Aggressive Vengeful Spirit guide

Intro

Just started playing Dota 2. Definately far from mastering the game but VS has been my main character. I play her pretty offensively. Although she is labeled as support, she can dish out quite a bit of damage. The way I build her is meant to compliment the team.

Ways she contributes to the team:

• Grants 12-36% damage bonus to friendlies
• Can reduce 2-5 armor from opponents which shouldn't be underestimated
• Can gain scout semi effectively with Wave of Terror
• Can stun enemies from range
• Can swap positions with an enemy at great range (once rank 3) using ulti

Hardships:

• Runs out of mana quickly
• Cannot babysit teammates
• Cannot 1v1 unless farmed
• Ult must be used wisely

The items I choose for VS have been harshly criticized, but if you read my skill explanations you can still learn some simple strategy on when to use your stun and ultimate effectively. This guide is written by a beginner for beginners who know little to nothing about this character.

Skills, use, and order explained

Q:Magic Missle:
Fires a magic missile at an enemy unit, stunning and dealing damage.
Cast Range: 500
Stun Duration: 1.45 / 1.55 / 1.65 / 1.75
Damage: 100 / 175 / 250 / 325
Mana Cost: 110 / 120 / 130 / 140 Cooldown Time: 10

This is your stun. I use it to initiate early game, catch a runner, or stun the carry in a team fight. VS has a small mana pool and we aren't building her with mana items which is why I stick with rank 1 until lvl 12. In the early levels you will be able to cast this twice before your mana is gone. Save it for when you really need it, and your lane partner knows that you are initiating.

W:Wave of Terror:
Vengeful Spirit lets loose a wicked cry, weakening the armor of enemies and giving vision of the path.
Range: 1400
Area: 300
Debuff Duration: 20
Damage: 18.75 / 37.5 / 56.25 / 75
Armor Reduction: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Mana Cost: 40 Cooldown Time: 15

Do not overlook the 2-5 armor that you can strip off an opponent with this spam-able ability. Since it costs 40 mana, you can use this ability to scout, but not very far. Once I have desolator I use this spell to make taking down jungle creeps easier. Also do not overlook its slight damage, it has been enough to finish off an enemy.

This spell can make VS and her lane partner a lot more powerful early game.

E:Command Aura:
Vengeful Spirit's presence increases nearby friendly units' physical damage.
Area: 900
Bonus Damage: 12% / 20% / 28% / 36%

The combination of this passive and VS's {W} are really what make me love this character. If you lane with someone who can stun early game the combination of EWQ as well as your partner's stun/slow can make for some really easy early kills.

R:Nether Swap:
Instantaneously swaps positions with a target Hero, friend or foe. UPGRADABLE: Decreases cooldown.
Range: 600 / 900 / 1200
Mana Cost: 100 / 150 / 200 Cooldown Time: 45 (10*)

This spell will instantly swap you and your target. It can be used to save an ally or bring an enemy towards your allies and/or tower. This spell is tricky to use because you can put yourself right in the middle of their entire team basically swapping kills. I've learned that the best time to use this is when the enemy team is backing up. This way as soon as you swap, you will be able to (hopefully) run back towards your team before the enemies can respond. Combine this spell with your stun in team fights, and to trap an enemy under a tower early game. Blink dagger is currently disabled for VS, but hopefully this will change, allowing you to grab an enemy, and quickly blink to safety. At max level, this has quite the range.

Sometimes I put a few points into Stats before getting the third rank of this spell, this depends on the frequency of team fights and how much I'm able to farm.

Items

Initial Buy:
I've tried using magic stick/wand on Vengeful and I just don't like it. I'd much rather start out with a wraith band and a tango. The wraith band provides stats that I'll need to viably jump straight to a mithril hammer early on. The reason I don't get a health pot is that they can easily be canceled and at low lvl I'd have to be pretty low to need it. I prefer to keep myself topped off with the tango.

Early On:
Typically my strategy for early game buying is to stay in lane long enough to get boots and a second wraith band before I have to back. I typically follow the build order above, buying the first two items at the side shop and purchasing the rest of the items in my stash. This is so that if I do die early, I will have saved as much gold as possible from being lost. After I finish my power treads, its time for the mithril hammers required for Desolator.

2nd Wraith Band:
I get a second wraith band because it makes me a lot more useful early on providing me with enough damage until my desolator is finished.

Power Treads:
I think the only other option here would be phase boots. I just prefer the Power treads because they can give extra survive ability or extra damage depending on what I need. When I know a team fight will go down I generally switch to strength. If I'm really low on mana I will go for int. Otherwise I keep them on agility.

Desolator:
Like we've established, vengeful spirit is really good at supporting other damage dealers and doing some herself. The reason I get desolator is that the armor reduction stacked with the wave of terror will make a large difference when you consider the scope of a team fight. The more you lower the opponents armor the more damage your whole team will do.

Others:
Manta style:
I find this to be my favorite option after Desolator. This will save you from dieing in a team fight as well as cause more chaos for the enemy making it harder for them to focus. Causing the enemy to miss one spell on an illusion could make the difference of an entire engagement.

The longevity of VS within a team fight can be a lot more useful to your team than having some high damage item. Remember that when you die, your team will no longer get the 36% bonus damage to all their auto attacks.

Feedback

Please do post comments or feedback regarding this guide or questions. I'm a new player and this guide is written from the perspective of starting from scratch with VS and finding what has worked best for me so far.