I Used To Be A Panda, Now I'm The MexiMan | A DibsMid Guide

Introduction

Before we begin, this is a guide that specifically focuses on playing in a solo middle lane. These are my personal builds that I have used in pub matches and know they work from experience, but they are only pubs. It might work for higher levels of play, but I wouldn't know. So here is my guide to Raijin Thunderkeg, the Storm Spirit

Hero Introduction

Storm Spirit is a semi-carry and strong early game ganker. His skills scale quite nicely throughout the entire game, so he will be a strong contributor all game if played right. He is a heavily skill dependent hero, you must know when to use his skills and when to go in and how much mana to use and knowing when to back out. He is a hero that takes a good deal of understanding of the game and other heroes, things that come with experience. Don't get disheartened if you do not do well the first time, it takes a little time. His skills let him fill many roles, and even somewhat play multiple roles at once. He can play as a semi-carry, as a ganker, as an initiator, and in some weird situations he can be a (semi)pusher. For a game with other stronger carries that require more gold than Storm Spirit, and a game that has little support, Storm Spirit can be played as a soft support hero once he gets Bloodstone. In my opinion, Storm Spirits true role is as a ganker. All his skills are build for it, and in the right hands excels as one.

Pros + Fills in multiple roles where needed + Strong hero for the whole game + A strong ganker, easy first blood + Strong single target disable + Incredibly hard to kill (if played smart)

Cons and Solutions Problem: Skill Dependent Solution: Play with him more Problem: Heavy mana regulation (early game) Solution: Regulate your mana (takes experience) Problem: Squishy Solution: Bloodstone, DOTA Experience Problem: Very susceptible to chain stuns Solution: Black King Bar

Skills

Static Remnant This is your primary nuke and farming skill. For the carry build, this will be leveled and used to farm and kill entire creep waves. The strategy behind this is to damage all of the creeps in the wave enough with your auto attack, then to use one Static Remnannt to kill them all at once. For the ganking build, this will be used as a small source of damage, but more importantly to charge your Overload skill when ganking or harassing.

Electric Vortex This is your disabling skill and is essential if you are prioritizing ganking. It is an above average length disable and early leveling of this skill makes for a very easy first blood (with some teamwork of course). This skill does slow you by 50% for 3 seconds, so you need to be careful when using this skill, especially before you have Ball Lightning.

Overload Overload is a skill that at first glance doesn't look like much, but is deceivingly powerful. Another strength in the ganking game of Storm Spirit, giving a small amount of bonus damage and a slow to a small area around the strike zone. The slow affects both movement speed and attack speed, keeping enemies close and relatively harmless. The strength comes from how often it will get used, as a typical gank will get off 3+ overloaded attacks in a short burst. It is great for chasing as you can Ball Lightning, throw an overloaded shot, Ball Lightning a short distance, and continue until the hero is dead or you gotta peace out.

Ball Lightning This is the skill that makes Storm Spirit such a bother to the other team. It is essentially a blink with no cooldown and the range is extremely large depending on how much mana you have. It can be used to initiate a gank, tear them apart, and then zip out before the team has a chance to react. Early on this is a real mana hog, specifically initiating the skill, so be careful how much you use it, and how far you go with it. Try to get as close to the enemy before using it to initiate a gank or team fight. This can be done by taking advantage of the trees and shadows, especially taking advantage of this at night. With good timing, this skill can be used to avoid many single target stuns and nukes, such as ( Lina's Laguna Blade, Skeleton King's Hellfire Blast). Another, less used skill of this is for farming and map control, when you have a bloodstone or a large amount of mana regeneration, you can zip across the map and take out an entire creep wave just by using Ball Lightning to get there. The damage from Ball Lightning increases with the distance you travel, and if you travel a decent distance across the map, it will have enough damage to clear the entire creep wave. If you don't kill the entire creep wave, a Static Remnant will finish the job.

Gameplay Introduction

The game of DOTA is very complex and with every game the way you play should be different, depending on the composition of your team and the enemy team. This guide is to give you an idea of how to play the hero and a tool to start from, but not a set in stone way to play the hero every time. Sometimes you will need to gank as early as possible, and some game you will need to stay in lane and farm as much as possible. Some games require a nice balance of both. You gotta go with the flow of the game and learn to adapt to the situation.

The Ganking focus will prioritize on ganking as early as possible, getting most of your gold from kills and assists. This is how I almost always build Storm Spirit, as this is where he can give the greatest advantage to your team when playing middle.

The Carry focus will prioritize on staying in lane and farming up your items as early as possible. If forced into playing a lane with another hero or there are no hard carries on your team, this is the build I tend to choose. When I call storm spirit a carry, by no means is he a hard carry, and he will be dominated by any hard carry such as Morphling or Faceless Void.

The Ganking-Carry Combo will is a mix of both these builds. It will be in the middle for both ganking and carrying,yet not as effective as the specialized builds. This is a build rarely used but in circumstances where you must be the carry, as well as focus on shutting a specific enemy carry in a lane down, this is the build that is the best choice.

For all those Bloodstone haters out there, I have included an item build for Storm Spirit that works without one. I personally don't suggest using it, but it does work for some people.

*One Final note, Rune control with Storm Spirit is ESSENTIAL. If you do not continue to get the rune every 2 minutes (give or take a couple missed ones), you will be forced to either

1. Return to base for health and mana
2. Constantly be running on low mana
3. Conserving your mana too much and not ganking or harassing with your skills

---

These are the runes and their benefit to Storm Spirit

Haste
Easily the best rune for storm spirit, allows him to gank without needing Ball Lightning, jump in and lay Static Remnants where ever he so pleases, and gives him insane chasing ability. I prefer to bottle it and go back to mid. Wait for the right moment, duck back where the enemy cannot see you, use it and gank before the enemy even has time to call you missing.

Regeneration
A great rune to bottle, it lets you be as aggressive as you want (within reason) and saves you the trip back to the fountain. Once I get one of these, I use it if I'm low or I lay on the pressure, harassing the enemy as much as possible. A trick that requires some fantastic timing and a little practice is that the Regen that you get from using the rune lasts quite a while, and ends when your mana and health are completely full. If you have ball lightning, you can zip across the map in the middle of using this rune, and your mana will keep regenerating when its at zero. You can use this to travel very quickly across the map without losing any mana.

Invisibility
This is a nice tool for ganking, where you can get right up next to the enemy and use Electric Vortex on them. This can also be used in the later game as a pushing tool, where you can overextend much more than normal, and when a gank comes for you, it's like a single use Shadow Blade, and you can escape unharmed. Just be warned that if you are not careful you can get chain stunned and die before being able to use the invisibility.

Double Damage
Is not the best rune for Storm Spirit since most of his damage comes from his skill combos, but having double damage never hurt anyone's game. Preferably save it for a gank, but using it to harass is also a viable option.

Illusion
Along the lines of Double Damage, since most of your damage comes from your skill combos, its doesn't increase your damage output by much. They can be used to fool a hero to thinking you are in the middle lane when you aren't, or get them to waste their mana on an illusion. A little trick using these guys is to have them scout out the runes at the next 2 min mark if wards haven't been placed down.

Starting Out

When starting out, always creep block to keep your creeps closer to your tower and so you are more safe in lane. Do not go for the rune that spawns at the start of the game, it is not as important as keeping the creeps close to your tower.

This is normal, safer build for Storm Spirit, having the typical amount of regeneration, stats, and last hitting power. It leaves you with some leftover gold for an earlier bottle, or for a courier if your team supports are not supporting. You could always get one less Iron Branch, one more Mantle of Intelligence and a Healing Salve as an even safer build. This is what you would go with if you up against a strong mid laner ( Invoker, Tinker).


This is a less typical starting build, made for rushing a bottle. It is far more of a risky build and is more useful when ganking is a priority very early in the game. It is quite rare when you need to use this build, and is definitely not suggested for beginning players.

Early Game

>>

>>

>>

or

Getting a bottle is first is priority. It gives you a huge benefit if you are also controlling the runes. This lets you take much more punishment and use your skills more freely without having to worry about running out of regeneration. Boots of Speed are next in line, so that you are more effective in ganking, spend less time running around out of your lane, and gives you better rune control than the enemy if they don't have boots yet. Arcane Boots give you a little extra mana regen for your early mana problems, gives your allies mana when ganking, and is a component for your Bloodstone. The choice for your next item depends on whether you are ganking or carrying. If ganking, preferably go for a Void Stone. If you are staying in lane and carrying, it depends on whether you are getting heavily harassed or not. With heavy harassment, go for the Ring of Health, otherwise get a Void Stone.

Null Talisman
This can and should be gotten if your initial farm isn't top notch, you died a couple times in lane, and/or would just like a nice boost to your stats. Not necessary if your farm went well or you got a kill or two from ganking.

Magic Wand
This is never a bad item to get on any hero. It gives a nice little stat boost and gives you sometimes a lifesaving burst to your health and mana.

Power Treads
This is an alternate to Arcane Boots or Boots of Travel (if you got Arcane Boots and changed it into a Bloodstone). It gives a boost to survivability or mana and damage depending on what you chose. Not a bad choice if you have good pushers on your team ( Leshrac, Shadow Shaman) or other teleporters ( Nature's Prophet, Tinker).

---

When you hit level 6, you should hopefully have boots and a bottle, and it should be pretty close to night. This is when you should be begin to start ganking. You should consider your ganking strategy before you get to that point though. If you are close to boots, you can go and gank one of the lanes and pick up boots from one of the side shops, saving time waiting for the courier and leaving it for your teammates to use. Try to grab a rune before you go for a gank, and if it is possible gank the lane that you grab the rune in. This cuts down on time that you spend out of lane getting gold and experience. Another strategy that yields better gold and experience is having a hero that was laning with another hero to shift to the middle lane. This leaves you to roam and add constant pressure on the enemy, but requires good communication with your teammates. If you do not have this shift, you cannot leave the middle lane nearly as much or the person at mid will start getting free farm (which is very bad). Always keep TP scrolls on you, as you will use them to quickly get across the map to gank, or to help out your teammates lanes if they need it. Typically before you start to go for a gank, you want to push the lane forward so your tower won't get attacked, or takes minimum damage.

When ganking, your strategy will be this:

1. Talk to your teammates and tell them a gank is coming, and time it with them
   
   
2. Initiate with Ball Lightning, where your final destination is right on top of your target, and follow up with a Overloaded auto attack
   
   
3. Use Static Remnant (hitting as many heroes as you can preferably) and follow up with another Overloaded auto attack
   
   
4. Use Electric Vortex on an enemy and use an Overload shot again
   
   
   *This fourth step requires a little bit of know how on who to target, if you can kill a hero with or without using Electric Vortex on him and being able to save it for another hero or not. When in doubt, use it.
   
   
5. Zip around with Ball Lightning in short bursts to charge Overload, to slow the enemy or enemies if they are not dead

Sometimes you will not have time for step 3, and will need to immediately use Electric Vortex. Such situations would be for someone with a blink ( Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain) or someone with a strong AOE disable ( Tiny, Sand King, Sven).

---

There isn't too much to say about going as a carry for the early game, as all you do is farm farm farm. You are working to get a Bloodstone as soon as possible. Focus on last hitting above harassing and denying, gold is your need in this build. Although you still want to keep the pressure on the enemy you are in lane with, and try your best to force them out of their lane back to the fountain, or even kill them if the opportunity arises. A nice trick to use is to run behind the creep wave and use a Static Remnant, with the right timing can land a couple last hits and hit the enemy hero without drawing creep aggro. Try to always use your Overload attack on the enemy hero, it is a little bit of a waste to use it on creeps, although a well planned Overload can land multiple last hits. Do not lose last hits saving your Overload, just try to plan to be able to use overload on the hero once you get it.

---

In this build you want to stay in lane farming and harassing, doing your thing, very similarly to the Carry strategy. If you manage to force the enemy out of the lane or get a kill, this is your time to take advantage and to go gank. Without an enemy there to push the lane and attack your tower or an enemy to get free farm while you are gone, you are more free to leave the lane. If the gank fails, go back to the mid lane, don't linger around in the other peoples lane stealing their gold or their experience.
The combo will be the same as in the ganking section, but for this build your damage will come from your Static Remnant and not Overload.

Mid Game

>>

>>

>>

Once you finish Perseverance, there isn't really much of a need to go back to base anymore. This will make it so there is no lull between your farming and ganking, constantly acquiring this gold and experience keeps you ahead of the other teams heroes. The goal from here on out is to finish the Bloodstone, so you can start getting as many charges on it as possible. The Bloodstone is what gives you the momentum to keep up into the late game and steamroll the other team. The Boots of Travel is chosen for the map control it gives and aggressive pushing. Since you can easily zip in and out with ball lightning, with Boots of Travel you can either zip in to push a lane then TP out (to another lane to push perhaps...) or you can TP to a lane and push, then zip away. The Boots of Travel are also good for counter-pushing. This pushing/couter-pushing also gives you lots of gold for you to spend on your late game or situational items.

From this point on, the three builds meld very similarly into each other with slight variation on what your priorities will be. Most games will require a mix of participating in team fights, farming, and ganking. The balance depends on how the game is progressing and what your focus was on in the early game.

• Ganking = Stay with your team and coordinate ganks on one or two lone farming heroes, heroes farming in the jungle, etc. Let your team carry have the kill if possible. Don't focus on farming but don't forget that you do need gold.
  
• Carrying - Keep farming your items but don't stray too far from your teammates so you can do your best to be there for every team fight. Participating in ganks may not be the best way to get your gold, especially if you are in a lane getting free farm.

---

This is the stage of the game where teamfights start happening far more often, and your squishiness is a little more noticable. For these team fights, you will normally want to have the initiator start things off since you are so fragile. When this happens, you want to zip in and lay down a Static Remnant, and as many as you possibly can after that. After your first Static Remnant, use an Overload on someone if possible but Electric Vortex the most potentially dangerous hero to your team as a whole. This could be a big stunner (such as Tidehunter) or one of their strong mid-game carries (such as Lycanthrope). Not all games grab a decent initiator though and you will need to fill that role somewhat. There will be times when you will need to Ball Lightning in, use Electric Vortex on a specifically targeted hero (their primary stunner or strongest carry), and zip back out. After that aid your team in dealing as much damage as you can. If you guys won the team fight, use Overloaded shots to chase down fleeing heroes and finish them off. If electric vortex is off its cooldown, use it again. If you guys lost the team fight, GTFO.

One last comment: Do NOT get caught in the middle of the fight as you will most likely get pummeled, at least until you have a decent number of additional charges on your Bloodstone once you get it. The problem is you need to be somewhat close to the hero dying to get the charge, so you cannot be too far away from the battle. Through experience you will learn what is a good distance to stay, which will depend on the hero composition of both teams.

---

If there is a hero trying to snag some farm in a lane alone, that is food for you. Go along with one or two other teammates if possible, do the ganking combo on them, and demolish them. Be aware of the enemy team on the map though because it may potentially be a trap. Hopefully your support has wards, and ask them kindly to ward their jungle. At this point in the game, it is very common for the enemies carry to jungle since they feel it is safe. Take advantage of that false sense of security to demolish them and keep them from achieving their late game carry status. If the support isn't warding and doesn't feel up to the task (because they suck at being a support), then you can do it yourself. It is only 200 gold, which is about 4 creep kills, easy money to get back.

---

If you focus is farming, first of all let your team know. When you are farming, you are away from your team the enemy has the potential to initiate a 4v5 teamfight against your favor. Communicate with your team, and let them know they should play cautiously. Also let them know that you are carrying a TP scroll on you and can come aid when the time comes to defend a tower or a team fight is imminent. Your next job is to make sure you have that TP scroll on you. Then, and only then, are you prepared to go farm the jungle or the lanes, preferrably the safer of the lanes. If there are no wards to support you and a gank is possible, a good trick is to use a Static Remnant as a ward. Static Remnant has flying vision, which lets it see over cliffs and trees. This skill is also useful for getting good vision of heroes juking in the trees and checking roshan.

Late Game

These items are typically built late game items bought for storm spirit. The Scythe of Vyse gives an excellent disable for ganks and team fights, and you can easily get in range to use it with Ball Lightning. In a standard game this would be your go to late game item, and is good for both carry Storm Spirit as well as ganker Storm Spirit. Orchid Malevolence gives you a silence, but the best part of it is that it amplifies the damage of a target by 25%. Late game that means a BUNCH more damage. The orchid also gives you increased attack speed and damage and is stronger on a carry Storm Spirit.



These items can be gotten after a late game item, or instead of one of them. These are situational because they depend mostly on how the game is going and what heroes are on the other team.

Black King Bar
A Black King Bar is a good item to get if you are forced into the role of initiator. This way if you go into a fight, you are not being focused down with chain stuns and dying each time. It is also a good item to get if the enemy team has a team fighting advantage over your team. A good choice for a pusher as well, so that you can easily get away if you are overextending and pushing deep into enemy territory. I believe that Black King Bar is useful many games and is hardly ever a bad pickup if you are against a somewhat competent team.

Mjollnir
This is an item that I find is generally underrated, and have never seen it built on anyone elses Storm Spirit but my own. As a carry and a pushing Storm Spirit, this is a fantastic item to get. The attack speed boost and damage are good, but isn't where the benefit of this item comes from. The passive lets you speed up your pushes and farming significantly. It isn't a lot of time for each wave of creeps, but it will add up throughout the game. This is a good effect but the best part comes from the active. This effect counters heroes and teams with very high armor ratings (such as Dragon Knight). When a team fight starts, place it on a hero that tends to get targeted and is not by any means a squishy hero, and let it do its work. You could also put it on a hero that you do not want to get focused to keep the team from attacking that hero. If they do decide to attack that hero, then they will take some heavy punishment for that choice. This should not be gotten every game, even when facing a high armored team, and in my opinion only gotten if you are the hard carry, and other late game/situational items will not be necessary or as useful.

*A small tip about Mjollnir in general, this item synergizes unbelievably well with Axe, as he already has a skill that needs heroes attacking him and a skill that forces them to attack him. With good timing and teamwork, this will do quite the damage to the enemy team.

Shiva's Guard
This is a good item for initiating, as well as if you are a ganking hero. This will also help you live longer against teams that have heavy hitting right click heroes. It is easily gotten off in the middle of a bunched up enemy team by going in with Ball Lightning then using it. If you are quick enough with your fingers and close enough, you can actually trigger Shiva's before you use Ball Lightning, and travel through the enemy team, without going into the middle of the fray and still hitting everyone with its active ability. If you do this, just make sure you have enough mana to get back or away.

Eye of Skadi
This is a extreme luxury item, only gotten when the game is going great for you. This provied a fantastic orb effect by slowing the enemy down with every shot, as well as a fantastic stat boost. Good on any Storm Spirit if you are able to get it, but other items will usually take priority over Skadi, the same as Mjollnir. Do not get both Skadi and Mjollnir though as they are both orb effects.

Linken's Sphere
Linken's Sphere is a good alternative to a BKB. Not as beneficial to an initiating Storm Spirit, but a very good item for a farming, pushing, or carry Storm Spirit. These three will usually stay back until it is safe to go into a team fight rather than charge right in. This will also save you by giving a get out of jail free card when by yourself. If it pops, then you can easily zip away unharmed and completely avoid an enemy gank. It can also block ultimates that would normally go through a BKB (such as [Pudge's Dismember). A good item to get any game really, and if you feel it is needed, can be gotten before a bloodstone, though I do not suggest it personally.

Necronomicon
This is the item gotten if the pushing power you already have is not enough. It also combo's well with a gank. If you can pop it off right before an Electric Vortex and let those little guys go to town on the enemy, you will destroy them and their mana to keep them from escaping using their skills and let you quickly chase them down. Another extremely situational item that is rarely gotten, but can be necessary in certain team compositions.

---

This portion of the game is all about teamfighting and pushing. Even if you built for a carry, any other carry will out do you. Your map control and your disables are what will benefit the team the most. The damage from static remnannt and Overload are much less significant that what they were before, but still use them. The slow from Overload is still extremely useful in certain situations so be sure to still keep charged shots ready. Your vortex and any other crowd control coming from items should be used as soon as the team fight starts to ensure your team initially has the advantage. At this point in the game always have money for a buyback if the charges on your bloodstone are low, as another hero in the fray is far more important then saving for another item. You can be everywhere at once with a combination of Boots of Travel, Ball Lightning, and enough mana regeneration to constantly keep the pressure on the enemy towers or racks, and win with more of a pushing strat then a teamfight strat.

Allies and Enemies

Juggernaut Since Juggernaut is deadly effective very early in the game with his Blade Fury, your strong disable and ganking abilities will easily get the Juggernaut fed, and give you a strong advantage against your team during the mid game. Juggernaut is quite dependent on an early lead to be effective later in the game, so do your best to prioritize ganking the lane he is in and making sure to give him the kills.

Strong Crowd Control Storm Spirit will synergize with any strong initiators ( Tidehunter, Sand King) and strong stunners ( Lion, Shadow Shaman, Sven) since his ganks will be much more effective and the initiating will not be reliant or as reliant on him. Heroes with orb effects that slow ( Viper, Drow Ranger) will also net you or those carries some early kills with good coordination.

Strong Burst Damage Another strong synergy is with heroes that have large early burst damage ( Tiny, Juggernaut, Lina, Lion) as your disable allows them to get off that damage quickly and easily without interruption. Great for fighting against heroes with blink.

---

Bloodseeker Not as much of a counter to the hero itself but a counter to the ultimate that is worth noting. Rupture doesn't damage you when you are using Ball Lightning, so you can get away even if you are ruptured. A smart Bloodseeker will silence you first and this will not be possible, but if he doesn't, now you know you can easily get away (if you have the mana).

Illusion Heroes Static Remnant will give you a slight advantage over heroes that spawn illusions ( Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight), since you will be able to use one and the damage from the Remnant will help you see which ones are fake and which one is real.

Blinking Heroes Any blink hero ( Anti-Mage, Queen of Pain) will have a tough time with Storm Spirit because he can disable them with Electric Vortex and if they do get the blink off after that, he can zip to them with a Ball Lightning and finish up the job. This is more of the case early-mid game than anything else.

Invisible Heroes The same is the case with heroes that have active abilities that turn them invisible ( Bounty Hunter, Clinkz). They tend to be very squishy and rely on that escape mechanism too much. If you can get an Electric Vortex off on them before they use that ability, then they are pretty much toast.

*When ganking blink or invis heroes, it is best to have one of the laners stun before you zip in with Ball Lightning. A good hero will blink or pop the invis the instant they hear your Ball Lightning or see you coming around for a gank.

---

These heroes are counters to Storm Spirit, but if you play smart and know the game well, you can avoid the counters all of them bring to the table and still be a strong player despite them being there.

Doom Bringer

Doom Bringer This is your worst enemy. A Doom on you renders you completely useless, making you an easy target once you are doomed and you don't flee. This can be countered by a Linken's Sphere but not a Black King Bar.

Night Stalker If he catches you alone, say goodnight. He will slow you and silence you, and with his speed he will turn you to dust. He tends to be much more of a threat earlier in the game but will still cause you all sorts of trouble throughout the game. A good Night Stalker will begin to roam as soon as it is night, so if you decide to be a gank Storm Spirit, always be on the lookout and flee as soon as you see him, especially during the night, unless there are other heroes around.

Pugna His Nether Ward is a hassle if you are zipping in around it and using your skills, especially if he has a good location for it before a team fight. You use a lot of mana and Pugna is a good hero at countering mana intensive heroes. If you are smart you can avoid this counter. Also if you have a large number of charges on your bloodstone, you wont feel the pain of his Nether Ward as much.

Lifestealer Magic immunity renders you almost completely useless against that hero, and Lifestealer with his built in magic immunity, can keep you from doing any harm to him. You can get him quickly with an Electric Vortex before he gets Rage off, and focus him down. A good Lifestealer will always be ready though.

Pudge A good pudge is a nasty hero to play against, as he is naturally magic immune, and has two moves that will work through a BKB if you decide to get one. He is a strong ganker like you are, so you will have less of an advantage at having better ganks than the other team. A common item for Pudge to get is also a Hood of Defiance, and also a Pipe of Insight, making the magic damage from you even more miniscule, not just against him but against the entire team.

Silencer His Global Silence is commonly used at the beginning of teamfights, which will keep you from being useful at all for between 3-5 seconds. The global silence is bad, but not as bad as his Last Word. This passive will make sure that you do not get your gank combo off if he is around, and will make you significantly less useful in teamfights if he is in the clash there with you. Silencer makes for a very VERY strong counter against Storm Spirit and probably shouldn't be picked if he is already out on the table. Also, IMO, Silencer has a stronger mid lane presence that Storm Spirit does.

Clinkz Without a Linken's Sphere, Clinkz will destroy you. A core item for Clinkz is an Orchid Malevolance, which he can use on you without you even knowing. If you are alone, he will sneak up on you, silence you (which robs you of your escape mechanism) and will reign fire down on you with his Strafe. That silence can also be used on you in team fights, keeping you from doing anything useful at all. This tends to only be a problem if you are farming alone or the Clinkz is insanely farmed. Do not farm alone unless Clinkz is across the map or dead, and be careful when you can't see him anymore.

Drow Ranger A similar strategy as to Clinkz, a typical build for Drow is to build a Shadow Blade, and she can already silence, so that leads to the exact problem that Clinkz brings to the table. This tends to only be a problem if you are farming alone or the Drow is insanely farmed. Do not farm alone unless Drow is across the map or dead, and be careful when you can't see her anymore.

Anti-Mage Anti Mage in the beginning is a sneaky bastard, slippery and hard to kill. A gank against him has to be well coordinated or he is sure to blink away and now you are down gold and experience you could of gotten in lane. Later in the game you wont be doing much damage to him because of his magic resistance, and his ult is nasty if you don't keep your mana relatively high. If you get stunned and he smacks you a couple of times, your escape mechanism is gone and you are dead. Pretty much all of his skills are ones that make your life hell, so be wary against one of these guys.

Silence Once you get silenced, you are useless. You lose all forms of crowd control, damage, and your escape mechanism. Just something to watch out for, try to anticipate when a hero will silence and where, then don't go there.

Tactics, Tips, and Tricks

The slow from Electric Vortex can be completely avoided by using Ball Lightning, if you need to move fast in that 3 seconds after.

A good way of chasing enemy heroes is to orb walk with a combination of Ball Lightning and Overload. This means use Ball Lightning a very short distance to charge your Overload and hit the enemy to slow them. Repeat this until they are dead or it is to dangerous to continue chasing them.

Bloodstone reduces time spent dead for each charge. It isn't necessarily a bad idea to be the sacrificial lamb for your team (or your teams carry) if you will come back quicker than the other teams heroes or your teams carry will. Don't just charge in there thinking you should always take one for the team since you have a large number of charges, weigh the benefits and detriments against your team of making that choice.

Repeatedly pop your Bottle when in the fountain to speed up regeneration. It cuts down on time spent waiting and increases the time you are owning.

Use your Static Remnants as temporary wards. They have flying unit vision and you can zip to high ground that normally couldn't be gotten to for extra vision.

Conclusion

I'm really not much for conclusions; they are almost always the reason I got bad grades on essays that I write for school. Feel free to call out any errors I've made and I'll change them as soon as possible. I am a firm believer in constructive criticism as a powerful learning tool, so go at it. There is a fine line between constructive criticism and being a Negative Nancy though, so respect that line (i.e. Don't be an *******). Also if there is anything I could add that I have missed, be sure to let me know.

Screenshots

These are all games played using the first build, which is the build I tend to play almost exclusively unless under extreme circumstances. Realize though that these scores are not only dependent my skill level, but the skill level of the rest of my team and the enemy team. All these games but the first were played back to back. This last game is a practice match, which really helps last hitting and playing against strong teamwork. Practice matches are also good if you are new to a hero, it helps you get a feel for that hero before you move to public matches.

Screenshots