Competitive Barathrum

~HERO's Story

An outcast of the Spirithoof clan, Barathrum retreated in shame to the Ethereal Plane, feeding off wandering souls to sustain himself, and wandered aimlessly for centuries, alone and miserable. Found and recruited by the Lich King, Barathrum's uncanny speed and wraithlike powers have now been unleashed upon the Material Plane, his lantern able to project nether energy into enemies, sending them backwards with sudden force. With the ability to close the distance between himself and a target in seconds, Barathrum the Spiritbreaker is more than a match for anyone.

~Guide Intro

Loved by user-player and feared by opponent players. This hero pawns pubs but rarely sees competitive play. Here, I will try to discuss why and how he can be a viable pick. This guide is focused on letting players know how to play Barathrum correctly. Skill builds and item builds may differ from other people's opinion but what is important for me is to be able to impart my knowledge to other players.

~HERO's Info & Stats

Pros:
[+] can easily gank by himself with the right items
[+] although melee hero, can get beside target easily
[+] one of the few heroes who have a passive bash

Cons:
[-] Charge of Darkness is pretty unreliable during clashes due to charge time
[-] melee
[-] no means of lane control

For complete stats, click below:

~The Guide

For complete skills statistics click the icons below:

Charge of Darkness

A great ganking skill. Requires good team coordination, though. This skill pawns pubs 'coz of lack of wards making the target not know that he is being chased by Bara and teammates not always bringing teleport scrolls to save him. In competitive games though, this skill becomes more unreliable. The fact that he has to charge for a few seconds to be able to stun and that the target can still run near a tower or teammate after noticing that he is being charged makes this skill an unreliable stun skill. Giving the target and his teammates time to react is potentially deadly.

Empowering Haste

This skill gives him great dps-ing and chasing capability. Makes him kill faster and harder to escape.

Greater Bash

Another dps-giving passive for Barathrum. Get him attackspeed increasing items for this skill. The more hits he lands, the more the chance of this skill to proc.

Nether Strike

This skill makes him skip dagger. Being instantly beside the target minimizes the disadvantages of being a melee hero. Being instantly beside the target is one thing, dealing massive damage and bash is another. During a clash, it pushes the target farther away from teammates and closer to his enemies making him an easier prey.

~Conclusion

Spiritbreaker is a great dps-ing hero. He can gank easily with his first skill and finish off with his ult. Give him items that increase his dps-ing ability but don't forget to give him survival items too. He needs to kill swiftly and survive after that 'coz he is a carry hero, therefore, needs items too. Though he can gank and kill with the right items, you still have to coordinate ganks with your teammates to avoid a failed gank and not be suicidal.

If this guide has helped you in some way, please feel free to comment and/or rate my mini-guides. Thanks a lot!

Good luck! And remember, reading guides gives you ideas, but, only thru constant practice does one achieve greatness.

~Credits

A big thanks to Ramomar for allowing me to use his guide template. To all who took their time to read this guide and made very constructive criticisms, I greatly appreciate it. To those who rate my guide anywhere above 5, I thank you twice.