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Quelling Blade
Healing Salve
Tango
Clarity
Iron Branch
Armlet of Mordiggian
Boots of Speed
Magic Stick
Armlet of Mordiggian
Power Treads
Blink Dagger
Black King Bar
Skull Basher
Heaven's Halberd
Maelstrom
Monkey King Bar
Assault Cuirass
Orb of Venom
Abyssal Blade
Heart of Tarrasque
Eye of Skadi
Shadow Blade
Desolator
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2 | 8 | 9 | 13 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
Wraith King is a strong mid-game carry that doesn't fall off too much in the late game compared to other mid game heroes, but, he also has a very nice early game meaning that if played correctly he is strong at every stage in the game (barring you aren't up against heavy counters of course).
This guide will focus on how to squeeze the most out of the mid-game, so by the time the late-game rolls around your team should have a decisive advantage barrack-wise or at least a tower advantage as well as a hopeful higher team net worth in items for your team from winning teamfights.
Pros
-Not weak at any stage in the game
-Gives a large amount of lifesteal to all nearby allies, including ranged
-Scales rather well with items
-Rather good farming capability
-Built in Aegis of Immortality
-A low cooldown stun that also has a slow at the end of it's duration as well as a DoT
-Doesn't require as much farm to 'come online'
-Silences aren't fun for anyone, but 
Wraith King deals with them better than most all
Cons
-Can be very hard to do well against teams with moderate to heavy mana draining
-Lifesteal is somewhat of a backbone of the hero, heroes that can erase this 
Ancient Apparition are troublesome
PS, Vampiric Aura Does NOT count as an orb effect.
The starting items can of course be played around with a bit, but it's a fairly safe way to start out, although I usually only get 1 Iron Branch to save inventory space, and to get my 
Helm of Iron Will a little quicker.
You can also decide if you want to get the Quelling Blade or not. For easier lanes, it could be a better idea to skip it and save the gold, and if you decide you need it to just purchase it at the side shop.
Still, getting it is nice due to having it along with two or three levels in Vampiric Aura and your Armlet of Mordiggian allows you to make quick work of ancients without losing much health at all.
Regardless, Wraith King is one of the few heroes that I've found getting the same foundation of items nearly every single game without deviation works best, afterwhich you'll have to use your own descretion for what to get, but I'll try to give some pointers.
This foundation is
#1
#2
#3
I generally try to get the Helm of Iron Will for my first purchase afterg etting out fo the fountain since it will provide you with a bit of HP regen as well as +5 armor to which solves a lot of Wraith King's early laning issues.
Afterwards, you can either purchase 
Blades of Attack for helping in last hitting, or get your Brown Boots or Magic Stick, and then purchase the others, in whichever order you feel is best suited to your laning needs.
From there you want to finish off your Armlet of Mordiggian and then either finish your Power Treads or your 
Magic Wand. You can also choose to finish your Magic Wand until after you get Blink Dagger, which is often a good choice.
As far as play style in the lane goes, hopefully you're paired with someone/two hero(es) who have at least some decent synergy with you. For the most part you'll just be concerned with getting as many last hits as possible, which is fairly easy to do with WK as he has a nice attack animation and good enough base damage and a nice strength gain.
Don't use Hellfire Blast for harrassment, you need to save the mana for using it in conjunction with other stuns/abilities, or saving yourself or an ally. If you notice someone taking tower damage and they aren't right on the brink of outranging it and think you can get off a Hellfire Blast before they can attack an ally creep to get it off them, that can be a great way to get a kill. Try to save enoguh mana when you're level 5 so once you hit 6, you'll have mana for Reincarnation, or at the least enough with using your Magic Stick charges.
A quick note, many people say that getting Mortal Strike is a bad idea early game because of your low damage without items. I disagree with this for a few reasons. One, the other choice is either to get Vampiric Aura which will push the lane which is obviously a bad idea to do too early (you might even want to wait until level 5 to get it instead of 4), or to put them in +2 stats. I've wrestled with the +2 stats idea, but I've found that the large majority of games I play that getting a crit off has meant the difference in someone getting away or a kill. Also, having at least 2 points in it is fantastic for once you get your Armlet of Mordiggian since if you get it early, which you should, you'll be doing very high damage for your level.
Don't put more than 1 point in your aura until you feel the laning phase is about to end and you think you'll be taking down ancients soon, or doing some jungling. You won't notice much of a difference in lane sustain with 1 point vs 2, but it will really push the lane.
Hopefully by the armlet by around 10-14 minutes, and your treads completed not long after. You'll want to aim for a you have your blink dagger asap, since that's what really makes your mid game lethal, being able to initiate blink in and Hellfire Blast along with 2 free armlet toggle hits, and more afterwards due to the slow, is usually enough to get an enemy very low on health or dead, having it around 16-17 minutes with your other items is great, 20 minutes is fine. If you want to complete the Magic Wand after getting Blink Dagger that's usually a good idea, unless you really needed the extra stats in lane.
Your mid game will be characterized by either ganking by yourself, or with one other hero, pushing, or doing a combination of the two along with some good farming. It depends on the pace of the game and what each team is composed of. Don't be one of those people who just sits in jungle farming when your team is heavily push oriented and your lack of being there means the diffence between losing towers and lives. Jungling, aside from some light forms is generally not a good idea since you're so lethal once you have your blink you want to squeeze as much out of the early advantage as possible before enemies start getting more health, you can easily gank most heroes at this point in the game and if you have good mana management, even take on 2 heroes by yourself because of your ult, although be smart about this, some heroes are obviously going to be able to turn the tables on you easily if your by yourself.
First off, as the tab says, don't deviate to buy any of these until after you get Blink Dagger, the only exception being Orb of Venom if you feel like you need it.
The most effective way to get a horrifying Wraith King is to build up an above-average amount of attack speed, and then get Skull Basher. I feel most games you need a little more than just the Armlet of Mordiggian and Power Treads to get a respectable attack speed, so you could get a Maelstrom which is very cost effective and can help you pushing ability, or get a simple 
Hyperstone to later build into an Assault Cuirass, or if someone else is making AC, a 
Mjollnir.
Is a fantastic item on Wraith King. You get a some nice attack speed, a high armor value, and reducing the armor of enemies by 5, is going to in most cases really show, especially if you get it early enough, and that extra 5 armor for your allies is nice as well. This paired with Skull Basher will be a nightmare for anyone you blink in on, and make you rather survivable, aside from magic/pure damage. I'd almost say this is core on Wraith king, but for some games there's better choices.
This is going to get in the way of getting an attack speed/damage item + Skull Basher but some games it's absolutely necessary you get it, and early. If it is, make sure you do!
There's some better items to get for damage and attack speed for this hefty price, but if you're up against 
Phantom Assassin or 
Faceless Void it's a no brainer of a purchase. Also consider it if you're up against heroes who are in the middle of getting a 
Butterfly, or dealing with multiple Heaven's Halberds.
Heart of Tarasque This can be a really solid choice, but I've found that because of it's cost, I'm not really ever able to finish building it unless it's a rather long game, or unless it's literally within the last few minutes of the game as we go for a final push. Due to it's high buildup cost, and other items offering much more in actives or passives while you may only have it partially built, it's only a good choice for a late game item (a very good choice) or something to go splurge on if you find yourself with enough gold to buy the 
Reaver in the mid game, since after that hurdle it's pretty quick to put together.
As much as I love this item, and I do love some Skadi Yadi if I say so myself, it's just too expensive for Wraith King, which is on, because your the king! But, I listed it because if you're against teams with some manaburn whether it's Nyx Assasin, Antimage or just 
Diffusal Blades, this will give you some nice health, damage, attack speed, and increased mana pool, so with conjunction with that Magic Wand you should hopefully always be able to use your ultimate. The Orb effect is disastrous in Wraith King's hands as well. Antimage is a hard counter to you, but if your mid game goes well enough, and you start building this, even if after a skullbasher you can get it soon enough to where you can come back if you haven't been losing the whole game, since even with his blink ability, teammates can usually finish off a slowed Antimage if he only has moderate farm.
I used to buy this much more often, but you can get far better dps by buying other items first, and then by the time you consider getting this, a carry usually has a Monkey King Bar or is in the process of making one. But keep it in the back of your mind because it can be a good situational item to get either after Blink Dagger or quite down the road under certain circumstances, the active is wonderful, though 'countered' by Black King Bar.
[icon-Abyssal Blade size=42] Possibly the best item for Wraith King, though with an absurdly high price, and a 3800 gold component. If the game is going late, this will likely allow you to end it. The active stun goes through magic immunity whoo! (As is the passive chance on this and Skullbasher.
I only buy this if the game is a complete joke and you're winning so hard you feel like buying a jokish item. It's not bad, for an iniation tool, aside to use in conjuction with blink, or getting past 
Observer Warded areas without invis detection, but there's simply better choices imo, also the mana cost from it can really get you in a pickle since your not buying any intelligence or + regen items.
Not a fan of this item. For a bit more gold, you're getting way more of your monies worth out of Assault Cuirass while reducing armor of ALL nearby enemies instead of just 1, and only for 2 less. The extra attack speed and armor are likely to be much better on Wraith King than the 60 damage as well since you'll be taking the brunt of attacks as an initator or co-iniator and Armlet of Mordiggian doesn't offer enough armor for past the mid game. It can be a nice situational late game pickup though.
Not listed, but getting either a simple 
Hood of Defiance or a 
Pipe of Insight can be a good choice if the team is heavily magic based, since either one paired with a Assault Cuirass will make you very survivable, no matter how much damage the other team has, unless it's pure damage of course. Getting it too early will put you behind more likely than not.
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