Shadow Demon
Among the sovereign Demons with explicit access to this world, Doom scarcely bothers with the affairs of Noninfernals and Lesser Spectral Consorts, while Shadow Fiend passes through almost exclusively on collecting expeditions. The Shadow Demon, however, has always taken a deep and abiding interest in the material plane, as if sensing that mastery of this gritty dimensional nexus might be the key to total domination of all realities. Summoned first by minor wizards, the Shadow Demon granted every wish and put on increasingly impressive displays of power until he had the full attention of the greatest demonologists, and through them the various lords, tyrants, autarchs and heirophants who depended on sorcery to buttress their mundane power. So great was his deception that all his summoners considered themselves the master and Shadow Demon the servant; meanwhile, he eroded their identitie…
Hero lore
Among the sovereign Demons with explicit access to this world, Doom scarcely bothers with the affairs of Noninfernals and Lesser Spectral Consorts, while Shadow Fiend passes through almost exclusively on collecting expeditions. The Shadow Demon, however, has always taken a deep and abiding interest in the material plane, as if sensing that mastery of this gritty dimensional nexus might be the key to total domination of all realities. Summoned first by minor wizards, the Shadow Demon granted every wish and put on increasingly impressive displays of power until he had the full attention of the greatest demonologists, and through them the various lords, tyrants, autarchs and heirophants who depended on sorcery to buttress their mundane power. So great was his deception that all his summoners considered themselves the master and Shadow Demon the servant; meanwhile, he eroded their identitie…
Compact stat and ability fields shown here were checked against patch 7.41e where this model represents the changed field. Talents and full mechanics remain in the official notes.
Shadow Demon abilities
Banishes the targeted unit from the battlefield for a short duration. Upon returning, two illusions of the banished unit with bonus base damage are created under Shadow Demon's control.
Whenever the target takes damage, all enemies, including the target itself if it is an enemy, within 675 range of the target also receive a portion of that damage. Can target enemy and allied units. Effect is paused if the target is hidden by Disruption.
Deals damage in a line, and afflicts enemy units with a poison effect. The poison deals 1/2/4/8/16 times the stack damage based on the number of stacks on the target, up to 5 stacks. Additional stacks cause 50 damage each. This deferred damage is dealt when S…
Releases the poison to do damage on all affected enemies. Units under the effect of Disruption can still be affected by Shadow Poison.
Cleanses the target allied unit, removing negative buffs for the duration. At the end of the duration, the unit is healed. Units under the effect of Disruption can still be affected by Demonic Cleanse. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Purges the target enemy unit, removing positive buffs, and slowing the target for the duration. The unit slowly regains its speed until the end of the duration, upon which damage is dealt. Units under the effect of Disruption can still be affected by Demonic…
Shadow Demon's Attacks apply a stacking debuff to the enemy for 8 seconds that increases their damage taken.
Hidden, PassivePopular items by game phase
OpenDota professional-match aggregate as of Jul 21, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC. Popularity rows are independent phase totals, not a coherent build, sequence, or win-rate advice.
Starting
6 items- 1
Iron Branch130 selections · 20.1% - 2
Tango94 selections · 14.5% - 3
Blood Grenade87 selections · 13.4% - 4
Observer and Sentry Wards72 selections · 11.1% - 5
Faerie Fire63 selections · 9.7% - 6
Sentry Ward48 selections · 7.4%
Early
6 items- 1
Boots of Speed79 selections · 66.9% - 2
Arcane Boots32 selections · 27.1% - 3
Tranquil Boots4 selections · 3.4% - 4
Bracer1 selections · 0.8% - 5
Null Talisman1 selections · 0.8% - 6
Urn of Shadows1 selections · 0.8%
Mid
6 items- 1
Blink Dagger56 selections · 27.1% - 2Arcane Boots43 selections · 20.8%
- 3
Aghanim's Shard21 selections · 10.1% - 4
Aether Lens16 selections · 7.7% - 5
Staff of Wizardry11 selections · 5.3% - 6
Glimmer Cape9 selections · 4.3%
Late
6 items- 1
Aghanim's Scepter26 selections · 21.1% - 2Blink Dagger25 selections · 20.3%
- 3Aether Lens24 selections · 19.5%
- 4Glimmer Cape14 selections · 11.4%
- 5
Force Staff8 selections · 6.5% - 6
Aeon Disk6 selections · 4.9%
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Shadow Demon — frequently asked
What are Shadow Demon's abilities in Dota 2?
Shadow Demon's abilities are Disruption, Disseminate, Shadow Poison, Shadow Poison Release, Demonic Cleanse, Demonic Purge, Menace. It is a Intelligence ranged hero played as Support, Disabler, Initiator.
What is Shadow Demon's primary attribute?
Shadow Demon is a Intelligence hero, starting with 23 strength (+2.6/lvl), 18 agility (+2.2/lvl) and 22 intelligence (+3.6/lvl), and a base move speed of 290.
What do the popular Shadow Demon item phases mean?
The saved OpenDota aggregate is dated 2026-07-22. The phase lists summarize professional-match item popularity; they are not one coherent build, a recommended sequence, or win-rate advice.