Ezalor, Keeper of the Light
Introduction
First of all, Ezalor, Keeper of the Light (Kotl from now on) is one of the best support heroes in the game. He seems like a straightforward hero, but has many layers to his usage. He is very versatile and can be used in many different ways. I rarely see other Kotl players using him the way he, in my opinion, should be used, and surprisingly, nobody has written a guide on him. I really enjoy playing this hero, and although he does not get much credit at the end of the day, he can contribute a lot to the team. Also, Kotl is not very beginner-friendly, and will surely die a lot, but even so, his deaths are all for the team. Keep in mind that this is guide is geared towards competitive and organized games, where you and your opponents know what they're doing.
The Hero
http://www.playdota.com/img/site/strength.jpg Strength: 16 + 1.8 per Level
http://www.playdota.com/img/site/agility.jpg Agility: 15 + 1.6 per Level
http://www.playdota.com/img/site/intelligence-c.jpg Intelligence: 22 + 2.8 per Level
Advanced Statistics
Affiliation: Sentinel
Attack Animation: 0.3 / 0.85
Damage: 38 - 54
Casting Animation: 0.3 / 2.4
Armor: 1.1
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 315
Missile Speed: 900
Attack Range: 600
Sight Range: 1800 / 800
Pros/Cons
Pros
+ Very item independent
+ High movespeed
+ Great attack animation
+ Has semi-escape mechanisms
+ Can heal teammate's/self's mana instantly
+ Can deal some damage in the right situation
+ Great at pushing, and even better at counter-pushing
+ Has 3 very useful skills built into his ultimate
Cons
- Fragile and very vulnerable
- No stuns/disables
- Not a reliable source of damage
- Attack and casting animations both have long backswings
- Requires good team support/communication; Team dependent
Kotl is an excellent support hero who has nice abilities. He has high natural MS and is naturally built to support, requiring nearly no items/farm. He does have a semi-escape mechanism via Blinding Light, but is very vulnerable to nukes. He has a lot of the characteristics that you want a support hero to have, which makes him a good pick in competitive games. He fits into a lot of teams, especially into today's mana-intensive, high-spell-dependent metagame.
Skills
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/121/skill-0.JPG
Illuminate
* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Point
* Ability Hotkey: T
Channels a ball of positive energy, letting it build up 100 damage per second. When released, it damages all enemies in a line. The distance also improves with channeling time.
Your one and only damaging spell is unfortunately a channeling spell, but this is actually not much of a problem. This spell allows you to push, defend, and harass with ease. It does have a high mana cost: 150 mana, but does wonders when used correctly, and only has a 10 second cooldown at all levels. It deals up to 200/300/400/500 damage with 800 range at all levels. The AOE is 350 and casting range is 230, which is very interesting because... The place where you cast your Illuminate is <230 range in front of you, but it has an AOE of 350, which means it will actually hit units right behind you. Also, since it has 350 AOE, it actually has a range of 1150 (800+350). You can also cancel it earlier than the maximum time by performing another action, in which case the damage will round down to the nearest 100. In the early game, you should use this as much as you can at the enemy(s), allowing your carry/lane partner to farm more easily.
Notes
• Damage type: magical
• Illuminate gives increasing vision of the target area as it is channeled, so it can be used to scout hidden places like Roshan.
• Can damage Meat Wagons and Glaive Throwers.
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/121/skill-1.JPG
Mana Leak
* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Unit
* Ability Hotkey: E
Weakens the bond between the physical and magical essences of an enemy. The magical and physical essences will be divided if the target moves, causing the enemy to lose some of their mana. If the enemy loses all of its mana, it will be paralyzed while the bond is repaired.
Basically a Mana draining version of Bloodseeker's Rupture, but instead of the amount drained being based on the distance travelled, it is based on the enemy's maximum mana pool. When casted, the target will have 3.5/4/4.5/5% of it's maximum mana drained for 5/6/7/8 seconds. If the target runs out of mana from Mana Leak, it will be slowed by 60% for 2 seconds. Mana Leak has a cooldown of 20 seconds and a mana cost of 75 at all levels. Casting range improves (550/700/850/1000 range) per level.
I feel that people only use this skill for chasing enemies, because it has a slow applied to the enemy if it runs out of mana, but it can be used in many other ways. For example, using it on an enemy Tidehunter before a battle, retreating, then having your initiator go in will give your team a large advantage in the battle. If Tidehunter walks into your team under Mana Leak, attempting to use Ravage, he will risk losing his mana before he gets in the middle of the battle. You could also use Mana Leak to stop chasers from getting you or your teammate. Just remember to cancel the backswing animation, as Kotl has a backswing of 2.4 seconds after casting (as long as Crystal Maidens!)
Notes
• If the target travels over 300 distance in less than 0.1 second (by using blink skills, for example), Mana Leak will not decrease its mana for that distance. Therefore, using it on an enemy Earthshaker or Sand King before a battle (to discourage him from blinking in) will not actually drain any of his mana.
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/121/skill-2.JPG
Chakra Magic
* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Unit
* Ability Hotkey: C
Channels chakras through a friendly unit, creating a surge of mana.
A simple, yet mind-blowingly useful spell. This is Kotl's signature spell, and the main reason why he is picked in competitive games. When casted on your teammate, it heals 75/150/225/300 of his or her mana instantly, with a cooldown of 19/18/17/16 seconds. It also has a long casting range of 900, and a mana cost of 40/55/70/85. Because of the mana cost, you actually only heal 35/95/155/215 mana when you cast it on yourself. Remember to cancel the backswing animation on Kotl, because it is pointless to watch your hero wave his wand around for 2 and a half seconds finishing the casting of a spell that heals your mana instantly. Its simple: just perform another action right after you cast Chakra Magic, and you'll save some precious time. Also, remember to keep checking the cooldown on it. Never let it sit off cooldown, because mana is precious. Even if your teammate has 350/390 mana, Chakra him; theres no point in wasting time.
Note: Always check you and your teammates' amount of mana. I really want to emphasize this because your main skill is the ability to heal mana. If you don't do it all the time, and/or heal somebody who has full mana or doesnt need mana, you are wasting a hero pick of your team. You will have to use your own judgement to decide who needs the mana more, and who needs it urgently. For example, say you are trying to quickly push a lane, and you have a Necrolyte and Furion on your team. Necrolyte has 40/450 mana, and Furion has 90/420. Even though Necrolyte is lower on mana, Furion's Treants are the main pushing tool, and it will be useless to cast Chakra Magic on Necrolyte because his heal will not help your team push nearly as much as Treants would. Good decision making of things like these are the difference between a good Kotl player and an excellent Kotl player.
Notes
• Cannot target allies with magic immunity.
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/121/skill-3.JPG
Spirit Form
* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Instant
* Ability Hotkey: F
Ezalor turns his body luminescent temporarily. His mastery of light becomes so powerful that he can freely cast Illuminate without channeling, cast a brilliant light that blinds foes, and teleport allies from anywhere to his side at light speed.
Spirit Form, Kotl's ultimate, actually has 3 spells built in one! I will explain each of them separately, just for clarity.
Spirit Form itself costs 100 mana, has a cooldown of 80/70/60 seconds, and lasts 40 seconds.
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/121/skill-4.JPG
Recall
* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: Unit
* Ability Hotkey: R
Target an allied hero. Teleports that hero to your location. If the target takes player based damage during this period, this ability is interrupted.
The above description explains basically everything. You and your teammates need very good communication (or Ventrilo, etc), to make full use of this spell. You yourself also need to be sharp and aware: both are qualities of a good support player.
This is like a free TP scroll for your teammates.. and...
Pros: Your teammate can move, cast, and do actions as if they were not using a TP scroll. It cannot be cancelled unless..
Cons: If the targetted, Recalling hero takes damage from other heroes, the TP will be cancelled.
Recall has a Mana Cost of 100, a global casting range, and a cooldown of 40 seconds (which means you will only be able to recall one teammate per Spirit Form usage, since Spirit Form only lasts 40 seconds).
Notes
• Since the cooldown and mana cost take effect upon casting, the mana will be deducted and the spell will go into cooldown even if the spell is interrupted.
• This ability can target any allied hero on the map.
• The -disablehelp command can prevent an allied Keeper of the Light from casting this ability on you.
• This skill interrupts channeling spells.
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/121/skill-5.JPG
Blinding Light
* Ability Type: Active
* Targeting Type: AoE
* Ability Hotkey: B
Blind nearby units, causing them to miss 80% of the time.
This is your semi-escape mechanism which can be used in various ways. The ideal situation to use this in would be when a enraged, overpowered Ursa comes at you. Not only do you push the enemy away, but he will miss 80% of the time for the next 3/4/5 seconds. You can also use it to push the enemies into your team in a team fight. You will be fairly safe when you do this, because even though you will be near the enemy team when you cast it, they will be missing 80% of their physical attacks on you. The spell pushes all units from the central casting point outwards by 300 range.
Blinding Light has a cooldown of 20 seconds, a low mana cost of 50 mana, and a casting range of 600.
Notes
• Causes knockback of 250 range over 0.4 seconds, centered on the middle of the target AoE.
• If a unit being knock-backed collides with a tree, the tree is destroyed.
Note: The skill builds below are certainly not the only skill builds there are. They are just models and guidelines to what is most commonly effective. They will just be the builds in a competitive game where you do, in my opinion, what a Kotl is supposed to do.
Laning/Babysitting Build
Level 1 - Chakra Magic
Level 2 - Illuminate
Level 3 - Chakra Magic
Level 4 - Illuminate
Level 5 - Chakra Magic
Level 6 - Spirit Form
Level 7 - Chakra Magic
Level 8 - Illuminate
Level 9 - Illuminate
Level 10 - Mana Leak
Level 11 - Spirit Form
Level 12 - Mana Leak
Level 13 - Mana Leak
Level 14 - Mana Leak
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Spirit Form
Level 17-25 - Stats
Standard Build
*Note: When it says, for example "Mana Leak/Illuminate", it means that I recommend getting Mana Leak over Illuminate for that Level.
Level 1 - Chakra Magic
Level 2 - Illuminate/Mana Leak
Level 3 - Chakra Magic
Level 4 - Mana Leak/Illuminate
Level 5 - Chakra Magic
Level 6 - Spirit Form
Level 7 - Chakra Magic
Level 8 - Illuminate/Mana Leak
Level 9 - Illuminate
Level 10 - Illuminate
Level 11 - Spirit Form
Level 12 - Mana Leak
Level 13 - Mana Leak
Level 14 - Mana Leak
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Spirit Form
Level 17-25 - Stats
Roles
Kotl as a Full Support Hero
This is the most common role that a Kotl is assigned. Kotl has all the tools to support well and babysit well. He barely needs any items, and if he does, he has Illuminate to get creeps very quickly. He can actually farm quite quickly, but the farm is much more useful for the carry, as Kotl needs barely any items to be useful. In this role, play defensively and cautiously. Your main use will be to provide Mana and some defending/pushing power. You really don't need much money and experience, so stay back in team fights. It is quite hard to master Kotl's support play-style and make a big impact in a battle, but he is meant to be played passively.
Kotl as a Pushing/Creep-Clearing Hero
Because of Illuminate, Kotl has an excellent ability to clear creep waves with ease. Kotl may be placed in a push-heavy lineup not only because of Illuminate, but because of Chakra Magic as well. In this role, you will actually cast Chakra Magic on yourself a lot, because Illuminate costs quite a bit of Mana (150) and you will run out very quickly. Your main goal will be to actually kill as many creeps as you can. If there are no creeps to illuminate and you have your Chakra Magic off cooldown, make sure to heal the teammate who needs Mana the most.
Items
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/26/icon.jpghttp://www.playdota.com/img/items/27/icon.jpg
Wards are the essential items of the support hero. It provides invaluable sight to prevent ganks, start ganks, and to scout other useful places such as the rune spots. Try to have 1 or 2 observer wards at all times. If you notice that the enemies seem to know where you are, counterward the common areas with sentry wards. Replenish your wards throughout the game, as it is your main role to do so.
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/124/icon.jpg
As mentioned above in the "Courier and Wards" section, I think that Kotl should be the hero upgrading the crow rather than the hero getting the courier. He has a high MS, which makes him a natural warder, and needs some extra money for stats and heals. Upgrade the crow as soon as you have the gold, because the other heroes need the gold a lot more, even if it's just 200. Again, if needed, buy both the courier and the starting observer wards because you are a main support hero, so you shouldn't be greedy; Just do it, it helps the team a whole lot.
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/16/icon.jpg
Try to grab your Boots of Speed as soon as possible, after you upgrade the crow. It provides you with mobility to escape minor gank attempts and to place wards more quickly. With just a Boots of Speed, you have 365 MS, which is already quite high when compared to other support heroes like Crystal Maiden, who would have only 330 MS.
-Once you have some extra gold, getting Power Treads will provide you with 190HP and extra MS, a very good investment. Of course, BoT the best choice, but it is very expensive and you probably won't be able to afford it unless your team kills numerous towers early on. Of course, you'll have to make the in-game decision whether or not you should upgrade to one of these. I personally like getting Treads because it is cheap enough, yet very beneficial for 950 gold.
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/94/icon.jpg
One of the best items for its price in today's metagame. 225 heal to HP and MP is a lot, and can help you in more ways than imaginable. Certainly fits into Kotl's low budget item build, and provides some much needed stats, even if its just a little. A must-have item for Kotl.
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/755/icon.jpg
Urn of Shadows has become extremely popular on support heroes, and for a good reason. It provides a bit of HP, Mana regen, and since you will be near the battles providing Mana, you will pick up atleast a few charges on the Urn, allowing you and your teammates to stay in the lane longer. The best part of all is that it costs only 875 gold, and comes in very small, useful pieces. Excellent item for Kotl, and almost any other support hero.
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/121/icon.jpg
Mekansm is an obvious item that Kotl can make use of. He has the Mana to repeatedly use it whenever its off cooldown. The whole thing comes in small parts, so its easy for Kotl to build up. Stats are nice, the heal is invaluable, and the armour is a nice bonus to increasing your EHP. Get this if you have the gold, but try to have Observer Wards on hand. It only costs 200 gold, yet provides a lot more than what any component of Mekansm can provide.
http://www.playdota.com/img/items/99/icon.jpghttp://www.playdota.com/img/items/100/icon.jpghttp://www.playdota.com/img/items/101/icon.jpghttp://www.playdota.com/img/items/110/icon.jpg
Expensive Intelligence items are always good, but cost a heck of a lot. I doubt that a Kotl, in a competitive game doing what hes supposed to do, will farm a BoT, Mekansm, and Shiva's Guard. Nonetheless, these items are awesome items for Kotl, and will make a big impact if you somehow get the gold for them. If you do get the gold to get one of these, I recommend getting Guinsoo's (Hex Stick), just because Hex is such a powerful skill to have in the late game. The stats provided are ever so useful, but again, it is very expensive and you should not expect to finish any of these items in a typical game.
