Hero Discussion of this Day: Rhasta, Shadow Shaman (22 July 2013)
Rhasta, the Shadow Shaman
I am the intermediary between life and death.
Rhasta is one of best heroes for disabling enemies, with two strong spells of this type. However, he is a fragile hero who tends to get focused in battle. Teamwork and communication are essential if the Shadow Shaman is to make full use of his potent spell arsenal. Forked Lightning is a useful ability, good for harassing foes, killing creeps, and finishing off wounded enemies who escape Rhasta's snares. Voodoo is a straightforward polymorph skill, transforming the target into a critter and knocking them out of the fight for a few seconds. Shackles is an interesting ability which disables both the target and Rhasta while he channels the spell. However, this is not much of a disadvantage to Rhasta, since his Mass Serpent Ward ability gives him a deadly source of alternate damage to destroy his target while he holds them in place. The wards are a powerful sieging tool as well, able to level buildings very quickly. Since towers can only attack one ward at a time, they stand little chance against this skill.
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 trowle, 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.
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Roles: Pusher, Disabler, Nuker, Support
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Strength: 19 + 1.6
Agility: 16 + 1.6
Intelligence: 21 + 3
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Damage: 47-54
Armour: 1.24
Movement Speed: 285
Attack Range: 500
Missile Speed: 900
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Sight Range: 1800 (Day) / 800 (Night)
Turn Rate: 0.4
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Spells
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Ether Shock
Creates a cone of ethereal energy that strikes multiple enemy units.
| Level | Manacost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 95 | 8 | 600 | 200 (Starting AoE)/500 (Distance)/300 (Final AoE) | N/A | Shocks one target for 140 damage |
| 2 | 105 | 8 | 600 | 200 (Starting AoE)/500 (Distance)/300 (Final AoE) | N/A | Shocks 3 targets for 200 damage each |
| 3 | 135 | 8 | 600 | 200 (Starting AoE)/500 (Distance)/300 (Final AoE) | N/A | Shocks 5 targets for 260 damage each |
| 4 | 160 | 8 | 600 | 200 (Starting AoE)/500 (Distance)/300 (Final AoE) | N/A | Shocks 7 targets for 320 damage each |
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Magical Damage
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Secondary targets can be up to 1000 distance away
Originally used to open shows with the travelling con-man, Rhasta's lightning display shocks adversaries in more ways than one.
==
Hex
Transforms an enemy unit into a harmless creature, disabling their attacks and abilities.
| Level | Manacost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 110 | 13 | 500 | N/A | 1.25 | Transforms the target unit into a chicken |
| 2 | 140 | 13 | 500 | N/A | 2 | Transforms the target unit into a chicken |
| 3 | 170 | 13 | 500 | N/A | 2.75 | Transforms the target unit into a chicken |
| 4 | 200 | 13 | 500 | N/A | 3.5 | Transforms the target unit into a chicken |
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If the target is an illusion, it will be instantly destroyed
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The hexed target will have a base movement speed of 100
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Hex disables damage block and evasion
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Hex disables experience gain
Rhasta often ended performances by turning himself into a chicken - now, the humiliation is shared.
==
Shackles
Channelled
Magically binds an enemy unit so that it cannot move or attack, while dealing damage over time.
| Level | Manacost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 110 | 16 | 400 | N/A | 2.5 | Disables the target enemy unit and damages them for 40 per second |
| 2 | 130 | 16 | 400 | N/A | 3.25 | Disables the target enemy unit and damages them for 40 per second |
| 3 | 155 | 16 | 400 | N/A | 4 | Disables the target enemy unit and damages them for 40 per second |
| 4 | 185 | 16 | 400 | N/A | 4.75 | Disables the target enemy unit and damages them for 40 per second |
- Magical Damage
A self-defense incantation, Rhasta developed shackles after his master was slain in the Bleeding Hills.
==
Mass Serpent Ward
Ultimate
Summons 8 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.
| Level | Manacost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | 110 | 550 | N/A | 45 | Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 40 - 45 (85-90*) damage |
| 2 | 350 | 110 | 550 | N/A | 45 | Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 55 - 60 (105-110*) damage |
| 3 | 600 | 110 | 550 | N/A | 45 | Summons 8 Serpent Wards, which have 70 - 75 (125-130*) damage |
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Serpent Wards deal piercing damage.
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Serpent Wards have splash damage.
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This ultimate can be upgraded via sceptre, (*) shows the upgraded effects
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The splash from level 1 wards deals 100% damage in a 50 AoE, 40% damage in a 75 AoE, 20% damage in a 150 AoE
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The splash from level 2 wards deals 100% damage in a 75 AoE, 40% damage in a 100 AoE, 20% damage in a 200 AoE
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The splash from level 3 wards deals 100% damage in a 85 AoE, 40% damage in a 110 AoE, 20% damage in a 220 AoE
Snake charming was a big part of the Shadow Shaman's act; now Rhasta can empower the snakes to do his bidding.
==
Recent Changes from 6.78/6.78b/6.78c
- Aghanim's Mass Serpent Wards damage increased from 53-59/74-79/94-100 to 85-90/105-110/125-130
(Basic version damage numbers also normalized a bit from 39-43/54-58/69-73 to 40-45/55-60/70-75)
Recent Changes from 6.77/6.77b/6.77c
- None
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Tips:
When casting Shackles and Hex consecutively (either order) make sure you don't stack your disables, while also making sure you stack it a little bit by casting just before the disable ends, as to not let the possibility of escape happen. To mitigate this, you can shift-queue polymorph after shackle.
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A thread about Rhasta's viability and reasons not being picked recently. thread by f1xx
A tl;dr by Wilco-
A thread here full of useful combos with Rhasta, thread by Nadrojxam
A writeup by lasciel from the previous discussion
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If you guys want a specific hero to be discussed next, please feel free to post or message me. Request list
No Valve Artwork | Voice Responses | In-game Icon | Dota Cinema Video Overview | Dota2Wiki Hero Page
Posts are every two days now, again.
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Important Spectre tip/s of last thread by cdstephens:
Spectre can be very hard to kill if you always carry a TP with you, as you can Dagger into some woods and just TP out unless they have very certain heroes that can bypass that (Batrider, Storm Spirit, and Timbersaw come to mind.)
Posted Jul 22, 2013, 6:23 PM UTC · edited