Alchemist’s core idea

Alchemist is a carry built around getting rich faster than other heroes. His kit rewards clean farming, smart timing, and solid decisions. When played well, he turns early gold into pressure on the map and long-term value for the whole team. His abilities and item timings work together to help him farm quickly, win fights with a strong stun, and keep going through regeneration and speed from his ultimate.

How his abilities work

Alchemist’s abilities form a simple but effective toolkit. Each one helps him farm or fight in a clear way.

• Acid Spray: Creates an area that lowers armor and deals damage over time. It clears waves and camps fast and softens enemies for physical damage. With good positioning and a bit of sustain, you can even take Ancient camps early.
• Unstable Concoction: Starts brewing a stun that grows stronger up to a cap. Throw it at an enemy before it expires to deal high damage and a long stun. If you get disabled or wait too long, it explodes on you. Brew it before you close the gap so you hit the max or near-max duration safely.
• Corrosive Weaponry: A passive that applies stacking slows on hit. It helps you chase and keeps targets in Acid Spray. It also makes you more threatening in long fights.
• Greevil’s Greed: Grants bonus gold from last hits and bounty runes, letting you outpace most carries. Keeping the streak going by chaining last hits and collecting runes multiplies the effect.
• Chemical Rage (Ultimate): Gives high health regeneration, movement speed, and attack speed. It lets you farm non-stop and makes you hard to bring down if you are not controlled. It scales well with attack damage items.

Skill build basics

Take a point in each core tool early, then focus on what your lane and game need.

• Level 1: Acid Spray for lane control and secure last hits, or Unstable Concoction for kill threat if you have setup.
• Levels 2–3: Get both Acid Spray and Unstable Concoction. Add Corrosive Weaponry by level 3 for chase.
• Max order: Usually prioritize Acid Spray for farm and armor reduction, then Unstable Concoction. Take Chemical Rage whenever available.
• Adjust if pressured: If you are being ganked, hold a point to respond with Concoction or Spray as needed.

Early game plan

Your goal is to build an income lead without dying. Focus on last hits, pulls, and stacks. Drop Acid Spray to secure ranged creeps and push the wave into your safe pull. Keep track of bounty runes; they boost your economy with Greevil’s Greed. If supports can stack nearby camps, clear them with Spray during safe windows. Avoid long chases before level 6 unless your stun will certainly connect. Always carry a Town Portal Scroll to dodge ganks.

Mid game timings and combo

Once Chemical Rage is up and your first big item is close, you can join fights or pressure towers. Time your rotation around rune spawns and enemy cooldowns. A reliable sequence is:

• Activate Chemical Rage
• Start brewing Unstable Concoction
• Blink or Shadow Blade to close the gap
• Throw Concoction as it nears max
• Drop Acid Spray on the fight area
• Use Black King Bar if needed, then focus targets with Corrosive stacks

This flow makes your stun land cleanly and sets up damage for you and your team.

Item choices

Pick items that keep you farming fast and alive in fights. Common paths:

• Boots: Phase Boots for damage and armor. They help last hitting and chasing under Acid Spray.
• Farm accelerators: Radiance for farming multiple camps and teamfight damage, or Maelstrom/Mjolnir for single-target DPS and fast wave clear. A well-played Alchemist can reach a Radiance or Mjolnir around minute 14 if uncontested.
• Gap close and protection: Blink Dagger to guarantee Concoction connects, or Shadow Blade for map pressure and pickoffs. Black King Bar is essential versus heavy disables or magic damage.
• Damage and control: Skull Basher into Abyssal Blade for a reliable follow-up stun on priority targets.
• Auras and armor: Assault Cuirass adds attack speed for you and reduces armor for enemies, stacking well with Acid Spray.
• Survivability: Heart of Tarrasque or Satanic if you need more staying power.
• Utility and uptime: Octarine Core lowers cooldowns, especially Chemical Rage, and adds spell lifesteal for sustain. Manta Style helps dispel silences and slows and boosts farming speed.

Once your core items are done, you can add team value by picking up auras or utility that help your lineup end fights quickly.

Team play and map control

Ping and secure bounty runes. Ask supports to stack camps; convert those stacks into fast items. Use Acid Spray to pressure towers after a won fight or when enemy cores show on the other side of the map. Keep lanes pushed so your team can claim more of the jungle. When ahead, farm the enemy side of the map under vision to choke their income. When behind, farm safely near towers and only fight with Chemical Rage and Concoction ready.

Counterplay to watch for

Certain heroes and items limit your regeneration and make fights harder:

• Necrophos can finish you through high health with his ultimate, ignoring regen.
• Spirit Vessel and Eye of Skadi reduce healing and regeneration, cutting the value of Chemical Rage.
• Long chain-stuns can cause your Concoction to explode on you. Carry BKB or Manta to avoid this.

Play around these by engaging on your terms. Start fights with vision, force key spells, and only commit once you can land Concoction. If Skadi or Vessel is in play, consider earlier BKB, Manta, or Lotus Orb.

Common mistakes

Several habits slow down the hero’s game plan:

• Overfarming while teammates fight 4v5. Convert your gold lead into towers or Roshan when strong.
• Charging Concoction too early without a gap close, leading to self-stuns.
• Skipping BKB against heavy control. Your gold is wasted if you cannot hit.
• Ignoring bounty runes and stacks. These are key to staying ahead.

Quick tips

• Keep Chemical Rage active while moving between camps to save health and time.
• Brew Concoction before blinking so you throw near max duration on arrival.
• Drop Acid Spray on stacked camps and tighten aggro to keep all creeps in the area.
• Track enemy jump heroes and hold Concoction to punish them when they commit.
• Use your gold lead to buy auras or control items that help your team close out the game.