Introduction: I want to stress that this is for public games only. If I suddenly start seeing a viable way to play sniper in a league I will definitely consider changing my build, but as of now I wont because pubs are the only game sniper is playing anyway.

Pros:
1. Longest range in the game.
2. Best attack animation.
3. Good farmer.
4. Ulty is good for taking out fleeing heroes.
5. Enemies will underestimate you because youre just some drunk with a gun on supermans home planet.

Cons:
1. Fragile
2. No steroid skill.
3. Your slow doesnt stay with the enemy, as in when they walk out of the shrapnel they are fast again.
4. bad ms
5. Enemies will look for you because youre just some drunk with a gun on supermans home planet.


Skills:


Shrapnel: You do NOT want to get this last. This will allow you to chase enemies that would normally get away and escape situations you would normally die from. Yeah its not the best escape mechanism in the world but its yours, so love it. Damage isnt horrible either.


Head Shot: Your physical damage dealing ability. People underestimate this skill. If you get some good attack speed, your headshots are going to do a lot of damage, and keep the enemy from doing much. Those .2 second stuns add up when they happen once a second. It also stops channeling better than any other bash in the game.


Take Aim: This is a very necessary skill. Your range is what seperates you from other agility dps heroes. You might not do as them, but you can do it from a mile a way.


Assassinate: basically, your nuke. Use it to harass or finish off a hero. You dont need to use it to ks, its meant to finish off that blinker or invisible hero.

Skill Build
1. Take aim
2. Sharpnel
3. Shrapnel
4.head shot
5. Shrapnel
6. Assassinate
7. Shrapnel
8. Take aim
9. Take aim
10. Take aim
11. Assassinate
12. head shot
13. head shot
14.head shot
15. stat
16. Assassinate

Assassinate whenever possible is obvious. Shrapnel is a good ability to get early, it will protect you from ganks and help you kill enemy heroes better than either of your other 2 skills right now. Your going to want one level of Take aim first because It will give you that boost of range you need to be have longer range then almost all heroes. You get one level of headshot to help with damage in fights and last hitting. The second level of headshot does almost nothing, and once you get 3 you might as well get 4. This is why we put it off until later, since we don't want to wait that long for our imba range.

Item Build Theory Crafting

O.K. this is where things get crazy. The items Im going to suggest are going to shock you. I must ask you not to scream. Its time to get mathematical on this useless hero called sniper.

Now I might not be a mathematician. But every once and a while sleeping through math class, I accidentally comprehended a thing or two my teacher said. This upset me greatly. But it’s how I came across this phenomenon. I discovered something the entire dota community overlooked. My friends, I am going to take you on a journey. A journey that will make you make you have a sudden realization. A sudden realization of a great truth. Let the Epiphany begin.

First things first. Sniper is widely considered underpowered. Were going to go by the majority vote here and go with that. If Sniper is weak, that would make him a negative. A strong carry hero like Dirge is a positive. Now everyone smart takes good items for their heroes, these items are also considered a positive.

So a Positive hero like Dirge and a positive item = A big positive can of whoop ass.

And a negative hero like Sniper and a positive item= A big negative can of ass whooped.

Let me make this simpler.

Dirge scenario. + X + = + positive times positive = positive.
Sniper scenario - X + = - negative times positive=negative.

See how this happens? This is the thing holding sniper back. Basic math. So how do we help our negative friend? I pondered this question for decades, searching for the answer. Finally, at long last, I found it. It turns out, a negative times a negative is a positive! I mean, common. How the hell was I supposed to know that? How the hell does that work? Whoever makes up these math rules was obviously drunk when he made this one, but its too late now. We all have to go with it.

Assuming that this rule is true, and since Im definitely simple minded enough to assume it, we must get what the dota community considers bad items for sniper in order to kick ass! It all makes sense!

- X - = + WHY HASNT ANYONE REALIZED THIS BEFORE!!?!?!?!?!?!?!

All of this basically justifies my core items, and anyone who argues against it obviously does not understand simple math and shall be shunned from society.

Item Build

Starting Items-





Core items-





Luxury items-





Item build Justifications
2 wraiths for some extra stats, and just boots early because we want to get our escape skill fast.

We get lothars because its an escape mechanism that comes with some dps. We also get this because many people hate this item, saying that it is countered by dust. This makes it fall into the negative category. The extra 20% ms always helps, and when stacked with mask of madness and treads you will beable to move 479 ms for 9 seconds.

Strength treads because BoT are for good heroes, were playing a negative one that needs some hp and attackspeed. The hp will pretty much negate any damage mask of madness will do to you and more.

Mask of madness helps so much. Aside from my amazing theory craft that says this item is a god item for sniper, here are some other reasons.

1. Snipers dps improves the most (especially mid game) by attack speed. This is because you will get off more head shots, so generally more attack speed is better than more damage.

2. Lifesteal will help keep the damage from mask of madness at a minimum. Aside from keeping your hp up normally, it can nullify its own damage at the end of madnesses duration. It works like witch doctors maledict. If you heal enough it will cancel out the damage effect completely. So if you get hurt you lothars, back up, attack from super far away while your allies keep them back. Sniper is one of the best heroes to use mask of madness because he can fight farther away from the action than any other hero besides techies.

3. With the extra ms from it and lothars you will have 479ms. Plenty to escape. And than with the 30 % slow you have, youre pretty hard to catch.

4. It gives you a huge amount of dps for your dollar. Its only 1900 gold, but the damage is amazing. I spent all my time reading up on the mathematics for my theory crafting so I can compare it to other items, I can just say from experience. That is a shitload of dps for 1900 gold. They say that desolator is the most damage effective item, but it costs 3 times as much as this and DEFINETELY doesn't have 3 times the dps.

5. Sniper simply cant afford to buy hp and damage. Without a steroid skill, he needs more damage or he cannot carry. This is why we must abuse move speed and range to stay alive, not health. Looking at it this way, mask of madness really doesnt do much damage to sniper simply because if he gets caught in a chain of enemy stuns or something he is dead anyway. So if you survive a gank, you can heal yourself with attacks on enemies or creeps, and if you die from enemies, then it didnt matter because mask didn't take effect yet anyway. So, mask of madness wasn't made for high hp heroes, where it makes a real impact on the hero. It was made for low hp heroes that it can stay out of trouble. Since your hp is low and you have the longest range in the game, mask of madness was made for you.


Butterfly has evasion and very good dps. Obvious. I know it doesnt go with my theory crafting but mask of madness is enough negative for an army of negative heroes.

Biruza once its later in the game and headshot isnt quite as great (but still good) and you need damage rather than attack speed.

Eye of skadi gives very nice survivability and a slow that stacks with lifesteal. With shrapnel, EoS slow, and headshots coming every half a second they will be practically standing still.

Rejected items-


This might seem like a great negative item for sniper because it doesnt stack well with headshot. But in reality this isnt a negative item, it just doesnt go well with sniper. A true negative item sucks on more heroes.


This doesnt stack with lifesteal. Just because youre a dwarf doesnt mean your zues. I have spoken.


Because your range, this items sucks for you.


Situational Items-


Its not that this is a bad item on sniper, I just think there are better ones. Since shrapnel doesnt do instant damage anymore, spamming it for farming isn't worth such a big item. If you spent your money on more dps items, you could farm just as well with your regular attack. Spamming Snipe is good, but in the end it wont do a whole lot. It will make them back up and delay the fight, but it wont kill them, it wont make you stronger for when a fight comes and you cant spam snipe before that. Sniper has a great intelligence gain for an agility hero, and I think getting Orchid puts that to waste.


A good item for sniper. If your having a lot of trouble against omniknight or Warlock, get it instead of Mask of Madness.


Images cant proc headshots. It looks like they do, but it doesn't actually stun or deal damage. This is the thing keeping manta style from being a top item, but it can still be decent.


If your having alot of trouble against spells, you can get it. Note: dont get it because the enemy has alot of spells. Get it because your having trouble against all those spells. Remember that the most powerful spells in the game are useless against a hero that it cant reach, so if none of the spells are hitting you due to your range, this item is a waste.


Gameplay- Playing sniper can be hard, but the concept isn’t. This is why im not going to take forever on it.

Early Game:
You can try to solo, and often times pull it off. But if your facing too hard of a lane call for help. Try and go mid.


Youre an agility carry hero. With that in mind, you have a much easier early game compared to others. If against a hard lane, stay really far back, even out of your range. Then every time a creep is about to die, run in to your maximum range for it and try to last hit it. If you stay within your range of the creeps constantly the enemy will harass you to death. This allows you to stay VERY far back in the early stages. If youre enemies try to rush you shrapnel and run.

Also, when your on the hill, you can last hit while behind the ledge. This makes it harder to get you. Ill post a picture of this later.

If youre up against weak enemies, youre in luck. Just last hit, deny, and harrass. Watch for ganks from other lanes while trying your best to own yours. One underfarmed enemy hero can make your life alot easier.

Once your level 6, killing gets pretty easy. Just try to harass enemies until their low enough for snipe and Bam. Dead. In pubs this is super easy; unfortunately you normally wont get experience. But it will get them out of your lane, which means more free farm for you.

If you get in a fight, shrapnel and shoot. Dont assassinate if their still their fighting you unless your sure it will kill them before they will kill you. If their in sharpnel, your dps will own the majority of enemy heroes.(not including spells) If not try to lower them with an assassinate first.

Mid Game:By now you should have lothars and getting your mask and treads. Once you have them and are level 14 the fun begins. In team fights just stay at your maximum range, shrapnel and shoot. Assassinate runners. Because of your awesome range a lot of the enemy aoe spells wont touch you at all. You should shoot for whoever is the biggest threat on the other team. Look for enemies using channeling spells, a couple hits should stop them. Enemies like Lina or Lion will probably want to instant kill you, but you shouldnt let them. Just stay at your max range and if they come at you back up and lothars if you have to. They will not be fast enough to catch you. Just make sure to stay out of their stun range and your fine. Right now you should do very good dps. Mid game is where headshot shines the most, most people just dont realize how great it is because they don’t get enough attack speed early on.

Note that your life is more important than a kill. Your a carry, your team relies on you to shoot down MANY heroes. It wont do them any good if you sacrifice your self to finish off one enemy hero. Remember, your a sniper on Krypton against a bunch of superman's friends. Sure its a super good gun loaded with kryptonite, but your body is fragile. Stay back and let your own supermen take the beating.

If you get ganked and they dont have dust, just lothars and skip home. If they have dust, you should shrapnel, activate mask, then activate lothars. This way they will be slowed by 30% and you should have 479 movespeed.

Keep an eye on the map for enemies at all times. Even with your super speed, it wont save you from getting instant killed by a Lina.

You should still be farming and on your way to a butterfly. This will take your dps and survivability to another level.

Late Game:
You shine more than other late game heroes during mid game. Now their starting to catch up. The key to handling them is to try to hold them in one spot. With Shrapnel and headshots they should have their movement and attacks pretty crippled. Your headshots are still great late game not for the damage, but the stun. Think of your self as about half – two thirds of a perma basher. You wont bash as well as Void or Troll, but your range.

Remember that youre not some Rambo late game like the rest. You might have as much potential as them in a fight, but you need your allies. Sniper is still fragile to spell attacks. You should fight the same as in mid game. Let your allies go first and you shoot from far away like a sniper should. You can handle a lot of hard carries like troll, void, terrorblade, etc. because you can hit them from so far away. Whenever they come near you, just run and start shooting again when they change targets.
Heroes to watch out for:
Instant killers, since your hp is so low.




Blinkers who close the gap on you fast.




True sight to counter your lothars.



Disables, every carries enemy.



Conclusion:Sniper has actually become league material lately. I havent seen anyone use this build, but this is for pubs. Im planning on updating the guide to add some of their strategies into it, but im incredibly busy. Getting home with about 5 hours till i need to sleep and about 6 hours of homework a night, scary. TY for reading my guide, and i give math lessons for $12 dollars an hour.


Replays
Attachment 5200
This replay was gotten at last second, so it isnt pefrect. But it was a pretty decent game. You should pay attention to early-mid game, where i survived pretty well, and even got some kills. The enemies in my lane were Earth Shaker and Tide. They were pretty agressive, constantly trying for fissure blocks. But for the most part they blocked my partner coco, and we could whoop them in the narrow area with shrapnel and wave.

Mid game, 1 of the enemy left and 2 from our team(one of them feeding pretty bad), and looked like we were gonna lose. But i got my lothars and MoM, and started to make a huge difference. I had so much dps that i got almost all of the kills i was a part of. Make sure to notice that when i entered the battle was after they started focusing my teammates, or how i always waited for a good moment to activate mask.

Late game i just pwned. not much to say about it, except that even with all those items, my playstyle didnt really change. I didnt try to beat them in 1v1 straight up fight. I still hide behind my teammates, because that is snipers strength. Remember that a sniper with full items can lose to an enemy with only 2-3 main items, because sniper isnt a 1v1 fighter.