Power Guide to winning with SNIPER

I’ve played over a 100 games, and all of them with Sniper. I believe I’ve developed a build and playing guide for him, not unique, but definitely very powerful. Play him right, and you surely will be the best player, not just on your team, but throughout the whole match.

Following are the items and skill building i would recommend for you, my fellow sniper:

Skill Build

Level one, four, five : Take Aim

I suggest this right away, as it can give you that advantage over your opponent by being able to keep a longer distance from them, and yet be able to damage them, while their range won’t suffice to damage you in return.

Level two & three : Headshot

This although wouldn’t give much of a bonus early game, it is still better than shrapnel. I wouldn’t suggest leveling up shrapnel till the last, when there’s nothing else. It’s not damaging enough and is a mana waste than you could spend on Assassinate instead. So level up Headshot second and third.

Level 6: No doubt here.

It’s time to assassinate those injured players who come within vision of sniper’s canon rifles!

Now, keep leveling up Take Aim and Headshot, while giving priority to Take Aim always, as it is the one advantage that Sniper has over all other players throughout DOTA 2. Don’t forget to level up Assassinate at levels 11 and 16. It gets so powerful, you can swipe clean 3/4th of their hp within seconds with the right build.

Items Build

As for the items build. This is where i had to experiment quite a bit, so it took me quite a while. Of course it’s success is situational as well. Always feel free to experiment a bit by yourself; you might find something that works better for you. But do try out the following build, and you’ll see I’m not wrong to say you’d see sniper in a whole new light.

Starting items :

Tango:

Necessary to survive any early game harassing you might encounter.

Wraith Band

– The extra attributes definitely gave me a boost while laning solo mid. You mustn’t leave this one at home!

Early Game :

Morbid mask

- The lifesteal will help you heal quicker and easier than using items. Usually you’d find yourself having more HP than other players nearby, thanks to the 15% lifesteal you now possess!

Crystalys

– Immediately after that, work towards a Crystalys, that you will soon develop into a Daedalus. Purchase the Blades of Attack (450) component before it’s BroadSword (1200) counterpart, if you can’t afford it just yet, so that you’re always stronger than your opponents, even if it’s just a little.

Power Treads

– I don’t think he needs tranquil boots, as power treads gives him enough added power to finish most opponents. Phase boots are acceptable if you are doing a lot of chasing early game. Otherwise, stick to powertreads, and change the attributes to agility.

Mid Game :

Daedalus

- Work towards that Daedalus with everything you’ve got. It’s gonna be the one thing you have and others don’t. 81dmg mid game is no small thing! By now, with all that extra damage and attack speed, you must definitely be better at farming and last hitting. Even then, getting that Demon Edge could take a while, so do be patient, and don’t end up buying other items.

Vladmir’s Offering

– Time to upgrade that simple morbid mask into the Vladmir’s Offering. This is essentially useful to your team as they get bonus’ through the aura that you receive and project out, like lifesteal. It improves the lifesteal % from 15 to 16.

Shadow Blade

- This is one tool Sniper must posses by mid game. It greatly improves survivability and his ability to reposition himself in team fights. It will allow you to vanish instantly, and move at a greater movement speed while invisible. When breaking the invisibility by attacking, bonus damage is dealt to the opponent as well. Shadow blade also deals 30dmg and gives 30 attack speed.

Late Game / Situational :

Sange and Yasha

– A personal favourite of late, right after Daedalus would be this. It’s ability to slow and maime occasionally might come in real handy while chasing down or in team fights and ganks. No one could complain about the added damage and attack speed and other properties.

Manta Style

– This work of wonder is very commonly overused. There’s a reason. It works. Mainly bought for one reason, the same reason you would be buying it for probably : the illusions it projects. Yes, Manta Style when activated, will spawn two illusions of your character that will deal damage and take them from your opponents. Useful to confuse and distract the firepower of your opponents spells away from you and onto the illusion. Handy lil tool to have around.

…

To conclude, like I’ve said earlier, this is no surefire way to win, but it has improved my skills tremendously, and might do wonders for you as well. Experimenting is always a good thing, so go ahead and try out some changes by yourself. You might play Sniper differently, but i definitely believe in keeping him positioned right at the border of a fight, where he deals maximum damage and takes none. This is important till he develops his survivability to one where he can take on 1-1 fights and live to tell the tale. Feel free to comment and do tell me your views. I’m always open to new thoughts and suggestions

uh correct me if I'm wrong but i think the life steal aura from Vlads doesn't stack with ranged heroes...in my opinion it would be better trying to upgrade your morbid mask to a helm of the dominator. u could use it to dominate the useful jungle creeps like centaurs and trolls for cc or get an alpha wolf and have it follow u to get a huge damage boost from its passive. Also sange and yasha is not that great, much better to just get manta instead. Every thing else seems pretty good. i personally like to get a maelstrom for the increased damage boost attack speed and a passive that allows faster farming after Helm of Domn. and before Crystalys. My ideal order would go something like this:
starting items etc.-> boots->morbid mask-> treads-> Helm-> maelstrom-> crits and shadowblade/ yasha-> daedalus-> Mjolnir-> butterfly/manta -> satanic

game is usually over soon as u get daedalus though.