Spiritbreaker Rate 7.75

Skill Build:

Level 1 - Charge of Darkness
Level 2 - Empowering Haste
Level 3 - Greater Bash
Level 4 - Greater Bash
Level 5 - Greater Bash
Level 6 - Nether Strike
Level 7 - Greater Bash
Level 8 - Charge of Darkness
Level 9 - Charge of Darkness
Level 10 - Charge of Darkness
Level 11 - Nether Strike
Level 12 - Empowering Haste
Level 13 - Empowering Haste
Level 14 - Empowering Haste
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Nether Strike
Level 17+ - Stats

Charge of Darkness is taken at level 1 as it provides a reliable disable/semi escape in case something happens at level 1. Charge will be maxed after Greater Bash, as the move speed increase and stun duration increase with levels, allowing you to keep your enemy disabled for longer.

Empowering Haste no longer grants damage to your auto attacks, instead increasing the damage applied when bash is proc'd. I have found it beneficial to take a point in Empowering Haste early as the extra movement speed is noticeable when going for pre-level 6 ganks, allowing you to animation cancel and land those few extra auto attacks which can secure the kill.

Greater Bash is now maxed first as it is your main damage dealing ability with a scaling percentile damage stun which benefit greatly with you early core items.

Start+Core items:

Item build

Starting items



Tango+Salve: Self explanitory.

Branches: Cheap stats making best use of your starting gold.

Stout Shield: Being a melee hero you will be taking harass and this will give you the survivability you need to farm.

Core items



Item Rationale
Barathrum benefits greatly from three types of items. These are items that buff his movement speed, attack speed to increase the chances of bash, and survivability items, as he will be initiating and will need the resistance to survive the intitial burst he will recieve.

Strength Treads: +30 attack speed and switchable +8 attributes, which equates to an extra 152 HP and +8 damage on strength, making treads a great choice on Barathrum.

Magic Wand: You'll be diving into some precarious situations, the extra burst of HP + mana will save your life many times. Get it always.

Urn of Shadows: This provides you with a 114HP boost, +6 damage and mana regen, along with an active heal. Urn synergises perfectly with Barathrum's ganking play style and is a strong pick-up in combination with Janggo.

Janggo of Endurance: A cheap stat item that offers Barathrum everything he needs. At 1725g Janggo grants you 171 HP, +12 damage, +9 to agility and intelligence, and a percentile movement speed passive/active that not only helps you and your allies but also increases the damage of bash.

Orb of Venom: Icefrog continually lowers the price of this fantastic early game item which is to encourage ganking, perfect for Barathrum. At 275g this item helps out immensely in early ganks, all but guaranteeing a kill with its DoT, 12% slow, and help from your empowering haste and allies. Sell this once you get your MoM as they do not stack.

Black King Bar: BKB provides you with an extra 181HP and +34 damage, but most importantly magic immunity to initiate fights fearlessly and shut down a key enemy hero.

Total Stats: At 8734g this core build gives Barathram 670HP, +63 damage, and a percentile boost to movement speed which increases his bash damage.

Late+Luxury items



Item Rationale

This is the most difficult stage in Barathrum's item build. You must carefully assess where you stand in the game in terms of levels and items compared to your opponents, and select what you need accordingly. For example, a MoM will make you stronger if you had a great start, but will only make you weaker if you are considerably behind. As Barathrum is very strong at locking down a single target, it is important to be building an item or two to counter a powerful enemy. Attack speed item(s) are very important as you want to be proc'ing bash as much as possible.

Mask of Madness: The best orb for Barathrum without a doubt. MoM offers +100 attack speed, granting you a higher chance to proc bash, and 30% movement speed so when you do proc bash you'll be doing extra damage on top of stunning them.

Level 1 Overpowering Haste + Treads + (Active) Janggo + (Active) MoM = 522 movement speed

Level 4 Overpowering Haste + Treads + Janggo + (Active) MoM = 522 movement speed

With a Janggo and MoM (Treads of course) Barathrum is able to achieve maximum movement speed, and on a bash proc will be hitting enemies for a whopping 209 extra damage.

IMPORTANT - If you decide not to build MoM, remember to repurchase the Janggo recipe and activate the charge before fights as it will provide you extra bash damage.

Heart of Tarrasque: The perfect item in conjunction with MoM to help survive the =30% extra damage you will be taking. A HoT + BKB will give you the survivability to initiate team fights with impunity.

Assualt Cuirass: It's very rare that you will be able to farm up a HoT and Cuirass but if you can then everything this items offers is perfect for you.

Heavan's Halberd: Because of the high cost of Cuirass, I usually end up building a Heaven's Halberd first to deal with a dangerous carry/semi-carry that is getting out of control. Do not underestimate the active. Disarm denies your opponent the ability to attack for a very long 4.5 seconds (3 seconds on melee targets). The evasion benefits you greatly as you are a natural initiator and will add to your survivability.

Luxury items



Some games you're just so out of control that you can finish your build with one of these items. I usually substitute one of these items for the Halberd, as anyone of these items in combination with your core and late game items just make you do stupid amounts of damage. Select whichever item you feel is right for the situation. Boots of Travel offer the highest move speed allowing you to sell off your drums and still be able to hit max move speed with the active on MoM.

Situational items



Medallion of Courage: This is a very strong item to consider and has the ability to swing a game in your favour. I build this item when either the enemy team has 1/2 players who were fed early, and I need the extra damage to keep up with them. Alternatively, if the mid game is being dragged out and I can't afford to invest in a big damage item yet. Or if I failed the early game and need the cheap damage to remain relevant in the game. Medallion is a cheap item, and you shouldn't hesitate to build one if you feel it will give you the edge you need to win clashes.

Blademail: If there are two or more right-click carries on the enemy team and you need an item to counter them during mid/late game, then blademail a strong choice choice. This allows you to initiate on one carry and return damage to the others that beat on you. Blademail is also a good pickup if you have fallen behind in farm/levels and cannot realistically farm a Cuirass in time.

Lothar's Edge: This is an item that I am finding myself building more and more. In higher level games/In-houses where players actually ward then your Charge of Darkness is often spotted allowing the enemy time to flee, or worse, gather in fog and counter-gank you. I wouldn't build this if I am behind, as it offers no survivability stats, instead I will build it to assist me throughout the middle game to net kills through unsuspecting ganks. This isn't a get out of jail card like it is used for Sniper when he is caught out, instead it is to help you by-pass wards and initiate. Lothar's is activatable during Charge of Darkness, and lasts for a nice 12 seconds. This is built directly after BKB instead of MoM, so remember to replenish your Janggo recipe.

Aghanim's Scepter: Aghanim's allows Nether Strike to proc an AoE Greater Bash in a very tiny 250 radius, for this reason it is a situational item. In skilled games players rarely bunch up so you'll need another AoE disabler to help you setup Aghanim's. Some of the best heroes include:


If I do go for Aghanim's then it is usually gotten instead of HoT as it does provide 390HP which is still a substantial amount if you get Cuirass afterwards.