Wraith King/Guide

Carry
Wraith King is most often played as a farming position 1. Unlike other traditional carries like or, he is equipped with a reliable stun and slow from the start with Wraithfire Blast. Therefore, paired up with an average support, your laning phase should have high kill potential from the get-go. To increase the likelihood you score a couple of kills, try to keep the creep equilibrium somewhere between your tier 1 tower and the side shop, in order to provide plenty of hiding spots for your support to initiate from the shadows. Don't forget to toggle off Vampiric Aura.

You can't be too wrong if you choose to max out Wraithfire Blast first, with a value point in your aura at level 2 for sustain, and maxing your Mortal Strike in second. However, if you don't require the additional burst (maybe the enemy offlaner has already fled) from extra levels in your nuke, you can also choose to skip extra levels in it and max out your critical strike first.

General

 * Due to Wraith King's sustainability, he usually should initiate fights and tank up some damage first. Sometimes, it is great to even die first, triggering Reincarnation which heavily slows every nearby enemy. At this point, the enemies usually either prepare to take him down again, or try to escape when they can't take him down a second time. This is the perfect opportunity for Wraith King's team to follow up and catch the enemies off-guard.
 * Besides these, dying last as Wraith King basically just wastes his Reincarnation, since he cannot do much on his own after respawning besides dying a second time right away.


 * Wraithfire Blast is a decent nuke early on, which also allows Wraith King to stun and slow at the same time. A perfect tool for ganks and team fights, it has a relatively low cooldown, but its relatively high mana cost does not allow it to be used frequently. It should be saved for when it is really needed.
 * Max Wraithfire Blast first if Wraith King wants to gank more often with teammates.


 * Wraith King may skip Vampiric Aura in the laning stage if he is doing well, investing in more offensive abilities to farm and gank.
 * Having Vampiric Aura active during the laning phase shifts the creeps equilibrium, since it also affects the allied lane creeps, forcing Wraith King to farm and fight closer to the enemy tower, which makes him more susceptible to enemy ganks in the early game. If no early pushes are planned, it should be toggled off until after the laning phase.
 * Vampiric Aura's life-stealing particles are hidden from the enemy so long as they do not have vision of Wraith King, so there isn't a need to toggle it off when jungling or ambushing to mask Wraith King's location.


 * Buy items that enhance attack speed, like, for more chance to crit. Or, buy items that reduce enemies armor, like , to deal more crit damage.
 * Wraith King gains skeleton charges when he keeps killing units, so he should consider mobility items like to help him reach different farming places.
 * Units killed by skeletons do not count toward building new skeleton charges. Wraith King has to land the last hits himself to gain charges.
 * Skeletons can attack and push by themselves, and do not need Wraith King to order them.
 * Skeletons do not block creep camps in the jungle from spawning.
 * Use Wraithfire Blast after Mortal Strike to order skeletons to attack desired target.
 * Since Wraith King has limited control over the skeletons, avoid using Mortal Strike near enemies who can clear them for gold and experience, like those with cleave.
 * Watch out for abilities like and  that apply dispel in an area to vaporize skeletons after they have reincarnated.
 * Usually, Wraith King should rely on farming lane creeps to build charges.
 * Otherwise, look for neutral camps like Troll Camp and Golem Camp which spawn more units for Wraith King to make skeletons.
 * Kobold Camp also has five easy creeps for Wraith King to clear in a short amount of time.


 * Reincarnation has quite a high mana cost for Wraith King's rather low mana pool and regeneration. It is best to always keep his mana pool high enough for Reincarnation to trigger, or to make sure that enough charges of his are present in case of an emergency.
 * Another possible solution to this problem is to have a, since it grants enough mana to sustain Reincarnation's mana cost when already having at least some left-over mana, unless the enemies have mana burning capabilities. The health loss from Soul Ring's active ability is usually not a problem thanks to Vampiric Aura.
 * It is generally beneficial for Wraith King to die first during a gank, as the slow only activates upon his death, which will greatly benefit his other team members. This prevents the enemies from effectively escaping or attacking back, allowing Wraith King's allies to pick off their targets with ease.
 * Additionally, if Wraith King is the last to die, the benefit of the slow is greatly reduced, as there would be no allies around to make the most of the slow.
 * The bonus works even while Wraith King is reincarnating himself. Allies will still enter Wraith form so long as they are within range of Wraith King when they perish.

Items
Starting items:
 * helps Wraith King sustain his health against lane harassment.
 * also restores health to Wraith King.
 * sustains mana so Wraith King can use Wraithfire Blast more often for early kills.
 * gives attributes like intelligence so Wraith King will have enough mana to use Wraithfire Blast twice at level 1.
 * provides passive health regeneration and burst mana to use Wraithfire Blast.
 * blocks some physical attacks to increase resilience in lane.

Early game:
 * allows Wraith King to get last hits easier. It also makes Mortal Strike hit harder against creeps which makes you clean camps and creep waves faster. It increases the effectiveness of Vampiric Aura when attacking creeps as well. It can be used to cut trees and move faster from one camp to another while farming the jungle.
 * can sometimes be the difference between a death and a kill. Its active usually grants enough mana to sustain Reincarnation. It also combos with toggle, as one can deactivate, use Magic Stick, and reactivate buying enough time for it to provide the 500 bonus hp.
 * provide an excellent boost of speed for any hero.

Mid game:
 * provides the same kind of benefit as the Magic Stick does, but it also provides a small amount of attributes. It makes great use of the earlier bought Iron Branches, making room for new items.
 * provides attack speed and attribute switching to make his limited mana pool go much further if the treads are switched to intelligence before casting a spell.
 * provides lots of damage at a reasonable cost, while the health drain is mitigated by Vampiric Aura and Reincarnation.
 * solves Wraith King's mobility issues, letting him engage and chase more effectively and giving him an escape after Reincarnating.

Late game:
 * shreds armor, boosting the damage output of Wraith King and his skeletons while improving Vampiric Aura's lifesteal.
 * grants attack speed and can efficiently clear out hordes of illusions and/or summoned units.
 * solves Wraith King's armor problems and gives bonus damage output to him, his teammates, and his skeletons.
 * grants spell immunity to protect Wraith King against disables and mana break, so he can survive and output damage.

Situational items:
 * provides decent armor and damage boost, while discouraging enemies from focusing and kiting him.
 * gives Wraith King strength, evasion, and status resistance to tank up, and lets him disarm an enemy carry, shutting down their primary source of damage output.
 * helps with farming and stacking skeleton charges, while making Wraith King a walking hazard that is difficult to ignore.
 * gives Wraith King high lockdown potential in combination with Wraithfire Blast, and the bash lets him manfight more effectively.
 * can guarantee an ultimate cast or some extra damage for Wraith King and his teammates, but its stats are of little benefit to Wraith King himself.
 * is highly situational, as it allows to potentially use Reincarnation twice in a fight allowing him to deal damage for longer periods of time.
 * grants damage that synergizes with Vampiric Aura and Mortal Strike, and is not dropped if Reincarnation activates; combine with Aegis of the Immortal and/or Refresher Orb for best results.

Wraith King/Guia Wraith King/Руководство 冥魂大帝/攻略