Sand Wraith Strategy Guide [Tradius]

[Tradius]

Hey guys. You've probably read my rampage guide already, so I'll just throw another guide into the mix.

Well, as the title shows, this will be a guide on Sand Wraith (aka. Spectre). Though the recent nerf on Sand Wraith's deserted ability has made him a less popular hero, which no longer deals true damage but magic damage, he is still a great hero in becoming one of the most capable carry heroes in the game.

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.:: Sand Wraith ::.

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Now, before we get into more depth with this hero, here are a few facts that you should know about him straight off the bat.

What is his role?
Hard Carry

Squishy?
Not so much

What is his main stat?
Agility

Everybody knows what a carry is, correct? If you don't, today is your lucky day. A carry is a hero that is supported by his/her team in early game, but ends up carrying his/her team in late game. In some cases, when the game should have ended a while ago, your team may end up depending on the carry hero on your team to play the main role in winning the game.

In order to become an efficient carry hero, you must farm farm farm creep kills during early and mid game as much as possible. During late game, you begin to blossom as a capable carry hero and become that tiebreaker that your team needs to win the game. Some players feel that carrying is boring, since it involves diligent farming most of the game; where other players have a different perspective, thinking that playing a carry hero is entertaining since you are given the star role on your team.

So, what does this have to do with Sand Wraith again?

Everything. Sand Wraith is one of those carry heroes that require lots of farming early to mid game. Even among carry heroes, he requires a ridiculous amount of farm to actually contribute to your team, where is if he does, he can easily wipe the floor in any team battle.

Now, let's begin this guide.

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.:: Skill Build ::.

1. Desert's Curse
2. Dissipation
3. Desert's Curse
4. Dissipation
5. Desert's Curse
6. Mirage
7. Desert's Curse
8. Dissipation
9. Deserted
10. Dissipation
11. Mirage
12. Deserted
13. Deserted
14. Deserted
15. Stats
16. Haunt
17 - 25: Stats

Getting Dissipation early rather than Deserted has actually proven to increase your survivability as well as ensure that you get a better farm. Because you are dealt reduced damage and that you reflect that damage right back at your enemies, you will become less likely to be killed. Deserted is only useful when you are fighting with another hero alone, which should not be happening early game when your sole purpose if to farm your lane.

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.:: Item Build ::.

- Initial Items -
Lodger's Hatchet
Health Potion
Runes of Blight
3x Minor Totems

- Core Items -
Helm of Black Legion (survivability)
Mock of Brilliance

- Lategame Core Items -
Frostburn or Geometer's Bang
Wingbow

- Other Possible Core Items -
Shield Breaker
Nullfire Blade

- Luxury Items -
Savage Mace
Symbol of Rage
Riftshards
Behemoth's Heart

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Alrighty, we'll start with laning as first to cover. When choosing lanes, either go top or bottom (self-explanatory). Also, try to be paired with a good babysit or support hero to help you gain control of your lane. Your goal as carry and as sand wraith is to get those last hits in while you are not in threat of your enemies. That is why laning with a hero who has good babysitting or support potential can help you by either harassing them back or preventing you from dying.

Because of your carrying capabilities, when you are laned with an opposing team that has either heavy dps or double stuns/slows, you will want to be play passive and always stay on the safe side. When the opposing lane plays aggressive, it should be obvious, as they always seize any opportunity they have to set something up on you. This may include constant lane harassment, enemy heroes hiding for an ambush, or just staying too close to you. If you are being heavily harassed, you could always use your Desert's Curse ability to deal damage to the enemy while you also ninja a few creep kills, though you should always have enough spare mana to use it again in a case of emergency (such as pathwalking through trees or cliffs to safety).

Because your sole purpose is to farm early game, you must concentrate on only that. Do not waste valuable time roaming around with other players and setting up ganks. Use your time efficiently and make sure that you are capable of carrying your team when the time comes for you to shine.

Once you reach level 6, your usefulness opens up. One of Sand Wraith's strongest features is that he can continue farming while a gank or team fight is being set up; then he can use his ultimate and manifest in to clean things up for his team. This way, he does not lose any time for senseless roaming and being just as efficient by helping his teammates. This is also important, however, that you do not spam your ultimate whenever it is up, or draining yourself of all your mana so that you cannot use mirage when in need.

Now, I may have touched this subject before, but I will clarify it once again. Your Desert's Curse ability is an amazing ability, allowing Sand Wraith to gank effectively as well as escaping unwanted scenarios. Whenever you notice that you may be in a bad place, you can use Desert's Curse on an enemy and turn the other way and run through the trees or cliffs so that the enemy cannot get you. This is also why you should always have a teleport scroll on you at all times, in case you get in a sticky situation and become stuck. Now, the third component to Desert's Curse is that you don't have to only hit one person each time you cast it. When you cast it, you can either select an enemy to ensure that the Desert's Curse hits him, or you can send the Desert's Curse in a specific direction, whereas the heroes that get caught in the Desert's Curse will be damaged and slowed, including creeps.

More so, Sand Wraith's deserted and dissipation abilities are outstanding for his survivability and damage. His Deserted ability is a passive one that allows Sand Wraith to deal additional magic damage to his regular attack if the enemy being attacked has no other heroes around him to help. This is why if you meet with an enemy Sand Wraith in the forest by yourself, it is just best to turn around and run. Deserted adds damage to those who are alone and can easily overpower any enemy early game. His Dissipation ability is also a passive one that allows Sand Wraith to reflect a % of damage back at all enemies in a radius of 1000. This just contributes to Sand Wraith's survivability early and late game, as well as being able to deal damage back to all enemies.

Once you purchase your Helm of Black Legion, you should be a far less squishy hero. Great, now farm more. To be honest, even after you purchase your Helm of Black Legion, you are still potentially useless in most cases. Only until you purchase your Mock of Brilliance (or even Sword of the High), is when you can really begin to shift the outcomes of team battles. At this point, it should be around 35 minutes in, assuming that you have had a constant farm going on as well as 200 gold per minute.

As your domination just begins, you should be able to move more freely after you have received your Mock. This means that you can gank and roam around, but do not forget that you are still a carry hero. Whenever you see that a lane needs to be pushed, harvest those creeps kills and push it back. Whenever you find that you have nothing to do except walk around, give the neutral creeps a visit. As you grow to become stronger and stronger, with your Frostburn (or Geometer's Bang) along with your Wingbow, you will become a monster. At that point, you should take advantage of your wondrous farm and how well your team has carried you throughout the game, by pushing towers.

Though you are strong, you should never overexert yourself. I have seen too many carry players think that they are absolutely invincible, running into a 1vs5 situation and being pounded into a sand castle. Remember that you are only powerful when you have your team backing you up. That is why you should never initiate into a battle by yourself unless you are sure that you can take them.

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Alright, that looks like it pretty much sums up Sand Wraith.
If you would like more guides from me, stay tuned for more!

Credit: Tradius
Submission: 2/17/10