Haunt Them to Death!

Table of Contents:

I. Hero Introduction

II. Pro's and Con's

III. Skills Summary and Skill Usage

IV. Items and Skill Build

V. Friends and Foes

I. Hero Introduction

Background Story:

A darkness who was ancient even in the early days of the world's existence, Mercurial is the embodiment of rage and vengeance in the souls of those long dead. Haunting her enemies with relentless fervor, she is able to throw a dagger-like projectile that allows her to chase her prey beyond physical boundaries, and the fear and the desolation struck in the hearts of those who have the misfortune of encountering her alone is a pain impossible to withstand. Spectre's thirst for destruction is insatiable, and the upcoming struggle seems to be just what she was waiting for.

Hero Statistics:

Strength Gain: 19 + 2

AGILITY Gain: 23 + 2.2

Intelligence Gain: 16 + 1.9

II. Pro's & Con's

Pro's:

One of the strongest carries.

Very illusive thanks to her skills.

She is increadibly tanky for an agility hero.

Good survivability

Can quickly own the opposing team if farmed enough.

Con's

Possibly the hardest carry EVER(imo).

Farming in early game is hard.

Low mana pool

Very item dependent.

Requires some skills to play her.

Has no good skill for farming

III. Skills Summary and Skill Usage

Spectral Dagger: [D]
The Spectre launches a deadly dagger that trails a Shadow Path. Deals damage to the targets in its path. Units hit by the dagger will also trail a Shadow Path. The Spectre becomes phased (gains zero collision) while on the path.

Level 1: 130 mana, 50 damage, 5% movespeed slow to enemies and 5% increased movespeed to Spectre.
Level 2: 140 mana, 100 damage, 9% movespeed slow to enemies and 9% increased movespeed to Spectre.
Level 3: 150 mana, 150 damage, 14% movespeed slow to enemies and 14% increased movespeed to Spectre.
Level 4: 160 mana, 200 damage, 18% movespeed slow to enemies and 18% increased movespeed to Spectre.

-Damage type is Magic.
-Has a cast range of 2000 and the dagger can reach up to 2400 units away.
-Has a 16 seconds cooldown at all levels.
-Buff last 4 seconds for Spectre and debuff last 7 seconds for enemies after leaving the shadow path.
-Vision is granted where the dagger leaves a shadow path.
-Slows but not damages magic immune units.
-Dropable items do not drop and items(aegis of the immortal) triggered by death wont work while phased on unpathable terrain.

Playing with Spectral Dagger:
This skill is multi-purpose.This skill can be used as an escape mechanism or for chasing purposes. It can also be used for spying because it gives vision to where the dagger will travel.

For the range of the dagger, below you can see the max range of the dagger which is 2000 units away from Spectre.

Unlike others, Spectre is one of the heroes that can traverse unpathable terrains such as cliff edges and holes which is good for escaping and chasing heroes.

Desolate: [L]
Deals bonus damage that cuts through armor when attacking a hero that has no nearby allied units. Works on Illusions.

Level 1: 20 bonus damage
Level 2: 30 bonus damage
Level 3: 40 bonus damage
Level 4: 50 bonus damage

-Damage type is pure.
-Allowed targets are enemy heroes only.
-Works if the hero has no allies nearby within 325 range.
-Your illusions have this skill.

This is the reason Spectre is VERY deadly when you find yourself alone with her.

Dispersion: [I]
Causes any damage taken by Mercurial to be reflected onto all enemies in a 1000 AoE. The further away the enemy is the less damage is dealt.

Level 1: Reflects 10% of damage dealt.
Level 2: Reflects 14% of damage dealt.
Level 3: Reflects 18% of damage dealt.
Level 4: Reflects 22% of damage dealt.

- Damage type is pure.
- Reflected damage dealt is not felt by Spectre.
- Full damage is dealt 300 AoE around Spectre.
- The damage dealt decreases linearly from a 300 distance to a 1000 distance from Spectre.
- Illusions do not have this skill.

Below you can see the AoE of Dispersion.

Mechanics on Dispersion:
There are a lot of question asking on how this skill works with other damage reduction(armor & magic armor) and damage block items(vanguard, poor man, stout shield).
It goes like this, damage block first then armor and then dispersion.
Physical damage is taken by Spectre, which is reduced by damage block items then your armor and then the remaining damage is further reduced by dispersion.
This goes also for magic damage, magic damage reduced by magic resist items then your magic armor and the remaining damage is further reduced by dispersion

Haunt: [T]
Creates a haunting image beside each enemy hero. These images are uncontrollable, take 200% damage, deal 40% damage and each of them will attack only its pair. Haunting images have a 1 second delay before they become active.

Level 1: 5 seconds duration of illusions.
Level 2: 6 seconds duration of illusions.
Level 3: 7 seconds duration of illusions.

- Haunt illusions have the same level of Desolate as Spectre's.
- Illusions are uncontrollable.
- Illusions have a 1 second delay before they attack the closest enemy hero.

Reality: [R]
Target a location to replace the nearest Haunt Illusion immediately and end Haunt.

- Replaces Spectre to nearest haunt illusion.
- Other haunt illusions remain active for the rest of its duration.

Playing with Haunt:
This skill is also multipurpose. For the aspect of ganking, you can readily cast this to get into the clash immediately from farming. For scouting, you can check your enemies where they are in the map for the safety of your team. And for escape, you can teleport to one of your illusions. Reminder when using haunt in finishing a hero or ganking, ALWAYS get a TP scroll before doing so. And lastly for the aspect of clashes, the main role of your ultimate is confusion among your enemies. Any enemy that uses blink dagger can't blink(another advantage for you team), meaning enemy initiators like Earthshaker and Tidehunter can't set. Keep in mind also that your illusions will gain the passive bonuses from some items(will be explained in the Items section).

IV. Items and Skill builds

Keep in mind this: Good defense is sometimes the best offense.

Skill Builds:
- There are two skill build that I consider in playing Spectre, one is maxing dispersion, and the other one is maxing desolate. Choosing what skill to max between Dispersion and Desolate is very crucial. You can choose one of these builds according to your laning situation. Its not a good idea to not level spectral dagger because this is your only utility spell, meaning this skill has a lot of uses.

Maxing DISPERSION:
1. Spectral Dagger
2. Desolate
3. Spectral Dagger
4. Dispersion
5. Spectral Dagger
6. Haunt
7. Spectral Dagger
8. Dispersion
9. Dispersion
10. Dispersion
11. Desolate
12. Desolate
13. Desolate
14. Haunt
15. Stats
16. Haunt
17-25. Stats

When will you follow this?
Follow this build when you want to play defensively against enemy heroes that keeps on harassing you in the laning phase. This build also allows you to farm neutral camps at ease. One level of desolate gives you the damage you are lacking early game and can ensure kills if possible.

Maxing DESOLATE:
1. Spectral Dagger
2. Desolate
3. Spectral Dagger
4. Dispersion
5. Spectral Dagger
6. Haunt
7. Spectral Dagger
8. Desolate
9. Desolate
10. Desolate
11. Dispersion
12. Dispersion
13. Dispersion
14. Haunt
15. Stats
16. Haunt
17-25. Stats

When will you follow this?
Follow this ONLY if you want to play aggressively in your lane given that your partner can play aggressively too, follow this build. An advantage from this build is that you can easily kill soft heroes early on and you will able to cut through tanks. One level of dispersion ensures survival through out the early phases of the game because dispersion is percentage based.

Item Builds:
- Items are keys to a hero's success. Spectre requires a good choice of items that will depend on your enemies, pick wisely what items you want for her.

Starting Items: Some Spectre players will get these items as their starting: stout shield, tangos and quelling blade. I prefer more of these items as my starting...

Later on:

Upgrade ring of protection to ring of basilius. At cheap price, you will have damage, armor and a bit of mana regen good for your laning phase.
NOTE: Turn off your RoB to heroes only. You don't want to push your creeps further into the enemy's tower making you and your laning partner/s in a dangerous area. An early Orb of Venom is a great combination with your spectral dagger.

Laning Items:

Choose what kind of boots you prefer: Power Treads or Phase Boots?

The most common boots for Spectre. A good benefit of power treads is its ability to shift what attribute you want, I prefer the Strength type treads for it gives you bonus hp. You can also get the most out of Desolate because of this item's passive attack speed.

Phase Boots is good for chasing and it is perfect with conjunction to spectral dagger. Plus it also gives you a decent attack damage that Spectre lacks.

You might also want to upgrade that Ring of Basilius into Ring of Aquila. The Ring of Aquila is a good item for agilities, just think of it as Ring of Basilius w/ bonus stats. This item helps your mana regen. Although not a skiller, we both know that Spec is poor when it comes to mana.

Bring also at least one tp scroll each time you go into a fight far from your lane when you used haunt. After getting a successful kill or assist, you can teleport back to your lane or any where you want to continue your farm.

Core Items:

First and foremost important item of Spectre, Vanguard. This item is very useful to Spectre because it procs with your dispersion ability making you more tanky. Vanguard blocks a certain amount of damage then the remaining damage is dispersed by your ability. But note that damage block and reduction comes first before dispersion will work, meaning you have less damage to disperse to.

Radiance is a MUST item for Spectre, it works on your illusions and a perfect synergy for your dispersion ability. A Spectre with an early radiance will most likely own the other team. The down side of making radiance is that it takes a long time of farming but will be worth it when you get it. This will speed up your farming more. Though the effect of radiance does not stack w/ your illusions, it is still good in improving its AoE.

This is my favorite item for Spectre. Your illusions also benefit from the bonus movement speed given by your spectral dagger and also benefit from your desolate ability. This is a deadly combo for your enemies. Haunt->check for a lone enemy hero->go there->manta->spectral dagger->auto-attack him to death.

Luxury Items:

Choose your orb: These are the only two orb items I choose from for Spectre

The common orb for Spectre. This will make sure that your enemy wont escape you. Diffusal + Spectral Dagger = super duper slow. The mana burn also works on your illusion, dealing a bonus damage equal to the burned mana.

My preferred orb for Spectre. It only not gives the frost attack but also a good increase to stats, hp and mp. The frost attack wont work with your illusions.

Greatly increases your hp and hp regen. Add this item if you want to increase your survival in clashes.

The reason why I included BDK is because your illusions benefit from the chance of critical strike. But remember this is just a luxury item.

Why not???

Situational Item/s:

In case the other team have too many AoE's or a very fat carry that you can't handle, build this.

Rejected Items:

Lifesteal items is a big NO for Spectre although to some agility carries lifesteal is a must. Your item build must focus more on hp regeneration and survivability to stay alive in clashes.

You don't need Butterfly even if this is also a common luxury item for some agility carries. Because of your item build and skills, the passive evasion given by this item is not needed by Spectre. Tanking the damage and dispersing it is enough for your enemies to cry, besides the whole game play of Spectre is centered around this. Better build Heart of Tarrasque instead of this.

Other DPS items like these is not worth it for Spectre.

V. Friends and Foes

Friends:

Support Heroes:

Supports play a big role in your gameplay. A good hero supporting you all the way during the game is an essential requirement for you to get your core items. And even during clashes, healers can increase your survivability.

Global Spell Heroes:

In case he doesn't kill a running enemy with his Wrath, you can easily finish the job.

Haunt, wait for Prophet's ulti to hit the enemy heroes, use Reality to the one dying(if any).

The same as Zeus', if Sun Strike didn't kill the enemy use your ultimate.

Foes:

Anti Tanks:

Be on the look out for these guys because they can really ruin your game

He will eat your life literally. Open wounds plus relentless auto attacks is enough for you to cry.

Losing 1% of MAX health per second is no joke. And when your health is already half, a Necro with scepter can kill you instantly.

Another anti tank hero, instantly turns your current life to half. Even hurt more with scepter, 65% of current life and an insane cooldown of 8 seconds.

Beware of this hero especially when he's low on health. After getting him in low health, be careful of his ultimate(Sunder) because this can turn the tables .

Because of his enormous damage and his fury swipes, he can dish out a lot of damage at a single target and kill that unit in no time by outrageous normal attacks.

Pure Damage Orb Attackers:

Not only his Arcane Orb can easily destroy your illusions, the large bonus damage from this skill will not be blocked by your Dispersion skill.

Because of his Glaives of Wisdom is pure damage, this can also hurt you like Destroyer. The only difference is that Glaives of Wisdom does not deal bonus damage to summoned units(like your illusions).

Overall Conclusions:

This guide is only focused on, well, guiding you through out the basics of playing Spectre. Note to yourself that there is no specific or permanent skill build, item build and strategy. It is always changing. Don't be afraid to try things and find out what suits your current game play and that's the time you can understand this hero. Good Day guys and happy Haunting!!!