Footmen frenzy heroes: Alchemist

The Alchemist is something of a conundrum because he doesn't really fit the mold of the other heroes. He's strength-based but can't do any damage without Chemical Rage, and his AOE spells are fair to middlin'. Most people don't like to pick the Alchemist, as he doesn't fit into any of the normal strategies of the game. But played right, alchemist can be a powerful early game farmer and late game support hero. His acid bomb can pretty much kill footmen on one cast at Level 3 and the transmute will give you all the gold you need to mass a crazy teched up army. A fun strategy is to max Acid Bomb, Chemical Rage, and Transmute. Tech up your army with the cash from transmute and with any other gold buy a Mask of Death and some health items. You will have a fast attacking hero killing machine, because -25 armor really hurts.

Spells

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Healing Spray

Healing Spray is an Area of Effect healing spell that heals both allied and enemy units. It affects a very large area and should be spammed often to keep your armies alive. Note that you can also heal yourself with this spell -- just place the circle target over the top of your hero. Healing Spray always costs 75 mana.

Level	Heal	Area	Range
1	40 hp per wave / 5 waves	250 AoE	800 range
2	55 hp per wave / 6 waves	325 AoE	850 range
3	70 hp per wave / 7 waves	400 AoE	900 range
4	80 hp per wave / 8 waves	475 AoE	950 range
5	100 hp per wave / 9 waves	550 AoE	1000 range
6	150 hp per wave / 12 waves	625 AoE	1050 range

Acid Bomb

Acid Bomb is like a Drunken Haze that works in a circle, with a dash of Howl of Terror and the aftereffects of Rain of Fire. The bomb targets a single unit, and the effects are felt by all units in the surrounding area. Don't rely on this spell for kills -- just use it to incapacitate armies. Acid Bomb always costs 75 mana and has the same duration on both heroes and units. Although it looks weak , at lvl 6, it can be as deadly as any other AoE skill .

Level	Armor Reduction	Attack / Move Speed Reduction	Damage	Cooldown	Area	Range
1	-3 armor	N/A	3 dmg/sec for 10 secs	12 secs	200 AoE	700 range
2	-6 armor	N/A	7 dmg/sec for 11 secs	11 secs	220 AoE	725 range
3	-9 armor	-10% attack & move speed	10 dmg/sec for 12 secs	10 secs	240 AoE	750 range
4	-12 armor	-20% attack & move speed	13 dmg/sec for 13 secs	9 secs	260 AoE	775 range
5	-15 armor	-30% attack & move speed	15 dmg/sec for 14 secs	8 secs	280 AoE	800 range
6	-20 armor	-40% attack & move speed	20 dmg/sec for 16 secs	7 secs	300 AoE	850 range

Chemical Rage

Chemical Rage converts your Alchemist into a bloodlusted fighting machine for 20 seconds, and it's cheap enough to use whenever available. Having this spell means you don't have to worry too much about Agility items, and it works great with a Mask of Death. The big problem is that the Alchemist tends to crumple easily on the front line so you really need to commit to items that will keep him alive if you use this skill as a mainstay. Please remember that you give a slightly higher bounty if killed in this form. Chemical Rage always costs 25 mana and lasts for 20 seconds.

Level	Attack Speed	Cooldown
1	-0.5 secs attack cooldown	30 secs
2	-0.75 secs attack cooldown	28 secs
3	-1.0 sec attack cooldown	26 secs
4	-1.25 secs attack cooldown	24 secs
5	-1.5 secs attack cooldown	22 secs
6	-1.75 secs attack cooldown	20 secs

Transmute

Transmute is the reason most people choose Alchemist these days, and it's not a particularly compelling one. With one cast, you can turn a single non-hero unit into gold. With a little experimentation, you'll be able to figure out the most cost-effective ways to use this spell, but just remember that higher Tiers generally give more money than lower tiers.

The amount you get back from a unit is determined by the Gold Cost and you also receive the normal random bounty for killing the unit. For example, a Crypt Fiend costs 200 gold and gives 27-41 gold bounty upon death. If you Transmute this unit with Level 2 Transmute, you will get the random bounty as usual, plus 400 gold.

You can also use Transmute on Creeps from the Creep Shop. For Creeps, the Transmute Factor is equal to the cost of the creep, so casting Level 3 Transmute on a 300 gold Demolisher will return 900 gold! Transmute does not return any gold for summons.

Level	Transmute Factor	Cooldown	Mana
1	1x Gold Cost for level 5 and below	45 secs	175 mana
2	2x Gold Cost for level 6 and below	60 secs	275 mana
3	3x Gold Cost for level 7 and below	75 secs	375 mana

Overview

	Tier 0	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Unit Cost	50	150	200	250	300	500