Dirge, the Undying, is a powerful frontline Strength hero in DotA 1, renowned for his unrivaled ability to disrupt team fights and dominate early-to-mid-game skirmishes. Driven by a high starting Intelligence pool and balanced attribute growth, his primary role centers on sapping the survivability of his foes while generating massive environmental pressure. He thrives in chaotic, clustered engagements where his sustainability scales dynamically with the number of units surrounding him.
Base Stats & Attributes
Hero Attributes
| Attribute |
Base Value |
Growth (per level) |
| Strength |
22 |
+2.8 |
| Agility |
10 |
+1.2 |
| Intelligence |
27 |
+2.8 |
Statistics & Mechanics
| Statistic |
Value |
Mechanic |
Value |
| Damage |
54-62 |
Base HP Regen |
0.25/s |
| HP |
640 |
HP Regen |
+2.45/s |
| MP |
374 |
MP Regen |
+1.36/s |
| Armor |
1.4 |
Turn Rate |
0.6 |
| Move Speed |
300 |
Base Attack Time (BAT) |
1.7 |
| Attack Range |
150 (melee) |
Attack Animations |
0.3 / 0.3 |
Hero Skills Breakdown
1. Decay
Dirge saps away the strength of enemy heroes and retains it for a period of time. Deals magical damage.
- Damage Type: Magical
- Buff/Debuff Duration: Fixed 45 seconds
- Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade: Massively scales up the amount of Strength stolen per target hit.
| Skill Level |
Strength Stolen (Base) |
Strength Stolen (Scepter) |
Magical Damage |
Cooldown |
Manacost |
| Level 1 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
10 sec |
85 |
| Level 2 |
4 |
10 |
50 |
8 sec |
90 |
| Level 3 |
4 |
10 |
80 |
6 sec |
95 |
| Level 4 |
4 |
10 |
110 |
4 sec |
100 |
2. Soul Rip
Redirects the flow of living energy through a target friend or foe, damaging them or healing them depending on how many units are near it. Deals magical damage. Can be used to heal Tombstone.
- Damage Type: Magical
- Targeting: Allied units (Heal), Enemy units (Damage), or Tombstone (Instance-based Heal)
- Mechanic: Counts all nearby allied and enemy units within an area to determine the scale of the health exchange.
| Skill Level |
Maximum Unit Count |
Health Exchange (per unit) |
Tombstone Heal (instances) |
Cooldown |
Manacost |
| Level 1 |
8 |
22 |
4 |
24 sec |
100 |
| Level 2 |
9 |
29 |
8 |
18 sec |
110 |
| Level 3 |
10 |
36 |
12 |
12 sec |
120 |
| Level 4 |
11 |
43 |
16 |
6 sec |
130 |
3. Tombstone
Unholy powers summon a cursed tombstone. Tombstone can survive few attack instances and lasts a duration. Hero's attack counts as multiple instances. Uncontrollable Zombies will frequently spawn near each enemy unit within an area and attack them. Zombies have a passive that additively slows their target. Whenever Zombie's target drops below a health threshold, Zombies gain bonus movespeed and attack speed.
- Tombstone Lifetime: Fixed 30 seconds
- Zombie Spawn Area of Effect (AoE): 1200 distance
- Zombie Passive Movement Slow: Fixed 7% additive slow per attack
- Deathlust Trigger Threshold: Activates automatically when the target's health falls below 40% HP
- Attack Instance Priority: Regular units deal 1 instance of damage per attack to the Tombstone, while enemy Hero attacks deal 4 damage instances.
| Skill Level |
Spawn Interval |
Tombstone Hit Instances (HP) |
Deathlust Movement Speed |
Deathlust Attack Speed |
Cooldown |
Manacost |
| Level 1 |
4.0 sec |
16 |
35% |
50 |
85 sec |
120 |
| Level 2 |
3.5 sec |
20 |
40% |
60 |
80 sec |
130 |
| Level 3 |
3.0 sec |
24 |
45% |
70 |
75 sec |
140 |
| Level 4 |
2.5 sec |
28 |
50% |
80 |
70 sec |
150 |
4. Flesh Golem
Undying transforms into a horrifying flesh golem with bonus movespeed. Gains a percentage increase to strength and imbues attacks with debuff which applies movespeed slow and magical damage per second on the target for the following duration. Zombies do amplified normal damage to enemies affected by this debuff. Lasts a duration.
- Transformation Duration: Fixed 40 seconds
- Debuff Duration: Applies for 6 seconds upon landing an attack
- Golem Bonus Movement Speed: Fixed +30 flat MS
- Zombie Synergy: Active Zombies deal exactly double (2x) normal damage to any enemy afflicted by the Golem's plague debuff.
| Skill Level |
Strength Bonus % |
Plague Movement Slow |
Plague Damage per Second (DPS) |
Cooldown |
Manacost |
| Level 1 |
40% |
40% |
25 |
125 sec |
100 |
| Level 2 |
50% |
45% |
35 |
125 sec |
125 |
| Level 3 |
60% |
50% |
45 |
125 sec |
150 |
Item Build Guide
| Phase |
Recommended Items |
Strategic Purpose |
| Early Game |
Arcane Boots, Magic Wand, Ring of Basilius |
Arcane Boots sustain your high spell output, supporting non-stop Decay stacks. Ring of Basilius provides vital early armor and passive mana regeneration. |
| Core Items |
Vanguard, Mekansm, Pipe of Insight |
Vanguard transforms you into an early unkillable frontline asset. Mekansm and Pipe provide immense team sustainability, allowing you to survive long enough to drop multiple Tombstones. |
| Late Game |
Aghanim's Scepter, Heart of Tarrasque, Shiva's Guard |
Aghanim's Scepter turns Decay into an offensive powerhouse by stealing 10 Strength per cast. Heart maximizes your massive HP scaling, and Shiva’s compensates for your poor armor. |
Quick Gameplay Tips
- Tombstone Preservation with Soul Rip: In team fights, enemies will immediately try to focus down your Tombstone to stop the zombie swarm. You can cast Soul Rip directly on the Tombstone. At maximum level, this instantly restores up to 16 attack instances of health, completely wasting the enemy team's coordination and physical damage investments.
- The Deathlust Slow Chain: Wait to deploy Tombstone until a skirmish has fully committed. Once the enemy heroes drop under 40% health, the spawned zombies trigger Deathlust, moving at extreme speeds and applying a stacking 7% movement slow. This locks targets in place, making it impossible for them to outrun your Flesh Golem plague aura.
