Item Build

The post is Pyromancer Item Build for RTS Game "HoN"
Starting Items

Middle Lane
 (x2 OR )
Replace Minor Totems with Crushing Claws if you are SURE you won't get a Power Supply. Feel free to skip all items in the parenthesis if you want to get an extremely fast Bottle.
Best use of buck for Pyromancer; Fast Bottle is extremely powerful so you can play as aggressive as possible. 

Sidelane / Trilane (taking farm)
x2
( OR )
Minor Totem(s) can be replaced with Mana Potion(s) if you wish so, but generally these items provide you some +stats and regen for the early laning phase.

If you are playing as a trilane support (remember, never play Pyromancer as a sidelane support, only trilane), You will have to buy either Courier or Wards. Also, if your team is bad and doesn't support, then you will have to do that as well.
 /  (Courier = 200, Wards 100 Each)

()

Bottle is the first item you will buy. It solves both your health and mana problems, and makes rune-whoring much more effective. If you are not soloing middle, then you might skip it.

Marchers are an obvious choice for any hero - But Chalice or Marchers, which one first? The rule of thumb is; If the Marchers help you get runes (enemy doesn't have any blinking skill) then get them first. Otherwise Chalice first. And by the time you buy these, get the Ward of Sight if you wish to have a lane ward.

Blood Chalice is awesome on Pyromancer. It allows him to play extremely aggressive, as well as farm with his spells. It also has strong synergy with Bottle, as you will mostly only use mana, not health.

Steamboots are the best boot choice. They have great synergy with Bottle and Blood Chalice, and provide you some extra needed health, as well as more attack speed for DPS purposes.

Post Haste is basically the only other viable option. They provide you with EXCELLENT mobility, for the cost of no hp, no extra dps, and loss of extra 1000+ gold. Generally I don't suggest these on Pyromancer, because I find Steamboots suit me better. They are decent choice though, so feel free!

Ghost Marchers are mediocre. The added movespeed is not necessary on Pyromancer, as you will be getting a Portal Key anyways. Steamboots are much better for farming, and keep you alive. Sure Ghost Marchers give damage, but Steamboots give attack speed.

Striders are the last choice. Pyromancer is not a ganker who should be roaming all around the map, he should focus on farming and only countergank, or gank if he gets a Haste or so. If you have so poor farm that you can't afford Steamboots, simply go drop couple neutral camps, get your Steamboots, and start farming quickly.

Power Supply is a great item. The mana/health for the price is way too good to skip for most of the games. But it is not necessary for your strategy, and you run out of inventory slots soon if you pick it up. However, it is so cheap, yet so useful, that you should in most cases get them. 

Portal Key is your first major purchase. This item is a must have on Pyromancer, it has so much synergy. Not only does it help you hit your stun, PK is nice synergy with high burst damage, which Pyro definitely has. Basically this means you can instant-kill people and get out, or surprise them by blinking in and bursting them down quickly.

Glowstone can be taken after Portal Key to boost your HP and mana in case you are going for SotM or Frostwolf's Skull later on. 1200 Gold for what it gives is quite huge at this point of the game.

After your core items are finished, just look at the game and see what you need. Generally, if you have a real carry, and you are not having terrible farm, Sheepstick is the first choice to go for.

The item is just too strong to skip on Pyromancer. Pretty self-explanatory.


Hellflower should generally be built if the person you bought Sheepstick for farmed a Nullstone, or your team needs more disable, on top of adding vast amounts to your damage. Provides you with basically infinity mana on top of that. If you ONLY want to proc the Nullstone off, consider getting Tablet of Command or Stormspirit.


Frostwolf's Skull provides you with huge amounts of extra stats, especially HP. On top of that, it is a great counter to opposing Shrunken Heads, Swiftblades and Predators.


Shrunken Head is a great pickup if you need to be reckless, the enemies have lots of magical nukes / disables. It doesn't help if the enemies are initiating on you (well, unless they don't stun you, which never happens). It allows you to blink in with Portal Key and bring down key targets uninterrupted. Even if your team has a main initiator, Shrunken Head is always a good item on Pyromancer if you're facing a cast-heavy team.


Savage Mace adds huge amount of DPS to your attacks. If you are dominating, and / or your team has no real carry, feel free to get this item. The true strike is great against opposing Wingbows and Zephyrs, and also mitigates the annoying uphill miss which may cause low hp escapes. To explain you how this item is good on Pyromancer; Fervor gives you attack speed, Savage gives you damage. Figure the rest yourself.

In general, if you need more of defensive items, get Frostwolf's Skull, not Savage Mace. On the other hand, if you need offensive items, you might not want to get a Frostwolf's Skull.

Nullstone is taken to counter strong single target spells. So this is the reason why would you get in on Pyromancer. Keep in mind, that if the spells are magical, you are usually better off with Shrunken Head.


These items are great, if you are enjoying bad farm or are forced to play more supportive. They have easy buildup, cheap cost, and also solve your mana problems. They can both be used to proc an enemy Nullstone on top of that.
Tablet of Command can be used multiple ways; You can use it to yourself to escape or initiate, or on an ally to do the same. While using it on an enemy, stunning him on the spot he lands to is quite easy.
Stormspirit can be multiple ways as well; Save an ally / yourself by dodging a skill with it. Or, use it on an opponent to make him easy target for your stun when he lands, or to escape his wrath. Keep in mind, with Stormspirit + PK, if you don't take damage in 0.5 seconds, use Stormspirit and you can PK away after.

The following 3 items are bad pickups for any game.

Assasin's Shroud is not even comparable to Portal Key. Sure the invisibility might provide a decent escape mechanism, but the enemies WILL buy revelation and counter it. It is also much more expensive than Portal Key.


Sacrificial Stone is in general a bad item for basically any hero. As for Pyromancer, the mana from it is completely wasted. Need HP? Get Shrunken Head or Frostwolf's Skull. Sac. Stone is just inferior compared to other possible items.


Codex, while does increase your burst, also leaves you with no hp, and upgrading the Codex takes 7000 gold away from you. That could easily go for Hellflower AND a Blessed Orb.


The following 7 items are extremely situational

Spellshards make you deal much more magic damage, for the cost of no HP. But in some games, it actually works. If you are sure that you will stay alive without extra health items, then you may get them.


Staff of the Master is the same as above, except it trades off some damage for some health, which is IMO preferable.


Behemoth's Heart is not necessarily bad on Pyromancer, just that the other items mentioned are better. But if you really want extra HP, and don't want to / already have Frostwolf's Skull, feel free to get it.


Shieldbreaker and Daemonic Breastplate are one thing. If you are dominant, and your team has no real carry, you might need to get true DPS items and carry the game. The minus armor, as well as the attack speed/damage from these items make you hit like a beast.


Frostfield Plate is a quite mediocre item for Pyromancer. It should only be taken if you really, really, REALLY need the armor, and the enemies need to be slowed. i.e. the enemies have Deadwood + Madman + Maliken, or something similiar.


Harkon's Blade. Sure, it skyrockets your damage output when the enemy physical armor increases. But, considering the opposing Shrunken Heads, they do make it much less effective. It does cost quite high amounts of mana to use the effect (believe it or not), and you may run out of mana very quickly. If your team is in need of more DPS over an extra disable from Hellflower or so, then you can think of getting this item. Savage against Wingbows though!