Vengeful Spirit- Clip Their Wings

Introduction

I'm Fumbles16x, and this is my guide for Vengeful Spirit, in case you weren't aware. Venge is a great support/utility hero who excels at locking down enemies and making it easier for carries to pound away on them with her damage amplification. Adding to that, she has a high skill ceiling due to the positioning and awareness it takes to be really good with her ultimate.

She can be played in several ways, but I like her best in the 4 position. She isn't hugely item dependent, so this spot is pretty good for her.

Summary

Vengeful Spirit is a ranged Agility support who can fit in nicely on many lineups. She makes everyone around her hit harder with her Vengeance Aura, can help push with her Wave of Terror, lock down foes with Magic Missile, and screw up the enemy's positioning with her Nether Swap.

Usually when playing her you want to get a positioning item, some mana regen and utility, and then fill the rest in with what the team needs. Her "core" items are usually just mobility like Force Staff and Blink Dagger, so it's up to you to see what the game calls for. Skill builds tend to focus on maxing Magic Missile early, which is pretty typical for most heroes with a stun. We'll go into detail on the items and abilities sections though.

Items

Vengeful Spirit is one of those heroes whose abilities alone are just really great. She could quite honestly just get along with some boots if necessary. But, of course, you want some fancy gear for her! These items will further amplify her usefulness.

Arcane Boots- These are pretty typical for supports to pick up. Great on Venge because she tends to use a lot of mana. When laning with someone like Dragon Knight, Bristleback, or anyone else who spams spells, these are a must.

Tranquil Boots- Not quite as useful as Arcanes in my opinion, but still pretty good. Very cheap, good for letting you recover as you cross the map, and excellent movespeed.

Medallion of Courage- Even early on, this item can just melt opponents combined with your Wave of Terror. Gives you some nice armor and mana regen, and is great for laning with a carry who can deal decent early damage like Phantom Assassin. Makes early Rosh attempts a lot easier.

Urn of Shadows- Like Medallion, gives you some mana regen. This is great on the roaming build because you'll likely be building up some charges. With the heal and your Arcane Boots, you're like a walking fountain! Plus blasting an enemy with a charge is great when they might get away otherwise.

Soul Ring- Probably my last choice, given the other options. With this you will always have mana for a Magic Missile if you need it, but at the cost of some health, which can be significant on squishy ol' Vengeful Spirit.

Force Staff- When going full on support, this is the better mobility option. It gives you some intel, hp regen, and lets you do a lot of stuff with its active. You can save enemies by forcing them to safety, get into range for a Magic Missile or Nether Swap, or cross impassable terrain to give yourself a better vantage point. Lots of uses packed into one item!

Blink Dagger- The more selfish counterpart to Force Staff. This is the ultimate positioning tool, and you can really do a lot of cool things when combined with your ult. Enemy has no way to cross terrain? Blink to a cliff and swap him up there while you and your team blast him from below! It also lets you precisely pick where you want your enemy to be when used in conjunction with Nether Swap. The downside is that it only benefits you as opposed to Force Staff.

Aghanim's Scepter- One of the more lackluster upgrades, in my opinion, but not without its uses. While you can now swap with any unit instead of only heroes, the big deal here is the cooldown reduction to 10 seconds. That means you can get several swaps into a single teamfight or gank. If you find yourself with the gold, by all means go for it.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity- One of the best items for a support, in my opinion. If you spot one of their supports warding all alone but you can't quite kill him alone, just stun and cyclone while your team catches up. It can also take you or an enemy out of the fight for a couple of seconds, which can save your team if used right. The movespeed is great, and the mana regen is huge. You'll always have a Magic Missile locked and loaded.

Mekansm- Well, what can you say. Every team needs one of these, and as a support you will probably need to buy it. Gives stats, regen, and armor plus a great burst heal. Good for pushing and teamfighting, try to get it pretty fast.

Veil of Discord- Nice stats, a good active, and is overall very useful to your team. It's great when you have a lot of casters like Zeus or someone like Sand King who has an ult that deals tons of magic damage. As for you, the damage amp from veil doesn't help a ton, but it can melt the other team if your allies follow up.

Rod of Atos- Health and INT, plus a low-cooldown slow. This item is great for ganking and stopping escapes. If you're having trouble getting in range for a missile, this can be used to close the gap.

Manta Style- What's better than one Vengeful Spirit? A Mirana? No! Three Vengeful Spirits! This debuffs a lot of stuff, can be used to dodge spells with good timing, and gives really great stats and movespeed. Yasha alone is a great item on Venge, and if you bothered making one then Manta is a natural follow up.

Shiva's Guard- Attack slow aura and a powerful nuke/slow, plus a major increase to your mana pool. Not usually what I would go for on Venge, but when the time is right it could work, I guess.

Orchid Malevolence- A wonderful ganking item. A silence with even more damage amplification, and some good regen to keep your missiles locked and loaded.

Assault Cuirass- You usually want your carry or semi-carry to get this, but sometimes they need to fill that 6 slot with an MKB to counter PA. This item is a must on your team somewhere in the armor reduction build, so if nobody else is getting it, you need to. It's not the hardest thing to build, especially with several kills.

Necronomicon- Does your team need a little extra push? This book is great at level 3. You can push towers and creep waves like they're nothing, and they benefit from your Vengeance Aura. Good in teamfights as well, and can provide true sight to keep that pesky Bounty Hunter from sneaking up on you.

Ghost Scepter- So you didn't get a lot of farm or levels early on, and you're basically just buying wards and stuff for the team. It doesn't help that the enemy Ursa can just blink in on you and tear you down in 3 seconds. This item makes you immune to physical damage, so it will keep you safe (for a little bit) from enemy carries who can right-click you to the moon. Great for making Juggernaut's ult useless.

Linken's Sphere- When the enemy team has powerful single target spells like Doom or Flaming Lasso, this is a nice item to have. You won't always be the target of these spells since you're in the support role, but remember you can cast the shield onto your buddies!

Black King Bar- Eh, what hero doesn't need this item from time to time? Magic immunity for a few seconds, some damage and HP, what's not to love? If the enemy team keeps silencing or stunning you before you can initiate, you may want to buy this bad boy.

Diffusal Blade- You mostly want this for the active. Omniknight just gave magic immunity to his buddy so you can't lock him down? That sucks.. except you can purge it right away and blast him with a Magic Missile. Great slow and UAM as well. Remember not to buy the upgraded version until you're out of charges on the first, otherwise it's quite a waste.

Shadow Blade- Great initiation item, but not as good as Blink Dagger in most cases. You can sneak through warded areas a lot easier without the use of Smoke, and gives a boost to your attack when you break invisibility.

Drum of Endurance- Every team needs one! It gives a wonderful aura and is the most cost efficient set of stats in the game. It's also easy to build and a great extension if you build an early Bracer. You aren't the first choice to carry this usually, but there's nothing wrong with it either.

Desolator- Makes towers easier to fell, and goes well with your damage amplification. Think about this especially when your team is going for a minus armor strategy.

Dagon- Usually you don't want to get this. It's just a really big nuke, but it falls off hard unless you keep upgrading it. Problem with that is that a full level 5 Dagon is the most expensive item in the game, which isn't feasible for most supports. If it's a crazy stomp, however, this item is a lot of fun. Consider if your team has no nuking power.

Wards, Smoke, and Dust
Always keep these on hand as they're needed. You don't want Riki popping in to kill your lollygagging Crystal Maiden, fading back to invis, and having your team yelling for you to dust before he runs away. Sentries and Dust are a necessity when facing invisible heroes, and Observer Wards need to be up at all time. Sentries should be used to deward from time to time, and you should keep smoke in your inventory in case an opportunity for a gank or Roshan attempt comes up. It's so, so much better to spend 150 gold on an item and not need it than to save your money and get caught without it.

Skills

Magic Missle

Some would say this is your "bread and butter" skill. It probably is. It's a great all-around weapon, and can be used for several things. It's a fairly standard stun/nuke, similar to Chaos Bolt or something.

Notes:
-Don't use this to snipe kills. If the kill is secured, let your carries finish them off. It's a waste of mana and a loss of gold to them if you use this just to help your KDA.
-Can be easily dodged when used at max distance against a hero who can disjoint it. Puck's Phase Shift or anyone with a Blink Dagger can easily get out of the way in time. Try using it from fog to avoid this, or swap first to get the jump on them.
-This skill is strongest in the early game where the damage is more major, and enemies are squishier. Try laning with a carry like Wraith King or Dragon Knight who can follow up with a stun of their own to get the kill.

Wave of Terror

This skill seems kind of meh at first glance, but it stays very useful throughout the game in a number of ways. Basically, it deals minor damage and applies a negative armor debuff to anyone it hits in the line it was cast in. It has a large range, and travels decently fast.

Notes:
-Has a huge, straight line range. Use this to scout the fog, or even to finish off a fleeing opponent.
-Great for softening up creep waves for people like Magnus, Sven, or Kunkka who can cleave them all to death afterwards.
-Armor reduction seems pretty minor, but combined with your Vengeance Aura it's actually very potent. It's a bit less than that of a Desolator.
-Lasts 20 seconds. That's a REALLY long time, and in the laning phase it can make STR carries like Tiny or Alchemist too squishy to even try for last hits.
-Very cheap, cast liberally. Careful early on, however.

Vengeance Aura

A very straightforward skill. It makes everyone around you do a little bit more damage with their auto attack. It's great when you have carries like Kunkka or Phantom Assassin who try to land huge amounts of damage with a single blow. It goes really well with other damage steroids, like Sven's Unholy Strength or Luna's Lunar Blessing.

Nether Swap

So many uses packed into one spell! This is another spell that doesn't seem like a lot, but it absolutely can ruin a team's gameplan before a teamfight. It's also good in the laning phase and during ganks.

Notes:
-Use it when an enemy hero is venturing a bit too close to your tower to get him underneath it. Stun him to keep him in place so that the tower finishes him if you can't.
-Try to catch the other team's initiator away from his team and swap him out of position. DON'T swap a Tidehunter or Earthshaker into the middle of your team. They will hate you, and the enemy will thank you.
-Use this in combination with your Blink Dagger or Force Staff to swap enemies into crazy places so your team can freely attack them.
-Save teammates by swapping places with them, pretty self explanatory. Be careful that you don't put them in a worse spot than they were in.
-BE SURE you don't save enemies with this. It's entirely possible, and you'll probably do it a few times before you get the ins and outs of this skill mastered. Just think about what your team is doing and where the enemy is in relation to them. You don't have to use this skill every gank or fight, only when necessary. If you can't help, at least don't cause harm.

Team Work

Vengeful Spirit is great at all points in the game. She has a stun for locking down and killing enemies in the laning phase, has a good ganking skillset for the mid game, and provides numerous benefits to the whole team when you start clashing with the enemies and pushing towers.

Things to remember:
-Always be aware of where everyone is. You, your team, and your enemies. Watch for the enemy to mess up and capitalize on it, and if your teammate messes up you should be there to save them.
-A well-played Vengeful Spirit is a potent tool. She's very adaptable and can go with most team compositions. Just keep wards up for the team, don't feed, and your team will likely thank you.
-Don't try to be the carry. If you end up snowballing after a string of ganks, then maybe build a Manta Style and a Desolator, but never take the safelane and go for the farming role.
-When picking Vengeful Spirit, take a look at who you're with and who you're up against. This goes for all heroes, but try to at least have synergy with your allies or counter your opponents. Anyone like Drow Ranger or Slardar who can boost physical damage is a great friend to you, and you can help them snowball out of control with your supporting.

Different Builds and Playstyles

I have a couple of builds included in this guide, but the main two are the Lane Support and Roaming Support, since this is really what Vengeful Spirit is excellent at. There are plenty of great guides around the internet and this website that tell you how to play those roles, so I'm not going to give a detailed manual on why an Observer Ward or two is a great idea. Instead, I'll just focus on what a good Vengeful Spirit should keep in mind when playing these roles.

Lane Support

Great in an aggressive trilane, but good in a dual lane as well. Basically, since your stun is easy to land, you want to be the first person to go in. Stun them, have your other disables follow up behind you, and let the carry land the last hit. Defensively speaking, you stand back and wait until you see an incoming gank. Stun them to give your carry time to escape if they need to, or even turn the gank around to a kill for your team.

Keep wards in the jungle if you're a safelane support. Wards in the enemy jungle, preferably blocking the pull camp, if you're offlaning. I recommend being in a trilane safelane support, but Venge is quite versatile. Just don't solo off, bad idea.

Pull the camps to get a little exp and bring the enemy creep wave closer to your tower. Buy sentries if you're against an invis hero, or you think the pull camp is warded. Be careful not to block it yourself.

Always watch the minimap! If the mid lane is missing, he's probably coming for you. Wards help keep an eye on his route to you, but if you don't have them you just need to play cautiously. Look for chances to help your team ambush someone coming to gank you.

Roaming Support

Basically you want to go where you're needed. If the mid lane is having a hard time against that Viper and can't get any farm, try to smoke gank them to give him a level advantage. Maybe your solo-offlane Beastmaster can't quite get a kill without someone to keep them in place for his axes? You have a stun to help with that. Maybe Crystal Maiden left the lane to ward? You should go with someone to try and catch her without help for an easy kill.

Since you're out and about, be placing wards where they're needed. Don't keep warding the runes every 7 mins at the 35 minute mark. Be aware of where you need vision and where your enemy has vision. Stack camps when passing through your jungle. Your hard carry will be sweeping through to get some quick farm, and having three sets of jungle creeps waiting can literally triple the gold and exp he would normally get.

Armor Reduction

This is more of a midgame deviation from one of the previous two builds. You still play very similar to those, you just build a little different items when you have certain teammates. Templar Assassin and Slardar are good examples of heroes who can lower the enemy's armor, which combines well with your abilities. Medallion becomes a core, and a Desolator becomes quite a viable pickup.

Early Damage

I just included Drow and Luna because all three of you have abilities that immediately boost your damage. This isn't really a build I advise going for, but if you build a strategy around it then it can work. Basically if you lane with either of them, their damage boost combined with yours can give a pretty big edge to the lane. It can make them snowball really well, and focuses more on dealing a lot of damage instead of protecting the carry. Very aggressive laning is needed to make this work. Still need your stun first, however. Damage doesn't matter if the enemy can run away easily.

Allies and Enemies

All heroes in Dota share a certain amount of chemistry with each other, and are capable of countering each other really well or not at all. These guys are who you should hook up with and maybe stay away from.

Enemies

- More damage is a bad thing when he heals everything that comes his way. His ult loves that damage increase your team has, he's feeling fine.
- His Enfeeble can make your damage amplification null and void, plus he has like a million disables or something (citation needed).
- has a ridiculous amount of health and can naturally build armor. Since he usually makes Blade Mail you have to pick your battles.
- he can get you out of position and also makes copies of your heroes that can turn all that damage they have right back against you.
- He can silence you and also kick you out of position to wherever he wants. Not to mention he can use grip on an ally to move them away from danger after you've stunned or swapped.
- Obligatory?
- This dude will just keep you disabled forever, or nuke you down to ashes if he feels like it.
- See above.
- Blink lined up, enemy in position, almost ready to swap... Wait, why am I being dragged across the map? He will stun you, then skewer you right into the middle of his team so that you can't swap anyone out. Then he'll probably stomp you or cleave you to death.
- This guy. It doesn't matter how much you increase your team's damage because ult completely negates it. He also gives his team magic immunity every few seconds which is super annoying.

Closing Thoughts

So yeah, that's about it. I'm sure I missed something along the way, so let me know if there are any glaring issues with this guide. I still have a lot of formatting to add, but now that I've put in all the information and "meat" of the guide, I feel ready to post it. Thanks for reading, and go out there and own some noobs with Vengeful Spirit!