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110 Votes

Riki: If you can see me, you're already dead!

January 18, 2013 by Sarcy
Comments: 80    |    Views: 636346    |   


Rikimaru, the Stealth Assassin

DotA2 Hero: Riki




Hero Skills

Backstab (Innate)

Smoke Screen

2 12 13 14

Blink Strike

1 3 5 7

Tricks of the Trade

4 8 9 10

Cloak and Dagger

6 11 16

Talents

15 17 18


Riki: If you can see me, you're already dead!

Sarcy
January 18, 2013


Introduction

Hello, my name is Sarcyn and I have enjoyed playing Riki for a long time and I thought it would be fun to share my way of playing him with the rest of you. Riki is one of the most fun heroes in DotA 2 I think soley because once you learn how to play him well you can carry your team hard.

He is a Perma-stealth hero allowing him to be one of the best ganker's in the game if the opposing team neglects to ward or counter stealth, and his burst is simply amazing. So without further ado here is my first guide!

DISCLAIMER:

I am not saying this is the ONLY way to play Riki, I am simply putting out the way I think works for me and I enjoy it, hopefully you can too! :)

Pros / Cons

Pros


~ Reliable Ganker
~ Carries well into late game
~ Silence
~ Great chaser
~ Permanent Invisibility
~ Good Farmer

Cons
~ Somewhat Squishy
~ If denied farm, falls off easily
~ Easily countered with Gem, Dust or Wards
~ Focused in Teamfights

Ability Breakdown

Smoke Screen

- Throws a smoke bomb down in the area, silencing opponents and causing them to miss on most of their attacks. Also slows by 25% at all levels.

Level 1 - 250 AoE, 40% miss.
Level 2 - 275 AoE, 50% miss.
Level 3 - 300 AoE, 60% miss.
Level 4 - 325 AoE, 70% miss.

Mana Cost: 75/ 80/ 85/ 90
Cooldown: 13

Blink Strike

- Teleports to a unit and strikes it if it is a foe, dealing bonus damage.

Level 1 - Deals 30 extra damage.
Level 2 - Deals 60 extra damage.
Level 3 - Deals 90 extra damage.
Level 4- Deals 120 extra damage.

Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 30/ 20/ 10/ 5

Backstab

- The Stealth Assassin is not afraid to fight dirty, and specializes in attacking his opponents from behind.

Level 1 - Deals .25x the Agility of the SA to the target.
Level 2 - Deals .5x the Agility of the SA to the target.
Level 3 - Deals .75x the Agility of the SA to the target.
Level 4 - Deals 1x the Agility of the SA to the target.

Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A

Permanent Invisibility

Rikimaru becomes permanently invisible when not attacking

Level 1 - 3.5 second fade time.
Level 2 - 2.5 second fade time.
Level 3 - 1.5 second fade time.

Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A

Sourced from Playdota.com

Items

Starting Items:

Tango: We grab 2 stacks of these to negate any heavy harassment from the enemy team allowing you to farm up without too much consequence. Do try not to get hit though.

Healing Salve: One of these for after you get into a fight, chances are you will be low so hang back and heal. Keeps you in lane a little bit longer.

Slippers of Agility: Helps you with last hitting and upgrades into your poor mans shield.

Iron Branch x3: Gives bonus damage for last hitting and survivability. Builds into your Magic Wand.

Early Mid-Game:


Poor Man's Shield: The poor mans shield is a great item for early game agility carries. Not only does it give you reduction on melee damage taken but it gives a nice 6 agility with really helps the early game damage.

Magic Wand: The magic wand is what allows Riki to stay in lane for so long. The constant heal and mana restore from hanging around enemies who use their spells to farm gives you amazing sustain. It can also save you in an ugly teamfight and allow you to slip away.

Power Treads: The power treads are my boots of choice for Riki. They give a nice amount of movement speed and the utility to switch between str/agi/int as you need it. Need a little more hp early game to deal with harassment? Str on! Need some more attack speed? Agi on! Hmm mana is a little low. Int on!

Diffusal Blade: Diffusal is my favorite item to get on Riki it will simply allow you to solo anyone that is not seriously tanky! Smoke Screen, Diffusal Blade, Blink Strike, DEAD. Oh it also steals mana from your opponents :P Riki]=[[antimagev2

scroll of town portal: Must Carry One Of These! Not only can you escape with them but you can teleport in to save your team mates or defend a tower!

Late Game/ Luxury:

Vladmir's Offering: The best lifesteal option for Riki it gives you everything you need. Lifesteal, Damage, Armor, Mana Regen and HP Regen, it's an Aura too so you double as a semi support for your team!

Butterfly: One of the best items available in your arsenal. Heaps of agility, EVASION!(Nearly 100% when under Smoke Screen) damage and attack speed!

Skull Basher: Speaks for itself, bash + damage under smoke = win

Manta Style: Game never goes that long but illusions + stats + attackspeed win.

Skills

I take Blink Strike at level 1 to allow me to have some early harrass and be able to retreat from a early gank if needed.

Smoke Screen at level 2 in order to allow me to get into the creep for last hits and to scare off the opposing lane members.

Backstab at level 4, I would normally be blinking in and BSing the other team when they go for last hits at this point while farming my own creep. (Don't spam, choose your opportunities to harrass sparingly you may need mana to survive a gank later.)

Skill Build:

1 - Blink Strike
2 - Smoke Screen
3 - Blink Strike
4 - Backstab
5 - Blink Strike
6 - Permanent Invisibility
7 - Blink Strike
8 - Backstab
9 - Backstab
10 - Backstab
11 - Permanent Invisibility
12 - Smoke Screen
13 - Smoke Screen
14 - Smoke Screen
15 - Increase Stats
16 - Permanent Invisibility
17+ - Increase Stats

Team Work

Your role as Riki is to carry, in order to carry you need farm. Farm as much as you can early game. Focus on farm more than kills however if the opportunity arises to get a good gank DO IT!

In a teamfight you need to not be afraid to get in there! You have your smoke screen and your team needs it! Throw it over the enemy team and laugh as they try to cast on you! Blinking between squishies is a great way to avoid hurt in team fights because more often than not, they WILL lose sight of you and switch to a different target. Also keep in mind if you need to stop attacking and a second later you will be safe in stealth.

Regular ganks and great farm is what wins matches. Combine that with superiour team play and you cannot lose!

Have fun, hope you liked my guide!

Friends and Enemies

Who to lane with:

windrunner
Crystal Maiden
Lich
Leshrac
Shadow Shaman
Dazzle

Who not to lane with:

OTHER CARRIES

Who to lane against:

Any lane with 1 range or less.

Who not to lane against:

Huskar His spears own you early game
Slardar His ult stops you from being invisible.
doom bringer Silence stops you from being invisible and will most likely kill you.

Outroduction

Thanks for reading my guide, I hope that you both found it easy to follow and helpful while playing Riki. He is definitely one of my favorite carries and if played right can be extremely fun and rewarding.

If you would like to play with me in the beta feel free to add me! Steamid: Sarcyn_

Please leave feedback and let me know what you think of the guide, don't forget to +1!

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