Back from the Dead [A Skeleton King Guide]

Introduction

Hello everyone, and welcome to 'Back from the Dead', my guide to the Skeleton King.

I have enjoyed playing Skeleton King immensely, and the information found in this guide has been gathered from hours of my own playtime, knowledge reaped from friends and streamers, and advice from other DOTA2 websites/forums.

Skeleton King is a hero that can be powerful in the early, mid and late game, which is why he can be so enjoyable to play, provided you do so correctly.

Note: This guide is 100% opinion, and if you disagree with some of it (all of it? ouch), then please comment and let me know why. I'm always looking for feedback, whether it is positive or negative and will amend the guide if I believe it will improve it.

Pros/Cons of Skeleton King

The Pros - What makes Skeleton King players carry.
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+ Survivable
+ Huge critical hits as a result of Critical Strike
+ Great lifesteal from Vampiric Aura
+ Good 1v1 hero
+ Effectively has two lives with Reincarnation
+ Relatively easy to succeed with
+ Great stun in Hellfire Blast

The Cons - What makes Skeleton King players cry.
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- Lacks an escape
- Item dependent
- Easy to harass early game
- Depends on good allies

Skilling Order & Explanation

Level 1: Hellfire Blast
Level 2: Stats
Level 3: Hellfire Blast
Level 4: Stats
Level 5: Hellfire Blast
Level 6: Reincarnation
Level 7: Hellfire Blast
Level 8: Vampiric Aura
Level 9: Vampiric Aura
Level 10: Critical Strike
Level 11: Reincarnation
Level 12: Critical Strike
Level 13: Critical Strike
Level 14: Critical Strike
Level 15: Vampiric Aura
Level 16: Reincarnation
Level 17: Vampiric Aura
Level 18: Stats
Level 19: Stats
Level 20: Stats
Level 21: Stats
Level 22: Stats
Level 23: Stats
Level 24: Stats
Level 25: Stats

Why do I pick up two early levels of Stats? Skeleton King has a very low Base Intelligence, and therefore a small mana pool to begin with. The early Stats are to allow you to get multiple casts of Hellfire Blast off, which is extremely important as it is a low cooldown spell and imperative for successful ganks on your lane.

I feel 2 points in Vampiric Aura provides more than acceptable Lifesteal at this stage, which is why Critical Strike is prioritised over it from level 10 onwards. Critical Strike is what makes Skeleton King an exceptional carry, and scales well from early to late game.

Note: Your ultimate, Reincarnation, may be a passive, but it is activated upon dying and for that to happen, you need 140 mana in your pool. If you don't, you will just die and your ultimate will not activate.

Item Build & Explanation

Starting your Lane

Tango Healing Salve Clarity Iron Branch Iron Branch

Tango & Healing Salve to provide you with decent regeneration early on, until you get those points into Vampiric Aura for the lifesteal.

Clarity is to keep you well supplied with mana, should you fear a gank and not have enough for your Hellfire Blast and/or Reincarnation.

Iron Branch are gap-fillers. Never underestimate the power of a couple of Iron Branch, especially at the start.

Quelling Blade or Stout Shield

The final starting item depends on two things:
1. Your lane opponent(s)
2. Your confidence in last hitting

If you're not good at last hitting, then you should probably pick up a Quelling Blade. That said, I don't recommend melee hard carries to anyone who has trouble last hitting as it's so important.

If you're expecting a lot of harassment from the enemy, and you're lacking a good babysitter in your lane, then a Stout Shield is the best option here.

Early Game

Soul Ring Magic Wand Boots of Speed

The Soul Ring (thanks to Numeta for the suggestion) helps solve early game Mana issues, and coupled with your Vampiric Aura lifesteal, the amount of health swapped for mana is negligible and quickly recovered.

Note: If the support player in your lane also picks up this item, then don't pick it up yourself as the auras do not stack.

Magic Wand helps prevent too many mana issues for Skeleton King at the start, and is a core pickup for 95% of heroes in my opinion, as it's so cost effective and builds off your starting branches.

As you're melee, it's important to get your Boots of Speed relatively quickly too, as chances are you'll not just be left alone to farm and you'll have some running to do.

Boot Choice

Power Treads

- Strength for survivability? Check
- Intelligence for mana? Check
- Attack Speed? Check

Nothing else to see here. Power Treads are a must on Skeleton King.

Mid Game

Vanguard Armlet Town Portal Scroll

The Vanguard offers great survivability for melee carries at an affordable price, and is a pickup that I find overlooked many times when it could save a life. The regeneration and HP increase are great additions to your build, and the passive will allow you to farm far easier whilst enduring less damage.

Armlet is an amazing pickup on Skeleton King because of how it synergizes with your Vampiric Aura passive. The item drains health constantly while it's active, but this is countered by your lifesteal and HP regeneration from Vanguard. A great item.

You should always be carrying a Town Portal Scroll at this stage. It might be tempting just to die and allow your Reincarnation to revive you, but if you can save that for a teamfight and get out at the cost of a scroll, then do it and avoid the cooldown which is very high until levelled up.

Late Game

Assault Cuirass Monkey King Bar Black King Bar

Assault Cuirass synergizes perfectly with Skeleton King, and helps make a survivable hero into a monster, and very difficult to put down. Not only does it boost your own survivability, but it increases that of your teammates with the aura effects, whilst simultaneously reducing the enemy team's armour. Couple this with the incredible Attack Speed it generates, and this becomes core item #1 for Skeleton King.

Monkey King Bar is the counter to the most popular carry pickup, Butterfly. This will prevent your attacks from missing, regardless of any enemy evasion chance, and is a must on Skeleton King who relies on his auto attacks for damage. It also has the highest damage of any item besides Divine Rapier.

Black King Bar helps keep you from being stunned, slowed and kited across the map by those frustrating ranged heroes. Activate this item about half a second before entering a teamfight, to avoid being caught out after running in.

The Laning Phase

The most important factor about the laning phase is to remain safe. Be as safe as you can, and that means not extending too far from your tower. This can be difficult, especially as a melee character as last hits can be hard to come by.

Don't misunderstand though; playing safe doesn't mean avoiding a ganking opportunity when it presents itself. Your Helfire Blast is a great stun and nuke, and coupled with a suitable laning partner, will net you a kill if the enemy is pushed up.

Note: If the lane gets pushed out too far, rather than risk death by overextension, pay a visit to the jungle and farm up the neutrals. This is made possible by Vampiric Aura and the lifesteal it provides.

If you're having trouble acquiring the items listed, and are losing your lane, then don't be afraid to pick up a couple of Bracer. They will give you a much needed stat boost and stop you from feeding the enemy carry too easily, not to mention provide even more mana for your stun.

Laning Partners:

- Crystal Maiden
- Vengeful Spirit
- Ancient Apparition

Mid/Late Game

When you see Skeleton King, you might think "Oh, melee hard carry. Time to pick up a Battle Fury and spend 30 minutes mauling neutral creeps." This isn't true for him, as he differs vastly from Anti-Mage and Faceless Void and gets the majority of his gold from hero kills, even during the early game.

Why bother spending most of the game in the lane and earning gold, when you could be earning gold and denying the enemy gold at the same time? Use your stun whenever it's available, as it deals good damage and stuns the enemy for an acceptable period of time. This, coupled with your Armlet will allow you to beat down on the enemy quickly while they're unable to act.

Try and remain with 1-2 other heroes after the laning phase. You can't just sneak in, snipe a kill and go invisible to escape, so you'll likely need assistance.

That said, if there aren't any likely ganks or teamfights then stick to a lane and farm. It's imperative that Skeleton King gets his core items so that he can carry, and carry hard.

Finally, the most important thing throughout the game, from level 6 onwards, is to save 140 mana for your ultimate.

Conclusion

Skeleton King is a very fun hero to play, and can carry your team extremely hard if done right. Team composition is a very important thing to consider when selecting him as your hero, as he needs a great deal of gold to truly shine, and this has to come in the form of either farming safety or ganking presence.

Please don't play this hero once and then give up on him if you don't do that well. Every hero in this game takes time and experience to master, and Skeleton King is no different.

I hope you found this guide useful, and may it help you lead your team to countless victories as the Lord of Bones.