Skeleton King

Ostarion the Skeleton King is a powerful Melee Hero, capable of taking plenty of damage before dying. His Ultimate allows him to rise again, acting almost like an Aegis of the Immortal, making him especially difficult to kill. Skeleton King is one of the more easier Carry Heroes, only requiring some farming ability to be powerful. He also has a simple nuke that deals reliable damage and stun while also able to stay in lane longer because of his lifestealing passive.

Skeleton King is a perfect hero for new players to learn about farming and lane control. He is recommended for new players.

Tips

 * Hellfire Blast is very good nuke, disable and slow at the same time. Perfect tool for ganks and team fights. It has a relatively low cooldown, so spam it if you have enough mana.
 * Vampiric Aura allows you to heal yourself simply by hitting enemies. Your melee allies also benefit from it. Scales nicely into the late game.
 * Learning Vampiric Aura during laning phase will shift the creeps equilibrium and you'll be forced to farm and fight under enemy tower. Good for pushing, but hurts your farm and puts you and your allies in disadvantageous position.
 * Critical Strike drastically increases Skeleton King's melee DPS. Synergizes well with Vampiric Aura, healing Skeleton King a big chunk of health every time he crits.
 * Reincarnation revives Skeleton King if he dies during the battle. Always make sure you have enough mana for this ability.
 * Hellfire Blast is usually maxed first and Reincarnation is taken as soon as possible. It's also recommended to take two levels of Stats on early levels to improve Skeleton King's mana pool and health.
 * Armlet and Soul Ring are commonly built for Skeleton King because Vampiric Aura allows him to heal up quickly after taking damage from these items.
 * Activate Phase Boots and Drum of Endurance at the same time and you'll have enough mobility to chase and kill.
 * Your battle strategy is very simple and straightforward - turn on Armlet, Phase Boots and any other items you may have, stun the weakest enemy with Hellfire Blast and keep hitting him till he dies. Repeat, if there are other enemy heroes nearby.
 * Grabbing a Force Staff can help make up for Skeleton King's lack of mobility while also providing utility and beneficial stats.
 * Divine Rapier is a very strong item on Skeleton King due to his high dps and great survivability with Reincarnation and Vampiric Aura. If you are losing, picking up this item can easily turn a game around.
 * Refresher Orb is highly recommended if you wish to be a baller. It allows you to potentially proc Reincarnation twice in a fight allowing you to carry any scrubs that may have found their way onto your team. Building a Divine Rapier immediately after your Refresher Orb, however, will cause you to begin balling out of control.

Trivia

 * Skeleton King's original name was Leoric, a reference to the King of Khanduras from the Diablo series.