This guide will give a rundown of item choices, the reasoning for them and the way to play with them with the goal of improving an indiviuals own performance in both solo and group play. The choices in items themselves are made by seeing what heroes your team has and the heroes of the enemy team, thus this guide will show an adaptable Sniper, rather then a cookie cutter build where you see people picking the same items every game, against every team composition.

Primary attribute: Agility

Starting HP:454
Starting Mana: 195
Starting Damage: 39
Starting Armor: 1.94
Base Movement Speed: 290
Base Attack Range: 550
Starting Strength: 16
Strength Gain: 1.7
Starting Agility: 21
Agility Gain: 2.9
Starting Inteligence: 15
Inteligence Gain: 2.6

Role: Carry

Hero Difficulty: High - Sniper has a lack of escape abilities and has a low HP pool, without support or an item to help with escaping/survivability, Sniper is prone to dying when in the hands of a less skillful player. He not only becomes a target to ganks by high burst heroes but because of his designation as a carry he also becomes a priority target during team fights.

Preferable Lane: Easy/Safe lane(Radiant bot/Dire top). Sniper can also play mid but will need to be mindful of the enemy hero he is lanned up against.

• Area of Effect
  
• Damage Type: Magic
  
• Range: 1800
  
• Radius: 360
  
• Duration: 9 seconds
  
• Damage Per Second(DPS): 12/24/36/48 (Deals 30% damage to buildings)
  
• Movement Speed Slow: 15%/20%/25%/30%
  
• Cooldown: 15 seconds
  
• Mana Cost: 120 mana
  
• Ability Description: Fires a ball of shrapnel that showers the target area in explosive pellets. Enemies are subject to damage and slowed movement. Deals 30% damage to buildings.

An area of effect(AoE) ability which has you select a point to cast. Great at choke points and ontop of team fights

• Passive
  
• Mini-stun Duration: 0.25 seconds
  
• Chance: 40%
  
• Damage Bonus on proc: 15/40/65/90
  
• Ability Description: Sniper increases his accuracy, giving a chance to deal extra damage and mini-stun.

High chance to proc, decent damage bonus, great mini-stun that cannot be evaded. Illusions can't proc Headshot and the mini-stun can be blocked by magic immunity from Black King Bar and Repel.

• Passive
  
• Range Bonus: 75/150/225/300
  
• Total range: 625/700/775/850
  
• Ability Description: Extends the attack range of Sniper's rifle.

Level 3 and 4 of this ability allow Sniper to out-range towers.

• Ultimate
  
• Damage Type: Magic
  
• Range: 2000/2500/3000
  
• Damage: 355/505/655
  
• Cooldown: 20/15/10
  
• Mana Cost: 175/275/375
  
• Ability Description: Sniper locks onto a target enemy unit, and after 1.7 seconds, fires a devastating shot that deals damage at long range.

Gives vision of the target and will mini-stun them upon landing. It can't be avoided by going invisible either and can also be cancelled by using stop or hold commands but not movement commands.

1. Headshot - Rank 1
2. Shrapnel - Rank 1
3. Take Aim - Rank 1
4. Shrapnel - Rank 2
5. Shrapnel - Rank 3
6. Assassinate - Rank 1
7. Shrapnel - Rank 4
8. Take Aim - Rank 2
9. Take Aim - Rank 3
10. Take Aim - Rank 4
11. Assassinate - Rank 2
12. Headshot - Rank 2
13. Headshot - Rank 3
14. Headshot - Rank 4
15. Bonus Stats - Rank 1
16. Assassinate - Rank 3
17 to 25 Will be spent in Bonus Stats.

Notes:
- Headshot is picked up at level 1 and kept at level 1 simply to help with early game farming, harrass and also because having a ministun with a 40% chance to proc is simply invaluable
- Shrapnel is the first skill to be maxed out. Not only does it provide vision in areas but it also does some decent damage over time and applies a snare(movement speed slow). This can be used defensively to help against ganks and enemies attempting to tower dive you. It will also help push towers when the time calls for it

Starting Items
With 603 gold

• Tangos (3 uses) - 90 Gold
  
• Slippers of Agility - 150 Gold
  
• Circlet - 185 Gold
  
• Iron Branch x3 - 159 Gold (at 53 each)

Sniper has terrible starting damage at level 1 (39 damage). The Slippers of Agility, Circlet and 3 Iron Branches will add 7 damage and in conjunction with Headshot should make last hitting creep significantly easier.


Early Game

• Boots of Speed - 450 Gold
  
• Magic Wand - 509 Gold
  
• Ring of Aquila - 985 Gold

• **Situational - Ring of Regen - 350 Gold
  
  With Sniper entering the early game he becomes easier to last hit with but also comes the dangers of ganks. The boots will add that extra mobility, the Magic Wand will help with survivability and the Ring of Aquila will not only give Sniper some extra armor but also that extra bit of mana regen. The Ring of Regen can be picked up as well to help with sustainability in lane. If you're going Force Staff, you'll want to finish it before you finish Power Treads.
  
  
  Core Items
  
  • Power Treads - 1400 gold
    
  • Crystalys - 2150 Gold (Mid to late game)
    
  • Daedalus - 5550 Gold (Late game)
  
  Situational Core Items
  
  • Shadow blade - 3000 gold
    
  • Force Staff - 2350 Gold
    
  • Manta Style - 5050 Gold
  
  Auxiliary Items
  
  • Butterfly - 6000 Gold
    
  • Monkey King Bar - 5400 Gold
    
  • Desolator - 4100 Gold
    
  • Helm of the Dominator - 1850 Gold
    
  • Satanic - 6160 Gold
  
  
  Reasoning for Shadow Blade
  Attack speed, more damage, grants invisbility and bonus damage when attacking from invisibility. Pretty much every player in the game will pick this item up regardless of their team composition or the opposing team's composition.But what if your team already has someone that uses invisibility as a build in skill or they plan on making a Shadow Blade as well? What if the enemy team has Slardar/Bounty Hunter? When your team has multiple heroes that use invisibility, you're simply begging the enemy team to buy Sentry Wards, Dust of Appearance or a gem. Suddenly your only escape ability becomes useless and you're dead. Shadow Blade IS a great item on Sniper but it's too easy to counter. You should only be getting this item if your team does not have a hero that uses invisibility and the enemy team does not have Slardar or Bounty Hunter, getting a Shadow Blade when they have either of those heroes is just silly.
  
  
  Reasoning for Force Staff
  
  The push stick. A lot of people see this as a support only item, they always seem to forget the stats on the item and Force Staff CAN save your life in situations that Shadow Blade cannot. Force Staff grants 10 intelligence and +3 HP regen, early game you can pick up a Ring of Regen for 350 gold and have that much more sustainability in lane. The extra intelligence also helps with mana regen and Sniper's max mana pool so you should never have to worry about being out of mana(oom) during fights so Assassinate often, even if it's to scare an enemy player out of lane/position. The Force Staff can also be used offensively. See some silly player over a ridge shaking their ass at you? Push them to you and to your team and get that easy kill. The Force Staff may not add damage and attack speed like the Shadow Blade, but it's versatility more than makes up for it and is a solid defensive item. The only defensive item(IMO) to consistently keep Sniper alive.
  
  
  Reasoning for Manta Style
  Manta Style adds 10 strength(190 HP), 26 agility, 10 intelligence(130 mana), 15 attack speed, 10% increased movement speed and gives the ability to spawn 2 illusions. Overgrowth, Malafice, Cold Snap, Curse of the Silent, Last Word, Manta style removes every single one of them on use. If you have amazing reflexes you can even dodge hard CC(Magic Missile, Storm hammer) and other projectile based abilities if you're that good or that lucky. But that's all Manta Style provides, at the end of it all you're still going to have to rely on your team to get you out of bad
  situations.
  
  
  Notes:
  
  • The ability to get critical hits from the item Crystalys will be what a good chunk of your damage will come from
    
  • You always want to build a escape/survivability item first before continuing onto getting more damage
    
  • The auxiliary items are all there for their added damage after you complete your core
    
  • Butterfly adds immense damage and attack speed. The evasion will improve survivability as well
    
  • Monkey King Bar adds damage, more ministuns and prevents your attacks from missing. Useful against other heroes with a Butterfly/Talisman of Evasion as well as against Phantom Assassin
    
  • Desolator has great synergy if your team has heroes that also reduce armor through abilities or items(Assault Cuirass, Tide Hunter's Anchor Smash, Slardar's Amplify Damage)
    
  • Helm of the Dominator/Satanic work well with critical hits, improving survivability as well as improving armor and HP

- During laning phase focus on last hitting creep, if you see an opportunity to harrass an enemy hero or deny take it, but never miss a chance to farm
- If your lane is pushed up and you're unsure of a possible gank, simply move into your jungle and use Shrapnel to quickly dispatch the creep, you should always be farming
- If you see the enemy team pushing another lane or the enemy heroes that you were laning against leave to go gank, then feel free to push your current lane. If possible go for the tower kill as well(use Shrapnel). You will other get the tower down or you'll apply pressure to the enemy team and force them to defend
- Positioning is vital for Sniper to stay alive and to deal as much damage as possible. So be aware of your surroundings, always have a safe buffer between you and your enemies
- If you have a Force Staff then keep in mind that you can push yourself over ledges and into safety(usually), given Sniper's incredible range you can continue attacking uncontested
- Never be in front. If you're pushing a lane with your team sit in the back, hide in the fog of war and do not reveal your position to the enemy team
- Be aware of the enemies health and who's attacking them. If an enemy is low is getting away from your team, use assassinate. If the enemy is going to die regardless of them trying to run don't waste the mana or the cooldown, you may need it several seconds later for an enemy that is actually getting away from you