Pharaoh an indepth guide by Alucard1

The Pharaoh

Introduction

The Pharaoh is one of the most unique and interesting Heroes in HoN. He is based quite heavily on the Clockwerk Hero of Dota, however, he is much more effective than Clockwerk due to significant improvements in his skills. He is one of the rare heroes in HoN which remains useful throughout the entire game, whether it be early, mid, or late game. The other rare attribute the Pharaoh has, is that his skills ALL have more than one EXTREMELY helpful use, I will explain this in later on in detail. Throughout this guide I will explain his skills, how to use them, how to build your Pharaoh, and overall how to lay waste to the opposite team!

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Skills

*In this section I’ll provide the specific effects of the Pharaohs skills, as well as an explanation for each, which will be expanded on later in the guide.

Hellfire

Pharaoh conjures plumes of fire around him
for a short duration, hitting random nearby
enemy targets, damaging each and stunning them briefly.
Level 1 : Impacts random target around self every 0.75 seconds for 10 seconds. Dealing 20 magic damage an stunning for 0.1 seconds.
Level 2 : Impacts random target around self every 0.75 seconds for 10 seconds. Dealing 40 magic damage an stunning for 0.1 seconds.
Level 3 : Impacts random target around self every 0.75 seconds for 10 seconds. Dealing 60 magic damage an stunning for 0.1 seconds.
Level 4 : Impacts random target around self every 0.75 seconds for 10 seconds. Dealing 80 magic damage an stunning for 0.1 seconds.
Mana cost 75
Cooldown 32/28/24/20 seconds

Explanation: Hellfire is a skill that when used correctly will absolutely destroy your enemy. The ideal scenario for this skill to be used is when encountering an enemy hero by himself, because it will cause some serious damage to him since all the impacts will focus on him. The skill is also extremely useful when chasing a lone hero who is trying to run away, because it will allow you to easily keep up with him if you just stay by his side without hitting him, all this while your friends pound on him. Apart from these uses, this skill is also useful when dealing with heroes with channeling spells, because you will be able to cancel their spells sooner or later if you stay next to them. Defensively, this skill can also help you run! Yes, if you have a melee hero that is pounding on you, this skill can be the difference between “Got to the tower and enemy backed off” or “Died right before I got to my tower”. Remember, in HoN, every hit you can avoid can make a difference.

Wall of Mummies

Pharaoh summons a wall of Mummies around himself
and anyone close enough to him. Enemies who come
close will be pushed away, causing damage and draining some Mana.
Level 1 : Spawns 8 mummies for 3 seconds. Deals 55 True damage, drains 55 mana and pushes enemies who come near
Level 2 : Spawns 8 mummies for 3 seconds. Deals 70 True damage, drains 70 mana and pushes enemies who come near
Level 3 : Spawns 8 mummies for 3 seconds. Deals 85 True damage, drains 85 mana and pushes enemies who come near
Level 4 : Spawns 8 mummies for 3 seconds. Deals 100 True damage, drains 100 mana and pushes enemies who come near
Mana cost 50/60/70/80
Cooldown 15 seconds

Explanation: This skill can be used offensively and defensively to great effect. Combined with the Pharaoh’s ultimate, it is one of the most effective ganking skills in the game, you use it to trap your enemies after a well placed ulti, and then you activate your hellfire to wreck the enemy. Yet, it can also be used without the ultimate, as you can simply catch up to an enemy after an ally stuns him, and use it to keep him trapped. However, this skill also has an amazing defensive use, countless times I have saved myself while running from the enemy by going along a narrow path, activating Wall of Mummies and attacking a mummy to escape while the enemy is still hitting their side of my Wall of Mummies, attempting to catch me, this is because the Pharoah breaks his mummies with only one hit, while the enemy’s need three! Extremely useful skill.

Tormented Soul

Pharaoh unleashes a tormented soul toward a target
location anywhere on the map. The soul self destructs
when it reaches the designated location, releasing its
dark energy to damage nearby enemies.
Level 1 : Launches projectile dealing 80 magic damage and revealing area for 5 seconds.
Level 2 : Launches projectile dealing 120 magic damage and revealing area for 10 seconds.
Level 3 : Launches projectile dealing 160 magic damage and revealing area for 15 seconds.
Level 4 : Launches projectile dealing 200 magic damage and revealing area for 20 seconds.
Mana cost 50
Cooldown 30/25/20/15 seconds

Explanation: My favourite skill in the whole game. Period. This skill has so many uses, which not only have GREAT benefits for the player using the Pharaoh, but it can also be used as a major asset for your team in General… Throughout the WHOLE game. First of all, this skill guarantees you will always be able to farm with the Pharoah, I don’t care if you are laneing against The Thunderbringer, The Torturer, The Electrician and Arachna, this skill guarantees you can always farm due to its moderate but effective for last hitting damage, its incredibly low mana cost, and its fast cooldown. Not only good for farming though, you will be able to constantly harass heroes from a safe distance. So for you, this skill means you can last hit creeps easily and constantly, you can harass enemy heroes constantly, you can last hit enemy heroes when you need a kill and you can do all of this from anywhere on the map. It also has a great defensive use early game if you think you are going to get ganked, you can use it to gain vision of nearby spots through which the enemy might be coming for you. Talk about an awesome skill.

But this skill also helps your team out, perhaps even more than you. The pharaoh is at his best laning with another hero, but he can still constantly help the solo, or even the other pair of heroes by firing tormented souls at their respective enemy heroes, keeping their health below 75% early game. You can also have CONSTANT control over the runes, by firing a tormented soul at the rune spawn places, you can always know where the rune is, and which one it is, this helps the solo out, but also provides an extra incentive for your team to gank more, since you all know where the runes are. Apart from these already mentioned uses, this skill is extremely helpful lategame to let you know where the enemy is: If all enemy heroes are missing and you are afraid they might be setting up an ambush, fire a tormented soul at a suspicious looking spot to see if the enemy is there, you can also always keep an eye out for Kongor, firing souls to where he is located to see if the enemy team isnt trying to kill him.

Finally, this skill is also GREAT for finishing off heroes which are already too far away to catch, but low on health. This is called Sniping, but a great guide to this has already been provided by xXReborn, so I won’t go into it too much.

Wrath of the Pharaoh

Pharaoh directs all of his focus in a target direction.
His focus is so intense it takes physical form as it travels
in the desired direction. If it impacts with an enemy unit,
it will damage and stun them and Pharaoh will charge
toward its location.
Level 1 : Hooks enemy at 2000 range, dealing 100 Magic damage and stunning for 1 second
Level 2 : Hooks enemy at 2500 range, dealing 200 Magic damage and stunning for 1.5 second
Level 3 : Hooks enemy at 3000 range, dealing 300 Magic damage and stunning for 2 seconds
Mana Cost 150
Cooldown 80/60/40 seconds

Explanation: This skill, again like all of Pharaohs skills, has defensive and offensive uses. The obvious offensive use is to fire it at an enemy, set up your Wall of Mummies, activate your Hellfire, and lay waste to him. He won’t even know what hit him. The best two things about this skill, are the speed at which the “hook” travels, and the extremely long distance it can reach. Many a times have I killed opponents which had been out of sight for a while , just by firing a well placed Wrath of the Pharaoh at the direction at which they were running, and finishing them off. This skill will remain useful throughout the game because it virtually guarantees no enemy will ever get away from you. At early and mid game, it is also an amazing skill to gank, you can stay out enemy sight while he is farming a lane, and then fire your Wrath of the Pharaoh and pound on him will a teammate helps you out. Its defensive use, is stricly for running away from the enemy, lets say you are being chased by a group of enemy heroes, they are catching up to you, so what do you do? You fire your Wrath of the Pharaoh at one of their creeps which is far away, thats what!! And voila, instant teleporting to where the creep is, far far away from the enemy. Remember, this skill can reach GREAT distances, so take advantage of that.

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SkillBuild

*The SkillBuild you should follow, as well as a brief explanation as to why

1. Tormented Soul – 1 This skill should always be the first you level, not only will it reduce its cooldown and increase its damage, helping out with the harassing and the last hitting, as well as giving your team a more constant source of help in their respictive lanes, but it will also increase the time for which areas are revealed after the Soul hits. Always level this first.
2. Hellfire – 1 This skill will be useful early on if you manage to bump into an enemy hero who is alone, it will make his escape more difficult and give you a nice damage output.
3. Tormented Soul – 2
4. Hellfire – 2
5. Tormented Soul – 3
6. (Ultimate) Wrath of the Pharaoh – 1 Some people suggest getting the ultimate later on. I personally think its better to get it at lvl 6, because it guarantees a low life hero you are attacking won’t get away, as well as it allows you to gank easily once you are lvl 6.
7. Tormented Soul – 4 Once this skill is level 4, you have a constant: quick, cheap (manawise) and moderate source of damage. You can harass the enemies effectively, and last him them easily.
8. Wall of Mummies – 1 Wall of Mummies level 1 comes in at level 8, which is the level when you should start killing… a LOT. You have no excuse not to go ganking once you have your ulti, wall of mummies, tormented soul lvl 4, and a good source of damage with Hellfire lvl 2.
9. Hellfire – 3
10. Hellfire – 4 This skill will give you a great source of damage once it has reached lvl 4, if you are attacking a lonesome hero.
11. (Ultimate) Wrath of the Pharaoh – 2
12. Wall of Mummies – 2
13. Wall of Mummies – 3
14. Attribute Bonus – 1 Wall of Mummies lvl 3 will work fine for the time being, you can however, have more of a use for 2 attribute bonuses.
15. Attribute Bonus – 2
16. (Ultimate) Wrath of the Pharaoh -3 Now that you have finished levelling your ulti, its cooldown is significantly lower, so you will be able to gank/escape/chase a lot more often than before.
17. Wall of Mummies – 4
18 – 25. Attribute Bonus

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ItemBuild

Some ItemBuilds to be considered when building your Pharaoh

Starting Items:

Ring of the Teacher

This item will make sure you NEVER run out of mana during early game, and most likely during the rest of the game too. You should lane with a nuke’ing hero, to keep his mana pool up, and also to get lots of kills early game. Always get this item first, because it means you can CONSTANTLY fire your tormented soul, as soon as the cooldown is up.

Runes of the Blight

To have some health regeneration in case you need it early game in your lane. However, you shouldn’t be getting hit a lot after level 3, because you can farm with your tormented soul, and keep em harrassed so you can go in and last hit the creeps also.

Early Items:

Marchers

Pretty self explanatory.

Fortified Bracelet x 2

Gives you damage, gives you health, and gives you that little extra mana you will need along with your Ring of the Teacher to never run out of mana.

Midgame items:

Enhanced Marchers

These will give you that very necessary speedboost you will need when you are chasing enemies with Hellfire activated, or also to escape with a well placed Wall of Mummies.

Shaman’s Headress

This item you only have to get if your opposing team has a lot of nukers, who will certainly focus their spellcasting with you. The health regeneration will also come in handy because it means you won’t have to go back to the health fountain, unless you want items.

Homecoming Stone

You should always have at least one of these, ALWAYS. Starting from midgame, all the way up to the end of the game, these babies will allow you to gank, escape, and organize/defend pushes.

Late Game Items:

Behemoths Heart

Late game, you will be rushing into battle with your ulti, and your main objective is to tank, you will be the first one in and last one out, and for this you will need good tanking gear. And for that, what better than the best tanking item in the game? Gives you massive health, great regeneration, and extra damage too! You need this item.

After you have these items you have three choices:

Option A:

Mock of Brilliance

Once you have your Behemoths Heart you can get a Mock of Brilliance, which will cause constant damage to the enemy heroes while you tank them, this, combined with your Tormented Soul and Hellfire should give you a great AoE DPS. You should go for this item only if you are having a relatively easy time tanking the other team. However, If your tanking still isnt that great, go for either Option B or option C.

Option B:

Behemoths Heart

Another one of these never hurt anyone… except the other team

Option C:

Frostfield Plate

This is an alternative to getting another Behemoths Heart if you are having a hard time tanking the other team, it gives you a good armor boost, a great aura to lower the other team’s attacking DPS, and a slow thats great for chasing.

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Strategy

Early Game (Levels 1-7):

Early Game you will be an extremely favourable asset to your team with your Tormented Soul ability. You can start out the game by letting the solo know where the rune is by shooting a tormented soul at the rune spawn points. On your lane, a strategy I love to do is to auto-attack the wizard, or archer, depending on whether you are legion or hellbourne, and lowering its health, then firing a tormented soul once your creeps have done enough damage to the enemy creep they are attacking (they usually all focus on the one which arrives first). This way you can succesfully last hit the archer (whose life you decreased with the auto-attacking) as well as the enemy creep your own creeps were attacking, and remember to fire the tormented soul at a spot where it also hits the enemy heroes, you should be able to do all of this considering the Tormented Soul’s huge radius.
In your lane, you should preferably be paired with a stuner, if this is the case, you can get a kill early game (depending on the opposing heroes of course) by having him stun an enemy hero right after the last enemy creep of the current wave is killed, and you following up with a Hellfire, and proceeding to chase him by walking by his side, without hitting him so that you keep him stuned, and also while your ally hit him, then finish him off with a Tormented Soul.
Another point I want to make is that during Early Game your Tormented Soul should ALWAYS be on cooldown! You have enough mana regeneration to shoot it all the time, so always shoot it as soon as the cooldown is up! Whether it be to farm and harass the enemy heroes in your lane, or to harass heroes in another lane, as well as to scout for runes and ganks.

Mid Game (Levels 8-15):

Mid Game is the best time to be a Pharaoh in my opinion. You should be racking up kills like crazy during these levels. Once you reach level 8, you have all the skills you need to be ganking like crazy, so go for it! Move around the map, target enemy heroes in other lanes, as well as your own. Its simple really, fire your ulti, activate your wall of Mummies and Hellfire, if they run, finish them off with a well placed Tormented Soul and Voila! Few heroes can escape this combo if done right, you don’t even really need any help from your fellow heroes if you are going against a weaker hero like a caster or an agility hero if they don’t have much strength items. Your ulti is also amazing you can even save it until after a Gank starts, because if your whole team initiates then you will most likely kill a few heroes, and any other hero which runs off, even with full health, you can kill off by hitting him with your ulti and trapping him so that your team can come to kill him. So Gank! Gank! Gank! And help out your team in pushes by shooting your ulti at a hero if he is defending the tower by himself. If he sees your whole team coming, of course he will back, but if you manage to hit him with your ulti before this, it won’t matter that the tower is hitting you when you dash towards him, because your team will surely finish him off before the tower does you. Just use all the skills like I mentioned in the Skill section and in combo with eachother, and you will be dominating Mid Game like no one else.

Late Game (Levels 16-25):

Late Game most people tend to underestimate Pharaoh, saying he loses most of what makes him such a force in Early/Mid game, but this isn’t true, while his damage is obviously reduced compared to strictly late game heroes, he is still a very useful hero if you built him correctly. By late game you should be pretty farmed, considering the Ganks you have been doing, and the Tormented Soul which allows you to very successfully farm enemy creeps. So you should have a Heart of Behemoth soon, if not already. This will make you a much more effective tank, and this is what you will be doing… TANKING! You are designed to go in first to confrontations, due to your ulti, and if you get a Heart of Behemoth you will be able to withstand a lot of punishment with it, so tank away, and lead your team into attack, and even if you fall, your team will have layed down a lot of punishment on opponents by the time you go down. Another aspect to consider is that you will still be essential in scouting out for your team, whether it be to prevent an ambush, or to check on Kongor, keep using your tormented souls to scout important spots! Finally, an extremely important aspect of the Pharaoh in late game is his ability to finish it. A well placed ultimate from the Pharaoh which hits an enemy hero who is farming by himself or just happens to be alone is the reason why I usually finish games which have dragged on, because this ulti is followed up by the Wall of Mummies/Hellfire combo and then my team helps me out with killing him, hence, decreasing the number of heroes on the opposing team, and allowing us to push successfully. No other hero in HoN is better than the Pharaoh at catching up to, and trapping, an enemy hero, and in a tight game, one less hero can be the difference between a win and a loss.

So I hope this guide was helpful to you, I will continue to make additions to it, as well as correct any mistakes it may have, and modify it as times goes by according to updates and your useful feedback. Thanks!