Rikimaru, Stealth Assassin

v6.61b

Table of Contents

I Introduction
II Stats
III Skills
IV Item Build
V Skill Build
VI Game Phases
VII Tips and Tricks
VIII Credits and Changelog

I Introduction

"Born as the heir to the satyr dominion, Rikimaru was trained by the mightiest warriors of his race. However, the power of the Burning Legion managed to corrupt many of his kind, leaving them as mindless beasts in the forest. Vowing revenge against the Scourge, he sharpened his skills for battle. Using his small size to his advantage, he can render himself invisible, enabling him to stab his enemies in the back. He can also use thick smoke as a cover, to silence his enemies and become nearly untouchable."

II Stats

Strength 17 + 2
Agility 24 + 2.9
Intelligence 14 + 1.3

Health 473
Mana 210
Armor 6.4
Damage 48 -52
Movespeed 300
Attack Range 125
Sight Range 1800/800

III Skills

Smoke Screen

Throws a smoke bomb down in the area, silencing opponents and causing them to miss on most of their attacks. Also slows by 25% at all levels.

Miss % 40/50/60/70
Mana Cost 75/80/85/90
Cooldown 15
Duration 6
Cast Range 350
Area 250/275/300/325

Rikimaru's most potent skill, and the one that makes him a gamebreaking hero. Smoke screen slows, silences and blinds across an ample area allowing the Stealth Assassin to tear through most heroes in a matter of seconds. In the right hands, this skill can be used to take out an enemy disabler and turn the tides of battle. Effecient usage of Smoke Screen will be discussed in the Tips and Tricks section.

Blink Strike

Teleports to a unit and strikes it if it is a foe, dealing bonus damage.

Bonus Damage 30/60/90/120
Mana Cost 50
Cooldown 30/20/10/5
Cast Range 700

A high utility move with a low mana cost and cooldown, giving Riki lots of mobility and great chasing power. Blink strike automatically places you behind the target so you are guaranteed a backstab hit. Target a friendly unit to escape from a dangerous situation. Bonus damage dealt is physical, and benefits greatly from armor reduction.

Backstab

The Stealth Assassin is not afraid to fight dirty, and specializes in attacking his opponents from behind.

Bonus Damage .25x Agi/.5x Agi/.75x Agi/1x Agi

This ability effectively doubles the damage output that Riki gets per point of agility while attacking from behind. The bonus damage is dealt seperately from Riki's normal damage. The damage is physical, which benefits heavily from negative armor effects.

Permanent Invisibility

Rikimaru becomes permanently invisible when not attacking.

Fade Time 3/2.25/1.5

Riki's trademark skill; allows him to turn invisible when not attacking. Net, shackle, and silence skills will all reveal the Stealth Assassin for their duration.

IV Item Build

At the beginning of the game, you have to make a decision about what items you are going to go for, and that is entirely dependent on your lineup and your opponents' as well. The choice you have to make is between Helm of the Dominator and Vladmir's Offering, and also between Stygian Desolator and Diffusal Blade.

Vladmir's is great because it completely covers your mana needs and allows you to spam Blink Strike and Cloud all game. Also, it allows you to carry an orb effect (Deso or Diffusal) and it comes in small parts so it's easy to farm. The downside is that going for a Vlads delays some of the more potent items on Riki, so if there is a better carrier of Vlads on your team, then let them buy it.

Helm of the Dominator is not as useful as Vlad's because the benefits aren't as great. The most notable effect is that you can dominate creeps which can be used to stack the ancient camps, and while this can be of great help to you, the fact that HotD is an orb effect means that it gets in the way of stronger items. I suggest getting HotD only if the opponent's carry is very strong late game and you know you'll need the extra lifesteal of Satanic to compete with him.

Verdict: Don't get HotD unless you absolutely need it. Get Vlads if you can, or better yet, have someone else on your team buy it instead.

The Stygian Desolator synergizes tremendously with Riki's skillset, since the bonus damage from Blink Strike and Backstab are both physical type damage, which means that the armor reduction of Deso really helps you pack a huge punch. Whether you're fighting a squishy intel hero or a heavily armored tank, after getting Deso you'll definitely notice a jump in damage output.

Diffusal Blade is the item that made Rikimaru such a scary hero a couple versions back. The slowing power of purge and the cloud together meant that Riki was able to swiftly pick off heroes more effectively than any other hero. Purge can counter summons as well. In addition, Diffusal grants 22 (26 with the upgrade) bonus agility, an effective 44 (52) extra damage. With feedback as well, Diffusal will help against some of those pesky disablers.

*Both Stygian Desolator and Diffusal Blade are strong item choices, so it comes down to what heroes each side has. If your team is lacking disables or the enemies are heavy on buffs/summons, I recommend getting the Diffusal Blade for the purge and mana burn. If the enemy team has a stronger late game, then Stygian is the way to go. The raw damage output it provides is incredible and even buffest of tanks will go down quickly. I personally prefer the Stygian Desolator because it synergizes so effectively with Riki's skillset, and your Cloud is already such a threat to enemy casters that the mana burn seems like overkill.

Verdict: Diffusal is a better pick against a team with disablers/buffers/summoners or your team needs a disable. Stygian is better against a strong lategame team.

Once you've gotten your Deso/Diffusal and Vlads, there are effectively 2 items that are still part of Riki's core build. These two are Manta Style and The Butterfly.

Manta Style is great item to go for because it helps make up for some of Riki's weaknesses. Obviously images increase damage output and give you some more survivability. The mirror image ability lets you dodge some targeted spells and also removes most negative buffs (a huge plus when fighting heroes that can silence you). Last but not least, Manta's ingredients are relatively cheap (the most expensive is a 2.1k ultimate orb) and the increased movement speed from Yasha really helps your chasing power. Another important thing to note: the images from manta will also burn mana if you have a diffusal, so these two items go hand in hand. If you're going to get Manta Style, get Yasha first.

Butterfly is kind of a no brainer; It gives Damage (effectively 90 bonus damage with backstab), 60% AS, and 30% evasion, as if the miss chance from Smoke Screen wasn't enough already. This item tends to work better with Desolator than Diffusal because of the huge boost to physical DPS it gives. If you're going for the ground 'n' pound pubstomp, this is the item you want to get. If farming is going great and you've racked up a few hero kills, go ahead and grab the Eaglehorn first. Otherwise, Talisam of Evasion is the way to go.

Verdict: Manta Style probably fits in better with a higher level of play where you may not be the carry and getting the extra stats from the ultimate orb to tank you up a bit is a better idea. In a pub where organized teams/disables are rarely seen, go ahead and get the Butterfly to get the max effect from your damage output.

To me, there's no question which pair of boots to get. Power Treads give you either 190 HP or 10 damage (20 with backstab) as well as the improved AS. Since you rely mainly on your auto attacks to deal damage, these are the way to go. Phase Boots aren't necessary because Riki already has an insane amount of armor, and the raw damage doesn't synergize as well with backstab as the AGI given by PTreads. Boots of Travel cost too much for what they're worth, especially since your chasing potential is already so high and the ability to teleport around the map can be bought for 135 gold.

Finally, for what they cost, Wraith Bands are possibly the most effecient way to add a significant amount of damage. They're cheap and give you quick damage and some survivability as well. Since there's only so much gold to be farmed, Wraiths are truly a godsend.

Final item builds should look something like this:

Total Cost: 15220

Total Cost: 12970 (13820 with Diffusal Blade upgrade)

V Skill Build

1 Smoke Screen
2 Blink Strike
3 Blink Strike
4 Backstab
5 Blink Strike/Backstab
6 Permanent Invisibility
7 Blink Strike/Backstab
8 Backstab/Blink Strike
9 Backstab
10 Backstab
11 Permanent Invisibility
12 Smoke Screen
13 Smoke Screen
14 Smoke Screen
15 Stats
16 Permanent Invisibility
17-25 Stats

Level 1 Smoke Screen is acquired for emergency situations.
Blink Strike is then the first priority since getting its cooldown to 5 seconds is what makes you so dangerous.
Backstab maxed second for the bonus damage it provides.
Permanent Invisibility is taken whenever possible to increase your stealthiness.

VI Game Phases

Early Game
-Starting Items
-Laning
-Jungling & Creep Pulls
Middle Game
-Ganking
-Farming
-Scouting
Late Game
-Team Battles
-Pushes

Rikimaru the Stealth Assassin
Author: DarkArcana
Map Vers.: 6.61b

DarkArcana's Guide to Playing SA

WIP - First Guide Evar!

Date Posted: 07/12/09
Last Comment:28/07/2010
Total Votes: 0
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