Sniper

Kardel Sharpeye the Sniper is a ranged agility 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. While he can be a nuisance to lane against, he is also extremely squishy early-game and requires supports to lane effectively. He scales extremely hard into the late game, dealing a remarkable amount of dps while sitting outside of harm's reach, almost permastunning heroes with his headshot. Though he is a rather frail hero, his potential in the hands of a good player and team is high.

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", "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 name in DotA, Kardel Sharpeye, is a reference to professional Counter-Strike player Kyle "Ksharp" Miller of team 3D, who is regarded for his skillful AWP (Sniper rifle) use.
 * Sniper's fun name in DotA was Vassili Zacjev/Zaitsev, a highly skilled Russian sniper who was active during World War 2.
 * Sniper's line "What a dum-dum!" is a pun on the dum-dum, or expanding bullet. It is designed to expand on impact in order to limit penetration and create a wound larger in diameter.
 * Sniper's eye wear was added to Team Fortress 2 on the 18th August 2011 as Sniper's Snipin' Glass.
 * Sniper and Gyrocopter have the fastest attack missile speed in the game, which is 3000. Coupled with his range, this makes him one of the best last-hitting heroes in the game.