Shadow Shaman

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Animations

 

Lore

 

Unreleased Content

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Shadow Shaman #17 23 + 2.3 16 + 1.6 25 + 3.5
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 20 526 1230 2000 2286 +1 +3.3 +6.52 +10.02 +11.37 Mana 80 380 968 1532 1760 +0 +1.25 +3.7 +6.05 +7.03 Armor 3 5.67 9.4 14.07 15.73 Magic Resist 25% 27.5% 32.4% 37.1% 39.05% Damage Block - Damage 40 47 65 72 114 121 161 168 180 187 Attack Rate 0.53/s 0.62/s 0.76/s 0.92/s 0.98/s Attack Range 400 (750) Attack Speed ▶️ 90 (1.7s BAT) Attack Animation 0.3 + 0.5 Projectile Speed 900 Move Speed ▶️ 285 ( 315) Turn Rate 0.6 Collision Size 27 Bound Radius 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 ( 800) Gib Type Default Internal npc_dota_hero_shadow_shaman

Summons powerful serpent wards to deal damage.
Shadow Shaman quickly clears the way for his team's forces to march on the enemy base. Blasting enemies with Ether Shocks, interrupting attackers with Hexes, transforming his foe into a chicken, while locking down another with physical Shackles — but not before conjuring up powerful Mass Serpent Wards. Spitting fire in every direction, the Shadow Shaman's charmed snakes make short work of his disabled enemies.
Roles:	Support Pusher Disabler Nuker Initiator
Complexity:
Adjectives:	BadTeeth, Nose Legs ( 2 )

Bio

Rhasta, the Shadow Shaman

▶️ "I am the intermediary between life and death."

Lore:

Born in the Bleeding Hills, Rhasta was just a starving youngling when picked up by a travelling con-man. For two pins of copper, the old con-man would tell your fortune. For three, he'd castrate your pig, for five, he'd circumcise your sons. For a good meal, he'd don his shaman garb, read from his ancient books, and lay a curse upon your enemies. His strange new youngling, part hill troll, part…something else, worked as assistant and lent an air of the exotic to the con-man's trade.

Always one step ahead of cheated customers, one town ahead of a pursuing patronage, the two trekked across the blighted lands until one day the con-man realized that the little youngling could actually do what he only pretended at. His ward had a gift—a gift that customers valued. And so the youngling Rhasta was thrust before the crowds, and the trade-name Shadow Shaman was born. The two continued from town to town, conjuring for money as Shadow Shaman's reputation grew. Eventually, the pair's duplicitous past caught up with them, and they were ambushed by a mob of swindled ex-clients. The con-man was slain, and for the first time, Rhasta used his powers for darkness, massacring the attackers. He buried his beloved master, and now uses his powers to destroy any who would seek to do him harm.

Aliases:

Rhasta, SS

Voice:

Gary Schwartz (Responses)

Abilities

Ether Shock

▶️QR

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

Creates a cone of ethereal energy that strikes multiple enemy units.

Cast Animation: 0.3+1.23

Cast Range: 600

Starting Radius: 200

Max Distance: 600

End Radius: 300

Number of Targets: 3/5/7/9

Damage: 140/200/260/320 ( 540/600/660/720)

 14/12/10/8

 90/105/120/135

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked fully only when primary target.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_shadow_shaman_ethershock

Death

Originally used to open shows with the travelling con-man, Rhasta's lightning display shocks adversaries in more ways than one.

• With the starting radius, max distance, and end radius, Ether Shock can hit units up to 1100 range away.

• The complete area is shaped like a cone in front of Shadow Shaman.
  • The area starts in front of Shadow Shaman, and not at the primary target's position.
  • Targets within the cone area are not chosen randomly. It chooses the closest valid targets to the primary target within the cone.

• All strikes together can deal up to 420/1000/1820/2880 ( 1620/3000/4620/6480) damage (before reductions).

• The purpose of the modifier is unknown.

Hex

▶️▶️WD

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Instant Kill

Transforms an enemy unit into a harmless creature, disabling their attacks and abilities and amplifying the damage they receive.

Cast Animation: 0+1.13

Cast Range: 550

Set Move Speed: 100

Damage Amp: 10%/15%/20%/25% ( 20%/25%/30%/35%)

Duration: 2/2.3/2.6/2.9

 Break Duration: 2/2.3/2.6/2.9

 24/20/16/12

 110/140/170/200

Modifiers [?]

modifier_shadow_shaman_voodoo

Strong

Rhasta often ended performances by turning himself into a chicken - now, the humiliation is shared.

▶️ Chicken model

• Applies a hex on the target, setting its base movement speed to 100, while silencing, muting, disarming and applying Break to it.
  • However, the target's movement speed can still be affected by movement speed bonuses from items and abilities.
  • Hex does not apply movement speed slow. Therefore, all movement speed increasing and reducing effects are calculated using the 100 base speed.

• Applies generic incoming damage amplification on the hexed target.
  • Stacks additively with other sources of generic incoming damage manipulation.
  • Affects all damage types the target receives. Does not amplify damage flagged as HP removal.

• Hex instantly destroys illusions.
  • Treat strong illusions as heroes.

• Shadow Shaman's Hex transforms the target into a chicken.
  • COSMETIC
    The Lamb to the Slaughter and the Golden Lamb to the Slaughter change the hexed model into a lamb.

Shackles

▶️EE

Ability
Target Unit / Channeled

Affects
Enemies / Self

Damage
Physical

physically binds an enemy unit so that it cannot move or attack, absorbing their life energy over time.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0

Cast Range: 450 ( 525)

Max Channel Time: 2.4/3/3.6/4.2 ( 3.4/4/4.6/5.2)

Total Damage: 75/150/225/300 ( 245/320/395/470)

Total Self Heal: 75/150/225/300 ( 245/320/395/470)

 Number of Serpent Wards: 4

 Wards Duration: 6

 16/14/12/10

 125/140/155/170

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Shackles creates 4 Serpent Wards attacking the target. Increases Shackles cast range by 75. Serpent wards lasts 6 seconds.

Debuff Immunity Notes:

True Sight pierces debuff immunity.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Neither reflect Shackles nor interrupt the current cast.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_shadow_shaman_shackles

Strong

Ability Draft Notes:

Mass Serpent Ward must be drafted as well for Serpent Wards to spawn.

A self-defense incantation, Rhasta developed shackles after his master was slain in the Bleeding Hills.

• Stuns the target as long as the channeling time.
  • If the target turns invulnerable or hidden, the channeling stops instantly.

• Provides True Sight over the target as long as the channeling time.
  • It also provides 200 radius caster vision of the Shackled target for 2.4/3/3.6/4.2 seconds, even after it is canceled.

• Deals damage in 0.1-second intervals, starting immediately as the channel begins, resulting in 24/30/36/42 ( 34/40/46/52) damage instances.
  • The damage per interval can be defined as
    expr
    ΣShacklesDamage / MaxChannelTime / (1 / 0.1).
  • The duration increasing bonus from the talent is ignored.
  • This results in 3.125/5/6.25/7.143 ( 10.208/10.667/10.972/11.19) damage per interval, or 31.25/50/62.5/71.43 ( 102.08/106.67/109.72/111.9) damage per second.
  • Therefore, the final damage dealt (before reductions) is 75/150/225/300 ( 245/320/395/470).
  • TALENT
    • The damage increasing talent immediately updates the currently running instance.
    • With the duration increasing talent, it deals a total of 106.25/200/287.5/371.43 damage.
    • With both talents, it deals a total of 347.08/426.67/504.72/581.9 damage.

• The heal is calculated in the same way as the damage and is applied after each damage instance.
  • Always heals for the full amount per interval, regardless of how much damage the target actually takes.

• SHARD
  Shackles now places a total of 4 Serpent Wards based on its current level, 100 range towards the target's north, east, south, and west.
  • The wards summoned has a fixed 6-second duration, and it is not based on the total channel time.
  • The wards' facing angle is set equal to Shadow Shaman's facing angle upon cast.
  • The wards are ordered to attack the target upon creation, but they can be controlled by the player following Mass Serpent Wards' notes.
  • All of Serpent Wards' talents and Aghanim's Scepter upgrade notes are fully applied as well.

• Serpent Wards are not summoned in the following conditions:
  • If Mass Serpent Ward is not learned.
  • If the first damage instance kills the affected target.
• SPELL STEAL
   / 
  MORPH NOTES
  Serpent Wards summoned are based on Shadow Shaman's current ability level when acquired.

Serpent Wards' formation.

Serpent Ward
Summoned Ward
Health 4 +0 ⤷ 6HP This unit has no mana. Level 3 Duration 45 Armor 0 Magic Resistance 0% Status Resistance 0 Attack Damage ▶️ Piercing 50/85/120 ( 75/110/145) Attack Range 650 ( 790) Acquisition Range 650 ( 790) Attack Speed 100 • 1.5s BAT Attack Animation 0.3+0.4 Projectile Speed 900 Turn Rate 1 Collision Size 36 Bound Radius 16 Vision Range (G) 1200 • 800 Bounty 22–30 Experience 31

Mass Serpent Ward

▶️RW

Ability
Target Point

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical
( Instant Attack)

Summons 10 Serpent Wards to attack enemy units and structures. The Wards are immune to magic.

Cast Animation: 0.3+0.97

Cast Range: 550

Spawn Radius: 150

Number of Serpent Wards: 10

Hero Attacks to Destroy: 2 ( 3)

Creep Attacks to Destroy: 4 ( 6)

Wards Duration: 45

 Split Shot Search Radius: 650 ( 790)

 Bonus Attack Targets: 1

 110

 200/350/550

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Causes Serpent Wards to have split shot, attacking two units for full damage.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_shadow_shaman_serpent_ward

Death

Snake charming was a big part of the Shadow Shaman's act; now Rhasta can empower the Snakes to do his bidding.

• Places a Serpent Ward on every 36°th of a 150 radius circle, resulting in 10 wards forming a ring.
  • The wards form a perfect barrier, enemies inside cannot move out unless they have phased movement.
  • Destroying one ward is enough to allow units to walk in and out of the ring.
  • The wards' facing angle is set equal to Shadow Shaman's facing angle upon cast.

• Serpent Wards can be controlled to attack a specific target or to stop attacking altogether.

• Serpent Wards have a lower target priority than other units and heroes, so they are attacked by towers and creeps last.
  • Roshan always prioritizes wards if there are no other units within his attack range. Strength of the Immortal also instantly destroy Serpent Wards.

• Treat attacks from towers as heroes, and creep-heroes as creeps.

• The wards' attack damage is not reduced by damage block.

• SCEPTER
  The wards now perform instant attacks on 1 different enemy target within their attack range whenever they launch an attack projectile.
  • An extra projectile is released at the same time together with the primary attack.
  • Therefore, it does not matter whether the primary attack misses or not, the extra projectile is still released.
  • The extra projectile travels at the same speed as the primary projectile and can be disjointed like regular attacks.
  • These instant attacks neither proc any attack modifiers nor on-hit effects normally.
  • They do not have True Strike and are affected by evasion.
  • The extra attack does not target wards, invisible units, untargetable units, or units inside the Fog of War, but they do target buildings.
  • The extra attack has no target priorities. It simply chooses a random valid target within its attack range.
  • Acquiring Aghanim's Scepter instantly upgrades all current existing Serpent Wards.

Talents

Hero Talents
+25 Wards Attack Damage	25	+400 Ether Shock Damage
+1 Serpent Wards Max HP	20	Hex Breaks
+1s Shackles Duration	15	+140 Serpent Wards Attack Range
+10% Hex Damage Amplification	10	+170 Shackles Total Damage

Recent Changes

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore

<div> <div class="updatetablehead"> <div id="version">Version</div><div id="description">Description</div> </div> <div class="updatetablebody">

7.35

• Increased base armor from 2 to 3.
• Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
  • Reduced Shackles Serpent Ward duration from 7 to 6.

• Talents:
• LVL 10

   

  -2s Hex cooldown ➜ +10% Hex incoming damage amplification.

7.34e

• Increased Hex enemy incoming damage amplification from 5%/10%/15%/20% to 10%/15%/20%/25%.

7.34c

• Increased Hex cast range from 500 to 550.
• Reduced Mass Serpent Ward cooldown from 130/120/110 to 110 on each level.

</div> </div>

Recommended Items

Starting items:

• Tango regenerates health to Shadow Shaman so he can stay in lane.
• Healing Salve restores health to Shadow Shaman or his carry.
• Clarity is essential in ensuring that you have mana to cast your disables in the laning stage. Being able to get off both of your disables in a gank go a long way towards ensuring successful kills.
• Iron Branch is good for cheap stats, and can be sold for inventory space or built into a Magic Wand.
• Observer Ward provides map vision for his team.
• Magic Stick ensures that Shadow Shaman has burst regen available when needed. 150 mana is enough to cast Hex if it is level 2 or lower, same for Shackles.
• Boots of Speed are important in allowing Shadow Shaman to close the gap with a target and disable them. Acquiring Boots before your opponents can often make the difference between getting a kill.

Early game:

• Magic Wand has all the benefits of Magic Stick, as well as more stats and a higher amount of burst regen. It is important no matter whether Shadow Shaman is played as a core or support.
• Arcane Boots increases the size of Shadow Shaman's mana pool and gives him some burst mana regen; Shadow Shaman often casts his spells as a combo, so he tends to run out very quickly if not furnished with a means of mana regen.
• Veil of Discord will give Shadow Shaman good attributes, mana regeneration and will allow his Ether Shock, Shackles, and Mass Serpent Wards to deal bonus damage to the enemies affected by it.

Mid game:

• Blink Dagger should be considered a core item on Shadow Shaman, no matter what role he is played in. Blink Dagger allows Shadow Shaman to instantly jump on top of a gank target and disable them with Hex, preventing them from reacting during ganks. It should be rushed as quickly as possible as a core, and given priority to obtain as a support.
• Blade Mail gives Shadow Shaman extra armor and allows him to return all the damage to those who attack him for it's duration. It also can be used while channeling Shackles.
• Glimmer Cape is a strong utility item that benefits Shadow Shaman in many aspects. It can be used to help with initiation by allowing Shadow Shaman to approach enemies invisibly, and allows him to protect teammates that are caught out of position by casting invisibility on them. The invisibility also allows Shadow Shaman to protect himself while channeling Shackles on an enemy, reducing the chances of being disabled by unit-targeted spells.
• Aether Lens is extremely powerful in Shadow Shaman's hands, and can be easily obtained through disassembling Arcane Boots. Besides granting some mana regen, the cast range increase allows Shadow Shaman to disable enemies from farther away, making him a much bigger threat in ganks and fights.

Late game:

• Blink Dagger should be considered a core item on Shadow Shaman, no matter what role he is played in. Blink Dagger allows Shadow Shaman to instantly jump on top of a gank target and disable them with Hex, preventing them from reacting during ganks. It should be rushed as quickly as possible as a core, and given priority to obtain as a support.
• Aghanim's Scepter should generally be considered a core item on a farming Shadow Shaman, but luxury for a support Shadow Shaman. The upgrade it grants will give Shadow Shaman bonus attributes, health and mana, and will allow Mass Serpent Ward to gain split shot that will allow Mass Serpent Wards to attack two enemy units at once for full damage.
• Aghanim's Shard allows Shadow Shaman to summon four Mass Serpent Wards once he uses Shackles on an enemy hero, allowing him to deal some more damage to them. It also increases cast range for Shackles, allowing him to disable an enemy hero from afar.
• Refresher Orb allows for two instances of Mass Serpent Wards, which is hugely useful for siege damage and encounters.
• Linken's Sphere will give Shadow Shaman great attributes, bonus health and mana regeneration, good damage output and a spellblock that can protect him from enemies trying to cancel channeling of Shackles with single-targeted abilities every 12 seconds.

Situational items:

• Urn of Shadows can be useful on a ganking Shadow Shaman over a Bracer. It gives him the same amount of strength, making him less squishy, and the mana regen helps to maintain his mana pool. As he is a very strong ganker, Shadow Shaman can roam and get charges easily, using them for additional Pure damage in later ganks or to keep himself and his teammates at full HP for more pushing potential.
• Tranquil Boots are a situational alternative to Arcane Boots as a support Shadow Shaman. Not only are they cheaper, but they provide increased movement speed for positioning for casting disables on the enemy. The passive health regeneration also helps ensure that Shadow Shaman is at full health at the beginning of fights.
• Medallion of Courage is a very useful item, as Mass Serpent Wards deal physical damage. Placing the armor debuff on an enemy after boxing them in with the wards will make short work out of almost any hero. As well, the active can be used on teammates to give them more armor, or on Roshan to make taking the Aegis easier. It can also be upgraded into a Solar Crest to augment its bonuses even more.
• Ghost Scepter is useful to purchase on squishy casters like Shadow Shaman. Giving himself invulnerability to physical damage can buy time if the enemy attempts to focus down Shadow Shaman with physical attacks, allowing him to retaliate with his disables and nukes.
• Shadow Blade is an alternative to Blink Dagger, as it gives Shadow Shaman mobility, attack speed and an escape mechanism. It can also be used to prepare a surprise attack on an unsuspecting enemy hero.
• Ethereal Blade gives Shadow Shaman an capability to disarm an enemy hero and to greatly amplify damage from Ether Shock and Shackles, it also gives Shadow Shaman a tool to defend himself against heroes reliant on dealing physical damage to be effective. However, Mass Serpent Wards will not be able to damage ethereal targets as their damage is physical instead of magical.
• Force Staff is an inferior but potent substitute for Blink Dagger. The extra intelligence gives Shadow Shaman more mana, and the active can be used on enemies and allies, not just on Shadow Shaman himself. Purchased as a supplement to Blink Dagger, it can also be used to break Linken's Sphere on a particularly slippery enemy player, or on Roshan prior to casting other disables. Later it can be upgraded into Hurricane Pike which can also give Shadow Shaman extra attack range.
• Eternal Shroud gives Shadow Shaman great magic resistance. And also allows him to convert all the spell damage inflicted onto him into mana.
• Dagon will give Shadow Shaman good attributes, spell lifesteal that will allow him to heal himself with using abilities and an extra magical damage burst to finish off enemy heroes.
• Assault Cuirass gives Shadow Shaman good attack speed and great armor while it also reduces armor of enemy heroes and buildings, making them more vulnerable to damage from Mass Serpent Wards.
• Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a powerful item on Shadow Shaman. The item itself grants Shadow Shaman more mobility, rectifying his poor base movement speed, and gives him more intelligence as well as powerful scaling mana regen to fuel his costly and spammable spells. Most importantly, however, the active can be used to instantly disable an enemy from range and then place Mass Serpent Wards on top of them, easily boxing them in.
• Rod of Atos is a good utility item to purchase. It gives Shadow Shaman more intelligence, allowing him to cast spells more often, and the additional HP makes him less squishy. The long range on the active also allows Shadow Shaman to root enemies from a great distance, adding yet another disable to his repertoire. Later it can be upgraded into Gleipnir for a passive chain lightning and for a root in a area.
• Scythe of Vyse is a very powerful late-game item to purchase. On top of the extra stats, much larger mana pool, and scaling mana regen, the instant Hex can serve as a complement to Shadow Shaman's innate spell, giving him the ability to hard-disable a single target for up to 12 seconds.
• Octarine Core gives Shadow Shaman many strong benefits. It gives him more HP and mana, and reduces the cooldowns on all of his abilities, making him a much bigger threat with his spammable nukes and disables. If the increased shackle duration talent is taken, shadow shaman can achieve permanent shackles, preventing any retaliation from solo heroes or allowing allies as much time as they need to get in position.
• Shiva's Guard gives Shadow Shaman a much larger mana pool, as well as armor for survivability. The active can be used to slow enemies down on top of his other disables, further contributing to his teamfight potential.

Dota Plus Progress

Main Article: Hero Challenges

Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.

Relics	Voice Lines
Multi Hero Ether Shocks Max Duration Shackles Shackled Enemies Killed Mass Serpent Ward Shackle Kills Creep Tower Damage Blinks Leading To Kills Channels Cancelled Triple Kills Mega Kill Streaks Dust of Appearance Leading To Kills Towers Destroyed Wards Placed Kill Assists Kills	Bronze	▶️ Ha ha ha! ▶️ My prayers are answered.
	Silver	▶️ Bukaw, bukaw! ▶️ I see for you a future full of death!
	Gold	▶️ You're not going anywhere. ▶️ Heh ha ha hah, how refreshing!
	Platinum	▶️ Tastes like chicken!
	Master	▶️ Au-mosu-atikanu!
	Grandmaster	▶️ Beat you like a drum!

Equipment

Shadow Shaman Equipment (expand sets) Sets Bantam Blaze   Dancer of the Spiteful Eye   Eki Spiritual Implements Set   Endowments of the Lucent Canopy   Endurance of the Bogmarch   Favors of the Shamanic Light   Garb of Shades   Mystic Instruments of Tang-Ki   Red Sands Marauder   The Mysterious Vagabond Set   The True Crow Weapon Pack Eki Bukaw Wand Pack Weapon Golden Lamb to the Slaughter   Lamb to the Slaughter Off-Hand Censer of Gliss   Crimson Censer of Gliss Head Lash of the Lizard Kin   Lash of the Lizard Kin of the Crimson Witness Belt Cauldron of Summons Taunt Taunt: Shaman Dance

Trivia

• The name Rhasta is based on the Rastafarians, a follower of a religious movement in Jamaica known as Rastafari.
  • In DotA, his hero model and dialogue had a strong Jamaican influence and style. But in Dota 2, his theme and style have undertaken a more Native American influence, mostly evident in his attire and accent.

• Rhasta is also a Persian name and word that means "truth" or "path".

• Lash of the Lizard Kin, may be a reference to Pollywog Priest, who is Heroes of Newerth's direct port of Shadow Shaman. The Pollywog Priest is a frog-themed hero who, just like Shadow Shaman with the immortal, uses its tongue for its equivalent ability of Shackles (named Tongue Tied), instead of a physical net.

• Some of Rhasta's voice lines may suggest he is well versed in the art of augury, an ancient form of divining the future. In some cultures, it is believed that reading the entrails of ritual sacrifice victims could predict the future.

Gallery

• 

  Concept art (final)

• 

  Ability icon progress

• 

  Hero icon progress