Darchrow the Enigma

Darchrow the Enigma
The result of a collapsed star entombed within a field of elemental magic, Darchrow is one of the most dangerous beings in existence, consuming hundreds of worlds into the void of his hate and hunger. Now serving the Sentinel for an unknown purpose, Darchrow turns his hatred upon the Undead Scourge, yet is not above using his own allies as portals for his own servants to come through. Capable of manipulating both void and shadow in combat, his greatest pleasure is to release the oblivion within him upon the world, creating an abyss that draws enemies ever closer to destruction.

UPDATES
v0.1-Guide is created with skill builds, item builds, and basic gameplay guide.

+2.1 STR per level
+1 AGI per level
+3.4 INT per level

Introduction:
For the length of my dota "career", i've always felt that Enigma has been underused and underestimated. I used to think he was pathetic and weak due to his ultimate, and how it barely does any real damage compared to other heroes and their ultimates. But then i played against a very skilled player who was using Enigma and I got my ass owned. A while after I got better at dota I decided to play Enigma and get better at him. Hence the guide.

Pro's:
+He's one of the best support casters out there.
+His Conversion spell is very good for denying and even pushing sometimes.
+His Malefice spell is amazing for hero chases.
+If you use his ultimate, Black Hole, correctly, it's almost a guaranteed kill with a teammate.
+Nice STR and INT gain per level

Con's:
-He tends to die in the hands of the inexperienced. A lot.
-His Eidelons (from the Conversion spell) offers the opposing team exp and gold.
-Instant cast spells can still be cast from Black Hole.
-You'll be craving for mana.

Skills:


Malefice

Focuses Darchrow's hatred on a target, causing it to take damage over time and become repeatedly stunned.
Lasts 2/4/4/6 seconds.

Level 1 - 30 damage every 2 seconds.
Level 2 - 40 damage every 2 seconds.
Level 3 - 65 damage every 2 seconds.
Level 4 - 80 damage every 2 seconds.

Cooldown: 15 seconds.


Level 1: 110 mana, 15 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 130 mana, 15 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 150 mana, 15 sec cooldown.
Level 4: 160 mana, 15 sec cooldown.


Conversion

Splits a friendly creep into 3 malevolent aspects of itself, coming under your control. Lasts 30 seconds.

Level 1 - Spawns 3 Lesser Eidolons.
Level 2 - Spawns 3 Eidolons.
Level 3 - Spawns 3 Greater Eidolons.
Level 4 - Spawns 3 Dire Eidolons.

Cooldown: 15 seconds.

Level 1: 125 mana, 15 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 125 mana, 15 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 125 mana, 15 sec cooldown.
Level 4: 125 mana, 15 sec cooldown.


Midnight Pulse
Steeps an area in dark magic, causing all opponents who dare enter to take damage.
Lasts 8 seconds.

Level 1 - 3% max life lost per second.
Level 2 - 4% max life lost per second.
Level 3 - 5% max life lost per second.
Level 4 - 6% max life lost per second.

Cooldown: 25 seconds.

Level 1: 95 mana, 25 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 110 mana, 25 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 125 mana, 25 sec cooldown.
Level 4: 140 mana, 25 sec cooldown.


Black Hole

Summons the powers from the darkest abyss, creating a vortex that sucks all nearby enemies closer, dealing damage. Lasts 4 seconds.

Level 1 - 30 damage at range, 60 damage close up.
Level 2 - 50 damage at range, 100 damage close up.
Level 3 - 70 damage at range, 140 damage close up.

Cooldown: 200/190/180 seconds.

Level 1: 200 mana, 200 sec cooldown.
Level 2: 300 mana, 190 sec cooldown.
Level 3: 400 mana, 180 sec cooldown.

Super Enigma Support Skill Build Aggressive/Defensive:
Level 1 : Conversion
Level 2 : Malefice
Level 3 : Malefice
Level 4 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 5 : Malefice
Level 6 : Black Hole
Level 7 : Malefice
Level 8 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 9 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 10 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 11 : Black Hole
Level 12 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 13 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 14 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 15 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 16 : Black Hole
Level 17 : Stats
Level 18 : Stats
Level 19 : Stats
Level 20 : Stats
Level 21 : Stats
Level 22 : Stats
Level 23 : Conversion
Level 24 : Conversion
Level 25 : Conversion

Ok so first things first, you might be wondering why I only put one point into Conversion. Conversion in this build is mainly used to deny, but as i said in the Con's section of the guide conversion gives gold and exp to enemies if your Eidelon's die, and that generally isn't what we want in this build. Your main priority as a support hero is to stay alive and help your teammates, not do things yourself. The aggressive path is basically for if you're farming extremely well in the beginning or you're really confident; I personally usually go with the defensive path though. The defensive path is great for survivability and just laying low until the time comes.

The Pushing Enigma Skill Build Focused/Aggressive:
Level 1 : Conversion
Level 2 : Malefice
Level 3 : Conversion
Level 4 : Malefice
Level 5 : Conversion
Level 6 : Malefice
Level 7 : Conversion
Level 8 : Malefice
Level 9 : Stats
Level 10 : Black Hole
Level 11 : Black Hole
Level 12 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 13 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 14 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 15 : Stats/Midnight Pulse
Level 16 : Black Hole
Level 17 : Stats
Level 18 : Stats
Level 19 : Stats
Level 20 : Stats
Level 21 : Stats
Level 22 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 23 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 24 : Midnight Pulse/Stats
Level 25 : Midnight Pulse/Stats

This build is a little different, you fully utilize Conversion as a tool to push against the enemy while still maintaining some support abilities. This build is a lot riskier since you're you're going to be left with less and less mana when using Conversion. The Focused path basically has you working on just pushing while depending on your team mates to deal with your opponents. The aggressive build should only really be used if you're farming well and you have plenty of mana because first of all, you're losing precious stat points, second you have one more spell that you need to save mana for, and third the loss of stat points leads to less hp and mp, basically less options.

Core Item Build:

This is your core item build, which means that whatever late game item you're aiming for, be sure to have these items first. Bracers (the first 2 items) are vital to your survival. They're used to give you a decent health boost which WILL save your life. Two Bracers give 12 str in total, each point of str your hero has gives your hero an additional 19 hp. 19*12=228. Enigma's base health is 473, so 2 bracers is almost gives almost 50 percent more hp to Enigma.
The third item is arcane ring, which is extremely useful especially for Darchrow. If you use arcane ring, you recieve a net gain of 100 mana which is basically the amount of mana you get from a clarity potion. Except you get an infinite amount of it, it's combat consumable, and instead of gaining it over 30 seconds, you gain it instantly, AND it works on your teammates. Arcane ring is Win. Especially for Darchrow.
Dagger doesn't seem like a great item for Darchrow but in all actuality, it's amazing. It's a great tool to use for ganks, and even escaping ganks, and it synergizes very well with black hole. An issue a lot of the time is your black hole not getting heroes because of its surprisingly low AOE, but with dagger just blink then hit.
Boots of Travel is a given for Enigma. He doesn't need Power Treads because he won't find much use in the bonus attack speed, he's a support hero after all. And being a support hero, his team needs him on the spot, Boots of Travel achieves that.

Aggressive Item Build:

If you went with either of the aggressive skill builds, buy these items after you've got your core items. Dagon's is obvious, since you're aggressive anyways a little more dps wouldn't hurt. Then late game you ultimately turn into support anyways so getting a Guinsoo's will further expand your power. Both of these items also give you plenty of mana for you to spam your spells.

Defensive/Focused Item Build:

Linkens is there to help you survive, the ability to negate a spell effect is extremely useful, mainly when you're using black hole. Because people can cast spells when they're getting sucked in, it's good to be able to negate a stun. For example if you were up against Lina Inverse, if you black holed her then she could still hit you with light strike array, but with linkens you'll still get damaged but not stunned, hence continuing the black hole. Guinsoo's is obvious, it's a stun, and gives mana.

Luxury Item Build:

If the game progresses far and long enough, you can't just sit still as late game heroes own your team or you even. These are the items to get in order to help with your late late game. Skadi's is a great choice seeing as how it boosts all of your stats. Since Enigma has a few really great chasing spells, a little frost attack will only help even more. Refresher orb is only for the most intense conflicts, the main problem with black hole is that the cool down is pretty ridiculous, but with a refresher orb you have a potential 8 second super stun. Get rid of your bracers for this.

Gameplay:
Early Game (1-10):
If you pick Enigma, start off by getting two Circlet's of Nobility, and as many Tango's of Essification you can afford. If you random enigma, get two Circlet's, then a bracer, then a few tango's. Enigma is really fragile especially early on, so your responsibility is to just hang back and chill. Try not to do anything too risky, just farm and deny. You can spam malefice a little if you want to, but just always make sure that you have enough mana for another one, you never know if you're going to need it for a gank or as a survival tool. Conversion should also be used on your creeps to deny, never the opponent's creeps. It's preferred that you use it on creeps with plenty of hp because if they barely have any hp, then you could just deny those creeps yourself. Once you get black hole, you should be able to be a great asset in group ganks, so suggest it to your team mates when the time comes. Also try to avoid ganks, Enigma being alone is very dangerous because although you have great chasing skills, you don't have any skills to save yourself.

Mid Game (11-20):
Things should be starting to get intense by now, there should be ganks left and right, especially on you since compared to other heroes, you're such an easy target alone. By now you should atleast have arcane ring and hopefully dagger, just spam malefice then use arcane ring. The dagger for now will be used to avoid potential ganks, if you really think you can kill someone using it, then be my guest but don't take any risks just yet. Once you get to level 16-20 you should have arcane ring and dagger and hopefully you've started working on tier 2 items (linkens or dagons w/e skill path you took). Helping your team gank should be routine by this point and just keep on trucking.

Late Game (21-25):
If the game has reached the point where you're lvl 21-25, it's time to end things with some skadi's. Get it and just destroy everything in your path with your teammates, if neccessary, get refersher orb even.