Vengeful Spirit

Vengeful Spirit
Movement speed	300
Turn rate	0.6
Vision range	1800/800
Attack range	400
Projectile speed	1500
Attack animation	0.33+0.64
Base attack time	1.7
Magic resistance	25%
Collision size	24
Legs	2

Hero

Strategy

Counters

Equipment

Gear

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Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Shendelzare, the Vengeful Spirit, is a ranged agility hero who excels at ganking, disabling, and kill hunts. She is one of the most well-rounded supports in the game, possessing a skill set that allows her to set up kills for her team during ganks and teamfights, strengthening her team and weakening the enemy in large-scale engagements, and saving allies from certain death if they are caught by the enemy.

Effective at all stages of the game, Vengeful Spirit is typically seen roaming the battlefield, searching for targets to prey on. She possesses a strong targeted stun in Magic Missile and an armor reduction debuff in Wave of Terror, making her a strong partner in a gank. Motivated by her lust for revenge, Vengeance Aura boosts the attack damage of all nearby allies, making Shendel an invaluable ally to teams with strong physical damage output and turning her into a potential semi-carry. If Shendelzare dies, her death will not be in vain, as her killer will be afflicted with a debuff that reduces their attack damage as well as their allies', ensuring that her presence is felt even after being killed. Her ultimate Nether Swap immediately swaps Vengeful Spirit's position with another hero, ally or enemy, allowing her to displace a key enemy hero for easy elimination, or save an ally in distress at the potential cost of her own life. Vengeful Spirit's skill set and low reliance on farm allows her to be played with great recklessness, as even her death can be integral towards guiding her team to victory. Shendelzare requires very selfless and skilled play to operate well, and relies on the competence of teammates as much as herself.

Bio[edit]

Shendelzare, the Vengeful Spirit
Play "The road of revenge is long, but what awaits me at the end makes it worthwhile."
Role:	Support / Initiator / Disabler / Nuker / Escape
Lore:	Even the most contented Skywrath is an ill-tempered creature, naturally inclined to seek revenge for the slightest insult. But Vengeful Spirit is the essence of vengeance. Once a proud and savage Skywrath scion, Shendelzare was first in succession for the Ghastly Eyrie until a sister's treachery robbed her of her birthright. Snared in an assassin's net, Shendelzare tore free only at the cost of her wings, limping away in the ultimate humiliation: On foot. With her wings broken, she knew the Skywrath would never accept her as ruler; and in the highest roost of the Eyrie, inaccessible except by winged flight, her sister was untouchable. Unwilling to live as a flightless cripple, and desiring revenge far more than earthly power, the fallen princess drove a bargain with the goddess Scree'auk: She surrendered her broken body for an imperishable form of spirit energy, driven by vengeance, capable of doing great damage in the material plane. She may spend eternity flightless, but she will have her revenge.
Voice:	Gin Hammond (Responses)

Abilities[edit]

Magic Missile

Play

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Fires a magic missile at an enemy unit, stunning and dealing damage.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 500

Damage: 100/175/250/325 (

200/275/350/425)

Stun Duration: 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8

13/12/11/10

110/120/130/140

Cannot target or affect spell immune units.
(

Can target and affect spell immune units.)

Blocked upon impact.

Modifiers

Stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.

A simple Skywrath technique, the magic missile is Shendel's primary tool for vengeance.

Notes:

The projectile travels at a speed of 1250.

Magic Missile can be disjointed.

Wave of Terror

Play

Ability
Target Point

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Vengeful Spirit lets loose a wicked cry, weakening the armor of enemies and giving vision of the path ahead.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 1400

Wave Travel Distance: 1400

Effect Radius: 300

Damage: 45/70/95/120

Armor Reduction: 3/4/5/6

Duration: 15

22/20/18/16

40

Modifiers

Wave of Teror: Dispellable with any dispel.

Shendel's haunting voice hints at her approaching vindication.

Notes:

The wave travels at a speed of 2000, taking 0.7 seconds to travel the full distance.

Can hit units up to 1700 range away (travel distance + radius).

The wave provides 500 radius flying vision as it travels, which lasts for 3 seconds.
- This vision starts 100 range away from Vengeful Spirit and reaches for up to 2000 range away (starting distance + travel distance + vision radius).

The debuff from successive casts does not stack, only the duration gets refreshed.

The wave blocks neutral creep camps.

Vengeance Aura

Ability
Aura

Affects
Allies / Enemies

Vengeful Spirit's presence increases the physical damage of nearby friendly units. If Vengeful Spirit is slain, her killer will be possessed with a negative Vengeance Aura, reducing the damage of her killer and its nearby allies until Vengeful Spirit revives.

Radius: 900

Attack Damage Bonus: 10%/18%/26%/34% (

30%/38%/46%/54%)

Death Attack Damage Reduction: 10%/18%/26%/34% (

30%/38%/46%/54%)

Illusions carry the positive aura, but cannot make use of the bonus damage. Illusions cannot inflict enemies with the negative aura. Illusions do not carry the negative aura.

Modifiers

Command Aura Effect: Undispellable.

Command Negative Aura: Undispellable.

Command Negative Aura Effect: Undispellable.

Although they may not share her undying passion for revenge, allies do draw on her fanaticism in combat.

Notes:

Only increases base damage and that given by the primary attribute of affected units. Raw bonus damage is not increased.

The same goes for the negative aura. Only decreases base damage and that given by the primary attribute.

The aura's buff and the negative aura's debuff linger for 0.5 seconds.

When Vengeful Spirit dies to an enemy player, the player's hero will be afflicted with the negative Vengeance Aura.

Despite the visual effect, when dying to enemy illusions or summons, the hero owning them gets the aura instead.

Dying to non-player-controlled units gives no one the negative aura.

Allies denying Vengeful Spirit do not get the negative aura.

The positive and negative auras affect invulnerable units.

Nether Swap

Play

Ability
Target Unit
(

Passive)

Affects
Heroes
(

Units)

Instantaneously swaps positions with a target Hero, friend or enemy. Nether Swap interrupts channeling abilities on the target.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 700/950/1200

Number of Illusions on Death: 0 (

1)

Illusion Damage Dealt: 0 (

50%)

Illusion Damage Taken: 0 (

150%)

45 (

10)

100/150/200

Decreases cooldown, allows swapping of non-hero units and causes Vengeful Spirit to spawn a Vengeance Illusion when she dies. Vengeance illusion lasts until she revives and is able to use all of your abilities (but not items).

Break prevents the Vengeance illusion from spawning.

Illusions of Vengeful Spirit do not spawn a Vengeance illusion on their deaths.

Martyrdom is a small price to pay for vengeance.

Notes:

Interrupts channeling spells on the target, enemies and allies alike.

If Vengeful Spirit swaps a unit onto an impassable ledge, that unit gains free pathing for 5 seconds.

Destroys trees within 300 radius around Vengeful Spirit and the Nether Swap target.

Can be cast on illusions and Spirit Bear.

Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Nether Swap cannot be cast on ancient creeps.

The Vengeance illusion which spawns on death when upgraded is bound to Nether Swap, meaning if it is not learned at least once, no illusion spawns.
- The illusion spawns 108 range away from Vengeful Spirit's death location. It appears either north, east, south or west from that spot.
- The illusion always spawns with full mana and health and all abilities off cooldown, regardless of their status on Vengeful Spirit.
- The illusion does not get a set duration upon spawning. It will disappear once Vengeful Spirit respawns. It also spawns even when having Aegis of the Immortal.
- Since it is an illusion, it is affected by any ability which instantly kills illusions, like hex.
- The created illusion is visually distinguishable from the real Vengeful Spirit for the enemies.
- Unlike most other illusions, the illusion created upon death has no bounty.

Talents[edit]

Hero Talents
Magic Missile Pierces Spell Immunity	25	+20% Vengeance Aura Damage
+35 Movement Speed	20	+65 Damage
+100 Magic Missile Damage	15	+8 All Stats
+25 Attack Speed	10	+8% Magic Resistance

Notes:

The magic resistance stacks multiplicatively with other sources of magic resistance.

The attack damage is added as bonus attack damage, and therefore does not benefit illusions.

Recommended items[edit]

Starting items:

Healing Salve and Tango help Vengeful Spirit sustain during the laning phase, preventing her from returning to base due to enemy harassment.
Clarity is crucial for replenishing Vengeful Spirit's mana from casting Magic Missile during early ganks, as her small base mana pool means that she will run completely out after one or two casts.
Circlet is a cheap way to improve Vengeful Spirit's attributes, particularly her HP and mana, both of which are lacking in the early game. It can be used either to build a Ring of Aquila or Magic Wand later.
Animal Courier is an important item for support heroes to purchase at the start of the match. Shendel's low reliance on items makes her a good candidate for purchasing it.

Early game:

Magic Stick is a useful pickup when in a lane against heroes who have low mana cost spells, and are harassing you with those. The burst HP and mana regen allows Vengeful Spirit to survive slightly longer and cast at least one more spell in an engagement, which can make or break a fight.
Boots of Speed are essential early on for Vengeful Spirit, as the improved speed will allow her to escape deadly situations, as well as quickly get within range to stun them with Magic Missile
Ring of Aquila gives Vengeful Spirit many strong bonuses. It provides all-around attributes, particularly to her agility, and the increased armor makes her more survivable against physical damage. The Aquila Aura provides even more armor, and its flat mana regen is very helpful in the early game when Vengeful Spirit's intelligence is low. The aura can provide allies with more armor, and can be useful for pushing lanes to take map objectives after securing kills. Later on, Ring of Aquila can be disassembled to recycle its components.

Core items:

Magic Wand is a useful pick up for the same reasons as the Magic Stick. Its attribute bonuses are very useful on low-farm supports, and the increased charge storage allows Vengeful Spirit to instantly replenish a large fraction of her HP and mana, enough to stay in a fight long enough to make a greater difference.
Power Treads increase Vengeful Spirit's attack speed, which synergizes well with Vengeance Aura, greatly increasing her physical damage output. The ability to switch attributes allows her to either give herself more HP for survivability, more mana for casting her powerful spells, or more damage and attack speed for damage output.
Medallion of Courage synergizes well with Wave of Terror, combining to reduce a target enemy's armor by 13 at its highest level; cast on an ally, it can help keep them alive for longer in fights. The bonuses on Vengeful Spirit herself give her increased armor for survivability against physical damage, and scaling mana regen that helps to maintain her mana pool.
Observer Ward are crucial for purchasing regularly as a support hero. Map vision provides intelligence about enemy movements, and is particularly useful for Vengeful Spirit given her ability to roam and get kills on lone enemies.
Town Portal Scroll are essential for cross-map transportation. Shendel's powerful abilities make her a crucial ally to have in any engagement, whether it's to save an ally who is being ganked, or to get to a gank opportunity to kill an enemy.

Situational items:

Aghanim's Scepter greatly reduces the cooldown on Nether Swap, allowing Vengeful Spirit to use it repeatedly in engagements, and gives her access to the Vengeance Illusion sub-ability. With a reduced cooldown, Vengeful Spirit can swap enemies repeatedly, preventing them from easily escaping so long as she is nearby, and the Vengeance Illusion spawning upon her death allows her to continue to contribute to fights even after death. The item itself also greatly improves her HP and mana, making her more resilient and improving her mana pool to reduce the strain that repeated casting of her ultimate will induce.
Force Staff is a cheap support item that is very useful on Vengeful Spirit. It can be used to re-position her in order to cast her abilities particularly Magic Missile and Nether Swap. It can also be used to escape from failed fights or ganks as well as save nearby allies, or push enemies into your grasp. It also improves her mana pool, allowing her to cast her spells more often in fights.
Blink Dagger is extremely strong in the hands of Vengeful Spirit. While it cannot be used to trap enemies on impassable terrain with Nether Swap, it greatly increases her mobility and lets her quickly get in position to stun an enemy or swap a key target. It also greatly improves her roaming potential as she can traverse over cliffs and trees while hunting for targets.
Desolator is a powerful semi-carry item that boosts Vengeful Spirit's damage output. Combining the attack modifier with Wave of Terror and Medallion of Courage can reduce a target's armor by up to 19, which can be enough to bring down even the tankiest heroes.
Butterfly is an expensive but strong luxury item for a semi-carry build. The item drastically increases Shendel's physical damage output, particularly when combined with Vengeance Aura and Wave of Terror, and provides evasion to make her harder to focus down in engagements. Its active can temporarily boost her movement speed, increasing her ability to roam the battlefield and chase down enemies.
Manta Style increases Vengeful Spirit's semi-carry potential further. It improves her overall attributes, particularly her agility, and improves her movement speed for better mobility. The active allows her to remove debuffs from herself while also creating illusions to confuse the enemy; as well, the illusions can carry Vengeance Aura to benefit her team even while she herself is not within range, and can even be used to provide allies with the positive aura after Shendel's death, meaning that both the positive and negative auras can be simultaneously active.
Heart of Tarrasque will massively increase Vengeful Spirit's survivability, granting her a much larger HP pool and the ability to quickly regenerate between fights. This survivability gives Vengeful Spirit a much higher chance of survival when swapping herself into a group of enemy heroes, and forces them to expend more time and spells in order to bring her down.
Drum of Endurance gives Vengeful Spirit all-around attributes for a cheap price, and the aura provides increased movement and attack speed for both herself and nearby allies. The increased mobility, especially with the active, allows Vengeful Spirit and her team to quickly chase down enemies during ganks, or escape from pursuers.
Flying Courier is as essential as Animal Courier, and should be purchased at the earliest opportunity. Vengeful Spirit's low reliance on items means that she can purchase it for her team more easily than can most of her teammates.
Solar Crest is a strong upgrade to Medallion of Courage that further augments the bonuses it brings to the field. The increased armor shift allows Vengeful Spirit to make an even bigger dent in the enemy's armor, or provide even more protection to a target ally in combination with the bonus evasion. The additional mana regen also helps to better sustain her mana pool for casting spells.
Glimmer Cape is a strong utility item on any support hero. Vengeful Spirit can use it in conjunction with Nether Swap to help ensure that an endangered ally survives, and cast on herself can improve her ganking ability as she can approach targets invisibly before disabling them with Magic Missile.
Soul Ring is a cheap mana item that improves Vengeful Spirit's ability to roam independently. It gives her HP and mana regen, allowing her to sustain her HP and mana more easily without going back to base. The active allows her to draw on her HP pool for immediate mana, useful for getting the mana she needs to cast Magic Missile and Nether Swap.
Urn of Shadows is a useful roaming item that gives Vengeful Spirit many powerful benefits. The bonus strength and mana regen give her more HP and help to maintain her mana pool. Charges can be easily obtained through successful ganks, and the charges can be used to heal herself or allies, synergizing with Nether Swap in keeping teammates alive, or can be used to add additional Pure damage in a gank, increasing the odds of success.
Tranquil Boots are a powerful alternative option for a roaming Vengeful Spirit. The increased movement speed allows her to roam more effectively, chasing down enemies more quickly to stun them, while the armor helps her to survive more easily after a successful Nether Swap. The passive HP regen can replenish any HP lost during an engagement, allowing Vengeful Spirit to be ready for another gank shortly afterward.
Arcane Boots is a good support item that helps Vengeful Spirit and any roaming partners to cast their spells. Increasing the size of Shendel's mana pool reduces the strain of casting Magic Missile and Nether Swap, and the active can allow her to replenish her own mana pool and that of teammates, whether they need their spells to function in teamfights or to kill gank targets.
Vladmir's Offering is a utility item that increases Vengeful Spirit's teamfight presence. The aura's damage bonus stacks additively with Vengeance Aura further increasing the physical damage output of nearby teammates. Other components of aura also are very good in general.
Aether Lens greatly improves the utility of all of Shendel's spells. It increases the size of her meager mana pool, allowing her to cast her spells more easily, and provides mana regen for improved sustainability. Boosting the cast range on all of her spells allows her to stun enemies with Magic Missile from farther away, and debuff more enemies with Wave of Terror. But most importantly, it increases the cast range of Nether Swap, allowing her to displace enemies from extremely long distances.
Eul's Scepter of Divinity can be a cheap utility item that serves multiple purposes, both in teamfights and ganks. The intelligence and mana regen bonuses will solve all of Vengeful Spirit's casting problems, and its movement speed boost allows her to position herself for casting spells or chasing down enemies more easily. The active can be used to temporarily disable secondary enemy targets while her team focuses down the primary target, or can be cast on herself to provide temporary invulnerability after a successful Nether Swap while also purging debuffs.
Assault Cuirass is a very strong semi-carry item that drastically boosts Vengeful Spirit's damage output. The increased armor will make her extremely resilient against physical damage, while the attack speed bonus allows her and nearby allies to further capitalize on Vengeance Aura's bonus damage. The enemy armor reduction can further reduce their resistance to physical damage alongside Wave of Terror.
Scythe of Vyse is a powerful ganking item that can help to secure guaranteed kills. While expensive, Scythe of Vyse provides an instant hard-disable that can be combined with Magic Missile to pin down gank targets reliably. The increased intelligence and mana regen also solve all of Vengeful Spirit's mana issues.

Gameplay[edit]

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio[edit]

Responses

Sounds

History[edit]

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Magic Missile is the first offensive spell available for arcane spellcaster classes in the famed RPG series, Dungeons & Dragons.
Previous designs of Vengeful Spirit showed her with a mask that looked similar to her Vengeance Aura ability icon.
Vengeful Spirit's fun name, "820", is a tribute to former professional DotA player 820.
In DotA1, she was the sister of Mortred, the Phantom Assassin, and her name was Shendelzare Silkwood. In Dota 2, her lore was changed so that she became affiliated with the Skywrath, thus switching her affiliations to Dragonus, the Skywrath Mage.
In the transition to Dota 2, her aura's name was changed from Command Aura to Vengeance Aura.