Wraith King
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| Hero | Strategy | Counters | Equipment | Gear | Responses | Sounds | Lore | Old Abilities | Changelogs |
Wraith King
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Ostarion, the Wraith King, is a melee strength hero, as well as a carry and tank, capable of both dealing and taking plenty of damage. His infamous Reincarnation allows the Wraith King to rise again after death, acting like an Aegis of the Immortal, making him especially difficult to kill. But if left alive, the Wraith King can wreak havoc upon his enemies; his Wraithfire Blast provides reliable damage and a stun on a short cooldown, Vampiric Aura grants his team sizeable lifesteal, and Mortal Strike helps make short work of foes.
Contents
Bio[edit]
 Ostarion, the Wraith King
| |
| Play "Purer than flesh, stronger than bone, imperishable is the essence of the wraith." | |
| Role: |  Carry /  Support /  Durable /  Disabler /  Initiator
|
| Lore: | For untold years, King Ostarion built a kingdom from the remains of his enemies. It was an obsessive's errand, done to pass the long eternities of a monarchy that seemed fated never to end. He believed that as long as he built up the towers of his palace, he could not die. But eventually he learned that he had been deluded... that bone itself could perish. Deeply mistrustful of flesh, he sought a more permanent way of extending his reign, and at last settled on pursuit of wraith energy, a form of pure spirit given off by certain dark souls at death. Should he infuse himself with Wraith Essence, he thought he might create a body as luminous and eternal as his ego. On the millennial solstice known as Wraith-Night, he submitted to a rite of transformation, compelling his subjects to harvest enough souls to fuel his ambition for immortality. No one knows how many of his champions died, for the only survivor who mattered was the Wraith King who rose with the sun on the following morn. Now he rarely spends a moment on his glowing throne--but strides out with sword drawn, demanding a fealty that extends far beyond death. |
| Voice: | Dave Fennoy (Responses) |
Abilities[edit]
Wraithfire Blast
Wraith King sears an enemy unit with spectral fire, dealing damage and stunning, then dealing damage over time and slowing the target.
Cast Animation: 0.35+0.5
Cast Range: 525
Base Damage: 50/100/150/200
Damage over Time: 20/35/50/65 (
70/85/100/115)
70/85/100/115)Move Speed Slow: 20%
Stun Duration: 2
Slow & Damage over Time Duration: 2
8
140
Slow persists and attempts to damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.The Wraithfire Blasts from Reincarnation with the talent do not target spell immune units.
Blocked upon impact. The blasts from Reincarnation are blocked as well.Modifiers
Hellfire Blast: Dispellable with any dispel. Stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.Ostarion calls on his damned lineage, laying waste to his opponents.
Notes:
- Wraithfire Blast travels at a speed of 1000 and can be disjointed.
- The stun and slow are applied at the same time, so overall, the slow lasts for 4 seconds.
- Deals the base damage instantly upon hitting, and the damage over time in 1 second intervals, starting immediately after the stun.
- Can deal up to 90/170/250/330 ( 190/270/350/430) damage (before reductions).
- When the level 25 talent is chosen, Wraithfire Blast gets cast on all units within 900 radius around Wraith King whenever
Reincarnation triggers.
- These blasts travel at a speed of 500, and can be disjointed like a regular cast.
- They deal full damage damage and stun like a regular cast.
- When Wraithfire Blast is not learned, Reincarnation still slows when the talent is chosen. Once learned, the blasts fully replace the slow.
- The blasts can target units inside the fog of war and invisible units. However, invisible targets instantly disjoint it.
Vampiric Aura
W
V
Radius: 900
Lifesteal: 15%/20%/25%/30% ( 25%/30%/35%/40%)
25%/30%/35%/40%) 0 Illusions always spawn with the aura toggled off, so they always bestow it for nearby creeps.Modifiers
Vampiric Aura Buff: Undispellable.Wraith King's blade drains his enemy's essence to feed his aura.
Notes:
- Can be toggled on to make it only affect heroes. Treats creep-heroes as heroes.
- The toggling of Vampiric Aura is not registered as a spell cast and thus does not proc any on-cast effects.
- The lifesteal is not a Unique Attack Modifier, so it stacks additively with all other sources of lifesteal.
- The aura's buff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- Affects invulnerable, but not hidden allies.
- The lifesteal particle effects do not appear when Wraith King is not visible to the enemy.
Mortal Strike
Ability
Passive
Passive
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Wraith King passively gains a chance to deal bonus damage on an attack.
Proc Chance: 15%
Hero Critical Damage: 150%/200%/250%/300%
Non-Hero Critical Damage: 200%/300%/400%/500%
Red critical numbers are before illusion and armor reduction.One blow to crush a foe.
Notes:
- Increases attack damage by an average of 7.5%/15%/22.5%/30% against heroes and 15%/30%/45%/60% against creeps.
- Treats creep-heroes as creeps.
- The proc chances of multiple crit sources stack.
- If two sources of critical strike proc at the same time, the higher multiplier has priority.
- Unlike other critical strikes, this one also works against wards.
- Mortal Strike uses pseudo-random distribution.
- The sound and particles play upon start of the attack, not when the attack lands.
Wraith King's form regroups after death, allowing him to resurrect when killed in battle. Upon death, enemy units in a 900 radius will be slowed.
Slow/Wraithfire Blast Radius: 900
Effect Delay: 3
Move Speed Slow: 75%
Attack Speed Slow: 75
Slow Duration: 5
Wraith Delay Radius: 0 (
1200)
1200)Wraith Delay Duration: 0 ( 7)
7) 240/ 160 ( 0)
If a nearby allied hero is slain, they will be transformed into a wraith and have their death delayed for 7 seconds.
The slow does not affect spell immune enemies. Slow persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Wraith Delay aura affects spell immune allies.
Modifiers
Reincarnation: Undispellable. Reincarnation Scepter: Undispellable. Reincarnation Scepter Active: Undispellable. Reincarnate Slow: Dispellable with any dispel.Conspirators against the Wraith King wonder why he never stays dead.
Notes:
- Reincarnation cannot be prevented in any way as long as Wraith King has enough mana and the ability is off cooldown.
- Provides 1800/800 ground vision at the death location during its delay.
- If Wraith King has an
Aegis of the Immortal, Reincarnation triggers first, considering it is off cooldown and Wraith King has sufficient mana.
- The slow is applied only once at the beginning of the revival, not at the end.
- The
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade adds an aura to the ability. The aura's buff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- The aura affects allied heroes exclusively including Wraith King himself. It does not affect illusions or creep-heroes.
- Wraith Delay does not affect invulnerable or hidden heroes, so they die without getting into Wraith form when killed.
- An ally enters Wraith form when their health reaches 1, unless they are affected by
Shallow Grave or have Reincarnation or Aegis of the Immortal ready.
- Units in Wraith form are kept alive by having their minimum health set to 1. Damage taken is technically not reduced.
- When an ally suicides with
Bloodstone, it does not enter Wraith form. However, an ally in Wraith form cannot suicide with it. - When
Meepo or one of his clones gets killed outside of the aura's range while 1 of them is within range, he does not enter Wraith form either. - However, when a Meepo clone dies within the aura's range, that Meepo enters Wraith form, delaying the death.
- Multiple Meepos can be in Wraith form at the same time. When the one who entered it first expires, or another Meepo gets killed outside the aura's range, Meepo dies.
- An allied
Tempest Double can enter Wraith form as well, if its health reaches 1 before it expires. - A Tempest Double does not enter Wraith form if its duration timer reaches 0. It simply vanishes, regardless of being affected by the Wraith Delay aura or not.
- A Tempest Double, that has already entered Wraith form, still vanishes when its duration timer reaches 0. Its duration is not extended.
- Wraith Delay grants the affected heroes unobstructed movement, allowing them to move through units and trees and over cliffs.
- Allies in Wraith form can act freely like regular heroes, but are also still affected by everything like a regular hero, except that they cannot die during it by any means.
- This means they can still be attacked and targeted by spells regularly, making it possible to disable them.
- It also means that, upon entering Wraith form, all buffs and debuffs affecting the hero persist through it. They are not dispelled.
- When the Wraith duration ends, the hero dies. The kill is credited to whoever put the hero in Wraith form.
- Once in Wraith form, the hero cannot be saved by any means. It will die once the duration is over, even while invulnerable or under the effect of e.g. Shallow Grave.
- If the hero gains reincarnation during Wraith form, it still triggers regularly and reincarnates the hero.
- Wraith form causes the hero's model size to increase by 25% for its duration. This has no impact on its collision size.
- The Wraith Delay aura is bestowed to nearby allies even while Wraith King is dead.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
Reincarnation Casts  Wraithfire Blast
|
25 | No Reincarnation Mana Cost
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+10%  Vampiric Aura Lifesteal
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20 | +40 Attack Speed |
| +50 Wraithfire Blast DPS
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15 | +15 Movement Speed |
+10  Intelligence
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10 | +15 Damage |
Notes:
- The attack damage is added as bonus attack damage, and therefore does not benefit illusions.
- Upgrading health increases maximum health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
-
Healing Salve and 
Tango help Wraith King sustain his health against lane harassment. -
Clarity gives more opportunities to set up kills early on with Wraithfire Blast. -
Iron Branches give enough mana pool to cast Wraithfire Blast two times at level 1. -
Quelling Blade is an excellent starting item for him as it allows to get last hits easier. It also makes Mortal Strike hit harder against creeps which makes you clean camps and creep waves faster. Increases the effectiveness of Vampiric Aura when attacking creeps. It can be used to cut trees and move faster from one camp to another while farming the jungle.
Early-game items:
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Magic Stick can sometimes be the difference between a death and a kill. Its active usually grants enough mana to sustain Reincarnation. It also combos with 
Armlet of Mordiggian toggle, as one can deactivate, use magic stick, and reactivate buying enough time for it to provide the 500 bonus hp. -
Boots of Speed provide an excellent boost of speed for any hero.
Mid-game items:
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Magic Wand provides the same kind of benefit as the Magic Stick does, but it also provides a small amount of attributes. It makes great use of the earlier bought branches, making room for new items. -
Power Treads provides attack speed which is one of Wraith King's main needs. Attribute switching also make his limited mana pool go much further if the treads are switched to intelligence before casting a spell. Due to Mortal Strike and his already high base damage it is better to leave treads in agility form to achieve maximum dps. One can use strength if tanking is essential or if last hitting is difficult. -
Armlet of Mordiggian is a very cost efficient item which provides lots of damage at cost of health degen. However, Vampiric Aura easily negates the health drain effect, making it core item. -
Blink Dagger solves another Wraith King's deficiency: mobility. It negates countering through kiting, helps with positioning, as well as moving across the maps quicker, thus increasing farm speed. Another possible trick is to instantly blink away after using Reincarnation, as Reincarnation delay and Dagger cooldown are both 3 seconds.
Late-game items:
-
Desolator causes Wraith King's physical attacks to hit harder, especially against targets with already low armor as well as towers. With one or two lucky 
Mortal Strikes, Wraith King can quickly kill squishy carries and low-armor supports in the stun duration of Wraithfire Blast. Besides, it synergizes well with 
Assault Cuirass from the aspect of armor reduction; Vampiric Aura benefits greatly as the aura heals based on dealt damage after armor reduction. -
Mjollnir increases attack speed and damage output. The item should be considered if Wraith King is counter picked by illusions, damage-over-time and slows, as the Chain Lightning and Static Shield are more likely to trigger against them. The item also accelerates his farm speed. -
Assault Cuirass is a must-buy item most of the times for Wraith King in late game senarios. It increases his damage output by increasing the attack speed of his team and reducing enemies' armor, and single-handedly settles Wraith King's armor problem most of the time. The Assault Aura lasts longer thanks to Wraith King's high durability. -
Abyssal Blade allows Wraith King to stun an enemy for a total of 4 seconds on top of Wraithfire Blast. Meanwhile, the item gives him an edge in close combat due to the bash component. Though the HP bonus as well as damage block is at least moderately decent, the item is bought most of the time for its lock-down viability. -
Monkey King Bar increases attack damage, counters enemies with evasion abilities or items, and gives a chance to interrupt channeling spells when Wraithfire Blast is not an option. -
Black King Bar is a very situational item against certain scenarios:
- Against heavy mana burn in mid-game, as it prevents Reincarnation from activating. Beware that the talent in level 25 allows Wraith King to reincarnate with no mana cost.
- Being heavily kited/chain controlled even after buying
Blink Dagger. 
Black King Bar allows Wraith King to dish out damage without the fear of being controlled. Nevertheless, Wraith King needs to position himself well and prevent himself from being kited even with Magic Immunity.
- Against heavy mana burn in mid-game, as it prevents
-
Moon Shard can be consumed, granting him more attack speed and allowing him an effectively higher chance to proc Mortal Strike. He will also be able to see further during the night. -
Divine Rapier is very special item for Wraith King because it's not dropping if Reincarnation activates upon death, thus making it less likely for him to lose it. When carrying the Aegis of the Immortal, Wraith King has to die at least 3 times (at least 4, if 
Refresher Orb is used) to lose the Rapier. The great damage boost also increases his endurance by improving his lifesteal aura's returns.
Situational items:
-
Shadow Blade provides decent attack damage and attack speed boost. Shadow Walk is an alternative initiate item apart from Blink Dagger. It allows Wraith King to solo pick-off single enemies as well as initiate on long attack range heroes during team fight. However, the initiation advantage diminishes when pushing towers and walking around sentries. -
Silver Edge reduces the cooldown of using Shadow Walk by 4 seconds and adds a break effect as well as damage reduction effect upon attacking an enemy while Shadow Walking. -
Radiance adds a burn effect on Wraith King which constantly deals damage and a miss effect to nearby enemies. The effect of the item lasts longer on Wraith King because of Reincarnation and his high durability. The item also helps him farm faster and clears out creep waves. -
Blade Mail provides decent armor and damage boost. If Wraith King is the primary target of the enemy, the active damage return strongly discourages enemies from focusing him and helps Wraith King with damage output. -
Shiva's Guard offers immense survivability against physical damage as it provides extra armor and aura attack speed reduction. The active Arctic Blast helps slows enemies as well as dealing damage. This item is suitable if Wraith King is the main tank but not the main damage dealer in the team, and synergizes with 
Radiance due to the miss effect from Burn. -
Butterfly gives Wraith King evasion, damage, and immense attack speed boost; the active Flutter allows Wraith King to chase enemy easier. The item is usually considered as the alternative of Assault Cuirass, as it trades aura and armor for evasion and attack speed. Note that Wraith King is a Strength hero and doesn't benefit from the agility boost that much compared with agility heroes. -
Heart of Tarrasque gives Wraith King a great health, health regeneration and attack damage boost, making him even harder to kill and harder to ignore. It also provides enough HP regeneration to compensate the health drain from Armlet of Mordiggian, making these two a rather healthy combination on him. -
Heaven's Halberd gives Wraith King some evasion against enemies which rely on their physical attacks, and lets him cut off an enemy carry from their primary source of damage for a while. -
Refresher Orb is highly situational, as it allows to potentially use Reincarnation twice in a fight allowing him to deal damage for longer periods of time. -
Mask of Madness gives massive attack and movement speed, both of which Wraith King needs. The decreased armor debuff is a trade-off at little cost thanks to Reincarnation. However, the lifesteal part doesn't help Wraith King viably due to Vampiric Aura already being present. -
Aghanim's Scepter enables Wraith King to elongate his teammate's lives and allow them to unleash powerful ultimates or dish out damage without fear of being focused down at first. While the item provides overall decent stats, it doesn't provide much damage output for Wraith King and should be considered situational. -
Octarine Core reduces Reincarnation's cooldown to 30 seconds and Wraithfire Blast's to 6 seconds. The spell lifesteal properly benefits Wraith King if he went for Radiance. The intelligence boost is mostly to prevent him from lacking the mana to activate Reincarnation (unless the level 25 talent of no Reincarnation mana cost was taken) and makes Wraithfire Blast fairly more lethal, especially if the level 15 talent of increased Wraithfire Blast DPS was taken.
Gameplay[edit]
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Prior to December 13th of 2013,
Ostarion, the Wraith King was known as 
Ostarion, the Skeleton King.
- On December 10th of 2013, Skeleton King was removed from the game for "pressing ceremonial reasons". After the Wraith Night event, he returned as the Wraith King.
- His model was completely reworked from the previous skeleton model to the current model. His color theme was changed from red to green and all his icons were changed accordingly.
- He also got a new voice set, by the same voice actor who also voiced Skeleton King previously. Skeleton King's responses can be found here.
- In DotA1, Wraith King's (who is still known as the Skeleton King in DotA1) name is Leoric. This is a reference to the Skeleton King of Diablo who is also named Leoric. In the transition to Dota 2, his name was changed to Ostarion to avoid copyright issues.
- Copyright issues may also be a reason to why Skeleton King was remodeled and re-titled into Wraith King. Another likely factor for the remodeling was to solve many cosmetic item conflicts with the low-violence model which was made for the Perfect World client. A low-violence model was required for Skeleton King due to strict policies in China against the usage of skeletons in video games.
- Wraith King's responses for buying Armlet of Mordiggian Play "I NOW HAVE ALL THE SEXY", buying a
Divine Rapier Play "Oh, Rapier. NOW YOUR KING IS BALLING OUT OF CONTROL!" and his battle begin line Play "I'LL HELP MY WEAK AND PUNY ALLIES WHERE I CAN." are a reference to a popular DotA hero guide called "CAPS LOCK LEORIC". - In several responses, he refers to himself as the "Once and Future King", which is also a title for the legendary King Arthur.
- One of Wraith King's lines is "We'll lead as three kings" when he activates an
Illusion Rune. This line has close reference to the song "City Hall" by Tenacious D with the line "We'll lead as two kings".
Gallery[edit]
Splash artwork
Concept art
Low Violence model of Skeleton King
Splash artwork including Skeleton King
Icons and bio of the Skeleton King. For the responses, see here.
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
