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Ring of Basilius
ClarityClarity
Ring of Aquila
Power Treads
Drum of Endurance
Mekansm
Urn of Shadows
Dagon 1
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Aghanim's Scepter
Necronomicon
Mjollnir
Shadow Blade
Rod of Atos
Orchid Malevolence
Scythe of Vyse
Crystalys
Daedalus
Desolator
Eye of Skadi
Manta Style
Monkey King Bar
Assault Cuirass
Bloodstone
Heart of Tarrasque
Shiva's Guard
Black King Bar
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2 | 8 | 9 | 10 |  |
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Furion is possibly the most flexibile hero in DOTA - capable of fulfilling a variety of roles, and fitting into nearly any strategy. He scales fantastically into the late game and can be a constant thorn in the side of the opposition.
He's an extremely efficient farmer and has a global presence most heroes can only dream of. His mobility is simply unmatched, and he's usually a first round ban in Captain's mode for good reasons. We'll be looking in this guide at some of the many ways you can play and equip him.
- Incredibly mobile
- Good overall stat gain
- Excellent farming speed
- Can start in any lane, or the jungle
- Fits well into any lineup or strategy
- Great pusher
- Good attack animation
- Never buy a bus ticket or 
Town Portal Scroll again
- Farm reliant
- No true stun or slow
- Squishy
- Limited team fight ability
- Requires good map awareness and some micromanagement
Sprout is a multi-function skill used mainly as a way of trapping an enemy hero in an enclosed circle of trees. It's not a true disable however as they can continue to attack, cast, etc. It can also be easily escaped using a 
Tango or 
Quelling Blade or various abilities such as 
Wild Axes, 
Vacuum or 
Midnight Pulse.
It also has other uses - for example you can cast it on yourself to block sight and try to prevent you being targeted (e.g. when teleporting out), help with juking, or as a way of making Treants if there are no other trees handy.
Sprout can be targeted at a unit, or at the ground, so you need to be accurate when using it. It's quite easy to accidently block or trap your allies instead of the enemy - the best way of dealing with this is to cast Nature's Call to turn the trees into Treants.
Teleportation is simply one of the best abilities in the game. It allows you to teleport to any previous explored part of the map for a meagre amount of mana and a relatively short cooldown. 
Boots of Travel and Town Portal Scrolls both have a longer cooldown and can't be used with the same precision - never mind the gold cost of each.
This spell really defines Furion's playstyle - whether you're ganking, pushing or farming - you can get exactly where you need to be at very short notice. Out of mana or low on health? The fountain is only a cooldown away.
It's hard to even mention all the ways this skill can be used - jungle from impassable terrain, courier sniping, chasing down fleeing heroes, backdooring enemy buildings, extreme warding...the list is almost endless.
Here are some important points instead:
- The cooldown on Teleportation doesn't trigger until it has completed, so if you're stunned mid-use, you can instantly try again.
- The point where you're teleporting to will show branches growing from the ground, giving notice to everyone present of your imminent arrival. You can even spook out enemies by cancelling the teleport while it's channelling.
- It doesn't count as an ability use until it completes, so for example you could be invisible via Shadow Blade and would remain so while channelling the ability.
Nature's Call converts trees within its radius into a number of treants under your control - depending on the level of the spell. It's quite funny really that a hero who defends nature ends up causing such mass deforestation.
Treants are basically mobile meatshields - they have very poor damage but good hit points, and last for a full minute unless killed. There are several possible uses for treants:
- Tanking damage for you when jungling / doing Roshan
- Providing ballast in the lane for pushes or anti-push
- Scouting and providing vision (this is one of the keys to avoiding ganks on risky pushes)
- Drawing away enemy creeps
- Blocking enemy heroes trying to escape
- Destroying runes if necessary
Wrath of Nature is an unusual ultimate, providing a global nuke that can be surprisingly damaging. Wrath does the least amount of damage to the first target you select, which also gives it a starting point. It will then bounce to the closest visible enemy unit anywhere on the map, slowly increasing damage, until it runs out of bounces or there are no visible units left that haven't already been hit.
Wrath is primarily a tool for farming and pushing, but also has its uses as a team fight power and way of finishing off very weak heroes. During the early game, be a little careful when you use it, as your allies may not thank you for stealing their hits or pushing their lane. Try to use it when pushing or defending towers primarily.
For team fights or attacks on fleeing heroes, you should generally try to cast it as far away as possible onto distant creeps (you can cast it on the mini-map) to have it arrive and inflict as much damage as possible.
Be aware that 
Linken's Sphere will completely block Wrath if you try to cast it directly onto that hero (otherwise it will still trigger linkens and inflict no damage, but the spell will continue).
Also be aware that this spell can give away your warding positions or invisible heroes to the enemy if cast when they think they are outside line of sight.
It's difficult to know where to start here...Prophet can potentially fill so many of them. You may develop your own style, or adapt to try and fulfil a particular need for the team.
There are 3 broad roles:
- Pusher Prophet (max treants)
- Ganker Prophet (max tp/sprout)
- Carry/Turtle Prophet (
Hand of Midas)
From there you will initially buy items needed for each role, then either carry items or utility items. In pubs most Furion players will buy carry items and expect to play him as such. Utility Prophets are seen occasionally, but are more likely in Pro games.
The good thing with Prophet is that you usually get so much farm that you can alter your role as the game progresses - simply buy the items you need to do that particular job better.
This is my usual style of playing Furion. You put most of your early points into treants and look to start pushing towers and helping your team relatively soon. Hopefully you can jump in and gets some ganks along the way too.
The advantage of this playstyle is that it gets you involved in the game early on. Especially if you're jungling then it's easy to get lost in your own little world and not be helping your team with their lanes, or taking advantage of opportunities that may arise.
It's more reliable than a ganking style, as you can farm more quickly, and are less dependent on getting early kills for levels and gold.
Your item choices will tend more towards Ring of Basilius, Shadow Blade, Necronomicon or Aghanim's Scepter, although that will depend on how you want to play as the game progresses.
This is a more risky playstyle, but can be absolutely lethal with the right co-ordination and team mates. You plow most of your points into Teleportation and Sprout, and look to use your mobility to help with ganks in the various lanes. You can simply teleport to good ganking positions, and the only way the opposition will know is if they have that spot warded.
Be very aware of your targets and team mates when using this playstyle - the wrong combinations will mean your victims escape and leave you short of farm and levels. You can start this style by either laning as usual, or using impassable terrain (such as the 'big rock' in the middle of the radiant jungle) to attack jungle creeps without retaliation.
Common item choices for this style include Urn of Shadows and Dagon.
This style is used by some pub as well as pro players. Essentially it means playing prophet almost like a hard carry. You get a Hand of Midas as early as possible, and stay in the jungle farming and harvesting creeps well into the midgame. If your team can hold out and you stay relatively unscathed then it's possible you'll out-level and out-farm the carries on the other team.
Again, this is somewhat risky as it very much depends on your team having the right heroes and enough skill to essentially play 4v5 for most of the early-mid game. Personally I'm not a fan as it means you might well miss out on good opportunities to help the team or turn the game as you're unprepared to get involved. However, it can work well if left unchallenged.
Nature's Prophet has a simply ridiculous number of items that can work well for him, and his excellent farming ability means that you'll likely have the means to get them too...
All of the items listed under the Extension/Luxury heading are worth considering in the right circumstances, but I'll take you through some of the more common choices:
Damage/Disable:
Scythe of Vyse
Simply an awesome item on Prophet, it adds to your damage, general stats and gives you a disable. Prophet is an ideal carrier as an intelligence hero, with a good right click and no channelling abilities.
Orchid Malevolence
Another good item - it's cheaper than the Sheepstick, and adds more to your damage. However you trade stats and a full disable for a silence and damage amplification.
Carry/Damage:
Crystalys / Daedalus
Both excellent options as you gain more damage from other items (don't buy these first, as you won't have the attack speed or damage to make them worthwhile yet), the Crystalys is very cheap for the potential effect you can get, and the Daedalus can melt heroes in no time.
Monkey King Bar
Another devastating and expensive item. MKB gives you a chance to mini-stun in addition to a big damage increase. However, it's main use is against heroes who have evasion skills or items (such as 
Windrun or 
Butterfly). MKB will ALWAYS hit it's target, regardless of evasion or height difference. You need a good attack speed to get the most out of this item.
Orb Effects/Unique Attack Modifiers:
Desolator
The most common choice for Prophet, as it lowers the armour of buildings as well as heroes and other units, allowing for more damage and faster pushing. Overall a very solid choice.
Eye of Skadi
A more unusual choice, but it can be very effective if you have sufficient farm. Skadi offers a huge general stat increase, but more importantly any enemy units you hit have both their movement and attack speed slowed. This allows you to chase and fight enemy heroes more effectively. Well worth considering, especially if someone else on your team already has a Desolator.
Mjollnir
This partially belongs in the Pushing section, as that's what it's primarily used for. It allows you to rapidly clear creep waves, plus adding damage and attack speed. The active ability 'static shield' is also useful in a tight spot, or to use on your tank.
Pushing Tools:
Aghanim's Scepter
A good set of general stats, and it adds quite a lot of damage to your ultimate, especially when you factor in the 7% per bounce increase. It's very good for your map control.
Necronomicon
Prophet can afford to quickly get this up to level 3, adding to his already considerable pushing power. A good choice if you're going for all-out push, and/or if the enemy has invisible heroes (level 3 necro units can detect them).
Shadow Blade
A lot of people have issues with this item, as it is relatively expensive for the extra damage and attack speed it grants you. The real benefit however is the ability to temporarily become invisible, allowing you to take on risky pushes, escape dangerous situations, or use the bonus movement and attack to chase down a fleeing enemy.
The main thing to bear in mind with this item is that it doesn't suddenly make you invulnerable or get away with something truly stupid. Any team worth their salt will get some 
Dust of Appearance or 
Sentry Wards in no time. Also strongly consider avoiding it if your team already has invisible heroes.
Having a Nature's Prophet on your team gives you a considerable amount of map control. First of all he can pop up almost anywhere, at very short notice. Secondly, his abilities allow him to push lanes, even if he isn't there.
This control grows as the game continues, assuming he is doing reasonably well and getting good farm. You can pop up all over the map, quickly give the lane momentum and leave before any trouble arrives. Use hit and run tactics, guerilla style, that leaves the enemy team chasing shadows.
In the late game you'll probably have enough damage to backdoor towers or barracks given the opportunity. Use your treants to scout, especially as the game goes on and you don't really need them to tank for you anymore - you should have a network of "eyes in the forest" around you to protect you from ganks.
As Nature's Prophet, you have a hero who can potentially be anywhere on the map within seconds. This means being aware of opportunities and taking the right decisions to make them pay off. The better your map awareness is, the more success you will have with Furion.
For example, while farming the woods, try and keep an eye on how your lanes are doing - has one of your heroes been killed? Do you need to fill in? Has their dangerous mid-ganker disappeared in your direction? Did you just spot their courier in the long lane? Is there a gank you could setup or jump in on?
Later on, you might still have opportunities to gank - just pick your targets carefully - make sure they're alone and that you can kill them fairly easily. Also jump in and push towers when the opportunity arises - just be careful and ready to jump out if you spot the enemy team responding.
Although handy in small scale engagements, team fights aren't a particularly good part of Furion's game. You can provide some obstructions with Sprout and Nature's Call, and a little multi-target damage if Wrath of Nature is off cooldown.
Other than that, you're just a right click, plus any utility items you might have - both of which are totally reliant on your farm.
However, you do have one big advantage that the other team can struggle with - mobility. As the game progresses you may find more and more opportunities to split the opposition team and force them into bad fights.
For example, if the enemy team is looking at taking your barracks, teleport to their side of the map and threaten one in exchange. The enemy team is now in a tricky spot - if they can't take yours quickly, they risk losing their own in trade. Alternatively one or more of their heroes can teleport back to their base to stop you - you can now join your team and win the fight through superior numbers.
Use this ability to stretch and confuse the opposition as much as possible. Make them waste time trying to chase you down, snipe towers and pick off isolated heroes. Be careful when you do this however, as your team won't thank you for having to fight 4v5.
Prophet's jungling style is pretty straightforward, although not as fast as some other heroes. The standard way is to summon treants, and use them to tank up damage while you focus your attacks.
Rotate your treants to soak up as much damage as possible, while keeping them alive, as that extra bit of damage does help at this point. Summon treants at the fountain about 5-10 seconds before the game begins, and send them over to the jungle while you regain your mana.
Personally, I like to go with a Ring of Basilius to increase their armour and your mana regeneration. After this a Wraithband will upgrade it to a Ring of Aquila. Some people won't agree with this choice, but personally I think the extra stats are well worth it for the price and it doesn't take up another inventory slot.
I usually put a point in Teleportation at level 2, giving me the option to snipe any nearly dead / fleeing heroes, regen or escape if needed. If you've got a very aggressive safe lane combo, it can be worth putting that point in Sprout instead.
A tricky assignment, but one that Prophet can do. Obviously you need some more standard laning equipment with health regeneration, and a different skill build. You're relatively squishy, and your escape is a little slow, so you have to be careful.
Treants are very useful in this situation, you can use them to block neutral creep camps from spawning, and can also "steal" enemy creep waves. Run the treant past the neutral "pull" camp (on the far side of the enemy tower), and then draw the enemy creeps off the lane and through the jungle to your tower. This allows you to get some farm and experience safely.
Furion fits well into most line ups, you can basically lane almost anywhere. He makes great sense when you have a solid solo hero who can do well in the hard lane and allow you to jungle.
The most important thing is to play prophet in the most useful role for your team - whether you're going to push, gank or turtle. Ideally you want at least one good support hero in the team who will be willing to buy the support and utility items.
There's rarely a time when Furion is a bad pick - he's too flexible for that really. Usually the problem will be that you don't fit well with the rest of the line up - the team is too squishy, or there's too much competition for farm, etc.
The other thing to be aware of is when choosing your role, consider the opposition. If they're full of dangerous gankers or aggressive pushers, they probably aren't going to let you merrily Midas your way through the jungle for half an hour undisturbed.
At the same time, make your team is up for matching your strategy if you want to push or gank aggressively. Beware of enemy stealth heroes like 
Bounty Hunter, 
Riki and 
Nyx Assassin - they're difficult to account for when pushing and could be lying in wait for you.
As always, these are situational - with prophet there really is no 'correct' way of building him - all of his skills are useful and it totally depends on what you want to be able to do first.
The build I've listed at the top is a fairly standard jungling/pushing one, allowing you get in there and farm fairly efficiently, with the option to drop back to base quickly, and then start helping with ganks from level 4. Depending on your lineup, you might well go for Sprout at level 2, or even level 1 if you're going to for first blood and your team don't mind you jungling using pulls.
You're Nature's Prophet, why the hell would you ever buy a TP scroll? Well, there can be situations where it's useful for you to carry one:
- You might need to be able to teleport more than once before Teleportation has come off cooldown. This could be early game where it takes 50 seconds, or late game where you want to exploit your mobility even more.
- Against heroes with silence abilities or items. This is especially true of heroes like 
Bloodseeker or 
Clinkz who'll try to gank you and stop you getting away.
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