Introduction
BitchGotOwned brings you his latest artwork, Rhasta the Shadow Shaman. This guide is valid for 6.66b version, and is aimed for basic players who looks forward upon playing with skills rather than styles.
Rhasta is one of the earliest heroes in the pool. He was neglected for almost his whole presence, until the 6.52e which observed little use. The abrupt change in metagame in 6.57 led to what has been a permanent ban on him in most occasions.
The evolution from being a pub skillpick to a must-ban made him one of the most discussed heroes along with Abaddon and Dazzle. Leaguers describe his notoriety as being a ‘prick’ and he was termed as an ‘annoyance ban’. Some even say he’s overpowered.
Rhasta’s prowess lies in his capability to squeeze into virtually any type of strategy that can be put to play, and he’s capable of leading massive comebacks with decent supporting heroes; a case observed true in many games.
Stats
Rhasta - Shadow Shaman
Range: 500 | Move Speed: 285
Primary: INT
Str: 19 + 1.6 | Agi: 16 + 1.6 | Int: 21 + 3
Damage: 42 – 49 | HP: 511 | Mana: 273
HP Regen: 0.82 | Mana Regen: 0.85
Attack Speed: 0.68 | Armor: 1
Ether Shock (R)
Calls forth a cone of lightning, hitting multiple enemy units for damage.
Level 1 - 75 damage to 3 targets.
Level 2 - 150 damage to 4 targets.
Level 3 - 225 damage to 6 targets.
Level 4 - 300 damage to 7 targets.
• Damage type: magical
• Casting range: 600
• Area of Effect: 200
Mana Cost: 95/105/135/160
Cooldown: 10
Comment: Rhasta's nuke; can be used to push or to damage heroes. Fairly powerful but highly demanding.
Voodoo (D)
Transforms an enemy unit into a random critter, disabling special abilities.
Level 1 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 1.25 seconds.
Level 2 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 2 seconds.
Level 3 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 2.75 seconds.
Level 4 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 3.5 seconds.
• If the target is an illusion, it will be instantly destroyed.
• The hexed target will have a base movespeed of 100.
• Hex disables damage block and evasion.
• Casting range: 500
Mana Cost: 110/140/170/200
Cooldown: 13
Comment: Rhasta's safest mode of disable. Very powerful in ganks thanks to cast range advantage compared to Shackle, and powerful against evasion/block carries.
Shackles (E)
Magically binds a target enemy, so that it cannot move or attack and deals 40 damage per second.
Level 1 - Lasts 2.5 seconds.
Level 2 - Lasts 3.25 seconds.
Level 3 - Lasts 4 seconds.
Level 4 - Lasts 4.75 seconds.
• Damage type: magical
• Shackles is a channeling spell.
• Casting range: 400
Mana Cost: 110/130/155/185
Cooldown: 16
Comment: Rhasta's main early game combo skill. Lasts very long but puts yourself in danger. Viable to max early if the enemy team lacks stuns and AoE's.
Mass Serpent Ward (W)
Summons 8 immobile serpentine wards to attack enemies. The wards last 45 seconds and are immune to magic.
Level 1 - Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 39 - 43 (53-59 *) damage.
Level 2 - Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 54 - 58 (74-79 *) damage.
Level 3 - Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 69 - 73 (94-100 *) damage.
• Serpent Wards deal piercing damage.
• Serpent Wards have splash damage.
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
Mana Cost: 200/350/600
Cooldown: 110
Comment: Rhasta's ultimate; a very powerful damage dealing skill that doesn't get weak for pushing even when the game stretches. Very powerful when combined with mass disables.
Skill Build
1. Hero Shackles
2. Voodoo
3. Ether Shock
4. Ether Shock
5. Ether Shock
6. Mass Serpent Ward
7. Ether Shock
8. Voodoo
9. Voodoo
10. Voodoo
11. Mass Serpent Ward
12. Hero Shackles
13. Hero Shackles
14. Hero Shackles
15. Stats
16. Mass Serpent Ward
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats
Item Build
1.
Magic Wand (509)
3 All Atributes
Active: Energy Charge
Restores 15 HP and mana for each charge.
Note: Gains 1 charge every time an enemy unit casts an ability in a 1600 AoE. Maximum of 15 charges. Certainabilities, such as arrow abilites (Frost Arrow, Poison Attack) and item abilities, will not add a charge.
Magic Stick + 3x Ironwood Branch + Magic Wand Recipe Scroll
Provides reliable HP and MP for a cheap price. The active is very convenient for prolonged ganking sprees.
2.
Bracer (510)
6 Strength
3 Agility
3 Intelligence
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength + Circlet of Nobility + Bracer Recipe Scroll
Gives you extra HP to tolerate with more beatings. Get 1-2 of these based on your preference.
3.
Boots of Speed (500)
50 Movement Speed
Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed.
Whatever you upgrade it into is up to your choice. I prefer Travels for instant mobility.
Starter Kit
Whatever you buy early is up to your perception of the game(your picks and theirs, possible strategy). Generally a good item gives you boost to many aspects for a very cheap price, essentially what branches do. Magic Stick is a powerful item against spell-based lanes and it can be upgraded using branches. Tangos are better than Salve as it does not mandate you to stay in full safety which usually causes you to miss experience and gold. Clarities are good if you plan to play an early nuke-based tag as it allows you to be aggressive for a longer run. You can also buy a chicken if nobody on your team is.
3xBranches+Magic Stick+2xTango+Clarity Potion = 589gold
Core Items
After the laning phase, you should focus on improving you HP and MP. Fill your slots with mobility and survival items. Always having 1-2 salves always allows you to gank longer or helps you to replenish HP before helping in a gank again. Magic Wand is a great item; it topples most items as firstcore. Bottle is rather situational; Rhasta only makes use of the haste, regeneration and invisibility rune. To be more exact, it's up to your preferences.
Boots of Speed+Magic Wand+2xTeleportation Scrolls+2xSalve+Bracer = 1494gold
Pro Packs
Items after the cores should be focused on improving your mobility and spatial control, or to improve your gameplay strategy/counter certain heroes.
Dagger is a strong item in all occasion; it’s a quick fix to your initiation purpose and can heavily increase your ganking capabilities. You need to be quick, smart and careful however. It works well with every single logical item build you can think of on Rhasta.
Eul’s is what I call ‘the Jack of all trades’. It doesn’t give you anything splendid but it improves your status in many ways notably, and the price is rather cheap. It also allows you to evade targeted spells with projectiles(cast it on yourself). I would recommend this in little situations, but it is a strong item rushed.
Guinsoo is a heavy counter item, useful against well-farmed or hard-to-kill carries. It has an amazing cast range of 800, allowing you to easily take down any hero when paired with your other sets of disables. It increases your full disable duration to 12 seconds and allows you to disable 3 heroes in battles. The problem with it is, you can’t seem to rush it properly. I would highly suggest a dagger beforehand.
Necronomicon is a decent item; I won’t go far from that. While the idea of having 2 minions beating your enemy up is great, it encourages solo ganking and the stats bonuses aren’t actually great for you. I would only get it if the other team is raping me with AoE’s(last will damage) and at the same time I have an invisible hero on the other team.
Aghanim is the choice to most general and high level players; the bonuses are well defined and well suited. It is the easier to use and practical item. After an Aghanim, you would want to get refresher; I believe it is the more decent way to play as it gives you a powerful wrecking force useful and relevant to this stage of the game and allows you to make full use of critical moments, should they come of course. You need to farm quite heavily, if you prefer this build.
As for boots, I will not go deep at all; what you get is basically what you believe it could give. I prefer travels as I am generally a dagger user; it allows me to be mobile; I can be exactly where my team wants me to, exactly when they need me to. You should upgrade the boots when you think you'll be needing it. Otherwise, Dagger/Aghanim first.
To conclude the item builds section, I would like to give a proposal on how you should determine your item progress system. I would like to make it clear to you that you should not farm too much despite of your plans; a motive does not permit action. You must also be aware of your enemies’ possible plans, pick an item route most suited to overcome it and your average income. Whatever items you’re building should be directed towards handling problems that may come or already existed.
Early Game
Whatever lane you plan on taking is up to your lineups. The strongest lane should take the Sentinel’s bottom/Scourge Top; it’s easier to establish lane dominance there. In some situations where there isn’t any better soloer, you can take the mid solo position. Items to start with in that situation may vary; bottle is decent and make sure your team has a chicken to ferry it to fountain and back.
Partner
Your lane tag is the most important aspect of the laning phase to consider; pair up with a hero who either form an aggressive lane or a mitigation lane(prevent them from leveling up, semi babysit lane, etc.). Ranged heroes have the general advantage, but a hero’s skillset is also a variable to consider. A hero that has advantages in both aspects is the one you want, as long as he’s not soloing.
decent allies
For example, Juggernaut+Rhasta are always perceived as one of the strongest lanes. While it is true that Shackles+BladeFury can maim most heroes, you must take account that if you can not initiate, the plan isn’t likely to work. Juggernaut is also a horrible laner, soft, melee and he can only pull out BladeFury in a limited capacity. Competence – 6/10.
strong allies
A Huskar+Rhasta lane is different; Huskar is a strong and aggressive laner, he’s ranged and his spears allow him to establish easy lane control. Shackles+Spears are a strong and easy to do combo. Such lane can mitigate most heroes, but it still is weaker than most combined nuker lanes like Puck+CM. competence – 8/10.
exceptional allies
A Lion+Rhasta lane however is well defined; impale is an easy setup assist to shackles. You both are also ranged; that gives you the creeps control and harassing advantage. This tag is also a great setup to a further ganking based play; you are both potent roamers and working from the start gives you preparation of each other’s role when the game progress. Competence – 9/10.
Tactical
Once you determined your lane, you must take initiatives whether to suppress or execute. Once you know who are your lane enemies, this won’t be hard. Trying to establish lane control from level 1 is easy with proper lanemates, but trying to kill at level 1 is a different story. Unless you are positive your plan will work(trilane, runes), I advice to analyze your lane enemies first.
Focus on denying against heroes that plays safely; do not give them room to bulk up. As long as you’re not forcing your mana capacity and endangering your combo efficiency, you can use Ether Shock to farm-harass.
Harass with physical attacks whenever possible. Attack him as long as he’s not likely to fight back(melee/lack creeps/no spammable nukes) or when his creeps support are scarce. Do not harass when you tend to take more damage than you deal. Force your enemies to be as impotent as possible.
Coordinate with your lane partner when trying to accomplish a kill. Determine who to kill, who should start and when to do it. Pick heroes you can kill, but take account if the other one can kill/disable you. Melee or slow heroes are easier to kill(they take heavier harassments, theoretically), but this isn’t a perfect way to pick your target unless you’ve soaked him up. Always be aware of the situation(how much creeps he have, what he’ll probably do next) and try to formulate how you could force him to your advantage.
Killing is a lot trickier when your enemies obviously have the initiating advantage and your lane mate isn’t better than you at initiating. In such situations, opt for trick play or gank other lanes/have other allies help you gank. Hide in juke spots and surprise shackle them when they’re near. Coordination is vital if you don’t want things to go awry. Save up your shackle until your ally is in striking distance.
If you think you’re too behind in terms of –cs, then farm up a bit. Use ether if it’s too hard. Make sure you score 2-3 creeps with it while harassing heroes as you do(Make use of the extra range). Soften creep up with attacks if you can’t kill 2-3 simultaneously. You can also stutter your attacks(use ‘S’ to stop projectile and stop pressing it at the exact last-hit moment) to achieve better –cs performance.
If you want to roam, make sure you do it well. Leave your lane when nobody sees you, and surprise other lane when it’s not likely to fail. Patience is a virtue.
Mid Game:
This portion of the game should be spent primarily on establishing a strong map control; gank as much as you could, move as much as you can, push as heavy as possible. Always do it in groups; you’re likely to fail if you do any of those alone. Defend your towers as best as you could; the more of them remains, the easier for you to be mobile.
Ethics
As a team hero, you must play as good as possible so that your team is happy of you.Take the best option of play and put it into use; do not attempt risky maneuvers that are likely to fail/backfire. Only gank multiple targets if you have the resources(sufficient heroes and/or runes).
strong duos for ganking; strong spells and nukes.
scouts - gank power and damage.
Do not gank alone; you are likely to be unsuccessful or even die, making you a liability. Pair up with heroes that either have reliable damage output, better initiating abilities or with nifty spells. Combinations of those are even better. Examples of these heroes are Mirana, Tiny, Venomancer and Clockwerk. Scouts are also great help when it comes to controlling the forest areas and taking down ricer carries like Slardar and Balanar.
Even in most situations, 2 man gank is still insufficient. You might stumble upon substantial resistance, your enemies might cluster, or face lack of firepower. Therefore I advice on forming a powerful 3 man gank instead. With such pack size, you are bound to be succesfull and you can easily retaliate in case something go wrong. Mirana + Rylai + Rhasta is an example of strong three-man gank team and a superb overall hero composition in a team. Since you have disable, you should focus on teammates with initiation and consistent damage.
Avoid unnecessary damage. Do not towerdive, chase too deeply or initiate if you could. Let your allies who are better suited do the job.
Initiate your role with Hex. Only start with shackle if he’s not likely to evade it(stunned, slowed, stupid). Soak up damage using hits/ether afterwards or shackle is current duration of disable is dying out(all this while your ally is beating him). Try to save up 1 disable in case he could TP. Do not use too many spells if you don’t need them.
example of key enemy heroes. kill them before pushing.
Pick targets to gank who suits your further motive; aim the support/AoE if you want to push, aim the carry if you think the game will stretch, aim anyone who looks easy to handle. Check his mana to see what he can do; check the map to get a bit prepared just in case the situation isn’t like you think it is. All this should give you a simple idea of what to do just in case things got screwed.
Ward up the map if nobody’s doing it; it gives your team a great advantage and it hardly hurts your pocket. It’s even more important if you’re being aimed. If you are, then always be on the move, gank as much as you could. Do not gain streak or farm up; the more you have, the more you lose.
Team Battles
Pay attention to this. The most common and worst thing that could happen is that you die early in team battles before you can do anything.
powerful initiators and team battle synergies.
Your team must have a systematic way on how to start the team battle regardless in the offensive or defensive position. You are in no way, a decent clash starter; let someone else do it. Someone with AoE, someone with stun, someone with all it needs to deliver a huge and quick payload. Your job is simply to know where you stand, when to enter, and use your spells. Mass Serpent Wards are amazingly powerful when paired with an AoE disable like Overgrowth and Upheavel; it gives them time to incinerate things up.
Order of spell usage depends, but most of the time it is better to start with wards and end with shackles.
Killing a key hero(AoE, Carry) first is advised. Such moves will give you the upper hand. Heroes like Leshrac and CM, heroes like Proudmoore and Morphling, you get the picture.
Try to put the wards at the best spot(in the middle) as long as it does not endanger you. This can be done easily with assistance of an AoE disable.
Game Progress
You want to take down or control every advantage. Taking enemy towers down so that their mobility and map control is reduced, warding the rune spots, warding the forest, etc. Such actions are important but it’s not a 1 man task. Always coordinate with your team.
If there are problematic heroes to face, you should take full preventive measures, like buying a gem to counter Rikimaru, or warding the forest to find farming heroes/see incoming problems. You must not delay these things.
Late Game:
Your aim at this stage is to end the game. Time is harsh on Rhasta; you need to be practical and smart so just dump the stupid mega creeps philosophy. Gather your team up and end it all in 1 spot.
strong heroes that are problems late game
I would like to stress this; proper decision making separates a good Rhasta from a bad one. As an intelligence hero, you must know where you stand in your team’s strategy and formation. Do not put yourself in a vulnerable position, like in the lead or clustering mid of a push. Do not do stupid to and fro movements when you’re being beaten or in team battles unless using your wards/hex, and always be prepared for anthing. By now, you should understand how your enemies function(who’s the initiator, how they perform combos, who’s the main player); this gives you a pre-idea on how to break their system.
Correct spell spending is also an important note. You shouldn’t be wasting the wards for ganks at this moment unless against high priority targets(heroes that can take down multiple heroes such as storm or a well fed carry). Save your wards for the tower/teambattles.
Conclusion:
Critical Play
Rhasta isn’t the hardest hero to play; there isn’t much hard thing to do, you don’t need to farm, you don’t need to micro 5 units, you don’t need time too much, you don’t need to chase. All you need to do is be on the move and contribute with ganking(which is fun).
Good players are those who take every single aspect of play seriously; like focusing on denies, how they spend their time, how the handle situations. They simply abuse every single opportunity. One might question, “What’s so great with having more denies?” But if you look at it correctly it does matter in a lot of way; he’ll level up slower, you’ll have stronger spells faster, he can’t buy cores faster, ALL OF THESE MATTERS.
By paying attention to your game, you will have better play performance. This further improves your mood of play. You won’t feed much so you won’t be too stressed. You don’t do KSes so your allies won’t be stressed with you.
There might also be a point in a game where you have to do transitions. This situation is very hard to explain, but once you’ve encountered it, you’ll know. For example, both teams rely on AoE’s to establish control; in such situations you should try to farm up a bit to get Aghanim + Refresher or Necronomicon which are powerful in this case.
Playing a hero to a higher extent requires you to be understanding and considerate; adapt yourself to the best of your team and it should improve your gameplay.
You also shouldn't try too hard to control everything in the game. You can't do anything if their team have better cooperation than yours, you can't do anything if they get lucky with runes, you can't do anything if you mates suck, so don't try to grip it all. Only focus on things you can change, and things that can be changed.
Credits
BitchGotOwned a.k.a Sami Mukahhal
BitchGotOwned brings you his latest artwork, Rhasta the Shadow Shaman. This guide is valid for 6.66b version, and is aimed for basic players who looks forward upon playing with skills rather than styles.
Rhasta is one of the earliest heroes in the pool. He was neglected for almost his whole presence, until the 6.52e which observed little use. The abrupt change in metagame in 6.57 led to what has been a permanent ban on him in most occasions.
The evolution from being a pub skillpick to a must-ban made him one of the most discussed heroes along with Abaddon and Dazzle. Leaguers describe his notoriety as being a ‘prick’ and he was termed as an ‘annoyance ban’. Some even say he’s overpowered.
Rhasta’s prowess lies in his capability to squeeze into virtually any type of strategy that can be put to play, and he’s capable of leading massive comebacks with decent supporting heroes; a case observed true in many games.
Stats
Rhasta - Shadow Shaman
Range: 500 | Move Speed: 285
Primary: INT
Str: 19 + 1.6 | Agi: 16 + 1.6 | Int: 21 + 3
Damage: 42 – 49 | HP: 511 | Mana: 273
HP Regen: 0.82 | Mana Regen: 0.85
Attack Speed: 0.68 | Armor: 1
Ether Shock (R)
Calls forth a cone of lightning, hitting multiple enemy units for damage.
Level 1 - 75 damage to 3 targets.
Level 2 - 150 damage to 4 targets.
Level 3 - 225 damage to 6 targets.
Level 4 - 300 damage to 7 targets.
• Damage type: magical
• Casting range: 600
• Area of Effect: 200
Mana Cost: 95/105/135/160
Cooldown: 10
Comment: Rhasta's nuke; can be used to push or to damage heroes. Fairly powerful but highly demanding.
Voodoo (D)
Transforms an enemy unit into a random critter, disabling special abilities.
Level 1 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 1.25 seconds.
Level 2 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 2 seconds.
Level 3 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 2.75 seconds.
Level 4 - Turns enemy into critter, lasts 3.5 seconds.
• If the target is an illusion, it will be instantly destroyed.
• The hexed target will have a base movespeed of 100.
• Hex disables damage block and evasion.
• Casting range: 500
Mana Cost: 110/140/170/200
Cooldown: 13
Comment: Rhasta's safest mode of disable. Very powerful in ganks thanks to cast range advantage compared to Shackle, and powerful against evasion/block carries.
Shackles (E)
Magically binds a target enemy, so that it cannot move or attack and deals 40 damage per second.
Level 1 - Lasts 2.5 seconds.
Level 2 - Lasts 3.25 seconds.
Level 3 - Lasts 4 seconds.
Level 4 - Lasts 4.75 seconds.
• Damage type: magical
• Shackles is a channeling spell.
• Casting range: 400
Mana Cost: 110/130/155/185
Cooldown: 16
Comment: Rhasta's main early game combo skill. Lasts very long but puts yourself in danger. Viable to max early if the enemy team lacks stuns and AoE's.
Mass Serpent Ward (W)
Summons 8 immobile serpentine wards to attack enemies. The wards last 45 seconds and are immune to magic.
Level 1 - Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 39 - 43 (53-59 *) damage.
Level 2 - Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 54 - 58 (74-79 *) damage.
Level 3 - Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 69 - 73 (94-100 *) damage.
• Serpent Wards deal piercing damage.
• Serpent Wards have splash damage.
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
Mana Cost: 200/350/600
Cooldown: 110
Comment: Rhasta's ultimate; a very powerful damage dealing skill that doesn't get weak for pushing even when the game stretches. Very powerful when combined with mass disables.
Skill Build
1. Hero Shackles
2. Voodoo
3. Ether Shock
4. Ether Shock
5. Ether Shock
6. Mass Serpent Ward
7. Ether Shock
8. Voodoo
9. Voodoo
10. Voodoo
11. Mass Serpent Ward
12. Hero Shackles
13. Hero Shackles
14. Hero Shackles
15. Stats
16. Mass Serpent Ward
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats
Item Build
1.
Magic Wand (509)
3 All Atributes
Active: Energy Charge
Restores 15 HP and mana for each charge.
Note: Gains 1 charge every time an enemy unit casts an ability in a 1600 AoE. Maximum of 15 charges. Certainabilities, such as arrow abilites (Frost Arrow, Poison Attack) and item abilities, will not add a charge.
Magic Stick + 3x Ironwood Branch + Magic Wand Recipe Scroll
Provides reliable HP and MP for a cheap price. The active is very convenient for prolonged ganking sprees.
2.
Bracer (510)
6 Strength
3 Agility
3 Intelligence
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength + Circlet of Nobility + Bracer Recipe Scroll
Gives you extra HP to tolerate with more beatings. Get 1-2 of these based on your preference.
3.
Boots of Speed (500)
50 Movement Speed
Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed.
Whatever you upgrade it into is up to your choice. I prefer Travels for instant mobility.
Starter Kit
Whatever you buy early is up to your perception of the game(your picks and theirs, possible strategy). Generally a good item gives you boost to many aspects for a very cheap price, essentially what branches do. Magic Stick is a powerful item against spell-based lanes and it can be upgraded using branches. Tangos are better than Salve as it does not mandate you to stay in full safety which usually causes you to miss experience and gold. Clarities are good if you plan to play an early nuke-based tag as it allows you to be aggressive for a longer run. You can also buy a chicken if nobody on your team is.
3xBranches+Magic Stick+2xTango+Clarity Potion = 589gold
Core Items
After the laning phase, you should focus on improving you HP and MP. Fill your slots with mobility and survival items. Always having 1-2 salves always allows you to gank longer or helps you to replenish HP before helping in a gank again. Magic Wand is a great item; it topples most items as firstcore. Bottle is rather situational; Rhasta only makes use of the haste, regeneration and invisibility rune. To be more exact, it's up to your preferences.
Boots of Speed+Magic Wand+2xTeleportation Scrolls+2xSalve+Bracer = 1494gold
Pro Packs
Items after the cores should be focused on improving your mobility and spatial control, or to improve your gameplay strategy/counter certain heroes.
Dagger is a strong item in all occasion; it’s a quick fix to your initiation purpose and can heavily increase your ganking capabilities. You need to be quick, smart and careful however. It works well with every single logical item build you can think of on Rhasta.
Eul’s is what I call ‘the Jack of all trades’. It doesn’t give you anything splendid but it improves your status in many ways notably, and the price is rather cheap. It also allows you to evade targeted spells with projectiles(cast it on yourself). I would recommend this in little situations, but it is a strong item rushed.
Guinsoo is a heavy counter item, useful against well-farmed or hard-to-kill carries. It has an amazing cast range of 800, allowing you to easily take down any hero when paired with your other sets of disables. It increases your full disable duration to 12 seconds and allows you to disable 3 heroes in battles. The problem with it is, you can’t seem to rush it properly. I would highly suggest a dagger beforehand.
Necronomicon is a decent item; I won’t go far from that. While the idea of having 2 minions beating your enemy up is great, it encourages solo ganking and the stats bonuses aren’t actually great for you. I would only get it if the other team is raping me with AoE’s(last will damage) and at the same time I have an invisible hero on the other team.
Aghanim is the choice to most general and high level players; the bonuses are well defined and well suited. It is the easier to use and practical item. After an Aghanim, you would want to get refresher; I believe it is the more decent way to play as it gives you a powerful wrecking force useful and relevant to this stage of the game and allows you to make full use of critical moments, should they come of course. You need to farm quite heavily, if you prefer this build.
As for boots, I will not go deep at all; what you get is basically what you believe it could give. I prefer travels as I am generally a dagger user; it allows me to be mobile; I can be exactly where my team wants me to, exactly when they need me to. You should upgrade the boots when you think you'll be needing it. Otherwise, Dagger/Aghanim first.
To conclude the item builds section, I would like to give a proposal on how you should determine your item progress system. I would like to make it clear to you that you should not farm too much despite of your plans; a motive does not permit action. You must also be aware of your enemies’ possible plans, pick an item route most suited to overcome it and your average income. Whatever items you’re building should be directed towards handling problems that may come or already existed.
Early Game
Whatever lane you plan on taking is up to your lineups. The strongest lane should take the Sentinel’s bottom/Scourge Top; it’s easier to establish lane dominance there. In some situations where there isn’t any better soloer, you can take the mid solo position. Items to start with in that situation may vary; bottle is decent and make sure your team has a chicken to ferry it to fountain and back.
Partner
Your lane tag is the most important aspect of the laning phase to consider; pair up with a hero who either form an aggressive lane or a mitigation lane(prevent them from leveling up, semi babysit lane, etc.). Ranged heroes have the general advantage, but a hero’s skillset is also a variable to consider. A hero that has advantages in both aspects is the one you want, as long as he’s not soloing.
decent allies
For example, Juggernaut+Rhasta are always perceived as one of the strongest lanes. While it is true that Shackles+BladeFury can maim most heroes, you must take account that if you can not initiate, the plan isn’t likely to work. Juggernaut is also a horrible laner, soft, melee and he can only pull out BladeFury in a limited capacity. Competence – 6/10.
strong allies
A Huskar+Rhasta lane is different; Huskar is a strong and aggressive laner, he’s ranged and his spears allow him to establish easy lane control. Shackles+Spears are a strong and easy to do combo. Such lane can mitigate most heroes, but it still is weaker than most combined nuker lanes like Puck+CM. competence – 8/10.
exceptional allies
A Lion+Rhasta lane however is well defined; impale is an easy setup assist to shackles. You both are also ranged; that gives you the creeps control and harassing advantage. This tag is also a great setup to a further ganking based play; you are both potent roamers and working from the start gives you preparation of each other’s role when the game progress. Competence – 9/10.
Tactical
Once you determined your lane, you must take initiatives whether to suppress or execute. Once you know who are your lane enemies, this won’t be hard. Trying to establish lane control from level 1 is easy with proper lanemates, but trying to kill at level 1 is a different story. Unless you are positive your plan will work(trilane, runes), I advice to analyze your lane enemies first.
Focus on denying against heroes that plays safely; do not give them room to bulk up. As long as you’re not forcing your mana capacity and endangering your combo efficiency, you can use Ether Shock to farm-harass.
Harass with physical attacks whenever possible. Attack him as long as he’s not likely to fight back(melee/lack creeps/no spammable nukes) or when his creeps support are scarce. Do not harass when you tend to take more damage than you deal. Force your enemies to be as impotent as possible.
Coordinate with your lane partner when trying to accomplish a kill. Determine who to kill, who should start and when to do it. Pick heroes you can kill, but take account if the other one can kill/disable you. Melee or slow heroes are easier to kill(they take heavier harassments, theoretically), but this isn’t a perfect way to pick your target unless you’ve soaked him up. Always be aware of the situation(how much creeps he have, what he’ll probably do next) and try to formulate how you could force him to your advantage.
Killing is a lot trickier when your enemies obviously have the initiating advantage and your lane mate isn’t better than you at initiating. In such situations, opt for trick play or gank other lanes/have other allies help you gank. Hide in juke spots and surprise shackle them when they’re near. Coordination is vital if you don’t want things to go awry. Save up your shackle until your ally is in striking distance.
If you think you’re too behind in terms of –cs, then farm up a bit. Use ether if it’s too hard. Make sure you score 2-3 creeps with it while harassing heroes as you do(Make use of the extra range). Soften creep up with attacks if you can’t kill 2-3 simultaneously. You can also stutter your attacks(use ‘S’ to stop projectile and stop pressing it at the exact last-hit moment) to achieve better –cs performance.
If you want to roam, make sure you do it well. Leave your lane when nobody sees you, and surprise other lane when it’s not likely to fail. Patience is a virtue.
Mid Game:
This portion of the game should be spent primarily on establishing a strong map control; gank as much as you could, move as much as you can, push as heavy as possible. Always do it in groups; you’re likely to fail if you do any of those alone. Defend your towers as best as you could; the more of them remains, the easier for you to be mobile.
Ethics
As a team hero, you must play as good as possible so that your team is happy of you.Take the best option of play and put it into use; do not attempt risky maneuvers that are likely to fail/backfire. Only gank multiple targets if you have the resources(sufficient heroes and/or runes).
strong duos for ganking; strong spells and nukes.
scouts - gank power and damage.
Do not gank alone; you are likely to be unsuccessful or even die, making you a liability. Pair up with heroes that either have reliable damage output, better initiating abilities or with nifty spells. Combinations of those are even better. Examples of these heroes are Mirana, Tiny, Venomancer and Clockwerk. Scouts are also great help when it comes to controlling the forest areas and taking down ricer carries like Slardar and Balanar.
Even in most situations, 2 man gank is still insufficient. You might stumble upon substantial resistance, your enemies might cluster, or face lack of firepower. Therefore I advice on forming a powerful 3 man gank instead. With such pack size, you are bound to be succesfull and you can easily retaliate in case something go wrong. Mirana + Rylai + Rhasta is an example of strong three-man gank team and a superb overall hero composition in a team. Since you have disable, you should focus on teammates with initiation and consistent damage.
Avoid unnecessary damage. Do not towerdive, chase too deeply or initiate if you could. Let your allies who are better suited do the job.
Initiate your role with Hex. Only start with shackle if he’s not likely to evade it(stunned, slowed, stupid). Soak up damage using hits/ether afterwards or shackle is current duration of disable is dying out(all this while your ally is beating him). Try to save up 1 disable in case he could TP. Do not use too many spells if you don’t need them.
example of key enemy heroes. kill them before pushing.
Pick targets to gank who suits your further motive; aim the support/AoE if you want to push, aim the carry if you think the game will stretch, aim anyone who looks easy to handle. Check his mana to see what he can do; check the map to get a bit prepared just in case the situation isn’t like you think it is. All this should give you a simple idea of what to do just in case things got screwed.
Ward up the map if nobody’s doing it; it gives your team a great advantage and it hardly hurts your pocket. It’s even more important if you’re being aimed. If you are, then always be on the move, gank as much as you could. Do not gain streak or farm up; the more you have, the more you lose.
Team Battles
Pay attention to this. The most common and worst thing that could happen is that you die early in team battles before you can do anything.
powerful initiators and team battle synergies.
Your team must have a systematic way on how to start the team battle regardless in the offensive or defensive position. You are in no way, a decent clash starter; let someone else do it. Someone with AoE, someone with stun, someone with all it needs to deliver a huge and quick payload. Your job is simply to know where you stand, when to enter, and use your spells. Mass Serpent Wards are amazingly powerful when paired with an AoE disable like Overgrowth and Upheavel; it gives them time to incinerate things up.
Order of spell usage depends, but most of the time it is better to start with wards and end with shackles.
Killing a key hero(AoE, Carry) first is advised. Such moves will give you the upper hand. Heroes like Leshrac and CM, heroes like Proudmoore and Morphling, you get the picture.
Try to put the wards at the best spot(in the middle) as long as it does not endanger you. This can be done easily with assistance of an AoE disable.
Game Progress
You want to take down or control every advantage. Taking enemy towers down so that their mobility and map control is reduced, warding the rune spots, warding the forest, etc. Such actions are important but it’s not a 1 man task. Always coordinate with your team.
If there are problematic heroes to face, you should take full preventive measures, like buying a gem to counter Rikimaru, or warding the forest to find farming heroes/see incoming problems. You must not delay these things.
Late Game:
Your aim at this stage is to end the game. Time is harsh on Rhasta; you need to be practical and smart so just dump the stupid mega creeps philosophy. Gather your team up and end it all in 1 spot.
strong heroes that are problems late game
I would like to stress this; proper decision making separates a good Rhasta from a bad one. As an intelligence hero, you must know where you stand in your team’s strategy and formation. Do not put yourself in a vulnerable position, like in the lead or clustering mid of a push. Do not do stupid to and fro movements when you’re being beaten or in team battles unless using your wards/hex, and always be prepared for anthing. By now, you should understand how your enemies function(who’s the initiator, how they perform combos, who’s the main player); this gives you a pre-idea on how to break their system.
Correct spell spending is also an important note. You shouldn’t be wasting the wards for ganks at this moment unless against high priority targets(heroes that can take down multiple heroes such as storm or a well fed carry). Save your wards for the tower/teambattles.
Conclusion:
Critical Play
Rhasta isn’t the hardest hero to play; there isn’t much hard thing to do, you don’t need to farm, you don’t need to micro 5 units, you don’t need time too much, you don’t need to chase. All you need to do is be on the move and contribute with ganking(which is fun).
Good players are those who take every single aspect of play seriously; like focusing on denies, how they spend their time, how the handle situations. They simply abuse every single opportunity. One might question, “What’s so great with having more denies?” But if you look at it correctly it does matter in a lot of way; he’ll level up slower, you’ll have stronger spells faster, he can’t buy cores faster, ALL OF THESE MATTERS.
By paying attention to your game, you will have better play performance. This further improves your mood of play. You won’t feed much so you won’t be too stressed. You don’t do KSes so your allies won’t be stressed with you.
There might also be a point in a game where you have to do transitions. This situation is very hard to explain, but once you’ve encountered it, you’ll know. For example, both teams rely on AoE’s to establish control; in such situations you should try to farm up a bit to get Aghanim + Refresher or Necronomicon which are powerful in this case.
Playing a hero to a higher extent requires you to be understanding and considerate; adapt yourself to the best of your team and it should improve your gameplay.
You also shouldn't try too hard to control everything in the game. You can't do anything if their team have better cooperation than yours, you can't do anything if they get lucky with runes, you can't do anything if you mates suck, so don't try to grip it all. Only focus on things you can change, and things that can be changed.
Credits
BitchGotOwned a.k.a Sami Mukahhal
Rhasta the Shadow ShamanAuthor: icansurfnow
Map Vers.: 6.66b
Rhasta - Shadow Shaman
Skills rather than styles
Last Comment:04/03/2010
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