Sniper

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Animations

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Sniper Sniper #34 19 + 2 27 + 3.2 15 + 2.6
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 120 538 1154 1858 2122 +0.25 +2.15 +4.95 +8.15 +9.35 Mana 75 255 687 1143 1323 +0 +0.75 +2.57 +4.47 +5.22 Armor -1 3.5 10.97 18.3 21.3 Magic Resist 25% 26.5% 30.14% 33.94% 35.44% Damage Block - Damage 13 19 40 46 84 90 128 134 146 152 Attack Rate 0.59/s 0.75/s 1.01/s 1.27/s 1.38/s Attack Range 550 (950) Attack Speed ▶️ 100 (1.7s BAT) Attack Animation 0.17 + 0.7 Projectile Speed 3000 Move Speed ▶️ 285 ( 315) Turn Rate 0.7 Collision Size 27 Bound Radius 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 ( 1400) Gib Type Default Internal npc_dota_hero_sniper

Picks off his enemies from afar.
With a single bullet, Kardel Sharpeye pierced the steep-stalker's central eye from the valley floor, an ominous act that resulted in his ritual exile. He would win acclaim on a field of battle, or never return. Like his mountain kin, the Sniper is one with his firearm. He Takes Aim from great distances, and scores Headshots that stop his targets dead. Armed with a modular rifle, Kardel launches incendiary rounds to rain burning Shrapnel or throwing a Grenade knocking back his enemies over entrenched positions. No enemy is safe within the range of the Sniper's scope. As he pauses to line up his cross-hairs, compensating for every variable before he Assassinates his mark in one fatal shot.
Shrapnel Take Aim Headshot Concussive Grenade Concussive Grenade Assassinate Assassinate
Roles:	Carry Nuker
Complexity:
Adjectives:	Bearded, Cape, Red, Nose Legs ( 2 )

Bio

Kardel Sharpeye, the Sniper

▶️ "Now that's what I call stopping power."

Lore:

Kardel Sharpeye was born deep in the mountains of Knollen where, since time immemorial, Keen Folk have survived by hunting the strange, cliff-dwelling steepstalkers above their village, shooting them from a distance and collecting the carcasses where they fell. Sharpeye was among the best of these strange mountain keens for whom projectile weapons are but another appendage, and to shoot is as natural as to touch.

On his day of summoning, when he was to gain full standing in his village, Sharpeye took the ancient test: a single shot from the valley floor to strike a beast down from the cliffs. To miss was to be dishonored. With his entire village standing vigil, Sharpeye took his shot. A steepstalker fell; the crowd cheered. But when the carcass was collected, the village grew silent, for the elders found that the bullet had pierced its glittering central eye then fallen to be clenched in the steepstalker's mandibles. This ominous sign was the literal opening of a dark prophecy, foretelling both greatness and exile for the gunman who made such a shot. Sharpeye the Sniper was thus, by his own skill, condemned to make his way apart from his people—and unwelcome back among them until he has fulfilled the remainder of the prophecy by attaining legendary stature on a field of battle.

Voice:

Gary Schwartz (Responses)

Abilities

Shrapnel

▶️QR

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Consumes a charge to launch a ball of shrapnel that showers the target area in explosive pellets. Enemies are subject to damage and slowed movement. Reveals the targeted area. Shrapnel charges restore every 35 seconds.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0

Cast Range: 1800

Effect Radius: 400/425/450/475

Effect Delay: 1.2

Damage per Second: 25/40/55/70 (  50/65/80/95)

Move Speed Slow: 12%/18%/24%/30% (  27%/33%/39%/45%)

Shrapnel Duration: 10

Aura Linger Duration: 0.5

 35

N

 3 (  9)

 0

 75

Modifiers [?]

modifier_sniper_shrapnel_thinker

Undispellable

modifier_sniper_shrapnel_slow

Death

Kardel's modular rifle also fires incendiary rounds, useful for assaulting entrenched locations.

• Sniper gets all 3 charges immediately upon learning Shrapnel.
  • TALENT
    Acquiring the charges increasing talent immediately grants 6 charges.

• Shrapnel starts dealing damage, applying its movement speed slow and providing vision after the effect delay.

• Provides 450 radius flying vision at the targeted area.

• The damage and the slow are both provided by an aura and its debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
  • Multiple overlapping instances of the aura do not stack.

• Deals damage in 1-second intervals, starting immediately as the debuff is placed, resulting in up to 11 possible damage instances.
  • Can deal up to 275/440/605/770 ( 550/715/880/1045) damage to a single unit (before reductions).

• Does not affect buildings.

• Leveling up Shrapnel immediately updates all already existing Shrapnel instances. However, the already placed debuffs on enemies do not update.

• TALENT
  • The slow increasing talent immediately updates all already existing Shrapnel instances as well. However, the already placed debuffs on enemies do not update either.
  • The damage increasing talent immediately updates all already existing Shrapnel instances as well, including already placed debuffs on enemies.
• SPELL STEAL
  Grants all 3 charges upon initially acquiring ability. Subsequent ability acquisition only grants the remaining charges.

Headshot

WD

Ability
Passive

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

Sniper increases his accuracy, giving him a chance to deal extra damage and briefly knocks back his enemies. Headshots briefly slow enemy movement and attack speed by -100%.

Proc Chance: 40%

Damage: 20/50/80/110 (  50/80/110/140)

Move Speed Slow: 100%

Attack Speed Slow: 100

Knockback Distance: 10 (  35)

Slow Duration: 0.5

Knockback Duration: 0.1

Debuff Immunity Notes:

The forced movement is instantly canceled.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_sniper_headshot

Undispellable

modifier_sniper_headshot_slow

Any

modifier_knockback

Strong

Taking potshots at steepstalkers in his childhood has been thoroughly refined into perfect leads on enemy combatants.

• Headshot can miss.

• The proccing attack first applies the debuffs, then its own damage.

• The damage is considered as a conditional attack damage bonus.
  • Although the attack damage bonus values are not displayed in the HUD, it is still considered and directly added to Sniper's attack damage.
  • The attack damage bonus values are not considered by critical strike or cleave.
  • However, it is considered by lifesteal, and it can be reduced only by flat reductions (e.g. damage block).
  • Since it is considered bonus attack damage, it is not affected by percentage-based attack damage bonuses or reductions.

• Adds an average of 8/20/32/44 ( 20/32/44/56) damage to each attack.

• Sets the proc chance to 100% while Take Aim is active.
  • During Take Aim, it increases his attack damage output by 20/50/80/110 ( 50/80/110/140).
  • If is not leveled, or if the caster does not have Headshot, it is not applied.

• Cannot proc against wards and buildings, but can proc against allies.

• Upon proccing, Headshot knocks back the target, away from Sniper.
  • The knockback does not interrupt channeling abilities.
  • The knockback is not applied on units who are already affected by other sources of forced movement.
  • Knocks units back at a speed of 100 ( 350).
  • Destroys trees within 100 radius enemies come in contact with during the knockback.

• Headshot uses pseudo-random distribution.

Take Aim

▶️EE

Ability
No Target / Passive

Affects
Self

Extends the attack range of Sniper's rifle. Can be activated to provide 100% Headshot chance and an additional 200 attack range. Slows you by 45%/40%/35%/30% for the duration.

Passive Component

Attack Range Bonus: 130/220/310/400

Cast Animation:  0+0

Active Attack Range Bonus: 200

Self Move Speed Slow: 45%/40%/35%/30%

Set Headshot Proc Chance: 100%

Active Duration: 3 (  4)

 20/18/16/14

 50

Modifiers [?]

modifier_sniper_take_aim

Undispellable

modifier_sniper_take_aim_bonus

Any

Kardel always takes it upon himself to stay as far from harm as he can while still performing his role - taking perfect aim.

• Interrupts Sniper's channeling abilities upon cast.

• Increases Sniper's total attack range to 680/770/860/950 ( 780/870/960/1050).
  • Grants attack range bonus based on the caster's attack range type.
  • While active, Take Aim increases Sniper's total attack range to 880/970/1060/1150 ( 980/1070/1160/1250).

Concussive Grenade

▶️▶️▶️DC

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Self / Enemies

Damage
Magical

Launches a grenade at the target area, dealing damage to enemies and knocking them and Sniper himself back. Enemies affected have their movement slowed after the knockback.

Cast Animation: 0.1+0.8

Cast Range: 600

Radius: 375

Damage: 200

Knockback Distance: 475

Knockback Duration: 0.4

Move Speed Slow: 50%

Debuff Duration: 3

 10

 50

Debuff Immunity Notes:

The forced movement is instantly canceled.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_knockback

Any

modifier_projectile_vision

Undispellable

modifier_sniper_concussive_grenade_slow

Any

modifier_knockback

Strong

Ability Draft Notes:

Requires drafting Assassinate to be unlocked.

• Requires Aghanim's Shard to be unlocked.

• The grenade travels at a speed of 2500 until reaching the targeted point.
  • The projectile has 200 radius flying vision. This vision does not last.

• Knocks Sniper and enemies within the radius away from the targeted point at a speed of 1187.5 upon cast.
  • The knockback distance is always 475, no matter how far the unit is from the center.
  • Also knocks Sniper and the affected enemies 100 range upwards, resulting in a small arc.
  • Can push units over impassable terrain. Destroys trees any unit comes in contact with during the knockback.

• Affected enemies are fully disabled during the knockback.
  • Although Sniper is affected by the knockback, he is not disabled.

• Although not mentioned in the tooltip, enemies are also disarmed, on top of being slowed.

• Concussive Grenade first applies the debuff, then the knockback, then the damage.

• Concussive Grenade cancels most position-changing effects.
• Affects units that are currently being affected by horizontal forced movement.
  • Does not affect units that are currently being affected by upward movement.
  • The 3 notes above also apply to the caster.

• Does not affect Roshan.

Assassinate

▶️▶️▶️RT

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical / Instant Attack

Sniper locks onto a target enemy unit and, after a short aiming duration, fires a devastating shot that deals Sniper's attack damage plus bonus damage at long range and mini-stuns the target. Whenever Sniper kills an enemy hero, Assassinate is refreshed.

Passive Component

Cooldown Skip per Kill: 100%

Cast Animation: 2+1.37 (  0.5+2.87)

Cast Range: 3000

Cast Range Buffer: 600

Base Damage: 300/400/500

Stun Duration: 0.033 (  0.8/1/1.2)

Vision Buff Max Duration: 4

 20/15/10

 175

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Causes Assassinate to fire quicker and stun the enemy target.

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

New Ability

Grants the Concussive Grenade ability.

Debuff Immunity Notes:

True Sight and shared vision pierce debuff immunity.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked upon impact, therefore, vision and True Sight are still granted.

Ability Disjoint Notes:

Cannot be disjointed with invisibility without True Sight immunity.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_sniper_assassinate

Death

modifier_stunned

Strong

In order to fulfill the prophecy and return to his home town, Kardel must make another shot as perfect as the one on the day of his ancient test.

Visual indicator above the target.

• The projectile travels at a speed of 2500.

• Assassinate first applies the spell damage, the instant attack, then the debuff.

• Although the stun duration is set to 0.01 seconds, it lasts 0.033 seconds due to the server tick rate limit.

• Assassinate places a debuff on the target as soon as Sniper begins casting.
  • The debuff lasts 4 seconds, or until the projectile lands, or the cast gets canceled.
  • Grants shared vision with the targeted unit. Does not provide any vision when targeting neutral creeps.
  • Also, it grants True Sight over the target, meaning it cannot be canceled or be disjointed with invisibility without True Sight immunity.
  • The debuff is visible to everyone. The crosshair above the target is visible to allies only.

• Can directly target invulnerable units, and does not get canceled if the target turns invulnerable during the cast time.
  • The vision debuff is not placed when targeting an invulnerable unit but stays if the unit turns invulnerable during the cast time.
  • The projectile does not affect the target if it is still invulnerable on impact.

• Cannot target hidden units and gets canceled when the target turns hidden.

• Assassinate has an increased cast range buffer of 600, instead of using the default 250.
  • This means once the cast animation begins, the target has to move at least 3600 range away from Sniper to be considered out of range.

• The initial weapon loading sound during the cast time is audible to Sniper only.

• The instant attack can proc any attack modifiers and on-hit effects. It has True Strike, but completely ignore disarms.
  • Works with both lifesteal and spell lifesteal sources.

• Resets the current cooldown of Assassinate as long as the kill credit is given to Sniper, regardless of how the kill was made, this includes the following kill conditions:
  • Killing the hero with Reincarnation.
  • Killing an ally hero.
  • Self denying with lethal self-damage sources (e.g. Life Drain etc.).

• Only resets Assassinate's cooldown and does not reset any other abilities.

• SCEPTER
  Acquiring Aghanim's Scepter immediately updates all current projectiles.
• SPELL STEAL
  This ability's and its Ability Upgrade's cast point is not modified when acquired.
• SOULBIND
  Fires a projectile at the primary target after the cast animation, then another projectile is fired instantly on the secondary target.

Talents

Hero Talents
+6 Shrapnel Charges	25	+100 Attack Range
+25 Shrapnel DPS	20	+25 Headshot Knockback Distance
-15% Shrapnel Movement Slow	15	+30 Attack Speed
+30 Headshot Damage	10	+1s Take Aim Duration

Recent Changes

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore

Version

Description

7.34c

• Increased Take Aim passive attack range bonus from 100/200/300/400 to 130/220/310/400.
• Increased Assassinate base damage from 250/350/450 to 300/400/500.

7.34

• Assassinate
  • CHANGED
    damage from a fixed 320/510/700 to 250/350/450 + 1 * InstantAttackDamage.
  • Reduced mana cost from 175/225/275 to 175 on each level.
  • ADDED
    new passive component.
    • Resets the ability's current cooldown whenever Sniper is credited for the hero kill.

7.33d

• Increased Shrapnel radius from 400 on each level to 400/425/450/475.

Recommended Items

Starting items:

• Iron Branch improves Sniper's early stats, and can be built into a Magic Wand later on.
• Slippers of Agility helps with Sniper's naturally low base damage, allowing him to last hit better.
• Faerie Fire helps Sniper score last hits.
• Tango helps Sniper stay in lane.
• Healing Salve not only rejuvenates Sniper, using it at the last second can save also save him from a gank.

Early game:

• Magic Wand is useful in emergencies and gives Sniper some much-needed survivability.
• Wraith Band boosts Sniper's early stats, keeping him viable in his vulnerable early game stage.
• Wind Lace is usually picked up by supports but can be useful on Sniper to help offset his low mobility.
• Infused Raindrops helps Sniper resist harassment and gankers.
• Power Treads gives Sniper the ability to switch between strength for survivability, agility for damage, and even intelligence for extra mana to use a clutch Assassinate.
• Phase Boots is an alternative to compensate for a slow moving Sniper. They offer decent armor and damage, whereas phasing helps keep up in chases, escape, or quickly reposition yourself for an advantage.

Mid game:

• Dragon Lance increases Sniper's attack range to a maximum of 1190, allowing him to shoot down opponents before they can close the gap.
• Mask of Madness greatly increases Sniper's attack speed and provides a moderate boost to his movement speed. The lifesteal is good for farming and can save Sniper in a head-to-head fight, while Silence doesn't hurt him so much. Can later be disassembled to build Satanic.
• Maelstrom is excellent against groups of enemies, or heroes with numerous summoned units like Phantom Lancer. It is also a great farming item, since Sniper's Shrapnel charges can take quite a while to replenish. Combined with more attack speed items, the lightning damage will trigger continuously, and can later be upgraded to Mjollnir.

Late game:

• Hurricane Pike, upgraded from Dragon Lance, provides additional means of escape and/or positioning. Absolutely crucial on Sniper, since he has no escape abilities.
• Daedalus gives Sniper massive damage in the late game, and lets him tear through enemies in just a few shots.
• Desolator greatly improves Sniper's damage, and its debuff can be safely applied from long range on multiple enemies.
• Aghanim's Scepter will allow Sniper to fire Assassinate faster and to disable it's target for longer time.
• Aghanim's Shard will give Sniper access to Concussive Grenade, which will allow him to damage and disarm enemies while also knocking both, them and himself away from each other, giving Sniper a much needed escape mechanism.

Situational items:

• Shadow Blade is often picked up by beginners, as it gives Sniper a much-needed escape mechanism, as well as enabling him to position himself in team engagements. It also gives a damage boost to Sniper's first attack when cloaked.
• Blink Dagger patches up Sniper's low mobility and lets him position and keep away from opponents more effectively; it can be upgraded to Swift Blink to also improve his damage output.
• Silver Edge is a decent upgrade to Shadow Blade, and can be useful on more offense-oriented Snipers. Can be useful to break annoying enemy passives.
• Eye of Skadi sacrifices damage for a great boost to Sniper's survivability, as well as adding a slow debuff that helps keep enemies within Sniper's range.
• Mjollnir is a natural progression from Maelstrom, but is sometimes skipped in favor of other direct damage boosting items.
• Monkey King Bar grants a great increase in damage, and is usually necessary to deal with evasion. However, it provides no defensive boosts and can be quite expensive.
• Butterfly is a costly but useful item if Sniper is struggling against physical carries. The attack speed and damage boosts Sniper's combat capabilities a lot, while the evasion and armor give him considerably more survivability against opposing carries.
• Satanic gives a massive boost to survivability, and adds to his damage.
• Revenant's Brooch lets Sniper target ethereal enemies when toggled on, giving him an answer to enemy Ghost Scepters and Ethereal Blades.
• Sange and Yasha boosts survivability with bonuses to strength and status resistance. It also provides more movement speed to help in chasing or kiting enemies.
• Khanda improves Sniper's damage output with Critical Strike and makes Assassinate much more damaging, allowing him to finish off enemies more reliably or whittle down enemies from long range.

Dota Plus Progress

Main Article: Hero Challenges

Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.

Relics	Voice Lines
Kills During Shrapnel Three Hero Shrapnels Kills During Headshot Assassination Kills Hurricane Pike Target Damage Physical Damage Damage From Invisibility Long Range Kills Maelstrom Chain Lighting Damage Triple Kills Mega Kill Streaks Towers Destroyed Kill Assists Kills	Bronze	▶️ Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee! ▶️ Target practice, payin' off!
	Silver	▶️ What the---? ▶️ Say goodbye to your head!
	Gold	▶️ Dance! Ha ha ha ha! Dance! ▶️ Why am I smiling? This is what trigger-happy looks like.
	Platinum	▶️ What a dum-dum!
	Master	▶️ Ho ho ha ha!
	Grandmaster	▶️ He shoots, he scores!

Equipment

Sniper Equipment (expand sets) Sets Blacksail Cannoneer Blacksail Cannoneer Exact Marksman Exact Marksman Expired Gun Expired Gun Gear of the Tally-Ho Hunter Set Gear of the Tally-Ho Hunter Set Ghillied Gunman Ghillied Gunman Gunslinger Set Gunslinger Set Haunted Hunter Haunted Hunter Hinterland Stalker Hinterland Stalker Keen Machine Keen Machine Longbeard Dwarf Engineer Longbeard Dwarf Engineer Occultist's Pursuit Occultist's Pursuit Seasoned Expeditionary Seasoned Expeditionary Shooting Star Shooting Star Spirit of the Howling Wolf Set Spirit of the Howling Wolf Set Tales of the Ardalan Interdictor Tales of the Ardalan Interdictor The Dwarf Engineer The Dwarf Engineer The Hare Hunt Set The Hare Hunt Set The Sharpshooter Set The Sharpshooter Set The Silver Fox The Silver Fox Wild West Wild West Witch Hunt Witch Hunt Weapon Dragon's Breath Dragon's Breath Grampa Sharpie's Shin Shooter Grampa Sharpie's Shin Shooter Instagib OSP Instagib OSP Muh Keen Gun Muh Keen Gun Shatterhand Carbine Shatterhand Carbine The Feeder-Eater The Feeder-Eater Wolfhound Rifle Wolfhound Rifle Head Hobbly-Bob Hobbly-Bob Spottin' Goggles Spottin' Goggles Back Full-Bore Bonanza Full-Bore Bonanza Golden Full-Bore Bonanza Golden Full-Bore Bonanza Gramma Sharpie's Smokin' Rug Gramma Sharpie's Smokin' Rug Hobbly Cape Hobbly Cape Taunt Taunt: Quick Draw! Taunt: Quick Draw! Kinetic Gems Kinetic: Muh Keen Gun Kinetic: Muh Keen Gun

Trivia

• A number of Sniper's lines are either direct quotations or paraphrases of lines used by the Sniper class in Team Fortress 2, a popular class-based shooter also by Valve. Such phrases include:
  • ▶️ Thanks for standing still, wanker!
  • ▶️ Let's have a go at it!
  • ▶️ Jarate!
  • ▶️ Professionals have standards.
  • ▶️ I'm polite and efficient.
  • ▶️ As long as there are two heroes left on the battlefield, someone is gonna want someone dead.

• When Rune Storing, ▶️ "Jarate!", which is a reference to Team Fortress 2 in-game weapon for Sniper class, Jarate.

• While casting Assassinate ▶️ "Boom headshot!", which is a reference to the Pure Pwnage mockumentary series.

• Incidentally, his voice actor, Gary Schwartz, also voices the Heavy Weapons Guy and Demoman in Team Fortress 2.

• ▶️ "Inconceivable!" is likely a reference to Vizzini's catchphrase in the film The Princess Bride due to the similarities in both the appearance and voices of the two.

• Sniper's name, Kardel Sharpeye, is a reference to professional Counter-Strike player Kyle "Ksharp" Miller of team 3D, who is regarded for his skillful AWP (Sniper rifle) use.
  • Sniper's ultimate, ▶️ Assassinate, also uses the same, though slightly modified gunshot ▶️ sound as Counter-Strike's AWP.

• Sniper's fun name in DotA was Vasily Zaitsev, a highly skilled Russian sniper who was active during World War 2.

• ▶️ "What a dum-dum!" is a pun on the expanding bullet, also known as a dum-dum. It is designed to expand on impact in order to limit penetration and create a wound larger in diameter.

• ▶️ "Oh, a few bullets more!" is a reference to the film For a Few Dollars More.

Gallery

Concept art

Old model and icons

Hero icon progress

Concept art

Ability icon progress