DANGER - STATIC STORMS; A Carry Guide to Disruptor

Introduction

Welcome to my guide on how to play Disruptor as a carry.
Suffice to say this is going to be interesting, as most of the time Disruptor gets passed off as a babysitter and in the late game his role is mostly as an initiator. Recently I started to develop a liking for him, and I liked his varied abilities and strong enemy control. Despite this, I felt that although 'support' seemed to fit his skillset, there seemed to be a waste of potential in the standard Arcane Boots --> Veil of Discord --> Aghanim's Scepter.

Pros & Cons

Why a Carry?

Now don't get me wrong, support is a good role for disruptor. However, once he's cast all his spells he ends up auto-attacking the enemy for very little damage. A teamfight usually goes: Static Storm then Kinetic Field then Thunder Strike, and Glimpse on anyone who's getting away. After this, you may as well go jungling for all the good you're doing. A disruptor who has a team of silenced, weak and trapped heroes at his mercy is something to be reckoned with, especially when he has a Desolator and some attack speed from a Mjollnir. Looking at his hero control focussed skillset, 600 attack range and base damage, he is a perfectly viable carry. Usually your team expects you to play support, and babysitting is a good position for Disruptor in the early game. But when you start mincing through the enemy team, switch to full-on Roshan Rapist, and go for the kills.

Item Build Explanation

The wards and courier are to fulfil your role as support in the early game, and phase boots are the first item you should be aiming for. They are very helpful when you are getting chased, and you can combine them with Kinetic Field to escape your enemies. They also provide a little extra damage, which is useful in the late game. The Force Staff is another hero-control item, which you can use to push enemies into your abilities and towards your team. Beware however, that it will not push enemies into or out of Kinetic Field. Desolator Is your first damage item, and proves to be a very useful debuff in a teamfight. It is also a good, ranged carry damage option. The Maelstrom is a small item that can quickly improve your damage, and works well with the desolator. Chain lightning is a great feature that works well when you have enemies bunched up in your Kinetic Field. Monkey King Bar and Mjollnir are both luxury items that you will rarely be able to buy, but are very effective damage options.

Skill Build Explanation

Due to the 6.38 update, disruptor has received several changes, including a few cooldown edits and level scaling, but namely, his third spell, Glimpse. Previously, Glimpse had a first level mana cost of 160, making it too mana expensive to be useful in the early game until it was maxed (which made it cost only 70), as Thunder Strike and Kinetic Field were better choices for making kills in the lane. Now the mana cost has become 100 for all levels, an overall improvement, and although the range is still low at level 1, it is a good choice for getting first blood, if you haven't got it yet. Kinetic Field is the best choice for first blood, as you and your laning partner can come at the enemy heroes from behind and trap them, taking them down with auto-attacks. Your ultimate is useful at all levels, and is a teamfight nessecity. This makes it the #1 priority for maxing. The next is Thunder Strike, a powerful nuke that does a total of 400 damage when maxed. This is great for lane harass and can force the two or three enemy heroes apart. Kinetic Field is the next most important for use in conjunction with your ultimate, and so Glimpse (which only improves in cooldown and range anyway) is maxed last.

Play Guide

To start off, you should go for first blood on the squishiest hero in your lane. Come at them from behind, and cut off their escape with Kinetic Field. It is better to use it where they will go, instead of putting them in the circle itself, as you are more likely to trap them. Then auto-attack them and make use of your partners abilities until they are dead (giving the kill to the carry). Play it safe for the early game, harassing with Thunder Strike and using all of your spells in teamfights. Disruptor doesn't have any particular problems with mana except from when harassing, so buy plenty of clarities. Once you have your Force Staff, push enemies into your team for free kills, and use it to escape ganks. When you can use your spell combo effectively to get kills, buy the damage items, and start auto-attacking once they are disabled.

Examples of Good Disruptor Play

This is a video made by SmAsH, a very good Dota player who does a good job of carry Disruptor. I don't quite agree with his choice of items, as refresher orb is unnecessary, and the extra two seconds of Static Storm provided by Aghanim's Scepter are difficult to use, but his use of Disruptor's abilities is admirable. Play Video

Conclusion

Overall, Disruptor makes a good carry, and I would suggest giving him a go.
Thanks to SmAsH for a good example of how to play, and anyone who has taken the time to give me advice.