GUIDE RATING

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All You Uchiha Fans Out There...

June 12, 2012 by LucariStar
Comments: 19    |    Views: 184298    |   

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Build 1
Build 2

Build 1: Farming utility

DotA2 Hero: Rubick


Rubick

Offense

Damage 44-54

Defense

Armor 0.96

Other

Movement Speed 290

Attributes

Strength 56.5
Agility 54
Intelligence 87

Basic Stats

Health 1575
Mana 1352

Purchase Order

Starting items Option1

Starting items Option2

Core

Core extensions

Luxury

Case Dependent



Hero Skills

Telekinesis

1 8 9 10

Fade Bolt

2 3 5 7

Null Field

4 12 13 14

Spell Steal

6 11 16

Stats

15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25


All You Uchiha Fans Out There...

LucariStar
June 12, 2012

1.Introduction
2.When to pick
3.Skills
4.Items
5.Farming Utility
6.Support
7.Replays
8.Credits
9.Changelog

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Introduction

Hello, welcome to my guide to Rubick. This is my second guide, my first one is this guide to AA.

Rubick is a multi-purpose support hero. He can be played as a solo mid or a babysitter, much like Shadow Shaman and Windrunner. For this purpose, I will write about each way to play him.

Here is a handy link to his skills and stats

Just looking at his first 3 spells, he already seems flexible. He has both a stun and a nuke, so he is capable of ganking.His fade bolt is a great nuke for counter-pushing, not just because of the damage but also because of the enfeeble. Telekinesis is one of the most versatile spells in the game on it's own and it can fill any role you need it to.

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When to pick

Pick Rubick when

    Any time the requirements of the list below are met

Do not pick Rubick when


-They have high burst damage
-They have many a-click carries
-Rubick is overshadowed by another hero when it comes to a certain role
(EX: Rhasta instead of Rubick for pushing)
-Their line-up consists of silences/orchid buyers
-Their line-up consists of BKB buyers
-You already have many level-dependent heroes
-You are on fifth pick and need a carry

The ones in red are often forgotten and you end up picking Rubick at the wrong time.


Also



Try to pick Rubick when the other team has 3 of these heroes:

For their big teamfight ults

As well as

Because all their spells are useful to Rubick.

Note: Lina, Lion, and Nerubian Assassin are not included on this list because even though all their spells are great for Rubick (besides Spiked Carapace), but those 3 can easily burst Rubick down.

Also, seek out these heroes for the lulz.

But, don't pick Rubick if the enemy has too many of these heroes because Rubick doesn't benefit at all from them.

Learn to love him


If ever, IF EVER YOU GET YOUR HANDS ON THAT MORPH, use it and morph everything to STR. Then wait for Morph to expire or get a new spell and sit on that 2k hp for the rest of the game.

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Skills

Here is the skill's page again

Telekinesis




Telekinesis (Imma call it tele now) is a very curious stun. It lifts the target into the air and you can throw him somewhere 325 units away. The stun duration is actually insane, but the damage is also insanely terribad. No kidding, the damage it deals is 0.

Uses

    -Just for a stun...to help..a gank...?
    -Initiate a fight by throwing someone towards your team
    -Escape by throwing someone away
    -Throw someone onto impassable terrain :)
    -Cancel tp/other channel spells
    -Pick someone up to stop him from casting a spell so you can steal the one he just used

Fade Bolt



Fade Bolt is a nuke just like Zeus's Arc Lightning. At early levels, manacost is fairly high and so is cd. The damage is average. The great part about this spell is the enfeeble. In an early game teamfight, the damage reduction is pretty nice.

The uses is straightforward. It's a nuke that enfeebles. Not the different that all other nukes.

Note: the bounces won't hit units covered up by fog. So wait till u see the whole creep wave before you use it.

Null Field



Really, nothing much to say about this spell. Gives your whole team a Hood of Defiance. It's a passive, nothing much to say.

Spell Steal



Rubick's bread-and-butter, cheese of the sandwich, whatever you ant to call it, it's what defines this hero. In a teamfight, the first thing you do is you select THE SINGLE SPELL THAT YOU WANT. Then you wait. As soon as you see that spell cast, immediately cast Spell Steal.

What comes next is really situational. To understand what to do, you have to know how to use the spell you just stole. Then use it accordingly.

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Items

I divided all the items into tiers.

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier 3



Tier 4



Tier 5



Tier 6



All the items that I believe are viable on Rubick are classed in groups 1-5. Some items are not in the item builds because I don't recommend them. They work, just not the best. The tiers 1 through 5 are classified by item price/power whatever you call it. Tier 1 is the weakest/cheapest while tier 5 is the strongest/expensive. Tier 6 is the tier of situational items. For example, the enemy line-up is Enigma, Sand King, Puck, Queen of Pain, and Void. Of course you go. Even though you won't always have Black Hole/Epicenter/Dream Coil/Sonic Wave/Chronosphese, you should still have it in case you ever do get one of them.

My Opinion on Soul Ring



I don't like Soul Ring. It gives you massive mana (great since you're low on it), but you have little hp as well. I think of Soul Ring as an iten for manaa-dependent Strength heroes like Shaker and Sven. Get it if you feel safe running on low hp. I rather invest into Perseverance.

WTF???!!!!11111!!one! SANGE????????????????????/////



Yes. Sange. Why, you might ask. Simply because Rubick is ranged. In terms of sheer hp, it gives more than a Vanguard (304 to Vanguard's 250). Sure, Vanguard has A NERFED damage block and some very nice hp regen, but Sange offers 10 damage (not bad actually) and a decent maim. Not to mention, it is upgradable into Heaven's Halberd, a very good late game item. It counters carries pretty well, not only with disarm but also with evasion. But anyway, Vanguard is the more defensive item with a nerfed damage block and some nice regen, while Sange is the better offensive-survivability tool since it gives a load of hp as well as damage and maim. But since Rubick is an aggressive ganking hero, you should get Sange over Vanguard.

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Farming Utility

Pros and Cons



Pros

    -Early items to fuel your ganking
    -Great candidate for mekansm
    -Doesn't scale terribly into late game (nice stun enfeeble, null field)
    -Great mid-laner
    -Controls runes fairly well thanks to nice creep-clearing
    -Many items go great with him

Cons
    -Requires quite a bit of levels to gank efficiently
    -Needs items to scale into the late
    -DPS build no viable (unlike common mid heroes such as Windrunner, Invoker)
    -Out-leveling other heroes doesn't have as much of an impact as an Invoker out-leveling, etc simply because his ult steals the spells and it's level. So if you steal Tidehunter's Gush and he's still level 5 with lvl 3 gush, you'll get a lvl 3 gush, not 4.

Skills



You want to go Bolt first as it will help you rune-wh0re and farm. The rest of the skill build is fairly obvious. Note: Taking stats instead of Null Field is viable, I just rather give my whole team survivability.

Items



As the farmer, I recommend you skip Tier 1 completely (referring back to my 6 tiers) and get at most 2 items from tier 2. In Tier 3, go for phase boots if you can. The extra mobility is really necessary. Let your supports get the Arcane Boots for you. If you got a Bracer from Tier2, upgrade to Drums.

If you're mid-laning,always get the bottle. I'm sure you guys know how to use it.

If there are many teamfight, I tend to always get Perseverance. It's really good if you're planning for a Tier 5 Bloodstone/Linkin Sphere. Another option is to disassemble the Perseverance and go into hex. I usually get the Hex with it. Thing is, Rubick is so mana hungry. In a teamfight, you want to stay back and cast spells. You're gonna want that hp/mp regen so you can back out, heal, go back in. I put it as core, but that's just my point of view. If you're really good at controlling hp/ mana, skip it.

Or, if you feel like the hp regen is wasted, you can go for Eul. Eul gives a disable, nice mana regen, and mmost forgotten, nice ms bonus. It's nice if you need mana regen as well as an additional disable.

Get at most 2 items in the Tier 4 or you can even skip it completely. After I get a couple of Tier 5s, I tend to go back to the Tier 4 and purchase Boots of Travel. My recommended build is at the top of the guide.

In my recommended build, the starting items option 1 says 1 set of tangoes and 3 branches. The point of that build is to rush a bottle. If you're good at last hitting, you can get up that bottle really fast. If you do, you will out-regen the opponent so then you can harass so much better.

Remember to always have a tp scroll.

Play



This will help your game.

Early game, just farm until you hit your first Tier 3 item. Then go gank. Your first gank target is the one with the biggest prize for your ult. Grab your prize and go find that nasty Morphling/Dusa. Remember to turn every gank into pressure on a tower. When you finish up building your Tier 4s, I recommend Roshan---> Push rax. You can't go late.

In a teamfight, stay you have to be in the middle. Yes, don't ***** out. As a farming utility that is most likely playing the 2 or 3 role on team, the others are sacrificing gold for you. Use those items and go tank for your supports. Phase Boots as well as Force Staff/Euls allows you to move around your enemies really easily. Use your mobility and grab stuns and try to create a distraction for your 1 and 2 roles as well as pulling the enemies away from your 4 and 5 roles.

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Support

Pros and Cons



Pros

    -Item independent for the most part of early-mid game
    -Getting cheap Tier 2 items already gives a huge boost
    -Good survivability compared to other supports
    -Being under-leveled isn't that bad (compared to Veno, Sand King,Leshrac,etc)
    -Can keep the carry alive very well
    -600 range harass

Cons
    -Only 1 nuke
    -Even though under-leveled isn't horrible, you still want those levels
    -Very mana-hungry if you can't farm Arcane Boots
    -A-click harass damage is fairly low

Skills



Since you're not farming, get Tele first as it will help you set up ganks and keep your carry safe. In this build, always go Null Field over stats as it doesn't matter if you keep yourself alive, you need to keep the carry alive.

Items



You're gonna be pretty poor. Focus on getting all the Tier 1 items as well as tp scrolls. If you have money left over, I actually recommend rushing Arcane Boots and then going back to Tier 2 items because you are so mana hungry.

If you're unable to get money off ganks or just dieing too much and you can't reach that Arcane, go for a few Nulls or Bracers. Go Bracers if you are simply aiming to go straight into Arcane after the Bracers. The reason is because the Bracers will keep you alive better than the Nulls and so you will die and lose gold less often. The Bracers won't do much besides keeping you alive though. But if you feel that Arcane is still far and you want immediate impact, go Nulls. The extra mana is nice. Not only that, you get decent right-click damage from them. Not to mention that is also bumps your hp a little. If I'm having trouble reaching Arcane, I'd usually go double-Nulls unless I'm really having trouble staying alive.

I would get 3-4 Tier 2 items and then upgrading what I can into Tier 3
(Bracer
>Drums, etc). If you ever manage to get a Tier 5 item, you're doing it wrong. You shouldn't have that much farm, it should of went to the carry. My recommended build is at the top.


Play



Must read for all support players

The goal for a support is straightforward. Keep your carry alive and stacked, keep your opposing carry dead and poor. Don't be afraid to suicide to get your carry a kill, or to save him. Buy wards to scout out ganks. Don't forget to get Sentries as well to counter the Smoke of Deceits. And don't forget to buy Smoke of Deceit yourself to gank their carry.

In the laning stage, harass as much as you can. Stand in between their range creep and the opposing hero and a-click. Push him further away from the creeps as possible. If he is pushed away and you feel he won't be coming back, go stack pull creeps. Here is this link again.

After the laning stage is over, try to always be near your carry. The one notable exception is when you are ganking the opposing carry. Just never be alone, even when you're off warding. You shouldn't be in a lane farming at any time. If your carry in farming the bottom lane as Radiant, sure, go ahead and farm jungle. But be ready to support him at all times and if he comes to jungle, you better leave.

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Replays

If anybody has some good replays of Rubick (must be pro games, dota1 or dota 2), please send them in. In the meantime, I'll update my own list as I find replays. The replays are either epic Rubick games or epic games with a Rubick in it.

Note that win/loss doesn't matter, the replays are about the quality of the Rubick player.

MINESKI VS ORANGE GEST May
mouz vs iG Beyond the Summet World Tour
LGD vs iG Beyond the Summet World Tour

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Credits

I'd like to thank Lycan cause I borrowed his guides without his consent (lol).
I'd like to thank IceFrog for being awesome.
I'd like to thank Luminous and DotaCommentaries.com for being awesome.
I'd like to thank everyone who helps me make my guide better.
I'd like to thank Alan (gamingholddota2) for using his vid on Rubick. Like and Subscribe!

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Changelog

    08/02/2012 Updated Farming Utility build

    06/27/2012 Third update (Null talisman, Bracer in depth)

    06/25/2012 Second update (Eul, Sange)

    06/23/2012 First update (perseverance, soul ring discussions)

    06/14/2012 First comment

    06/11/2012 Started writing the guide

Guide Discussion
1 2 >>
Quote | PM | +Rep by kirbyruled » June 14, 2012 12:01pm | Report
Guide name is great lol.

+Rep/+1 for content as well. I think. Honestly I never played this hero outside of single player, but your logic is solid.
kirbyruled


Unremarkable (15)
Posts: 129
Steam: kirbyruled
Quote | PM | +Rep by IPwndU » July 19, 2012 10:43am | Report
What about an Eye of Skadi on Rubick ? It gives insane stats and a imba snare, you feel like playing Viper with this item :'D
I usually go for Drum of Endurance -> Force Staff -> Eye of Skadi -> Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence or Shiva's Guard
I replace the eye of skadi with a linken's sphere if there is a doom, beastmaster, pudge, bane...etc.
For boots, i don't rly think arcane so useful (except if i go for a bloodstone), i prefer go for phase boots (so good with eye of skadi, and give good movement speed)

Btw, good job, very nice guide :)
IPwndU


Unremarkable (1)
Posts: 16
Quote | PM | +Rep by LucariStar » July 20, 2012 12:15pm | Report
IPwndU wrote:

What about an Eye of Skadi on Rubick ? It gives insane stats and a imba snare, you feel like playing Viper with this item :'D
I usually go for Drum of Endurance -> Force Staff -> Eye of Skadi -> Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence or Shiva's Guard
I replace the eye of skadi with a linken's sphere if there is a doom, beastmaster, pudge, bane...etc.
For boots, i don't rly think arcane so useful (except if i go for a bloodstone), i prefer go for phase boots (so good with eye of skadi, and give good movement speed)

Btw, good job, very nice guide :)


Eye of Skadi...I feel like Skadi is a late-game item for carries. Rubick is a utility-support hero. Skadi is expensive. My question is what are you giving up for that Skadi. Do you want Skadi or Rod of Atos -> Eul's Scepter of Divinity, Skadi or double bracers -> Shiva's Guard.

When I think of Phase Boots -> Eye of Skadi, I think of hard-carry Rubick. Honestly, I think that only works in pubs, really. I've never tried it.
LucariStar


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Posts: 32
Steam: LucariStar
Quote | PM | +Rep by IPwndU » July 21, 2012 6:40pm | Report
LucariStar wrote:


Eye of Skadi...I feel like Skadi is a late-game item for carries. Rubick is a utility-support hero. Skadi is expensive. My question is what are you giving up for that Skadi. Do you want Skadi or Rod of Atos -> Eul's Scepter of Divinity, Skadi or double bracers -> Shiva's Guard.

When I think of Phase Boots -> Eye of Skadi, I think of hard-carry Rubick. Honestly, I think that only works in pubs, really. I've never tried it.


In my opinion, I wouldn't call Rubick a support like others. He is way more reliant on auto attacks in a teamfight than Vengeful Spirit or Venomancer, even Dazzle, because of his CC, his amazing range (600) and his good damages. With his powerful skills, he has the potential to be strong since the start of the game until the end, this is why he needs some damages from the Phase Boots and stats from the Skadi which help for the late game (the "40min late", not the "60min late" obviously ^_^). Stats from Skadi (and the early Drum) gives him a lot of HP (and not only HP: mana, regen hp, regen mana, armor, attack speed, damage... well, everything) to feel in security because he has a very poor strength gain (less than Crystal Maiden ...). But the best part of the item is the imba slowdown, which allow your team to kill so fastly the ennemy you focus ( Force Staff + Q if needed + perma AA which deal a huge ammount of damage while the ennemy moves so slowly (a better slow than Rod of Atos' which only lasts 4sec) + Phase Boots active to chase your opponent until his death)

If I compare Eye of Skadi ( +25 str, +25 agi, +25 int, +200hp, +150 mana and 30% snare 3sec per auto attack) and double Bracers plus Shiva's Guard ( +42 int, +6 str, +6 agi, +15 armor and artic blast, 200 AoE + 40% snare 4sec) for the same price, I prefer take Skadi because of everything I just said. Btw Rubick is not supposed to be in the middle of the teamfight so i don't feel Shiva's really useful for him, I would rather let it to Death Prophet, Necrolyte, or Storm Spirit ... or anyone else like that (yes I know I wrote " Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence or Shiva's Guard", but after reflection I remembered I almost never built it haha :D).

But maybe it is me who likes to build an Eye of Skadi on almost every ranged hero cause it is a such an useful and polyvalent item, idk... :<

Btw I only play Dota for a few months and I think you're right when you say "I think that only works in pubs" cause Eye of Skadi has lots of better carriers than Rubick like Shadow Fiend, Morphling and Clinkz, and also because I never played in a pro game... :D You probably have a better game experience than me.
I just gave you my opinion about this item which works pretty well with a good team who can follow and kill the ennemy you focus with your deadly skills and auto attack.

Anyway thanks for your "Eul's + Rod of Atos" advice, I didnt think about it. I will try it for a more support Rubick and less hard-carry, even if it doesn't give a good amount of HP (I don't want to be as weak as a Crystal Maiden in late game, who dies hit by 2 auto attack from a carry... it is my nightmare ._. )
Do you think Drum -> Force Staff -> Eul's -> Rod of Atos is a good item build order ? I think it lacks some luxuries items... but in my opinion Rubick absolutely needs Drum and Force Staff... what is yours ? :/
I would also like to go for Drum -> Force Staff -> Scythe of Vyse... but this lack of Hp is always disturbing me :(

Sry if I write too much haha but I rly want to improve my Rubick and there are not so many guides about him on dotafire ! he is the funniest hero of the game nevertheless :D
IPwndU


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Posts: 16
Quote | PM | +Rep by LucariStar » July 23, 2012 8:18am | Report
First of all, since Venge and Veno are agi, they hit harder than Rubick. Also, Venge and Veno do more damage than Rubick thanks to Command Aura and Veno's ult+gale. Just saying k? Also, Rubick is no SF or Morph (wait, Clinkz Skadi???). I ment Rubick Skadi only works in pubs.

I think we have different mentalities. You must play carries a lot. I play a hard support role and when I play Rubick, I usually barely gold up to Force Staff. I build items to help the team, you build items to kill the other team. The difference I guess is that I go for "assists" and you go for "k/d".

Item build question: I'd sayd Drums -> Force -> vitality booster -> hex -> finish atos
LucariStar


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Steam: LucariStar
Quote | PM | +Rep by IPwndU » July 23, 2012 7:19pm | Report
Well, "agi" does not obviously mean "hit harder" you know. Faster, okay, but in the case where you are building them like supports as you like it, they will not hit so faster than Rubick because he has more attacks per second than them.
Anyway I didn't say anything about "hit harder" in my previous post, I just said he was "more reliant on auto attacks in a teamfight", which is right. Considering VS and Venom have respectively 400 and 450 attack range, a ****ty range compared with 600 Rubick's range, you will not go into a teamfight and deal some damages with your AA while you are playing Venomancer. You will just put some wards, go in, throw your ult and your gale, and die so fastly. This is almost the same problem with VS, you ult, and die before turning around to force staff if the ennemy team is aware (not in pubs I acknowledge, everything I am saying is about competitive games in tournaments), while Rubick can put AA from afar, with 2 stuns (tele + spell steal if you steal the right skill) which allow him to deal more and more at the maximum range.

This is right, I like to play some heroes like Chaos Knight or Nevermore, and I am feeling way more useful with this kind of Rubick I am playing, who can go into a teamfight to drop some skills which need to go in, like a Requiem of Souls or a Chronosphere, tank some damage for my team (not dying as a Venomancer could do) and escape, deal a huge amount of damage with a good Tele + some cold AA + spell stole, which end at best with some kills.

Yes, I repeat it, it works in pubs, but I didn't see anywhere that was only a competitive guide. For the most part of the readers, they are almost new or mid-pro players who want to improve their play of a certain hero and come on Dotafire to see some good guides, tips, ideas and strategies, so put extra things is not a bad thing, even if this is not the best way to play the hero in a competitive game. (I am not telling you that you wrote a bad guide, it is very detailed, but there are always way to improve :P)

You should also add that you can take levels of Null Field over Telekinesis if there are some great magic dealers like Tiny, Nevermore, Mirana, Morphling or many Int Heroes (I re-read your guide, sorry if i missed it, i am pretty tired while I am writing this ...)

Thanks for the item build advice.

PS : Clinkz + Skadi worked in Dota 1. They fix'd it in Dota 2 a short time ago. Now Clinkz's Searing Arrows (autocasted) works with Skadi's orb effect.
Clinkz Orchid + Skadi + MKB = Demolition man

Edit: "Rubick is frail, and is suited to attacking from a distance. However, if he Spell Steals powerful initiation abilities he will sometimes be required to endanger himself. It is best to adapt Rubick's build to whatever stolen spells will define his role, which will usually be ascertained via enemy team composition (if they have an Enigma, build like Enigma; et cetera)." from Dota 2 Wiki.
I think it summarizes well what I am trying to say
IPwndU


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Posts: 16
Quote | PM | +Rep by LucariStar » July 25, 2012 3:43pm | Report
You know what, I'll just add Skadi in Tier 5. I don't like it, but it has its uses I guess.
LucariStar


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Posts: 32
Steam: LucariStar
Quote | PM | +Rep by Azazodia#267007 » August 6, 2012 10:39pm | Report
Hi! I have a question (also, thanks for the guide, i loved it, very well thought out and helpful, and i couldn't help but to laugh at the video regarding spell steal)

If i were to get Aghanim's Scepter, would that make the ults i steal more powerful? sorry if thats a dumb question.
Azazodia#267007


Posts: 4
Steam: Azazodia
Quote | PM | +Rep by IPwndU » August 7, 2012 6:07pm | Report
This is not a dumb question. :P
If you target an enemy hero who has Aghanim's Scepter, you steal the upgraded spell.
If Rubick buys an Aghanim's by himself, every stolen ult will be upgraded (in cases where there is an upgrade obviously ! But this is not my fault if you can not steal the upgrated ult of the enemy while he is holding an Aghanim's just because the hero you targetted has no upgrade... in this instance, your enemy is strange :< )
IPwndU


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Posts: 16
Quote | PM | +Rep by NinjaFatcats » August 10, 2012 12:02am | Report
How about blood seeker?
NinjaFatcats


Posts: 31
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