Barathrum Spirit Breaker DOTA 2 Hero Guide and Strategy

Hello guys! Welcome to another DOTA 2 guide in Web Junkies Blog!

This time, I will be sharing my insights on one of my favorite DOTA hero, Barathrum: The Spirit Breaker...

Well, I know that a part of your heart tells you that this is one of your favorite hero too :D.

We all know how powerful Spirit Breaker is and, his name itself tells what he can do to his enemy.

The reason why many love Barathrum is that he is easy to use, fun to play and very versatile in battle. And in the hands of a pro, I am pretty sure he will be more than GODLIKE!

So anyway, we all know Spirit Breaker so let us end the chit-chat about him and proceed to my guide. 

Remember guys... This is only a guide. Some of my points may differ from your point of view and, I would like to hear them also. If you have some comments or suggestions, go write a few words on the comment box below.

In my opinion, Barathrum's role in a team is to be the gank initiator in the game. When I say gank initiator, he will be the one responsible on starting a gank. Why not say just a ganker? Well, Spirit Breaker will have hard times especially in early game (mostly below level 6) successfully killing an enemy when he is the only one ganking it. Remember that most players who are facing Spirit Breaker will be wary of him by always checking where he is on the mini map. When he's not on the lane, opponents will tend to tower hug until he appears on a lane but others will just continue farming but, they will expect that Barathrum is coming on their way. So basically, at early games, you will need to have a well coordinated plan on ganking one opponent with your team. So yes!, solo ganking isn't really recommended (unless your opponent's is really bad at map awareness that is :D) as failed ganks will often get you left behind in terms of levels.

Charge of Darkness [Q]- Breaker fixes his sight on an enemy unit and starts charging through all objects. All enemy units passed through will be hit by a Greater Bash, and the targeted unit is stunned upon impact. If the targeted unit dies, Spirit Breaker will change his target to the nearest enemy unit to that location.

Charge Speed: 600 / 650 / 700 / 750
Stuns on Contact: 1.2 / 1.6 / 2 / 2.4
Range: Global
Mana Cost: 100
Cooldown Time: 35
Comment: This is your main ganking skill. you need this on level 4 to start ganking. Why at level 4? Because you need first Empowering Haste at least at 2 levels and Greater Bash at least at 1 level. Remember that this skill has no base damage. We only rely on the bonus movement speed and the bash when it hits the target, from this skill. That is why we need first Empowering Haste to deal a significant damage to the enemy. And of course, we need to pair it with Greater Bash for increase of damage also and of course, for the chance to Bash to successfully kill an enemy in a gank.

Empowering Haste [W]- Causes the Spirit Breaker to gain power with higher movement speed, allowing him to deal extra damage based on his movement speed. His presence increases the movement speed of nearby allied units.

Increased Allied Movement Speed: 6% / 10% / 14% / 18%
Movement Speed Aura Radius: 900


Comment: For me, I rather pick this skill first than Greater Bash. The movement speed and as well as the damage is really good at early levels especially on farming for creeps. What the increase of movement speed gives you is the ability to maneuver your way on both last hitting and denying your creeps. Also, the extra based damage this skill gives is indeed very helpful at early levels.

Greater Bash [E]- Gives a chance to stun and knockback an enemy unit on an attack, as well as gaining bonus movement speed after a bash occurs.

Chance to Trigger on Attack: 17%

Damage: 10% / 20% / 30% / 40% of movement speed.

Knockback Duration: 0.5

Stun Duration: 1 / 1.2 / 1.4 / 1.6

Increased Movement Speed: 15%

Increased Movement Speed Duration: 3

Comment: When I have Empowering Haste, I then pair it up with this passive skill. The chance to stun enemies is really good and when it does stun an enemy, it does significant damage to them. Not only that this is good in ganking, but this is also good at early levels, killing and denying creeps.

Nether Strike [R]- Spirit Breaker slips into the nether realm, reappearing next to his hapless victim. Upon reappearing, a Greater Bash occurs and deals bonus damage.

Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 Range: 400 / 550 / 700 (550/700/850*)

Mana Cost: 125 / 150 / 175

Cooldown Time: 75(20*)

Comment: The ultimate of Spirit Breaker. It provides a short blink, a great stun and if used to it's fullest, you can even use it to disjoint enemy attacks. It is improved through Aghanim's Scepter, which gives Spirit Breaker the ability to use this attack multiple times in a single fight. You would be a fool to not pick it up as the game progresses. Preferably at 6, Go get it and pound those BIT**ES!

So basically, my skill distribution per level for Spirit Breaker is:

Level 1- Empowering Haste

Level 2- Greater Bash

Level 3- Empowering Haste

Level 4- Charge of Darkness

Level 5- Charge of Darkness

Level 6- Nether Strike

Level 7- Empowering Haste

Level 8- Empowering Haste

Level 9- Charge of Darkness

Level 10- Charge of Darkness

Level 11- Nether Strike

Level 12- Greater Bash

Level 13- Greater Bash

Level 14- Greater Bash

Level 15- Stats

Level 16- Nether Strike

Level 17- Stats

Level 18- Stats

Level 19- Stats

Level 20- Stats

Level 21- Stats

Level 22- Stats

Level 23- Stats

Level 24- Stats

Level 25- Stats

So now that we have discuss the skills of Barathrum, let us proceed to my recommended items for this beast!

Gauntlet of Strength x2- Spirit Breaker is a strength hero. So it would be wise to pick Gauntlet of Strength over Slippers of Agility. Remember that GoS gives not only HP to Strength Hero but a bit of boost in damage, to give you a little bit of an edge over your opponents at early levels.

Tango- We all know that melee class is at the front of battle always and, when times of facing range enemies, it's really hard to get some gold from creep kills when you are low in life. You will be indecisive with your moves. Most of the time, you will just back up... So yes, you need Tango for sure to replenish that lost life in early game. And, it is a good counter to heroes like Furion, especially when you don't have the Charge of Darkness yet.

Healing Salve- Just like tango, this is a consumable which will save your arse in extreme cases where your life is below 100 and you need an instant life recovery to get back in battle.

Power Threads- The most recommended boots for Spirit Breaker is Power Threads. Believe me, you will not benefit from other boots and only Power Threads can give you that edge you need to be more efficient in ganking. Remember that you can switch this boots in accordance to the situation: If you need the damage and attack speed, switch the boots to AGI, if you need damage and a bit of tankiness; switch to STR and when you need mana, then switch the boots to INT. In short, this gives you the ability to be versatile in battle when you are Spirit Breaker.

Urn of Shadows- Others don't see the usefulness of this item. This item is really great for Spirit Breaker as you will be ganking a lot and roaming around. It provides strength which increases your damage and mana regeneration to keep your mana flowing. The bonus damage on a fleeing target and ability to heal yourself afterwards is fantastic. Any hero that is put into the role of ganking and gets up close a lot, should have an Urn of Shadows as a desired item.

Sange- A boost in attack speed, damage and as well as movement speed, as Barathrum will be a big pain in the arse of the enemy. There is no way that you want to miss on building this item right after Power Threads and Urn of Shadows.

Point Booster- Probably you will say "Whoa?! Point Booster? for what?". Point Booster is amazingly good for it's price: A huge increase to both mana and HP pool will definitely worth the cheap price of this item. In addition, when you buy this, you will now have the option to build Aghanim's Scepter down the road, boosting Nether Strike from a minute long cooldown, to a short twenty seconds. That means instead of just using it once per fight, you will be using it at least twice.

Important Note: After you bought Point Booster, you do not have to head straight into Aghanim's Scepter, only that it is an option later down the road.

Assault Cuirass- It is with just about every melee hero that deals any kind of damage, is Assault Cuirass. While Greater Bash and Nether Strike may not do physical damage, it sure helps with the some fifty to eighty additional damage from Empowering Haste. Enjoy the large attack speed and armor boost as well.

Aghanim's Scepter- As I have said before, this item will be the key to shortening the cooldown of your SS from a minute to only twenty seconds. The key here is not build this item early. Not until you have hard times winning battles like one-on-one with heroes. If you think you need the two usage of SS in a fight or even in a clash, then go build Aghanim's as fast as you can.

Heaven's Halberd- If you think that Assault Cuirass isn't enough, then go pump it up with this item! It gives you that extra damage and STR and as well as the evasion you need to win fights. Plus, your attacks have a 15% chance to slow the target's movement and attack speeds by 20% for 4 seconds and of course, it has this active skill which can remove a target's ability to attack. This effect lasts 4 seconds on ranged targets and 3 seconds on melee targets.

Vanguard- We all know that there are times when opponents are really good in terms of countering Spirit Breaker, that every time we gank, it fails. So basically, when you can't gank that often, don't push your luck on pursuing Urn of Shadows. Instead, go with Vanguard. Pick it up and if you cannot find a lane to get some decent farm, start stacking jungles and farming off the small camp between ganks/pulls.

Black King Bar- I put this item in situational cases rather than core. Why? It is because sometimes, the effectiveness of this item is voided when your opponents are carry or basically and auto-attack Carry hero. However, in times when the opposing team has a lot of heroes with disables like stun and slow, then this item will be your key to making them look silly.

Mask of Madness- Most of the match that I am with a player using Spirit Breaker, Mask of Madness is there very first Core item. Well, I can't blame them as the life steal and increased chance to activate Greater Bash is really good. However, the trade off in using the effect of this item is that you will absorb damage. Just only pick this item when you think that you won't have problems with heroes. Meaning, only pick it up when most of the heroes on the opposing team is squishy and they have no disables. In short, those heroes which are easy to gank!

Blade Mail- When you are facing a tough auto-attack Carry hero, then this item is for you!



Game Strategies as Barathrum the Spirit Breaker

Early Game
In this stage, focus your concern on killing as many creeps as you can and getting the desired amount of gold to build you core items. Spirit Breaker is one of the DOTA heroes which has good animation. This means that you can time well last hitting creeps. Compared to Lina's attack animation, Spirit Breaker has way more faster attack animation that you can time it very well. Aside from attack animation, Spirit Breaker is also great in terms of dealing damage so I think you will surely build your core items fast: Power Threads.

Middle Game
Once you have your core item, it's time to gank! At the early of level 4, you can gank the middle lane if your team mate at the middle has disable skills. However, I don't suggest if he/she doesn't have! The most recommended gank level is at level 6 where you already have your Nether Strike.

However, at this level, DEFINITELY, the opposing team will be more wary of your location. This is the time when you will decide to go with Vanguard or Urn of Shadows. If you can gank successfully (probably for me 3 times or more), then go with Urn of Shadows but if you can't and more worse, you are getting owned in every gank, then it is time to decide to go with Vanguard and farm at you lane and jungle a little bit. However, don't forget to gank or kill heroes if you have Vanguard. When you have this item, you will have that extra tankiness so it is great also for killing heroes you are facing on the lane or, when a ganking opportunity comes!

Your goal here is to farm as many gold as you can to get Point booster or, you can first build Assault Cuirass or, build Black King Bar first to have the advantage if you are up against disablers.

There are two ways to attain this goal: It's either to gank and kill or, to farm and kill on lanes. Or you can combine the two for maximum benefit!

The only thing I will suggest at middle game is that DON'T CHARGE RECKLESSLY! At this stage of the game, it is better to coordinate a gank with your team than to go ganking alone. Remember that failed ganks are really costly especially on levels as you will be left behind if you just charge and charge when your Charge of Darkness skill is off cooldown.

Late Game
At this stage of the game, probably the opponent has enough fire power to counter your as a Spirit Breaker. It's time for team play! Like the middle game, your role now is to initiate a gank. Go with your team in every fights and DON'T GO ALONE. Spirit Breaker doesn't have those escape mechanism so he will be vulnerable when he is up against 2 to 3 opponents, especially with disables.

In here, you will try to upgrade your SS. This means that you will now get Aghanim's Scepter to activate your Nether Strike every 20 seconds. And of course, it is good that you build Heaven's Halberd at this point.

Another suggestion that I will share to you is that when you are facing a auto-attack carry... One way to counter him/her is to get Blade Mail.

So there you have it guys, this is my Barathrum Spirit Breaker DOTA 2 Hero Guide and Strategy. Like I have said before, this is only a GUIDE. You can follow this or you can modify it for more effectiveness and so that it will suit your playing style.

For comments and suggestions, write it on the comment box below.

HAPPY GAMING WEBJUNKIES!