You get BKB when the enemy has jumpers like Storm, Puck/Naix bombs, Clockwerk and the like. Positioning means nothing to them if they're out to get you.
I say skip Aquila unless theres a lot of action early game.
Sny vs Manta depends on enemy AoE. If they're mostly single target like Bane or Lion, then Manta provides waaay more survivability. On the other hand, it stinks if theres cleave/aoe like Ravage.
Also, Mjollnir active is a lot more useful than you think. Situational whether to rush it but saying it ain't worth it is wrong.
if you get naix bombed as sniper unless your super ahead i think your just dead, BKB or not.
Wraith, not basi. I just don't see people building basi over wraith first on Sniper.
And no, its more like, unless the enemy naix is super ahead, I don't think they can rightclick you down fast enough before you run away BEFORE your teammates do anything.
Sniper is a gay pick. Play some other more interesting heroes. BTW, Halberd > Sniper.
i get phase boots mom maelstrom. has worked for me until tinker began. dont understand why those scrubs go "wtf gg" everytime i lock in sniper. I slaughter heroes like puck storm qop clock earthspirit prenerf with this build. then came tinker.
and you are right. sb is absolutely sucks on sniper. i do get it, but more often as my last items, after i have farmed mjolnir phase boots mom, for those heroes that can jump on me but would have trouble with slots holding an additional dust/gem
treads are fine. you'd get phase if it's your only source of mobility though.
manta illusions don't actually hit that hard unless you're getting stats that benefit them, such as critical strike, or agility items, but the disjoint and extra tower damage can make a difference.
the few times ive played him from 6.80 onwards, ive been getting blink fairly often.
@hallelujah you can start off with ring of protection and finish the basi in lane, wraith requires you to steal the courier from your mid early. basi is good on lots of safe laners (even int heroes) because it lets you push the lane, and you're basically paying 175g for 6 damage, since you still get mana regen.
the stats of the wraith don't make a difference, you're still easy to burst down, 3 extra strength or not. the extra push that basi provides is much superior than the minimal stats of the wraith band, and extra mana regen for your teammates isn't bad either.
@Andro
I was talking about Sniper mid which I think is usually the best lane for him. He fucks most midlaners up.
But anyway, from an early sidelane perspective, you don't usually want the push potential nor do you really need the mana regen. Gameplay difference I guess. I play Sniper more as a harasser/farmer instead of pushing.
why would you not want the push potential.
if there's stuff happening on other places on the map, then you turn basi on and try to take the tower.
even in the mid lane i'd choose basi because in mid you'd be taking levels in shrapnel and the mana regen does help.
I rarely play him mid, usually safe lane, sometimes off with a good support. Most opposing safe lanes won't expect a sniper there so with headshots and a support to babysit you you can screw up a dual lane pretty bad. Seems like every game I pick him someone else wants to mid, and that's fine with me.
I think basi is pretty important early or you will hardly get to use shrapnel. I do aquila cus going tango, salve, circlet, slippers of agi works well as start items. Then finishing a wraith band is just cost of recipie, keep those stats and free up a slot. What else are you gonna do, buy 3 branches into a wand? Sell them back? Stock up on tons of tangos?
Another reason I like phase is sniper's base dmg is kind of low so a quick phase really helps with last hits.
I didn't say mjollnir was bad, on the contrary it is quite awesome, one of the best items for sniper. What I said was 3k gold for the mjollnir upgrade from maelstrom is pretty expensive for what amounts to basically 55 IAS. Because the proc is nearly the same, the static shield is only if you're getting hit and your objective is to not get hit. For another 1k you can finish s&y.
Good points all around on manta vs s&y. Like I said, manta has its uses, good item, I just like s&y a lot and it's cheaper. I'm glad you pointed out how the illusions aren't that strong. I wouldn't get it for the illusions, I'd do it for the disjoint, but I feel most people like the illusions even though they don't buff dmg that much.
Mask is a really good item too, the move speed to escape works great and the IAS when you have good opportunity can be devastating. I may try to work this into my build more often. It's a bit more glass cannon than I usually go though.
I think sniper gets a bad rap because he is such an easy hero. If you dont own with him you should be trying to carry
If he's easy, people should own and enjoy having them on their teams. He gets a bad rap cus like drow, if he is bad at positioning he will feed and be completely ineffective.
Desolator is so good on Sniper because headshot deals physical damage. So... Unless you have very nice support Crystal Maiden who bought Deso and she has a lifegoal to autoattack every enemy hero at least once per teamfight... Well... Unless something as absurd as that happens, you HAVE to buy Deso on Sniper. =)
Recipe from me: Deso+Bloodstone! You have no escape? Who cares! FU gankers, I'll deny myself! =)
soul ring + shrapnel is way to go. basi is good but can not let you spam shrapnel effectively (while keep enough mana for ult)
shrapenl is op. max it first.
I will do soul ring -> tread boots -> maelstorm -> SnY -> then MKB/Dealus/Butterfuly/Deso
or soul ring -> qboots -> drum ->maelstorm -> SnY -> -> then MKB/Dealus/Butterfuly/Deso . This build gives sniper insane mobility (450 ms), which sniper needs a lot.
SnY is picked over Manta for several reasons. SnY is actually much better than most people think.
Soul Ring is ok if you play as a support Sniper. But it's too risky item for core Sniper. Like you are not squishy enough and you want to make yourself even squishier.
^
soul ring is for hardcore sniper. why soul ring made him squish ? you think about using it during team fight ?
the purpose of soul ring is to make sniper have superb farming rate for the first 20-30 min (before the big items), and takes down towers safely and quickly. sniper often has hard time in early game farming. shrapnel made it MUCH MUCH easier and also much safer.
soul ring sniper now is just like the 6.78 lycan. very op but few people know it. try it and enjoy it before it got popular and got nerf'd
It's an interesting concept but idk, takes a while for shrapnel to do that much dmg, it really needs rank 4 but you also have to max take aim asap and get at least 1 point in headshot. I see your last match you left take aim at 1 point then maxed shrapnel, that's pretty gusty, I'm not sure I could do it.
@Soultrap I agree deso is devastating on him but it prevents you from getting skadi or lifesteal. I just can't pass those up for some armor reduction. Maybe if I end up in a game far ahead I'd do mjollnir + deso and 3 shot people.
plus it's easier for a teammate to apply negative armour than it is to give you lifesteal. negative armour can be applied with items, ranged lifesteal cannot.
@Mark
Personally I hate MoM on Sniper, but this item is 6 times cheaper than Skadi+Satanic and it actually gives you more damage.
P.S. Maybe MoM+Skadi is way to go...
You don't have to go full satanic, you can go dominator + skadi, use it to stack ancients. I just don't like dominator as a first or second item cus it won't heal you much and it is so not needed for jungle when you can just kite with incredible range on sniper. People do not understand how creep pulls work. But after getting mjollnir/s&y or manta? Sure dominator is fine then. Mask I'd probably go for first item though for the movement speed flexibility.
Lightning procs replace lifestealing (if I'm not wrong). So you reduce your lifestealing by 25%.
Yes it would do that. I guess you could sub butterfly for mjollnir if you're that worried about it. Actually a MoM + butterfly + skadi core would be pretty nasty. That lightning proc is a ton of damage though.
mobility attack speed damage survivability sustain in that order
forcestaff/blink are core, mask of madness into something like a mjollnir is good for attack speed, then you can get a bkb or something in case the other team starts buying blademails and shit
forcestaff is really good on him and drow
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Sniper's one of those heroes that gets a really bad rap (even though his winrate is because he is quite fragile early with no escapes and not really that good damage until he gets some farm. But I think I've found a build that's really working for me and solving all of those issues.
First let me point out the flaws in a typical pub sniper build which is treads, shadow blade deso. That's an awful build. You get almost as much dmg by adding attack speed due to headshot as you do stacking raw damage, so while the armor decution on deso is nice I'd much rather have attack speed. Shadow blade is like a crutch for poor positioning and it's really easy to counter with dust/sentries. Treads are just a bad choice on a hero who needs excellent positioning. Phase let you catch up to people to ult, run away when you see ganks coming, just far better.
So my build is phase, aquila, maelstrom, sange and yasha. Then I usually finish mjollnir and skadi. Skadi will turn you into a beast late game, you will be able to go toe to toe with any right clicker, just kiting them with skadi and headshots and you'll have a ton of hp to boot.
A lot of people question why I build sange and yasha at all or over manta and don't go full mjollnir first. Reason is full mjollnir is really expensive (2900 more gold than maelstrom) for basically 55 more attack speed. The proc on it is about the same as regular maelstrom. Sange and yasha meanwhile is not that expensive to build it parts and gives you move speed, attack speed, hp and a nice proc to help you live. It has basically everything I like for sniper. Manta vs s&y is kind of preference but I find illusions overrated and manta is a lot more expensive than s&y. IF you need the disjoint from manta then get it, otherwise I don't see the point.
Eventually sell the aquila and get either a satanic, butterfly or maybe a daedulus if you aren't getting touched anymore. Sniper with phase, s&y, skadi, satanic is pretty impossible to kill without a crapload of disables.
I'm not sure when you need to work bkb into this build. I haven't really needed it yet. Snipers range is so good I usually hang way behind my team and don't get disabled. That's just my suggestions, tanky sniper - best sniper in my view though you may disagree and have better builds.
http://dotabuff.com/players/70671819/matches?date=&faction=&hero=sniper&lobby_type=&game_mode=®ion=&duration=