Dota 2 Riki Guide – Builds, Abilities, Items and Strategy

Riki is a stealth based, agility melee hero who functions as an early game carry. Riki is one of the few stealth heroes who isn’t reliant on their ability to go invisible, to function.

The reasoning is because Riki’s basic abilities are so incredibly strong, that he doesn’t even need an ultimate ability, to contribute to any team composition.

Ironically, Riki’s ultimate is arguably one of the best stealth based abilities in the game. That just goes to show you how strong his basic abilities really are.

For more help on Dota 2, read our Crystal Maiden, Axe and Zeus Guide.

Riki Abilities

Smoke Screen

• Target: Enemy Units
• Effects: 40/50/60/70% miss chance, -25% IAS and MS, Silence
• Range: 425
• AoE: 250/275/300/325
• Duration: 6 seconds
• Cooldown: 13
• Mana: 75/80/85/90

Smoke Screen gives Riki massive team fight utility rarely found on carries. Unfortunately, because of the heavy use of Force Staff in the current metagame, this ability has lost a lot of its potent effectiveness.

Blink Strike

• Targets: Allied or Enemy Unit
• Effects: Teleports behind the target, dealing 30/60/90/120 damage if they’re an enemy
• Range: 700
• Cooldown: 20/15/10/5
• Mana: 50

Between the range, and the cooldown, Blink Strike gives Riki some outstanding mobility in combat.

Backstab

• Targets: Enemy Units
• Effects: Deals .5/.75/1/1.25 of Riki’s agility as bonus damage on auto attacks, if behind the target

This passive is the defining abilities scaling is so ridiculous that it’s instantly potent with just Riki’s abnormally high base agility. By stacking up on cheap, cost efficient agility items, this passive will make you into an unbelievable monster early game. Abuse it.

Permanent Invisbility

• Effects: 3/2.25/1.5 second fade time

While not attacking, Riki is invisible. This seemingly simplistic ability has many, many layers. If you dominate early game by ganking people that go off alone, then you will begin to build up paranoia among your enemies.

Eventually, your enemies will be too scared to venture anywhere without their entire team. This drastically limits their economic income.

If they decide to invest in invisibility detection, you’ve done even more damage to their economy. By slightly adjusting your play style, their new strategies will have little impact on your usefulness.

Riki Skill Builds

1. Smoke Screen/Blink Strike/Backstab
2. Smoke Screen/Blink Strike/Backstab
3. Smoke Screen/Blink Strike/Backstab
4. Backstab
5. Backstab
6. Permanent Invisibility
7. Backstab (maxed)
8. Blink Strike
9. Blink Strike
10. Blink Strike (maxed)
11. Permanent Invisibility
12. Smoke Screen
13. Smoke Screen
14. Smoke Screen (maxed)
15. Stats
16. Permanent Invisibility (maxed)

Depending on the situation, who you’re laned with and who you’re laned against, you’ll be changing the order in which you level your first three skills. By level three, you should have one point in each.

If you have a passive, or free lane, go with Backstab for easier last hitting. If you need to chase, or escape – Blink Strike is the way to go. Smoke Screen is generally the safer pick as it has a lot of offensive and defensive components to it.

Backstab forms the basis of this build. As such, we prioritize it in levels and itemization.

Recommended Items

Start: 2x Slippers of Agility, 2x Iron Branches, 2x Tangos

Early: Boots, 2-4x Wraith Bands

Core: Power Treads, Diffusal Blade

Situational:  Manta Style, Butterfly, Orb of Venom, Poor Man’s Shield, Black King Bar

Wraith Bands
By now, you’re probably looking at me funny. Stacking Wraith Bands is usually an odd strategy. However, in the case of Riki, there is nothing more cost efficient than Wraith Bands.