Read the complete Dota 2 Sand King guide to find more information about one of the most popular heroes in the game.
Sand King is a hero that has been a stable pick for years. Even though there are metas where he shines more, generally speaking, the hero works well in a lot of situations. His ability to do tons of damage and stun enemies makes him a solid option.
In this Sand King Dota 2 guide, we will take a look at all the things that make him such a popular pick. We’d like to start with the elephant in the room – he is a melee Universal hero with 3.2 armor, 290 MS, and 45-53 damage. Depending on the scenario, the hero can be played as a soft support, offlaner, and even a midder.
Abilities
Before taking a look at the Sand King Dota 2 wiki, here’s more information about the hero’s abilities.
- Burrowstrike – This ability deals 280 damage and stuns targets for 1.8s and it also applies Caustic Finale position to the hero it hits.
- Sand Storm – This ability deals 85 damage per second and lasts for 35s. It has 650 AoE in which Sand King is invisible, and he can move around. However, the ability will end once the hero leaves the area or its duration is over.
- Caustic Finale – This passive ability lets Sand King inject a venom that slows down the enemy’s movement speed by 26% and deals 130 base damage. Furthermore, units will explode when they die and deal 22% of their maximum HP as damage.
- Epiicentger – This ultimate has a 2s cast time, after which SK releases 10 pulses that deal 130 damage each. The ability also slows down movement speed by 50% and attack speed by 60.
If SK players want a Shard, Epicenter will deal more damage and will cause a pulse for every 700 units moved by Sand King. The Aghanim Scepter allows SK to cast 2 random burrow-stikes every 0.2s while he is in Sand Storm.
Talents
Following the abilities, the next important thing to check aside from the Sand King Dota 2 item build is the hero’s talents.
- Level 10 – 0.4s stun to Burrowstrike or +20 damage per second to Sand Storm
- Level 15 – Caustic Finale deals +120 damage or Sand Storm has +125 Radius
- Level 20 – Epicenter has +100 base radius, or Burrowstrike has -2s cooldown
- Level 25 – Sand Storm slows and blinds the target by 35% or Epicenter gets 5 extra pulses
Dota 2 Sand King Guide – Tips
As mentioned, Sand King is a hero that can fulfill different roles, but most people will use him as a soft support or an offlaner. Considering the hero’s abilities, he can be one of the fastest farmers in his position, so you should use this to your advantage. You can farm on the lane/jungle and even clear stacks if there isn’t another hero that can take them.
Once the laning is over, your main job is to initiate fights and make sure to do as much damage as possible. If you check the Sand King Dota 2 pro tacker, you can see that most professional players who use this hero initiate the fights. SK has pretty good abilities that allow him to do that.
Speaking of the devil, one of the tricky parts of playing with Sand King is learning how to use his ultimate. We’ve seen many situations where people lose 1 or 2 pulses before doing any damage or just cancel their ultimate. Considering it has a channeling time, you should try to channel it BEFORE engaging in a fight and use things like Blink Dagger immediately after that to do maximum damage. You can achieve this by using the “shift + ability” usage with your Blink Dagger.
Other than that, Sand King is all about doing damage and stunning the right targets. Like all spellcasters, this one excels in the mid-game and becomes less relevant later on.
Sand King Dota 2 Guide – Pros and Cons
The Dota 2 Sand King set you decide to use will make the hero stand out, which is no surprise because this is one of the advantages of playing SK. Yet, there are other things that you need to be aware of.,
Pros:
- Tons of AoE damage
- Good for initiating or even counter-initiating
- Can be extremely annoying
- Good in the laning stage
Cons:
- Not that good later on
- Tricky to master
Dota 2 Sand King Build – Items
Choosing your Sand King Dota 2 build will determine what you will do in the game, so let’s learn more about some of the best items you can get.
Starting items
Depending on the hero’s position, players should start with a lot of HP and Mana regen in the form of Tango and Clarity positions. They can also get branches for the Magic Wand.
Early game
Magic Wand and Boots of Speed/Arcane boots are the best early game items or Sand King.
Mid Game
The best mid-game items we’d like to include in this Sand King Dota 2 guide is a Blink Dagger and Arcane Boots (assuming the hero didn’t get them earlier). If he has more farm and kills, he can also go for a Force Staff or Eul’s.
Late game
The late-game items for this hero include Shiva’s Guard, Scythe of Vyse, Octarine Core, Aghanim’s Scepter, Refresher Orb, and so on. Sand King is a good aura carrier, so he can also go for a Pipe, Assault, and more.
Dota 2 Sand King Counter
Like all heroes in Valve’s game, this one also has a few tough matchups. Below, you can find a good Sand King Dota 2 counter you can choose from.
- Earth Spirit – A lot of people don’t think of this hero when talking about SK’s counters, but he is really good against him. Besides the stun and silence, he can also cancel Epicenter.
- Rubick – Rubick’s ability to steal Epicenter makes him incredibly dangerous against Sand King.
- Silencer – Silencer can prevent SK from using all of his abilities and can do tons of damage.
Conclusion
Besides being famous for his Dota 2 Sand King responses, the hero is also known for his ability to do damage. He is very fun to play and has the needed abilities to make a difference, so definitely give him a chance.
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