Dark Seer Revisited

A few weeks ago I posted about the Germans' upset win over Na'Vi using a Dark Seer/Enigma/Death Prophet combo. While I stand by what I said with regards to Dark Seer in the context of that game, I definitely did not fully understand the scope of that hero (and how he would break out into first pick/first ban status).

The big deal with Dark Seer is that his ultimate, Wall of Replica, scales in power with the enemy team. Then, when you get Scepter, it scales in power with both teams. Especially when you consider the fact that auras on illusions seem to work differently than in original DotA (in the Warcraft III engine, illusions' "auras" don't actually have an effect. In DotA2, apparently they do), Dark Seer's Wall is probably the "best" ultimate in the current meta-game.

As Bulba tried to point out, the 90% illusion damage means any fights around the Wall are 'basically' 9v5 (or 11.5v5 with Scepter; allied hero images deal only 50% damage). It lasts 15/30/45 (what) seconds, with 100 second cool-down at all levels. 45 against 100 is ridiculous for an ultimate that is effectively an ongoing effect (consider: if an image dies, walking through the wall will re-create it; with Scepter, a team gets 45 seconds of 50% damage suicide-pushing at literally no risk). Because the Wall is so position-dependent, the obvious way to counter it is to bait out the Wall and wait for it to go down, but with only a 55 second window to exploit between Walls this isn't a very strong proposition.

This doesn't even take into consideration the sheer utility of his other spells. Dark Seer, especially in the 'parity' version with improved Ion Shell, completely shuts down a Broodmother lane. He is a strong jungle hero, giving his team an 'extra lane' of gold and experience advantage.

I wrote in the thread Bulba posted:

"I think it's effective because it's new/innovative. The meta-game wasn't/isn't prepared to handle DS and DS was able to take advantage of this. As you pointed out though, you can exploit DS early because of his weak laning. There are (probably) other strategies that can be used to beat DS; we just have to figure out what they are.

Right now DS is the next level of the meta-game so to beat a DS you just have to find the next level beyond that."

Without getting into a "Chapinic" discussion of what 'next level' really means, anyone can see that my assertion is a purely theoretical one. However, I do believe that there is a next level.

Dark Seer scales with the enemy team's levels, +stats, and (apparently) aura items. His illusions don't benefit, however, from improved spells, "usable" items (e.g. Scythe of Vyse, Necronomicon), or +damage. Dark Seer's Wall punishes a team for having a farmed carry hero. What if you simply don't get a carry hero? "5-int push" has been a viable strategy in the past. Mek + Pipe + multiple Necronomicons might be the key to beating Dark Seer. This kind of all-in early game strategy is pretty much anathema to the modern styles of play in DotA, but if you're looking to beat a Dark Seer that's probably the way to do it. The easiest way to deal with Dark Seer, though, is probably to ban him. At least, as Maelk put it, "until IceFrog nerfs him into oblivion."