BURN BABY BURN then revive & repeat - Icarus Guide

Table Of Contents

1. Alt-Tab Mini Guide
2. Foreword
3. Introduction
4. Role in the team
5. Skills of the Phoenix
6. Skill Build
7. Item Build
8. General Strategy
9. Counters
10. Conclusion
11. Replays
12. Credits

1. Alt tab Mini Guide

Skill Build:
Level 1. Icarus Dive
Level 2. Fire Spirits
Level 3. Icarus Dive
Level 4. Fire Spirits/SunRay
Level 5. Icarus Dive
Level 6. SuperNova
Level 7. Fire Spirits
Level 8. Icarus Dive
Level 9. Fire Spirits
Level 10. SunRay
Level 11. Super Nova
Level 12. SunRay
Level 13. Sunray
Level 14. Sunray
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Supernova
Level 17+ Stats all the way


Starting items:


Core:


Core Extension:


Support Core Extension:
/

Luxuries:

2. Foreword

Welcome to my guide. This guide was written by me, a long time dota player (approx. 1 year). I play on garena the majority of the time and have few (but still some) experience with inhouse games and CG. This is also my first guide so excuse my noobishnessness :P

I Expect that you know a fair bit about dota before you read on.

History

Quote:

Icarus was introduced in version 6.70 as one of the two new heroes availible, the other one was quite the opposite of this bird, Tuskar the snow dude.

Why do I write this guide? Icarus is: my fav, splendid, burning, imba (arguable), and can fly (literally)

3. Introduction
Background Story

Ancient scriptures spoke of seven sacred emanations of light, and of their convergence in great conflict. The collision of these rays upon the mortal realm created a pyre of the highest purity, giving birth to the mythical Phoenix. As a manifestation of divine flames, Icarus can discharge either flames of death and destruction, or of life and healing. The concentrated beam of energy that he can emit can incinerate whole armies from across the battlefield. Unafraid to utilize his own life-force in order to vanquish his enemies, Icarus can also harness the direct power of the sun to create a stellar explosion.

I don't play many competitive gaming, so this is mainly a pubz guide, nevertheless it can still be look'd foward to. Icarus is a truely blazing phoenix. Its skills give him dozens of things, from a blink (more like fly) to chasing skill(s) to revive to heal, et cetera. Icarus dominates throughout early and mid game, becoming a bit weak (as everyone gets tankier) late game.

Phoenix's stats and skills

Pros and Cons

Pros

High strength gain: your damage and health goes up significantly due to the high strength gain

Base attack: Icarus' base attack is utterly amazing. For a ranged hero, he dishes out 54-64 at Lvl 1 with no items, thats higher than pudge's base attack, and 4 more minimum damage more than Obsidians.

Ranged hero: Huskar...and Wisp...those are the only other two strength heroes that have ranged attacks. For a fun note, Icarus has the highest range out of the strength heroes

Not squishy: Icarus is a strength hero, he has comparable hp to kunkka and sven, however there is a difference in armour

Item independant: Icarus needs no items... none at all to lane lol, all you have to get is a bit of mana regen

Imba skills: Yea Icarus' skills are rather imba, we'll get into that later in the Icarus' Skills section

Lane dominance: Icarus' high base damage gives it excelling lasthit/denying abilities and can easily afford to take damage and harrass like a maniac due to his healing ability.

Fly: Icarus Dive AND its sunray allows the bird to fly, more on that in the Skills section

Revive: Icarus' ulti is really something, while in duration, it does a total of 360 damage (at Level 1) in a gigantic range, while restoring you back to full hp and mana

Cons

Low Agi gain resulting in...

0 starting armour, and 4 armour at maxed level

Low attackspeed

Ulti kills you if not used correctly (if used near someone with an attack speed boost, multiple nearby heroes, etc)

Each spell costs hp as well (although this is not such a big problem, as one might think)

Icarus dive has a fairly long CD, sometimes it won't be there when you need it

Fairly weak late game (but only fairly, as sun ray really shines)
Also the sound Icarus makes when you give it an order gets really on my nerves when I play him for a long time

One more thing; see illusions as you see your family getting tortured and dismembered >:l they work on your ult

As you can see Pros outnumber the Cons.

4. Roles in the team

The majority of pub noobs think hes a support, probably because they can't use his spells...at all....

Semi-Carry:

Fuck yea, however, Icarus is only a semi-carry if played correctly and dominating the game. I am always at least 3 levels ahead of the other team's carry whenever I play him. Nevertheless Icarus is not a hard carry, his early and mid-game dominance means he shouldn't be farming too much early and mid game. Utilizing Icarus' skills correctly will land many kills, if you prefer a more passive playstyle, Icarus isn't for you... Try him out, and don't play him again -_-.

Icarus isn't always a semi-carry, however he can easily be used as a...
Support:

Perhaps for someone who can't play him as well, he becomes a support, using his slow and heal to buff another carry however, Icarus deals far too many damage (if used correctly) to be a mere support. If you play Icarus as a support hero, that is fine, but note that a lot of potential is lost

Ganker:

Icarus doesn't become a carry right from the start (like Sf solo mid does) after all there are better carries than him. Icarus' skills provide the high mobility to become a ganker, and a good one if mastered. Icarus' carryness comes from him dominating the game (which sometimes doesn't happen)

5.Skills of the Phoenix

Icarus Dive:

============

-Damage type is Magical

-During the dive, you can willingly stopped the dive, causing Icarus to stay wherever you pressed stop.

-This is your primary escape mechanism, just don't fucking press stop late and end up in the middle of the enemy thats chasing u

-This is also your secondary nuke

-The disarming means that your target cannot attack, but can cast spells, good to use with your ult

-The dive has a giant range, of 1400, use that to your advantage

-Like a forest fire, it cuts down any trees in its path

-Not for spamming, the cooldown is 40 seconds, so don't use it unless you see 2 more enemy heroes pop up, or you are using a combo to kill

-Keep in mind that Icarus is not invincible during dive, towers can still attack you.

Fire Spirits:

==============

-Damage type is Magical

-Ah yes, the powerful Fire Spirits. At level one, this skill is the best heal in the game (out of all lvl 1 heals), with a total of 160 hp healed, seems nice right? It only costs 75 mana. I think this skill is better than other healing skills because Icarus' 3 active skills cost percentage-wise hp deducts

-The spirits (note that im talking about all 4 of them) do 160 damage as well, making it the highest damaging nuke at level1 (exception to Kotl's illuminate which is a charge spell)

-The spirits are aoe as well, where ever you order them, they both heal any allies nearby AND damage enemies

-The minimum damage/heal is rather low, it takes 10 seconds for it to be fully effective so u might have to do some guessing

-When the spirits are about to burn up, you hear a buzzing sound before it goes

-from the buzzing sound to the actually sacrifice is around 3 seconds gap

-When the spirits Sacrifice, all 4 of them go *into you* basically healing you (and allies nearby) and damaging whoever is around melee range of you, basically unless the enemy is too far away, simply wait for them to sacrifice and BOOM some1 dies

-Used in a combo with the dive spell. More into that combo later on

-At maxed level, the spirits burn up to cause 400 damage, and at the same time healing the same amount, thats hella better than omni.

Sun Ray:

========

-Damage type is Pure

-You control the direction of the ray using right click and the beam will move towards that angle.

-Automatically shuts off if you are silenced or stunned

-Not to be used on creeps -_- remember that the damage is percentage based

-At early game the percentage based damage is simply less than your other spells, which add up to 650 damage if used correctly (yes, its that much) however many prefer an early level of it just for the slow/chase/flashyness/damage

-A gud carry/tank burner late game

-A secondary chasing tool when your dive is in cd, this spell slows, while you are able to move foward

-I've laughed at many who misses the spell, cancels it and reuse it. Its a fucking quarter of your life (for one go)...idiot, to NOT miss, spam click the right mouse on your target wherever he goes, the ray should follow him, be sure to react when he runs opposite direction of the ray, make use of the subability. This isn't a FPS, its not that hard to aim

-Your sniper skill, as it has quite the long range.

-Your secondary flying skill; Consider this, You are being chased down with 1/2 hp. Dive is on CD, 2 people with full hp are chasing so ult will not work...what do you do? Use sunray! target where you want to drift (over a hedge, so that they can't follow you no more) and press the hotkey for movement, provided you have enough hp, you should be able to escape. This works the same way when you want to chase down that blinker

-even though there is no cooldown, this skill is NOT for spamming, as each activation costs 25% of your health

-provides vision wherever the ray is, so yea go ahead and abuse it to scout for the runes (LOL joking)

Supernova:

==========

-Damage type is Magical

-Finally, your lito flashy ultimate, the pride of the Phoenix and truely spectacular

-when you are reborn, you create a stun up to the aoe of the burn (1000) and have full hp AND mana

-imba CD, only 110 seconds, which is not much

-the cool thing about it is, if all enemies chasing you are low in hp, even tho theres 2-3 of them they can't break the sun, they are too afraid to die

-some heroes counter this, more on that on the counters section

-not a smart thing to use late late game -_- where everyone has naturally high attackspeed

-activates immediately... I was saved countless times by this spell, where I use it right when I have a sliver of hp left

-enjoy, when the enemies who are so hopeful in killing you, suddenly have to turn back because of your ulti

-only heroes can affect your life counter, creeps and tower WILL attack you, but have no effect. Often Ill go past the tower, let creeps attack me, ult, and watch as the DoT kills them while MY creeps take the tower of course don't use your ult just for that 0_0 only when you are low hp (like rlly low)

6. Skill Build
Level 1. Icarus Dive
Level 2. Fire Spirits
Level 3. Icarus Dive
Level 4. Fire Spirits/SunRay
Level 5. Icarus Dive
Level 6. SuperNova
Level 7. Fire Spirits
Level 8. Icarus Dive
Level 9. Fire Spirits
Level 10. SunRay
Level 11. Super Nova
Level 12. SunRay
Level 13. Sunray
Level 14. Sunray
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Supernova
Level 17+ Stats all the way

Reasoning

Fore-note that some prefer to have fire spirits maxed first, that is fine, if not better.
The first level should belong to Dive. In a FB attempt, whats going to save you, A 1400 ranged dive to safety, 4 spirits that is effective only 10 seconds after you summoned them, or a percentage based DoT skill, which limits movement.... obviously the dive right
Take supernova whenever possible, obvious shit
Sun Ray doesn't do as much damage as the other two spells early game, so we take it later, however, alternatively Sun Ray can be taken at level 4, just be aware of your health when you do.


7. Item build

Starting items:




Provides a solid start. If no one else buys a courrier, BITCH SLAP THAT VENGE/CHEN/WARLOCK IN THE FACE than buy one yourself, you can afford it anyhow. Magic stick is obviously preparation for magic wand. One might ask.....NO REGEN? ZOMG NOOBZ. Well Icarus has Fire Spirits, it only costs 75 mana so 1 clarity potion can cover regeneration for almost all of early game (unless the enemy is going all out rage 0_0). Another thing one might ask is: Icarus NEEDS STRENGTH BUFFERS! SPELLS COST HP lol you know what? the HP deduction is nothing to worry about, I rarely even notice Im losing hp in every spell....rarely, anyways that's why Icarus has a heal

Core:


Lol that's all....If you play it another way than mabye not but if you play it correctly thats all -_- magic wand for the instant regen, viable on every single hero out there, arcane boots, for the mana pool boost and the active burst, which is perfect for an emergency ulti use. Teleportation Scroll is often useful, despite the fact that you have 2 escape mechanisms, this scroll provides an alternate one. To be honest I play without one, I know when a team fight gets out of hand.

Core Optionals

If you play Icarus correctly you won't need these, but some people prefer them and consider them as core. These items are not bad, and can be bought in almost all situations, look foward to them if you don't want to jump into the expensive extension.
- Viable on anyone, these give you an overall boost, especially to strength. Get these if you are having a bad early game.
- Prefered by many as the HP regen helps a lot along with the magic resistance, you lose nothing by getting this.
- Early game this provides- good strength boost, portable salve, mana regeneration, and lastly a DoT nuke, all of which you might need.
Icarus needs mana regeneration, at the same time has 0 starting armour, this thing gives both.
Remember to turn it to heroes only, as this could push a wave, although not that significant.
Treads is an alternative to arcane boots, it will allow you to increase your normal attack power and attack speed, while limiting spell usage.

Core Extention



After you've got your core (depends on how much kills u get and how well u farm) get this little Sphere, Spell Block every 20 seconds is very helpful. The ingredients are helpful as well, ult orb for the stats, perseverance for the hp/mp boost. IMPORTANT: There are rare occations where the enemy team composition is made up of spell-spammers and dps heroes, if so skip linkens and move onto luxuries. Note that at this point, if you are pubstomping you can practically get what ever you want.

Support Core Extension:

/
Support stuff, go ahead and indulge yourself

Utility Items

etc....
If you are laning with 2 invis heroes, gem is an obvious choice, if ursa knows how to play, ward rosh, If they go with lina lion krob necro and nevermore combo, get BKB. Obvious shit, adapt to the situation of your own game, I can't really help you on that ._. These might delay your core, and sometimes its rather unclear early game if they have a mixture of invis/nuke/dps etc. Its best to look at who is carrying on the other team, or who YOU need to counter.

Luxuries
- Some people disagree with this item, the two ultimate orbs help you and you could use a slowing orb.
- A tank's luxury, however, this item can be used for survivability overall.
- A pretty good item to get. Armour, anti attackspeed and aoe nuke all fit
- I guess you should get atleast some dps, to finish off a low hp hero without failing. The good thing about Assult Cuirass is that it gives you the armour that you need, and fits well into late game.
Damage items, perhaps if you are carrying you can afford these
You should really try and end the game right around your first or second luxury.

Rejected items
- BF isn't mega fail on Phoenix, since his base attack and attack gain is quite good for dps, but try to go for items that improve your power more, like Deso

You are ranged remember, these don't work with you

8. General Stratagy

Time bomb combo

-This combo can kill someone who is around 1/3 from early to mid game, very effective if mastered

-I use this all the time, perfect for ganks

-Start by knowing your target and go at least 1300 range from it, activate fire spirits without showing signs of aggression

-wait for about 7 seconds, or when the spirits get big

-at around the buzzing sound (NOTE if you are not good at stopping the dive, go earlier ) dive straight into your target, stopping the dive AS CLOSE TO THE TARGET AS YOU CAN

-move beside him, make sure hes in 400 range or better, melee range and follow him, if you dived behind him, make a few normal attacks sink in,

-aim to have your spirits sacrifice when hes in range, and boom, damage sinks in.

-along with your teammates help + your dive + your spirits, the target should be dead or close to dead, normal attack him to death and boom gank done.

Middle Lane

-There are better Mid-solos than Icarus, nevertheless if no one else wants the solo, take it

-Generally your primary focus is last hitting/denies, followed by harassing

-when you get around 3/4 hp use your fire spirits, just let them sacrifice and you get the full heal

-Icarus dive is an extreme threat, use it wisely

Side Lane

-you get less EXP, but in return you get a laning partner, any hero is good, just not noobs

-remember to heal him and harass all the same

-don't use Icarus dive to farm -_- its 40 seconds and at early game its your only escape mek

Mid game

-hopefully you've gotten some kills? By the time you've gotten your ulti, you should concentrate on aggression instead of farm, as you want them to get hyped up. Don't waste this time farming, the second you max Fire Spirits you are at the top of your game,
DO SOMETHING!!!@!@!!!@!@!

-Ganking is fun, and easy with Icarus, if you are solo mid, constantly look for enemy heroes on side lanes with low hp, and take them out

-Spirit farming is viable once you've wiped out the enemies in a lane. Just activate spirits before a creep wave comes, when it does, let the spirits sacrifice and the wave is almost dead, this aggression will cause enemy heroes to come to defend, a.k.a food!

Late Game

-In late game its time to let someone else on your team take charge, hopefully you've got some late game carry?

-Try not to die, late game you dish out less damage, but since your higher level, you are a bag of cash for the enemies

-Sun Ray comes into play, you can wipe out someone from full hp to death by Sun Ray, provided they have no escape mek (burn that enemy carry/tank)

Team Fights

-What separates a good Icarus from a pro Icarus, is the ability to know when to start fire spirits.

-use fire spirits before hand, not when the team fight starts, however its isn't often that easy, Potm can hide the whole team and pop up right around you

-Sun ray takes time, you've got little, also reveals your position, don't use it yet

-Dive is 100% used first, can save many asses! Imagine ursa getting pwned without scratching a single hero

-Dive/Fire Spirits than ulti, let it burn!

-provided your team has some stuns, can deal good damage, and not all the way on the other side of the map in a team fight, you can ult when you get low hp, watch all 5 heroes burn! of course you MUST judge on whether they have the time to break it or not. At lvl 3 ulti you deal 600 damage in 6 seconds to all who comes in range, that is godlike

-nevertheless you have to depend more and more on your team as the game progress, I often run into probs late game as in pubs, there's rather lots of noobs lol.

9. Counters
Heroes with an Attackspeed boost, some of them are: ursa/clinkz/invoker/sylla/naix

DPS heroes who can solo destroy you are a huge threat (drow, riki, slark etc)

Doombringer: the Counter of all Counters, his ult effectively silences you, marking it vulnerable to his allies

Silence skills: Work the same way as Doom, no ult means no reborn

Chain nuke/stuns: are a nightmare, it will leave you spamming your ulti or your dive out of desperation
Some examples are NA/Rhasta/lion/bane/lina/even tiny

Illusions: THEY WORK ON YOUR ULT! wtf is this! meaning if a dps gets manta, your screwed, if PL, Naga Siren, or Terrorblade is on the other team, YOUR SCREWED!

10. Conclusion

As a new hero many play it Icarus wrongly, and I hate it when people call him a support and give him beefy items like 4 bracers and 2 hearts and leave him with no mana regeneration, when you play it correctly, the sprees will come, and ultimately will the victory
Gl and HF.
Like I said this is my first guide, don't be too harsh :l

My fav quote, Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm, gud day

11. Replays
Any replays sent to me will be greatly appreciated, whether its pubs or Competitive play
this replay pretty much sums up how to play Phoenix. I am the Phoenix in this game (you'll see why I mention that ), don't count that every match is going to be as godlike as this replay.

Update: nigh7marE- has submitted a new replay. This one is more or less competitive play, some very new and neat tricks like the quick-jungling he used. He went for a more damage build, thanks to CM's mana regen, however the bracers weren't that necessary. Could have been a little bit more aggressive at laning phrase, Husk and mag wasn't much of a lethal pair.


12. Credits
I wrote the guide myself so yay me <3
Thanks to many who made suggestions of improvement:
-Almond for stating that this guide is the worst guide that he has ever read {and added suggestions along with the swear words}
-gwho for his epic "The Right Guide to Guide-Write"
-David for that long ass debate
I forgot the ppl who posted suggestive comments before this guide was moved to my account, for those of you, PM me

Last Note: I play on Garena very often, add me if you wish
Garena Username: o_OGenesisO_o
UID: 56143221

Update: 6.70b:

-Apparently teches mines do not trigger on Phoenix LOLOLOLOL THATS FUNNEH now it is fixed
-Fixed Essence Shift interaction with Phoenix
-Fixed various misc bugs with Supernova
-Fixed some attack modifier (Feast, Backstab, etc) interactions with Supernova, I believe they used to count as 2 attacks LOL
-Fixed Item drop commands interaction with Sunray
-Fixed a fatal error if Phoenix dies while using Sunray against Blademail/Dispersion