Strygwyr the Blood Seeker

Strategy Guide for Strygwyr the Bloodseekerby DreaM- (as of v6.60)

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An unusual hybrid of Demon and Orc, Strygwyr is an outcast amongst all mortal creatures. By

thriving on and bathing himself with the blood of those he slays, Strygwyr can heal his wounds -

even those that could prove fatal. Beware the fool who dares venturing alone, for Strygwyr can sense

his blood miles away and gain vison through his helpless prey's eyes. Having ruptured the enemy

with mighty blows in his bloodthirsty frenzies, Strygwyr corners his foe into making the

impossible decision - bleed to death by trying to outrun the hasty demon, or be ripped to shreds in

its awesome fury.

ForewordWriting a guide on what used to be my favourite hero Bloodseeker! I want to share the way I

play Bloodseeker to everyone. He's the best pub bashing hero in my opinion, and if played well can be a decent hero in an IH game when paired up with certain heroes. This is a very in-depth guide, which I express the full power of the one they call Strygwyr, the Bloodseeker.

This is an extremely long guide, you have been warned. Although long, if you read the whole thing you will learn a huge amount of information, strategy and tips on Bloodseeker. Enjoy.

Here's what inDe_eD has to say about the difficulty and effectiveness of Strygwyr

http://planetdota.blogspot.com/

http://forums.dota-allstars.com/index.php?showuser=157513

Quotes from his Hero Difficulty and Effectiveness Guide.

Difficulty:

QUOTEIntermediate -

Bloodseeker - Early game for him is levelling up to 6 and then running around the map using Rupture, which is about as easy as it gets. Blood is great for staying in a lane, but requires decent

last hit timing. He must have decent items to remain viable later.

Agreed! Don't forget his spells need practice if you don't want them backfiring.

Effectiveness:

QUOTEWeak -

Bloodseeker - Rupture is nearly useless in team battles, since an enemy can just hold position and cast spells/attack from there. Either that, or buy a Diffusal Blade of GG.

A harsh but somewhat true statement. Getting Diffusal Blade means one slot wasted and an Orb Effect wasted just to counter Bloodseeker. Purge doesn't even remove Rupture.

Should I Play Bloodseeker?

Of course! If you...

...are very good at denying and last hitting ...have decent knowledge of every hero in DotA ...are a team player ...read this guide!

However, if you ....... consider using an easier hero, like Skeleton King

...are not familiar with most heroes in DotA ...are not quite up to scratch with your last hitting and denying skills ...are new to DotA

Starting Stats (without item bonuses)

Strength - 18 + 2.0 --- Health - 492Agility - 24 + 2.6 --- Armor - 5.4 (24%)Intelligence - 18 + 1.7 --- Mana - 234 Mana Regen --- 0.73Health Regen --- 0.79Movespeed --- 305 Damage --- 53-59Attack Speed --- 1 attack every 1.37 secondsSight Range: 1800 Day/800 NightSpell Animation --- Bloodseeker has a casting time of 0.6 and a cast backswing of 1.4. Attack Animation --- Bloodseeker has damage point of 0.43 and a backswing of 0.74.

Ending Stats (without item bonuses)

Strength - 66.0 + 20 --- Health - 1784Agility - 86.4 + 20 --- Armor - 12 + 2.8 (47%)Intelligence - 58.8 + 20--- Mana --- 1014Mana Regen --- 2.63Health Regen --- 2.23Movespeed --- 305 Damage --- 115 - 121 + 20Attack Speed --- 1 attack every 0.91 seconds

Stats Overview

With the above information, we come to the conclusion that Bloodseeker's base stats are very high. This helps in a lot of ways. Out of all the heroes, Bloodseeker comes 4th with the highest base stats (Twin Headed Dragon is 1st, Spectre 2nd, and Lord of Avernus tied 2nd with Spectre. However, Bloodseeker's stat gain is only above average, he earns 6.3 stat points per level. (not counting the extra Stats 'spell' you can get)This is stated in Reset's Guide to Hero Stats.

Pros

Versatile hero. Great ganking hero, if not the best. Slips in and out of battle if Strygwyr's Thirst is on. Has ferocious damage with Bloodrage on. A hero that can stay in its lane for prolonged periods.

Cons

Low hp. Spells can backfire if not used properly and without thought. No real escape mechanism. Spells require precise timing. Has de-synergies with Rupture and allies that stop/slow enemies.

Skills

Authors Notes are in Red.Useful Facts are in Teal

QUOTE

- Bloodrage (Active)Drives a unit into a bloodthirsty rage. That unit is unable to cast spells, has its attack damage

increased, and loses a small amount of hit points every second. 600 range at all levels.

Level 1 - 20% damage increase, loses 2 HP per second. Lasts 6 seconds. Cooldown of 20 seconds. 80 mana cost.




This is what spellcasters fear about Bloodseeker, and what tanks fear about him too. This is a spell that will be used to silence enemy heroes, or to make your damage IMBA. Cast it on enemy spellcasters to silence them while you hack into them, or to make you a massively high damage hero to take down those really tough opponents. You should use this spell on any spell-reliant hero, like Pudge or Lina, and even AM early game. Bloodrage priorities should be:

Hero with the most damaging spell combo, such as Lina or CM During the Channelling spell of heroes like Sand-King or Bane Heroes that rely on spells, like Pudge Heroes that are weak, but have an escape mechanism, like a low health Anti-Mage or

Bounty Hunter, silence them to stop them from escaping

Yourself or an ally that wishes to be Bloodraged

Also, don't use this as your initial spell to start off a fight, as you need your other spell to effectively kill enemies. The typical spell combo is Rupture > Bloodrage > Thirst triggers > Chase. You can use this on allies too, just make sure to tell them if you're going to do it in case they want to use their spells. This spell can be a great help to a Razor or any high speed/high damage hero. You must know when and how to use this spell to prevent yourself from getting killed due to a backfire.

Using this on Stealth Assassin reveals him. Bloodrage is based off the Firelord's ladder spell, Soul Burn. Bloodrage only increases Base + Agility damage not pure damage items like

MKB/Buriza. The damage is negligible. Don't assume this spell can kill someone, at level 4 it only does

120 damage over time total. Bloodrage doesn't silence enemy spells from items, so you can't use this to stop an enemy

from using Dagon for example.

QUOTE

- Blood Bath (Passive)Whenever Strygwyr kills a unit, he bathes himself in the blood, regenerating his life source.

Level 1 - 10% of the Hero's max hp. 5% for creeps.Level 2 - 20% of the Hero's max hp. 10% for creeps.Level 3 - 30% of the Hero's max hp. 15% for creeps.Level 4 - 40% of the Hero's max hp. 20% for creeps.

This is a signature skill for Strygwyr. Simple, elegant, and very useful. The higher hp the hero or creep is the more health you get once you kill it. You ONLY get the health if YOU deliver the killing blow. You even get the blood from denied creeps and heroes, units killed by items, and also images, but only 20%. (yes, images. Eat your heart out, Phantom Lancer) This is a very powerful spell early game, this also makes trips to fountain less frequent, effectively you get a slight level bonus since you are out farming more than healing at the fountain.This passive spell basically grants you more regeneration than any opponent in the game early. What does this mean? You can harass when this spell is at higher levels and out-regenerate your enemy that's in your lane. This spell also gives you somewhat harassing immunity, since you gain health back so fast if your enemy allows you to get at least 2 creep kills per creep wave.

Your images also gain Blood Bath, meaning they don't go down as fast as long as they kill some creeps.

QUOTE

- Strygwyr's Thirst (Passive)Enables Strygwyr to sense the bleeding of any enemy hero below 40% hp. If it finds one,

Strygwyr gains vision of that unit and increases move speed.

Level 1 - 11% movement increase. Small AoE, 1500 Range.Level 2 - 22% movement increase. Medium AoE, 3000 Range.

Level 3 - 33% movement increase. Large AoE, 4500 Range.Level 4 - 44% movement increase. Huge AoE, 6000 Range.

Alright, another very useful spell, your free map "control" (can't say m-a-p-h-a-c-k cuz stupid DA doesn't "support it"). Makes Bloodseeker one of the best chasers (if he's not already). This spell when active, gives max movespeed with Boots of Travel.Ok, this has many, many useful features. For one, stealth heroes below half hp will be 'seen' (refer to Advanced Strategy Section). Another is that if multiple heroes are below 40% hp, you will gain sight of them all. However, when there is no enemy heroes below half hp you don't get any buffs.As long as you stay in range of the enemy hero if this triggers, you will keep the bonuses, however, if the hero regenerates/gains health in any way to a point above half hp, you lose the bonuses.If this spell triggers, health changes to the heroes you gain vision of WILL affect the bonuses you get. Example, a low hp Omniknight is around and Strygwyr's Thirst activates. You gain the sight of Omniknight as you would, then he heals himself. He is above 40% hp so you lose vision and your movespeed bonus.This spell still triggers even if you're Bloodraged, so you can Rupture the enemy, immediately Bloodrage then chase!

With Boots of Travel and Thirst active, it would take Bloodseeker approximately 11.49 seconds to reach any given point on the periphery of his 6000 aoe. Calculated using (Distance/speed) = time, assuming that you move approximately in a straight line

Strygwyr's Thirst is based off the Shaman's ladder spell, Bloodlust If you have Thirst triggered, and an Ogre Magi casts Bloodlust on you, you will see the

animation of Bloodlust being casted on you multiple times.

QUOTE

- Rupture (Active)Deals a mighty blow to the enemy causing any movement to result in bleeding and loss of life.

1000 cast range.

Level 1 - 150 damage, 20% of distance moved in damage. Lasts 5 seconds. 100 second cooldown. 150 mana.



This is what makes Bloodseeker so cool. This is what pubs go crazy over when they don't know what's happening. Simply put, this spell deals initial damage, and if your target moves they receive damage on how much they move. I will show you how to use this skill to perfection later in the guide.Obviously this spell is used to prevent your prey from escaping. They can choose to fight and succumb to your superior damage or run and be killed by Rupture.The casting range is 1000, use it wisely. You can ninja kill with Rupture if an enemy hero is farming with relatively low hp. Rupture him, and if that didn't kill him, Thirst and proceed with the kill.The damage type of this spell is Magical, meaning it will go through armour. This spell can be used defensively and to single out targets (much like Bane Elemental's Nightmare spell). Example. You see a Clinkz pop out of nowhere and starting to pummel you with arrows, Rupture him then run away. He can choose to chase you but to a certain point you can then Thirst and chase him down. Either that or he chooses to do the smart thing and stay put, unable to kill you.The faster the enemy runs, the more damage they get. So, you see an enemy with a Haste powerup, you Rupture and he continues running. This is immense damage to the hero you Ruptured. On a technical note, Rupture does damage every quarter of a second. There is a cap to the damage (200 per quarter of a second), so that teleporting doesn't instantly kill the teleporter if he/she is Ruptured, but if the enemy hero Blinks or is Nether Swapped within the max damage, they will take the normal Rupture movement damage.

Purge does not remove Rupture since it is triggered and not a buff/debuff. The buff/debuff is from an aura that is on a dummy unit which is spawned when Rupture is cast. It gets a bit strange when you cast it on creeps btw. This is because of how the dummy unit works with the aura. If you cast it on a neutral creep, the aura can't be seen in the status bar. If you cast it on a creep controlled by a player or image, the hero appears to have been Ruptured, but isn't

If you Rupture a hero with Linkins Sphere, they still get the buff (Rupture), does the initial damage and will trigger Linkin's cooldown

If you Rupture an enemy and the hero you Ruptured gains magical immunity, he will not get the movement damage, but you will still see the animation.

To elaborate on how Rupture works, here's a quote from Malle:

QUOTEThe heroes' Blink abilities have 1000/1075/1150/1150 range.

The cap is enforced so that if the damage that is about to be dealt is larger than 200 before reductions, it will be set to 0.

Without going in on the math behind it, if a unit travels more than 1000/500/333.33 (Rupture level 1/2/3) distance that will negate the damage from Rupture for the 0.25 seconds interval it happens in. Any movement that is less than that will make you take damage.

Also, if you Rupture a image hero before they split, Rupture will still be in effect on the REAL HERO, so you can see which one's real by watching the blood piss out of them. In other words, Mirror Image doesn't remove/dispel Rupture, the real hero will still take damage when they move after they split. Take a look at these screenshots to see what I mean:

1: I am about to kill a Naga Siren. I Rupture her as my opening move.2: She casts Mirror Image, hoping to dispel Rupture and save her life.3: Notice the blood still coming out of one of the Naga's? That's the real one, and I attack it. She doesn't know that she still takes damage from Rupture, so she's moving her real one too with the images.4: I then attack. By the time she realises her fault, it's too late.

1: 2:

3: 4:

Skill Build

1. Blood Bath2. Bloodrage

3. Blood Bath4. Strygwyr's Thirst5. Strygwyr's Thirst6. Rupture7. Blood Bath8. Blood Bath9. Strygwyr's Thirst10. Strygwyr's Thirst 11. Rupture12. Bloodrage13. Bloodrage14. Bloodrage15. Stats16. Rupture17-25. Stats

Skill Build Summary

The typical Bloodseeker skill build, except for the point in Bloodrage at the start. This is used as a silence to escape some nasty spamming early kills like Zues or Lion and to silence and kill them. It shouldn't be used as a damage boost at level 1 though, it's just not worth it. Blood Bath is a no-brainer, you need this to stay in your lane almost forever. You don't have much damage at early levels so Bloodrage is maxed out after Thirst. At level 6 it becomes possible for a kill.

Well, Blood Bath and Strygwyr's Thirst can be taken wherever you feel under different circumstances. Sometimes I get Strygwyr's Thirst maxed earlier over Blood Bath because I am last hitting and denying well, going for some kills and on high health. I might get Blood Bath maxed earlier because I need the precious health to stay in my lane. There is no 'set skill build' at level 3 and over, just mix it up and do what you think is necessary.

Item Build

Core Items

Boots, 3 Bracers/Wraiths, Radiance. These are the items you must get first before any luxuries.

QUOTEItem Path

Early Game1. 1 or 2 Sets of Tangoes, and 2 Circlets.

2. Get 3 Bracers or 3 Wraiths, depending on the situation. If you're against a lot of nukers (which you probably will be), go for the Bracers. If you are the team ganker and running around everywhere without the fear of getting owned in 2 spells, I would suggest getting 3 Wraiths anyway. Note if you get Wraiths instead of Bracers, you'll get Relic a little faster.3. Sacred RelicMid Game4. Make Radiance 5. Make BKB (RECOMMENDED) or ButterflyLate Game6. Make Boots of Travel - (Boots 500 + Recipe 2200 = 2700)

Your end inital items should be:

Boots of Travel, 3 Bracers (or Wraiths), Radiance, Butterfly/BKB

Grand Total15905 Gold

(not including Branches, and any consumable items | Note that the grand total cost will be lower if you went BKB instead of Butterfly)

Items Afterwards

If the game is not over when you complete your item build, consider the one of the following damage items, selling your Bracers/Wraiths to make room for them and the survival/pushing

items if the game continues to persist. I highly suggest getting one of each, not 2 Damage items, and vice versa. You need a balance.

Highest recommended to lowest / top to bottom in the respective categories.

Damage

QUOTE

Monkey King Bar | 5400Demon Edge + Quarterstaff + Recipe2600 + 1150 + 1650This is the Anti-Teleport item you might need later. This gives a ministun that interrupts the Teleportation of an enemy hero. As you should know, to counter Rupture and Bloodrage is BoT or Scroll Teleportations, since they aren't silenced by Bloodrage and Bloodseeker doesn't have a natural stun to counter the TP. Buy this if you're against opponents who make it their pleasure of buying TP scrolls JUST to counter you, or just have BoT in their inventory and use it when you Rupture them. I suggest not getting this if your team has more than 3 stunning/bashing heroes. Just tell them to try to hold their stun back until the enemy teleports.

QUOTE

Buriza-do Kyanon | 6200Demon Edge + Crystalis (Broadsword + Blades of Attack) + Recipe2600 + 2350 + 1250Bloodrage, your high AS, along with crits makes you a feirce damage hero, probably your team's primary damage hero in fact. If you choose to get Buriza-do Kyanon, I suggest getting a health item, like Satanic, to increase survivability. What's massive damage when you get killed in the first 5 seconds of a fight?

Survival/Pushing

QUOTE

Satanic | 6150 Helm of Dominator (Helm of Iron Will + Mask of Death) and Messerschmidt's Reaver + Recipe950 + 900 + 3200 + 1100Gives you a good health boost. With Bloodrage making the life stolen very high, Blood Bath, Lifesteal and the spell is really good with Bloodrage (0 mana cost, 50 sec. cool down, gives your hero and additional 15% lifesteal and +30 to damage. Lasts 20 sec.)

QUOTE

Black King Bar | 3800Broadsword + Ogre Axe + Recipe1200 + 1000 + 1600Ok, you'll need this almost every high level game. I recommend getting it straight after Radiance. In situations when you're alone attacking an enemy or enemies, there is no need to Bloodrage to silence, so you have it to yourself to use later. Thirst still remains active when you are Avatared. You don't have to worry about getting stunned, nuked, etc when chasing heroes. Remember, you don't gain Bloodrage's effects when you are Avatared, so keep it until your Avatar has finished to use it.

QUOTE

Battlefury | 4785Perseverance (Ring of Health + Void Stone) + Claymore + Mithril Hammer1775 + 1400 + 1610Pushing power. Late game, Radience's 35 damage aura just doesn't cut it, so Battlefury is taken to maximise your pushing and creep killing power since you have high damage which makes Cleave worth it. This should be obtained if your team is in desperate need of another pusher hero, or is defending against massive waves of creeps made by opponent pushing heroes, e.g Furion/Keeper of the Light.

Explanation on Item Build

You start with Tangoes and Circlets. Even with Blood Bath, Bloodseeker needs a regeneration item. For example, laning up with a Zues or Viper without any regeneration it would be very hard. Midas is not taken anymore because it just isn't worth it. Besides, Bloodseeker should be ganking a lot. Radiance is your farming item, providing you with a nice aura that triggers Blood Bath whenever it kills a creep. It also provides you with decent damage to last-hit creeps easier. Radiance also aids in neutral creep farming by drawing them.You gain max movespeed with Boots of Travel and Thirst. Boots of Travel gives you various features, such as teleporting. Having that spell enhances your ganking ability and map control, and since Thirst won't always be active, the extra movespeed is nice to move around from one

lane to another to farm or to gank. 3 Bracers gives you much needed health, mana and agility, these should not be skipped until you need the room for your Item Afterwards.3 Wraiths are for some good stat boosting early game, where you'll be ganking around the map a lot, much like a Venomancer or VS.

Game Walkthrough

Early Game

Ok once you've got your starting items head out top lane Sentinel or bottom lane Scourge. Reason for this is you don't really want solo, you have low hp with no escape mechanism and you're much better used in team fights, ganking enemies with your Rupture and Bloodrage.

Your prime goal is to farm very well to shorten the length of time before you can get your Radiance. Last hits over denies. Even if you are getting harassed you must last hit, thus getting some replenishing and much needed nourishment. Deny only if there isn't a last hit lurking around and you need some health. Its better not to do anything risky (like going for early kills) at this stage as you need the gold desperately. Last hitting and denying is very crucial to your survival.If you're in a higher level game, then you should beg, beg to hell, threaten to rage quit if you don't get a good lane controller with you. He's melee agility with pissweak health, so he needs someone like Lich or Viper holding his hand early game.I highly recommend reading inDe_eD's Micro Guide. You need above-average last hitting and denying skills to survive the onslaught of enemy heroes harassing spells and nukes. Blood Bath is a great early game spell that must be exploited.

I cannot stress enough how important your early game is to you. You MUST NOT THINK YOU ARE OKAY GETTING A KILL BUT DYING!!! Killing then dying is NOT acceptable, unless it's first blood. Farming and ganking whenever Rupture is up is of utmost importance here.

Side-Note: A lot of people say Bloodrage is good for farming. I think spamming Bloodrage to farm is quite a waste of mana. If you haven't noticed, Bloodseeker has a decent base damage, and can last hit creeps with ease. The only time you should use Bloodrage is to take down towers, or when you're going back to base once you "finish off these creeps", and kill/silence heroes.

If an enemy nuker comes to attack, Blood Rage him/her and run away. You don't have the health for nasty spell combos, and you really want to avoid dying (like most heroes do).

Early-mid game, Observer Wards are crucial in IH games or games where high level players are

in. Bloodseeker is a very 'gankable' hero with low hp and no real escape mechanism. They are only 300 gold, last a decent amount of time, and notify you of everything in their sight. You're also the ganker, and that is another reason to get Obervers. If you're not sure on where to place these valuable tools, check out this Miniguide to Warding.

Mid Game

Alright, now you have your Rupture it is possible for some kills. Get your ally to harass the enemy hero just until he's about half or 3/4 hp. This is where Bloodrage comes in. If the enemy you are wishing to kill is an int hero, Bloodrage him followed by Rupture and attack. Strygwyr's Thirst will activate once the enemy reaches below half hp. If the enemy hero is a hero like Razor, Rupture him and cast Bloodrage on yourself, then proceed to the chase. Your best fortune hits when the enemy hero sees the blood and panics, runs around then finally dies. Of course not all players are this stupid and will not go down without a fight. Nevertheless, they will still die due to the facts here:

Cannot run (you have insane movespeed) You have a damage boost/They can't use spells You should also have an ally to attack him too

Ok, if no kills are possible don't worry, keep to your last hitting and you will soon find yourself being an extraordinary hero killer and an awesome farming machine. If some of the enemy heroes are missing and you have no observer wards put up, farm the nearby creep camps to keep you gank-free.Note: The initial damage of Rupture along with some bonus damage if they run will put almost any hero below half health, letting you activate Thirst almost instantly.

Farm time is over, mid game is your prime-time. This is where you spring from the little hero over there farming, to a monster of unnimaginable power, a beast that leaves none alive when he hunts. Go around, bouncing lane-to-lane, hunting enemy heroes. Always run around helping allied heroes kill the enemy heroes. You are a GANKER. Rupture's cooldown is short, and you only have 2 active spells so your mana won't be strained too much (maybe grab a clarity whenever you can if you need). Go for heroes that your team is having trouble keeping under control. As important as Night Stalker's first night is, Pudge's level 5-16, mid game is just as important to Bloodseeker. You should try to hunt during mid-game as much as possible.

Mid game is where you grab a couple of "leftovers" to supplement your farming after team fights if you're not doing anything else important. You job is to make sure NO-ONE escapes. Kill the enemy hero that didn't die in the team fight or unsuccessful gank. Example: Team fight just began, you are still farming in another lane, you see an enemy getting hurt pretty bad, most likely his health will go below 50%, go to the scene. Strygwyr's Thirst will activate as soon as you get in range. Do not do this if the fight is on the other side of the map, as you will not make it in time for Strygwyr's Thirst to get in range. Rupture any hero that has been "left over" by your team and grab yourself a nice easy kill. If your team is the one in need of help, feel free to Rupture the

biggest threat and silence any heroes needed with Bloodrage.

Neutral farming should be done when you get your Sacred Relic and don't have an opportunity to go hunting or no pushing opportunities are available. Neutral farming shouldn't be much of a problem since almost all of he damage the creeps inflict will be replenished with Blood Bath.

At mid game you should be on a rampage slaughtering every hero you can find. Find an enemy hero in a lane solo, Rupture him behind the trees, using Rupture's 1000 range. The enemy player should be startled and run for a bit before he realises he's been Ruptured. Bloodrage accordingly and attack. You can bring an ally if you want, but bring the ally that is having a hardest time/lowest level/poorest. Your Boots of Travel should ensure you gank like crazy. This is basically what you do for almost all of late-early game to late-mid game.

Late Game

You should be nearing your item build completion. Hunting down heroes is your goal now. Tell your allies that you're about to attack, and co-ordinate the attack. Rupture is no use if your allies stun/disable the hero Ruptured. The format for the attack should be: Allies use stuns > Rupture > Bloodrage yourself or the enemy depending on the hero and then proceed with the chase. Remember if you Bloodrage yourself you will be silenced from using Rupture, so remember not to Bloodrage before using Rupture.

Keep hunting those solo heroes, farming up Radiance should be hell easy. Look in the Advanced Strategy Section on your role in team fights.

Use Observer Wards at their creep camps, and gank them whenever they start farming there. Control the map, don't let them have one minute peace.

You should be feared by now, the enemies will know that if you start the attack there's almost no way to escape. Bounce around the lanes, if there is an allied hero and an enemy hero ask for permission to gank. If there are no heroes in the lane just push it a little then continue to bounce. If this doesn't seem to work for you, stick in a lane with your teammates. You are a very useful asset to your team, almost ensures at least one kill in team fights. If you don't farm well, don't fret, Rupture and Bloodrage are invaluable tools to the team. If you're so weak and they target you every fight, just use your spells and stay back, then finish off any heroes that are left.

You are also a decent pusher hero with Bloodrage in your arsenal. Simply Bloodrage yourself and you will find yourself bringing down towers in one go. Keep putting up Observer Wards around so you don't find yourself in a sticky situation where you have Bloodraged yourself, and you are being ganked. You lost your silence, and your damage spell, also, you can't use Rupture until it ends, and if the enemy doesn't delay your doom, you won't have a chance to cast Rupture.

In big pushes with both teams nuking each other and being defencive/aggresive you're most likely to get pretty hurt, even with Satanic's effect and health. With most hero's, they would have

to go heal at their respective fountain. With Bloodseeker, you can just go neutral creep farming to regain health AND get extra cash. Radiance helps a lot in this, since it draws the creeps to you when they get hit by Immolation. After replenishing your health, you're ready to push again and help your team to victory.

Advanced Strategy Section

Using Your Spells/Role in Team Fights

If you have read this guide thoroughly, you would have some decent knowledge on how to utilise your spells already. Here's some more tips to using them:

In team fights: Silence over Damage. In big team brawls silence any enemy int hero with Bloodrage rather than giving yourself the damage boost. This is a much better use and helps your team a lot.

You should be your teams main damage hero, and if you play well then you are a great asset to your team, since you always ensure no-one escapes with Thirst and Rupture.

Always Rupture the most threatening enemy, and if there is no real threat difference then Rupturing melee enemies should be your next priority.

Notes about Strygwyr's Thirst

If there is an invisible hero like SA, BH, Clinkz, etc below half hp, you will track their movements like any other hero. However, if they are invisible or turn invisible when you have Thirst on, they will not be seen, but you gain THEIR vision so you can still track them. To counter this (bug?) problem, right click on them, and just leave it as it is (don't cast any spells or issue any more commands, unless its important). This will make you attack them when they turn invisible (if Strygwr's Thirst triggers). Don't fret when you see Strygwyr attack the air, it's really him attacking the enemy hero. If the hero is already invisible, this can get tricky, but move near the coloured spot on your minimap and Attack Move anywhere, this should make Bloodseeker attack the hero, and you can confirm this by seeing whether he's attacking air or not.Look at these screenshots for example:

1: Stealth Assassin loses a whole lot of health due to Gush harassment previously. Ursa hits him a couple of times, which leaves him about 1/3 health. Thirst triggers, but I miss the right click on him.2: I follow the spot on my mini-map, and attack move near the terrain of the spot. Strygwyr auto-attacks SA! A few moments later...

3: ...I score a nice kill!

1:

2:

3:

Also, with most heroes, when you're chasing an enemy hero up a ramp you have to spam click Move command so your hero doesn't cancel his command of attacking due to the fog of war. With Strygwyr, his Thirst makes chasing heroes up ramps a breeze! You have vision of them as long as they are below half health, so you don't have to waste valuable time and attacks just to get your hero up the bloody ramp.

At level 4, Strygwyr's Thirst has a huge AoE range around you of 6000. ANY heroes in that area below half hp will score you the bonuses. If you see you get the red animation above your head, look at your minimap and run towards the enemy that triggered Thirst. Strygwyr's Thirst is active, giving you a nice movespeed bonus as well as vision of the enemy. Rupture the enemy, Bloodrage accordingly and score a nice free kill! You can also do this with the aid of Observer Wards, helping you locate enemies more efficiently, but I'd rather use them to prevent ganks on you.

Here's an example, of the max length you should attempt to chase down targets and leftovers.

The Teal circle is where I am. The Red circles are where a below half health enemy is. The distance of me and my enemy plus a little more, is about the length you should try to get leftovers. You should try to get leftovers only if the enemy you're chasing is 2 tower lengths away from his/her base. (Base Tower, and the last Lane Tower, which are located by the Blue circles) Any longer than that and your chances of catching up are pretty slim, unless you are really close to them of course. The length of Strygwyr's Thirst is 6000 in an AoE around you, that's about a little less than half the DotA map. (a little is cut off because of trees on the edges)

Here's a picture to show you what route you are to take while chasing an enemy.

http://imageshack.us/

This is an example. The Teal circle is where I am. The Yellow circle is the area my enemy is in, below half health of course. The Red line shows what path you should take to chase the enemy unless they go an awkward alternative route. What I'm getting at here is, don't just click on the enemy hero, work your way and intercept the enemy. If the hero you're chasing is a bit slow, just wait there and pounce at the right time.

Defencive Tactic using Bloodrage and Rupture

Enemies are attacking you/your teammate. Bloodrage any int heroes, if not don't bother. Rupture the one which could do the most harm (stunners like Sven or SK, or Blinkers like AM and PA). It is recommended that you wait until they are in tower range to Rupture, but if the situation is dire then don't hesitate. The problem now is whether to kill the hero that you Ruptured. It entirely depends on the heroes you're going to run into. If they have no stuns then proceed and score yourself a kill along with a nice healing. Just be careful you don't be too aggressive and get yourself killed.Note: If it is a single enemy hero, Bloodrage him if he has a stun or slow, like Viper or Sven. It doesn't matter if they have increased damage, as long as they can't catch up to your ally or yourself.Look at these screenshots, as they show you how easily Rupture can turn the tide of battle into your favour:

Using Summoned Units and Illusions

http://imageshack.us/

If you have a hero that can summon units, like Furion, Enigma, etc, you can use their summoned units to heal yourself. Tell them to send back any heavily injured summoned units they have to you. Kill the unit, and get some precious health back. This works for illusion spawning heroes too. Any hero with a Mirror Image spell, or something different but still gets the desired effect (e.g. Terrorblade's Conjure Image) you can use to get health back the same way as you would summoned units. Tell your ally to conjure some images, get them to harass any enemies until they are below half health, and then send them to you for some health replenishment. Remember you only get 20% of max health of the images from killing images.

Burning Enemies With Radiance

When you have Radiance in your inventory, that's the time when you should start hunting enemy heroes. However, to chase well you need Strywgry's Thirst active, and to do that you need the enemy below 40% hp. This is where 'burning' comes handy. With Radience's effect of Immolation, if the enemy hero you're chasing is almost below 40% health, just run alongside him even if you can't attack him. Immolation will burn his health away, and as soon he hits below half health, Thirst will trigger. This is a handy tool if you don't want to waste Rupture, or it is on cooldown.

Advanced Strategy Section (continued)

Isolating Enemy Heroes

Rupture is a great isolation spell, much like Nether Swap. What I mean is, when you see an enemy out of place, Rupture the hero to isolate him. What do I mean by isolate? I mean put the enemy team off balance, into a situation they didn't want. To isolate an enemy hero, use Rupture's 1000 range to your advantage, and cast it on the enemy hero when the enemy creeps are dead or the enemy team is backing off for some particular reason. This works well in big pushes, where the enemy team knows they can't push the tower so they back off. If you are fast, Rupture any enemy hero that is 'trailing behind'. Your creeps will push forward, and the enemy team is against you and your creeps. (and your allies if they are there, which they should be) Bloodrage as neccesary, and destroy the isolated hero and even another enemy hero or two. This same strategy can be applied when an over-aggresive enemy is attacking near your tower. This really only works in non-em games where towers really hurt, but can still be useful in -apem games (DONT PLAY -em!! Think of this as a motivation to not play -em). To do this, simply Rupture the enemy hero immediately when the tower attacks him/her. The tower should keep attacking the enemy hero you Ruptured if executed correctly, along with you wailing upon the enemy.

Bad Enemies

Blink Heroes, AM, QoP, etcThese guys blink away without being damaged (unless they blink within the damage max) by Rupture.

Gorgon of GGMedusa, has two spells that are completely GG to you. First, even though Purge doesn't remove Rupture, it does remove your Bloodrage, so she's now stronger than you in terms of damage. Also, Mana Shield does not count towards the health you get if you slay her. There is a strategy to counter the counter. Wait for her to Purge you, before you Bloodrage yourself, so you don't lose your damage advantage. You can also tell when she has no mana, when her Mana Shield gets destroyed, it means no mana for Purge.

Heavy Nukers like Zues, Lich, Tinker, etc Although these guys become food later, early game and early mid game these guys are hard to farm well against. Along with your low hp you are a prime target for a nuker.

ALL other heroes can pose a threat, but the ones listed above are the heroes that you may have the most trouble with.

Good Allies

Pudge, Vengeful Spirit, Spiritbreaker, TinyBeautiful synergy with Rupture. If the enemy doesn't move when you Rupture him/her, Hook/Swap/Greater Bash/Toss will MAKE them move.

Bane ElementalSilencing with Bloodrage causes the targeted unit to get an insane increase to its damage. Enfeeble takes away the downfall of Bloodrage. Fiends Grip along with Rupture almost ensures a single enemy hero can't move, or a good pincer pin down on two enemy heroes.

ANY ally that needs a good 'pin-down' on a single enemy hero to wail on is great with Bloodseeker, seen in the following section.

Teamplay Section

This section has a glance of how Strygwyr is to be coupled with ally heroes, which heroes, and some examples. Gives an overview of what heroes to have in your team, if you were to have Bloodseeker in it. Many people think having a stun and/or slow on the same team as Bloodseeker reduces his effectiveness, this is true to an extent, but he has unique spells that are great ganking abilities. Note: Take top lane Sentinel or bottom lane Scourge with the following heroes. If you can't, do these strategies as ways of ganking or in team fights.

PudgeThis requires some good co-ordination. Get Pudge to hide in the forests without being seen. Rupture the enemy when he's in an open spot, ping the location and let Pudge hook. Sure kill if executed properly.

Witch Doctor Ping the enemy hero you wish to kill. Rupture the enemy, then get Witch Doctor to Maledict the pinned hero followed by Death Ward. You might have to silence any stunners in your lane before Doctor casts his Death Ward. Maledict is a hard spell to land, but Rupture removes that, since the enemy shouldn't be moving for the duration of the spell. This combo is like a 'GG UR DEAD' sign above the enemy head.

Crystal Maiden

This is a great combo, and almost ensures a kill or two every time. Get CM to Frostbite the hero you ARE NOT aiming for, Bloodrage any enemy that can stun, then Rupture the hero YOU ARE aiming for. Get CM to run in and cast Freezing Field.

Tormented SoulHe is the AoE king. Just like the combo with CM and Witch Doctor. Let TS unleash his spells among the Rupture hero. Very deadly, and helpful since Split Earth is one of the hardest spells to pull off.

SlithiceRupture and Ensnare, when casted in proper timing, gives a 14 second pin-down on a single hero. Along with her Mirror Image, this is like signing the enemy's death certificate for him.

Magnus This is the kind of OMFG IMBA combo. Empower + Bloodrage, an Ulti that moves the hero, max movespeed and vision of the enemy is pure ownage!

How to Counter Bloodseeker

How to counter this beast? Here's a list:

Teleportation Furion's teleport works when you get damage, but early Bloodseeker will just silence you and kill you. Other than that, carry a Scroll of Teleportation with you at all times, remember that Bloodrage doesn't silence item spells.

If you're a hero that relies on spells, try not to, by increasing your attack speed and DPS. That way, if Bloodseeker Bloodrages you, you have a much better chance of overpowering him. If he learns not to Bloodrage you, then you can use your spells to kill him.

The hotkey known as 'H' Hold position when you see Bloodseeker cast his signature move, Rupture. Don't go down without a fight, you can't run, so you might as well give him hell before you die. You might even overpower him, who knows?

Flasks/Tangoes and Healing Spells Thirst requires you to be below half health in order for Strygwyr to gain his insane movespeed. Countering this is easy, just heal yourself! Carry a Flask of Sapphire Water or two, and heal yourself whenever your health drops

below 50%. If you have an Omniknight, Warlock, or other ally that can heal, tell him to always keep your team's heroes above 50% health.

Call For Help When you're below 50% health, chances are a Seeker is hunting you. So give a shout for an ally (one with a disable preferably) to guard you.

Magic Immunity Well, at least you can run now. Avatar lasts for 10 seconds, Rupture lasts for 9. Just your luck. You're free to move now. Also, if you're silenced by Bloodrage, activate Avatar so you can use your spells again!

If Blink Dagger is a half-decent item for your hero, then you should aim for it earlier so you can blink when you're Ruptured.

F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions Section

Note: Please refer to these before you post the same question.

QUOTEWhy get RoR?

What do you do if you're up against a nuker/harasser like Zues or Viper? Without RoR, you're going to have to go back to the fountain, which leaves you at a disadvantage. Just because Bloodseeker has Blood Bath, doesn't mean you shouldn't get regeneration items.

QUOTEI still don't like Radience. Give me more reasons

Basically, to maximise the use of Blood Bath you need an AoE damage. Strygwyr has no AoE nukes, so his only way is through items. Lets look at Battlefury then. It gives you health and mana regeneration which you don't need. It doesn't give as much damage as Radience does. Radience has a damaging AoE and high damage that Bloodseeker can use well. It also allows you to 'burn' enemies which are just above half health, to trigger Strygwyr's Thirst.

QUOTEIf you don't like Battlefury then why put it as a possible item onwards?

Sure it's useless to me early-mid. However, this spell is invaluable late game where you will be defending huge waves of creeps, or pushing the enemy lanes with BoT. This gives you a 'bulldozer' effect along with Radience, and if you want, Bloodrage. You pulverise through the enemy creeps, and with the newfound mana regeneration this late, you can spam Bloodrage when you can to crush enemy creep waves in mere milliseconds. 35 damage isn't much to creeps later since they gain much more health, so Cleave with your high damage is much more effective at clearing creeps.

QUOTEWhy get BoT when Treads gives you max movespeed AND IAS?

Good question. I thought this too, until a nice guy by the name of Negi pointed a few things out. Think of the game as a whole, not just things that help you in battle. 35% IAS isn't much for Strygwyr because he has IAS from Hand of Midas and The Butterfly, as well as the IAS he gains from the agility. The added movespeed and TP increases your ganking ability, farming ability, juking, and since Thirst won't be on all the time it adds to your retreating ability. Treads was good earlier when Thirst had an insane set-duration on it. Now since Thirst is passive, the movespeed bonus goes away in about 2 seconds if there isn't any more heroes under 50% health, so there's nothing to boost your speed when you kill your enemy. With Thirst and Boots of Speed, you have 511 movespeed. Tell me, is that enough movespeed to chase down heroes? Of course it is.

QUOTEWhy not get Dagon? It prevents allies Ksing you from getting health doesn't it?

10 Int gain is useless. 6+ damage is hardly anything. You pay loads of gold just to buy a stupid, worthless item like Dagon that only has a 400 damage single target nuke that strains your mana pool. BAD item.

QUOTEWhy no Battlefury earlier? It synergises with Blood Bath!

The mana regeneration, same as the explanation above. If you really want mana regeneration, get a RoB. As for the health regeneration, its overkill. Blood Bath and a ring of regeneration is sufficient. The cleave effect, well, I know it synergises with Blood Bath, but it does nothing when you're against an enemy hero. Also, Radience gives the relative same effect. The damage is nice, but there are better items for that. Even after the buff, Battlefury isn't that great, until you need pushing power, for Bloodseeker at least.

QUOTEBloodseeker doesn't have an escape mechanism, how come you don't get Lothars or something like that?

Truth is, Bloodseeker has 3 escape mechanism. Rupture pins a hero down, Bloodrage silences, and if you get Thirst to trigger you have max movespeed. Also, I say to use Observer Wards, and Lothars is countered easily. Also, Radience gives away your position when you're invisible. Blink Dagger is also waste of money on Bloodseeker.

QUOTEWhy Satanic instead of Heart of Tarrasque?

11 hp regeneration does almost nothing in a fight. Lifesteal, along with your high damage output does. Heart doesn't synergise with Bloodseeker, since his role is not to tank, and he gets life back from Blood Bath. Satanic does synergise, since you have high damage that leeches life by quite a lot, and just lets you stay in team fights much longer.

QUOTESange and Yasha is a good item on Bloodseeker. Why don't you have it in your item build?

Lets break it down, and see what we come up with.First of all, it gives you agility and strength, which is great. However, if you want those stats, get a Bracer or Wraiths, Heart or Butterfly. Second of all, is the maim. It slows the enemy down, is that what you really want? Rupture already pins them down, and if they choose to move they will die. You also have max movespeed if Thirst is on, so there's no real point of slowing the enemy down when they already can't escape. The maim de-synergises with Rupture.Third of all, is the movespeed and attack speed bonuses. You have max movespeed with Thirst, you don't need anymore. You DO use the attack speed, however, but you get Midas/Butterfly/MKB to increase that anyway. Overall, you're paying quite a lot, and giving up a precious item slot, for an item that you're only half-using. Its like buying an ice-cream when what you really want is a meat pie.

QUOTEWhy no mana items?

Bloodseeker only has 2 active spells, which don't cost a lot of mana. Also they should be used when you really need them. Midas doesn't strain your mana pool at all.

Replays

Replay 1 is an older version, when Strywgry's Thirst had to be casted. However, I think it is still useful to watch. Shows how Bloodrage is to be used, how well Radience is on Bloodseeker, and how Desolator just rips up enemy heroes.These replays aren't here to show off my 'l337 $k!llz'. They are here to give you a general overview on how Strygwyr is to be played. Refrain from posting things like 'omfg I'm a better bloodseeker than you'.

Bloodseeker Replay 1 - Bloodseeker_Replay_1.w3g ( 655.08k ) Number of downloads: 4633

Pub game. Version 6.34

http://forums.dota-allstars.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=31226

QUOTESentinelPudge, Bloodseeker, Sand King, Tiny, Slarder

QUOTEScourgeCrystal Maiden, Razor, Lycan, Venomancer, Techies

The enemy were decent. Sand King and Venomancer both left during the fairly early in the game. Razor and CM snagged a handful of kills, Razor got Godlike. Notice how I used Bloodrage to cancel CM's Freezing Field and spells during the game, and also ninja Ruptured for sneaky kills. This was when I was known as D.D.T-Lurker, and when I was a little bit cocky ;) . This was a pub, but a decent one (4v4) and shows good strategies. This is my recommendation to watch.

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Bloodseeker Replay 2 - Bloodseeker_2.w3g ( 649.69k ) Number of downloads: 2783

Pub Game. Version 6.36b

QUOTESentinelBloodseeker, Brood Mother, Juggernaut, Slarder, Naga Siren

QUOTEScourgeNerubian Assassin, Stealth Assassin, Warlock, Necrolyte, Dragon Knight

Sure it's a pubby, but it shows how Bloodrage is used only when I have the mana to spam it or don't need mana at the particular time. Also shows how Rupture fully counters Linkins Sphere on the Nerubian Assassin. There was a Slarder on my team, and Amplify Damage and Corruption from my Desolator almost enabled me to utterly slaughter an enemy Necrolyte in just 3 attacks, if only I didn't miss...

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Bloodseeker Replay 3 - Bloodseeker_4__IHL_.w3g ( 1.95mb ) Number of downloads: 17095

IH Game. Version 6.37

QUOTEMirror MatchTormented Soul, Bloodseeker, Silencer, Faceless Void, Queen of Pain

Played by 2 players, and it was a mirror-match game, so there were 2 Bloodseekers. It was a IH game, so the level of play was better than my pub replays. They use similiar builds to me too. Bloodseeker and Tormented Soul were in the same lane, so this replay shows how good they are together. Level 6 upwards the action starts.

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Bloodseeker Replay 4 - Bloodseeker_5__DonExodus_.w3g ( 619.38k ) Number of downloads: 3230


QUOTESentinelLina, Bloodseeker, Shadow Fiend, Enigma

QUOTEScourgeNerubian Weaver, Pudge, Witch Doctor, Terrorblade, Night Stalker

Played by DonExodus. IH game. He uses a similiar build to me. He goes around killing stuff like you should. This replay shows how you should generally play Bloodseeker - hunt like crazy.

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Bloodseeker Replay 5 - Bloodseeker_IH_Pl0x.w3g ( 705.3k ) Number of downloads: 2977





QUOTESentinelChaos Knight, Omniknight, Tiny, Necrolyte, Troll Warlord

QUOTEScourgeBloodseeker, Twin Headed Dragon, Soul Keeper, Furion, Demon Witch

Played by me, in a rather dominating IH. We utterly crushed them. It's hard to tell, but I silence Tiny and Omniknight, rendering them totally useless. It's not WOW OMG, but it's a IH replay, so meh. Our teamwork was much better than there's, which is probably why we won so easily.

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Some are replays, in which I use my other item build/s (the ones played by me. They are 'decent' to watch in terms of learning how to use your spells. In the pubs I didn't use Observer Wards either, or creep blocking. Meh, I'm lazy. Also, those replays are for older versions of Warcraft, but can be viewed using a program which is downloadable from this link.

Credits

To the Mechanics Forum Team, especially gradenko_2000 and Virot2 for the help they gave me during the making of this guide.

inDe_eD for writing the many enjoyable guides, especially his Micro Guide and Hero Effectiveness/Difficulty guides, as well as providing me with a IH Bloodseeker replay.

To everyone who helped make DotA. June for being god. Special Thanks to Beast_Pete for his everlasting and encouraging help and advice and

much more. You, for reading this guide. The people that gave comments in the HGC. Special Thanks to gradenko_2000 for his unlimited support and help. Everyone else that has contributed to this guide.

Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed reading this guide, and learned a lot about Bloodseeker. Get out there and play Strygwyr, he's a hella fun hero to play!! You can wizz around the map with full movespeed and vision of enemy hero's, you have spells that spurts blood everywhere, and you dish out insanely high damage. Get out there, own, feel it, love it.

Well, there you have it, my noob-friendly guide to Bloodseeker, I hope I made everything crystal clear. Please, post a comment and share your thoughts about this guide. If you're a fellow Bloodseeker player, please feel free to add the following userbar into your signature. Thank you.

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Documents

Strygwyr the Blood Seeker