Phoenix Divinity

Chapter 1: Phoenix of Resurrection

Phoenix is a powerful nuker that can be played as either Carry or Support. His skill set is built for synergy, and deals damage at the cost of his own life. He has one of the best ultimates in the game ( Supernova) that can be used to scare enemies away and deal finishing touches of damage to kill off fleeing heroes. His ultimate can also be used to evade projectiles and spells (like Glimpse and Assassinate).

Phoenix also has the ability to save allies by using strong heals ( Sun Ray) and attack slows ( Fire Spirits). His ultimate spell ( Supernova) can be enhanced by Aghanim's Scepter to protect and revive allies in his egg. However, it is best to buy Radiance first, because this improves the hit count on the egg.

Furthermore, Phoenix's ability to survive is pretty good once all his tricks have been learned. This makes Phoenix a reliable choice for most games. However, there are certain counter-heroes that really give Phoenix a hard time. I'll explain these heroes in Chapter 3.

This hero is underplayed, because Phoenix's ultimate spell is tricky and requires effective positioning and timing. However, when played to its full effectiveness, Phoenix is able to take down some of the most feared heroes, especially melee ones and heroes that use illusions, since all of Phoenix's abilities deal splash damage.

Keep reading. I have some things to share with you.

Chapter 2: Pros & Cons

Pros Fire Spirits are strong early game High HP and HP Regen All spells deal splash damage Extremely powerful ultimate Very adept at killing melee attackers Talents are decent Excellent mobility with Icarus Dive Really good survival skills Suppresses incoming fire with Fire Spirits Spells have very long range Able to deal with illusion heroes Jungle farms easily

Cons Countered pretty hard by certain heroes Slow movement speed Egg can be destroyed Loses effectiveness late game Low agility Fire Spirits can miss

Chapter 3: Counter Heroes

Generally, Phoenix is good against melee attackers because his Supernova has a better chance to survive. However, fast melee heroes with high attack speed can be dangerous to Phoenix. For example, Juggernaut has a field day against Phoenix due to his ability to hit fast and deflect Fire Spirits with Blade Fury.

Counter List:

• Juggernaut
• Ursa
• Lifestealer
• Marci
• Slark
• Snapfire
• Sniper
• Drow Ranger
• Huskar
• Jakiro

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Effective against:

• Chaos Knight
• Crystal Maiden
• Earthshaker
• Legion Commander
• Luna
• Monkey King
• Naga Siren
• Ogre Magi
• Phantom Assassin
• Phantom Lancer
• Shadow Fiend
• Templar Assassin
• Terrorblade
• Treant Protector
• Undying
• Venomancer
• Wraith King

Chapter 4: Spells

Spell 1: Icarus Dive

This spell gives Phoenix the ability to swoop in and out of battle with very long range. This spell is always used for positioning. The extra damage and slow is an added bonus.

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Spell 2: Fire Spirits

This spell is Phoenix's main damage. Each of the 4 fire spirit can inflict 320 damage, resulting in a maximum damage capacity of 1280 damage. Although the fire spirits move slow and effect quite a small area, with practice, most of the time they strike (perhaps 75%).

Additional to their high damage output, they also significantly slow the target's physical attacks. This is most effective early game before enemy carries get Black King Bar. However, it's also useful for jungle farming, because you'll maintain your Health.

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Spell 3: Sun Ray

Most of the time, Phoenix uses this ability to hunt down and finish off heroes that are already hurt. The significant range on this spell makes it adept for this. It also provides vision over its path, revealing enemies from a distance.

Sun Ray is also really good for saving allies under Duel. However, this spell is best used in combination with Fire Spirits. Good Phoenix players practice using both skills at the same time.

Late game, you can use Sun Ray to heal allies when sieging enemy Towers, because the spell heals a percentage of HP, increasing in potential as heroes grow stronger.

Because Phoenix loses quite a bit of HP casting these spells, it is the reason I recommend getting the +20 HP Regen Talent.

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Spell 4: Supernova

Supernova is by far one of the best ultimates in the game. It serves all of these purposes:

• Deals extra damage to finish off fleeing enemies.
• Reliably stuns all nearby enemies on spell completion.
• Rejuvenates Phoenix to 100% HP and MP.
• Refreshes Phoenix's first 3 spells.
• Can be positioned on unwalkable terrain.
• Has massive range.
• Can be used to counter enemy initiation (like Tidehunter).

I'll talk more about how to use this spell in Chapter 8.

Chapter 5: Dominate the Mid Lane

Fire Spirits is your hand of power, in both nuking the enemy and attaining last hits. You should be casting this spell regularly from Level 1. The first level deals minor damage, but the slow attack allows you to secure last hits. So just before you go for a last hit, strike the opponent. The extra damage you get from Bracer enables you to do this quite easily.

When you reach Level 6, if the enemy hero is below 50% HP, you can try to go for the kill. Hit them a few times with Level 3 Fire Spirits, and when they get to about 20% HP, swoop in, hit them with 1 last fire spirit and cast Supernova.

Alternatively, and usually a better option is to wait for 6 minutes, collect the rune, use a Smoke of Deceit and gank a lane where the enemy heroes have pushed towards the T1 Tower. Most of the time, you'll get a kill, maybe two.

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Regarding Miss-Calls:

Signalling a miss-call to allies is an act of communication courtesy. When other players get angry and abuse you, because you failed to signal a miss-call; they are betraying this exact rule of communication courtesy; this makes them hypocrites! Don't let anyone fool you into the idea that you owe them communication, especially if they are unwilling to give you courtesy back. It is helpful, however, to miss-call, but just realize, that it's not always necessary or possible. (Mid laners go missing regularly due to: a) lack of observer wards; b) rune possession; c) farm neutral camps.)

I personally think we all have a responsibility to keep the peace, and that means communicating respectfully, and not placing invalid or harsh demands on others. Once we evolve as a community to remove the toxic chat, we can then focus on positive communication, such as miss-calls.

Chapter 6: Deciding on Items

Regeneration:

Early game, it is a very good idea to invest in at least one item of HP regeneration, because lane perseverance means maximum farm and battle opportunities. This is why I have placed a list of viable regeneration options at the top of the guide.

Most games, it is effective to go Helm of Iron Will and turn it into a Shiva's Guard later.

However, some games, you'll need a Linken's Sphere if you're versing Necrophos or Legion Commander.

Other games, you'll want to go a Lotus Orb. If you're versing Pudge, this item is useful, because after you get hooked, you have time to double-click and protect yourself. You can also save allies this way or use it on your Safe Carry when sieging Towers. If the enemy team has an Ogre Maji, this item is great! If you're versing Silencer or Nature's Prophet that carries an Orchid Malevolence, this item is a great pickup. And the extra armor really does help!

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Boots:

You can actually get away with Boots of Speed with no upgrades for a large portion of the game. Because Phoenix relies more on magical damage than physical. However, Power Treads make you tankier and improve your physical damage significantly for only a small price.

Phase Boots can be a good choice, because of the mobility advantage, and the early Blades of Attack help you last hit.

Boots of Travel are my personal preference, because I like to have global presence, and I also like to teleport to enemy Towers and hit them with Meteor Hammer every chance I get.

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First Major Item:

The first question you MUST ask before deciding on a first item is: Can the enemy silence me? If so, your first item needs to be either a Eul's Scepter of Divinity or Lotus Orb. You can even go Manta Style if you like, and progress into a physical damage build, with items such as Mjollnir or Monkey King Bar.

Supposing the enemy doesn't have any serious disables, for most games Radiance is a perfect choice, firstly for the damage and farming capabilities, and secondly, because it helps Supernova. (Radiance remains active during your ultimate.) However, if you don't get Radiance first, that's fine, you can buy it later. Yes! Radiance on Phoenix is a perfect item to pick up mid or late game, because of its effects on the egg.

Before you making your decision on Radiance, consider a few different items that might be helpful.

1. Blade Mail: can be a good choice if you're versing heroes that deal nuke damage like Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Kunkka or Bloodseeker.
2. Ethereal Blade: you can buy this within 13-15 minutes with decent farm. This item is good for both saving allies from Chronosphere or Duel, and also, because of the movement slow and magic susceptibility, it allows you to land deadlier attacks with precision. You can snowball with this item.
3. Meteor Hammer: if your team is strong early, you can get this item early in order to destroy enemy Towers, allowing your team to take control of the map. If the enemy is strong, however, and you need to deal damage, wait until later to buy this item.
4. Black King Bar: you can get this item early if the enemy has a lot of stuns or magic damage. The only problem with this item is that it doesn't assist your spells. It just allows you to survive. Sometimes, it's worth getting.

Chapter 7: Spell Tricks

Escape with Sun Ray:

If you need to make a fast escape, use Icarus Dive to swoop out of battle, and aim towards a cliff. Then, cast Sun Ray, toggle movement on, and teleport out. Casting this up and over a cliff makes you go out of sight.

Icarus Dive and Meteor Hammer for Sieging:

Sieging can be dangerous. However, with Phoenix, you can destroy enemy Towers and even Barracks by using this technique: dive in, cast Meteor Hammer on the Tower, and dive back out. This is really annoying for the enemy team to deal with. It forces them to either lose buildings or force a fight outside of their base.

Regarding Shard:

Getting Aghanim's Shard for Phoenix is actually decent. I usually aim for around 30 minutes to get Shard. The extra damage you deal with Sun Ray is significant and naturally improves the survivability of the egg. The reason is because you either kill or scare away enemies.

Double-stacking:

Throw a fire spirit at 53 seconds towards the furthest camp and then auto-attack the nearest camp at 55 seconds to double-stack.

Chapter 8: Supernova

If you're going to master Phoenix, get good with this spell. Supernova relies on effective positioning and timing. You should aim for about an 80% survival rate with your egg.

Things to calculate:

• Movement speed of enemies
• Attack speed of enemies
• Number of enemies
• Number of ranged enemies
• Types of allies defending the egg (do they have stun?)
• HP of enemies

Regard this relationship when positioning your egg: the closer you are to enemies with Supernova, the more damage you'll deal and the higher chance of killing. The further away you locate the egg, you'll deal less damage but you'll enhance your ability to survive.

Also to mention, is that you should try to hit as many enemies as possible with Fire Spirits just before you cast Supernova. This significantly empowers your chance of survival.

Supernova deals 60 damage per second at Level 1, resulting in 360 maximum damage or 720 maximum damage at Level 3.

Regarding Scepter:

The Aghanim's Scepter upgrade is brilliant for certain games, supposing the enemy lacks ranged attackers or melee attackers with high attack speed. You can actually rush this item and use the upgade to save allies inside the egg.

However, just remember that the cast range (when targeting an ally) is only 500, and this is the reason buying Aether Lens is super important for casting this spell (grants 750 cast range). The extra range makes it easier to dive/cast and additionally provides you further distance from your enemies, increasing the egg's survivability. If you don't buy this item, it's fine, but expect to miss-cast sometimes.

Chapter 9: Playing Phoenix as Support

Phoenix makes a really decent Hard Support, in my opinion. But the way you'll play Phoenix as Support is different from Carry.

So, just a few things to mention...

1. At Level 3, you'll have Level 2 Fire Spirits. This has really good kill potential. You can also use this to wipe out small/medium camps to score a gold/level advantage.
2. You MUST do everything you can to maintain lane equilibrium. Buy Sentries to control both camps. Stack camps and double-pull (pull one camp into the other) to bring the minions back to the Tower.
3. Try to steal the enemy's Rune of Wisdom at 7 minutes.
4. Take plenty of Tangos and beat up the enemy Support with Fire Spirits.
5. Buying an early Ring of Health can be super helpful.
6. Lotus Orb is a decent support item for Phoenix.
7. Use Fire Spirits and a Carry to score an early Roshan (at around 15 minutes).