Sniper

Sniper is a ranged hard carry who excels at dealing heavy damage at an incredible range. His third ability, Take Aim, allows him to deal high DPS at a safe distance, and avoiding damage as he is relatively frail. He also excels at harassing enemies, due to his second ability, Headshot, which gives him a chance to do extra damage and mini-stun, and his first ability, Shrapnel, which slows and deals damage over time in an area. This makes him especially efficient in Mid lane, and with sufficient rune control, Sniper can make a deadly hero to be laning against, especially if you are a melee hero, such as Pudge, or Bloodseeker, given that the correct precautions are made. He also scales quite nicely into late game, being able to slow and/or mini-stun fleeing heroes so they can be ganked. Though he is a rather frail hero, due to his potential in the hands of a good player and team, he is recommended for intermediate players.

Trivia

 * A number of Sniper's lines are either direct quotations or paraphrases of lines used by the Sniper class in Team Fortress 2, a popular class-based shooter also by Valve. Such phrases include: "Thanks for standing still, wanker!", "Let's have a go at it", "Jarate!", "Professionals have standards", "I am polite and efficient", and "As long as there's two heroes on the battlefield, someone is gonna want someone dead".
 * Sniper's fun name in Dota Allstars was Vassili Zacjev/Zaitsev, name of a near legendary Russian Sniper, one of the best snipers in the history of war.
 * Sniper's eyewear was added to Team Fortress 2 on the 18th August 2011 as Sniper's Snipin' Glass.