Undying
Once a warrior of the Dirge, Algor fell in battle against Death itself. Reborn as an undead monstrosity, he now commands legions of zombies and steals the very strength from his foes. He marches across the land, a horrifying herald of the unending dirge, rallying the dead to rise against the living. His mind is a ruin, his purpose singular and absolute: to ensure all who stand against him join his chorus of undeath.
At a Glance
Core Principles
“Steal strength, summon chaos, and sustain through decay - through undeath comes eternal victory for those who master the art of attrition warfare.”
Master Lane Dominance
Your strength lies in lane dominance through Decay. Use it to steal strength from enemies when they're grouped, weakening them while strengthening yourself. Be aggressive; enemies often fail to notice how much HP they're missing from Decay stacks.
Strategic Tombstone Placement
Tombstone is your real ultimate, not Flesh Golem. Place it carefully when fights are committed, not to initiate. Position it in awkward spots where enemies can't easily find or destroy it. Always be ready to deny your Tombstone to prevent feeding gold.
Optimize Soul Rip Usage
Soul Rip is more effective as a heal than a nuke. If you're getting ganked, use Soul Rip before spamming Decay for better healing efficiency. Remember that zombies from your Tombstone add to the unit count, and you can Soul Rip your Tombstone to heal it.
Leverage Flesh Golem
Flesh Golem significantly increases your HP, making it useful for surviving ganks or initiating fights. Each attack applies the Plague debuff, amplifying all damage they take. Use it to debuff high-value targets, making them incredibly vulnerable to your team.
Utilize Ceaseless Dirge
Your Ceaseless Dirge innate ability can potentially respawn you immediately upon death, catching enemies completely off guard. The cooldown can be reduced with items. Dying isn't the end; it might just be a tactical reset.
Maximize Teamfight Impact
Your true strength shines in teamfights where you can control the battlefield. Use Decay to weaken multiple enemies, place Tombstone in strategic locations to create chaos, and use Soul Rip to sustain your team through prolonged engagements. Remember that even in death, you can provide value with a well-placed Tombstone.
Hero Overview
Undying is a strength support hero who dominates the early and mid-game through sheer force of presence. His ability to sap strength from enemies with Decay, sustain his team with Soul Rip, and control the battlefield with Tombstone makes him a formidable frontline disruptor. He thrives in chaotic, close-quarters engagements where his abilities can have maximum impact.
His gameplay revolves around creating an unwinnable situation for his opponents. In lane, he weakens enemies while strengthening himself, making trades consistently favorable. In teamfights, a well-placed Tombstone can create a zone of chaos that the enemy must deal with or lose. With Flesh Golem, he becomes a massive, durable frontline tank that amplifies his team's damage. Success with Undying is about forcing fights on your terms and slowly grinding down the enemy's will to fight.
Pros
- Strong lane dominance with Decay
- Excellent teamfight control with Tombstone
- Built-in sustain with Soul Rip
- Permanent strength gain from Decay
- Potential immediate respawn with Ceaseless Dirge
- Effective against tanky, low-mobility heroes
Cons
- Weak in the late game against farmed carries
- Limited mobility and easily kited
- Highly dependent on proper Tombstone placement
- Vulnerable to area-of-effect damage and wave clear
- Mana-intensive abilities require careful management
Ability Analysis
Ceaseless Dirge
InnateInnate ability that has a chance to respawn Undying immediately upon death. The cooldown can be reduced with cooldown reduction items.
Notes: This ability can catch enemies completely off guard. Remember that it does not interact with Refresher Orb. The cooldown reduction from items can make this surprisingly frequent, turning your deaths into tactical resets.
Decay
ActiveSteals strength from target enemy heroes in an area and deals magical damage. Each cast also increases Undying's strength by the same amount temporarily.
Notes: Your primary laning tool. The strength theft is permanent if an enemy hero dies. The HP loss is not a percentage, making healing timing less critical. Use it aggressively to weaken enemies before a fight begins.
Soul Rip
ActiveHeals friendly units or damages enemy units based on the number of units nearby. Searches for units around Undying, not around the target.
Notes: More effective as a heal since healing isn't reduced by magic resistance. Use it to sustain through prolonged fights. Remember that zombies from your Tombstone add to the unit count, making it a powerful self-sustain tool.
Tombstone
ActiveSummons a tombstone that spawns zombies to attack nearby enemies. The tombstone has spell immunity and can be destroyed by attacks.
Notes: This is your true ultimate. Do not use it to initiate. Place it in awkward spots where it's hard to destroy. You can deny your own Tombstone to prevent enemies from getting the gold bounty. It provides 1200 vision, useful for scouting.
Flesh Golem
ActiveTransforms into a powerful flesh golem, gaining bonus HP, armor, and status resistance. Attacks apply a slow and damage amplification debuff.
Notes: Use it for survivability or to initiate. The Plague debuff amplifies all incoming damage, making your team's spells and right-clicks devastating. The debuff even allows damage to go through abilities like Winter Wyvern's Cold Embrace.
Tombstone Bunker (Aghanim's Shard)
ActiveTombstone can now be cast on allied heroes, entombing them temporarily, protecting them from damage and disabling effects.
Notes: An incredible save ability. You can bunker an ally affected by Black Hole, Chronosphere, or Duel. This can be a game-saving play, completely negating enemy follow-up damage.
Tombstone (Aghanim's Scepter)
ActiveEnhances Tombstone with bunker capability, allowing it to shelter one allied unit, protecting them from damage and disabling effects. Also increases strength steal from Decay.
Notes: The Aghanim's Scepter makes your Tombstone a powerful defensive and offensive tool. The increased strength steal from Decay makes you much tankier in the late game. The bunker save is one of the best defensive abilities in the game.
Developer's Notes
Developer Insights
Undying is the embodiment of attrition warfare. He doesn't win with flashy plays; he wins by making the enemy weaker and himself stronger over time.
Key Insights:
- Decay is your core trading tool. Every cast is a net gain in HP and a net loss for the enemy.
- Tombstone is your true ultimate. Its placement dictates the flow of a fight.
- Ceaseless Dirge makes you a perpetual threat. Dying isn't the end; it might just be a reset.
Undying rewards aggressive positioning and punishes enemies who clump together.
Game Strategy
Early Game (Laning)
Timeframe: 0-12 minutes Objective: Dominate the lane through attrition Key: Use Decay to steal strength whenever enemy heroes are grouped.; Harass with Decay and Soul Rip to weaken enemies and sustain yourself.; Position aggressively to zone enemies away from your carry.; Remember Decay deals double damage to creeps, use it to help farm. Items: Tranquil Boots; Magic Wand; Soul Ring Tips: Enemies often underestimate the HP loss from repeated Decays. Be aggressive and force them out of lane.; Use Soul Rip before Decaying in a fight to maximize the healing percentage of your max HP.
Mid Game (Rotations & Teamfights)
Timeframe: 12-25 minutes Objective: Control teamfights with Tombstone and objectives Key: Look for fights where enemies are forced into close quarters.; Do not initiate with Tombstone; place it once the fight has started.; Position yourself in the middle of the fight to maximize Soul Rip heals.; Use Flesh Golem to tank damage and apply Plague to key targets. Items: Arcane Boots; Aghanim's Scepter; Pipe of Insight Tips: Place Tombstone in high-ground or behind trees to make it harder to kill.; You can use Soul Rip on your Tombstone to heal it, keeping it alive longer.
Late Game (Positioning & Execution)
Timeframe: 25+ minutes Objective: Provide utility and survive with tanky items Key: Your role shifts to a disruptive frontliner and utility provider.; Focus on protecting your carries with your body and abilities.; Use Aghanim's Scepter bunker to save allies from critical enemy spells.; Deny your Tombstone to prevent giving the enemy gold and map control. Items: Shiva's Guard; Heart of Tarrasque; Scythe of Vyse Tips: Flesh Golem's Plague debuff allows your team to kill targets through defensive abilities.; Even if you fall off in damage, your utility from Tombstone and Decay can still win fights.
Tips & Strategies
Decay Mechanics
- In lane, try to use Decay only when you can catch multiple heroes to maximize strength gain.
- Decay deals double nuke damage to creeps, making it useful for farming and pushing.
- The strength loss from Decay is not a percentage, so healing timing is less important than on other heroes.
- If getting ganked, use Soul Rip before spamming Decay for better healing efficiency.
Tombstone Tactics
- Tombstone is your real ult - use it carefully when fights are committed, not to initiate.
- Place Tombstone in awkward spots enemies can't easily find - cliffs or high ground areas.
- Tombstone has 1200 day/night vision - useful for vision in chases.
- You can Soul Rip your Tombstone to heal it - zombies add to Soul Rip's unit count.
- Always be ready to deny your Tombstone to avoid feeding gold to the enemy.
Advanced Techniques
- Flesh Golem raises your HP when cast - use it when escaping if the extra health will help you survive.
- The Plague damage amp fully works on Roshan but not on the Tormentor.
- Debuffing enemies allows your team to damage through spells like Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse.
- The 'Ceaseless Dirge' innate can be reduced with cooldown reduction items, making your deaths less punishing.
Item Guide
Starting Items
Standard support starting items. Gauntlets provide early strength for more effective Decay and HP. Faerie Fire offers burst healing for aggressive trades.
Tango, Faerie Fire, Gauntlets of Strength, Iron Branch
Core Items
Arcane Boots solve your team's mana issues. Aghanim's Scepter and Shard dramatically enhance your Tombstone. Pipe protects your team against magic damage in teamfights.
Arcane Boots, Aghanim's Scepter, Aghanim's Shard, Pipe of Insight
Luxury & Situational
Shiva's Guard provides armor and a useful attack speed slow. Scythe of Vyse adds a hard disable. Refresher Orb allows for double Tombstone. Blade Mail reflects physical damage.
Shiva's Guard, Scythe of Vyse, Refresher Orb, Blade Mail, Heart of Tarrasque
Counter Guide
Good With
Undying excels with heroes who can create enclosed spaces where his abilities can run rampant. Magnus and Enigma can force enemies into tight clusters, making Decay and Soul Rip incredibly potent and ensuring Tombstone's zombies hit multiple targets. Crystal Maiden provides mana regeneration and a powerful slow that keeps enemies within Undying's effective range. Leshrac can split the earth to disrupt enemy positioning, making it easy for Undying to follow up with Decay. He works best in lineups that can create a 'meat grinder' scenario where the enemy is forced into a prolonged, close-quarters fight against his ever-growing strength.
Bad Against
Undying struggles against heroes who can clear his waves and zombies from a safe distance. Luna and Ember Spirit can instantly clear Tombstone zombies with their AoE abilities, negating his primary source of control. Kunkka and Earthshaker can use their powerful AoE spells to burst Undying and destroy his Tombstone before it becomes a problem. Heroes with strong mobility like Storm Spirit can easily kite him and stay out of his effective range. His strength gain is also nullified against heroes who don't rely on raw health, making him less impactful against elusive carries.
Good Against
Undying dominates heroes who need to be close and have low mobility. Pudge, Tidehunter, and Britleback are prime targets for Decay, as their high strength pools make them vulnerable to being sapped, while their low mobility prevents them from escaping the follow-up damage. Phantom Lancer and other illusion-based heroes suffer immensely, as Decay and Soul Rip deal damage based on the number of units, making his illusions a liability rather than an asset. He is a nightmare for any lineup that relies on winning a prolonged, static fight in a confined space.