Wraith King/Guide

Generic/Carry Wraith King
Wraith King is most often played as a farming position 1. Unlike other traditional carries like or, he is equipped with a reliable 2-second stun and slow from the start with. 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 your.

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 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.

For your starting items, you will need to figure out what you're up against. Wraith King has high base damage so you can definitely skip a, but it's useful in a contested lane, or if you transition to the jungle. A couple of es are necessary to have enough mana for two stuns at level 1, and they can be upgraded in a. es and a can be unnecessary if your aura provides enough sustain for you, but it's never a waste, and it can later be upgraded in a  then in an. You will only lose 100 gold if you sell the shield and re-buy it later, so don't ask yourself too many questions. Considering the low cooldown of Wraithfire Blast, maybe get yourself an that you can consume in the middle of a skirmish if it can net you a kill. Mangoes can be very valuable on Wraith King since you can also use them when you don't have enough mana for.

Wraith King's boots of choice are usually, but the only choice we wouldn't recommend are since you already have the sustain from your aura. For the same reason, and because you're a strength hero, your first major item can be. Thanks to your Reincarnation, you make an excellent initiator, so and  are good choices. is also a good item on Wraith King and the intelligence it provides is invaluable. Other mid-game items include, , ...

For the late game, there are few items we would not recommend. We've already mentioned. You will need a good attack speed to make the most out of it, both and  fill this gap. can help you push faster, can be necessary... If you are playing a position 1 and are the most farmed hero on your team, odds are  will be underwhelming. If you're against tons of mana-burning abilities, don't forget your level 25 talent removes the mana cost on your ultimate.

Jungling Wraith King
Like any other hero with good base damage and some built-in sustain, Wraith King can be played as a jungler. It is not a bad choice per se, but it can be a hindrance to your team, especially if you are against plenty of roamers.

Start off with an  and some es if you can afford them, take the value point in, and go hit some jungle creeps, starting with the small camp if it's not used for pulling. Add a or an upgraded  and you should now be able to stay close to full hp at all times. You can proceed to max out, but extra levels in your aura will not speed up your farm, so don't take anymore, therefore take a point in at level 4 at the latest.

Get a to react to enemy ganks. Since you will be full mana, look at your allies' lanes and figure out if there's any foe to gank. If there is, grab some and a  and warn your allies that you are coming.

If the game is going slowly, you can keep farming. Perhaps rush a to speed up your farm, then a  to speed it up even more. Once you have a radiance, consider an and a, as it will enable you to split-push the lanes... But it's not always the best idea !

Otherwise, you can rush the same items as you would on a generic Wraith King, Power Treads, Armlet and/or Blink. As a jungler, there is a high chance your Blink Dagger will not be scouted by the enemy team, enabling you to easily gank a key target.

A subtle detail: it is not necessarily the greatest idea to take a point in your ultimate as soon as possible. Since the ability is on such a long cooldown at level 1, you better not waste it. If you are getting ganked and you will definitely die twice without getting anything in return, you might as well die only once and have your Reincarnation ready for the next fight, where maybe it will make a difference.

General

 * reduces the reincarnation cooldown from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. With Aghanim Scepter you will be able to use your ultimate if it is under 7 seconds of cooldown with the death delay of your ghost so your ultimate will be ready every 23 seconds. If you get a Blade Mail, Radiance, Shiva and get the following talents: +200 HP at level 15, +20 strength at level 20 you will have almost infinite ultimate.
 * 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 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 as 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.
 * is highly situational, as it allows Ostarion to potentially use twice in a fight allowing him to deal damage for a longer period of time.
 * Picking up the after killing Roshan is an excellent idea. It essentially gives Wraith King a 3rd life, though  activates first as long as he has sufficient mana. If his mana is too low for Reincarnation, Aegis activates first instead.
 * should be considered if Wraith King is counter picked by illusions and mana burn, as the Chain Lightning and Static Shield is effective against them, as well as giving some protection and retaliation when he initiates. However, if illusions are the only problem, a  is a better choice as it gives health and mana regeneration as well as extra creep damage for.
 * When going for a, it should usually be used after having used Reincarnation, since enemies can surround him and prepare during the reincarnation delay and disable him before he can even do anything.
 * is a great pickup on since he doesn't have any teleportation or move speed skills to close the gap on enemies, and  allows you to blink into the fights and stun the most fragile enemy with, or to escape in tricky situations.


 * Wraithfire Blast} is a decent nuke early on, which also allows Ostarion to disable 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.
 * It is generally best to have Wraithfire Blast maxed first as both of Ostarion's passives are not very effective in the laning stage, since both are based on attack damage.


 * 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.


 * Unlike other sources of critical strike, Mortal Strike deals more damage against non-Hero units than against Heroes. If Wraith King has a source of cleave (e.g. ' or a ), he is potentially able to deal even more damage to Heroes indirectly through the splash damage than by actually attacking them head-on, especially if the enemy Heroes are under Armor-enhancing buffs.


 * Reincarnation has quite a high mana cost for a 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 Magic Stick 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:
 * and help Wraith King sustain his health against lane harassment.
 * gives Ostarion more opportunities to set up kills early on with Wraithfire Blast.
 * es give Wraith King enough mana pool to cast Wraithfire Blast two times at level 1.
 * is an excellent starting item for Ostarion as it allows him to get last hits easier. It also makes Mortal Strike hit harder against creeps which makes you clean camps and creep waves faster. Increases the effectiveness of Vampiric Aura when attacking creeps. It can be used to cut trees and move faster from one camp to another while farming the jungle.

Early-game items:
 * 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.

Core items:
 * 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 branches, making room for new items.
 * provides attack speed which is one of Ostarion's main needs. Attribute switching also make his limited mana pool go much further if the treads are switched to intelligence before casting a spell. Due to Mortal Strike and his already high base damage it is better to leave treads in agility form to achieve maximum dps. One can use strength if tanking is essential or if last hitting is difficult.
 * is a very cost efficient item which provides lots of damage at cost of health degen, however Vampiric Aura easily negates the health drain effect making it Ostarion's main core item.
 * solves another of Ostarion deficiency, mobility. It negates countering through kiting, helps with positioning, as well as moving across the maps quicker, thus increasing farm speed. Another possible trick is to instantly blink away after using, as Reincarnation delay and Dagger cooldown are both 3 seconds.

Situational:
 * gives massive attack and movement speed while debuff (silence and minus armor) doesn't hurts him at all. Lifesteal also stacks with his aura if he doesn't go for Desolator. can be a good choice if he decide to go for.
 * causes his physical attacks to hit harder, especially against targets with already low armor. Vampiric Aura also benefits greatly from it, as it heals based on dealt damage after armor reduction. It also helps pushing towers.
 * is a very situational item that you want to avoid. There are two situations, however, that it may be necessary: 1) Against heavy mana burn, which counters . 2) Being heavily kited even after buying . It is better to spend gold on items that give you more health and/or more damage, forcing the enemy team to spend their spells on you first, which creates space for your teammates during a teamfight.
 * increases his damage output by increasing his attack speed and further reducing enemy armor. The aura from this item also increases his team's armor and attack speed. Since Wraith King usually survives longer, the item's aura provides more impact. It has nice synergy with.
 * increases his attack speed and damage output and gives good active ability - Static Charge.
 * provides Ostarion a decent HP and some damage bonus, blocks 40 damage from incoming attacks and it also gives his attacks a chance to bash. On top of Wraithfire Blast another active stun which also pierces spell immunity provides immense control, which is very handy as he is easy to run away from.
 * gives Ostarion a great health, health regeneration, and attack damage boost, making him even harder to kill and harder to ignore. It also provides enough hp regen to compensate health drain.
 * gives Ostarion some evasion against enemies which rely on their physical attacks, and lets him cut off an enemy carry from their primary source of damage for a while.
 * increases Ostarion's attack damage, counters enemies with evasion abilities or items such as or, and provides him with a high chance to interrupt channeling spells when Wraithfire Blast is not an option.
 * is an excellent item for Ostarion to get due to it not dropping if Reincarnation activates upon death, thus making it less likely for him to lose it. When carrying the Aegis of the Immortal, Ostarion has to die 3 times to lose the Rapier. The great damage boost also increases his endurance by improving his lifesteal aura's returns.
 * is a useful item if he is playing a support character, as it makes him able to elongate his teammate's lives, potentially getting more kills or other objectives. It also provides overall decent stats.
 * is able to be consumed, granting him more attack speed and allowing him an effectively higher chance to proc Mortal Strike.