* Drow Ranger has a very low health pool, allowing Lion to burst her down.
* Lack of any innate escape mechanism makes her an easy target for Lion's disables.
* Early on she can't deal as much damage to be life threatning. Her Gust is her best weapon against Lion.
* Mana Drain depletes Necrophos's mana pool, preventing him from using his abilities.
* Finger of Death deals high magical damage, which becomes amplified by Ghost Shroud.
* Time Walk can be used to close the distance within Drow Ranger, hindering her Marksmanship bonus.
* Faceless Void can also lock down Drow Ranger with Chronosphere before she has the chance to retaliate due to her low health pool.
* Time Dilation while Death Pulse and Reaper's Scythe are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Necrophos nearly useless.
* Necrophos cannot use Ghost Shroud while he is inside Chronosphere which makes it easy to kill him.
* Phantom Rush lets Phantom Lancer get close quickly and disable Marksmanship.
* As Phantom Lancer commonly buys Manta Style, he can easily dispel Gust and then chase after Drow Ranger.
* Because Phantom Lancer is a natural Diffusal Blade carrier, he can easily burn Drow Ranger's mana and render her unable to use Frost Arrow and Gust to save herself.
* Diffusal Blade is a core item on Phantom Lancer. And when combined with his numerous illusions, it allows him to rapidly deplete Necrophos's mana, rendering Necrophos incapable of doing anything.
* It can be difficult to single out the true Phantom Lancer among his army, giving Necrophos a hard time with aiming his ultimate.
* Even if his illusions are defeated, Phantom Lancer can simply create more of them at his disposal with almost no issues.
* Repel can be used to dispel Gust on the allies affected by it.
* In team fights, Guardian Angel renders Drow Ranger's physical damage useless, and Drow Ranger has no way to purge it. And to make thing worse, Drow Ranger is not a common Nullifier wielder to counter this problem at all.
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon, Bane, Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Omniknight, etc.
* Laser along with Heat-Seeking Missile allows Tinker to quickly burst down Drow Ranger due to her low health.
* Heat-Seeking Missile lets Tinker out-range Drow Ranger and hit her in the backline of a teamfight.
* Any hero with a low HP pool is easy for Tinker to nuke down: Crystal Maiden, Enchantress, Gyrocopter, Lion, Riki, Techies, Terrorblade, Necrophos, Invoker.
* Heroes with high physical damage output but lack of reliable escape mechanisms are always a good target for a solo gank: Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Troll Warlord, Drow Ranger. Those heroes, however, are dangerous if they manage to close the gap, so take caution.
* Disruption can save an ally from a fatal Reaper's Scythe.
* Demonic Purge can remove Ghost Shroud, making Necrophos vulnerable to physical damage and preventing him from regenerating health.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage output to be effective will fare badly against Muerta's Pierce the Veil: Phantom Assassin, Terrorblade, Drow Ranger, Lifestealer, Anti-Mage, Alchemist, Lycan, Clinkz, Sniper.
* Necrophos's Ghost Shroud does not prevent Muerta from attacking him while she uses Pierce the Veil, while making Necropohos even more vulnerable.
* Necrophos's Heartstopper Aura does very little to Muerta due to her quickly bursting down Necrophos and having a small health pool.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Faceless Void, Gyrocopter, Juggernaut, Meepo, Mirana, Monkey King, Morphling, Phantom Assassin, Phantom Lancer, Riki, Shadow Fiend, Slark, Sniper, Terrorblade, Troll Warlord, Weaver.
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon, Bane, Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Omniknight, etc.
* During the laning stage, Oracle's Purifying Flames nullifies any damage that Heartstopper Aura might inflict.
* Fate's Edict and False Promise can protect an ally from Reaper's Scythe.
* Oracle can dispel Ghost Shroud with Fortune's End.
Additional:
* Fortune's End can dispel Ghost Shroud, negating the skill's utility. Also it's worth noting that Necrophos takes additional magic damage when in Ethereal state, which makes Purifying Flames a powerful nuke against him.
* Fate's Edict fully negates the damage from Reaper's Scythe, which its own delayed animation makes it relatively easy to predict and nullify.
* Mana Shield can tank most of the damage from Reaper's Scythe; with sufficient mana, the kill threshold drops significantly.
* Necrophos has a movement speed equal to Medusa, and is easy to chase down with a slowing item in Medusa's inventory.
* Another hero heavily based on attacks and no mobility, being an easy prey for Treant strong disarms and motion reduction skills.
* Drow Ranger's low mobility and lack of defensive abilities make her an easy gank target in the early to mid-game.
* A Dueling Drow Ranger will lose her precious Marksmanship, reduce her damage output significantly, and will more likely lose that Duel.
* Flux along with Spark Wraith allows Arc Warden to quickly burst down Drow Ranger due to her low health.
* However, Drow Ranger can bypass Magnetic Field's evasion bonus thanks to Marksmanship.
Additional:
* Magnetic Field protects Arc Warden and allies from Drow Ranger's ranged attacks. She most likely will not enter the field since she will lose Marksmanship's bonus agility.
* Beware however, as Marksmanship procs will still hit since they have True Strike, so the most damaging arrows will still hit you inside Magnetic Field.
* Hookshot lets Clockwerk close the gap to Drow Ranger, disabling her Marksmanship bonus.
* Power Cogs and Battery Assault keep Drow Ranger from escaping.
* Power Cogs and Battery Assault also keep Drow Ranger close, nullifying Marksmanship.
Additional:
* Getting trapped in Power Cogs usually means the end for Drow Ranger.
* Ice Blast completely nullifies any healing, making Necrophos unable to stay in a teamfight to sustain his teammates (and himself) or deal gradual damage to the enemy, else he be faced with a quick death if focused on.
* Ursa can do damage very fast with his Overpower and Fury Swipes abilities, Necrohops will have taken large amounts of damage before he can use Ghost Shroud, And if Ursa has Skull Basher, Ursa will quickly demolish Necrophos before he can do anything to retaliate.
* Skilled and smart Ursa can bait Necrophos into using Reaper's Scythe on him, and with his Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Enrage that can negate 80% of the damage, Ursa will often survive and waste Reaper's Scythe.
* Drow Ranger's lack of escape abilities makes her an easy target for Relocate ganks.
* Shapeshift allows Lycan to get close and disable Marksmanship.
* Shapeshift also makes him immune to slows like Drow Ranger's Frost Arrows.
Additional:
* The Wolves's speed causes the knockback from Gust to be ineffective.
* Drow Ranger lacks escapes and loses her Marksmanship when someone is near her. Lycan can take advantage of these weaknesses of Drow Ranger.
* Necrophos struggles at clearing away durable illusions or summons. Meepo can overwhelm Necrophos with his many duplicates, especially in the later stages of the game, and his Earthbind will prevent Necrophos from getting away, even if he casts Ghost Shroud.
* Meepo's high burst damage from Poof can make it difficult for to Necrophos to stay alive, and as Necrophos excels in extended fights, he will not be able to do as much damage as he intends to.
* Viper does large amounts of magic damage over time, meaning that if a Necrophos uses Ghost Shroud, Viper's abilities will greatly reduce Necrophos survivability, and may actually kill him.
* By the same token, Viper can use his Viper Strike on Necrophos if he attempts to heal himself with Ghost Shroud, and depending on any other effects Necrophos may have from him, (IE:Poison Attack,Corrosive Skin), Viper can often kill Necrophos while he is in his Ghost Shroud.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin helps him take reduced damage from all of Necrophos spells that deal magical damage, which is his only source of damage.
Additional:
* Viper Strike prevents Heartstopper Aura from dealing damage or healing Necrophos.
* Viper's magic damage is amplified whenever Ghost Shroud is used.
* Corrosive Skin makes Viper tankier against Death Pulse and Reaper's Scythe.
* Blink Strike gets Riki close to Drow Ranger and disable Marksmanship.
* Cloak and Dagger allow Riki stay close to Drow Ranger without her noticing him, which allows him to disable Marksmanship.
Additional:
* With Blink Strike, Riki can get close to Drow Ranger and disable her Marksmanship, and Smoke Screen will prevent her from using Gust.
* Nether Ward causes Death Pulse to actually damage Necrophos rather than heal him. Meanwhile, Reaper Scythe's gigantic mana cost while Necrophos is near the Nether Ward can often instantly kill him.
* Nether Blast and Life Drain both make quick work of Necrophos's small healthpool, especially during Ghost Shroud. The latter also makes him an unappealing target for Reaper's Scythe, and can often force Necrophos to use it defensively as he has no other means of interrupting his channeling.
* Reality Rift will disable Drow Ranger's Marksmanship, along with Chaos Bolt he can keep her locked for enough time to be killed.
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight, Centaur Warrunner or Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
* A well-timed Dark Pact can dispel Frost Arrows and Gust, letting Slark engage and escape freely.
* Essence Shift is very detrimental for Drow Ranger as the loss of agility means that Marksmanship will also suffer from getting weakened.
* Shadow Dance lets Slark quickly close the gap and deal heavy damage without giving Drow Ranger a chance to retaliate.
* Pounce counteracts Frost Arrows's slow, and also allows Slark easily pin Drow Ranger down or flee from her.
* Depth Shroud from Aghanim's Shard will allow Slark to save both, himself and his allies and will also allow them to freely fight back against Drow Ranger without her noticing them.
Additional:
* Pounce and items like Shadow Blade makes it very difficult for Drow Ranger to keep her distance from Slark, thereby losing her Marksmanship bonus.
* Gust is rarely enough to keep Slark at bay, as Drow Ranger has no movement abilities and will simply be chased down afterwards.
* Drow Ranger's heavy dependence on agility also makes her significantly weaker after being drained by Essence Shift.
* Dazzle's Shadow Wave is a spammable healing ability that spreads around his entire team, slowing the death of his teammates as effectively as Necrophos spreads damage to them.
* If not immediately, Shallow Grave delays his ally from gradually dying to Necrophos's abilities, especially Reaper's Scythe.
* However, bear in mind that Dazzle's Poison Touch, Shadow Wave and Bad Juju all deal physical damage, and Dazzle has no abilities to help him deal magical damage at all, which can cause problems for Dazzle to kill Necrophos if he uses Ghost Shroud to protect himself.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe is very predictable and gives Dazzle plenty of time to react with Shallow Grave: Dazzle just has to keep a close eye on his allies below 50% health.
* However, Dazzle must be sure to use Shadow Wave on that ally immediately after, or they will die from Heartstopper Aura when the Shallow Grave ends!
* Ghost Shroud is not a good defensive ability against Lina as all of her abilities deal magical damage.
* Lina has a very long range of attack, which completely overlaps the range of Death Pulse and Heartstopper Aura.
* However, once Necrophos gets Aghanim's Shard, he will gain access to Death Seeker which will allow him to turn into a larger Death Pulse that can be used to close the gap on Lina and kill her if she is not careful.
Additional:
* Laguna Blade's damage as well as damage from all of Lina's abilities will be greatly amplified during Ghost Shroud.
* Ghost Shroud amplifies damage taken from all of Grimstroke's abilities. Necrophos is particularly vulnerable to Ink Swell and Phantom's Embrace while in Ghost Shroud.
* Death Pulse works against Necrophos in lane by keeping his creeps alive and add damage to Stroke of Fate.
* Snowball and Ice Shards keep Drow Ranger down and preventing her from running away.
* Snowball also lets Tusk get to Drow Ranger and stop her Marksmanship bonus. It can also be to save allies affected by Gust.
* Tag Team allows Tusk to slow her down and land a killing blow on her.
* Walrus PUNCH! slows Drow Ranger and deals a huge amount of damage to her, due to her low health (and low armor without Marksmanship, since Tusk can quickly close the gap to Drow Ranger).
* Mirana can use Leap to jump right next to Drow Ranger or can approach her while under cover of the invisibility granted by Moonlight Shadow, which cancels the bonus granted to Drow Ranger by Marksmanship.
* Her low health makes her easy to burst down with Mirana's spells, especially with Aghanim's Scepter.
* Mirana can dodge Gust with good reaction time, or Leap away if Drow tries to slow her without Gust.
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon, Bane, Outworld Destroyer, Shadow Demon, Omniknight, etc.
Additional:
* If he isn't silenced, Abaddon can use Borrowed Time to escape Reaper's Scythe during the delay.
* Invisible heroes are very difficult for Drow Ranger to deal with such as Bounty Hunter, Riki and heroes who commonly buy a Shadow Blade.
* Heroes with weaker mobility will struggle to keep up with Night Stalker: Gyrocopter, Ursa, Drow Ranger
* Spectre can easily close the distance on Drow Ranger with Haunt and stick on her with Spectral Dagger, effectively disables her Marksmanship.
* Spectre does not care if silenced by Gust, since Spectre will catch her up regardless.
* Dispersion can reflect some damage back to Drow Ranger should she chooses to attack.
* Be careful once she got her Silver Edge as an attempt to shut you down.
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind), Spectre, Ursa, and Dragon Knight.
* Death Pulse can single out Spectre from her illusions, as well as heal his team against her. He also usually stands close to his allies for Death Pulse, effectively disabling Desolate.
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin, Spirit Breaker, and Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
* Illusions make it difficult for Necrophos to target his Reaper's Scythe correctly, thus giving illusion heroes like Chaos Knight or Naga Siren an edge against Necrophos.
* Heroes who have low or high armor but very high health will be difficult for drow to burst down quickly: Primal Beast, Axe, Centaur Warrunner.
* Heroes who outrange Drow Ranger such as Sniper, Tinker.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Clinkz
* Range-reliant heroes: Sniper, Drow Ranger
* Using Reaper's Scythe against Wraith King is a bad idea for Necrophos as his Reincarnation can waste it. And when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter it can delay the deaths of allies.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe can't kill Wraith King while Reincarnation is off cooldown
* In the laning stage Vampiric Spirit can out-heal the slow {tooltip:DoT|Damage over Time} from Heartstopper Aura.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
* Outworld Destroyer is not exceptionally dangerous to Necrohpos because of his Ghost Shroud, but his Astral Imprisonment can save his allies from Necrophos's Reaper's Scythe, though only if he uses it at the right time, If an Outworld Destroyer is nearby, Necrophos should not use Reaper's Scythe unless he has banished himself, or has banished two heroes within 15 seconds
* Any heroes with silences can negate the majority of Outworld Destroyer's damage output: Death Prophet, Night Stalker, Drow Ranger, Doom .
* Arcane Curse punishes Necrophos if tries to spam Death Pulse, increasing the duration of the slow and damage taken over time.
* Last Word heavily damages Necrophos and also silence him for a lenghty duration.
* Glaives of Wisdom will reduce temporarily Necrophos intelligence on each hit dealing hindering his ability to spam Death Pulse, also reducing his attack damage and mana pool; dealing increasing amounts of phisical and pure damage each time. Silencer will permanently steal Necrophos intelligence if Necrophos is killed by him or if he dies nears him.
* Global Silence turns Necrophos almost useless for a long time, allowing Silencer and his team to easily dispatch him, since Necrohpos heavily relies on his spells to survive.
* Heroes who rely on passive abilities and attacks, such as Drow Ranger, Wraith King, and Lone Druid, can render Silencer useless. But remember that a smart Silencer will most likely buy Silver Edge to counter this if he is played as carry.
* Necrophos' Ghost Shroud increases the magic damage taken by Necrophos.
* If Zeus builds both an Ethereal Blade and Veil of Discord, it almost always guarantees a kill.
* As a spellcaster, silences will nullify him entirely. Some notable examples are Death Prophet, Drow Ranger, Bloodseeker, Disruptor and many others.
* Doom, as usual, fits this description nicely.
* Tornado allows Invoker to purge Necrophos's Ghost Shroud, nullifying any benefits he could get out of it
* E.M.P. allows Invoker to burn Necrophos's mana, preventing him from using his abilities constantly
* Heroes with silence: Death Prophet, Riki, Drow Ranger.
* Monkey King can scout Drow Ranger's positioning from the trees, and can jump on her without much trouble, disabling Marksmanship
* She lacks innate mobility to escape from Wukong's Command, whose bonus armor gives MK one extra edge in the fight
* Heroes with wide AoE abilities will reveal Monkey King through Mischief: Necrophos, Phoenix, Alchemist, Earthshaker, Razor, Tinker, Leshrac, Queen of Pain
* Drow Ranger can be difficult to get on top of, thanks to her Frost Arrows and Gust. With these two abilities, Drow Ranger is able to effectively 'kite' Doom and minimize his impact during team fights and laning stage.
* Much of Drow Ranger's effectiveness comes from her passive Marksmanship, which is not disabled by Doom.
* Due to Doom's naturally high health, strength gain and common itemization for durability, Heartstopper Aura is particularly effective. The health loss is also large enough that, throughout all stages of the game, the aura effectively neuters the health regeneration granted by Devour.
* Necrophos can help to keep both himself and his allies alive during Doom through his natural regeneration granted by Heartstopper Aura (which is not disabled by Doom), or in the case of an ally, through his Death Pulse. Additionally, Necrophos is an ideal Mekansm carrier. Should one be bought, kills against Necrophos' team can be difficult to secure due to the damage-over-time nature of Doom and his abilities.
* Doom typically wants to be a hero that soaks attention from the enemy team and takes the role of an initiator and disabler. As such, Doom is an ideal target for Reaper's Scythe, as it is likely Doom will be at the fore-front of any fight.
* Long ranged heroes like Sniper or Drow Ranger can kite Tiny effectively if he doesn't get the jump on them first.
* Reaper's Scythe will turn Tiny's high health against him.
* Heartstopper Aura does substantial damage to Tiny as a result of his high max health.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from Tiny's physical damage with Tree Grab and Tree Volley.
* Heroes with high base damage (Morphling, Tiny, Drow Ranger), heroes with mana burning abilities (Anti-Mage), and Diffusal Blade users (Juggernaut or Riki) will suffer from Reflection's illusions.
* Metamorphosis will not match the range of Drow Ranger and he will struggle to do damage to her if she is not locked down already by someone else.
* Conjure Image will be destroyed very quickly due to Marksmanship.
* Terrorblade generally likes to be the big bad late game carry who sits in the middle of the fight and kills whoever is closest, which is very unlikely to be Drow Ranger therefore making it likely she will be going on him in teamfights.
* Terrorblade's high base armor and agility items makes him very vulnerable to Marksmanship.
Additional:
* Even though Drow Ranger's damage output is 100% physical, Marksmanship allows Drow Ranger to pierce Terrorblade's high natural base armor and when upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter, it will allow her to clear Terrorblade's illusions.
* Gust can prevent Terrorblade from using Sunder.
* Since Terrorblade doesn't like to buy armor items like Assault Cuirass, he will be very vulnerable to Drow Ranger's high physical burst damage.
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Terrorblade quickly before he has chance to use Sunder because it instantly disables an enemy hero on which it's casted.
* Even if Terrorblade succeeds to use Sunder on Necrophos, Necrophos can still protect himself from Terroblade's high attack damage with Ghost Shroud which can turn him ethereal and prevent Terrorblade from attacking him. Ghost Shroud also amplifies any healing Necrophos receives for it's duration, which in combination with Death Pulse and other healing items allows Necrophos to easily nullify Sunder's effects while Death Seeker from Aghanim's Shard can be used to escape from Terrorblade.
* Necrophos often buys Radiance, which combined with Death Pulse can help him deal with Terrorblade's illusions from Conjure Image and Manta Style. Death Seeker from Aghanim's Shard can also spread on Terrorblade's illusions upon impact.
* Terrorblade depends entirely on physical attacks and his damage output is 100% physical. Therefore, since he has no any sources of magical damage output and hates going for items that deal magical damage like Dagon, Ethereal Blade and Revenant's Brooch, Ghost Shroud will render him unable to damage Necrophos at all.
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind), Spectre, Ursa, and Dragon Knight.
* Dragon Knight has no built-in disengage from Frost Arrows, and Marksmanship procs ignore base armor, bypassing Dragon Knight’s durability for the most part, making Drow one of the few heroes that can deal enough sustained damage to solo kill Dragon Knight.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Frost Arrows also apply hypothermia stacks, reducing her target’s regen, which is especially potent against tanks like Dragon Knight. (A similar effect can also be achieved with an Eye of Skadi).
* Heartstopper Aura and Reaper's Scythe go right through Dragon Knight's armor.
* Heroes with low health are especially vulnerable to Marksmanship's high damage output: Clinkz, Crystal Maiden.
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
* Heartstopper Aura can do a decent damage overtime to Chen's High-Health-Creep Army, and Chen does not have any source of burst damage to fight back against Necrophos.
* Skilled Necrophos can purchase a Spirit Vessel to provide an AOE debuff that can reduce the healing from Divine Favor and Hand of God.
* Necrophos often builds Radiance, which combined with Death Seeker from Aghanim's Shard allows him to quickly clear Chen's creeps.
* Necrophos can often kill Chen's allies with Reaper's Scythe before Chen can save them with Hand of God.
* No matter how Tidehunter builds tanky items such as (Guardian Greaves, Crimson Guard or Pipe of Insight), all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe.
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and Mekansm/Guardian Greaves or Pipe of Insight makes it difficult for Earthshaker to execute his combo with Echo Slam.
* Necrophos usually buys Radiance to improve their burning aura damage from Heartstopper Aura will usually disable Earthshaker's Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating or re-initiating.
* Reaper's Scythe allows to kill Earthshaker while he blinks in, preventing him from executing his combo (although Earthshaker is rarely a primary target).
* Ghost Shroud can be use both offensively to slow Lone Druid or Defensively to prevent Lone Druid and The Spirit Bear from attacking him.
* Heartstopper aura burns the Spirit bear High HP over time. Additionally, it can deal decent damage to Lone Druid during his True Form.
* Clinkz has no stun and likes to keep his distance from targets, making Marksmanship very deadly.
* Clinkz also has low health, making him a perfect hero to initiate onto with Gust.
* Gust can also prevent Clinkz from using Burning Barrage.
* Gust can hit Dark Willow beyond a defensive Bramble Maze, and before she gets close enough to hit Drow Ranger with Bedlam.
* Drow Ranger's long range allows her to hit Dark Willow's team without venturing into her Bramble Maze.
* A well-timed Gust will prevent Windranger from escaping or counter-initiating with Windrun.
* Drow Ranger commonly buys Shadow Blade or Silver Edge, which allows her to escape from Focus Fire. Monkey King Bar, a situational item on Drow Ranger, counters Windranger's evasion from Windrun.
* The bonus agility from Marksmanship can shred through Windranger's low armor.
Additional:
* A well-timed Gust prevents Windranger from escaping or counter-initiating with Windrun.
* Drow Ranger can combine Frost Arrows and Eye of Skadi to effectively slow down Windranger if she tries to escape with Windrun, since both slow effects stack with each other.
* Drow Ranger commonly buys Shadow Blade or Silver Edge, which allows her to escape from Focus Fire. Drow Ranger can also buy Monkey King Bar or Nullifier to counter Windranger's evasion from Windrun.
* The bonus agility from Marksmanship can shred through Windranger's low armor.
* Reaper's Scythe can kill Alchemist before Chemical Rage has the time to heal him.
* Ghost Shroud can prevent Alchemist from attacking Necrophos, as well as make him immune to Acid Spray and Unstable Concoction damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do damage as long as Necrophos is alive based on health percentage, which is a problem for a strength hero such as Alchemist.
* Necrophos is a dangerous opponent to go against with. Regardless of how much strength Undying has gained from Decay, Necrophos can finish off Undying with Reaper's Scythe once Undying's HP falls below a certain threshold.
* Heartstopper Aura will do more damage to Undying if he gained strength from Decay, as it does damage based on a hero's maximum health.
* Black Hole while definitely a threat to Drow Ranger, is very hard to land as she likes to keep her distance from allies and enemies alike. And if not caught in it, will kill Enigma very quickly due to his low health.
* Malefice can be removed with a Manta Style.
* Drow Ranger being a fairly low health, high armored agility carry doesn't take much damage from Midnight Pulse as others would.
* Demonic Conversion units die very quickly to Marksmanship or even just regular attacks not far into the game within 2 or 3 hits.
* Gust can shut down most of Dawnbreaker's abilities, rendering her useless.
* Frost Arrows followed by a high attack speed, makes it hard for Dawnbreaker to escape.
* Morphling can use Waveform to close the gap between him and Drow Ranger, but should be careful of Gust and Frost Arrows.
* Morphling is a natural Manta Style carrier, which dispels the silence from Gust.
* Attribute Shift (Strength Gain) may not be quick enough to fend off an attacking Drow Ranger.
* Morphling likes to sit on low health with high agility, something Drow Ranger does not particularly care for and will still hit him hard with Marksmanship procs.
* Morph is a similar story, none of Drow Ranger's spells are particularly good against her.
* Necrophos's Reaper's Scythe can finish off a low-health Morphling.
* Heroes with forced movement abilities or non-interrupting forced movement, such as Lion, Drow Ranger, Magnus, Mars, as they can cancel blast-off mid air, removing his ability to initiate or escape.
* Heroes who thrive on teamfights can be a problem, such as Venomancer, Necrophos, Centaur Warrunner...
Additional:
* His Heartstopper Aura deals the same gradual damage over time no matter how high Sven builds his strength or health pool up, and should he fall down to a certain percentage, his high health will no longer matter if Necrophos manages to land his Reaper's Scythe, killing him instantly. But it is best if Necrophos can either catch him off guard before he can possibly use his Black King Bar (which is an item Sven players commonly purchase), or bait him out of it.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Sven from hitting Necrophos, and if he doesn't have his Storm Hammer available, it could make him completely immune to Sven and allow Necrophos to easily kite him around.
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Templar Assassin, Arc Warden
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit or Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like Rod of Atos or Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
Additional:
* Heartstopper Aura effectively negates Timbersaw's large HP pool as well as HP regen.
* Death Pulse together with health and mana regeneration from killed creeps helps Necrophos and his teammates survive Timbersaw's burst damage.
* As a tanky hero that stays in the middle of teamfights, Timbersaw is an easy target for Reaper's Scythe.
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight, Centaur Warrunner or Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit or Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like Rod of Atos or Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden, Chen, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Lina, Mirana, Nature's Prophet, Pugna and Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes that outrange Plague Ward after obtaining talents that increase attack range.
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
* Berserker's Call forces Drow Ranger to attack Axe up close, disabling her Marksmanship bonus.
* Counter Helix occurs more often with Drow Ranger's high attack speed.
* Culling Blade is a dangerous ability against a low health hero like Drow Ranger.
* Ranged heroes that can easily harass Axe: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Lion.
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse and Mekansm makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Ghost Shroud's instant cast time allows Necrophos to turn ethereal before being initiated on by Berserker's Call. This prevents him from attacking Axe while taunted, thus lowering the chance to proc Counter Helix.
* Axe's high health is relatively ineffective against Heartstopper Aura's percentage-based health degeneration.
* Reaper's Scythe stops Axe's game plan of using Berserker's Call multiple times and since he's in the middle of the fight, this spell is very easy to grab kills onto him.
Additional:
* Frequent healing from Death Pulse makes it difficult for Axe to finish off targets with Culling Blade.
* Reaper's Scythe negates Axe's tankiness, and can kill him quickly after initiation if Axe's health is low enough.
* Heartstopper Aura can be very effective against Axe due to Axe's high strength gain.
* However, bear in mind that Berserker's Call can prevent Necrophos from using his Ghost Shroud to defend his fragile self from physical damages. And Heartstopper Aura can unintentionally help Axe to trigger his Counter Helix more frequently while also hurting Necrophos with Blade Mail during activation.
* Nonetheless Heartstopper Aura is not considered as a normal attack, thus it will not trigger Counter Helix, so anyone who wrote the statement above should be awarded with MVP and considered a TI champion purely for the innovation of new mechanics.
* Blade Fury blocks the damage done by Death Pulse and Reaper's Scythe. Additionally, Ghost Shroud decreases Necrophos's magic resistance, making him take more damage from Blade Fury.
* Drow Ranger can use Gust to push back Juggernaut before he can get in range to use Omnislash or Blade Fury.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
* Heroes with area heals prevents Bloodseeker from bringing enemies low, and therefore deny him his Thirst bonuses and health return: Necrophos, Dazzle
* With 4 active abilities, Shadow Shaman is weak against silencing foes such as Silencer, Drow Ranger and Death Prophet.
* Lich is heavily reliant on his abilities to contribute to team fights, so be wary of enemies that can Silence: Bloodseeker, Death Prophet, Silencer, Drow Ranger, Skywrath Mage.
* Enemies that possess high defenses through magic resistance, damage reduction, or high regeneration will make it difficult to whittle their health down to get to Reaper's Scythe's threshold. Such heroes include Bristleback (although only from behind), Spectre, Ursa, and Dragon Knight.
* Heartstopper Aura deals percentage-based damage flagged as HP removal, so it is not reduced by Bristleback, nor does it trigger passive Quill Sprays.
* Reaper's Scythe is very effective against Bristleback not only due to its percentage-based damage, but rather because it first stuns and then deals its damage, allowing Necrophos to position in front of Bristleback in time.
Additional:
* Reaper's Scythe and Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Bristleback's high health.
* Heartstopper Aura's HP removal does not trigger Bristleback's passive.
* Anti-Mage can withstand magical burst damage much better than other carries, making him effective against nukers: Lich, Necrophos, Oracle, and Leshrac.
* None of Anti-Mage's skills are that effective against Drow Ranger. Gust prevents him from Blinking in or out, Counterspell is totally useless against Drow's physical damage, and as she usually doesn't have a high mana pool, Mana Break and Mana Void don't do much either.
* Be careful however that Anti-Mage may eventually farm enough to Blink on top of you and kill you straight away, considering you have no natural tools to escape from him.
* Heroes with one single-target abilities such as Wraith King, Necrophos, or Doom will struggle against Weaver's Linken Sphere.
* A well-timed Gust will prevent Weaver from escaping, and a silenced Weaver usually dies very quickly.
* Weaver gains a lot of armor, which is bypassed by Marksmanship.
Additional:
* A well-timed Gust followed by Frost Arrows will prevent Weaver from escaping with Shukuchi. A Weaver silenced for more than 3 seconds usually dies very quickly.
* Due to her high attack speed, Drow Ranger can easily kill The Swarm beetles.
* Heroes who depend on attacks (such as Shadow Fiend or Drow Ranger) can be nullified by Fire Spirits' attack speed slow.
* Phoenix constantly depletes its own health due to the health costs of its abilities. Unlike heroes that have a similar mechanic, Phoenix does not benefit from low health, nor does it really have a countermeasure for it. As such, Phoenix is a very vulnerable target for Necrophos to prey on, especially when caught off guard before it can cast Supernova.
Additional:
* Necrophos becomes a bigger threat the lower one's health gets, and unfortunately for Phoenix, most of its spells have noticeable health costs. Those costs, coupled with his Heartstopper Aura, means that staying in a teamfight for too long under Necrophos' presence will make Phoenix a more valid target for his ultimate, with its stun completely preventing any form of retaliation or protection. Necrophos players are also likely to buy more durability items such as Hood of Defiance, making him more able to withstand Phoenix's damage despite having no escape mechanisms.
* However, it is also important to remember that a Scepter-upgraded Supernova can help protect an ally from his ultimate.
* Marci can be effective against vulnerable squishy heroes that cannot deal with heroes that jump onto them - Sniper, Drow Ranger, Lina, Rubick, etc.
* Death Pulse and Ghost Shroud very effective against her physical damage.
* Heartstopper Aura and Reaper's Scythe are very effective against tanky Strength hero Marci.
* Often you can burst Drow Ranger down before she has a chance to try and Gust you away. Try to have a teammate bait her Gust out before you Blink and get the drop on her.
* Heroes reliant on abilities to output damage or escape can be shut down by Gust: Queen of Pain.
* Heroes that have escape abilities (such as Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit or Timbersaw) can be either nullified by Reaper's Scythe or a complimentary item for Necrophos (like Rod of Atos or Scythe of Vyse). If Necrophos is quick enough and enters range, they can quickly, if not instantly, die if they are not quick enough.
* Even though Luna has a hard time laning against Necrophos, his Ghost Shroud won’t protect him in teamfights because it will increase the damage from Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
* Luna is a natural Black King Bar wielder, and none of Necrophos's spells can bypass spell immunity outside of Heartstopper Aura.
Additional:
* Even though Luna has a hard time laning against Necrophos, his Ghost Shroud won’t protect him in teamfights because it will increase the damage from Lucent Beam and Eclipse.
* Luna is a natural Black King Bar wielder, and none of Necrophos's spells can bypass spell immunity outside of Heartstopper Aura.
* Every hero that can withstand or prevent Eclipse at level 7: Juggernaut, Riki, Clockwerk, Drow Ranger, Abaddon, Faceless Void, Weaver, Outworld Destroyer.
* A couple of long-range heroes with excellent laning like Mirana, Lina, Necrophos, Death Prophet. The key to success is sticking together and attacking Luna whenever she enters the range, without even giving Luna a chance to retaliate. Multiple long-range heroes is a reason to pick another hero.
* As long as Mars is facing her with Bulwark, even if pushed away with Gust, Drow Ranger will do no effectual damage against him. Mars' ability to endure her onslaught usually gives him enough time to cast Arena of Blood, of which she has a very slim chance surviving without Gust.
* With Bulwark's active ability, Mars can protect allies pursued by Drow Ranger by redirecting her projectiles to his shield instead.
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
* If Rubick steals Reaper's Scythe, he can turn the powerful ultimate back against Necrophos's team. Even his other spells are useful in Rubick's hands, giving him a sustain or a weak initiation/protection tool.
* A well-timed Gust will prevent Rubick from casting abilities from Spell Steal, and his lack of capabilities and low health pool usually dies very quickly.
* Drow Ranger can dispel Fade Bolt's reduction debuff with Manta Style.
* Static Link weakens Drow Ranger's attack damage while strengthening Razor's attack damage.
* Plasma Field & Storm Surge keeps Razor close to Drow Ranger, continuously disabling Marksmanship.
* Necrophos usually doesn't build itmes that give attack damage, minimalizing effects of Static Link.
* He can use Ghost Shroud to prevent Razor from attacking him with the stolen damage from Static Link.
* Razor is somewhat vulnerable to magical damage, and Reaper's Scythe prevents him from escaping with his high movement speed when things get dangerous.
* Meat Hook brings Drow Ranger to Pudge, disabling Marksmanship and dealing a huge amount of damage when combined with Rot and Dismember.
* Rot keeps Pudge close to Drow Ranger, continuously disabling Marksmanship.
Additional:
* Meat Hook can pull Drow Ranger to Pudge, disabling her Marksmanship.
* Following up with Dismember will prevent Drow Ranger from using Gust or Shadow Blade.
* Heartstopper Aura is effective against high health heroes, and Pudge is no exception. Coupled with his self-damage from Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura could prove risky for Pudge.
* Regardless of how much health Pudge gains through Flesh Heap, Reaper's Scythe will often kill Pudge should his health fall below 40%, making Necrophos an ideal counter versus Pudge.
Additional:
* No matter how high Pudge builds up strength with his Flesh Heap, all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe. Considering his constant self-damage with Rot, being around Heartstopper Aura will prove risky for an overconfident Pudge.
* Generally, heroes that can close the gap on Drow Ranger to cancel her Marksmanship such as Phantom Assassin, Spirit Breaker, and Tusk are effective at limiting her power and bursting her down.
* Heroes who rely on physical damage are easily negated by Ghost Shroud: Phantom Assassin, Wraith King, Juggernaut.
* Life Break closes the distance between Huskar and Drow Ranger, dealing large amounts of damage and disabling Marksmanship.
* Berserker's Blood and Burning Spear allow Huskar to beat Drow Ranger directly and pile on damage.
* Huskar is often at low health, making him easy prey for Reaper's Scythe.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Huskar from stacking Burning Spear, and if Heartstopper Aura stacks are active, can regenerate health lost to existing stacks.
Additional:
* Because Huskar tends to stay at low health to gain the maximum bonuses from Berserker's Blood, it makes him an exceptionally prime target for Reaper's Scythe.
* While heroes with strong mobility are able to get close or flee from Upheaval, heroes with no escaping abilities or that lack long disables will perish against Warlock. Once the Warlock Golem lands with its stun, its hardly possible to escape when he casts Upheaval. Notable examples: Huskar, Drow Ranger, Lion, Elder Titan, etc.
* Heroes that have small health pools and little to no escape mechanisms are even easier prey for Necrophos. Ghost Shroud's slow will allow him to catch him with them, and get nuked down with his abilities, even preventing retaliation due to Reaper's Scythe's stun. Such heroes include Crystal Maiden, Witch Doctor, Warlock or Shadow Fiend.
* Heroes who have low or high armor but very high health will be difficult for drow to burst down quickly: Primal Beast, Axe, Centaur Warrunner.
* Heroes that have high health but little to no magic resistance are easy prey for Necrophos, as no matter how high they build their health up, Reaper's Scythe will kill them outright as long as they fall under a certain threshold, and Heartstopper Aura will deal the same amount of damage regardless, decaying their health the longer they stay within range. As such, Strength heroes like Chaos Knight, Centaur Warrunner or Magnus are good targets for his ultimate.
Additional:
* With high health and rarely buying Linken's Sphere or Black King Bar, Centaur Warrunner is a good target for Reaper's Scythe. However, Centaur Warrunner can resolve this problem by buying Hood of Defiance and it's upgrade Pipe of Insight to diminish its damage.
* Heartstopper Aura will do well against high health heroes such as Centaur Warrunner.
* Atrophy Aura reduces Drow Ranger's damage significantly, as she relies completely on agility to be effective.
* Reaper's Scythe and Heartstopper Aura deal percentage-based damage, ignoring Underlord's high health.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from Underlord's damage from Atrophy Aura, and also amplifies all the healing Necrophos receives.
* Drow Ranger's lack of mobility and area-of-effect abilities makes her easy prey for Broodmother and her Spiderlings.
* Death Pulse can easily wipe out Broodmother's spiderlings if they're too close while also offering Necrophos a source of regeneration for Broodmother's harass in lane.
* Ghost Shroud prevents Broodmother or her spiderlings from damaging Necrophos temporarily until Broodmother buys Nullifier or Revenant's Brooch.
* Heartstopper Aura will regenerate lost health and mana for every spiderling or spiderite Necrophos manages to kill.
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Drow Ranger
* Nyx Assassin has a lot of burst damage from his Impale, Mind Flare, Dagon, and the bonus damage from Vendetta. All of this damage is enough to kill Drow Ranger.
* Nyx Assassin is usually invisible most of the time thanks to his ability Vendetta, which allows him to gank Drow Ranger easily.
* However, Gust is extremely dangerous for Nyx Assassin, as it's silence can render Nyx Assassin unable to lock down Drow Ranger. And if Gust hits Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with Vendetta, Drow Ranger will be able to detect him and foil his ganking attempts on her because Gust reveals invisible units.
Necrophos
* The huge physical damage taken from Vendetta will force Necrophos to use Ghost Shroud, which is good for a followup with Dagon and Ethereal Blade, both of which are common items on Nyx Assassin.
* Using Ghost Shroud also sets Necrophos up for a Mind Flare or Impale.