Iv'e found Warp Area, at lvl 2 at least, to be a great AoE tool...on the lower level creep waves anyway. I'm not set on a build yet, but it will need mana mana and more mana....

Like you say, he is very man intensive, plus his AA is not the best either.

Might need to mod some gloves with a nice +att and a mana bonus.

I've been ignoring the passive abilities..though i did playa speed build with swift ank, but with his shadow swap and warp strike, i don't think uber speed is needed.

Warp Strike and Spine Attack are very cool though...

I'm surprised you dont like 25% dodge. It's equal to like 33% more health.

I came across a curious event when swapping, certainly counts as a long range swap. I was fighting Reg (my tower at mana flag on cataract) and he hit a tele scroll, so i hit the swap on him...and well, i'm not sure it is the intended outcome but the timing must have been perfect, cause reg was swapped to where i was standing.....and i was swapped to his citadel, where he was teleing to!!

No doubt i was shocked...and in between laughing and exclaiming WTF, i of course died trying to get out.

Not sure how repeatable it would be...but it would be a nice strat against the DA...pop a tele scroll in the hope he hits his Shadow Swap and ends up at your cyrstal.....

It's a feature.

^

I think against humans maybe. The AI always come close to or even past your towers often, so only 1 level of Shadow swap is needed to keep them there. A human player rarely ventures that close when another god is around...so the extra range to pull them in would be most helpful.

Iv'e found though the swap is best when you have the mana to then instantly after swapping warp strike back on to your opponent, so you really need to watch your mana.....

I have been using both Plenor and Vlemish with DA...and to be honest, i still son't find it enough till i used BotS.

Looks like DA is a perfect match for BotS, which has been working well, but i have kept the Plenor as well.

BotS doesn't work well. I've been using Magnus Rod + Hungarlings.

if you can get the gold

early game i usually carry 2 mana pots but if you get a few kills then you get ^ that

Edit: Occulus...

Oculus is way more powerful than DA !

It's not so good till you have lvl 2 Warp Area. Once you have that i have found popping the blade then hitting a creep wave does wonders.

But Plenor is still needed, no doubt.

Hungarlings was buffed in the patch wasn't it? I hadn't yet checked to see if it is now feasible.

Unbreakable boots though have been an instant buy with DA as soon as i have the gold.

I'm torn. I founf Oculus tanked up very well, even in the hands of nightmare AI and i had some trouble killing him, as DA. On the flip side, i could not quite manage to tank up as good myself, untill later in game anyway....

Personally, i prefer to play DA..but i prefer assassins anyway. He is certainly, IMHO, more fun to use than Oc.

I've been using the Mana Cape favor item to take care of mana issues. It basically gives me enough mana to cast 1-3 extra spells every 40 seconds or so. Normally I can find a minute down time or so after combat and regen to full mana easy. I am of course getting at least Vlemish and Plenor helms.

I tried a complete passive build and it seems to be a pretty crazy tank. With max run speed and dodge you can get out of basically any situation. However, I didn't get a chance to try it against a human. Relying solely on auto attack isn't the best way to kill things though. However, you require 0 mana and can even grab the first level of any skill for mobility or surprises.

Demon Assassin > Occulus

However he needs his speed increased to 6.3 and needs the mana costs on his abilities lowered like crazy. They are all soo expensive. I mean his tail attack costs 600 mana AT THE START! Warp Strike is just as crazily high

Demon does not need a speed increase you want speed buy a item or use a favor item. plus he has a passive ability.  You can't make super demigod they all have flaws that is what makes them unique

Spine attack is useless, dont get it!

After my 30 games or so with Demon Assassin online I got to say there is only one build that really works

• Level1: Warp Strike I
  
• Level2: Speed (This is to bring him up to 6.3, allowing him to keep pace with fleeing erebus/ub)
  
• Level3: save
  
• Level4: Warp Strike II
  
• Level5: Warp Area, Shadow Swap
  
• Level6: Critical Strike
  
• Level7: Warp Strike III
  
• Level8: Critical Strike
  
• Level9: Save
  
• Level10: Warp Area II, Warp Strike IV
  
• Level11: Shadow Swap II

After that you go go about anything.

Also the most important thing with DA is about his items

• Start with the regen chest and regen head.
• Then buy the chest for 1500, and the 1750 one. You Really need all that hp and armor.
• After that you may want to sell your manahat and buy a +15mp/sec hat instead.
• After that, get Wyrmskinns.
• After that, sell your items and upgrade as you can. Hungarling Crown is totally awesome for DA.

P.S. Dont even try playing him with any other favor item then Blood of the Fallen.