Alchemist

Alchemist
	25 + 2.4 22 + 1.2 25 + 1.8
Movement speed	305
Attack speed	100
Turn rate	0.6
Vision range	1800/800
Attack range	150
Projectile speed	Instant
Attack animation	0.35+0.65
Base attack time	1.7
Collision size	24
Legs	2
Gib type	Default

Hero

Strategy

Counters

Razzil Darkbrew, the Alchemist, is a melee strength hero whose alchemical prowess makes him a strange but versatile fighter. He is an unusual carry based upon transmuting killed creeps into large amounts of bonus gold, with both an early game and late game presence due to the enormous health regeneration from his ultimate and the first strike nature of his other spells. His low but balanced attributes and the sure promise of gold for items means he can be one of the most disparately built heroes in the game.

Unstable Concoction is his main contribution early on, dealing good damage and a lengthy stun. Acid Spray allows him to rapidly clear waves of creeps for his Greevil's Greed to contribute massive amounts of extra income. A well-equipped Alchemist can then use Chemical Rage to its fullest effect, as the incredible regeneration and base attack time reduction make it one of the best steroid abilities in the game.

Bio[edit]

Razzil Darkbrew, the Alchemist

▶️ "Failure is just another kind of success. The wrong kind."

Lore:

The sacred science of Chymistry was a Darkbrew family tradition, but no Darkbrew had ever shown the kind of creativity, ambition, and recklessness of young Razzil. However, when adulthood came calling he pushed aside the family trade to try his hand at manufacturing gold through Alchemy. In an act of audacity befitting his reputation, Razzil announced he would transmute an entire mountain into gold. Following two decades of research and spending and preparation, he failed spectacularly, quickly finding himself imprisoned for the widespread destruction his experiment wrought. Yet Razzil was never one to take a setback lightly, and sought escape to continue his research. When his new cellmate turned out to be a fierce ogre, he found just the opportunity he needed. After convincing the ogre not to eat him, Razzil set about carefully concocting a tincture for it to drink, made from the moulds and mosses growing in the prison stone work. In a week's time, it seemed ready. When the ogre drank the potion, it flew into an unstoppable berserker rage, destroying the cell bars and exploding through walls and guards alike. They soon found themselves lost somewhere in the forest surrounding the city with a trail of wreckage in their wake and no signs of pursuit. In the tonic's afterglow, the ogre seemed serene, happy, and even eager. Resolving to work together, the pair set off to collect the materials needed to attempt Razzil's Alchemic transmutation once more.

Voice:

Bruce Miles (Responses)

Abilities[edit]

Acid Spray

▶️

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

Sprays high-pressure acid across a target area. Enemy units who step across the contaminated terrain take damage per second and have their armor reduced.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 900

Radius: 475/525/575/625

Damage per Second: 15/20/25/30

Armor Reduction: 4/5/6/7

Aura Linger Duration: 0.5

Duration: 16

22

130/140/150/160

Modifiers

Acid Spray: Undispellable.

Using traditional Alchemy from the Darkbrew family, Razzil concocts an acid that dissolves even the toughest metals.

Notes:

The armor reduction is provided by an aura. Its debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds. The damage is independent from the aura.

Deals damage in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second after receiving the debuff, resulting in up to 16 instances.

Can deal up to 240/320/400/480 damage to a single unit (before reductions).

When leveling up the ability while a cast is already active, the armor reduction value on already affected units does not update to the new value.
- However, if an enemy receives the debuff after leveling it up, that enemy receives the new armor reduction value.
- The damage value does not update and is always based on the level the ability was cast on.

The damage of multiple instances of Acid Spray fully stacks. The armor reduction, however, does not.

Does not affect couriers.

Unstable Concoction

▶️

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Damage
Physical

Alchemist brews up an unstable concoction that he can throw at an enemy hero, to stun and deal damage in an area around the explosion. The longer the concoction brews, the more damage it deals and the longer the stun. After 5 seconds, the brew reaches its maximum damage and stun time. However, after 5.5 seconds, the concoction will explode on Alchemist himself if not thrown.

Cast Animation: +

Concoction Radius: 200

Maximum Brew Time: 5

Maximum Throw Time: 5.5

Minimum Damage: 0

Maximum Damage: 160/240/320/400 (

560/640/720/800)

Maximum Stun Duration: 1.75/2.5/3.25/4

22/20/18/16 (

15/13/11/9)

120

Does not affect self when blowing up while spell immune, but still applies the area effect.

Blocked by enemies but not blocked by self when blowing up on self.

Modifiers

Unstable Concoction: Undispellable.

Stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.

A silver lining to the failure of turning a mountain into gold, this volatile solution has destructive potential.

Notes:

Interrupts Alchemist's channeling spells upon cast.

A timer above Alchemist's head shows how much time is left before the Concoction blows up. This timer is visible to everyone.

The brewing animation and particles are visible to everyone. The Unstable Concoction buff is hidden.

The sound can be heard by enemies only when the spell was cast within their vision range.

The damage starts at 0 and increases by 3.2/4.8/6.4/8 ( 11.2/12.8/14.4/16) for each 0.1 seconds brewed, reaching the full damage in 5 seconds.

The stun starts at 0.3 and increases by 0.029/0.044/0.059/0.074 for each 0.1 seconds brewed, reaching 1.75/2.5/3.25/4 in 5 seconds.

The concoction first applies the damage, then the debuff.

Unstable Concoction always affects a 200 area around where it explodes, including when it explodes on Alchemist.

When Alchemist dies while brewing, it instantly blows up, hitting units around Alchemist based on how long it was brewed.

While brewing the concoction, Alchemist can still move around and act freely.

The stun and damage can hit creep-heroes within the radius as well.

Alchemist can deny himself with this ability.

Choosing the minimum damage upgrading talent immediately upgrades Alchemist's currently brewing concoction and all of his currently flying concoction projectiles.

Unstable Concoction Throw

▶️

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemy Heroes

Damage
Physical

Throw it before it blows up!

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 775

0

Cannot target spell immune units. When the projectile connects with a spell immune unit, it still affects other units within the radius.

Blocked upon impact by everyone within the radius.

Modifiers

Stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.

Notes:

Replaces Unstable Concoction until the concoction is thrown or blows up.

The targeting reticule must be centered over an enemy unit.

The concoction travels at a speed of 900.

Once thrown, Unstable Concoction stops brewing.

Can only be thrown at heroes or illusions. The area damage does not hit creeps.

Cannot be cast on, but can stun and damage creep-heroes within the radius.

When connecting with an invulnerable or hidden target, it still applies its area effect, hitting nearby units.

Greevil's Greed

Ability
Passive

Affects
Self

Alchemist synthesizes additional gold from his enemies and bounty runes. With each kill, Alchemist earns base bonus gold and extra bonus gold. If Alchemist kills another unit which yields gold within the next 40 seconds, an additional instance of Extra Bonus Gold is added to the total. Additionally, causes bounty runes to yield more gold.

Base Gold Bonus: 4

Extra Gold Bonus per Stack: 4

Gold Bonus Cap: 20/24/28/32

Stack Duration: 40

Bounty Rune Multiplier: 2/2.5/3/3.5

Modifiers

Goblins Greed: Undispellable.

While it is not a mountain, Razzil has mastered the conversion of smaller compounds to line his pockets.

Notes:

Greevil's Greed triggers on every last hit Alchemist makes, excluding last hits on allies, buildings, illusions and Tempest Doubles.

All stacks work fully independently from each other. They last 40 seconds each and do not refresh each other.

Alchemist himself has to last hit to gain a stack, making last hits with other owned units does not add to his current stack.

The status buff icon shows how much extra gold Alchemist gains on his next last hit.

A second bounty number appears over Alchemist, showing the amount of extra gold earned. This number is only visible to Alchemist.

The minimum amount of last hits needed to reach the gold bonus cap is 4/5/6/7 (within the 40-second stack duration).

Gold earned through Greevil's Greed is unreliable.

The Bounty Rune multiplier only affects the amount of gold Alchemist gains (regardless of whether he collects the rune himself). Allies still gain the default value.

Chemical Rage

▶️

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Alchemist causes his Ogre to enter a chemically induced rage, reducing base attack cooldown and increasing movement speed and regeneration.

Cast Animation: +

Transformation Time: 0.35

Base Attack Time: 1.2/1.1/1 (

1/0.9/0.8)

Health Regen Bonus: 50/75/100 (

80/105/130)

Mana Regen Bonus: 4/10/16

Move Speed Bonus: 40/50/60

Rage Duration: 25

55

50/100/150

Illusions created during Chemical Rage get a new Chemical Rage buff which lasts its full duration, regardless of how much was left on Alchemist himself.

Modifiers

Chemical Rage Transform: Undispellable.

Chemical Rage: Undispellable.

The brew Razzil gave to the Ogre during their prison bust has become a useful potion in the midst of combat.

Notes:

Disjoints projectiles and applies a basic dispel on Alchemist upon cast.

Increases Alchemist's total movement speed to 345/355/365, and sets his base attack time to 1.2/1.1/1 ( 1/0.9/0.8).

Can regenerate up to 1250/1875/2500 ( 2000/2625/3250) health and 100/250/400 mana over its full duration.

Chemical Rage is fully canceled on death.

Recasting Chemical Rage before the previous cast finishes refreshes the duration and updates all values to the current level.

Aghanim's Scepter Synth

▶️

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Allied Heroes

Alchemist melts down Aghanim's Scepter to grant an allied hero all Aghanim's Scepter upgrades. When you have a Scepter of your own, you will gain bonus damage and spell amplification for each gifted Scepter.

Cast Range: 600

Attack Damage Bonus per Gifted Scepter: 0 (

30)

Spell Damage Amplification Bonus per Gifted Scepter: 0% (

6%)

Illusions copy the Aghanim's Scepter buff. Illusions of Alchemist do not copy the damage buff.

Modifiers

Ultimate Scepter Consumed: Undispellable.

Scepter Bonus Damage: Undispellable.

Notes:

Aghanim's Scepter has an active ability for Alchemist, allowing him to cast it on allied heroes (excluding hero clones and illusions).
- Once cast, the Scepter is destroyed and the targeted ally receives the Ultimate Scepter Consumed buff, which is permanent.
- This status buff grants the ally all Aghanim's Scepter upgrades, but does not grant the item's stats.
- The net worth of the Scepter transfers from Alchemist to the target hero. Self-casting does not change the net worth.
- Doing so does neither change Alchemist's nor the target's GPM.
- A hero can only be targeted once by Aghanim's Scepter.

The ability to transfer Aghanim's Scepter is innate to the hero and not the ultimate ability.
- This means that Alchemist can share Aghanim's Scepters in Ability Draft, regardless of his skills.

Alchemist cannot gift Aghanim's Scepter to allies who already acquired the buff by buying it in the shop or from picking it up from Roshan, since they all use the same buff.

Since up to 4 allies and Alchemist himself can be infused, Alchemist can gain up to 150 attack damage and 30% spell damage amplification.

Cleave

▶️

Ability
Passive

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

There is no description for this ability.

Starting Radius: 150

Distance: 650

End Radius: 360

Cleave Damage: 40%

Visual effects and sounds still play when illusions attack.

Notes:

Cleave damage cannot be amplified with spell damage amplification and cannot spell lifesteal.

Cleave damage is reduced by Damage Block.

The complete area is shaped like an isosceles trapezoid in front of Alchemist.

Fully stacks with other sources of cleaves. Each source of cleave works completely independent.

Does not cleave upon attacking wards, buildings or allied units. Wards and buildings are unaffected by cleave.

Despite the visual effect, cleave damage is applied instantly in the whole area.

Talents[edit]

Hero Talents
+30 Chemical Rage Regeneration	25	-0.2 Chemical Rage Base Attack Time
+400 Unstable Concoction Damage	20	+40% Cleave
+50 Damage	15	+400 Health
-7s Unstable Concoction Cooldown	10	+25 Attack Speed

Notes:

This attack damage talent is added as raw attack damage, so it does not benefit illusions, and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.

The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.

Recommended items[edit]

Starting items:

Tango regenerates health so Alchemist can survive the lane.
Healing Salve restores health also.
Stout Shield mitigates damage taken from enemy harass.
Iron Branch is cheap and gives small attribute bonuses.
Enchanted Mango gives health regeneration, and burst mana to use Acid Spray.

Early game:

Quelling Blade helps Alchemist get last hits with increased attack damage against creeps.
Boots of Speed give a nice movement speed boost.

Mid game:

Power Treads increase attack speed and strength to help Alchemist obtain last hits. The bonus intelligence helps him use more Acid Spray in the early to mid game.
Armlet of Mordiggian works well with Chemical Rage's health regeneration, countering the item's health draining effect.
Radiance is a good pickup since Alchemist can get it quickly with Greevil's Greed, when the burn damage hurts the most. It deals heavy damage to the enemy team, as Alchemist can stay alive for prolonged periods with Chemical Rage.
Manta Style is excellent for sieging buildings, and also provides Alchemist with a much needed disjoint mechanism.
Octarine Core lowers cooldown for Alchemist to use abilities and items more often, increasing the uptime of Chemical Rage as well as damage output and disable from Unstable Concoction. The spell lifesteal allows Alchemist to gain back some health with Acid Spray and Radiance.
Blink Dagger improves mobility so Alchemist can get in range and use Unstable Concoction on the enemies.

Late game:

Boots of Travel allows Alchemist to split push lanes, and be present at while farming free lanes. Also, the movement speed boost greatly mitigates his weakness in mobility.
Black King Bar protects Alchemist from most disables so he can continue to deal damage.
Shiva's Guard grants tankiness with armor and attack speed slow aura. Arctic Blast also slows enemy movement speed, keeping them in range of Acid Spray and Radiance.
Assault Cuirass lowers enemies' armor, which stacks with the armor reduction from Acid Spray. It also provides a useful aura to buff armor and attack speed the rest of your team.

Situational items:

Mjollnir increases Alchemist's attack speed greatly, and also gives a useful Static Charge to protect Alchemist or his teammates. Its lightning attack will also trigger often under Chemical Rage.
Battle Fury allows Alchemist to farm anything in no time.
Blade Mail forces enemies to think twice about fighting back against Alchemist.
Abyssal Blade goes well with Alchemist's high attack speed, and helps greatly in securing an enemy. It also gives bonus attack damage and greater survivability providing bonus HP and blocking damage from incoming attacks.
Heaven's Halberd gives some strength, evasion, status resistance, and also gives the ability to disarm a threatening enemy.
Heart of Tarrasque gives Alchemist a massive amount of health. Combined with the health regeneration from Chemical Rage, Alchemist is extremely hard to take down.
Solar Crest allows Alchemist to further reduce the armor of his enemies, makes it easier to fight them with his Ultimate, and allows him to further support allies.
Shadow Blade grants Alchemist invisibility to brew up his Unstable Concoction. He can break the invisibility by attacking the enemy for additional bonus damage and at the same time launch his concoction. You can upgrade to Silver Edge for the break effect.
Moon Shard grants increased attack speed to Alchemist without using any inventory slots. He can also use Moon Shard on an ally to give them the bonus attack speed instead.
Aghanim's Scepter allows Alchemist to give the item to an ally, granting them appropriate upgrades and attributes.

Gameplay[edit]


Roles:	Carry Support Durable Disabler Initiator Nuker
Complexity:	★☆☆
Playstyle:	Having broken out of prison with his ogre accomplice, Razzil Darkbrew embarks on the search for new materials to use in his transmutations. Learned in alchemy, Razzil is able to extract extra gold from creeps, and create fields of toxic sludge with Acid Spray. The Alchemist brews, atop the shoulders of his companion, an increasingly Unstable Concoction that is ideally thrown before it explodes. In a pinch, Razzil slips his partner an unknown potion, inducing a Chemical Rage in the ogre's body. Symptoms include unnatural attack speed, rapid health regeneration, and a pleasant purple hue.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio[edit]

Responses

Sounds

History[edit]

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment[edit]

Trivia[edit]

At one point during beta, Alchemist's bio consisted entirely of the following sentence: "Alchemist is named Al and is a chemist."
Alchemist's third ability name remained unchanged from its DotA counterpart until after the Diretide event, when it was changed from "Goblin's Greed" into "Greevil's Greed."
The Ogre's portion of the Caustic Steel cosmetic set may be a reference to Master Blaster from Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdome, while the Alchemist's armor and hair are most likely a reference to Edward Elric, one of the two main protagonists of Fullmetal Alchemist.
Acid Spray's ▶️ sound effect has the same reprocessed sound of ▶️ Oil Platform building from game Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, created by Blizzard.
One of Alchemist's last hit lines ▶️ "Only ninety-eight percent pure?" is a direct reference to AMC's TV series Breaking Bad.^[1]
Another of his last hit lines ▶️ "Greed is good." is a reference to Gordon Gekko's speech in the 1987 film, Wall Street.^[2]
Alchemist's line for picking up a Haste Rune ▶️ "Run, buddy, run!" may be a reference to Forrest Gump, since sometime in the movie there is a line "Run, Forrest, Run!"^[3]
Alchemist's leveling line ▶️ " Better living through alchemy!" is a reference to the phrase "Better Living Through Chemistry", a popular variant of a DuPont advertising slogan which later became a common phrase.