Sniper

Sniper

The Radiant

16 + 1.7 21 + 2.9 15 + 2.6

Level 1 16 25 Hit Points 454 967 1594 Mana 195 728 1261 Damage 36-42 81-87 125-131 Armor 1.94 8.24 14.4 Attacks / Second 0.71 0.97 1.23

Movement Speed 290 Turn Rate 0.6 Sight Range 1800/1000 Attack Range 550 Missile Speed 3000 Attack Duration 0.17+0.7 Cast Duration 0.3+0.51 Base Attack Time 1.7

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 also scales quite nicely into late game, being able build primarily damage items to deal very high damage at extreme range. Though he is a rather frail hero, his potential in the hands of a good player and team is high.

Bio

Kardel Sharpeye, the Sniper Play "Why am I smiling? This is what trigger-happy looks like." Role: Carry Lore: Kardel Sharpeye was born deep in the mountainous valleys of Knollen where, since time immemorial, the folk have survived by hunting the strange, cliff-dwelling steepstalkers above their village—killing them from a distance and collecting their carcasses where they fell. Sharpeye was among the best of these strange folk for whom projectile weapons are but another appendage, and to shoot is as natural as to touch. On his day of summoning, when he was to gain full standing in his village, Sharpeye took the ancient test: a single shot from the valley floor to strike a beast down from the cliffs. To miss was to be dishonored. With his entire village standing vigil, Sharpeye took his shot. A steepstalker fell; the crowd cheered. But when the carcass was collected, the village grew silent, for the elders found that the bullet had pierced its glittering central eye then fallen to be clenched in the steepstalker's mandibles. This ominous sign was the literal opening of a dark prophecy, foretelling both greatness and exile for the gunman who made such a shot. Sharpeye the Sniper was thus, by his own skill, condemned to make his way apart from his people—and unwelcome back among them until he has fulfilled the remainder of the prophecy by attaining legendary stature on a field of battle. Voice: Gary Schwartz (Responses)

Abilities

Shrapnel Q R Ability Affects Damage Target Point Enemies Magical Fires a ball of shrapnel that showers the target area in explosive pellets. Enemies are subject to damage and slowed movement. Deals 33% damage to buildings. Range: 1800 Radius: 400 Duration: 9 Damage Per Second: 12/24/36/48 (4/8/12/16 to buildings) Movement Speed Slow: 15%/20%/25%/30% 15 120 Kardel's modular rifle also fires incendiary rounds, useful for assaulting entrenched locations.

Notes: Damage will be dealt 10 times, first time at spell effect and then every second. Provides Vision in the Area Effect is delayed 0.8 seconds.

Headshot W O Ability Affects Damage Passive Enemies Physical Sniper increases his accuracy, giving a chance to deal extra damage and mini-stun. Mini-stun Duration: 0.25 Chance: 40% Damage Bonus: 15/40/65/90 Mini-stun is blocked, damage is not. Taking potshots at steepstalkers in his childhood has been thoroughly refined into perfect leads on enemy combatants.

Notes: Works on allied creeps. Headshot cannot be evaded.

Take Aim E E Ability Affects Passive Self Extends the attack range of Sniper's rifle. Range Bonus: 75/150/225/300 Kardel always takes it upon himself to stay as far from harm as he can while still performing his role - taking perfect aim.

Notes: Total range: 625/700/775/850 Level 3 and 4 of this ability allow Sniper to out-range towers.

Assassinate R T Ability Affects Damage Target Unit Enemies Magical Sniper locks onto a target enemy unit, and after 1.7 seconds, fires a devastating shot that deals damage at long range. Range: 2000/2500/3000 Damage: 355/505/655 20/15/10 175/275/375 The damage is blocked, the stun is not. In order to fulfill the prophecy and return to his home town, Kardel must make another shot as perfect as the one on the day of his ancient test.

Notes: Crosshair on target is visible to allies only. Cannot be avoided by going invisible. Will mini-stun the target. Gives vision of the target over the cast time. Can be cancelled with the Stop or Hold commands, but not by moving. Cooldown and mana are unaffected if stopped.

Recommended items

Explanation: Picking up Slippers of Agility early can help to address Sniper's very low base damage, assisting him in farming creeps. Wraith Band can be made with Slippers of Agility and Circlet which provides some bit of health which Sniper lacks in the early game and an additional damage boost. Magic Stick is useful in emergencies due to Sniper's lack of health. The use of stick charges gives him better survivability. A common item for Sniper is Shadow Blade. This gives Sniper a much needed escape mechanism as well as enabling him to position himself in team engagements, allowing him to deal damage without being caught in the fight. Butterfly is one of the best high end items he can pick up. The attack speed and damage greatly boosts Sniper's combat capabilities, while the Evasion gives him more survivability. Maelstrom can be bought on Sniper for additional damage dealing capability. When upgraded into Mjollnir, the attack rate of Sniper is enhanced significantly, giving him more chances to proc both the Chain Lighting effect and his Headshot passive. Another little known fact about orb effects is while most don't stack, Maelstrom and Mjollnir semi-stack with other orb effects like Desolator. The constant orb effect will hit every time except when Maelstrom/mjollnir proc. their effect. Manta Style is an item commonly picked up on many carries. It gives a lot of additional survivability, something that Sniper lacks. Besides giving +10 strength and +10% movespeed, it allows Sniper the ability to create confusing illusions on demand.

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.
• He 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.

Update history

April 19, 2013 Patch

• Added victory animations and more aggressive posing of idle, run and attack when enemy is in range.

March 14, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Headshot not working on units like Spirit Bear, Warlock's Golem, etc.
• Fixed Shrapnel doing slightly less damage than intended to towers.
• Fixed Headshot's physical damage bonus being blocked by Magic Immunity.

November 30, 2012 Patch

• Pseudo Random chances are now enabled for these abilities:
  • Phantom Assassin's Coup de Grâce
  • Slardar's Bash
  • Faceless Void's Time Lock
  • Brewmaster's Drunken Brawler's critical strike
  • Sniper's Headshot
  • Juggernaut's Blade Dance
  • Chaos Knight's Chaos Strike
  • Lycanthrope's Shapeshift's critical strike
  • Skeleton King's Critical Strike

September 13, 2012 Patch

• [Undocumented] Broken down a number of existing hero models into multiple parts Death Prophet, Enchantress, Huskar, Silencer, Sniper, Storm Spirit, Venomancer and Weaver.

July 19, 2012 Patch

• Added teleport start and end animations for Sniper, Spirit Breaker and Weaver.
• Added spawn animations for Sniper and Weaver.

February 16, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Headshot bonus proc damage working against Towers and Buildings.
• Fixed Headshot working while Doomed.

November 03, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Assassinate reveal debuff never disappearing if the target dodges it with a blink.

September 29, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Assassinate ministun interaction with BKB

September 09, 2011 Patch

• Sniper will only say his shrapnel line if he captures any heroes in the radius.

August 07, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Legacy hotkeys on Sniper and Earthshaker

August 02, 2011 Patch

• Fixed the cast time on Assassinate.
• Assassinate keeps units from going invisible.
• Fixing the duration on the Shrapnel's slow. It was hardcoded to 1.5 and now it's 2.0.

July 29, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Shrapnel slow not getting upgraded per level.

April 30, 2011 Patch

• New Hero: Sniper

Balance changelog

6.78

• Shrapnel AoE increased from 360 to 400.

6.76

• Shrapnel
  • Now provides vision in the targeted area.
  • Cast range increased from 1200 to 1800.
• Headshot
  • Procs cannot be evaded (the entire attack gets through).
  • Chance rebalanced from 25/30/35/40% to 40%.
  • Damage rebalanced from 30/45/60/75 to 15/40/65/90.
  • Ministun duration increased from 0.01/0.1/0.2/0.2 to 0.25.
• Assassinate cast range increased from 1500/2000/2500 to 2000/2500/3000.

6.75

• Shrapnel
  • AoE increased from 350 to 360.
  • Duration increased from 8 to 9.
• Headshot damage increased from 30/40/50/60 to 30/45/60/75.
• Take Aim range bonus increased from 65/130/195/260 to 75/150/225/300.

6.74

• Headshot damage increased from 30/30/40/50 to 30/40/50/60.

6.73

• Shrapnel AoE increased from 325 to 350.

6.71

• Shrapnel damage increased from 10/20/30/40 to 12/24/36/48.

6.68

• Assassinate kills now give XP even if you are outside of range.
• Night vision increased from 800 to 1000.

6.65

• Shrapnel
  • Duration decreased from 10 to 8 seconds.
  • AoE decreased from 450 to 325.

6.64

• Shrapnel cast range increased by 300.

6.61

• Increased Take Aim range from 55/110/165/220 to 65/130/195/260.

6.60

• Replaced Scattershot with a new ability Shrapnel.

Replaced Abilties

Scattershot Q C Ability Affects Damage Target Point Enemies Physical Fire a ball of shrapnel on the air which promptly explodes, dealing damage in target area. Range: 750 Radius: 200 Damage per Pellet: 10-25 Number of Pellets: 8/12/16/20 15 120

Notes: The pellets deal piercing damage, which deals 150% to creeps, 50% to heroes, and 35% to buildings.

Gallery

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  Concept art

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  Concept art

See also

• Sniper responses