PILOTDOTA: dark_phoenix96's Guide to Rikimaru the Stealth Assassin

Table of Contents:

I. Guide Introduction
II. Hero Introduction and Story
III. Pros and Cons
IV. When(not) to pick Rikimaru
V. Skills and its Usage
VI. Skill Builds and Item Builds
VII. Game Strategy
VIII. Hero Synergy and Counters
IX. Conclusion
X. Replays
XI. Credits
XII. Channel Log

I. Guide Introduction

This is my third guide. Now I'll show you how to use Rikimaru in my own style. Again, take note that this guide does not show you how to play Rikimaru professionally, it shows you some tips and tricks on how to play Rikimaru in my personal way. For those people who red my Barathrum Guide "Mother Earth Guide Me" and my Lina Guide "Click me baby, One more time", I want to thank you for reading it.

By the way my Lina Guide was deleted because 1/2 of its content wasn't saved because my DSL crashed!

So I decided to make this as its "Reincarnation".

No offending comments or insults in this guide; otherwise, I'll add you in my ignore list. Ok then, let's begin....

II. Hero Introduction and Story

Hero Introduction
Background Story

The Stealth Assassin's ultimate allows him to passively regain Invisibility after an attack or using an ability. He could be anywhere, at any time, and therein lies his strength. His preferred attack is obviously to Backstab someone, inflicting greater damage as he grows more agile. He can also Blink Strike towards his enemies to quickly get in range of attack, making it even harder to escape or catch him. Once he decides to reveal himself, Rikimaru can unleash a Smoke Screen in a moderate area, which gradually expands, silencing anyone inside, slowing them down, and causing them to miss. Only a fool would continue fighting while blind, deaf and dumb, but Assassins have no room for remorse.

III. Pros and Cons

Pros
Cons

(+)High Armor and Agility Gain.
(+)Has one of the best ambush/escape mechanisms in the game.
(+)Excellent Last-Hitting animation which makes last-hitting creeps a piece of cake.
(+)Can deal more damage with his Backstab ability when attacking from behind of course.
(+)Can easily scout anywhere in the map thanks to his Permanent Invisiblity.
(+)One of the best carries in the game.
(+)The rest are for you to state them.

IV. When(not) to pick Rikimaru

Pick Rikimaru if:
Don't Pick Rikimaru if:

1). Your team is full of disablers.
2). The enemy team is full of carries.
3). The enemy team has less or no silencers and disablers.
4). Your team needs a scout.
5). You're Lucky.
6). You're a good farmer.

V. Skills and its Usage

I don't want to copy the statistics of Rikimaru's Skills. If you want to know the statistics about his skills, click here.

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.

Notes:
- Does not silence castable items.

This is your silence skill. This is very useful in making spellcasters shut the fuck up, slowing down enemies and causing physical attacks to miss by chance which is definitely worth it (the miss chance can be countered by MKB). Place your smoke screen carefully behind enemies then, along with your Backstab Ability, attack the enemy to death from behind. Backstabbing enemies while under your smoke screen is better if you have a Diffusal Blade, a Sange and Yasha and an Abyssal Blade to prevent the enemy from escaping your smoke screen area of effect. Here's an example:

VI. Skill Build and Item Build

Skill Build:

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

Explanation: This is my personal skill build for Rikimaru. We need to maximize Blink Strike and Backstab first since these two skills are the key to a better kill than Smoke Screen but just get at least one level of Smoke Screen early game during laning phase then maximize it later. Maximize your ultimate and your stats when you reach level 16 and above.

Starting
Core
Luxury
Optional
Rejected
Final Set

Explanation: These are my personal starting items. You're going to need 2 branches for some stats and to upgrade it into a Magic Wand, 2 Slippers for some extra damage and to convert it into a Poor Man's Shield and lastly, some consumable items to recover from received damage while laning.

VII. Game StrategyBack to Table of Contents

Early Game
Mid Game
Late Game

In Early Game you're not as effective as you look right now since you're a late gamer and you're dangerous late game. Buy your starting items then go to your respective lane. If you're laning, better ask someone from your team to babysit you since you have little lane control whatsoever but when you have a strong laner (Huskar,Vengeful, etc), better participate in their harassments and battles. Since you need a smoke to survive laning phase, better use it in your lane partner's advantages and strategies. Take only top or bottom lane; do not pick the middle lane since you're not a mid solo hero. Farm as many creeps as possible and try to avoid any harassment from the enemy in your lane. If you're having a hard time laning against an enemy, don't be shy to call for a lane switch or gank. Once you reach level 6, laning will be easy for you since you have permament invisibility. When you have half of your core, better scout for some ganks.

I have an example here of a laning phase battle and I'll show you why smoke screen is important to get during laning phase:

VIII. Hero Synergy and CountersBack to Table of Contents

Hero Synergy
Item Counters
Hero Counters

Disablers/Stunners:

They hold down the enemy in place while you start hitting them and send them back to their fountain. They are frenemies. Homies on our side, homo on the other side.

Babysitters: