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3 Votes

A Memoir of Madness: Mid Furion

November 30, 2012 by kkay
Comments: 6    |    Views: 19718    |   


Hero Build

DotA2 Hero: Nature's Prophet




Hero Skills

Spirit of the Forest (Innate)

Sprout

2 4 8 9

Teleportation

1 3 5 7

Nature's Call

10 12 13 14

Wrath of Nature

6 11 16

Talents

15 17 18


A Memoir of Madness: Mid Furion

kkay
November 30, 2012


Introduction

Hi. I've been playing Dota2 since November 2011, and I think it's safe to say that Furion is my favorite character. I don't really feel like I need to explain why I love Furion so much. We all know how amazing he is. I looked around the dotafire site and came to discover that there wasn't a guide for Furion as a mid ganker. This saddened me greatly, as I always found jungle Furion to be somewhat lackluster (in terms of fun)


I know that some of you are already foaming at the mouth because this isn't a jungle Furion guide and "that's the only way you can play him". Please just calm down for a sec, read my guide, and try it out.

Here's a few examples of some successful games I've had as Mid Furion

We had Sven/Jugger bot agaist Brood and Ogre so I was able to port down and get first blood at level 1. It snowballed from there. I pretty much ported down and dusted Broodmother and killed her every single time she stepped out of tower range, thus shutting down their only potential carry. We had 38 kills total that game, and I had 18 kills / 17 assists, which equals 35/38 kills being directly related to me.

More or less the same story. They had a WR solo bot against juggernaut and AA so I ported bot a lot and completely shut her down, causing jugger to snowball hard, which made for an easy win. We had 37 kills total that game, and I had 31 total kills/assists

I actually solo'd bottom that game but the strategy was more or less the same. I went Divine rapier because the game was over and I wanted to, lol. Don't remember why I went Shiva's.

Pros / Cons

Okay. This is really important. I think the most important aspect of being good at Furion is realizing what he is good at and what he isn't good at. This is probably the most important part of the guide, because good NP play is 100% managing your weaknesses and abusing your strengths.

Strengths:

[*] Mobile as ****. Global Teleport is amazing. You can be anywhere on the map at any time.

[*] Amazing early potential. You can dominate the game very easily and make it very easy for your team to win.

[*] Amazing pusher

[*] Versatile. You can transition into many different roles depending on the direction of the game, and fulfill these roles simultaneously in some cases.

[*] Sprout is situationally the most powerful disable in the game. You can save people's lives with it and block with it as well. Very versatile skill

[*] Amazing attack animation. You can last hit with ease and deny easily as well. This is especially potent in mid lane where some of the characters don't have great animations (Like Zeus for example)


Cons

[*] Very, very fragile.

[*] Your sprout can be countered by blinks, quelling blade, and tango. It also doesn't stun, and a misplaced sprout can mean a lost kill.

[*] Somewhat reliant on teamwork, but it can be very easy to give your teammates kills, they just need to be capable of applying the minimal effort required to get those kills.

[*] Item and level dependent

[*] Requires good map awareness and a general understanding of the game. This isn't really a weakness, more of a prerequisite.

[*] Not the best teamfighter, but this can be counteracted by pulling a huge lead or counter pushing.

Role

Furion is kinda a chameleon, I guess. A mid Furion starts off as a ganker and can transition into a carry, support, or pusher, although I usually end up playing a mixture of all three of those throughout the game. The thing about mid furion is that you can't compare him to a jungle Furion. You should be treating them as separate characters. Instead, compare Furion to other mid chracters, and when judging his viability, try to look at what he can do that characters like Zeus or Bloodseeker can't.

Carry

Furion as a carry is somewhat tricky. He's not a carry in the traditional sense that he scales into the lategame, because he really doesn't. He has no steroids or anything that innately sets him apart. Furion can work as a carry because of his potential to pull huge leads through farming, ganking, and pushing. You outclass other carries simply by being so far ahead of them. It's safe to say that Furion is the best farmer in the game, but he also one of the best gankers, and pushers, which means if you play him properly, you are guaranteed to make more money than anyone in the game.

Support

Sprout in general is an amazing ability for setting up kills and saving allies, and your global teleport in conjunction with your farming capabilities means you can grind up items like Sheepstick very easily. I like to call Furion a carry support because he supports through items as opposed to other supports.

Pusher

This goes without saying. Your ultimate + your mobility + Your trees means you are a split pushing god. I find that my play style has a pretty big emphasis on pushing the longer the game goes on.

Skills


Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Unit/Point
Ability Hotkey: T

Sprouts a ring of trees around a unit, trapping it in place.


Sprout is an extremely versatile skill, capable of doing many things, including..

[*] Pseudo Disabling
[*] Blocking a Path
[*] Peeling
[*] Summoning Trees
[*] Scouting Roshan
[*] Giving Vision
[*] Forcing Tango Usage
[*] Displacer (Forces enemies out of position)

Being able to use sprout in many ways is very important for proper NP play.


Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Point
Ability Hotkey: R

Teleports to any explored point on the map.

Definitely your best skill, and like sprout, a very versatile one. You can use it for..

[*] Ganking
[*] Counter Ganking
[*] Escape Mechanism
[*] Counter Pushing
[*] Split Pushing
[*] Farming
[*] Catching fleeing enemies
[*] Killing the Courier

The cooldown is so short when maxed out that you can literally be everywhere, which forces the enemy to react to you. This is what makes Furion so amazing and so annoying to play aganist.



Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Area
Ability Hotkey: E

Converts an area of trees into Treants. Treants have 550 hit points and deal 21-23 damage


Force of Nature is pretty self explanatory in a lot of ways, but there are a few tricks you can use to give yourself an edge. It can be used for..

[*] Pushing
[*] Tower defending
[*] Farming
[*] Path Clearing
[*] Scouting / Pseudo warding
[*] Tanking Roshan
[*] Blocking enemies
[*] Bonus damage in a fight



Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Unit
Ability Hotkey: W

Summons damaging energy to swath around the map and damage random enemies. Each enemy hit beyond the first adds 7% damage.

At first glance, Wrath of Nature might not seem like much to write home about, but it is actually an extremely potent ability when used properly, although it's effects are, in some cases, rather subtle. The damage on it is actually deceptively powerful. The maximum damage you can inflict on a single foe is over 900.

[*] Farming
[*] Pushing
[*] Defending (especially against heroes like Broodmother. You can completely shut down a BM push with a well placed ult)
[*] Teamfighting
[*] Cleaning up
[*] Catching a fleeing foe

When not to pick

Prophet is pretty versatile but there are some cases where he might not be the best option. There are a questions you should ask yourself before picking him.

[*] How effective will your sprout be against the enemy lineup? [*]

Enemies like Antimage, Queen of Pain, Faceless Void, and Storm Spirit are a nuisance for you, as well as characters who can trivialize your sprout through other means. If there are 1-2 of them on the enemy team, it's not a big deal, but if the team is full of blinkers and tree killers, it might not be the best option to pick Furion.

[*] Is your team extremely late game oriented / Farm reliant? [*]

Furion, in certain situations, can be great in the late game, but he needs a strong early game in order to get there, and you need teammates that compliment that. It can be good to have a really late game carry in some cases if your team is otherwise oriented towards the early game because you can give your carry a huge lead, but generally, Furion is focused on winning sooner rather than later.

[*] Does your team have many farmers? [*]

If your team has a lot of heroes who are very reliant on gold farm, Furion might not be the best choice as his ultimate and general play style of constant pressure can make him rather greedy.

Items

Starting Items

There are several builds that you can start off with depending on a few things.

This build seems a little strange at first. It is essentially the most cost effective way to rush an early Dagon (The earlier you get the Dagon, the more effective it is). I use this build if I don't think I'm going to have much trouble in my lane.

Pros

[*] Better stats = better early ganking / last hitting / denying (+9 damage is sexy early on)

[*] Cost Effective

[*] Minimal gold spent on consumables (Teleport makes this alright because you don't have to worry about losing massive amounts of gold)


Cons

[*] Rather all in

[*] Very cost effective, but not very safe against extremely hard lanes

[*] Minimal Regen


This is a safer, more conservative way to build him.

Pros

[*] Moderate amount of regen

[*] Slightly more defense than null-talisman

Cons

[*] Delayed Dagon

[*] Less damage

[*] Inventory is full (not a big deal, you just have to drop branches or use regen in order to accommodate new items)


Core

This is the core build I use almost every game. If I can, I try to rush Dagon as fast as possible before anything else. If you can get it in 5-6 minutes, you become a ganking machine. A lot of people don't like Dagon, but there are several points I'd like to make about it.

It's pretty much Lina's ult on a lesser cooldown on a character who has a very long pseudo disable, a global teleport, and another nuke ontop of that. Mixed with Magic Wand and Power Treads, it actually gives you a pretty well rounded amount of staffs. Dagon is a necessary buy for a ganking Furion because it gives him the burst needed to make his ganks effective on top of the fact that the stats themselves are rather useful given the build I go. It works very well for me. It might not work well for you. There might be alternatives and I would love to hear about them.

Like I said, I usually try to rush Dagon, but sometimes I pick up Boots of Speed first. That being said, an early arcane wand turns your already decent auto attack into a rather terrifying thing to deal with, especially given your mobility.

DON'T UPGRADE THE DAGON. I can't stress that enough. It's just not worth it. Don't do it.


Situational Core

I usually buy 1-2 of these after my initial core depending on the matchup / the direction of the game.

Medallion is great on Furion. He's has slight mana issues and it really does help deal with that. The armor debuff is simply amazing as well. Like I said, Furion supports through items. This item is ultimately an investment, because you need to justify it's usefulness by pulling off ganks and targeting the right people with it in teamfights. It's not one of those items that can sit in your inventory and do nothing and still be useful. You need to abuse the active properly when ganking and fighting in order for it to be worth it. I almost always get medallion. I love it.

This is a great item for supports / gankers. I don't really buy it that often, simply because I like the medallion more, personally, but it is definitely justifiable on Furion. Like the medallion, it is also an investment that has to be used properly for it to be worth it, and it is a good alternative if you are looking for a more supportive version of medallion DO NOT buy this item if someone else on your team has it. Get the medallion instead to solve your early mana problems.

I honestly almost never get mekansm, but it's a great item if you find yourself in the position of a support role. The active is nice. The stats are nice. The aura is nice, and the regen is welcome. Make sure no one else has it, though. Mekansm is definitely more situational though because it hurts your ganking power by buying one. If you find yourself forced into teamfight situations often, mekansm might be a good choice if there are no other candidates for it.

I love Shadow Blade so much on Furion, and there are so many reasons to justify getting it. First off, it makes your ganking much more deadly. Especially when combined with medallion and Dagon, you become a very potent 1v1 machine. The utility it offers is also amazing (escape mechanism / haste) for ganking, counter ganking, scouting, and pushing down towers. It makes it easy to over extend and push a tower because you can just pop the active and port out at the first sign of trouble (Teleport doesn't break the stealth) Keep in mind that it is pretty easy to counter, so you should be aware of sentry wards / dust / gems. Also, I wouldn't suggest going Shadowblade if there are already stealth characters on your team or multiple people who have it as well.

Aghanim's is an amazing item. The stats it gives are so very welcome, and it makes your ultimate extremely potent. I buy Aghanim's often if I find myself transitioning into the more cookie cutter push-centric Furion.

Interesting item. I find myself getting this on a team that is completely built around the 5 man push. I don't feel it is very useful as an item for a counter pusher, but if you find yourself in a pack mentality situation coupled with other pushers, drum is very viable.

Possible Extensions

Oh my god Desolator is so sexy for so many reasons. First off, it shoots your damage through the roof. Commbined with Dagon and perhaps Medallion and / or Shadowblade, you just... destroy other players in teamfights and ganks. The second a Desolator enters your inventory you become a great deal more terrifying. It also allows you to push down towers with ease. Desolator is an amazing item to get if you find yourself being pushed into the carry role, or just find your team lacks damage in general.

I don't really like Malestrom / Mjollnir, personally, but I know other people do, so I figured I would mention it. It's essentially a way to spread your damage out a bit and push down creep waves easily. It aids your pushing by pushing the waves faster as opposed to doing more damage outright, and I can also see it being useful in teamfights if the enemy team happens to cluster a lot.

This is another good pushing / carry item. I know it's centered around agility heroes but manta can be justified on Furion very easily. I tend to opt for a Manta if I am being pushed into a carry role but need to supplement my defense as well.

A great item that fits well in a supportive Furion as well as a carry focused one. It's amazing for shutting down blinkers like Anti Mage or weakening tanky carries like Skeleton King. It has aspects of both carry and support items because it gives you a lot of carry focused stats whlie still increasing your teams damage overall. If you find that your team is all focusing one target every teamfight, an ability focused target, Orchid is great. It's also an amazing 1v1 item. Very versatile. The only problem I have with it is that it offers no defense whatsoever, so make sure to position yourself well.

Self explanatory. If no one else can get this, and your team is having trouble dealing with heavy magic damage comps, opt for one.

Scythe is amazing and can be rewarding in most situations and lineups. Use it on problem characters that your team needs to be able to focus down, saving teammates, ganking, or simply to put certain characters out of the fight for a little while. I sort of view scythe as a more supportive version of Orchid.

The ultimate carry item. Don't rush it. Make sure you get another carry item like Desolator, Manta, or Orchid because it's not really worth it on it's own in my opinion.

Walkthrough

Early Game

Lvl 1 you take teleport for the potential of a first blood depending on the rune. Try and snag the rune if you can. Double Damage, haste, and in certain cases invisibility can mean first blood for your team and an instantaneous lead because you can port in on the enemy outpost and sneak up behind them for an easy gank. Furion is very good at ganking early on, but it's tricky because he is also very item and level dependent, so it is up to you to ensure that the ganks you port in on are not only worth the risk, but worth the lost farm / xp. You can jump to a side lane, gank, and TP back, but you're losing 135 gold in the process so you have to make sure you pull the gank off or you'll fall behind. Your main goals are...

[*] Farm up your Dagon by 5-10 minutes (Later if you don't rush it)
[*] Control the runes
[*] Gank lanes without missing out on much farm / denies

Mid Game

To me, the mid game starts the second you have a Dagon. This is your time to shine. You should be ganking like crazy with your teammates. You should be picking up kills on whoever you can, but Furion is very good at shutting down solo laners like Necrolyte and Broodmother. Essentially, any enemy hero that is farm and level reliant should be your primary target. There are many games where I apply so much pressure to a side solo with repeated ganks that they become a complete nonfactor later on. Not only does this feed your teammates kills, but it turns the game into a 4v5. Keep controlling the runes if you can. Carry dust at all times if there is an enemy stealther, and coordinate ganks with your team. Farming is a secondary, but very important objective as well. Feel free to use your ultimate for this. Between your ganking, mobility, and ultimate, you should be able to farm and gank rather smoothly and make it to the late game with some big items. To summarize, your objectives are as follows.

[*] Shut down enemy carries
[*] Push lanes down
[*] Gain map control
[*] Farm

Late Game

Furion isn't the best teamfighter, plain and simple. He's not useless in a fight, but he's not amazing either. Successfully team fighting as Furion is simply a matter of outplaying the opponent early on and being so far ahead that it doesn't even matter. This is why it is so important to shut down the enemy carry in the mid game. In a more evenly matched game, a counter pushing Furion who jumps from lane to lane, pressuring the enemy and forcing them to split up is an ideal play style.

Good teammates / Bad Enemies

Good Teammates

Early Gankers

All of these characters work well with Furion because they bring something special to an early gank. These are amazing teammates to have on your team if you want to dominate early.

Sprout Friendly Carries

All of these carries are great to have on your team because they remain relatively unaffected by sprout. Some of them even have amazing synergy with sprout (riki's smoke for example).

Bad Enemies

Sprout Shruggers

Sprout shruggers are incredibly annoying because they can, in some cases, render your sprout completely useless.


Bursting *****es

Basically, anyone who can nuke you down quickly and without warning. Especially Nyx Assassin. NA is the biggest ******* of all the *******s. He will ruin your life. I would even suggest considering a Linken's Sphere if you're having trouble dealing with an NA.

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