Dota 2 Sniper Guide – Best Items & How to Counter

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Dota 2 Sniper Guide – Best Items & How to Counter

The Dota 2 Sniper Guide will show you what makes this one of the best Dota 2 heroes in the game.

If you’ve been looking for a Sniper Dota 2 guide, you’ve come to the right place. Sniper is hero that’s always popular in PUB games, but he can also be a top-tier pick in pro games, depending on the meta. The hero is known for having the longest range in Dota 2, meaning he is really good at countering specific heroes. Sadly, Sniper is extremely squishy, so he does not work in all situations.

What’s intriguing about the hero is that he starts with 285 movement speed and 3.5 armor. Furthermore, Kardel Dota 2 deals between 40-46 damage and has 550 starting range. Of course, Sniper is a ranged Agility hero.

In terms of his positioning, the hero is usually a mid-laner, but it’s also possible to see him in the safelane. There have been cases where players tried to use him as a support, but he’s not that good at it.

Abilities

Sniper uses his ulti to kill enemy heroes

Before taking a look at the important Dota 2 Sniper build, we have to take a look at the hero’s abilities.

  • Shrapnel – This ability has charges and allows the hero to launch a ball of shrapnel on the ground. Enemy units that stay inside it will have -30 ms slow and take 70 damage per second for 10 seconds.
  • Headshot – This passive ability gives Sniper a 40% chance to deal 110 bonus damage per shot, slowing the enemy’s movement and attack speed by 100%.
  • Take Aim – The latter grants a 400 bonus range, and you can get an additional 200 range and a 100% headshot chance for 3s if you use it. However, once you do that, Sniper will have a 45% movement speed reduction.
  • Assassinate – This single-target ultimate has a 3000 range and allows the hero to deal 450 damage and stun the target for 1.2s. The ability will be refreshed when Snoper kills an enemy hero, even if it's not with the ultimate. The mana cost for this ability is 175 and it can perform an auto attack on the target.

Another thing to mention in this Dota 2 Sniper guide is that the hero can get an Aghanim’s Shard. Once that happens, he’ll get a Concussive Grenade, which slows down enemies by 50%, deals 200 damage and knocks them back. As for Aghanim’s Scepter, the item will allow Sniper to use his ult faster and stun for longer.

Talents

The Dota 2 Sniper item build you go for will determine which talents you pick. With that said, here’s what to expect.

  • Level 10 – +30 Headshot Damage or +1s Take Aim Duration
  • Level 15 – +15% Shrapnel Movement Slow or + 30 Attack Speed
  • Level 20 – +25 Shrapnel DPS or +25 Headshot Knockback Distance
  • Level 25 – +6 Shrapnel Charges or +100 Attack Range

Dota 2 Sniper Guide – Tips

Sniper assists Templar Assassin by casting Shrapnel to slow enemy heroes

Before we take a look at the Dota 2 Sniper counter you need to be aware that it’s important to know how to play this hero. Sniper is a core that relies on his long aim to do damage, meaning that it all comes down to positioning. Having good positioning with the hero will allow you to do the most damage possible and survive for as long as possible.

Since he deals tons of damage and is relatively squishy, the hero usually needs at least one defensive item. Furthermore, most Sniper Dota 2 combos include a defensive support that has to help him the entire game.

Regardless of the Sniper Dota 2 build you go for, the hero farm is incredibly fast and can keep up with the best. He is highly effective against squishy targets and is among the best when it comes down to defending the high ground. Consequently, you can often see Sniper teams turtling the games for more than an hour.

Another interesting fact about the hero is that he’s one of the good Divine Rapier carries because of his long range.

Dota 2 Sniper – Pros and Cons

The Dota 2 Sniper voice lines and cosmetic items are cool, but the hero has a few flaws that some people are not aware of.

Pros:

  • Sniper has the most attack range in Dota 2
  • The hero is highly effective in long-range fights
  • He can lane well against most opponents
  • Sniper is among the best high-ground defenders

Cons:

  • One of the squishiest heroes in Dota 2
  • Easy to gank
  • Slow 

Starting Items

In terms of the Dota 2 Sniper items, the starting ones usually include stats and tangoes. However, some players like getting Faeire Fire because it allows the hero to last hit and heal himself when tanked.

Early Game

Sniper knocks back enemies with his hits

The early game items for Sniper include one or two Wraith Bands, followed by Power Treads or Phase Boots and a Magic Wand. The choice of boots depends, but most people who read this Dota 2 Sniper guide will choose PT.

Mid Game

Sniper’s mid-game can be extremely good or really difficult, depending on how it goes. There are loads of different items he can go for, but most people choose Dragon Lance, followed by Maelstorm and/or Desolator. He can also get a Shadow Blade and even Sange and Yasha.

Late Game

The situation in the late game is similar to the one in the mid-game. A quick look at the Sniper DotaBuff,you can see that people go for Butterfly, Mjrollnir, Eye of Skadi, Satanic, Silver Edge, Daedalus, and so on. Some people even get an Ethereal Blade.

Dota 2 Sniper Counter

No matter your preferred Sniper Dota 2 item build, the hero has a lot of counters that can make the hero’s life really hard. Here’re the most popular ones:

  • Spirit Breaker – Even though he’s usually a support, this is one of the best Sniper Dota 2 counter because he can gank Sniper all the time.
  • Anti-Mage – Unsurprisingly, one of the most mobile heroes in the game is great against Sniper because he can blink next to him.
  • Ember Spirit – Similar to Am, Ember is highly mobile and can work against the hero, no matter the Dota 2 Sniper skins.
  • Spectre – The hero’s ultimate allows her to come next to Sniper and kill the hero really fast.

Conclusion

The heroes mentioned above are just so some of the counters you can go for. Take a look at the Dota 2 Sniper wiki if you want to know more about a few other counters and different stats about the hero. Overall, we can say that Sniper is pretty good, but it all depends on the current meta.

Dota 2 Sniper Guide – Best Items & How to Counter
Zlosterr
Zlosterr has been a fan of esports for many years and mainly focuses on Dota 2. He has more than five years of experience writing Dota 2 content for numerous platforms. Besides being a passionate fan of the game, he's also played for various amateur teams.