[Guide]Rikimaru, the Stealth Assassin

[NotAbastard]

''Born as the heir to the satyr dominion, Rikimaru was trained by the mightiest warriors of his race. However, the power of the Burning Legion managed to corrupt many of his kind, leaving them as mindless beasts in the forest. Vowing revenge against the Scourge, he sharpened his skills for battle. Using his small size to his advantage, he can render himself invisible, enabling him to stab his enemies in the back. He can also use thick smoke as a cover, to silence his enemies and become nearly untouchable.''

 

 

Spells:

a) Smoke Screen

 

Throws a smoke bomb down in the area, silencing opponents and causing them to miss on most of their attacks. Also slows by 25% at all levels.

Lasts 6 seconds.

 

Level 1 - 250 AoE, 40% miss.

Level 2 - 275 AoE, 50% miss.

Level 3 - 300 AoE, 60% miss.

Level 4 - 325 AoE, 70% miss.

 

Cooldown: 15 seconds.

 

Level 1: 75 mana, 15 sec cooldown.

Level 2: 80 mana, 15 sec cooldown.

Level 3: 85 mana, 15 sec cooldown.

Level 4: 90 mana, 15 sec cooldown.

 

NAB's Comment : One of the coolest spells in DotA, it silences, and almost makes you immune to every attack.

2) Blink Strike

Teleports to a unit and strikes it if it is a foe, dealing bonus damage.

Costs 50 mana.

 

Level 1 - deals 30 extra damage.

Level 2 - deals 60 extra damage.

Level 3 - deals 90 extra damage.

Level 4 - deals 120 extra damage.

 

Cooldown: 30/20/10/5 seconds.

 

Level 1: 50 mana, 30 sec cooldown.

Level 2: 50 mana, 20 sec cooldown.

Level 3: 50 mana, 10 sec cooldown.

Level 4: 50 mana, 5 sec cooldown.

 

NAB's Comment : Really Small cooldown, nice mana cost and the damage, when you add it to your backstab, is awesome.

 

 

Backstab

The Stealth Assassin is not afraid to fight dirty, and specializes in attacking his opponents from behind.

 

Level 1 - Deals .25x the Agility of Rikimaru to the target.

Level 2 - Deals .5x the Agility of Rikimaru to the target.

Level 3 - Deals .75x the Agility of Rikimaru to the target.

Level 4 - Deals 1x the Agility of Rikimaru to the target.

 

Passive

 

NAB's Comment : This spell is ideal for : Farming ( greater last hitting ) , and killing ( when chasing mostly ). Works well with Fog ( they'll try to escape the fog giving you a couple of backstabs.

Permanent Invisibility

 

 

Rikimaru becomes permanently invisible when not attacking.

 

Level 1 - 3 second fade time.

Level 2 - 2.25 second fade time.

Level 3 - 1.5 second fade time.

 

Passive

 

NAB's Comment : Rikimaru's Best skill, that's what makes him unique. You are always invisible, they don't know if you are around or not. You 'll always have the first move during a fight, unless they have a gem/ward/spell to counter it.

 

Skill Build :

 

1. Blink Strike

2. Smoke Screen

3. Blink Strike

4. Backstab

5. Blink Strike

6. Permanent Invisibility

7. Blink Strike

8. Backstab

9. Backstab

10. Backstab

11. Permanent Invisibility

12. Smoke Screen

13. Smoke Screen

14. Smoke Screen

15. Stats

16. Permanent Invisibility

17. Stats

18. Stats

19. Stats

20. Stats

21. Stats

22. Stats

23. Stats

24. Stats

25. Stats

 

Blink Strike maxed first to chase/escape ( yes you can blink to your allies to escape ), and last hit if you have mana.

I get smoke screen early to avoid some crazy situations (when fighting Pudge or Centaur or other stunners for example)

Backstab maxed second to boost last hitting and dps.

Ofc, 6,11,16 lvls are there for your ultimate.

 

 

 

Item Builds :

 

BUILD NUMBER ONE : The cheap agility , backstab based build.

 

 

WTF? 3 Yasha's? Yep, three yasha's. THe movement speed doesn't stack, but the agility does, and trust me , it's high enough. You can remove a wraith band and replace it with a butterfly or a vlad's but that's your choice.

 

BUILD NUMBER TWO : The NAB build ( The build I use)

 

High Damage, Evasion, High agility and lifesteal, also High MS and mana regen. This build is kind of expensive. IF the game reaches this point you can also add a Burizza, but it'll probably end before you finish Butterfly :P

 

BUILD NUMBER THREE : The Manta build ( High Survivability and, when used with high agility, extreme mana burning)

 

 

This build is not so expensive compared to others and it works really well, but remember to use all the charges of Diffusal Blade to get a couple of kills before you finish Manta (at least that's what I do)

 

BUILD NUMBER FOUR : The Radiance Build

 

 

Many people like this build...but I don't like it, since you reveal that you are next to your enemies so they can use Dust of Appearance to own you.

 

 

Why should I play Rikimaru?

 

-Great Damage

-Fog/Blink = Silence, Survivability

-Hardcore Killer

-Can dominate from early to late game

 

Why shouldn't I play Rikimaru?

 

-You are vulnerable when you are visible.

-A gem early can actually destroy your game.

-You'll probably be their first target because your fog is deadly in team battles.

 

 

 

Q: I'm kinda slow , I can't blink fast enough. What should I do?

A : Check the Hotkey! B is for Blink,C for Fog

 

Q: Oh crap they have a gem. What should I do?

A : Tell your teammates to handle the gem carrier for you. IF he is strong, farm alone in an empty lane till you get enough cash to finish him off by yourself.

 

Q :Where is basher, skadi, satanic, etc?

A : These are the builds I use. There are other possible builds but I cant present them all, they are too many :)

 

 

 

BEST ALLIES :

Every Stunner is valuable ( to kill the gem carrier ), Every Healer is valuable ( To keep you alive ), Every Hardcore tank is valuable ( To recieve the damage you can't handle)

 

WORST ENEMIES :

Enemies like Slardar, Gondar, Strygwyr, and heroes with a Snare like Geomancer and Medusa are your worst enemies, and you should avoid attacking them alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-END-

 

Credits to : CF[X], Dota-allstars.com, getdota.com , NotAbastard, xKenji.

[Emrys]

Good guide but 4 yasha sucks!!! 

/offtopic can someone unlock the topic with lina?

[xKenji]

luv it :D

 

the second build imo is teh best :P

 

first too cheap, third nothing too good :P

 

also: when needed try Hand Of Midas :P

 

+1 karma for adding the slightest detail :P

 

+

 

added on the mxc dota guide list :)

 

 

 

/offtopic can someone unlock the topic with lina?

 

right on it :)

[Noble®]

my only disaggreement is on vladimirs offering :D aura will betray your true position everytime

you could add mkb too :D

[DreaM]

Not a proper rikimaru build, although its your way of thinking and i can't say its retaded although many heroes can defeat riki while using these items for example are heroes with high STR.

[NotAbastard]

my only disaggreement is on vladimirs offering :D aura will betray your true position everytime

you could add mkb too :D

 

Aye, I agree with dat, but it's the only way I can have lifesteal without ruining Sange & Yasha effect...

 

DreaM, it happens with all the Agi heroes, but how can you make Riki Less vulnerable? Buy A Guinshoo? Remove your S&Y to make a Satanic? Make a heart Instead of an other damage item? Those builds are based on high damage and survivability ( cause of butterfly miss chance ). Riki is a damage dealer. He is not supposed to tank, nor recieve the damage. That's the tank's job... So I guess my builds reflect your true role in a 5v5 game...

 

 

[DreaM]

You don't get me actually , what i wanted to say is with this build you cannot kill a tank nor make a trouble for him, its true that AGI heroes are not meant to be tanks but radiance do sh1t vs centaur for example and that 3x yasha's... its way better to do for example Assasinul's + a ButterFly than 3x s/y's also manta style is rarely compitable with rikimaru and the situation's in which you need Manta are lesser than the situation's you need for example MKB. Also since its a AGI hero don't you think a borize'de'kanyon won't be a bad idea since the big atk speed, the backstab the slow from s/y and with boriza the crit, he wouldn't have a chance to escape and lets not forget the cloudy skill which prevents one's to use his skills and he slows him once in the range of it. You should consider my thinking and tell me your opinion :P.

[NotAbastard]

You don't get me actually , what i wanted to say is with this build you cannot kill a tank nor make a trouble for him, its true that AGI heroes are not meant to be tanks but radiance do sh1t vs centaur for example and that 3x yasha's... its way better to do for example Assasinul's + a ButterFly than 3x s/y's also manta style is rarely compitable with rikimaru and the situation's in which you need Manta are lesser than the situation's you need for example MKB. Also since its a AGI hero don't you think a borize'de'kanyon won't be a bad idea since the big atk speed, the backstab the slow from s/y and with boriza the crit, he wouldn't have a chance to escape and lets not forget the cloudy skill which prevents one's to use his skills and he slows him once in the range of it. You should consider my thinking and tell me your opinion :P.

 

If you read carefully, I suggest Burizza as a situational / optional item. If you also watch pro teams like MYM or SK, most of the players buy Manta, that's why I suggest it, and I've also used it and it works pretty well. Last but not least, I said i don't like radiance build but since many people use it in pubs I was obliged to mention it... I didn't add MKB or Assault Cuirass in my builds since they are really expensive and they don't fit in my builds ( No /rich mode duh :P )

 

The 3 Yasha build is not bad at all if you think about it, it's 48 Agility bonus , 45% increased Attack speed and it costs 2200 g per yasha, so it's 6600 , 9600 in total. Really Really cheap, so you can also buy a Butterfly, a Burizza and many other items after the yashas

[Noble®]

Aye, I agree with dat, but it's the only way I can have lifesteal without ruining Sange & Yasha effect...

 

DreaM, it happens with all the Agi heroes, but how can you make Riki Less vulnerable? Buy A Guinshoo? Remove your S&Y to make a Satanic? Make a heart Instead of an other damage item? Those builds are based on high damage and survivability ( cause of butterfly miss chance ). Riki is a damage dealer. He is not supposed to tank, nor recieve the damage. That's the tank's job... So I guess my builds reflect your true role in a 5v5 game...

 

 

make heart! you will be able to tank and dps at the same time  having great amounts of HP !also it is useful when enemy has gem or wards for the simple reason that until you realize that you are visible to your enemy and get hit you might have lost some serious hp which  agi heroes dont have the luxury to lose!

 

imo SnY is really useful for the stats and maim effect so we will hardly discard it from our build !butterfly is a must for evasion,attack,damage and agility,BoTs are for instant teleports,HoT for survival or at leas a vanguard,manta style is a good optional as well as radiance is suitable choice :)

[Karotos]

Nice Guide.. ;) but Vlads will reveal you.. i think.. :P :) but 3 yashas is a lot man.. :/ i mean.. ok with the agi.. but to much gold.. better farm and go straight for SnY and then ButterFly.. anyway Nice guide.. ;)

[aneos]

guys just 1 question...

if you have radiance and you are invisible, you will still deal damage without becoming visible?

 

 

BTW really nice guide m8 :)

[Morian]

guys just 1 question...

if you have radiance and you are invisible, you will still deal damage without becoming visible?

 

 

BTW really nice guide m8 :)

 

Yeah, you still deal damage without become visible.

[Kouma]

at the 2nd build what do u use at the 5th slot...? i cant see the picture...ty

[NotAbastard]

at the 2nd build what do u use at the 5th slot...? i cant see the picture...ty

 

Well even if this thread is old as hell I have to reply...

 

I posted only the core items. The last 2 -3 slots are free, you can put luxury items like Butterfly, Heart, Satanic(if there isn't an orb) or even Hex if you wanna have fun lol

[geo13]

sange and yasha or  Stygian Desolator?

 

for 5 vs 5

 

s and y are more luxury items but they are betteR?