Demnok Lannik – The Warlock
Primary Attribute: Intelligence
Primary Role: Harasser, Support

Introduction:
Demnok is a master of demonic, destructive magic and can yield his skills to either aid his allies, or decimate his foes. If the enemy hero in your lane does not have HP regeneration items, he’s screwed, since Shadow Word will take away his HP before he can get back to his base. You can even cast this spell on team mates, where it has the reverse effect, and heals them over a period of time; coupled with this powerful spell's low cooldown, this hero can change the tides of battle. Fatal Bonds ties many units/heroes together, amplifying and spreading the damage dealt, amongst them and in doing so, forming a very good counter to team ganks. Upheaval is a channeling spell that allows you to slow units in an area, making it easier for you allies to pick them off one by one. And finally, his ultimate Rain of Chaos, allows you to summon a mighty infernal that stuns heroes in an area, while dealing damage to them. This infernal deals huge amounts of damage per hit to buildings and heroes, and has a mammoth amount of hitpoints to make sure that he sticks around for a while.

The Good:
Excellent strength growth for an intelligence based hero
Good survivability and endurance (You can use Reign of Chaos' stun to escape, or heal using Shadow Word)
Is powerful/useful throughout the game
Good movement speed

The Bad:
No escape ability
Spells cost a lot of mana
His channeling spell can be hard to use effectively for new players

Fatal Bonds (Mana Cost – 120 / Cooldown – 30 Secs.)
Description: Binds 5 Enemy units/heroes together, causing part of the damage dealt to be felt by others who share the bond.

This skill is one of the reasons why the Warlock is such a good team based hero. You should cast this spell in a group of enemy heroes, so that the damage dealt to them is amplified, making nukes more effective. It increases the efficiency of your team mates' damage dealing spell, to a point that they will all wait for you to cast this before they nuke your foes.

Shadow Word (Mana Cost - 90/110/130/150 / Cooldown – 22 Secs.)
Description: The warlock’s spell can be used as a curse to unleash pain onto your enemies, or as a buff to heal your allies. It lasts for 8 seconds, dealing 10 damage or 9 HP healed per second at lvl 1, to 40 damage and 36 HP healed per second at lvl 4.

This spell makes the warlock a lethal foe in one-on-one combat. If you have a low HP hero in your lane, it isn’t too hard to get first blood. The best part is that, when you’re on low health, you can cast this on yourself to heal really fast. This is why, in my build, I haven’t included a Ring of Regeneration in the start. You can skip that altogether, and go for a Perseverance straight away, if you want the extra regeneration. Just make sure that you keep enough mana to cast this in critical situations.

Upheaval (Mana Cost – 130 / Cooldown – 20 Secs.)
Description: This channeling spell progressively reduces the speed at which enemy units move in an area, for 10 seconds. The speed slowed per second is 7%, 14%, 21%, 28% (as per skill level), to a maximum of 84%. This is a Channeling spell.

Once you reach mid/late game, this spell comes in very handy in ganks and team battles. When you creep up an a low HP enemy, cast Shadow Word, drop your infernal over his head, and start Upheaving the path on which he walks. Make sure that you use it to cover the area he is moving towards, and not the other way around. Watch your infernal pound him to death, and when upheaval is over, cast a Shadow Word on him.

Rain of Chaos (Mana Cost – 200/250/300 / Cooldown – 130 Secs.)
Description: The Warlock summons a powerful infernal from the sky, that stuns units in an area, when it lands. The infernal has permanent immolation, and has a chance of pulverizing on melee attacks. The infernal grows stronger with the spell’s level.


Here’s my skill build:

Level 1 - Shadow Word lvl 1
Level 2 - Fatal Bonds lvl 1
Level 3 - Shadow Word lvl 2
Level 4 - Shadow Word lvl 3
Level 5 - Fatal Bonds lvl 2
Level 6 – Rain of Chaos
Level 7 - Shadow Word lvl 4
Level 8 - Fatal Bonds lvl 3
Level 9 - Fatal Bonds lvl 4
Level 10 – Upheaval lvl 1
Level 11 – Rain of Chaos
Level 12 – Upheaval lvl 2

Max out Upheaval before you take stat points.

Early Game:
Items you should buy:



You goal in this stage, is to farm as much cash as you can, harass the enemy hero in your lane, and hopefully get an early kill. You should buy yourself four Ironwood Branches and a Sobi mask. If you have some spare cash, buy yourself an Ancient Tango of Essifation, or a Clarity potion. Do not use your spells till they’re at least level 2, else it will be a waste of mana. If you have a melee hero in your lane, keep denying creeps as and when you can. Once you have enough gold, buy an Energy booster and collect 700 gold before you head back to base. If you have 700 gold, and don’t see a reason to head to base, stick around and collect an additional 500. At base, make yourself an Arcane Ring. Incase you managed to collect that additional 500 gold, buy yourself Boots of Speed.
[Warning: Before making your Arcane Ring, be sure to drop your Sobi mask, else your Ring of Protection will combine with it, forming a Ring of Basilius]

Mid Game:
Items you should buy:



Armed with the infernal and a few levels of upheaval, your hero becomes a bit more powerful than he was before. Make sure that you’re almost always around teammates when they’re in battle, so that they can benefit from your Arcane Ring, and Shadow Word. Although, while doing this, don’t ignore your farming, since it’s essential that you collect enough for your Eul’s scepter of divinity. The Eul will prove very useful in team battles and to escape from heroes that chase you, so use the charges wisely. In order to be of real help to your teammates, you must buy a set of Boots of Travel, since it will allow you to be with your team quickly, since your presence is crucial.

Late Game:
Items you should buy:



At this point, your main role in the game is support, and nothing else. You have to make sure that your allies are always healed and have full mana before battles. Collect enough cash to make yourself a Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse to increase your mana regeneration, and hex any heroes that threaten to kill your team mates. The powers you should use most are Fatal Bond and Upheaval, since they really tend to put the opposing team in a state of turmoil. The main purpose of your shadow word should be to heal allies. Once you have enough cash, buy yourself a Necronomicon. The reason I pick this item over Dagon, is that it enhances your role as a disabler by burning out the mana from one hero, and causing area of effect damage. In battle, you should pretty much use this like your infernal; when you attack your enemy team or vice-versa, cast Fatal Bonds on them, then drop your infernal on them, use your Necronomicon, and cast upheaval. Use your Necronomicon unit to mana burn one of the enemy casters, and then attack it in melee along with your Infernal. This causes a lot of damage and amplifies your team’s damage dealing capability too. Make sure that you’re with your team when they need you, and victory will be yours.

Optional Item(s):