DOTA2 Guide on Dark Seer

Although Dark Seer gets nerfed to some extent in recent version, he’s still imbalanced due to his powerful ability to interrupt positions and easy to cooperation. If you play Dark Seer in the right way, you will master the essence of team fight.

Pros & Cons:Pros: Dark Seer is a champion with high mobility. The super high damage dealt by Ion Shell in early game is the nightmare of most champions and Surge makes him hard to kill. As an intelligence champion, he fits Mekansm well as it buffs the team more and it makes Dark Seer flexible and hard to suppress on lane.Cons: Although Dark Seer is an intelligence champion, he also lacks of mana in early and mid game and needs mana regen items. He needs to upgrade to a certain level, or he can hardly play a role in mid and late game.
Items:Dark Seer often plays position 2 or 3, so survival and support items will be good for him.Tank items: Vanguard, Hood of Defiance, Flute, Plate Mail, Shiva's GuardSupport items: Arcane Boots, Mekansm, FluteFirst equips items to enter the combat. After you equip some tank items, buy the Blink Dagger so that you can cast skill first.
Lanes:Top lane: due to his excellent escape, Dark Seer is hard to be killed on top lane. Bring Tango, Healing Salve with you, select three Iron Branches and save the rest money or buy several Clarities. You can watch the opponent circumstance after reaching top lane: if there are two powerful control champions protecting the carry to farm and you can’t gain the money from minions, you can surround minions with bristling shield. In this way, the lane may be quickly under opponent tower but you can still get money. If opponent is melee, you can use Ion Shell to deal damage to him; if opponent support lacks of control, you can also deal damage to him and deal last hit with Ion Shell. One thing you should remember: don’t learn skills at level 1. You can upgrade Ion Shell if you’re safe and upgrade Surge to escape if you’re in danger. When you’re at level 2, you need to upgrade Ion Shell and Surge and major in Ion Shell later. After level 1 or 2 Surge, you can minor in Vacuum. Don’t learn the ult before level 11 since it costs much mana.
Jungle Dark Seer: equip Stout Shield and items to regen health and mana as starting items. Consecutively cast Ion Shell to quicken the farm speed. You can also surround field monsters with bristling shield when encountering powerful field monsters so that your farm efficiency will be improved a lot. Pay attention to the circumstance of mid and bottom lane when farming and choose whether to assist or not.
Notes:Cooperation: If Dark Seer surrounds allied aggressive champions (such as Night Stalker and Nessaj) in team fight or when he ganks, it will be better.Application of twin Ion Shell: While pushing lane, surrounding yourself and allied melee minions with bristling shield will quicken pushing speed.When you decide to surround minions with bristling shield, don’t choose the melee minions in front so that the shield can last longer.