Help Support Our Growing Community

DOTAFire is a community that lives to help every Dota 2 player take their game to the next level by having open access to all our tools and resources. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting us in your ad blocker!

Want to support DOTAFire with an ad-free experience? You can support us ad-free for less than $1 a month!

Go Ad-Free
Smitefire logo

Join the leading DOTA 2 community.
Create and share Hero Guides and Builds.

Create an MFN Account






Or

Sandking underpowered?

Please review our General Rules & Guidelines before posting or commenting anywhere on DOTAFire.

Forum » Theory Crafting » Sandking underpowered? 14 posts - page 1 of 2
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Droes » July 16, 2013 2:18am | Report
Hey, in my honest opinion Sand King is a bit underpowered, all tho his Caustic Finale can do some serious amounts of damage and ofcourse his ulti is devastating when landed correctly.

Tho I believe that he would be a bit better and more usefull if

1. Burrowstrike would apply Caustic Finale

and

2. maybe Sand Storm getting a regenerating effect.

I find sandking a very fun Hero to play, but a bit weak comparing to other Hero's.
I know his ulti makes up for that, but if its on CD the only thing you can do is Burrowstrike and maybe land a hit here and there for Caustic Finale.

What are your thoughts a bout this?
Am i just playing/building him wrong? or is he really a bit underpowerd?

thanks for reading
Life is really simple, but we insist in making it complicated.
~Confucius

Droes


Notable (3)
Posts: 94
Steam: Goddamn Hippie
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by TheAmazingComicBookGuy » July 16, 2013 2:27am | Report
ehm, he's a total beast if played well. He can set up early kills, win teamfights, push the lanes later on ( Burrowstrike+ Caustic Finale will do the job for you) disable some heroes, irritate people to death with his sand srorm, ect.
I think he can and will be very powerful in the right hands, so I suggest playing more with him.
what is your item build with him?

TheAmazingComicBookGuy


Notable (7)
Posts: 204
View My Blog
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Sando » July 16, 2013 2:31am | Report
Bit surprised tbh - Sand King can be a very strong hero! Although some people try and play him as one, he's not really a carry, he's a semi-carry at most. Caustic Finale isn't really an attack skill, so much as a pushing/harassment/farming skill - although it can be deadly combined with a skill like Fatal Bonds.

Burrowstrike is a great nuke/stun, but yeah you play a much more "support" role in ganks and fights due to your relatively poor agility/damage growth. Landing a good Epicenter is a lot of fun though, and absolutely devastating early-mid game.

Sand Storm is your "get out of jail" skill, although you have to be very aware of when enemies have AOE/ground targeting spells that can get you out of it easily. As you level it up, use the temporary invis it gives you to help juke, and/or recharge your Blink Dagger or Burrowstrike to escape.

At the end of the day, he's a semi-support/semi-carry, and needs to be played as such.
A full list of my guides is here

Sando
<Veteran>

Awards Showcase
Show more awards

Established (118)
Posts: 1918
View My Blog
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Droes » July 16, 2013 2:32am | Report
well basicly, Boots of Speed, Bracer than Blink Dagger, finish Arcane Boots, and an Aghanim's Scepter
Life is really simple, but we insist in making it complicated.
~Confucius

Droes


Notable (3)
Posts: 94
Steam: Goddamn Hippie
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Droes » July 16, 2013 2:39am | Report
But don't you agree that Burrowstrike applying Caustic Finale would be a good idea?
forget the sandstorm regeneration thingie :p all tho it would come in handy
Life is really simple, but we insist in making it complicated.
~Confucius

Droes


Notable (3)
Posts: 94
Steam: Goddamn Hippie
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Wulfstan » July 16, 2013 2:44am | Report
Why should Burrowstrike apply Caustic Finale?Its the same thing as Burrowstrike then attacking once.There is no reason to, its one of the best stuns. Sand Storm is fine as it is, its an escape mechanism, not something to sustain yourself. Caustic Finale is just the icing on the cake, it can deal pretty good damage though if maxed out with Burrowstrike.

And then you have Epicenter, which is really really good.Put in some more effort exercising him.

Wulfstan
<Retired Mod>

Awards Showcase
Show more awards

Memorable (77)
Posts: 2801
Steam: Wulfstant
View My Blog
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Droes » July 16, 2013 2:51am | Report
My response to your question; Why? is:
simply for when you last hit with borrowstrike when you haven't had the chance of hitting him with your attack, I know its generally not the point of last hitting with Burrowstrike but it DOES happen.

But you are probably right: I require more practice with sandking

Thanks for all the help.

does anyone got an idea on alternative builds as a semi carry? focusing more on attack dmg? or is that just ridiculous?

edit: Also this way you can aply Caustic Finale on multiple targets at once, easily setting of a chain reaction.
Life is really simple, but we insist in making it complicated.
~Confucius

Droes


Notable (3)
Posts: 94
Steam: Goddamn Hippie
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Sando » July 16, 2013 3:15am | Report
Build order looks ok - look at Veil of Discord after that. You can get damage items too, but they don't really offer any synergy with his other abilities - it's a pubstomp thing.

Fast farming with SK is easy once you have a few levels and some regen - hit each/most creeps in the wave once to apply Caustic Finale, then Burrowstrike the whole lot of them - cha ching.
A full list of my guides is here

Sando
<Veteran>

Awards Showcase
Show more awards

Established (118)
Posts: 1918
View My Blog
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by TheAmazingComicBookGuy » July 16, 2013 3:17am | Report
well, even IF he was up (which he is not in my opinion) your solutions wouldn't make him viable, it just would be another perk. The way you clear lanes with him is just burrowstrike and than hit a ranged and a melee creep. It is not much more than that xD
I do not think that he is anywhere near up :P
I do not recommend going to much damage on him rather utility and tanky items (you just need to be surviving and doing your skills over and over again during a teamfight to devastate the enemy)

TheAmazingComicBookGuy


Notable (7)
Posts: 204
View My Blog
Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep by Droes » July 16, 2013 3:28am | Report
so a Heart of Tarrasque or maybe a Bloodstone or a Linken's Sphere? and now i think of it; Shiva's Guard seems to synergize nicely with his ultimate in theory.
Life is really simple, but we insist in making it complicated.
~Confucius

Droes


Notable (3)
Posts: 94
Steam: Goddamn Hippie

Quick Reply

Please log in or sign up to post!

DOTAFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite DotA hero’s build and strategy.

Copyright © 2019 DOTAFire | All Rights Reserved