Intelligence · Ranged
Stacks exponential poison damage against his foes
Win rate
44.5%
D across all ranks
Pick rate
1.9%
of public matches
Public picks
64.5K
in the sample
Pro scene
8
2 bans · 75% win rate
Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 1.5K · Guardian 4.4K · Crusader 8.2K · Archon 13.2K · Legend 17K · Ancient 11.4K · Divine+ 8.9K.
Last 6 days
44.5%
Bought before the horn
Iron Branch
Tango
Blood Grenade
Observer and Sentry Wards
Faerie Fire
Sentry Ward
The first minutes
Boots of Speed
Core items
Arcane Boots
Blink Dagger
Aghanim's Shard
Glimmer Cape
The full build
Blink Dagger
Aether Lens
Aghanim's Scepter
Aeon Disk
Glimmer Cape
Force Staff
Most-bought items for Shadow Demon in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,104 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Shadow Demon bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Shadow Demon’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.
Aghanim's Shard
119 games
Blink Dagger
249 games
Glimmer Cape
97 games
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.
55
Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.
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.
50
Use: Throw Grenade: Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5…
10s
Use: Throw Grenade. Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5 seconds. Radius 300.
50
Use: Plant: Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.
Use: Plant. Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.
65
Use: Imbue: Instantly restores 85 health.
5s
Use: Imbue. Instantly restores 85 health.
50
Use: Plant: Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a…
1s
Use: Plant. Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a 1050 radius. Lasts 7 minutes. Does not grant ground vision. Hold Control to give one Sentry Ward to an allied hero.
500
Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
1,500
Active: Replenish: Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200
Win rate when bought46.0% · 500 games
55s
Active: Replenish. Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200
Passive: Basilius Aura. Grants 1 mana regeneration to allies. Radius: 1200 Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
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 bought52.4% · 399 games
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.
1,400
Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades an existing ability or adds a new ability to your hero.
Win rate when bought53.2% · 156 games
2,150
Active: Glimmer: After a 0.5 second delay, grants invisibility, 20 movement speed and a magic damage barrier that absorbs up to 375 damage to you or a target allied unit…
Win rate when bought46.8% · 126 games
15s125
Active: Glimmer. After a 0.5 second delay, grants invisibility, 20 movement speed and a magic damage barrier that absorbs up to 375 damage to you or a target allied unit for 5 seconds. Can be cast while channeling.
2,275
4,200
Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.
3,000
Passive: Combo Breaker: When you take damage and your health falls below 70%, a strong dispel is applied and you gain a 2.5 second buff that provides +75% Status…
105 / 125 / 145 / 165s
Passive: Combo Breaker. When you take damage and your health falls below 70%, a strong dispel is applied and you gain a 2.5 second buff that provides +75% Status Resistance and causes all damage you deal and are dealt to be reduced to zero. Only triggers on player based damage. Cooldown increases every time it triggers. Dispel Type: Strong Dispel
2,200
Active: Force: Pushes any target unit 600 units in the direction it is facing.
19s150
Active: Force. Pushes any target unit 600 units in the direction it is facing.
Banishes the targeted unit from the battlefield for a short duration. Upon returning, two illusions of the banished unit with bonus base damage are created under Shadow Demon's control.
Whenever the target takes damage, all enemies, including the target itself if it is an enemy, within 675 range of the target also receive a portion of that damage. Can target enemy and allied units. Effect is paused if the target is hidden by Disruption.
Deals damage in a line, and afflicts enemy units with a poison effect. The poison deals 1/2/4/8/16 times the stack damage based on the number of stacks on the target, up to 5 stacks. Additional stacks cause 60 damage each. This deferred damage is dealt when Shadow Poison's duration is expired, or the Release sub-ability is used.
Cleanses the target allied unit, removing negative buffs for the duration. At the end of the duration, the unit is healed. Units under the effect of Disruption can still be affected by Demonic Cleanse. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Purges the target enemy unit, removing positive buffs, and slowing the target for the duration. The unit slowly regains its speed until the end of the duration, upon which damage is dealt. Units under the effect of Disruption can still be affected by Demonic Purge. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Aghanim’s ScepterCauses Demonic Purge to break and gain 2 charges.
Shadow Demon's Attacks apply a stacking debuff to the enemy for 8 seconds that increases their damage taken.
Demonic Purge Applies Shadow Poison
252 Charges of Disruption
+15% Disseminate Shared Damage
20-20s Demonic Purge Cooldown
+20 Movement Speed
15-1s Shadow Poison Cooldown
+15% Shadow Poison Damage
10+8 Strength
Strength23+2.6/lvl
Agility18+2.2/lvlIntelligence22+3.6/lvlAmong the sovereign Demons with explicit access to this world, Doom scarcely bothers with the affairs of Noninfernals and Lesser Spectral Consorts, while Shadow Fiend passes through almost exclusively on collecting expeditions. The Shadow Demon, however, has always taken a deep and abiding interest in the material plane, as if sensing that mastery of this gritty dimensional nexus might be the key to total domination of all realities. Summoned first by minor wizards, the Shadow Demon granted every wish and put on increasingly impressive displays of power until he had the full attention of the greatest demonologists, and through them the various lords, tyrants, autarchs and heirophants who depended on sorcery to buttress their mundane power. So great was his deception that all his summoners considered themselves the master and Shadow Demon the servant; meanwhile, he eroded their identities and made their minds his own. In the end, most members of the cult were hollow puppets, extensions of his evil will. What Shadow Demon's next step would have been remains open to speculation, for around this time, Nevermore the Shadow Fiend bit into a particularly nasty-tasting soul and discovered that it held nothing but a foul nougat of Shadow Demon's essence. Alerted that a coup was underway, and that the ancient equilibrium of the Umbral Pact was about to be destabilized, Doom and Shadow Fiend briefly joined forces to destroy the burgeoning cult. Combining spells of incredible force, they undid Shadow Demon's centuries of patient work, reducing his cult to smithereens--and all its members to a bloody splatter. Nothing remained except a tiny speck of demon shadow. Immortal and irreducible, this mote of evil was enough to seed the Shadow Demon's next scheme, and in fits and starts, over further centuries, he began to regroup. Whatever that speck of shadow touched, it tainted, and its influence gradually grew. A chaos of damaged parts pulled together, reknit, and combined to give Shadow Demon a form even stronger than his former. He is all but complete now, and his plan for infinite dominion lacks all of its former weaknesses. It would seem that such a being of pure malice and malevolence, a threat to all creation, would be forever out of place in our world...yet Shadow Demon does not lack for followers.
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.