Shadow Shaman

Rhasta the Shadow Shaman is a ranged intelligence Hero mostly used as a pusher and disabler, wielding abilities that make pushing lanes more efficient. When his abilities are used in intelligent combos he has one of the longest disables in game. He is also capable of disabling multiple enemy heroes, allowing him to initiate encounters as well. Though very supportive in nature, until the late game Rhasta is capable of killing lone enemy heroes with the use of his entire skill set; meaning he is more difficult to gank than most other supports. Playing Rhasta well requires good knowledge of target priority and timing; and some minor micromanagement. His peak is mid-game, but he can continue to wreak havoc on enemies all throughout the match.

Tips

 * Shadow Shaman is a very powerful initiating disabler and pusher, who can fulfill both roles as a support or core. His farm priority mainly dictates how effective he can be in either role, with small differences in how he is played.
 * As a support, Shadow Shaman should focus on babysitting his team's safe lane carry and setting up kills with his disables. As he has two hard disables, getting close enough to the enemy off-laner can often ensure a kill if his teammates have enough damage output.
 * In general, if Shadow Shaman is played as a core, he is placed mid where he can get fast levels to make use of his spells early on. A mid Shadow Shaman should focus on maxing out Ether Shock to farm and harass, and attempt to get kills on the enemy mid once he is level 6.
 * Rhasta's spells have a very high mana cost. Build up your mana pool and mana regeneration with items or you may find yourself unable to cast anything in critical situations.
 * is a powerful damage nuke that must be unit targeted, hitting nearby enemy units according to its level. It is very inefficient at level 1, and should generally not be casted until at least level 3. Depending on how Shadow Shaman is played, it should either be maxed first for the nuke damage or secondary to his disables.
 * The high damage and low cooldown on Ether Shock allows Shadow Shaman to make quick work of creep waves and neutral camps, giving him a way to flash-farm and earn gold quickly while simultaneously pushing lanes.
 * is a potent disable since it will instantly hard-disable its target and eliminate their evasion as well as ability to cast spells or use items. In general at least one early level should be taken, but other levels may be forgone in favor of other abilities depending on the build.
 * Hex should always be the spell you use to initiate a gank, as its instant cast time prevents your target from reacting. This will further give you and your teammates a window with which to add further disables.
 * is a powerful channeled disable that can stun its target for up to 5 seconds. As with Hex, at least one early level should be taken to maximize Shadow Shaman's disable potential.
 * Priority between Hex and Shackles should depend on team composition, however Shackles is generally the better disable to max out first as its mana cost scales better. If your teammates have reliable damage output, holding the target in place for up to 5 seconds can allow them to deal large amounts of damage. However, keep in mind that unlike Hex, Shackles can be interrupted by silencing or stunning Shadow Shaman, so it is not as useful if there is a nearby enemy who can interrupt you.
 * Remember that Shackles deals weak damage over time on top of the stun duration. As such, it can add a measure of damage to a gank that Hex cannot.
 * summons ten snake wards that deal piercing damage to their targets. Serpent wards can make short work of incoming creep waves and deal tremendous amounts of damage to enemy towers over their long duration.
 * One of the most important features of Mass Serpent Ward is the box figure they are placed in. This allows Shadow Shaman to place the wards right on top of an enemy hero, trapping them in place if they do not have any mobility spells or items to displace themselves.
 * Rhasta's Mass Serpent Wards can be commanded. Beginners often neglect to control them, but even if Rhasta is dead he can have a big impact on a fight with intelligent use of his wards.
 * Depending on his farm priority, Shadow Shaman can build many items useful to himself and his team.
 * should be considered a core item on Shadow Shaman, no matter what role he is played in. Blink Dagger allows Shadow Shaman to instantly jump next to a gank target and disable them with Hex, preventing them from reacting during ganks. It should be rushed as quickly as possible as a core, and given priority to obtain as a support.
 * is an inferior but potent substitute for Blink Dagger. The extra intelligence gives Shadow Shaman more mana, and the active can be used on enemies and allies, not just on Shadow Shaman himself. Purchased as a supplement to Blink Dagger, it can also be used to break Linken's Sphere on a particularly slippery enemy player, or on Roshan prior to casting other disables.
 * can be useful on a ganking Shadow Shaman over a Bracer. It gives him the same amount of strength, making him less squishy, and the mana regen helps to maintain his mana pool. As he is a very strong disabler, Shadow Shaman can roam and get charges as a gank initiator, using the charges for additional damage in later ganks or to keep himself and his teammates at full HP for more pushing potential.
 * is a very useful item, as Mass Serpent Wards deal physical damage. Placing the armor debuff on an enemy after boxing them in with the wards will make short work out of almost any hero. As well, the active can be used on teammates to give them more armor, or on Roshan to make taking the Aegis easier.
 * is a powerful item on Shadow Shaman. The item itself grants Shadow Shaman more mobility, rectifying his poor base movement speed, and gives him more intelligence as well as powerful scaling mana regen to fuel his costly and spammable spells. Most importantly, however, the active can be used to disable an enemy from range and then place Mass Serpent Wards on top of them, easily boxing them in.
 * is a good utility item to purchase. It gives Shadow Shaman more intelligence, allowing him to cast spells more often, and the additional HP makes him less squishy. The long range on the active also allows Shadow Shaman to slow enemies from a great distance, adding yet another disable to his repertoire.
 * is a very powerful late-game item to purchase. On top of the extra stats, much larger mana pool, and scaling mana regen, the instant Hex can serve as a complement to your innate spell, giving you the ability to hard-disable a single target for up to 12 seconds.

Trivia

 * The name Rhasta is based on the Rastafarians, a follower of a religious movement in Jamaica known as Rastafari. In DotA, his hero model and dialogue had a strong Jamaican influence and style. But in Dota 2, his theme and style has undertaken a more Native American influence, mostly evident in his attire and accent.
 * Rhasta is also a Persian name and word that means "truth" or "path".