Spirit Breaker

Barathrum the Spirit Breaker is a powerful ganker type melee strength Hero that concentrates on taking out single targets, while lacking in larger team fights. His Charge of Darkness lets him charge towards any target available, while knocking off all enemies in his path. If you see the charge coming, it may already be too late. He is picked mostly for his high damage given by his Greater Bash which crushes the life out of his helpless victims. Barathrum can instantly and quickly move to his enemy via Nether Strike and shock them with a soul-bashing blow. Tanky, mobile and with an array of high-damage knockbacks, including a passive one attached to his right clicks, Spirit Breaker's ganking capabilities are second to none.

Gameplay
Spirit Breaker plays like most ganker Heroes: he singles out a target and deals as much damage as possible while trying not to get killed himself. Charge of Darkness is the go-to gank initiator. It grants vision of the target, and causes him to move very fast towards them, then stuns and deals damage while also disabling enemies that get in his way. Although issuing a move or attack command while charging will cancel it, some items can be activated while charging (such as Black King Bar), thereby adding to Barathrum's power. If Barathrum is disabled while charging, the charge will be cancelled, meaning he needs to pay attention and avoid being stunned. Players will not see a debuff when being charged, making him more of a surprise. Charge of Darkness can also be used to grant vision of the target. If Barathrum charges an invisible enemy, they will still be stunned and will give shared vision, but will not be revealed. Once hit, he can follow up with his ultimate, Nether Strike, another disable that deals high damage and a knockback after a short delay. His aura, Empowering Haste increases his movement speed dramatically. Greater Bash has a universal 17% chance to stun the target, while also dealing damage based on Spirit Breaker's movement speed. This means any items that increase movement speed and attack speed, such as Mask of Madness or Drum of Endurance synergize perfectly with this ability. With a bit of luck, he can cause considerable damage in a short period of time without using either of his active abilities.

Recommended items
Starting:
 * and a help Spirit Breaker sustain during the laning phase, preventing him from returning to base due to enemy harassment.
 * will greatly reduce incoming damage from physical damage during the laning phase. This is most helpful when the lane has one or more ranged heroes harassing consistently.
 * is a cheap and effective way to improve Spirit Breaker's low mana pool, as well as his health pool.

Early-game:
 * are essential for Spirit Breaker, as the improved speed will allow him to escape deadly situations, as well as catching up to an escaping enemy. The bonus movement speed will also provide additional damage because of.
 * is a useful burst health/mana item if the enemies in lane will be casting many spells. It can later be built into a.
 * is a helpful item when roaming or ganking. Assuming a gank is successful, Spirit Breaker can use the Urn of Shadows to heal without returning to the fountain. The bonus mana regeneration also allows him the ability to use far more frequently.

Core items:
 * give additional attack speed, as well as durability and damage, all of which increase the effectiveness of.
 * is good for burst health/mana while providing a boost to his attributes compared to the.
 * gives bonus attack speed and movement speed when activate, increasing both the damage and frequency of attacks.
 * makes you immune to many abilities that interrupt your, allowing you to engage and damage your target unimpeded.

Situational items:
 * improves by greatly reducing it's cooldown, as well as increasing its range. It also causes all nearby units to be hit by . This can be a good choice if your team needs a powerful initiation spell.
 * will not only increase Spirit Breaker's durability from physical attacks because of the added evasion, it's active ability can disarm enemy carries relying on physical damage.
 * grants Spirit Breaker additional attack speed and damage output at the cost of his health every second. However, the life drain can mostly be countered by the lifesteal given by the Mask of Madness, making it a useful purchase when used correctly.
 * will give Spirit Breaker a large increase in attack speed, as well as providing an attack speed/armor aura to nearby allies. The extra attack speed will cause to occur more frequently.
 * will grant a significant damage bonus on when the bash occurs. This synergizes well with the other attack speed items used to increase the frequency of.
 * increases the movement speed and attack speed of both himself and his team. The bonus movement speed and attack speed synergize well with.
 * gives Spirit Breaker the largest single-item-slot increase in attack speed in the entire game, which causes to occur very frequently. Thus, it should be considered to keep it through the majority of the game until a more effective item can be purchased, at which point the Shard can be consumed and replaced - The attack speed bonus will be halved, but having a permanent 60 attack speed bonus without needing an inventory slot for it is extremely useful.
 * grants you invisibility which could be useful for escape or to further increase your ganking/roaming capabilities. Attacking to break invisibility will disable enemy passives, reduce their damage, and give you a powerful 225 strike. Additionally, it has a chance to slow enemy movement and attack speed for 4 seconds, making him harder to escape. It also grants 16 points of Spirit Breaker's primary attribute, Strength.
 * also gives you invisibility while also making you much more magic resistant during the invisibility, making escapes significantly easier, and can be activated before using to avoid being interrupted without needing a . It also gives him attack speed and natural magical resistance, making him a stronger tank.
 * gives you good survivability stats and mana regen to allow you to use with little need to ever return to base for more mana. Its active will also make your initiation abilities stronger as spell casters will need to think twice before attacking to nuke you or shut you down.

Trivia

 * Barathrum's fun names are Roadrunner and Space-Cow, the latter of which is referenced by 's ally line: " earthspi ally 07.mp3 You aren't half bad, for a space cow." The line about the spirit breaker being a "Space-Cow" Is likely a reference to Astral Trekker, one of the famously imbalanced DotA heroes, whose model was reworked into the original Spirit Breaker model.
 * "Barathrum" means "underworld" in Latin.
 * His response Spir attack 03.mp3 "Rampage" might be a reference to who used to be his equivalent in Heroes of Newerth (most of the HoN hero abilities changed since the port)
 * Charge of Darkness' indicator is the astrological sign of Taurus, the Bull.

Gameplay
 Strategy & Tips Counters & Matchups

Audio
 Responses Sounds

History
 Lore Old Abilities Changelogs