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4 Votes

A Guide to Riki Excellence

July 25, 2013 by Lightning17
Comments: 11    |    Views: 18345    |   


Noob Excellence

DotA2 Hero: Riki




Hero Skills

Smoke Screen

5 12 13 14

Blink Strike

2 4 7 10

Tricks of the Trade

1 3 8 9

Cloak and Dagger

6 11 16

Talents

17 18


A Guide to Riki Excellence

Lightning17
July 25, 2013


Introduction


Primary Roles: Escape, Carry
Secondary Roles: Ganker

*Disclaimer* This is the build I use for Riki and the one that I have taught all my friends and family as well. It is very efficient when used correctly and you will see yourself lasting longer in teamfights and doing better overall.

Riki is a hardcore carry who relies on stealth and surprise attacks to land kills. He is countered simply and a fragile character in general. But hopefully with this guide you can rise above the masses and bring Riki to victory.

Early Game

Riki starts with a low base health and heavily relies on his invisibility to stay in the game.

So what does that mean?

-Focus on gaining EXP and less on hero kills till level 6
-Watch out for enemy ganks because you are a very easy target early on
-Be aware of enemy disablers and silencers
-Last hits are helpful but not needed this early
-Always strike from behind or the sides to utilize backstabs

Once you hit level 6 the whole dynamic of the character changes. This is due to Riki's trademark ultimate Permanent Invisibility. Which allows for surprise attacks and unseen movement.

REMEMBER if you are gonna initiate a solo hero (NEVER INITIATE TEAM FIGHTS) start your attack from behind to use your Backstab ability to the fullest. Then Blink Strike once the hero is out of range of your attacks. If support comes or the enemy hero moves into the range of a tower, back off and disappear into the shadows.

Make sure to purchase a Morbid Mask and Shield they will both increase your longevity in lanes and make you more difficult to kill 1 on 1.

Killing Heros

By Late Early game you should be strong enough to start killing heros.

Just remember just because you are invisible and strike quick does not mean you are immortal.
-Attack from behind for your first stike
-Use Smoke Screen to slow and silence targets
-Blink Strike after they get out of range of your attacks
-Back off if support comes or the hero has more than 1/2 health at a tower
-Be aware of items or attack that provide True Sight

Mid Game

By this time you should be getting items like a Diffusal Blade and a Yasha. These will both boost your Agility and in turn your damage and attack speed which are both key in a powerful Riki. Items like the Hyper Stone will help boost attack speed and build into powerful items late in the game. Also don't wait on upgrading your Boots into Power Treads for the extra attack speed and agility.

Be Careful
-By mid game if a team is going to figure you out they will do it here!
This means keep an eye on enemy inventories for Gems of True Sight, Sentry Wards and Dust of Appearance.
-Avoid counters like Bounty Hunter or Silencer
-It still stands NEVER INITIATE A TEAM BATTLE no matter how strong you thing you are you can't take a whole team on without picking them off 1 by 1

Start farming solo hero's big time here for you can get the necessary gold to purchase items later in the game. Aim for hero's with limited escape abilities and low health. (If someone got away from a teamfight with low health he/she is your prime target.)

Late Game

By late game you are probably pushing the last few towers and getting ready to win. This leads to two problems.
1. You are most likely near towers or destroying them meaning you are able to be seen
2. People might of gotten there **** together and bought true sight items

Don't panic just keep on targeting solo heros and avoiding full on team fights. Also work on getting items such as the Mjollnir and SnY or Manta Style. Also don't hesitate on getting a Vlad's Offering as an upgrade from the Morbid Mask.

True Sight!

At anypoint really you will find your self dealing with the dangers of true sight. Probably from an item or hero.

These are the heros to watch for:
Slardar - His ultimate, which is on a quick cooldown, gives a lengthy true sight for the other team on you so there is no running from that battle. If you feel the need to attempt to gank Slardar, make sure you know where on the map the enemy team is and that they are not going to lead you off on your way back to your base.

Bounty Hunter - BH's ultimate allows the other team to not only have a lengthy true-sight on you but also constant vision of you wherever you may be on the map. Bring an ally to kill Bounty Hunter as he is a difficult hero for Riki to kill unless he is under-leveled.

Bloodseeker - This isn't usually something you have to worry about, but when you get to extremely low health, Bloodseeker has much improved movement speed as well as vision and true-sight of you. Avoid this position by keeping your health above 50% at all times.

Silencer - Although I have already mentioned above that any silence will take you out of stealth, I figured I would mention silencer's ultimate. His mapwide silence probably won't be used to detect Riki, but when it is used it can scare the **** out of you as you are stalking enemy movement.

True Sight items:

Dust of Appearance: This is the cheapest solution to any invis character and will cause you to be slowed as well. Just keep an eye on Inventories. (Bad Very Bad)

Sentry Wards: There are 2 ways to deal with these:
1. Wait it out and avoid affected areas for 2 min
2. Buy Sentry wards and destroy the enemies'

Gem of True Sight: If you see one of these get you team to focus on the hero that has it and make sure to recover it once the hero has been killed.

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