, the vlad item , there is no orb effect on it or?

Nice one...

For guys who says heart stopper aura doesnt work early game...well it does in late game tho battles dont last for 100 sec and it is actually useless

and about your zombie strategy well it depends who you are facing against and how well you can control your zombies not to feed your enemy.

for the item build you can try to farm for preservence first which you can upgrade to battlefury later or linken as the game goes and since you are a melee hero a vanguard is never bad idea.

all in all good guide tho i dont believe you can kill a hero like you sow in those pics unless you are playing against noobs.

I just kept wondering if those zombies have a heartstopper aura too?

Hmmm, you've inspired me to play dirge. Very nice strategy

nice strat.. but still, I don't think ppl will hang around to get damaged by the aura(unless they're noobs) , but i guess if u train well with him, he can still be deadly in a numbr of ways

nice strat dude!!! i wasn't aware of the heart stop aura until now. its really handy skill.

very good 1 dude..even though it was ur first time the content was good.

"Dirge is not a common hero in dota games, many think that he is a weak hero, but with the right gameplay he can become a monster which makes heroes run just at the sight of him."

umm wat games are u playing everyone picks him. hes an easy hero that farms like crazy. andpushes like crazy.

meh not my kinda strat but hey if it works for u gj

LOL!!!

LOL!!!

LOL!!!

great guide, i was just working on one but u made this one and I was hoping to have the only one. lol.everything seems perfect except the skadi, why have it when you hace an ulti that you can cast every 45 seconds for the same slow? otherwise great job

I tried this build and got raped over so badly. What use is the aura stacked with radiance if you die in 2 seconds in battle?

try skadi, assault, radiance, vladmirs, BoT, and Necronomicon
Really irritating wiht the necro-summons munchin on the guys mana

AcTuAlLy.. GeTtInG hEaRtStOpPeR Is a gOod tHInG cAuSe rAdIaNcE STacKs w/ ItS auRA

Excellent Guide...For the first time i knew about Dirge's strength...Excellent idea and excellent hero...

Not bad for a first guide. I would like to see more specifics in bigger fights as well as your opinion on when to use soul rip. Good build, good hero.

i have pawned with ur guide ...

10/10

I like your idea of NOT attacking the creeps while your "buddies"(Zombies) are doing their job. 9/10

10/10 for the screen shots

NICE thx a lot

great screen shots and its overall a good giude....but one thing is that radience. you cant farm radience in 20min unless its em games or pub games. in clans or tda your can farm rad in 20min.

can someone actually explain to me how soul rip works? Like how is the dmg calculated, thanks

Harass using Heartstoper Aura? It kinda takes away the enemies reg. Hate that crappy aura.

umm.. average.. but not bad, really! just a comment, umm.. in "VS 2 melee".. i know that storm bolt is a nuker, but he's definitely not a a melee-type hero.. that's it.. but all in all, the guide is really helpful.. i'll try this one

@astuannaut
Soul Rip does 25 points of damage/heal for every one unit near the target. It makes for devastating heal, or nuke, in the prime of the moment.

25x20= wtf nuke.
But you will almost never get 20 units, unless there is a huge creep clash, and you have a good amount of zombies around you.

Oh, and one more thing to the writer.
Heartstopper Aura is usually seen as a weak skill, because simple regen items can pretty much cancel it. And regen is a prime part in lane safety.
What I mean to say is...
As a regen-cancel, it's good. Only good for chasing if they have...6% or less health.

Hey,where did your pics go?!

nice strat 10/10

Nice guide deffinetly 10/10 for me , just sued it though but u said it was like kinda hard to get kills with him but i just got the stats 7-0 with and i used this guide so well u can acctually get loads of kills with dirge :D

this is lame strategy everyone know it
u just haVE to be good farmer and ofc player and ull rock with this hero thats all

LMFAO UR A MAPHACKER U CAN SEE THE WHOLE MAP ON UR SCREEN NOOB HAAHAHAHA MAPAHACKERS == NOOB

walang kwenta!!!
1 on 1 tau

"LMFAO UR A MAPHACKER U CAN SEE THE WHOLE MAP ON UR SCREEN NOOB HAAHAHAHA MAPAHACKERS == NOOB" fuck whos the noob, cant u see its a rep??

wAiT???

iF You LeT yOuR ZoMbIeS aTtAk ThAt WiLl lEt yoU leVEL GAp.... RigHT??

ThEY WeRe Lv. 17 ANd I WaS 13 :(

BuT StIlL mAQnAGeD tO gET 19-0 ;P

gReaT sTRaT

@samapalooza:
It seems that you're the noob.Cant you see that the pics are taken from a replay?

thanks 4 ur strategy. I'm going to try it. Once again THx very much

heartstopper was so good it was taken away from Necrolyte, on the earlier versions.

i think u cannot kill levy or even tiny that ez...just dont belib it...with d ryt en monster item at their disposal..kinda impossible to kill them like what u have said

i guess not reliable with the items. different items suggested to the items in the screen shots. totally different..

uhmmm.... do vlad and skadii get along well? i wanna be sure..

anyhow, your guide is really good... Now, Dirge is my favorite! Even if we lose, I still have the highest score!

Uhmm... to the guys that said that heartstopper is no good... you are very wrong! Enemy lose 1% of their MAXIMUM life. Calculationg it, that means that it would only take 100 seconds for your enemy to die if he stays with you(which is raelly very impossible to happen). In level 4 you get 1000 AOE which is actually big enough... It is as big as Akasha's blink maximum distance.

Regarding the regeneration, a 1% of the maximum life of one character is really big already. If it is a strength type just like the centaur, even if he has a lot of srength (which results to a lot of regeneration and hp), a 1% of its life is still some damage. If it is no strength type, the damage still really hurts.

I usually make my zombies attack the enemy hero when there are just a little creeps left to get them harrassed. You may say that I'm feeding my zombies but you msut remember that:
1.)when the zombies die, you gain hp.
2.) you are a pusher so most probably you gain a lot of experience and ,you are also a harrasser with your heartstopper and zombies that possible, the enemy hero will be coming back and forth from the fountain which results to a level gap.

As what is stated in anether comment in here, Dirge is all about waiting and teamwork! He is not a hero killer but a pusher, supporter, play maker and money maker. You can still get a kill or two if you really farm well at the start. Another thing good about him is YOU CAN KILL ROSHAN ALONE EARLY WITH YOU UNHARMED. You just need a vlads offering and a vanguard which you can get in early game if you really know how to do well. I know that Vanguard is not stated in the item build but i tell you, it would be a lot of help especially when you are ganked or following a dying enemy hero (while your heartstopper kills it) past the enemy towers.

If you can't really play well with Dirge, then most probably you are a N__B.

skadis slow stacks with melee??isnt it for range only?????

Special thanks to.. Goku?? wtf!

most of the time I get him radiance, Power Tread. After Assault Cruiass, then you can build watever you like depending on the game. Sheep stick also good.

Almost same item build, great guild with great pictures. Skill build different from mine though, i pump zombies and aura first, maybe i'll try out your skill build next time. 10/10

Great guide I would go bal and extra sobi mask (I kinda sometimes et a meka it can save you if u need) rad then bot's sakdi and hyerstone then vlads if i had time then cuirass GG NOOBS YOU LOSE HARDCORE 45-0 NOOB!!!!!!!

I prefer after I have ring of basilius and radiance doing Shivas Guard.Skady is an self evident item cause that slow after ulti+skady is pretty good.Next options you can choose from are Cuirass,Hot or something for dmg.This hero is quite easy to play expecially at the begin.You may have just a basilius and though you are against 2 players in a lane,you are able to face them fairly.These zombies he has are pretty strong to keep youself close the enemyes tower and they heal you enought you dont need any tangoo or ring.After radiance and BOT,later skady or HOT he is realy lethal weapon in handly player hands.

agreed with rain9441 in comment 13. Your screenshots made me shocked, what kind of Tidehunter does that? You need to work on your survivability, you die to quickly. 1100 hp at level 13, (as shown in your screenshot), only newbs wouldn't focus fire you. Lina can kill you instantly with her chain nukes. Just a thought. How can Dirge players survive longer in battle if your opposition aren't newbs.

really nice
wow!!!!

12/10

"skady is an self evident item." This doesn't make any sense. You mean, the reason to get Skadi is self explanatory.

whenthis freak gets a radiance. . . no one can stop him in farming with his freaky little zombies!

ok first of all when u start the game why dont u but boots of speed? The zombie is not that good of a fighter and has to run away a lot of the time...boots of travel? what a waste of money...power treads are a thousand times better because they give u 35% attack speed bonus...and i dont think if ur playing a serious game u can survie half the time with only a ring of basilus...i think u might need a couple of bracers or null talisms? if u start with such a only a couple low level items you will not be able to farm up to radiance because half the time ull be waiting to respone...my advice is start small and work up to the big stuff

Dagon is a must item at Dirge
ulti + dagon = death

Guinsoo made DOTA

Icefrog maintains it..

actually guinsoo didn't create dota. Wiki search dota and you will find the real creators.

@LORDQUAS, at higher level of play survivability is more essential, so Bracers are more efficient than Nulls.

Although the new Treads are "imba," most scrims and high level games are played in the stable map 6.48b, where Boots of Travel is much more better. Dirge isn't even used in serious games, hes a fun hero so we, you shouldn't critcize his item build, since this hero is only played for amusement.

wow what a build your a one of a kind of player

interesting...

always filled up Raise Dead first, very helpful for farming and chasing enemies.

you should put under items to consider is Stygian Desolator because with plague and the armor reduction you'll crazy damage.

great strategy...only recommendation get soul ripa little earlier...great for healing early on or harassing i got a couple kills decently early bc of this..

Just one thing in your Guide. You would ahve been Facing a Noob Levi, Because you should max out Kraken asap. which would have ment you Zombies do nothing to him, Only Aura would affect.

c;

Ugh, Im gonig to make my Own Guild,
I dont think the item build or skill build is any good, but i have to say, nice going on the differant build.

Holy jesus!!! ur strat kicks so much frekin ass!!! dirge my fav hero now

I just got double kill using dirge because of the heartstopper aura

i really love using dirge i just dont know how to kill monster

soul rip 30 sec cd 50 dmg * (2*4 zombies+some creeps and u) =much more dmg then stupid aura ( k not for free mana but u have enough)
u should atack melee heros with zombs not ranged or splashnukers (pugna) because they can farm 2 well from your spawns
i also like orchids it works perfectly with your ulti and u can kill every1 without problems
tide is a noob he didnt skilled antidmgpassive and didnt ran away

NICE

Excellent strattry putting deso+assualt cariss+plague for major armour reduction

retried this strat made my conc, and found comment 13 to be a quite perfect example. soul rip give more survivalbility than maximising heartstopper.IMO aura is a regen negator rather than killing. And i PERSONALLY prefer necro over hypers.he's no speed based hero and getting to close in range w/o casting plague 1st and without support is suicide , most of the time.zombies are also expensive and you somewhat promote good last hitters-deniers by spamming them .

nice guide! yea,U make me realized one important thing that why I cant really farm fast n earn fast with my zombies cause I go into farm as well xD

Yeah Dude i never see anyone good with dirge yet. But according to your strategy guide he is very good. I can see that you kill many heroes

Nice strategy guide i never knew that dirge could pawn people

co0l/....

my idea for dirge is to get aura items to help with his zombies. They should multiply more, and then pushing will be better. So, for an item build: BoT, mek, vlad, cuirass, radiance, then....guinsoo? w/e u want

......or dagon (and level it up!) instead of sheep stick. Will be great w/plague

i liked dirge from the moment i played with him :P well now u got me crazy over him :P

Yep no good zombie player yet but according to you your the first i see as a good dirge player.

thank you! i shall give this hero a shot!

A well made guide... thanx for it.
I must say that dirge can be a real pain in the ass for some heroes. and range or not he can farm and even own enemies like hell early game.
But i always faced a problem for late game since i used to go for more of int items..
I'l try radiance and skadi build nw... :)

i learned a lot lol..i haven't use this hero ever since because in games, i always eat dirges LOL..i guess its time he get his revenge haha

imao , all he needs is a lvl 5 dagon, juz go straight for it, and then rad. ulti first plus dagon+1028 dmg nuke. rip and walk next to him to finish off , lol

1 think only make orchid malevolence and dagon lvl 5,then get a doom bringer a witch dr.and a netherdrake
ORCHID+DOOM+MALEDICT+PLAGUE+DAGON+LVL DEATH+VIPER STRIKE=SURE DEATH TO GUYS LIKE ROOFTRELLEN AND CENTAUR(dunno about ricki )

not like mine but a good strategy i need more data pls for comparing our strategies

Good Guide..
But, remember..
Dirge's HP is very low..
And the aura also sucks for the enemies..
So?!?
Everybody want to kill him..

Prepare to play very defensively..
Always stand behind the tower..
You are the most wanted to the enemies

good

Good build but an enemy could kill you with a good toss of a rock O_o
Your hp is lacking and one good gank and its almost gareented death for you. I get mekanizm and vladmear early on and im thinking about maybe getting orchad of melevolence(i dont know if that is right name) for the soul burn and even the shiva guard for the damage + slowing. Radiance does a lil extra damage and your farming will increase but i still think that the extra damage is not worth the low hp

thx..very nice guide dude

Dude!
great!
I'll try it!
thanks

skadi is unnecessary and a pain in the butt to farm even with a radiance. its a luxury item and dirge doesn't REALLY need it as his ult slows already but yes the stat boost is always nice.

haha played with this strategy ended up first in kills and farm! Its so lol.. They all die so quickly..
Gr8 job

i love that strategiy man!!!
dont worry, im gonna use that skill someday!

thanks man ur da best...you just unlocked the dirge code...lets spread havoc with dirge!

Wow nice one you made Dirge a killer type thnx for the strategy

Nice! Clear n precise. I like it!

Hmm...I tried him with Shiva`s Guard quite handy depending on who your fighting...gives nice armor for mini tanking and if you think your heartstopper aura won't bring him down a little ice blast can do the job and then chase him till he is dead

wth;s wid the agi gains?!!!!

lol, i killed some noobs with the heartstopper aura... and good players also get hurt by heartstopper because they love tangoes more than RoR or RoH.

Great guide, but could you please write the names of the iteams in "Late game" the items in the Inventory and for "Itens to consider:" the icons are nice, but I don't play DotA a lot and am able to remember the item names much easier than those pictures.
thanks.

wow

WOWW!!!1 WAT A
NICE stratgy for DIRGE!!
CAN i do it... lvl 5radiance ^_^ lvl 10 boots of travel.. lvl 18 skadi.. lvl 22 cuiraz.. lvl 25 satanic ^_^ now.. can u follow this?

nice item and allie combo

Good strategy. I tried this build and verified that it is good.

The one thing that threw me when I first played Dirge is that his damage is actually based on his intelligence

I remember having this whole plan of buffing him out in a match and having to shift gears the moment I realized that.

I'd consider giving him Shiva's armor since it boosts his intelligence and gives him more armor.

Great guide, really useful.

I think EoS is much better than radiance for the first item.U get extra slow and u turn into a real killer.Also he doesn't need that damage early he has high base damage but very slow atack speed.So i think when u boost the atack speed than go for radiance.Also i think hyperstone is fine but what about orchid malevolence(or something like that).It gives u atack speed damage inteligence more damage amplify silence mana regen everything u want.So i think thats a great item for dirge.Also i think power treads are way better than bot for him he really needs the atack speed.

nice guide. helps alot. thanks for making this great guide

Dirge is not really usefull after 40min++ that's what i think, comparing to the other heroes with better skills. But i gotta to say he's a really good pusher in the early game since u can raise undead and heal with Meka its gonna be sweet

Well for me i'll base my strag on my team of cause. If all of us are early gamer so its better to push in the early game so we wouldnt lose in the late game lol

If both team is fair with hero i would personally go for a KILLER Dirge' strag because that the most usefull thing as a Dirge can do other than doing lame heals and doing nothing lol

My strag for KILLER Dirge is to come out with a DAGON 800 ASAP LOL !! How ? Well its really easy. Farm forest from lv 1 and avoid any comflict!

Get a Ring of Basilius in lv 1 and u are set to farm a DAGON 800 with buy any other stuff and seldom goes back to the fountain. Well if u are killed or hunted by the opposite team well thats another story lol.

For my skill build, well lets say if i'm lv 11 than i will be having Raise Dead (4), Soul Rip (4), HeartStopper Auro (1) and Plague (2).

If u are wise on time counting and mana and skill using, u're gonna have a DAGON 500 in lv7 or so.

And with ur Plague + Raise Dead + Soul Rip + DAGON 500.... Any1 would be stupid enough to come close to u 1 on 1 ...

And the BONUS on Dirge farming forest is.... now u have 2 lane for solo ing since u are farming in the forest ...

Meaning faster lving for team and yourself and faster farming.

Well maybe i sound kinda blur.. and its not that good.. but give it a try k and do leave a comment about it

TXK

BTW i forgot to say that the best defence is by using the best offence lol

DAGON 800 + Shiva's Armor + Rip + Plague = Ownage lol

PS: BoT is usefull by i seldom goes back to the fountain since i only kill and waits for the coldown of my dagon so i can kill again

Ring of Basilius + DAGON 800 = no fountain needed lmao

i think even with cool strategy, Dirge will be a very hard hero to control. I also find it a hard time on making the money shot on Dirge. But i think that is why you made the Raise dead skill your priority. Anyway,cool strat. I now have an idea if ever this hero landed to me in a Random mode.

assult is a must get!! increased attack speed=many many zombies

this heroes is the best i beat someone with this dirge and suck his life out..
hahaha
hey thx 4 the radiance help...
i didnt think about it...

is that the way you do it...im often misjudge the dirge...coz i dont know if he strong or weak...want to try that one of yours...tnx

ipit na mga walang galing say what

hey this is a really cool strat!... I tried this and it really works even in 1 on1 hero battle!... you dont even need to make a lot effort in killing heroes..

hey this is a really cool strat!... I tried this and it really works even in 1 on1 hero battle!... you dont even need to make a lot effort in killing heroes..

hey this is a really cool strat!... I tried this and it really works even in 1 on1 hero battle!... you dont even need to make a lot effort in killing heroes..

I approve this guide.. its pretty fine.. Keep up teh good work kthx? ... But void is only good for KS XD

wow, never thought of a build like this for dirge...
I'll try it later on...

Oh, yeah, to Rain9441:

dude, you are seriously, I mean, SERIOUSLY childish...
1% may not seem much, but imagine using it against someone with 500+HP... Furthermore, the greater the opponent's HP, the more damage/sec.
at 1000, it would be 10/sec., not quite weak, right?
also, if you think those zombies will just be gold for the enemies, think again... most people wouldn/t go near them zombies if dirge is near, as this diverts attention away from the real opponent, the herohimself...
duh...

haha, never did i thought that a zombie with a brain(well he is int...) can be so good!

the heart stopper rocks, during early game when they dont attack you in fear of the creeps, you would injure them a bit at a timeby the time they have half life just plague them and then 3 hits should kill them

very nice chase/ anti chase skill too( you wouldnt believe how manyheroes i killed and prewent them from chasing at early game, and the rest of the game when i got radience. nice hero, ppl should try it ^^

Its a very nice strategy, but u are missing something, u are missing curias, the after radiance, the most important thing is curias, beacuse with radiance, and your Heartstopper Aura, that's is a nice combo. Less 5 armos on your enemies and with your Heartstopper Aura with radiance, think a little bit. :P

Excellent work.

I think Furion is the best to either have with you or against you because when he pushes, he summon LOTS of ents (usually). then u simply plague and soul rip... dead

nice guide i now know how to play with dirge thx. nice guide btw

when you use dirge.
cash flow,,,

u use map hack

Bard Man has to ask... WHO THE !@#$ THINKS DIRGE IS WEAK?! Dirge is as weak as a Badger is friendly. Bard Man is a great Dirge player and usually rapes towers ASAP in every lane, but your way is nice if ya wanna prolong the battle. Eh.. Bard Man also rarely pays attention to Heartstopper Aura till about mid game. Oh well, this is still a great Strategy, just not Bard man's way of doing things.

try equipping battle fury..

@192
you're another one who trashes without thinking.even it does 10 damage for 1000 hp heros,it is magical so its 7.5 damage.reduced by regen rat of a normal 1000 hp heroes which is 4-5 that leaves you with 2-3 damage left.seriously,not worth it early game.

i think skill building for dirge must be situational.. you must know who the hell is on your lane and base your skill depending on that hero... Of course zombies for spammers is a no-no.. because doing the zombie build in this situation can be a liability on your own team. heart stopper can also be helpful because it will make your opponents farm for rgen items instead of their "real itms".. and dont forget your teammate... bec you are dirge, most probably your not solo so your not the only one harrassing your enemies.

That's another thing. Most people Bard Man play with have the common sense to let Dirge solo.

Good build,but bad conclusion

nice guide, i've been waiting for one

tried the build, works great, but i couldnt stay alive. any tips on that?
cause dirge is kinda slow

if you want a passively hasted pudge,get sny,travel,yasha,helm(control kobold withs aura),MoM,and necro3.pointless if even he's fast moving.he's a support and works by helping team net kills

nah... i'll take raise dead and soul rip as my early game skill... heart stopper as the last skill.. hehehe...

my itmes:
radiance
cuirass
BoT
HoT

^^_

raise dead,plague,attack hero with zombies,soul rip,dead

WOW!!!
THANX FOR THE INFO...
I LOVE IT!!!

Minulto ako ni undying kagabi wa

thx for th guide, nw im pro dirge an my mates hate it when i choose him

wik

dirge owns. whoever say other than that is a fool. no one understands the full capabilities of dirge to know how to play him.

btw good strat I give u 9/10 I would only change the BoT to Power treads cz it benefits me personally more. but BoT is good too and reasonable.

btw I upgrade dirge's skills 1 after another 1 then 1 then 1. 1st the 2nd then 3rd then 1st hen 2nd then 3rd and like that. u know? cz I think they're all useful I can't rule any of them out.

very good man appreciate it. only thing is when i walked in middle lane three mobs in forest attacked me coz of the GREAT! AoE range lol. well very nice pwns. Ty man

I totally disagree about the heartstopper aura and you should see what happens when you stay close to a strength hero and they lose life like every 5 minutes

dude...i tried playing dirge....and shoot...i sucked at hat one...
i tried using 2 bashers....hoping it will be really useful...but i think that's too much for my undead character....so i thinik ur build is better than mine...wel,mush better

Interesting.
One more thing about how radiance and BoT combine with your aura, when you feel endangered, just run, and see how fast your enemies hp decreases if they chase you

puede ser tu porkeria de strategia

just great

a good now ican use this hero tnx !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hmm.. one thing i cant quite believe.

you said you killed that leviathan without even touching it?

1% HP degeneration alone can do that? cause i saw you didn't have a radiance yet

Indeed. I love you.

Who say Dirge is a lousy hero and Rikimaru is imba?

With Heartstopper aura, Riki suffers greatly from the aura and the zombies...

Then once Dirge gets Radiance, Riki is already underlevelled..

Just stack 1 or 2 blademail and laugh at Rikimaru..

You can even consider dagon to poke the dying Riki.

nice.. in every game i use dirge i usually win the game>>>>>>>..

nice build up bro, im quite impress, il try it, and c wat i can do.. tnx for the guide^^

Wow. I never knew dirge can farm that fast!! I'm gonna try this strategy!!

10/10 :D

AWSOME GUILDE!!!
turned me from a noob to pro ^^

I loved this strategy. I was playing arem and realized i had never used dirge before(thought he would be too slow), so i flipped to my laptop and pulled up dotastrat and found your guide. within the first 2 mins of battle pudge came after me and with his rot on and my aura he went down quick. He came back at me again with the same strategy and to the same ending. And the farmin was awesome.

Great Job!!

I have been playing as Dirge a lot recently, and I think he is awesome!

I like to get power treads, vlads, HoT, and some blade mail depending who I go up against.

Oh yea, radiance doesn't hurt either.

I have killed enemies numerous times where their HP is like

thnks for the strategy.,his a MONSTER in dota,.if u cn use him well.,.

nice guide dude, i get to love this hero so much, because of his aura und damn low cd ulti

I disagree with the Skill build, Soul rip only useful early, midgame does tons of damage. Easily gets you a kill.

I tried this strategy out my build was:

Boots of travel
Vladmirs offering
Radiance
Eye of skadi
Dagon

10/10

@238

Actually, there are many ways to use this hero, but totally omitting heartstopper aura is wasting an entirely useful skill. I can understand why players don't use raise dead but think they probably didnt know that's the best tango ever given to a hero.

So either way, you lose some you gain some. So not using raise dead early is as good as wasting a skill slot badly. Not recommended also?

But personal preferences i think

I won with dirge so many times before with 12/1, 12/2 etc. kill rates. Hearthstopper aura is not good in early game nor mid game You must firstly make an arcane. And dont worry about loosing hp. Your zombies will heal you and if not enough with soul rip you can always gain hp. In early game the problem is mana because u must always use ur zombies and in fact u will use soul rip so much. In the end game a (dagon lvl5) and a raidance will make u unstoppable.

great strat, altough tiny must be stupid to get himself killed

I don't think that your skadi is so good, youre cuirass puts enemys heros armor -5 and its good, but i think that its better if you use stygian desolator instead of skadi. Because u all know that undying is good blockker hero and it kills with -armor and heartstopper aura, and with your desolator enemys armors goes to almost -side. so i don't put this strategy to top10 i think this is about 6/10. sorry.

man i am amazed look at farming picture u have 2600 wtf!!

thanks for the wonderful guide. good pics and great job on explaining how to play the early-end game. i give it a 8/10.

Look at the picture with the caption : Easy kill with an ally near me. He is already "LEVEL 13" but look at his items
SoB,RoB and Boots also include that tango. He is not following his own strategy. Also Levi he is so dumb if i were him i'd kill you already. also note at the pic w/ caption of :Hey they kill the third creep, am I with luck? NO, this happens most of the times. Look at levi standing there that he doesn't what is happening around him i think his hugging the tower. also note his not noticing that his life is decreasing.
BAD SCREENSHOTS/BAD SKILL BUILD/
AVERAGE ITEM BUILD/OVERALL BAD!
(ALSO WHEN CREATING SCREENSHOTS DON'T PLAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS APPLY IT ON STRANGERS)

Excellent guide, very in depth and well explained. 10/10

Great 1010

Good strategy for zombie... Zombie isn't a popular hero but you told us that it's a good hero 10/10

very very nice strategy....

i will do it later....

waaaaa

mijto

I like ur strategy, i hope i can use it in our game

I won the game with tis hero my enemy cannot stop me my item was just boots,arcane and HoT

Nice!! i never thought dirge is a good hero.. ^^
i've known who are its best allies

I like the strategy! However, after trying to go for radiance I kept finding myself using the easy made money in the early game. I just wasnt satisified and after being harrassed enough by puck, i went dagon and came back and zapped his ass. 1v1 dirge takes about 20 seconds to kill so everyone trys to time it what with his healing and what not. But they never expect the dagon write after I ulti. Much more fun. But i will definately work at going straight radiance!

nice strat it help our team very much

i think shiva is better than scadi for dirge

great guide, always like this hero and now i have more reason to play him.GJ

MMM... I got a strategy with Vladimir's, Meka and bots of travel. Opcional Radiance, if yoy have enough money.

I'll keep this in mind next time im kicking ass

gud guide dude
i used 2 use dirge oso
but wif ur guide,it makes me better

wow you are a god to me. I was probably the first Dirge player. When he first came out i played him right away and came up with an almost exact strategy. The only difference was that i used soul rip alot and spent alittle too much mana. Thanks man, i got a match against a friend tomorow and i gotta brush up on my Dirge skills. I will beat his Rosta or who ever with Dirge cause DIRGE RULES!!!

Nice items thanks a lot this can help me more!!!!!!!!!!! i can be the new Undying king^_^_^

this guide isnt that good actually...

1.) The way you use dirge skills are correct , but not everyone doesnt carry healing items such as RoR or RoH or Flasks.

2.) If your enemy is a good player , think that your zombies also give gold same as of a creep on a lane , farming will be both for you and for the enemy.

3. ) Radiance and BoT is good but having Skadi isnt a good idea , if you use the item that would make you a chasing hero killer.

4. ) You can will make the items depending on who you are with on the lane and or the hero you are opposed with.