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IntelligenceIntelligence · Melee

Dark Seer

Pulls and manipulates his enemies' positions

DisablerEscapeInitiatorSimple to play
Dark Seer portrait

Win rate

49.2%

B across all ranks

Pick rate

4.3%

of public matches

Public picks

144.3K

in the sample

Pro scene

15

18 bans · 53% win rate

Win rate by rank

  • Herald1Herald47.3%
  • Guardian2Guardian48.4%
  • Crusader3Crusader48.4%
  • Archon4Archon48.2%
  • Legend5Legend49.0%
  • Ancient6Ancient49.9%
  • Divine+7Divine+50.5%

Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 2.2K · Guardian 7.5K · Crusader 15.7K · Archon 27.5K · Legend 36.4K · Ancient 26.8K · Divine+ 28.1K.

Last 6 days

49.2%

Popular item build

Starting items

Bought before the horn

  1. 1

    Iron Branch

    55g
  2. 2

    Tango

    90g
  3. 3

    Circlet

    155g
  4. 4

    Sage's Mask

    175g
  5. 5

    Mantle of Intelligence

    140g

Laning

The first minutes

  1. 1

    Helm of Iron Will

    975g
  2. 2

    Helm of the Dominator

    51%2,550g
  3. 3

    Null Talisman

    505g
  4. 4

    Soul Ring

    805g

Mid game

Core items

  1. 1

    Shiva's Guard

    55%4,500g
  2. 2

    Blink Dagger

    54%2,250g
  3. 3

    Aghanim's Shard

    59%1,400g
  4. 4

    Black King Bar

    60%4,050g

Late game

The full build

  1. 1

    Black King Bar

    60%4,050g
  2. 2

    Blink Dagger

    54%2,250g
  3. 3

    Scythe of Vyse

    5,200g
  4. 4

    Crella's Crozier

    4,800g
  5. 5

    Aghanim's Scepter

    67%4,200g
  6. 6

    Octarine Core

    5,100g

Most-bought items for Dark Seer in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,550 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Dark Seer bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Dark Seer’s average). Teams that are ahead buy items sooner, so a high number shows the item goes with winning games, not that it causes the win. Items with fewer than 100 games show no percentage. Cheap components are hidden from the mid and late game.

Best win rate by purchase time

Bought ≤ 12 min

  1. Platemail

    119 games

    67%
  2. Arcane Boots

    266 games

    55%
  3. Helm of the Dominator

    1,002 games

    53%

Bought 12–15 min

  1. Platemail

    326 games

    57%
  2. Arcane Boots

    117 games

    44%
  3. Helm of the Dominator

    72 games

    31%

Bought 15–20 min

  1. Blink Dagger

    253 games

    64%
  2. Aghanim's Shard

    220 games

    63%
  3. Shiva's Guard

    539 games

    60%

Bought 20–30 min

  1. Aghanim's Scepter

    152 games

    70%
  2. Ghost Scepter

    84 games

    62%
  3. Black King Bar

    227 games

    60%

Final items compared within the same purchase window (at least 60 games each), so they are not simply ranked by how late or expensive they are. Still a correlation: a team that is far ahead can buy anything sooner.

What these items do

  • Iron Branch

    55

    • +1 All Attributes

    Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.

  • Tango

    90

    Use: Devour: Consumes a target tree to gain 7 health regeneration for 16 seconds. Consuming an Ironwood Tree doubles the heal duration. Comes with 3 charges.

  • Circlet

    155

    • +2 All Attributes
  • Sage's Mask

    175

    • +0.7 Mana Regen
  • Mantle of Intelligence

    140

    • +3 Intelligence
  • Helm of Iron Will

    975

    • +4 Armor
    • +4 Health Regen
  • Helm of the Dominator

    2,550

    • +6 All Attributes
    • +6 Armor
    • +6 Health Regen

    Active: Dominate: Takes control of one neutral, non-ancient target unit and sets its movement speed to 370 and max health to a minimum of 1000.

    Win rate when bought51.2% · 1,085 games

    • ≤ 12 min53%1.0k
    • 12–15 min31%72
    • 15–20 min–10
    • 20–30 min–1
    Full description

    45s50

    Active: Dominate. Takes control of one neutral, non-ancient target unit and sets its movement speed to 370 and max health to a minimum of 1000. Also provides the unit with +25 base attack damage, +12 health regen, +4 mana regen and +4 armor. Dominated units with a max health of greater than 1000 retain their original max health. Grants the caster 50% of the gold and experience bounty of the dominated creep. Dominated unit's bounty is set to 100 gold and it can no longer be killed by abilities that instantly kill creeps otherwise. The Helm cannot be used for 3 seconds after the dominated creep takes damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    • Cannot dominate more than one unit at a time. If a new unit is dominated, the old one will die.
    • Can also Dominate enemy lane creeps and summoned units.
    • Selling Helm of the Dominator will cause dominated units to die.
  • Null Talisman

    505

    • +5 Intelligence
    • +2 Strength
    • +2 Agility
    • +1 Mana Regen
  • Soul Ring

    805

    • +6 Strength
    • +2 Armor

    Active: Sacrifice: Consume 170 health to temporarily gain 170 mana. Lasts 10 seconds.

    Full description

    30s

    Active: Sacrifice. Consume 170 health to temporarily gain 170 mana. Lasts 10 seconds. If the mana gained cannot fit in your mana pool, it creates a buffer of mana that will be used before your mana pool.

    • If this mana is not used before the duration ends, the extra mana is lost.
  • Shiva's Guard

    4,500

    • +17 Armor

    Active: Arctic Blast: Emits a freezing wave that deals 225 magical damage to enemies and slows their movement by -40% for 4 seconds. Radius: 825

    Win rate when bought54.7% · 959 games

    • ≤ 12 min–6
    • 12–15 min72%47
    • 15–20 min60%539
    • 20–30 min44%367
    Full description

    27s75

    Active: Arctic Blast. Emits a freezing wave that deals 225 magical damage to enemies and slows their movement by -40% for 4 seconds. Radius: 825

    Passive: Freezing Aura. Reduces the attack speed of all enemies by -40. Radius: 1200

    • The wave extends at a speed of 400 to a max size of 825.
    • The Arctic Blast follows its caster.
    • Multiple instances of Freezing Aura do not stack.
    • AoE bonuses from multiple Chasm Stones or its upgrades do not stack.
  • Blink Dagger

    2,250

    Active: Blink: Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    Win rate when bought54.5% · 1,019 games

    • ≤ 12 min–21
    • 12–15 min55%49
    • 15–20 min64%253
    • 20–30 min51%696
    Full description

    15s

    Active: Blink. Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    • Self-casting will cause you to teleport in the direction of your team's fountain.
  • Aghanim's Shard

    1,400

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades an existing ability or adds a new ability to your hero.

    Win rate when bought59.3% · 678 games

    • ≤ 12 min–0
    • 12–15 min–19
    • 15–20 min63%220
    • 20–30 min57%439
  • Black King Bar

    4,050

    • +10 Strength
    • +24 Damage

    Active: Avatar: Applies a basic dispel. Grants 60% magic resistance and immunity to reflected and pure damage.

    Win rate when bought60.2% · 236 games

    • ≤ 12 min–1
    • 12–15 min–0
    • 15–20 min–8
    • 20–30 min60%227
    Full description

    95s50

    Active: Avatar. Applies a basic dispel. Grants 60% magic resistance and immunity to reflected and pure damage. For the duration of the effect, any negative effect from enemy spells has no effect. Duration: 9 / 8 / 7s Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    • Purchasing another Black King Bar will not reset its immunity duration.
    • Avatar duration is not affected by increases to buff duration.
  • Scythe of Vyse

    5,200

    • +30 Intelligence
    • +8.5 Mana Regen

    Active: Hex: Turns a target unit into a harmless critter for 2.8 seconds. The target has a base movement speed of 140 and will be silenced, muted, and disarmed.

    Full description

    20s250

    Active: Hex. Turns a target unit into a harmless critter for 2.8 seconds. The target has a base movement speed of 140 and will be silenced, muted, and disarmed. Instantly destroys illusions.

    • The target will have a base movement speed of 140, but buffs granting maximum movement speed won't be disabled.
  • Crella's Crozier

    4,800

    • +6 All Attributes
    • +450 Health
    • +450 Mana

    Active: Rite of Rumusque: You enter ghost form for 4 seconds, becoming immune to physical damage, but are unable to attack and -30% more vulnerable to magic damage.

    Full description

    20s

    Active: Rite of Rumusque. You enter ghost form for 4 seconds, becoming immune to physical damage, but are unable to attack and -30% more vulnerable to magic damage. Steal 6% movement speed from enemy heroes in 900 range every second. Movement speed steal lasts 2s. Putrefaction Aura's effect is increased to 90%. All of the lost Health Restoration is redirected to you every second.

    Passive: Putrefaction Aura. Reduces nearby enemy heroes' Health Restoration by 30%. Radius: 900

    • Ghost form ends if you become Debuff Immune and will have no effect if you are already Debuff Immune.
    • Shares cooldown with Ghost Scepter and its upgrades.
    • Putrefaction Aura does not redirect Health Restoration from enemy heroes that are at full health.
  • Aghanim's Scepter

    4,200

    • +10 All Attributes
    • +175 Health
    • +175 Mana

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.

    Win rate when bought66.5% · 221 games

    • ≤ 12 min–9
    • 12–15 min–15
    • 15–20 min56%45
    • 20–30 min70%152
  • Octarine Core

    5,100

    • +25% Cooldown Reduction
    • +450 Health
    • +450 Mana
    • +6 Mana Regen

Abilities

Vacuum

60 / 50 / 40 / 30s60 / 90 / 120 / 150

Dark Seer creates a vacuum over the target area that sucks in enemy units, disrupting them and dealing damage.

RADIUS
325 / 400 / 475 / 550
DAMAGE
70 / 130 / 190 / 250
  • This ability interrupts channeling.
  • Pulls units over 0.3 / 0.4 / 0.5 / 0.6 seconds before dealing damage.
  • Trees near the center of the vacuum will be destroyed.

Ion Shell

9 / 9 / 9 / 9s100 / 110 / 120 / 130

Surrounds the target unit with a bristling shield that damages enemy units in an area around it.

RADIUS
275
DAMAGE PER SECOND
30 / 50 / 70 / 90
DURATION
20 / 22 / 24 / 26
  • Deals small amounts of damage in 0.2 second intervals.
  • Doesn't damage the target it is cast on.
  • If cast on a unit that already has Ion Shell, the new Shell replaces the old one.

Surge

24 / 19 / 14 / 9s50

Charges a target friendly unit with power, giving it a brief burst of phased movement speed. Allows the unit to reach maximum movement speed and cannot be slowed.

DURATION
3 / 4 / 5 / 6
  • Units with Surge cannot be slowed unless the Surge effect is removed.

Aghanim’s ShardSurged units leave behind a 150 radius trail that lasts 7s, slows enemies around it by 35% and deals 40 damage per second in 0.5s intervals. Can be put on alt-cast to disable the trail.

Normal Punch

Granted by Aghanim’s Scepter10s

Passive ability. Causes Dark Seer's next attack on a hero to have True Strike, knock a replica out of the victim, damaging and stunning them based on how far Dark Seer has moved in the past 3 seconds. Max power is reached after 1100 distance moved.

MAX STUN DURATION
1.25
MAX KNOCKBACK DISTANCE
350
ILLUSION DURATION
6
MAX DAMAGE
400

Quick Wit

Innate

Dark Seer gains 1 Attack Speed from each point of Intelligence. When Dark Seer levels up, he restores a percentage of his max health and mana.

BONUS ATTACK SPEED
0
MAX HP/MANA RESTORE
8.5%

Wall of Replica

Ultimate100 / 100 / 100s125 / 250 / 375

Raises a wall of warping light that slows, damages, and creates replicas of any enemy hero who crosses it. Enemy replicas serve at the Dark Seer's will. Replicas last until they are destroyed, or until the wall's duration ends.

WALL DURATION
30
REPLICA DAMAGE
70 / 80 / 90%
REPLICA DAMAGE TAKEN
200%
MOVEMENT SLOW
40%
SLOW DURATION
1
DAMAGE
25 / 40 / 55
  • Doesn't create illusions from other illusions.
  • There cannot be more than one illusion per player per wall.

Talents

2 Ion Shell Charges

25

350 AoE Surge

-40s Wall of Replica Cooldown

20

+50 Ion Shell Damage

+75 Vacuum AoE

15

-1.5s Surge Cooldown

+15% Wall of Replica Illusion Damage

10

+65 Ion Shell Radius

Base stats

Attributes

  • StrengthStrength20+2.6/lvl
  • AgilityAgility19+1.5/lvl
  • IntelligenceIntelligence23+2.7/lvl

At level 1

Damage
54–60
Attack time
1.7s
Attack range
150 (melee)
Move speed
295
Armor
5.2
Magic resistance
25%
Health
560 (+3.5/s)
Mana
351 (+1.2/s)
Vision day / night
1800 / 800

Recent changes

latest 12 patches
  1. 7.41d
    • Base Health Regen increased by 0.5
  2. 7.41c
    • Base Intelligence increased from 22 to 23
    • Damage at level 1 increased from 53-59 to 54-60
  3. 7.41
    • Quick Wit:Aggrandize renamed to Quick Wit
    • Now also provides Dark Seer +1 attack speed from each point of Intelligence
    • Max Health and Mana Restore base value decreased from 10% to 8.5%
    • Talents:Level 15 Talent Ion Shell Provides +250 Max Health replaced with -1.5s Surge Cooldown
  4. 7.40c
    • Base Armor increased by 1
  5. 7.40
    • Base Intelligence increased from 21 to 22
    • Damage at level 1 increased by 1 (from 52–58 to 53–59)
    • Vacuum:No longer affects invulnerable units

Lore

Fast when he needs to be, and a cunning strategist, Ish'Kafel the Dark Seer requires no edged weapons to vanquish his enemies, relying instead on the strength of his powerful mind. His talent lies in his ability to maneuver the fight to his advantage. Hailing from a place he calls 'The Land behind the wall,' Dark Seer remains an outsider here--a warrior from a realm beyond the veil of this reality. Once a great general among his people, and a valiant defender of the god-king Damathryx, Dark Seer's army was wiped out by a much larger force in the final days of the Great Boundaries War. Facing certain defeat, he made one last desperate act: he led the enemy forces into the maze between the walls. At the last moment, just before capture, he crossed over--then sealed the walls forever in an explosive release of dark energy. When the dust settled, he saw that he had saved his people but found himself blinking at the sun of a different world, with no way to return. Now he is committed to proving his worth as a military strategist, and vows to show that he's the greatest tactician this strange new world has ever seen.

Win rates come from public Dota 2 matches (OpenDota), 3.4M matches counted, refreshed Oct 24, 2026. Tiers use the win rate in the chosen rank: S 52.5%+, A 51%+, B 49%+, C 47.5%+, D below; heroes with too few games are left unrated. Hero data and patch notes are Valve’s. Builds Forge is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Valve.