Kunkka

Kunkka the Admiral is a versatile melee strength hero built with an arsenal of powerful area-of-effect spells. Two of his active spells are nukes that have long reaction times, but can disable and disrupt the enemies' position. He is mostly played as a carry or an initiator or even a spell nuker. He is known for his Tidebringer sword, which magically gives him the ability to cleave a large area around him on his attack with heavy potential damage on his next attack, which refreshes at a given period of time. Torrent calls upon the element of water to rise and burst out, dealing damage, disabling them up high, and slowing them on impact. There's a delay on this ability before it activates, so Kunkka must be wise in using this ability. X Marks the Spot targets any hero or Admiral himself to be marked on their current position, and after a few seconds delay, instantly returns to the marked spot. Useful in setting up tricky spells, escape prevention, or even saving allies, X Marks the Spot makes the Admiral a great battle strategist. His ultimate lets him summon a Ghostship, which travels on ground, until it crashes a set distance away, stunning and damaging enemy armies on that location. The Ghostship also bolsters allies with Kunkka's Rum, granting them bonus movement speed and temporary numbness to damage. Ghostship is difficult to land, due to the fixed distance of its cast point and the crash site of the ship. However, a good Ghostship absolutely cripples an enemy team. Capable of inflicting high burst damage with his spells, controlling their position while able to survive the mayhem when his spells are used properly, Kunkka is a mighty offensive team fighter, built with strong physical and magical damage output, who can indeed turn the tide of a battle.

Recommended items
Starting items:
 * is very useful on Kunkka as his spells are all very mana-costly. Being able to use more than once without running completely out of mana greatly increases his ability to lock down foes and score early kills.
 * and Healing Salve are basic regen requirements in all lanes but mid. Having flexible regen allows Kunkka to remain in lane without being harassed out.
 * increase Kunkka's base damage and HP, giving him more resilience and last-hitting power.
 * is a useful consumable to purchase as a mid Kunkka. The damage bonus gives him last-hitting power and allows him to splash more damage on his lane opponent with Tidebringer, and consuming it can give him some last-second burst HP regen that can save him during enemy gank attempts.

Early game:
 * are important on all heroes, but can be quite important on Kunkka for getting in position to cast on foes at early levels.
 * is useful on all heroes. On Kunkka, it can help alleviate his mana issues by giving him some burst mana regen for casting his spells.
 * is effectively mandatory if Kunkka is to be played mid. A Bottle is extremely useful for replenishing Kunkka's small mana pool, and can be easily replenished using X and a teleport to base.
 * gives Kunkka a measure of mana regen and some more HP and base damage, enhancing his power as a roamer-disabler. The item's active can be used to heal yourself or teammates, or add more damage in a gank.

Core items:
 * are the best boots for Kunkka, as they give him bonus damage with which he can last-hit more easily, as well as increasing the effectiveness of . The active also increases his mobility, allowing him to more easily get into position to cast his spells.
 * is powerful for all the same reasons as Magic Stick, 255 burst HP regen is very powerful and 255 burst mana is enough to allow Kunkka to cast any of his spells.
 * is a very powerful initiating item to get on Kunkka, as it allows him to inflict an additional 175 damage to the entire enemy team when combined with Tidebringer. As well, it can be used for mobility or escape as demanded.
 * gives Kunkka stats and bonus movement speed.
 * is mandatory on all heroes. On Kunkka, it can be used to show up to teamfights, and in clutch situations be used after casting X Marks the Spot on yourself to temporarily relocate yourself to another part of the map.

Situational items:
 * increases the cleave percentage of Tidebringer, while also adding a cleave that can be used while Tidebringer is on cooldown. It also gives Kunkka good health and mana regeneration, allowing him to remain out in the field for longer without returning to base.
 * is useful both for increasing Kunkka's survivability and damage output, especially in situations where the enemy is trying to lock Kunkka down to prevent him from casting his spells.
 * is an extremely powerful damage item in the hands of Kunkka, who can additionally benefit from building more than one to increase the proc chance. If his damage is high enough and he procs a crit alongside Tidebringer, Kunkka can potentially slay multiple enemy heroes with a single slash of his sword.
 * provides some Strength and evasion, and allows you to disarm the enemy's carry in a teamfight. It is useful for giving Kunkka some damage alongside survivability against physical damage.
 * reduces enemy armor, allowing you and your allies to deal more damage, while giving an armor and attack speed boost at the same time. While it lacks synergy with your spells and abilities, the aura it provides should never be underestimated.
 * provides a lot of extra health and regeneration, and helps Kunkka recover from fights almost immediately. It's especially useful if you're always being focused in teamfights. As well, the additional base damage can help you inflict damage with Tidebringer as it can be augmented by percentage-based damage buffs from certain allies.
 * adds more strength to Kunkka, giving more attack damage and a potential slow to proc on an attack. The Break component of Silver Edge can make killing certain enemy heroes easier, such as Phantom Assassin or Viper.
 * , combined with X Marks the Spot, greatly extends Kunkka's reach when attacking with Tidebringer, and is useful no matter what role he plays. He can X himself and then blink forward, casting any spells or attacking with Tidebringer, and then returning to safety. Used by itself, Kunkka can instantly position himself in the best location from which to cleave the enemy, or jump within range to cast X on a foe during an initiation.
 * frees up an item slot for Kunkka, giving him room to build another major item if needed, and allows him to use X for temporary returns to base without using 75 gold each time. The ability to globally re-position is also very powerful, and the enhanced movement speed gives him better positioning, chasing and escaping ability.
 * improves Kunkka's stats across the board and greatly improves the utility of Ghostship. Because the boat will spawn directly on Kunkka and drag any nearby enemies, it can immediately place the Rum buff on Kunkka and create distance between him and any nearby opponents. Most importantly, halving the impact delay allows Kunkka to use the spell more effectively and greatly improves the odds of landing a successful boat.
 * boosts Kunkka's casting power, making all of his nukes much more formidable. It improves Kunkka's mana pool while also providing HP regen to keep his health topped up. The increased casting range on all of his spells allows him to get off disables and nukes from farther away, while the spell damage amplification improves the damage they deal.
 * is a good mid-game utility item. Its aura provides armor, HP and mana regen, bonus damage and lifesteal to Kunkka and all nearby allies, giving them a useful edge in teamfights. It is very strong when combined with Ghostship's Rum buff, as the armor and lifesteal auras' effectiveness are doubled due to the reduced damage that teammates are taking.
 * can be a powerful purchase to enhance Kunkka's survivability. The armor, HP and damage block all work to give Kunkka great resistance against physical damage, allowing him to weather attacks and get his spells off in fights more easily. More importantly though, the item's active ability can be used alongside Ghostship's Rum buff to drastically increase your team's survivability during a fight, as any damage the enemy inflicts will be greatly reduced prior to being halved by Rum.
 * is highly situational and very risky, but extremely powerful in Kunkka's hands. Combined with Tidebringer and a Daedalus, Kunkka can deal tremendous amounts of cleave damage and potentially wipe the entire enemy team under the right circumstances.

Trivia

 * Kunkka was named in honour of the artist who made numerous pieces of loading screen art for DotA and Dota 2.
 * Kunkka's official alternate/fun names were "Daelin Proudmoore", "CoCo", and "Captain Obvious". Daelin Proudmoore was a campaign boss in Warcraft III: Frozen Throne; his hero model is borrowed by Kunkka in DotA.
 * In his DotA biography, it is stated that some people called him "Jack Sparrow," but it was never seen as his name in-game. Jack Sparrow is the name of the main character in the Pirates of the Carribean movie franchise.
 * His rival hero taunts against, , and , and his allied lines for and , all come from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
 * His battle begin line kunk battlebegins 02.mp3 "Rough seas ahead, crew. Strap me to the mizzen when I give the word." is likely a reference to The Odyssey, where Odysseus commands his crew to strap him to the mast so he could hear the Sirens sing.