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 Spirit grants himself sizeable lifesteal and passively helps make short work of foes, while its active allows for quick pushing.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Abilities[edit]

The Wraithfire Blasts from Reincarnation with the talent do not target spell immune units.
Notes:
- Wraithfire Blast travels at a speed of 1000.
- The stun and slow are applied at the same time, so overall, the slow lasts for 3.1/3.4/3.7/4 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 90/140/190/240 damage (before reductions).
- The blast first applies the damage, then the debuffs.
- Casting Wraithfire Blast orders all of Wraith King Skeletons to attack that target.
- With the level 25
talent, Wraithfire Blast gets cast on enemies within the 900 effect radius upon triggering Reincarnation.
- Only targets enemy heroes, including clones, but excluding illusions and creep-heroes.
- These blasts deal full damage and stun like a regular cast, but travel at a slower speed of 500.
- 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 enemies inside the fog of war and invisible units. However, invisible targets instantly disjoint them.
Wraith King Skeleton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Summon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lifesteal on the skeletons is only disabled when applying Break on Wraith King, not on the skeleton itself.
Notes:
- Stacks additively with other sources of lifesteal.
- A skeleton charge is gained for every 2 units killed by Wraith King. It does not matter how the units are killed.
- For each charge, 1 skeletons are spawned, resulting in 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 (
6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14) at 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 charges.
- The skeletons spawn in 0.25 second intervals, starting immediately upon cast.
- This results in a total spawn time of 0 / 0.25 / 0.5 / 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 (
2 / 2.25 / 2.5 / 2.75 / 3 / 3.25) seconds.
- For each charge, 1 skeletons are spawned, resulting in 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 (
- The skeletons spawn at a random spot within a 300 radius of Wraith King.
- The skeletons cannot be controlled. They automatically choose an attack target within approximately 6500 range.
- If no unit is within that range, they move to the closest lane and walk it down like lane creeps.
- If their current attack target turns invisible, the skeletons may stop and do nothing. After a while, they select a new target or return to the lanes.
- All skeletons within approximately 2000 radius around Wraith King switch to whoever Wraith King casts Wraithfire Blast on.
- The skeletons do not block neutral creep camps.
- Once killed, skeletons reincarnate. This reincarnation cannot be prevented.
- Just like with hero reincarnation, killing the skeletons grants no gold or experience when they reincarnate.
- Reincarnating does not reset the skeleton's duration. This means they do not reincarnate when expiring either.
Passive
Enemies



Wraith Delay aura affects spell immune allies.
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 on enemy heroes (including clones, excluding illusions and creep-heroes) upon triggering Reincarnation.
- With the level 25
talent, Wraithfire Blast gets cast on enemies within the 900 effect radius upon triggering Reincarnation.
- See Wraithfire Blast notes above.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Reincarnation provides an aura. The aura's buff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- The aura only affects allied heroes (including clones and illusions, excluding creep-heroes), including Wraith King himself.
- The aura does not affect invulnerable or hidden heroes.
- The aura is bestowed to nearby allies even while Wraith King is dead.
- Wraith Delay triggers when the hero's health reaches 1, unless they are affected by Shallow Grave, Battle Trance, or have Reincarnation.
- Units in Wraith form are kept alive by having their minimum health set to 1. Damage taken is technically not reduced.
- Works for clones as well.
- Wraith Delay does not trigger in the following scenarios:
- The hero is an illusion (although the aura places the buff on them, it does not work for them).
- The hero dies by ability expiring ( Tempest Double), or is force-killed ( Divided We Stand).
- The hero dies to Aghanim's Shard upgrade Powershot's global instant-kill damage.
- Wraith Delay grants the affected heroes unobstructed movement, allowing them to move through units and trees and over cliffs.
- Wraith form causes the hero's model size to increase by 25% for its duration. This has no impact on its collision size.
- Also increases the hero's movement and attack speed for the duration.
- Allies in Wraith form can act freely like regular heroes, and can still be interacted with normally, without any restrictions.
- This means they still are fully affected by attacks and abilities normally, and already existing buffs and debuffs continue to affect them.
- When the Wraith duration ends, the hero dies. The kill is credited to whoever put the hero in Wraith form.
- This death cannot be prevented in any way. It ignores invulnerability and everything that would normally prevent death.
- If the hero has Reincarnation, it triggers normally once the hero dies.
- With Aghanim's Shard, 3 Wraith King Skeletons are summoned for each enemy hero within the 900 effect radius upon triggering Reincarnation.
- Only summons skeletons for enemy heroes (including clones, excluding illusions and creep-heroes).
- When Vampiric Spirit is not learned, no skeletons are summoned.
- The skeletons are also summoned for enemies inside the fog of war and invisible units.
Talents[edit]
Hero Talents | ||
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Reincarnation Casts Wraithfire Blast | 25 | -2s Mortal Strike Cooldown |
+6 Skeletons Spawned | 20 | +30 Movement Speed |
+24 Skeletons Attack Damage | 15 | +12 Strength |
+15 Attack Speed | 10 | -1s Wraithfire Blast Cooldown |
- The strength talent effectively grants Wraith King 240 health, 1.2 health regeneration, and 12 attack damage.
Recent Changes[edit]
- Increased Wraithfire Blast cooldown from 14/12/10/8 to 17/14/11/8.
- Wraith King Skeleton
- Reduced base attack damage from 35-40 to 32-37.
- Reduced base attack damage from 40‒42 to 38-40.
- Increased Vampiric Spirit mana cost from 50/60/70/80 to 65/70/75/80.
- Increased Reincarnation mana cost from 160 to 180.
- Reduced Mortal Strike critical damage from 150%/190%/230%/270% to 140%/180%/220%/260%.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
- Tango helps Wraith King sustain his health against lane harassment.
- Healing Salve also restores health to Wraith King.
- Clarity sustains mana so Wraith King can use Wraithfire Blast more often for early kills.
- Iron Branch gives attributes like intelligence so Wraith King will have enough mana to use Wraithfire Blast twice at level 1.
- Enchanted Mango provides passive health regeneration and burst mana to use Wraithfire Blast.
Early game:
- Quelling Blade allows Wraith King to get last hits easier. It also makes Mortal Strike hit harder against creeps which makes you clean camps and creep waves faster. It increases the effectiveness of Vampiric Aura when attacking creeps as well. It can be used to cut trees and move faster from one camp to another while farming the jungle.
- 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:
- 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 Iron Branches, making room for new items.
- Power Treads provides attack speed and attribute switching to make his limited mana pool go much further if the treads are switched to intelligence before casting a spell.
- Armlet of Mordiggian provides lots of damage at a reasonable cost, while the health drain is mitigated by Vampiric Aura and Reincarnation.
- Blink Dagger solves Wraith King's mobility issues, letting him engage and chase more effectively and giving him an escape after Reincarnating.
Late game:
- Desolator shreds armor, boosting the damage output of Wraith King and his skeletons while improving Vampiric Aura's lifesteal.
- Mjollnir grants attack speed and can efficiently clear out hordes of illusions and/or summoned units.
- Assault Cuirass solves Wraith King's armor problems and gives bonus damage output to him, his teammates, and his skeletons.
- Black King Bar grants spell immunity to protect Wraith King against disables and mana break, so he can survive and output damage.
- Heart of Tarrasque gives Wraith King excellent amount of Health pool and regeneration, makes him difficult to kill, besides he also has Reincarnation which causes a long effective presence in fights.
Situational items:
- Blade Mail provides decent armor and damage boost, while discouraging enemies from focusing and kiting him.
- Heaven's Halberd gives Wraith King strength, evasion, and status resistance to tank up, and lets him disarm an enemy carry, shutting down their primary source of damage output.
- Radiance helps with farming and stacking skeleton charges, while making Wraith King a walking hazard that is difficult to ignore.
- Abyssal Blade gives Wraith King high lockdown potential in combination with Wraithfire Blast, and the bash lets him manfight more effectively.
- Aghanim's Scepter can guarantee an ultimate cast or some extra damage for Wraith King and his teammates, but its stats are of little benefit to Wraith King himself.
- 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.
- Divine Rapier grants damage that synergizes with Vampiric Aura and Mortal Strike, and is not dropped if Reincarnation activates; combine with Aegis of the Immortal and/or Refresher Orb for best results.
Gameplay[edit]
Roles: | Carry Support Durable Disabler Initiator |
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Complexity: | ★☆☆ |
Playstyle: | On the millennial solstice known as Wraith-Night, Ostarion stood frozen amid the carnage, absorbing innumerable souls as his champions sacrificed their lives for the King. Now brimming with Wraith Essence, Ostarion immobilizes his adversaries with Wraithfire Blast, stunning and searing them over time. His greatsword smashes foes in one Mortal Strike, sapping their essence to feed his Vampiric Aura. Only fools trust the erratic reports of Ostarion's death. For when slain, the wraith energies that bind his body begin to reconstitute his parts, joining limb to torso until the Wraith King's Reincarnation comes full circle. |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Prior to December 13 of 2013,
Ostarion, the Wraith King was known as
Ostarion, the Skeleton King.
- On December 10 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.
- For The International 10 Battle Pass, however, Skeleton King would return as Wraith King's Arcana, which can be acquired by players that reach Level 375.
- In DotA 1, Wraith King's (who is still known as the Skeleton King in DotA 1) 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 ▶️ "I NOW HAVE ALL THE SEXY", buying a Divine Rapier ▶️ "Oh, Rapier. NOW YOUR KING IS BALLING OUT OF CONTROL!" and his battle begin line ▶️ "I'LL HELP MY WEAK AND PUNY ALLIES WHERE I CAN." are a reference to a popular DotA hero guide called "CAPS LOCK LEORIC".
- When Dota Plus first emerged with the use of a Hero's responses, many community members asked Valve to properly make the text of all of Wraith King's lines in all caps, which was done after multiple requests.
- 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 is a reference to the three kings or three wise men story from Christmas.
Gallery[edit]
Low Violence model of Skeleton King
Icons and bio of the Skeleton King. For the responses, see here.