Dota Guide-Crixalis

Crixalis was a normal scorpion in Kalimdor's deserts. For unknown reasons, he evolved much faster than his brothers, growing extremely large. Because he was still susceptible to the Sand King King's mind control, he was summoned and is now guarding the Frozen Throne. While much larger, Crixalis still possesses his scorpian abilities, such as the power to burrow into the ground and resurface elsewhere, impaling all in his wake. His tail contains a violent venom, which causes his enemies to explode. Scouts have discovered that he can create large tremors in the ground, killing anyone distracted enough to get near him.



Base HP: 492
Base Mana: 208

Strength - 18 + 2.3 (Primary)
Agility - 19 + 2.1
Intelligence- 16 + 1.8

Base damage 43-59
Attack range of 128 (melee)
Base Armor 3.7
Movement speed of 300

Strengths and Weaknesses

Positives
Has a great AoE damage, can turn out the game with good placed Epicenter.
Not items dependant.
Fast farming with Caustic Finale.

Negatives
Epicenter needs great timing and positioning.
Possibly targeted by all enemy hero after you initiate.

Skill Descriptions

Burrowstrike (E)



The Sand King burrows into the ground, tunnels forward impaling everything above him, then surfaces.

Level 1 - 100 damage, 400 maximum range.
Level 2 - 160 damage, 500 maximum range.
Level 3 - 220 damage, 600 maximum range.
Level 4 - 280 damage, 700 maximum range.

Mana Cost: 140
Cooldown: 11

A really usefull skills. Stun enemies in a row and in the same time moving yourself. Use it for initiate, chase and escaping.

Sand Storm (R)



Sand King creates a fearsome Sand Storm. The storm blinds his enemies and he becomes invisible to them. In the same time his opponents take damage.

Level 1- 20 damage per second, 200 AOE, invisibility lasts 20 seconds, 0.3 second delay before revealed
Level 2- 40 damage per second, 250 AOE, invisibility lasts 40 seconds, 0.3 second delay before revealed
Level 3- 60 damage per second, 300 AOE, invisibility lasts 60 seconds, 0.9 second delay before revealed
Level 4- 80 damage per second, 350 AOE, invisibility lasts 80 seconds, 1.2 seconds delay before revealed

Channeling
Mana Cost: 60/ 50/ 40/ 30
Cooldown: 40

The damage isn't good for farming. The only reason you want to take it is for the invisibility. Sometime helpfull in a emergency situation.

Caustic Finale (L)



Each of the Sand King's attack injects a deadly venom that causes the target to explode violently on death, dealing damage in an area.

Level 1 - 90 damage.
Level 2 - 130 damage.
Level 3 - 170 damage.
Level 4 - 220 damage.

Orb effect
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A

Great passive skill for farming. You can kill a wave of creep in a couple seconds. The only drawback of this skill is it's Orb effect.

Epicenter (C)



Sends a disturbance into the earth, causing it to shudder violently. All caught within range will take damage, and their attack speed and movespeed slowed by 40%.

Level 1 - 2.0 second casting time, 6 pulses of 110 damage, each pulse has a 300 AoE.
Level 2 - 2.0 second casting time, 8 pulses of 110 damage, each pulse has a 350 AoE.
Level 3 - 2.0 second casting time, 10 pulses of 110 damage, each pulse has a 400 AoE.

Mana Cost: 175/ 250/ 325
Cooldown: 140/ 120/ 100

Magnificent skills! Massive damage and the same time slows enemies. For maximal results, often combined with Blink Dagger or Burrow Strike. The only problem is, the enemies will try their hardest to cancel this.

Skill Build

Level 1: Burrowstrike
Level 2: Sandstorm/Stats
Level 3: Burrowstrike
Level 4: Stats
Level 5: Burrowstrike
Level 6: Epicenter
Level 7: Burrowstrike
Levels 8-10: Stats
Level 11: Epicenter
Levels 12-15: Caustic Finale
Level 16: Epicenter
Levels 17-21: Stats
Levels 22: Stats/Sandstorm
Levels 23-25: Sandstorm

Burrowstrike is taken and maxed early for obvious reason. It will be your primary combo combined with Epicenter. When Burrowstrike already level 4, you are ready to ganking any hero. One point on Stand Storm can save you from early gank focused on you. Only take one level, you only want the invisibility, not the poor damage.

On early game, Stats is ways better than Caustic Finale. Stats will give you more HP and additional Mana for your combo. Taking Caustic Finale early will make you pushing too fast and make you vulnerable for ganked. The only chance you will want to take Caustic Finale early is when you are facing melee hero on your line. It will help you harass the melee enemy heroes while last hitting. On level 12-15, maxed Caustic Finale and you will farm like crazy.

Item Build

1. Gauntlet of Ogre Strength + Circlet of Nobility + Tangos
2. Empty Bottle
3. Finish Bracer
4. Blink Daggers
5. Boots of Speed
6. Second Bracers
7. Finish Boots of Travel

Your core item should be like this:



The most important thing about Epicenter is the positioning and timing. Blink Dagger is the perfect tools to meet the demand. In order to have an effective role throughout the game, you must be ready for ganking and initiating once you've prepared for your items.

Bracers will cover your lack of additional Stats item, while Bottle will cover your regeneration and make you stay longer in the line. After get the Dagger, to maximize Sand King role as ganker, upgrade your shoes into Boots of Travel. It will help you farming and initiate ganking in the same time.

Late Game Items

+ +

Typical Sand King team battle role is to jump into the enemy with the Epicenter and then tanks all the damage. That's why in the late game you will need mass HP and armor boost.

Blink Dagger vs Black King Bar

Blink Dagger is better than BKB because Blink Dagger helps you gank (which is what Sand King would do besides farming, tanking and initiating battle) and gives the value of surprise when you deliver your Epicenter. Usually the enemies would scatter around if you get a BKB, activate avatar and cast burrow+epi, but with Blink Dagger comes the value of surprise. Without them knowing, you could deliver your Epicenter more effectively, and will help you much more in initiating battles.

But it seems the spell immunity of BKB is attracting a lot of people to buy it. But you must note several things. There are a lot of spells which go through avatar and deals a 0.1 second ministun, which cancels your Epicenter casting. You can just activate Avatar every 100 seconds while Blink Dagger can be activated every 25 seconds. And the last, BKB doesn't offer you anything to help you relocate, which can be used in a lot of things. Even so, if you indeed have a big trouble with Epi+Blink, this item still help you.

Strategy

Start off by going to the lane of your choice. The good thing about Sand King is he is an excellent solo hero, yet an excellent dual-lane assistant as well. So, it doesn't matter if you solo or not. Start off in the lane being very, very passive. Once you get in a lane, before the first wave comes in, try to creep block. It's alternately pressing move and stop in front of the creep wave to delay them in their arrival. This pushes your enemy creeps nearer your base, and gives you a wider capacity to quickly level up.

Don’t burrowstrike yet in level 1 unless the enemy is escaping with an uber low life to make a first blood. Like everything that happens, kill and last hit creeps, and level. Don't do anything to kill the enemy yet. Just farm and get your level up. Once you get to level 6, you are a killer with Burrowstrike + Epicenter. This period of the game, this simple combo can take out many enemies with their predictably low life, also mentioning this combo is devastating anytime.

When you encounter a normal stunner (Vengeful, Skeleton King), let them hit you or your ally with their stuns and do your thing. It’s better if they are stunning you while beside your tower. After all stuns are drawn, you do the burrowstrike, and then the usual epicenter. It’s a very easy task, but not as easy when you encounter two stunners. You may want to call some reinforcements. When facing stompers, it becomes harder because when you burrowstrike them, you have to go a little bit farther to them where you land to prevent getting stomped on, especially when casting your ultimate. And aside from the usual stun skills, there are some skills which deal a 0.1 ministun like Lunar Beam, Void, etc. So don't be fooled by those skills which you think are purely nukes. They might have a twitty stun to destroy your Epicenter casting.

Everytime you almost die with a very low life and the enemies don’t have a stun anymore, burrowstrike to retreat. Not to stun them forward. I’ve seen that sometimes that their Sand King just uses the Sand Storm (If they do have one) after landing. That's a very bad move.

There isn't really an "art" of Burrowstrike + Epicenter, as it isn't rocket science. Yet, it is one of the most effective "moves" in DotA. It usually never fails. First, find a spot that is in the fog of war or out of sight of enemy heroes. Be at most 900 units away from the enemies. Begin channeling Epicenter, and after the green light goes away and you start pulsing (You may miss 1 or 2 pulses if you are a begginner, it's ok) immediately blink into the center of the enemy Heroes. After your pulses are up, Burrowstrike the remainders (if there are any) to sweep easy double kills.

A common misconception is when you Blink in with Epicenter "on" you should immediately Burrowstrike the enemies - This is false. If you do this, the time the enemy heroes spend in the air for Burrowstrike, they enemies are invulnerable, which means, no Epicenter damage. Wait untl all pulses are clear OR you can get a kill with a Burrowstrike.

Some people like to Channel Epicenter and then Shift-click Blink dagger so they wont miss a pulse - I do not like this as the target you want to blink to 2 seconds ago may change in the 2 seconds of channeling.

Now you're leveling and maxing Caustic Finale with you, you're purely a farming machine. With the technique I explained earlier, you'd gain a lot of money in no time and you'd farm for your BoT, and your luxury items if you really are left alone to farm for yourself. In every 3 waves killed, you may have pushed far into the enemies' territory, so go neutral creeping for a while, then when the enemies counterpush, prepare in a spot to release an Epicenter + Blink to the team, while possibly calling your allies for reinforcements. Whenever you really find the enemies missing, warn your allies. They'd probably gank your allies in the other lanes, but mind your own business. Once you get near them, they've succeeded in killing the hero, and aswell preventing you from leveling up. Never let them succeed, so never get fooled.

The time you are ready to do the Epic + Blink, try to let the opponents push (While doing so, hide in a perfect spot), let an ally draw stun, cast Epicenter, and blink in. Usually you become the target of enemies so when you think you can’t handle them after 4 seconds, call your allies (Not necessary if you can handle them). While the enemies are trying to escape, chase them and if possible, do a burrowstrike. Your enemy should possibly be dead by now. However, some enemies might do the opposite. If they don't die, you should decide whether to chase them or to get away since you can still be harmed even if the enemies have a very small amount of life. Never chase heroes when you know they have higher movespeed than you (Unless they are in your burrowstrike range).

Before the mid game ends, some enemies may be fed up with hp increasing items. You should gank less since a single Epicenter won't do the trick to some heroes, whereas you can still live up to your killing power if the enemies are fully incapable of surviving any immense damage.

You are currently excellent in defending. Mind you, even if the creeps are those 833 hp/ 603 hp creeps pass by you, you can tank their 50+ damage, plus you may have an Cuirass. Don’t worry if you loose around 100 – 200 hp each wave as you regenerate fast. Usually, 3-4 kills per large creep wave solves a problem even if they are numerous. Do not fret.

After level 16, your epicenter is deeply flawed, and you may have to do other roles than initiating and tanking. You may have been doing less ganks since you have to defend your lanes. If someone else will take over defending lanes, you can not just defend, but push. You have the power, Burrowstrike + Caustic is a great pushing skill. Watch minimap when pushing and quickly teleport if most of your enemies is missing. Buy some luxury with the gold from pushing.

In the late game, you're a Damage Dealer and also Tank. Now with the crazy farming you've done, you may have even reached the gold to get a HoT. You are now extremely fat and ready to tank damage. You have many escape mechanisms, burrowstrike, blink, sandstorm. In the three, only sandstorm is purely to help you. Blink and (possibly) Burrowstrike is for initiating your combo. This way, we can say that Sand King only has one skill that is solely used for escaping, and the other two is for engaging in battle. When come to the team battle, pick a hiding spot. When your team ready, cast Epicenter and surprise the enemy by blinking them. They should be focus their damage on you. Brace yourself and face them, even if you die, you already do your role. By the time you tank the damage, your ally should do pretty much damage to the enemies and even get some kills.

Twin sons to the great Prophet, Terrorblade and Magina were blessed with divine powers: Terrorblade granted with an unnatural affinity with life forces; Magina gifted with energy manipulation. Magina's eventual overexposure to the magics gradually augmented his elemental resistances and bestowed him the unique ability to move faster than light itself. Now, broken by Terrorblade's fall to the dark side, Magina answers the Sentinel's call in a desperate bid to redeem his brother. Every bitter strike turns the Scourge's evil essences upon themselves, culminating in a finale that forces his enemy to awaken to the void within and spontaneously implode.

Although Magina is called the Anti-Mage, there is a wide debate about how effective he actually is against Intelligence heroes. Even though Magina has Spell Shield to protect him from spell damage, his low HP, reliance of physical attacks and the fact that he is melee makes him very vulnerable against disables which happen to be the type of spells that Intelligence heroes have. What makes it worse is that Anti-Mage is a hero with very bad lane control, his Mana Break burns very little mana and Mana Void only becomes useful after the target has already finished casting his/her spells. Nevertheless, he has received a huge buff thanks to the Blink Dagger change, and he is one of the few carries with a blink type ability.

Skill Explanations

Mana Break

Mana Break is your primary offensive ability. This skill allows you to deal exceptionally large amounts of damage with little investment as well as severely debilitate any hero that your blade meets. It is what makes your enemies fear you and is what allows your ultimate ability to function. When attacking heroes the damage dealt per hit with Mana Break is reduced by 40%. Therefore, level 4 Mana Break only does 38 damage per hit. However, the amount of mana burnt remains constant.

Each attack burns mana based on spell level.

Level 1 - 16 mana per hit.
Level 2 - 32 mana per hit.
Level 3 - 48 mana per hit.
Level 4 - 64 mana per hit.

Orb effect.

Blink

Blink is infamous for being one of the most versatile and powerful skills in the game. This along with Mana Break makes up the focal point of your hero. Blink gives the Anti-Mage maneuverability that is unmatched by any other hero. Proper Blink usage is what can make or break an Anti-Mage.

Short distance teleportation that allows one to move in and out of combat.
Costs 60 mana.

Level 1 - 12 second cooldown.
Level 2 - 9 second cooldown.
Level 3 - 7 second cooldown.
Level 4 - 5 second cooldown.

Spell Shield

Nifty is the word that sums up this ability. Although extremely useful this is a skill that requires little mention, just watch as Finger of Death only scratches you and leave it at that.

Magina channels a powerful warding magic, damping the negative effects of spells.

Level 1 - Reduces magic damage by 10%.
Level 2 - Reduces magic damage by 20%.
Level 3 - Reduces magic damage by 30%.
Level 4 - Reduces magic damage by 40%.

Mana Void

Probably the skill that newbie players manage to botch up more than any other, Mana Void will be the source of many of your kills throughout the game. To explain it better let us look at a Pugna with 1200 mana. If this Pugna has 1200/1200 mana then Mana Void will do no damage to him. If Pugna has 600/1200 mana then level 3 Mana Void will do approximately 600 damage, as Pugna is missing 600 mana and Mana Void deals damage per each point of mana missing. If Pugna has 0/1200 mana then Mana Void will deal a whopping 1200 damage.

The power of this skill increases greatly as the game progresses. Early in the game it will often only have the potential to deal 200 damage to heroes like the Centaur but later will be an instant kill for unwary Intelligence heroes and still deal a good chunk of damage to any hero, Intelligence or not Intelligence.

This ability is really your finishing move. It is your fatality, so to speak. After you’ve burnt away all of your enemy’s mana with Break and after he’s foolishly wasted his spells on you to get you off of him you finish him off with Void.

Note that Mana Void also stuns the hero for a very short period. This can, surprisingly, turn the tide of a battle during the early part of the game as well as cancel channeling spells and things of that sort. Let me assure you that the mana cost of all three levels of this skill will become very, very familiar to you after playing this hero. I'll probably remember them when I'm in the nursing home screaming for a diaper change.

Creates a powerful void in an enemy unit caused by a lack of mana. For each mana point missing, the unit takes damage.

Level 1 - .6 damage per mana point missing. 175 mana cost.
Level 2 - .85 damage per mana point missing. 225 mana cost
Level 3 - 1.1 damage per mana point missing. 275 mana cost.

Skill Build

Level 1- Blink
Level 2- Mana Break
Level 3- Mana Break
Level 4- Stats
Level 5- Mana Break
Level 6- Mana Void
Level 7- Mana Break
Level 8- Blink
Level 9- Blink
Level 10- Blink
Level 11- Mana Void
Level 12-15- Stats/Spellshield
Level 16- Mana Void
Level 17- 25- Stats

Mana Break is essential for dealing any kind of damage and is maxed first. Blink is necessary for just about everything the Anti-Mage does; one point is placed in it early. Because you're horribly fragile early in the game you should only need to use Blink sporadically if an enemy gives you a very easy opportunity to kill him or if you need to run. You need to farm to Vanguard/Hood/Linkens before you can do stuff, so you can get Stats and farm early. The extra stats give you extra mana for when you do need to Blink. Maxing Blink early is still viable, however and I tend to only take one level of stats to max early chasing potential. Max SS as you feel necessary, most likely it will be taken at 12-15 though.

Spell shield is normally necesary, however there will be occasions when it isn't really needed, on these occasions don't bother until later on, I haven't played an anti-mage game in memory where the enemy haven't had some sort of decent spelldamage though...

Item Build

Core Build

-4-6 Tangoes + Branches
-3 Wraiths
-Linkens/Hood/Vanguard
-Complete Power Treads
-TP SCROLLS
-Bfly
-Another one of those damage items OR Heart of Tarrasque OR Assault Cuirass

Ok. Here goes:

Tangoes and Branches are obvious. Linkens, hood and Vanguard all give some form of regen, which is key to magina, they also supply you with some kind of resistance. I used to always get vanguard or hood, but now I'm really inclined to linkens, it costs less than before, the perseverence is better than it was, the 20 sec spellblock cooldown is GROSSLY powerful on magina, you get permablink you get hp, you get mana, you get damage. It is a lot more expepensive than the other options, but I really feel that, especially if the enemy team are packing some kind of targetable spells, it is not an option to be overlooked.

Vanguard is a cheaper form of hp and regen, it gives damageblock, which is nice, but the regen is relatively poor (although recently buffed), and the damage + permablink are certainly missing.

Hood is taken as a method of not being ripped to shreds by casters like Zeus, Lina and the like, I am now partial to one of the other two options over Hood, although it certainly has its place, it is also cheaper than linkens. if disables and singletarget spells are the problem then Linkens is a no-brainer though.

Treads are obvious, you have Blink for maneuverabiliy, the dps you obtain from it combined with your wraiths and burn means casters hate you. Your -ms is sufficient with treads, it will be at 385, and as you Semi-Rush them you will not suffer from enemies all having BoT. If you don't have BoT... w/e Get it lategame when you have more ias.

The recent buff to treads makes them even more powerful, I leave it to the player's discretion as to whether they use strength or agility treads, personally I have them on agility because I like the extra damage + attackspeed, If my hp is insufficiant and I'm killing people easily I could obviously turn them to strengthtreads instead.

Wraith bands give damage and mana and strength.

-TP scrolls are highlighted, as there is nothing more scary than a surprise Magina. Your ally is ganked by a crystal maiden and a lina. The crystal maiden and lina towerdive your ally, tower is raping them, and they are using mana like crazy trying to kill your ally. Most likely your ally will die. However, you have tped in, and the enemies now suffer a couple of hits, one of them then dies to your void, while the other is hunted all the way back, and most likely killed. TP SCROLLS LADS. THEY SAVE LIVES. Always have 2 on your person.

Now that Bfly is cheaper (new 1/4staff), i'm discinclined to get anything else. Sometimes MKB COULD work but butterfly is honestly the best option. You get evasion and tonnes of attackspeed = niiiice.

After the core damage item I would almost always recommend a heart, you need hp badly as Antimage.

Item Build: Late Game Options, Criticism of Other Builds

After the obvious heart during the lategame there are a few choices of items. I have recently been really taken by battlefury anti-mage, the extra farm is sort of funny and it's really good for pushing and farming up the money for buyingback, it is NOT to be underrated at any cost as a lategame option.

A Buriza would seem to be obvious in terms of extra damage, critical strike is going to be a real boost when "the shit hits the pan" and you have to outcarry someone, and I would never choose to ignore it as a choice very late in the game.

Vladmirs offering is lifesteal, now that it is %age based, very cheap, and you have a lot of agility based damage I think that it's a real option. However, I would not consider it to be as powerful as a Buriza, Battlefury or Basher very late in the game.

Basher is a ridicululously underrated item. This is partly due to the stereotypical pubbers who take 2 bashers earlygame on heroes like Magina and Troll. This isn't how we use bashers. My "basher build" takes place after I have all of my core items. It is a very lategame option which allows you, with your innately high agility gain, low attack cooldown and butterfly + treads, to SLOW an enemy by around 25-35%, reduce the enemy DPS, and break channeling ultimates. It is the ultimate in lategame anti-DPS item, there have beeen games where a Basher has broken the game, completely shutting down an enemy DPS option and .. yeah owning stuff.

This is some Math done with help from the Mech people to help illustrate the Power of Basher on an anti-mage lategame.

As a magina you have a lower attackcooldown, however you have a smaller chance to bash.

At level 25 with Agility treads, Butterfly, Heart, Linkens, Basher and a TP scroll you will have:
89+75 agility and 65% ias resulting in 164 + 65 229 ias.
1.45/1+2.29 = 0.441 game seconds per attack.

Assuming bash occurs once every 6.66 hits this results in a 1.1 second stun every 2.94 seconds.
1.1/3.1 resulting in approximately a 37.5% chance of slow.

A conservative estimate of slow % (taking into account bash overlap etc) would be 27.5-37.5% at this point in the game. That's better than an eye of skadi, and cheaper aswell as reducing their DPS by 100% during these bashes

Dota Guide-Spectre

Spectre Guide

A darkness who was ancient even in the early days of the world's existence, Mercurial is the embodiment of rage and vengeance in the souls of those long dead. Haunting her enemies with relentless fervor, she is able to throw a dagger-like projectile that allows her to chase her prey beyond physical boundaries, and the fear and the desolation struck in the hearts of those who have the misfortune of encountering her alone is a pain impossible to withstand. Spectre's thirst for destruction is insatiable, and the upcoming struggle seems to be just what she was waiting for.

Hero Skills

Spectral Dagger - The Spectre launches a deadly dagger that trails a Shadow Path. Deals damage to the targets in its path. Units hit by the dagger will also trail a Shadow Path. The Spectre becomes phased (gains zero collision) while on the path.

Level 1 - Spectre gains 5% movespeed, enemies lose 5%. Deals 50 damage.
Level 2 - Spectre gains 9% movespeed, enemies lose 9%. Deals 100 damage.
Level 3 - Spectre gains 14% movespeed, enemies lose 14%. Deals 150 damage.
Level 4 - Spectre gains 18% movespeed, enemies lose 18%. Deals 200 damage.

Desolate - Deals bonus damage that cuts through armor when attacking a hero that has no nearby allied units. Works on Illusions.

Level 1 - 15 Bonus Damage.
Level 2 - 25 Bonus Damage.
Level 3 - 35 Bonus Damage.
Level 4 - 45 Bonus Damage.

Passive

Dispersion - Gives Mercurial a chance to avoid damage and disperse it to an area around her. Has a minor stun effect. Can only disperse for as much hp as she has. 400 AOE.

Level 1 - 4% chance.
Level 2 - 8% chance.
Level 3 - 12% chance.
Level 4 - 16% chance.

Passive

Haunt - Creates a haunting image beside each enemy hero. These images are uncontrollable, take 200% damage, deal 50% damage and each of them will attack only its pair. Cooldown goes down with level.

Level 1 - Lasts 4 seconds.
Level 2 - Lasts 5 seconds.
Level 3 - Lasts 6 seconds.

Hero Builds

MVP Build I - This is best if your role is the main mvp of the team and you are being given priority by your teammates when it comes to items. This includes letting you farm as you can at the same time protecting you as much as they can so you can secure your items.

• Starting Items - 4 tangos, 1 flask, rest to branches
  
• Early to mid game items - power threads, 2-3 wraith bands (or vanguard), sacred relic
  
• Late game items - radiance, sange & yasha or(manta style), butterfly
  
• Skill Build : dagger, dispersion, dagger, dispersion, dagger, haunt, dagger, dispersion, desolate, dispersion, desolate, haunt, desolate, desolate, stats, haunt, rest to stats
  

Gameplay :

Play safe during early lane battles specially if your enemies on the lanes are very strong and aggressive. Hopefully you have a good support hero with you early in the game(like lich and warlock) so you will feel secure. Concentrate on getting gold on last hits. Don't let your enemies attack you freely so only get close when you will do last hits to get gold or else keep distance. Use your dagger wisely. Use it only when you will go for the kill or to run away. You can use it to cross trees to escape death. Other than that, reserve your mana. Don't use it to spam. Recharge your health and mana when you reach level 6. Be sure you have enough for haunt in case your teammates ask for it. That's the beauty of spectre. She(yes, mercurial is a girl) can help early game offensively anywhere on the map while still farming on the lanes unlike other mvp heroes. Get items when you recharge on the fountain at level 6 or so. Get boots and wraith bands(or vanguard). Buy wraith bands if you are going to be aggressive on killing enemies early. Specially when your game plan is to cast haunt always and go for the kill. If you fele you're going to have any difficulty on the lanes or you might resort to farming on the creep camps, buy vanguard. Buy power threads after that. Power threads is very important to mercurial whether for farming or hunting for kills. After that, concentrate on farming for relic. Your priority from this point on is to get sacred relic. This is only the hard part. Once you secured radiance, it will be a lot easier later on. You can get your next items easily and you will now be a big threat to enemy heroes. Haunt along with desolate will hurt them badly once you have radiance specially if you got it below 30 minutes in the game. Whenever your teammates or opponents do a push, just farm on the free lane then cast haunt during the clash and go there when haunt is almost finish to sweep your opponents. Always target the weakest and most vulnerable heroes first(these are usually the support heroes or could be the mvp hero with low hp). After that, go back to farming. This is what you will always do. Go to a free lane or go to creep camps. You will only join your teammate during clashes through haunt. This is the reason why mercurial is one of my favorite heroes. She can push a different lane by herself and when your teammates need you, you can go there just in time.

Your next items would be Sange & Yasha(or manta style). Assess carefully which item is best. Manta style is best if most enemy heroes rely on mana or crucial enemy heroes are dependent on mana just like Skeleton King for reincarnation. Other than that, buy Sange & Yasha. It will boost your attack speed, health points and damage. Then buy butterfly after that so you will have higher damage and you will attack very fast which will make haunt very effective. You can experiment what item you want next. I like going for refresher orb. Two haunts will hurt your enemies very much. hehe.

MVP Build II - Do this build if you are not the main priority for the team when it comes to item meaning you are not given that much time and protection to farm for relic early part of the game. Use this build too as an alternate build for MVP Build I if you are having a hard time securing radiance.

• Early to mid game items - power threads, 2-3 wraith bands(or vanguard)
  
• Late game items - sange & yasha(or manta style), butterfly
  
• Skill Build : dagger, dispersion, dagger, dispersion, dagger, haunt, dagger, dispersion, desolate, dispersion, desolate, haunt, desolate, desolate, stats, haunt, rest to stats
  

Gameplay :

Almost the same as MVP Build I except you will not go for radiance. You will directly go for sange & yasha(or manta style) instead of getting radiance first. The good part on this one is you are flexible middle part of the game unlike the first build on which you will really come out late game. You can be actively hunting with this build middle game. This is also your best alternate solution if your enemies keep killing you. So instead of waiting for sacred relic, just go for sange and yasha instead. The drawback on this build is your items won't be as fast as the build with radiance and most likely you won't be as strong as the first build late game.

Guide for Bloodseeker

Difficulty:

QUOTE

Intermediate -

Bloodseeker - Early game for him is levelling up to 6 and then running around the map using Rupture, which is about as easy as it gets. Blood is great for staying in a lane, but requires decent last hit timing. He must have decent items to remain viable later.

Agreed! Don’t forget his spells need practice if you don’t want them backfiring.

Effectiveness:

QUOTE

Weak -

Bloodseeker - Rupture is nearly useless in team battles, since an enemy can just hold position and cast spells/attack from there. Either that, or buy a Diffusal Blade of GG.

A harsh but somewhat true statement. Getting Diffusal Blade means one slot wasted and an Orb Effect wasted just to counter Bloodseeker. Purge doesn’t even remove Rupture.

Should I Play Bloodseeker?

Of course! If you…

• …are very good at denying and last hitting
• …have decent knowledge of every hero in DotA
• …are a team player
• …read this guide!

However, if you ……. consider using an easier hero, like Skeleton King

• …are not familiar with most heroes in DotA
• …are not quite up to scratch with your last hitting and denying skills
• …are new to DotA

Starting Stats (without item bonuses)

Strength - 18 + 2.0 — Health - 492
Agility - 24 + 2.6 — Armor - 5.4 (24%)
Intelligence - 18 + 1.7 — Mana - 234
Mana Regen — 0.73
Health Regen — 0.79
Movespeed — 305
Damage — 53-59
Attack Speed — 1 attack every 1.37 seconds
Sight Range: 1800 Day/800 Night
Spell Animation — Bloodseeker has a casting time of 0.6 and a cast backswing of 1.4.
Attack Animation — Bloodseeker has damage point of 0.43 and a backswing of 0.74.

Ending Stats (without item bonuses)

Strength - 66.0 + 20 — Health - 1784
Agility - 86.4 + 20 — Armor - 12 + 2.8 (47%)
Intelligence - 58.8 + 20— Mana — 1014
Mana Regen — 2.63
Health Regen — 2.23
Movespeed — 305
Damage — 115 - 121 + 20
Attack Speed — 1 attack every 0.91 seconds

Stats Overview

With the above information, we come to the conclusion that Bloodseeker’s base stats are very high. This helps in a lot of ways. Out of all the heroes, Bloodseeker comes 4th with the highest base stats (Twin Headed Dragon is 1st, Spectre 2nd, and Lord of Avernus tied 2nd with Spectre. However, Bloodseeker’s stat gain is only above average, he earns 6.3 stat points per level. (not counting the extra Stats ’spell’ you can get)
This is stated in Reset’s Guide to Hero Stats.
Pros

• Versatile hero.
• Great ganking hero, if not the best.
• Slips in and out of battle if Strygwyr’s Thirst is on.
• Has ferocious damage with Bloodrage on.
• A hero that can stay in its lane for prolonged periods.

Cons

• Low hp.
• Spells can backfire if not used properly and without thought.
• No real escape mechanism.
• Spells require precise timing.
• Has de-synergies with Rupture and allies that stop/slow enemies.

Skills

Authors Notes are in

Red.

Useful Facts are in

Teal

QUOTE

- Bloodrage (Active)
Drives a unit into a bloodthirsty rage. That unit is unable to cast spells, has its attack damage increased, and loses a small amount of hit points every second. 600 range at all levels.

Level 1 - 20% damage increase, loses 2 HP per second. Lasts 6 seconds. Cooldown of 20 seconds. 80 mana cost.
Level 2 - 40% damage increase, loses 4 HP per second. Lasts 9 seconds. Cooldown of 20 seconds. 100 mana cost.
Level 3 - 60% damage increase, loses 6 HP per second. Lasts 12 seconds. Cooldown of 20 seconds. 120 mana cost.
Level 4 - 80% damage increase, loses 8 HP per second. Lasts 15 seconds. Cooldown of 20 seconds. 140 mana cost.

This is what spellcasters fear about Bloodseeker, and what tanks fear about him too. This is a spell that will be used to silence enemy heroes, or to make your damage IMBA. Cast it on enemy spellcasters to silence them while you hack into them, or to make you a massively high damage hero to take down those really tough opponents. You should use this spell on any spell-reliant hero, like Pudge or Lina, and even AM early game.
Bloodrage priorities should be:

• Hero with the most damaging spell combo, such as Lina or CM
• During the Channelling spell of heroes like Sand-King or Bane
• Heroes that rely on spells, like Pudge
• Heroes that are weak, but have an escape mechanism, like a low health Anti-Mage or Bounty Hunter, silence them to stop them from escaping
• Yourself or an ally that wishes to be Bloodraged

Also, don’t use this as your initial spell to start off a fight, as you need your other spell to effectively kill enemies. The typical spell combo is Rupture > Bloodrage > Thirst triggers > Chase.
You can use this on allies too, just make sure to tell them if you’re going to do it in case they want to use their spells. This spell can be a great help to a Razor or any high speed/high damage hero. You must know when and how to use this spell to prevent yourself from getting killed due to a backfire.

• Using this on Stealth Assassin reveals him.
• Bloodrage is based off the Firelord’s ladder spell, Soul Burn.
• Bloodrage only increases Base + Agility damage not pure damage items like MKB/Buriza.
• The damage is negligible. Don’t assume this spell can kill someone, at level 4 it only does 120 damage over time total.
• Bloodrage doesn’t silence enemy spells from items, so you can’t use this to stop an enemy from using Dagon for example.

QUOTE

- Blood Bath (Passive)
Whenever Strygwyr kills a unit, he bathes himself in the blood, regenerating his life source.

Level 1 - 10% of the Hero’s max hp. 5% for creeps.
Level 2 - 20% of the Hero’s max hp. 10% for creeps.
Level 3 - 30% of the Hero’s max hp. 15% for creeps.
Level 4 - 40% of the Hero’s max hp. 20% for creeps.

This is a signature skill for Strygwyr. Simple, elegant, and very useful. The higher hp the hero or creep is the more health you get once you kill it. You ONLY get the health if YOU deliver the killing blow. You even get the blood from denied creeps and heroes, units killed by items, and also images, but only 20%. (yes, images. Eat your heart out, Phantom Lancer)
This is a very powerful spell early game, this also makes trips to fountain less frequent, effectively you get a slight level bonus since you are out farming more than healing at the fountain.
This passive spell basically grants you more regeneration than any opponent in the game early. What does this mean? You can harass when this spell is at higher levels and out-regenerate your enemy that’s in your lane. This spell also gives you somewhat harassing immunity, since you gain health back so fast if your enemy allows you to get at least 2 creep kills per creep wave.
Your images also gain Blood Bath, meaning they don’t go down as fast as long as they kill some creeps.

QUOTE

- Strygwyr’s Thirst (Passive)
Enables Strygwyr to sense the bleeding of any enemy hero below 40% hp. If it finds one, Strygwyr gains vision of that unit and increases move speed.

Level 1 - 11% movement increase. Small AoE, 1500 Range.
Level 2 - 22% movement increase. Medium AoE, 3000 Range.
Level 3 - 33% movement increase. Large AoE, 4500 Range.
Level 4 - 44% movement increase. Huge AoE, 6000 Range.

Alright, another very useful spell, your free map “control” (can’t say m-a-p-h-a-c-k cuz stupid DA doesn’t “support it”). Makes Bloodseeker one of the best chasers (if he’s not already). This spell when active, gives max movespeed with Boots of Travel.
Ok, this has many, many useful features. For one, stealth heroes below half hp will be ’seen’ (refer to Advanced Strategy Section). Another is that if multiple heroes are below 40% hp, you will gain sight of them all. However, when there is no enemy heroes below half hp you don’t get any buffs.
As long as you stay in range of the enemy hero if this triggers, you will keep the bonuses, however, if the hero regenerates/gains health in any way to a point above half hp, you lose the bonuses.
If this spell triggers, health changes to the heroes you gain vision of WILL affect the bonuses you get. Example, a low hp Omniknight is around and Strygwyr’s Thirst activates. You gain the sight of Omniknight as you would, then he heals himself. He is above 40% hp so you lose vision and your movespeed bonus.
This spell still triggers even if you’re Bloodraged, so you can Rupture the enemy, immediately Bloodrage then chase!

• With Boots of Travel and Thirst active, it would take Bloodseeker approximately 11.49 seconds to reach any given point on the periphery of his 6000 aoe. Calculated using (Distance/speed) = time, assuming that you move approximately in a straight line
• Strygwyr’s Thirst is based off the Shaman’s ladder spell, Bloodlust
• If you have Thirst triggered, and an Ogre Magi casts Bloodlust on you, you will see the animation of Bloodlust being casted on you multiple times.

QUOTE

- Rupture (Active)
Deals a mighty blow to the enemy causing any movement to result in bleeding and loss of life. 1000 cast range.

Level 1 - 150 damage, 20% of distance moved in damage. Lasts 5 seconds. 100 second cooldown. 150 mana.
Level 2 - 250 damage, 40% of distance moved in damage. Lasts 7 seconds. 100 second cooldown. 200 mana.
Level 3 - 350 damage, 60% of distance moved in damage. Lasts 9 seconds. 100 second cooldown. 250 mana.

This is what makes Bloodseeker so cool. This is what pubs go crazy over when they don’t know what’s happening. Simply put, this spell deals initial damage, and if your target moves they receive damage on how much they move. I will show you how to use this skill to perfection later in the guide.
Obviously this spell is used to prevent your prey from escaping. They can choose to fight and succumb to your superior damage or run and be killed by Rupture.
The casting range is 1000, use it wisely. You can ninja kill with Rupture if an enemy hero is farming with relatively low hp. Rupture him, and if that didn’t kill him, Thirst and proceed with the kill.
The damage type of this spell is Magical, meaning it will go through armour.
This spell can be used defensively and to single out targets (much like Bane Elemental’s Nightmare spell). Example. You see a Clinkz pop out of nowhere and starting to pummel you with arrows, Rupture him then run away. He can choose to chase you but to a certain point you can then Thirst and chase him down. Either that or he chooses to do the smart thing and stay put, unable to kill you.
The faster the enemy runs, the more damage they get. So, you see an enemy with a Haste powerup, you Rupture and he continues running. This is immense damage to the hero you Ruptured.
On a technical note, Rupture does damage every quarter of a second. There is a cap to the damage (200 per quarter of a second), so that teleporting doesn’t instantly kill the teleporter if he/she is Ruptured, but if the enemy hero Blinks or is Nether Swapped within the max damage, they will take the normal Rupture movement damage.

Purge does not remove Rupture since it is triggered and not a buff/debuff. The buff/debuff is from an aura that is on a dummy unit which is spawned when Rupture is cast. It gets a bit strange when you cast it on creeps btw. This is because of how the dummy unit works with the aura. If you cast it on a neutral creep, the aura can’t be seen in the status bar. If you cast it on a creep controlled by a player or image, the hero appears to have been Ruptured, but isn’t

If you Rupture a hero with Linkins Sphere, they still get the buff (Rupture), does the initial damage and will trigger Linkin’s cooldown

If you Rupture an enemy and the hero you Ruptured gains magical immunity, he will not get the movement damage, but you will still see the animation.

Life Lyric

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Isogi ashi de surechigau hito-tachi
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Ima wo umaku ikite mitai yo
Kowagari wa umare tsuki

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Ryoute wo hirogete mita nara
Ano sora koete yukeru ka na?
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Ima zenbu

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Kono te wo tsuyoku nigitte mitai
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KANTAN ni ika nai kara
Ikite yukeru

Hi no ataru basho ni dete
Chizu wo hirogete miru kedo
I know... You know...
Mayoi michi mo shikata nai
I can change my life

Sugite kita hibi zenbu de
Ima no atashi nanda yo
KANTAN ni ika nai kara
Ikite yukeru

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