Shadow Shaman

Shadow Shaman 21 + 1.8 16 + 1.6 21 + 3
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 120 582 1132 1792 2034 +0.25 +2.35 +4.87 +7.87 +8.97 Mana 75 327 831 1335 1539 +0 +1.05 +3.15 +5.25 +6.1 Armor -1 1.67 5.4 10.07 11.73 Magic Resist 25% 27.1% 31.3% 35.5% 37.2% Damage Block - Damage 1 1 22 22 64 64 106 106 123 123 Attack Rate 0.59/s 0.68/s 0.81/s 0.98/s 1.04/s Attack Range U 500 ( ? ) Attack Speed 100 (1.7s BAT) Attack Animation 0.3 + 0.5 Projectile Speed Move Speed 285 ( 315) Turn Rate 0.4 Collision Size 24 Bound Radius 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 ( 800) Gib Type Default Internal Not Provided

Rhasta the Shadow Shaman is a ranged intelligence Hero mostly used as a pusher and disabler, wielding abilities that make pushing lanes more efficient. When his abilities are used in intelligent combos, he has one of the longest disables in game. He is also capable of disabling multiple enemy heroes, allowing him to initiate encounters as well. Though very supportive in nature, until the late game Rhasta is capable of killing lone enemy heroes with the use of his entire skill set; meaning he is more difficult to gank than most other supports. Playing Rhasta well requires good knowledge of target priority and timing; and some minor micromanagement. His peak is mid-game, but he can continue to wreak havoc on enemies all throughout the match.

Bio

Rhasta, the Shadow Shaman

▶️ "I am the intermediary between life and death."

Lore:

Born in the Bleeding Hills, Rhasta was just a starving youngling when picked up by a travelling con-man. For two pins of copper, the old con-man would tell your fortune. For three, he’d castrate your pig, for five, he’d circumcise your sons. For a good meal, he’d don his shaman garb, read from his ancient books, and lay a curse upon your enemies. His strange new youngling, part hill troll, part…something else, worked as assistant and lent an air of the exotic to the con-man’s trade.

Always one step ahead of cheated customers, one town ahead of a pursuing patronage, the two trekked across the blighted lands until one day the con-man realized that the little youngling could actually do what he only pretended at. His ward had a gift—a gift that customers valued. And so the youngling Rhasta was thrust before the crowds, and the trade-name Shadow Shaman was born. The two continued from town to town, conjuring for money as Shadow Shaman’s reputation grew. Eventually, the pair’s duplicitous past caught up with them, and they were ambushed by a mob of swindled ex-clients. The con-man was slain, and for the first time, Rhasta used his powers for darkness, massacring the attackers. He buried his beloved master, and now uses his powers to destroy any who would seek to do him harm.

Voice:

[[Voice actors#|]] (Responses)

Abilities

Ether Shock

▶️QR

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Creates a cone of ethereal energy that strikes multiple enemy units.

Cast Animation: 0.3+1.23

Cast Range: 600

Starting Radius: 200

Max Distance: 500

End Radius: 300

Number of Targets: 1/3/5/7

Damage: 140/200/260/320

 8

 95/105/135/160

Originally used to open shows with the travelling con-man, Rhasta's lightning display shocks adversaries in more ways than one.

• Can hit units up to 1000 range away (200 starting radius + 500 distance + 300 end radius).

• The complete area is shaped like a cone infront of Shadow Shaman.

• Unlike other cone-shaped spells, this one starts traveling at the edge of the starting radius instead from center.

• All strikes together can deal up to 140/600/1300/2240 damage (before reductions).

Hex

▶️WD

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Enemies

Transforms an enemy unit into a harmless creature, disabling their attacks and abilities.

Cast Animation: 0+1.13

Cast Range: 500

Duration: 1.25/2/2.75/3.5

 13

 110/140/170/200

Rhasta often ended performances by turning himself into a chicken - now, the humiliation is shared.

• Applies a Hex on the target, setting its base movement speed to 100, silencing, muting and disarming it.

• Because hex changes base move speed and doesn't actually apply a slow, all speed effects are calculated using the 100 base speed.

• For example:
  • a hexed unit with no speed bonuses has 100 move speed
  • a hexed unit with +10% from Yasha has 110 move speed
  • a hexed unit with +50 from Boots of Speed has 150 move speed
  • a hexed unit with both Boots of Speed and Yasha has 165 move speed

• Hex instantly destroys illusions, but not summoned units.

• Shadow Shaman's hex transforms the target into a chicken.

Shackles

▶️EE

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Magically binds an enemy unit so that it cannot move or attack, while dealing damage over time.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0

Cast Range: 400

Max Channel Time: 2.75/3.5/4.25/5

Damage per Second: 44/52/56/60

 10

 140/150/160/170

A self-defense incantation, Rhasta developed shackles after his master was slain in the Bleeding Hills.

• Shackles completely disables the target as long as it is channeled.

• Provides True Sight over the target until the channeling ends.

• Deals 4.286/5.143/5.581/6 damage in 0.1 second intervals, starting immediatly as the channeling begins, resulting in 28/35/43/50 damage ticks.

• Can deal up to 120/180/240/300 damage (before reductions).

Mass Serpent Ward
150px
Creep
This unit has no health. This unit has no mana. Level ? Duration 45 Armor 0 Attack Range Unknown 600 Attack Speed 1.5 • ?s BAT Attack Animation 0.3+0.4 Collision Size 8 Vision Range (G) 1200 • 800 Experience 31 Notes Unit type: Ward Abilities: Splash damage

Mass Serpent Ward

▶️RW

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Ability
N/A

Affects
Enemies

Summons 10 serpent wards to attack enemy units and structures. The wards are immune to magic, and have a small area of splash damage that increases per level.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0.97

Cast Range: 550

Number of Wards: 10

100% Splash Radius: 50/75/80

40% Splash Radius: 75/100/110

20% Splash Radius: 150/200/220

Duration: 45

 120

 200/350/600

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Increases ward damage.

Snake charming was a big part of the Shadow Shaman's act; now Rhasta can empower the Snakes to do his bidding.

• The wards are always summoned in the same formation.
  • 8 wards are forming a 3x3 square around the targeted point. The center of the square is empty. The square fits in a 90 radius circle.
  • The last 2 wards are placed at the top left and right corner of the square, sticking out to the left and the right of it.
  • All 10 wards are placed with a 22 range distance from each other. Together with their collision size, the gap in-between each ward is 6.
  • This means that any unit trapped within the center of the square cannot move out, unless it is phased.
  • The wards' facing angle is set equal to Shadow Shaman's Facing angle upon cast.

• The serpent wards will automatically attack the closest enemy unit within their attack range.

• It is possible to manually select an attack target for the serpent wards.

• It is also possible to stop them from attacking by ordering them to stop, however this only works when the auto-attack option is turned off.

• Serpent Wards have a lower target priority than other units and heroes, so they are attacked by towers and creeps as last.

• The serpent wards attack damage type is physical, while the splash deals magical damage. Both are sourced to the wards.

• The serpent wards attack damage is not reduced by damage block abilities.

• This is how much damage all 10 wards together deal with their splash in the areas around the attack target (before reductions):
  • 100% splash:400-450/550-600/700-750 (850-900/1050-1100/1250-1300*) damage
  • 40% splash: 160-180/220-240/280-300 (340-360/380-400/500-520*) damage
  • 20% splash: 80-90/110-120/140-150 (170-180/190-200/250-260*) damage

Recommended items

Template:Recommendeditems

Equipment

Shadow Shaman/equipment

Tips

• Shadow Shaman is a very powerful ganker and pusher, who possesses very strong disables and nukes. His spells allow him to disable lone enemies for extended periods of time, making them easy prey for his teammates, or to make short work of creep waves and towers.
• Rhasta can be played as either a support or a core. His farm priority mainly dictates how effective he can be in either role, with small differences in how he is played.
  • As a support, Shadow Shaman should focus on babysitting his team's safe lane carry, and setting up kills with his disables when rotating for ganks. As he has two hard disables, getting close enough to a lone enemy can often ensure a kill if his teammates have enough damage output.
  • In general, if Shadow Shaman is played as a core, he is played as a solo mid where he can get fast levels to make use of his spells early on. A mid Shadow Shaman should focus on maxing out Ether Shock to farm and harass, and attempt to get kills on the enemy mid once he is level 6.
• Rhasta's spells have a very high mana cost, but he also has very strong disable and nuking potential in his abilities. Focus on building intelligence items that increase the size of his mana pool and give him mana regeneration to fuel his costly spells, and mobility items to give him strong initiating power.
• Ether Shock is a powerful damage nuke that must be unit targeted, hitting nearby enemy units according to its level.
  • Ether Shock is very inefficient at level 1, only hitting a single target, so it is most profitably cast only when it is level 3 or higher. Depending on how Shadow Shaman is played, it should either be maxed first for the nuke damage, or ignored altogether in favor of maxing out his disables.
  • The high damage and low cooldown on Ether Shock allows Shadow Shaman to make quick work of creep waves and neutral camps. Given a steady source of mana regen, Shadow Shaman can flash-farm with the spell while simultaneously pushing or counter-pushing lanes.
• Hex disables the target enemy instantly, inflicting a silence and mute while drastically cutting down their movement speed.
  • Hex is a potent disable since it will instantly hard-disable its target and eliminates their ability to cast spells or use items. In general at least one early level should be taken, but other levels may be forgone in favor of other abilities depending on the build.
  • Hex should always be the spell that Shadow Shaman uses to initiate a gank, as its instant cast time prevents the target from reacting. Following disables can be targeted on the enemy at leisure in order to secure a kill.
  • Unlike other hex-type abilities, Shadow Shaman's Hex reduces the target's base movement speed down to 100, rather than 140. This makes the enemy slightly easier to hit with unreliable targeted spells, reducing the chances of the target dodging abilities.
• Shackles is a powerful channeled disable that can stun its target for up to 5 seconds.
  • As with Hex, at least one early level of Shackles should be taken to maximize Shadow Shaman's disable potential.
  • While Shackles has a lower cast range than Hex and requires channeling, it also stuns its target for the duration of the channel, preventing it from moving. The longer disable duration also allows teammates to otherwise utilize powerful follow-up disables and nukes, such as Stasis Trap and Ghostship, which might otherwise be dodged.
  • Priority between Hex and Shackles should depend on team composition, however Shackles is generally the better disable to max out first as its mana cost scales better. If your teammates have reliable damage output, holding the target in place for up to 5 seconds can allow them to deal large amounts of damage. However, keep in mind that unlike Hex, Shackles can be interrupted by silencing or stunning Shadow Shaman, so it is not as useful if there is a nearby enemy who can interrupt you.
  • When possible, try to take advantage of Shackles' extremely short cooldown. If it is cast as an initiating disable, its channeling time will allow half of its cooldown duration to pass, and a follow-up Hex can hard-disable the target for an additional 3.5 seconds, leaving the enemy free for only 1.5 seconds before Shackles comes off cooldown.
  • Remember that Shackles deals damage over time on top of the stun duration. As such, it can add a measure of damage to a gank that Hex cannot.
  • Because it is a channeled spell, shift-queuing other disables during Shackles can allow them to be instantly cast once the channel duration ends. This can be useful for denying the enemy any openings in disable duration to take advantage of.
• Mass Serpent Ward summons ten snake wards that deal piercing damage to their targets.
  • Serpent wards can make short work of incoming creep waves and deal tremendous amounts of damage to enemy towers over their long duration. Placing the wards on top of a tower that is being pushed can make quick work of it so long as the enemy is unable to attack and destroy them.
  • Rhasta's Mass Serpent Wards can be commanded. Beginners often neglect to control them, but even if Rhasta is dead he can have a big impact on a fight with intelligent use of his wards.
  • Beware that while Mass Serpent Wards can deal large amounts of damage, they are also very easy to destroy with attacks, so be careful about when and where they are placed. Enemies that can isolate the wards can make quick work of them, wasting the spell and feeding gold to the enemy team.
  • One of the most important features of Mass Serpent Ward is the box figure they are placed in. This allows Shadow Shaman to place the wards right on top of an enemy hero, trapping them in place if they do not have any mobility spells or items to displace themselves.
  • In a pinch, Mass Serpent Wards can be used to defend against pushes. Their striking power allows them to quickly kill creeps that are trying to approach the tower, and discourage the enemy from pushing.
  • The splash damage dealt by Mass Serpent Wards is registered as magical damage. Against clumped up enemies, it can be beneficial to try to hit adjacent targets in order to deal magical splash damage to the primary target, as direct serpent ward attacks deal minimal damage to heroes with lots of armor.
• Depending on his farm priority, Shadow Shaman can build many items useful to himself and his team.
  • Urn of Shadows can be useful on a ganking Shadow Shaman over a Bracer. It gives him the same amount of strength, making him less squishy, and the mana regen helps to maintain his mana pool. As he is a very strong ganker, Shadow Shaman can roam and get charges easily, using them for additional Pure damage in later ganks or to keep himself and his teammates at full HP for more pushing potential.
  • Ghost Scepter is useful to purchase on squishy casters like Shadow Shaman. Giving himself invulnerability to physical damage can buy time if the enemy attempts to focus down Shadow Shaman with physical attacks, allowing him to retaliate with his disables and nukes.
  • Glimmer Cape is a strong utility item that benefits Shadow Shaman in many aspects. It can be used to help with initiation by allowing Rhasta to approach enemies invisibly, and allows him to protect teammates that are caught out of position by casting invisibility on them. The invisibility also allows Shadow Shaman to protect himself while channeling Shackles on an enemy, reducing the chances of being disabled by unit-targeted spells.
  • Blink Dagger should be considered a core item on Shadow Shaman, no matter what role he is played in. Blink Dagger allows Shadow Shaman to instantly jump on top of a gank target and disable them with Hex, preventing them from reacting during ganks. It should be rushed as quickly as possible as a core, and given priority to obtain as a support.
  • Force Staff is an inferior but potent substitute for Blink Dagger. The extra intelligence gives Shadow Shaman more mana, and the active can be used on enemies and allies, not just on Shadow Shaman himself. Purchased as a supplement to Blink Dagger, it can also be used to break Linken's Sphere on a particularly slippery enemy player, or on Roshan prior to casting other disables.
  • Medallion of Courage is a very useful item, as Mass Serpent Wards deal physical damage. Placing the armor debuff on an enemy after boxing them in with the wards will make short work out of almost any hero. As well, the active can be used on teammates to give them more armor, or on Roshan to make taking the Aegis easier. It can also be upgraded into a Solar Crest to augment its bonuses even more.
  • Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a powerful item on Shadow Shaman. The item itself grants Shadow Shaman more mobility, rectifying his poor base movement speed, and gives him more intelligence as well as powerful scaling mana regen to fuel his costly and spammable spells. Most importantly, however, the active can be used to instantly disable an enemy from range and then place Mass Serpent Wards on top of them, easily boxing them in.
  • Rod of Atos is a good utility item to purchase. It gives Shadow Shaman more intelligence, allowing him to cast spells more often, and the additional HP makes him less squishy. The long range on the active also allows Shadow Shaman to slow enemies from a great distance, adding yet another disable to his repertoire.
  • Scythe of Vyse is a very powerful late-game item to purchase. On top of the extra stats, much larger mana pool, and scaling mana regen, the instant Hex can serve as a complement to Rhasta's innate spell, giving him the ability to hard-disable a single target for up to 12 seconds.
  • Octarine Core gives Shadow Shaman many strong benefits. It gives him more HP and mana, and reduces the cooldowns on all of his abilities, making him a much bigger threat with his spammable nukes and disables. The spell lifesteal allows him to maintain his HP through Shackles and Ether Shock, particularly the latter which can deal tremendous amounts of magical damage to grouped enemies.

Trivia

• The name Rhasta is based on the Rastafarians, a follower of a religious movement in Jamaica known as Rastafari. In DotA, his hero model and dialogue had a strong Jamaican influence and style. But in Dota 2, his theme and style has undertaken a more Native American influence, mostly evident in his attire and accent.
• Rhasta is also a Persian name and word that means "truth" or "path".

Update history

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Balance changelog

Template:Update History

See also

• Shadow Shaman responses
• Shadow Shaman sounds

References

Voiced by Gary Schwartz Lich (Responses) Shadow Shaman (Responses) Sniper (Responses) Pugna (Responses) Heavy (Team Fortress 2) Demoman (Team Fortress 2) IMDB Wikipedia

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