Before reading the Guide
Alt+Tab Miniguide
Hero Discussion
Recent Changes
Skill Build
Item Build
Gameplay Walktrough
Allies and Enemies
Replays
Final Words - Credits

This is a guide to competitive Vengeful. With "Competitive" I don't want to say that I'm a pro or something like that. I'm just an average DotA player who plays some "Serious" games with my clanmates or with random people. I actively played Vengeful for more-or-less a year and after that she became my favorite hero. Altough STR1D3R already did a great guide on her, I wanted to show my gameplay. In this guide I'll try to teach you the way I play her as support. If you want to see Desolator, S&Y, Butterfly, etc., then this isn't your guide.
Keep in mind that English isn't my native language, so feel free to point any mistake on the text.
Enjoy the Guide and keep on mind that is not a How-To-Do manual. You can mix this with your knowledge and experience, maybe that would be great.

Skill Build

Item Build

Some tips

Actually I don't like to copypaste the information, because it only makes my guide longer, so I simply will redirect you to the Hero Page and the Hero Comments on the Forum:

Vengeful Spirit - DotA Hero Details

Vengeful Spirit - DotA Hero Comments

Hero Stats

Actually, her stats are kinda strange. She has a great base Agility (27) and a ridiculous low base Strenght (16). As the game goings on, things start to change because of her imba Strenght gain for a support (2.3) and her low Main-Attribute gain (2.35). Int is quite low for a hero who needs to spam her spells, but with a little of regeneration this can be solved.
Her base damage isn't regular (39-53) and this make lasthitting (in Vengeful this mean "denying") a little harder. The high missile speed and high starting Agility makes her able to do fast attacks when chasing or harassing at low levels. Her movespeed is below average (295) and her Attack Range is quite low (400), so we should care about our positioning, since we can't attack far and we can't move too much.

Magic Missile

This is your signature skill. An average stun with average numbers, but incredibly useful.
His damage is quite high, but his manacost scales in a really painful way for our low manapool. The stun increases by 0.1 second with each level, so difference between levels 1 and 4 is 0.3 seconds. The casting range, as you can see, is really small for a ranged stun, but is still higher than our Attack Range.
To be honest, I used to get just one level of Missile, but after some experiments now I have the sureness that leveling Magic Missile is more important than leveling Wave or Command Aura. However, maxing Wave is still viable.
Oh, I almost forgot this last thing:
Please, DON'T KILLSTEAL WITH MAGIC MISSILE

Wave of Terror

This is actually one of the most versatile skills in DotA. The -armor is really useful during all the game and the vision given is really good. Even without the %dmg reduction, this is still a great skill.
About the scaling-balancing-thosefuckingnumbersformechfags, it has a constant manacost and cooldown, so you won't hurt your manapool if you decide to max this. The -armor increases by 1 per level, something very common. Remember that the damage was 25/50/75/100 magical damage, but was changed to direct HP removal to avoid Dagger-Regeneration cancelling. The strange numbers you see on the Hero Page are simply 25/50/75/100 after the Magical Reduction.
In low levels, you will use it mostly to obtain vision before ganking or when babysitting. The +dmg obtained from the -armor isn't as good as can be on late game, but can help you a lot (Even more with physical nukers like Bristleback or Axe).
In Mid-Late, your teammates will ask you to scout Roshan with Wave and the -armor work wonders with those DPS carries.
Always keep in mind the minor damage from Wave of Terror. With the damage and the huge range, you can net kills when your mates can't.

Command Aura

Actually, this is a very underrated skill. Traxex, Sniper or whoever will love the 36% bonus damage that this skill gives at level 4. In low levels it won't be helpful, so I think that you can avoid leveling it from levels 1 to 8. An exception is when you are REALLY underleveled and your carrys will need the Aura while you are in level 6-7. The skill scales perfect in Late Game, like almost all the percentage-based skills, so there isn't too much problem if you get only 2 or 3 levels of it before the game ends.

Vengeful's Role

Ganker:	llllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Support:	llllllllllllllllllllllllll
Initiator:	llllllllllllllllllll
Babysitter:	llllllllllllllllll
Skillspammer:	llllllllll
Semicarry:	llllllllllll
Proper Carry:	llll
Pusher:	llllllllllllllllllll

Thanks to Averrios for this freaking awesome template

I was thinking about not including this part on the Hero Discussion, but after two pubs, now I'm sure I should do it.
When I go with some friends to play on LAN or Garena, I always find some self-named "Old-School players", who maxes Stun+Aura, solomids and levels Wave of Terror at lvls 21-25. Maybe someone can come and say that this is a very viable way to play Vengeful, but I don't like it. There are a few reasons why Vengeful ISN'T a carry:

A carry should spend his laning phase farming. If you do this, you are wasting the roaming potential of Magic Missile
Nether Swap can drive you to a suicide gameplay. A carry can't kill himself for the Greater Good
A ranged carry (usually) has more than 400 Attack Range
She has a very poor Agility gain, compared to her other atributes
Her Damage Aura helps both ranged and melee units, so it can be better exploited by DPS allies
39-53 is somewhat shitty to lasthit

6.72 - Aghanim's Nether Swap can now target creeps
6.71 - Removed the small attack damage reduction aspect of Wave of Terror
6.69 - Magic Missile stun duration rescaled from 1.75 to 1.45/1.55/1.65/1.75
6.68 - Magic Missile manacost rescaled from 95/110/125/140 to 110/120/130/140
6.67 - Wave of Terror now reduces HP instead of dealing damage (same overall HP loss, but now does not disable clarity/dagger/etc)
6.61 - Improved base Agility (22->27)
6.60 - Improved Strength Per Level by 0.5
6.60 - Improved Command Aura range (450->900)
6.60 - Improved Wave of Terror a little and added some minor damage (25/50/75/100). Lowered AOE slightly (350->300)
6.60 - Now has normal Base Attack Time (1.77->1.7)
6.60 - Added Vengeful Spirit to Aghanim's Scepter. Improves Cooldown (45->10 cd)

1. Magic Missile
2. Wave of Terror
3. Magic Missile
4. Wave of Terror/Stats
5. Magic Missile
6. Nether Swap
7. Magic Missile
8. Wave of Terror/Command Aura
9. Wave of Terror/Command Aura
10. Command Aura
11. Nether Swap
12. Command Aura
13.Command Aura/Wave of Terror
14. Command Aura/Wave of Terror
15. Stats
16. Nether Swap
17-25. Stats

Underlined skills are the prefered ones to max, but the other suggestion is still viable
Please don't take this as a rigid build. Be creative.
Don't be afraid of taking Stats early on if things aren't going well.
Always think about your team before using a skill point. DotA is won by a team, not by a carry, a ganker or a support.
Would be good if you read this guide, this one (Adapting section) or this one (In spanish and more oriented to build-gameplay). All are about adapting to the game circumstances.

This is, probably, the most important and the most viewed part of the guide, so I'll try to do my best working here.

Starting Build Options

This is a Basic Start, with basic regeneration, basic stats and buying wards, maybe the only "must" of this guide. With this build you usually will go to a trilane, but roam is also viable because of the regeneration.

Hardcore Support Build. Buying Chicken+Wards isn't very usual, but with Vengeful can be viable, since you are item independent since very low levels. As you don't get Clarities-Salves, roaming isn't very viable. The most common scenario when I do this is when I go to babysit someone like Mercurial or Siren.

This is a very risky build. You have a lot of consumables since you will be walking and walking like a moron (Sorry, I mean ganking everywhere). Please do this only if you are very confident in your roaming skills, because if you don't know how to hide and gank you will be only a lost piece in your team, doing nothing.

Early Game Build

[nqb]

Cheaps items because you will ward 24/7. The new boots are specially designed for heroes like you, so getting them is very useful (They aren't THAT important, but are a great help). The Bracer increases your survivality a lot and the Magic Stick is necesary for Burst Mana-Heal. Town Portal is always needed to escape, push, defend, gank, etc. and the wards are a no-brainer on Vengeful.

Early Game Toolbox

Mid Game Build

During Mid Game, you won't get a lot of items. Your main goal is to have a good map control for your team, so wards are a "must". About other items, you probably would like to get Urn of Shadows, a great item for gankers.

Mid Game Toolbox

Late Game Build

And this is the Average Build when playing Vengeful. At late game you should aim for a Medallion (The -armor is just great) and a Vanguard (If you can handle it, is a great boost to survivability).

Late Game Toolbox

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syaska

Gameplay walktrough: Stun someone, wave in the middle, swap and die.

The Gameplay-Strategies-Tips-Whateverunamethis Part of the guide will be shown as short tips, separated in Game Stages. Hope you like this.

It's time to trilane!

As you usually will have a pack of 2 wards, try to get one on a Rune Spot and another on the Jungle near the Lane.
Don't go with creeps, try to make your enemies believe you are not here.
Try to let lasthit+exp to your trilane carry.
If your carry is against a trilane, get out immediatly to defend him.
If your carry is against a solo, try to gank him immediatly.
If you won't neither harass nor gank, don't get near the enemies.
If you are sure your carry is safe, you can go to pull neutral creeps, making your enemies go forward.
As you have just 295MS and 400 range, your position is very important at the start of the gank
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER autoattack.
Also... just lasthit enemy creeps when your carry can't.
Try to deny at the most.
Wave is a good harass, try to spam it.

It's time to trilane!

[LIST]

Please, don't autoattack.
Let the creeps for the carry (This is kind of no-brainer for supports).
Try to deny as often as you can.
If you are a duo-lane against a solo, harass him frecuently and get him out of the Exp range of the creeps.
There are some situations where Magic Missile can be used as a good harass (By example when the enemy is retreating against creeps, you can stun him and let the creeps hit him).)
If your carry can deny by himself, try to stand out of the EXP range of the creeps (Generally you will stand in the jungle), so the carry can get the level faster.

Roaming with Vengeful

Always try to search for runes. A haste or DD rune will usually ensure a First blood and even an Illusion one can confuse the enemies (Or you can block them, :P).
When roaming, try to gank all the lanes the same, because if you focus just one hero, he can acquire the lost levels quickly.
An exception to this is when the other lanes are "hard-to-gank" (Akasha, Morph, Syll, etc.)
Try to abuse the fog from trees.
Try to coordinate with your friends when ganking. Don't expect a pubber (Even a league player) to follow you if you don't inform him about the gank.
If the lane where you just ganked is weak, you can stand a little time here babysitting your partner, but don't stand like this a lot of time.
If you are sure your enemy can't flee, throw Wave of Terror first. If not, go for Magic Missile
When ganking, try to block all the escape paths for the enemy with your partners. A lot of people I play with, go in packs of 3 ganking behind the enemy, who just need to flee at the free path on the forest and spam OMG NOOBS ZZZ on All Chat
Don't forget to ward, that gives your team a lot of pressence and Map Control. At this stage, most important points to ward are the runes and the mid lane uphill.
Yes, I said you that you shouldn't focus a particular hero with lots of ganks, but you should try to have some predilection for enemy carries.

Vengeful at Mid-Late game

At Mid-Late Game, you won't be so effective, so you will rely more on your team.
The points are more or less the same I gave you before.
Now you will use Magic Missile twice per gank, because of the beefier enemies.
You can also start with Nether Swap and then go for Missile
In teamfights, try to use your Nether Swap wisely. I know that the title is Stun, Swap and Die, but is better to die for a good reason than dying for the pleasure of seeing "Respawn in xx seconds" on your screen.
Use your Wave to gain vision before teamfights or before entering Roshan.
Again, don't forget the wards. This job is kinda tricky at the beginning, but with some experience and common sense, you'll know which points are the best.
If there isn't nothing better to do, you can jungle with Wave.
Try to stick up with your friends. A lone Vengeful can be raped really easily.
Remember that the carry will love your +36% aura

Misc Things

Remember that you can kill fleeing enemies with the long range and minimum damage from Wave of Terror. Try to do this just as a last resort.
Wave of Terror gives you a good sight, so try to spam it whenever you can (an need the vision).
Nether Swap has a ministun that can break channelings and TPs, useful when Magic Missile is on cooldown.
Magic Missile is a original Warcraft 3 Spell, so it can be avoided by Metamorphosis, Blink and Invisibility
Command Aura stacks with other damage auras like Trueshot or Vladimirs

Supports Nowadays

This part is an "update" part, so it can be in conflict with other statements of the guide. I'll try to replace them when I have time, so don't worry.

In the competitive scene, we have seen a lot of "wardbitch supports": No-items heroes who just buy things for the team and then, with no items, tries to survives the teamfight. But, nowadays a lot of teams are trying to give more gold and exp for their supports. Why? Would you ask. I also asked it when I noticed it, but I think their reasoning is the following:

When you play a support, you obviusly will try to buy Wards, Smoke and shit. Also, you are told by your mates to let your carry the kills and the farm. Where will you get the gold? Okay, let's check how much gold gives you a hero: ~250. That's more or less 5 creeps. A carry can easily farm that gold (or even more) without problems. At the end, he is the carry. But... What about the supports? They will appreciate way more that gold, as they can't touch creeps that frecuently. So, okay, let's give some kills (Not all of them, obviusly) to the supporters.

This reasoning is followed by the "change of mindset" from support players. Now, they are more aware of his role and affirm that nowadays the supports really makes a big impact on the game. Isn't anymore the "carry wins the game" thinking... Supports, with items like Force Staff or Mekans, have a big impact on teamfights and, subsequently, on the game.

Good Allies

Stunners

Basically any guy with non-ultimate-stun-or-similar goes here. If he is an usual trilaner, much better.

-armor

An interesting common thing that these guys have with you is that you lower enemies' armor in order to let your carries destroy them. Usually a good -armor combo includes Vengeful and Tide as supports and Razor as semicarry.

Mega DPSers

Your Wave allows them to deal that extra damage that pwns enemies. Your Command Aura gives them more damage. Go and support them.

Bad enemies

Mega DPSers

They good allies... They bad enemies. At late, you will just be food for them.

High Magical Damage

With Burst magical damage (And also spammable magical damage) you will feed.

Beef Heroes

Those mammoths are always hard to take down and usually costs the life of one or two guys on the way. Always fear them D:

MUFC vs Orange
ESTC 2011 - Semi finals
This is a great show of teamwork from Orange and also a good Vengeful by Xtinct, featuring many great swaps and an overall good performance.

Scythe.SG vs Nirvana.my
Asian DotA Championship IV
This replay is from an old version, also from an old metagame, but stills shows the potential of Vengeful as a ganker along with other stunners. Also those gamebreaking Swaps in critical moments make this a good example of a great Vengeful gameplay.

Well, this is all. I hope you guys like this guide. If you have anything to say about this guide, feel free to comment. Special thanks to Averrios for the template to explain Vengeful's role. Also special thanks to anyone who helped this guide during the draft and thanks to anybody who would like to help to improve it.

The Changelog

v0.2