How to play Nature's Prophet | Dota 2 Guides

 

Introduction

I've seen a dozen posts asking how to play  Nature's Prophet, so as my personal contribution to this, I will explain, in depth, how to play Nature's Prophet.

General

The most powerful skill for Nature's Prophet is Teleportation. Use it well and you will be able to tip the balance of the map. Waste it and you will be a pariah.

When to pick Nature's Prophet? 

When you have a strong solo midlaner and a strong off-laner, or when you wanna play split-pushing.

Who counters Nature's Prophet? 

Nyx Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Spirit Breaker, Clockwerk. Among many others, but these 4 counters Nature's Prophet hard. There are ways around them, but it's difficult and costly.

Nature's Prophet Skills

Generally, which means I get 3levels in Nature's Call, while taking one each in Sprout and Teleportation , then maxing out tele, Nature's Call and Sprout in that order. Obviously the Wrath of Nature is taken as and when possible. The logic behind this is that you only need about three levels to clear any single jungle camp effectively, and maxing tele first will net you the most map presence.

Early Core Items

Gloves of Haste + 2x Clarities. Unless you are starting in lane, then Ring of Basilius + Tango. I prefer Phase Boots, but you can choose to get Power Treads instead (IMO the performance is similar, but get Power Treads if you can switch effectively/need HP. Overall I think Phase Boots is better)
Finish your Hand of Midas on Boots of Speed. If you are jungling from start with Gloves of Haste, the benchmark is 6mins to finish it, 6:30 for first usage. Otherwise it's 8mins with Ring of Basilius/midlane or about 10mins in the off-lane. Get a defensive item depending on situation (Shadow Blade/Black King Bar/Force Staff, Linken's Sphere; in that order of preference), then get your variant items, depending on your roles in the variants section.

Role: What should you be doing?

Teleportation into teamfights and counter-gank. Teleport everywhere and gank or push towers. Move into a lane and pressure the opponents into defending a single tower or lane, then Teleportation to another lane to splitpush. Basically, you'd want to either gank/push or a combination of both. During early game, if the opponents dive your teammate, Teleportation in and Sprout their diving asses under the tower. That should net you a kill or assist or two. Do the reverse when your team is ganking, but do not Sprout your teammate in range of your tower.

• DO NOT USE YOUR Wrath of Nature TO FARM! This deserves a special mention.
• ALWAYS CARRY A Teleportation ! This deserve a special mention too.
• WATCH THE MINIMAP! This is the most important thing about Nature's Prophet. Minimap watching determines your ability to thrive, and map awareness sets you apart from the drivel.

Nature's Prophet Hybrid Pusher

Desolator into Necronomicon. Minus armor helps against towers or STR heroes, while Necronomicon is really strong with Nature's Call when pushing down a tower. You can just Teleportation in, hit the tower once (Desolator debuff) and let your summons do the work while you stay safe. Shadow Blade would be your best bet here, as you will be able to escape out of sight range much faster. Your primary role here is to push, but join EVERY single teamfight. Start the festivities with an  Wrath of Nature, then Teleportation into the unseen corners of the fight and pick off straglers.

Nature's Prophet Pure pusher

A bit like the Hybrid pusher, but go for Necronomicon first. You are going to act like an AirCavalry unit, Teleportation into empty lane, drop your summons and run like hell. Repeat until the enemy curse you for generations and/or you have taken down all their towers. If you fucked up early, you can still help catch up by getting a Mekansm, but Mekansm-carrying prophets have very low winrate in the current meta.

Nature's Prophet Ganker

Orchid Malevolence is much preferred here, as you can prevent the opponents from casting spells, and a good Sprout will keep them in place while you do your work. Some prefer to use Scythe of Vyse, which is legit, or Dagon, which is not, because Nature's Prophet always play for lategame and Dagon doesn't scale. The preferred defensive item here is Black King Bar and you should always get Phase Boots

Nature's Prophet Desperate DPS

Black King Bar into Desolator or Daedalus. Divine Rapier if you have balls like Dendi. Plays like a carry.

General playing tips:

• Always Wrath of Nature and Teleportation into teamfight. Unless they are 2v5 and you'd never win, then splitpush.
• Always be split-pushing. Somewhere. With your Nature's Call.
• Don't cliff jungle. It wastes about 2-3mins compared to the normal jungling, which I will get to later.
• Don't AFK farm the entire game until 50mins. Your team is going to die around you.
• Don't jungle if your team has a carry with weak laning stages.
• Don't be afraid to buy your own damn Observer Ward. Especially some sentries for lane and Observer Ward for enemy jungle.
• Send a damned Treants to the jungle to scout things out when pushing. It wouldn't hurt your DPS that much.
• Don't be afraid to switch variants if it isn't working out. Watch the situation and adapt.

The ULTIMATE Nature's Prophet jungling guide

What? is that even possible, you say? I have managed 5:30 Hand of Midas in 6.78, and I can manage 6:00 in 6.79 and above. Purely jungling, no ganks. Practice this routine until you can never get it wrong, and it doesn't care about which creeps spawn in the camps. You will get them all.

• Gloves of Haste + 2 Clarity. First skill Nature's Call
• -50 summon Nature's Call, get them to runes.
• -8 summon Nature's Call, walk to nearest hard camp.
• Check runes. If enemy is near, deny. Also deny if invisibility or Haste Rune. You don't really need those.
• At 0:30, hit the nearest hard camp and summon the second set of Treants. Try to cut the trees that will shorten your path between camps when you do. Drink Clarity. If you get the Hellbear Smasher or the Centaur Conqueror, MICRO your Treants. Walk them into melee range then immediately walk away. They will do the cast animation, then while their skill is on cooldown kill them. Always kill the biggest creep in the camp. Micro low health Treants away, and let the ones almost expiring get hit.
• Finish up the hard camp. Doesn't matter if you finish post 1min. You will probably never come back.
• Rotate between camps, avoiding the wolves if possible. Drink Clarity if needed, then Teleportation back for regen when needed.
• This should net you a 6-7min Hand of Midas easily. Just remember to micro properly.

Countering your counters

Sometimes, you retardedly pick Nature's Prophet even when they have picked a counter. Sometimes, you randomed or picked early and don't wanna lose the goal. Whatever the reason, here are the items you can use to save your own scrawny ass:

1. Spirit Breaker - Linken's Sphere.
2. Nyx Assassin and Bounty Hunter - Black King Bar. Even at the shortest duration, you can Teleportation away safely.
3. Clock - Force Staff. You lose a little mana, but you stay alive. His battery assault needs a little time to work.