Undying Offlane - Guide Build Undying Dota 2

Undying who serves as a formidable tank and a dangerous spellcaster. His abilities force opponents to either kill him or suffer powerful debuffs in a teamfight

Current state in Dota 2

• 95th most picked hero in pubs, 52 % winrate.
• Almost nonexistent in competitive for the past 3 patches,the disappearing of 3v3 lanes killed his only known utility.

Undying Pros and Cons

Pros - Ridiculous sustain in large scale fights, the more enemies the better, aoe strength removal, devastating in early game, extremely good teamfight hero.

Cons - High mana cost on skills with no way of getting it back, abysmal agi gain resulting in bad attack speed and armor, bad farm speed, falls off after the first 15 min because of low armor.

Laning

 
He's a hero which needs mana to cast his skills, and needs EHP to survive in fights, since he doesn't get any of these from his skills (except for the EHP part where Decay helps), he needs items, so he must be used as a core. But where do you lane him? Mid and safelane farm are wasted on such a hero, so the only place remains solo offlane, why solo? Because even though he needs items, he needs levels more, so solo offlane is the way to go.

Pros 

• High EHP for the first 10 min (5 armor with a ring of prot, high HP, even higher with Decay stacks), he's one of the very few heroes that can stand his ground when ganked, and if he survives the burst, he can turn the fight around and get kills.
• Great base damage especially with Decay stacks
• One of the few heroes that can solo Dire Offlane with few problems
• 305 base ms

Cons

• He has good ms and great right click damage, but he has awful attack attack speed, all these pros are just wasted because of this
• No mana means you're useless
• No way to chase heroes if they don't have the zombie low life debuff

So, why did i decided to use this hero?

First of all,i always considered him to be bad with the current skillset he had, even though i have a 64% winrate in over 40 games, i always avoided playing him, the fact that he turns useless after the first minutes without farm,and even with his common build Vanguard intoHood of Defiance , he still dies to physical  damge really fast. On top of that,the abysmal mana pool for such high cost skills completely removed this hero from my rotations.

But Icefrog came to the rescue! This is a hero who has perfect fit for Tranquil Boots or Power Treads, he needs the armor and the regen fromTranquil, and the attack speed from  Power Treads's allows him to use his great base damge and higher than average MS to actually punch people, while making him more tanky, two things he desperately needs.This being said, you HAD to go Arcane Boots, he was just desperate for the mana. But the frog delivered, and increased his int gain to 2.5, this means that he is free from the tyranny of Arcane Boots.

Now he can finally build items that help him with his main weaknesses, and allow him to spam more skills without going oom, allowing him to be effective enough so he can transition into midgame, or god forbid into late game, something that Undying is considered incapable off.

So let's talk items

 
Most used 2 items in pubs, Arcane and Vanguard. I think both are bad. Why? Well you normally start with a Stout Shield, so Vanguard seems the obvious choice, especially since it gives HP, BUT, it gives regen which is usually overcapped on UND, he usually also makes Hood of Defiance, Pipe of Insight, Mekansm,... He has plenty of health gain from 3 skills anyway, it's just not necessary. The HP is not why he dies early to mid game, it's ARMOR, that's his biggest weakness alongside running out of mana.Arcane Boots gives him mana indeed,but offer him nothing more, Tranquil or  Power Treads's are so much better.

So, what to build then ?

Start with Tango, a Stout Shield and aRing of Protection. The ring of prot can be turned into Tranquil Boots in lane,or if you prefer Power Treads make it into a Ring of Basilius, you can use the components from that later on.

Magic Stick is needed as fast as possible, it will help you greatly with ganks. Urn is also an option if none of the supports want to make it (personal opinion is that urn should always be left for supports, it's one of the few cheap HP items they can make).

Mekansm is amazing on him,it gives him the heal, and most especially the armor he needs so dearly, so consider making it if no other core can get it relatively fast.

Hood of Defiance is bad on him imo unless it's immediately made into a Pipe of Insight, armor and hp should be his main priority, not a bit of magical res and that useless regen.So if you don't intend of making a Pipe of Insight fast, don't makeHood of Defiance , it's wasted gold.

I don't like Soul Ring, i consider it to be a luxury for Undying, he's not Dark Seer hitting 400 gpm easy, he needs to make the most out of his gold.

Vladmir's Offering is good on him,but he already has plenty of midgame items, he will suffer if he makes it later on, try to leave the item for a support. Aghanim's Scepter and Veil of Discord are questionable items, especially the Scepter, at least Veil of Discord gives armor.

Necronomicon and Rod of Atos are situational, and pretty luxury on him, but should be considered depending on game.

Blade Mail is extremely good, especially against no or little Black King Bar lineups, and a perfect counter for heroes likeClinkz , Enchantress, Huskar, Outworld Devourer ,Faceless Void,... that is until they Black King Bar up of course.

Heaven's Halberd and Heart of Tarrasque are good items,especially Heaven's Halberd, Heart of Tarrasque is in the luxury department.

Now we get to the 3 items i recommend most.

1. Shiva's Guard No more mana issues once you get it, it gives you the armor you so desperately need, the slow is amazing for 5v5, and the active works so well with Tombstone and  Flesh Golem. It should be your number one core item, regardless of game, it's just so good on him.

2. Eul's Scepter of Divinity's Gives all the mana and mana regen you need early to mid game,gives a ridiculous 40 ms,and it's utility is unrivaled in dota.

Great for setting up kills, for chasing, for escaping, it purges some debuffs, allows you to dodge spells, cancels blink dagger, allows enemies to be kept in Tombstone radius for zombie spawns (they still spawn even if the unit is in the air), and most important on Undying, you know those moments in fights where you are getting focused but your Magic Stick/Soul Rip/and Decay are 1-2 seconds on cd? No problem, go up in the air, and when you come down use them,i've had moments when i was 30 hp, used Eul's Scepter of Divinity's,and when i came down,stick, Soul Rip and Decay almost made me full hp, it's so good for Und, perfect for those moment of  Decay  downtime.

3. Armlet of Mordiggian Careful with this item,unlike Eul's Scepter of Divinity's andShiva's Guard 's,it's an item that should be built on a game to game basis, analyze your opponents and see if it works,sometimes it's detrimental. That being said,it's amazing in fights, you have the sustain to ignore the health loss it gives, and even after the nerfs, Armlet of Mordiggian is still amazingly cost efficient for STR heroes.

Conclusions after 25 games

THE MOST durable offlaner in dota. Hands down.
I've played hundreds of games with Batrider offlane, Centaur Warrunner, Dark Seer, Clockwerk, Tidehunter, Nyx Assassin,...

Some have better kill potential,some are almost impossible to push out of lane (Dark Seer and Clockwerk can get cs just by staying at the tower), but overall there is none who scores so high as Undying in all categories.No other offlaner can turn a gank into aggression towards the gankers, and the number of times i got kills while being 2x-3x ganked is incredible.

Stout Shield, Ring of Basilius, Magic Stick (can be very easily acquired by min 3) make him incredible sustainable in fights,it's unreal what the high EHP he has for the first 10 min can do.

In terms of items i reinforce my original ideas. DO NOT MAKE Arcane Boots AND Vanguard, you low priority nabs. DO NOT MAKE Hood of Defiance unless one of the two situations appears : You are making a Pipe of Insight asap,or the enemy has ridiculous amount of magical dmg.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity's is amazing, i won 10 out of 11 games i made it. Mekansm is core. Armlet of Mordiggian  is amazing as well, unfortunately i've come to the conclusion it's kinda of a luxury on him,and should be reserved only for games with little disable, so you can run in teamfights and punch people in the face. It's great EHP regardless,consider buying it if you have Heart of Tarrasque or Pipe of Insight /Hood of Defiance for regen, or you have a Vladmir's Offering.

Power Treads switching is the shit, agi to use stick in fights, then intel to Decay ,then str cannot be matched early game. Don't be afraid to useTranquil Boots, i just like Power Treads too much.

Number one point you gotta follow, ARMOR is what makes this hero retain his early game dominance, get it, and you will be fine, regardless of how late the game goes.

People say he's useless in midgame/late,but his dmg amplification and his 500 heal/nuke every 6 seconds are no joke. Sure,there are some offlaners who are better late than he is,but he is no where near as weak as the general consensus is.

How to lane and skill him

Don't bother blocking the pull camp, it will probably get dewarded, and with a Tombstone you can steal the double camp pull at 1:42. Don't use the normal rune ward at Dire, it will just get dewarded, the ideal ward gives you as much vision of the backdoor ganks and the pull camp as possible, and usually don't get dewarded.

Examples:

Radiant

Dire

Just use whatever ward spot you prefer, it's all down to playstyle.

Skill build is as it follows: Decay at 1 then stop.Why stop? It's the same str steal and duration at all levels, yes the extra damge and cooldown are nice, but the mana cost is not. Then max Tombstone, it's incredibly strong early game, and it's super bad at level 1. Flesh Golem at 6, 11, 16, Soul Rip is maxed after tomb, this is a common mistake people do, they leave Soul Rip last, but why? You can keep your Tombstone alive in fights with it, it has a ridiculous 750 range, and has double purpose, nuke or heal. The cooldown at level 4 is also insanely low.

In lane always calculate your mana, don't just spam Decay until you're oom, check items, see if they have stick, how much regen they have, do they have Stout Shield, armor. Always think before you active died to Furion ping in or tree armoring a target when it was almost dead.

When you get ganked, you need to quickly decide if it's fight or flight. If you fight, this is the order you go in, drop Tombstone asap, use Flesh Golem if you have it, then  Decay. Decide if you want to commit Soul Rip to dmg or heal, this is very important as it can get you killed.

My favorite way of getting kills is playing the victim, i'm half hp or lower (but half hp on Und doesn't mean much because of  Decay), i got some stick charges and decent mana, i just pretend i'm out of position and vulnerable, the little fishes eat the bait and comit on me, then i snap, Tombstone, Decay, and punch away usually leaving stick for very low hp to get them the illusion they can kill me, congratulations,you just feed me a double kill.

Who to pick him with/not pick him against

Try to avoid picking him against heavy disable lineup, if he's forced to go Black King Bar then you should't have picked him in the first place. Minus armor teams are also very dangerous, so avoid playing him against those.

Heroes you should try to avoid are :

• Sven
• Kunkka
• Treant Protector (Very annoying early game, food later on)
• Bristleback
• Earth Spirit
• Slardar (this guy is the worst, -armor, a disable, and the ability to chase or run away whenever he feels like it.)
• Sniper (he gets the zombie house down from safe range, he also fucks you up with headshot procs)
• Gyrocopter
• Death Prophet
• Lifestealer (eats through you like paper, thankfully he disappeared from pubs in this meta)
• Lycanthrope
• Juggernaut
• Meepo (he just blows you up and Blade Mail does nothing since the nuke comes from multiple sources)
• Storm Spirit
• Anti-Mage (no mana, no gummybears, sad zombie)

Why should you pick Undying instead of other offlaners

If you want efficiency, then why not pick Batrider every game? Because it's boring, that's why.

Take into consideration no one picks this guy, pubs don't know how to play against him as a solo offlaner, and hugely underestimate his presence. He also has a low cooldown on Tombstone and Flesh Golem, so he is ready for fights most of the time, he doesn't have to wait for Ravage or Vacuum - Wall, he doesn't have to hide in the trees for 2 min to find a good opening,he just goes in.

He is really good for solo que since he fits so many lineups, and is good at defending or breaking highground like little offlaners are. He can build many items and adapt to the game, how true is that for Tidehunter for example, regardless of game, you can't expect more than a blink ravage from him, predictability gets punished easily.

My take on it - Your team is desperate for disable, pick something else, if not, Undying is the way to go. No other offlaner can give me personally the pub stomp experience i get from this one, winning 4 games out of 5 with other offlaners is hard to achieve (for me anyway).
Small plea for Valve : PLEASE make Lich armor and tree armor work on Tombstone.

Undying offlane itemization

I didn't have space in the last thread to do this because of the character limit, so i'm adding it now for the few people that showed interest in item selection and asked me about it.

1. Starting Items

This is the best EHP you can get at level 1 without resorting to Iron Branch .You can replace the Stout Shield with 1-4 Iron Branch if you want, i think it's way too valuable for the first 5 min to do that.

2. Minute 1-5 items

Ring of Basilius is super good, you have one of the highest base dmg at level 1 in the game, then you gain more dmg from  Decay, and the +6 dmg from Ring of Basilius makes you hit like a truck. Stick is mandatory, and it should even be purchased before Ring of Basilius if they have spammable skills they are using on you early. Even 2-3 charges in the first minutes can make the difference between getting a first blood and you feeding one.
Boots are boots, nothing more to add.

3. Boots

I will go over why i consider Arcane Boots trash later on.

You have 3 choices here:

Power Treads - My favorite boots on him atm. Amazing with wand on agi, helps you use spells on int, and str gives you that extra tankyness you need early game. You have awesome right click early game, but your BAT and agi gain sucks ass, so the extra IAS helps a lot.
Downside: They are slow.

Tranquil Boots - Ideal in lanes with aggressive harass, allow you to stay in lane, the armor is really good as well. Even broken they are pretty fast.
Downside: Gives no stats or mana/health

Phase Boots - Extremely situational, good if you're crushing the lane and the enemy has a hard time running from you. Really good with Orb of Venom, get some Decay stacks, and start punching people, drop Tombstone and get them delicious kills.
Downside: Can bite you in the face in the mid game, also no stats.

4. Core early game items

• Disclaimer: When i say "core" i mean an item that is really beneficial on the hero most of the games, always adapt items on a game to game basis.

Magic Wand - No brainer

Mekansm - So good for Undying, the armor is what he needs most, and the burst heal and +2 armor synergises so well with his skilset and overall teamfight presence.

He can get it 10-15 mins without too much hasle. Only skip it if some other core needs it more and can make it faster. Insist you make it even with Viper /Razor/Chen/Enigma in your team, they can focus on getting other core items.

5. Situational laning/early game items

Orb of Venom - Really good on 1v1 lanes, amazing for chasing heroes with no escapes. The only reason i don't buy this item much is because of how low on free item slots Undying runs early game to mid game.
Bottle - You get a first blood, you think you can crush the lane even more ? Get a fast Bottle. Also really good if your mid doesn't buy one since you have access to one of the rune spots fairly easily.
Urn of Shadows - Really good on him.Why i rarely buy it? As a player who has done plenty of support games, i know how valuable that item is for a support in terms of cheap hp, especially in games that are going bad, so i usually leave it for them.
Medallion of Courage - Good if your team is going for fast and easy Roshan (if you're Dire), also really good for the yolo Phase /Orb of Venom build.
Soul Ring - Solid pickup on Undying, i like a fast Mekansm though, Soul Ring delays it by a few min.
Cloak - Casual or for later when you make Pipe of Insight, situational if the enemy has lots of early game magical burst.

6. Core mid/late game items

Rod of Atos - Health and Mana, relatively cheap, easy to make since components don't go over 1.1 k, amazing active ability. The only reason not to make it is if other items have more priority.
Armlet of Mordiggian - So good, amazing EHP per cost, all on a hero which doesn't care about the hp loss since he has so many items and skills that regain health. Even if you are not in a game where you can right click people, it's still a solid choice.
Shiva's Guard - Armor, Mana, active that synergises so well with his skill set, Undying is constantly moving between position 1-3 as the BEST Shiva's Guard 's carrier in the game based on winrate.
Eul's Scepter of Divinity's - One of the most underrated items in the game, absurd utility, highest among all items, cheap and easy to make, and it gives Undying many things that he needs. It's also a counter for the only thing Undying can't do anything against, channeling abilities (including tping out).

7. Mid to late game situational and luxury items

Pipe of Insight - Enemy has high magic AoE, no one else on your team is making it, then make it, no brainer.
Vladmir's Offering - Upgrade for your Ring of Basilius, only make it if it also helps your team, if you only make it for yourself it's a waste of gold and slot. Very good with Armlet of Mordiggian. DO NOT RUSH IT.
Force Staff  - Don't like the item on Undying, Eul's Scepter of Divinity's is much better, is good against some heroes that you either need to kite or escape (Shadow Shaman ward trap, cogs, ...)
Veil of Discord - Only make this if your team has really good magical damge potential, don't make it just for you, the armor is really good and the item in general augments your  Flesh Golem.
Blade Mail - Has 3 uses

• Stops the teamfight focus on you.
• Punishes heroes who focus you.
• Good for countering Clinkz/Drow Ranger/Faceless Void, until they get Black King Bar that is. If you anticipate their cores will get 2-3 Black King Bar's, don't make it.

Necronomicon - If your team lacks push, go for it, great for teamfight in general, gives you mana and health which you need. Greedy item on Undying, so don't make it if your early game didn't go very well.
Scythe of Vyse - Really situational luxury item, it should not be a pickup 90% of the time, you lack the mobility to snap and use it on someone. If you have the gold, and your team is desperate for lockdown, go for it.
Heart of Tarrasque - Luxury 35-40 min item, if the enemy mostly has physical damge, i suggest you go for Armlet of Mordiggian, otherwise Pipe of Insight and Heart of Tarrasque makes you laugh in the face of any magical burst they have.
Heaven's Halberd - Good EHP item, build it if the enemy has a very strong rightclicker who has managed to get item advantage.
Eye of Skadi - Another 35-40 min luxury, works really well with Armlet of Mordiggian , it's another late game tank item similar to Armlet of Mordiggian and Heart of Tarrasque, this one is really good at shutting down enemy carryes, especially melee ones.
Dagon - Very situational pickup, go for it if your team really lacks damage or needs burst, works well with your  Flesh Golem.
Ghost Scepter  - Similar utility to Blade Mail, really good once you get some hp and Pipe of Insight since you do not care about being blown up by magical dmg when you use it, allows you to sit in the middle of the fight and get your spells out.

8. Don't make these items category

"Casual" Hood of Defiance - Are you not immediately upgrading it to a Pipe of Insight ? Then don't make it, it's the cost of a Mekansm and it gives your team nothing,the regen is also overkill and not needed. You have problems early with magical damge? Just get a Cloak, it's 4 times cheaper.
Arcane Boots - Gives you mana, nothing more, and not even sustained mana since it gives ZERO mana regen.
Common item in the "omg Undying is hero for 3v3 and gets useless after 15 minutes" stereotype. Yeah, he's useless after 15 minutes because you're too dumb to learn how to itemize and lane him.
"But what if your team needs it ?" Then a support can make it, i don't decide what cores i pick based on team mana necessities, go offlane Crystal Maiden if you're so worried about mana for your team as a core.
Soul Ring gives you the same mana on demand for less of a cost on a almost twice as low cooldown.
Vanguard - Terrible, gives no armor, gives you regen which you don't need, buy a Mekansm with that gold.
Aghanim's Scepter - Fights with Puck about who has a worse Aghanim's Scepter.
Other mentions are Hand of Midas, Black King Bar, and Sange and Yasha
Hand of Midas - Only stops you from taking advantage of your sick early and mid game, it's the cost of a Mekansm.
Black King Bar - You don't have any crucial spell to use like an Enigma or Magnus, you don't rightclick people with massive damge like a Luna orGyrocopter , it's just a waste of gold.
Sange and Yasha  - I've heard some people suggest the item in the threads i made, i don't really see the point of it, if you want to go physical damage dealer, why not make Armlet of Mordiggian with an Orb of Venom ?

In conclusion i want to say two things, and this applies to all heroes itemization, not just this one.

• One, ALWAYS adapt items on a game to game basis, don't be that guy who has identical items for 2 dotabuff pages worth of games. Yes, some heroes work in almost all situations with the same items, but there are very few heroes who do that, and especially when you start going into 3-6 slot territory.
• Two, ALWAYS adapt items to your playstyle, just because i say an item is trash, that doesn't mean you can't be successful with it, and it goes both ways,if i do really good with an item, that doesn't mean you will do too, in the end you should use what you feel gives the best results and suits your playstyle, you own with Arcane Boots/Blink Dagger/Dagon Undying? Then keep doing it, regardless of what others tell you.

 By DRHST