This guide is also available on Strifebuilds.net! I will keep it more up to date there. https://strifebuilds.net/builds/view/pILY3e

Bandit.0 is a unique character in Strife due to his ultimate, Double Down, which gives him a passive chance to refund the mana cost and cooldown of his other three spells. With some luck, he can deal more magic damage than any other hero in the game. Of course, you can't rely entirely on luck, so this guide focuses on giving Bandit.0 some safety in case the cards aren't dealt in his favor.

The idea with Bandit.0 is not to stack power like with other mages, but to provide some balance between damage and defense. Unlike burst mages like Malady, Moxie, and Ray who expect to kill an enemy with their full spell combo, you should expect to kill with your full combo given a couple of refunds. If you get even 2 refunds you can kill squishy targets with this build. Because of this build's partial focus on defense, you'll be able to dive into enemy teams and get several kills, unlike most burst mages who can only pick off one or two targets at a time.

Before we get started, a general gameplay tip: turn on "Enable Double Activate Abilities" in the settings under Interface -> Gameplay. This will allow you to quickly cast Gambler's Fortune on yourself, and automatically target the nearest enemy hero with Token Toss, just by pressing the ability hotkey twice. This setting doesn't play nice with quick cast, but I don't use quick cast. If you do, consider trying something different! (Although it's totally up to you.)

Token Toss
A single target, short duration stun. Token Toss only lasts for 0.8 seconds, making it the weakest stun in the game. By itself, it's not a very good ability, but with a lot of luck it can turn into a chain stun that lasts longer than any other stun in the game. I usually put 1 point into Token Toss before level 6, but don't level it again until level 12. Token Toss has a unique perk in that it gives you a tiny gold bonus when it hits. It's not a lot, but it's a kind of cool effect. It certainly isn't effective for farming, but it fits with the casino theme.

Searing Cards
An AoE combo nuke and DoT that hits every enemy within a decently sized radius around Bandit.0. Half of the damage of this ability is done up front, and the other half over the course of the next few seconds. Searing Cards is Bandit.0's primary source of damage, and should be maxed first unless you're taking a lot of damage. It's also his primary farming tool and it lets him clear jungle camps and brawler waves with ease.

Gambler's Fortune
A single target heal and movespeed buff. While it doesn't have the same healing potential as Lady Tinder's Tinder Touch, with lots of refunds it can bring you or an ally up to full HP from almost nothing. It has a relatively long casting time as far as spells of its caliber go, so it's not great for getting out of a pinch or chasing down enemies. When using it on yourself for its movespeed buff, try to cast it in advance so you're not vulnerable during the casting time. In lane, if you find yourself pressured and taking lots of damage, focus it over Searing Cards.

Double Down
Bandit.0's whole shtick. Double Down gives you a passive chance to refund the mana cost and cooldown of an ability. When activated, it doubles the chance of that happening, and it makes your next ability cast guaranteed to refund, but while Double Down's active is on cooldown, you won't get any passive refunds. Activating Double Down gives you tons of options, including but not limited to:

• Chaining Token Toss for a guaranteed combo stun of 1.6 seconds (and probably more with the chance to refund)
  
• Casting Searing Cards multiple times in a row for absurdly high damage (in the late game, this can be to the tune of 1000+ damage to every target hit)
  
• Casting Gambler's Fortune multiple times to fully heal yourself and possibly your teammates depending on how lucky you get

Pincer – the preferred pet. Pincer grants you a CC purge, Resistance (which is fantastic for this build), and anti-poke measures. I used to recommend Plunder, but due to recent nerfs I believe Pincer is now the best bet.




Plunder – a good second-best. Plunder gives you additional farm from his Pillage ability and additional pushing power with his Promote ability, at the cost of potentially missing last hits. The Resistance helps too! If you're in the solo lane, you can use Promote to guarantee that you will hit level 2 first.



Mystik – a boost to your damage output. Mystik boosts spell damage and adds an additional poke to your arsenal, which can help you harass your enemies out of lane. If you take Mystik, you'll be easier to kill, but for some this is a worthwhile tradeoff. I don't use Mystik on Bandit.0, but a lot of people do, so I included him in this guide.

Golden Protector of Adaptation – 2x Clarity Shard, 1x Clarity Stone.
This item will give you basically all of the sustain you'll need in the early game. The Mitigation will make you impervious to brawlers and significantly helps against ADCs and DoTs. The regen will reduce your reliance on potions too.

Rocket Boots.
Gives Bandit.0 two much-needed things: an escape and an initiation tool. Although Gambler's Fortune will give you a speed boost, its cast time is too long to make it an effective escape ability. Dash away with Rocket Boots, then cast Gambler's Fortune to secure your escape. To initiate, cast Double Down then dash in with Rocket Boots, then unleash the fury of your RNG! (In other words, break your keyboard's W key.)




Cursed Wand (default, or Restraint) – 1x Power Crystal, 1x Mana Shard.
Gives Bandit.0 another chasing tool and massively increases his damage. If you catch an opponent out of position, use Cursed Wand on them, then cast Double Down and unleash your spell combo. Remember the guaranteed refund.




Soulstealer (Dominion or Defense) – 2x Power Crystal for Dominion or 1x Power Crystal, 1x Health Crystal for Defense.
Absolutely mandatory core item. Searing Cards does not count as AoE so you will receive the full heal from it; you can heal to 100% with just 2 good casts of it.

Stone Skin (default or Diligence) – 1x Health Crystal, 1x Power Crystal.
A good way to round out your core. As the game progresses, you'll be more vulnerable when you initiate and the Golden Protector won't be doing as much. This will practically guarantee your safety.




Inferno Brand (enchantment optional) – 1x Power Relic, 1x Health Crystal.
Synergizes well with Soulstealer, as the Brand's damage counts for the magic lifesteal. Also adds some extra Resistance and pushing power. I like Virtue, but Influence can be useful for ranged heroes, and no enchantment is cheapest.




Power Conduit of Might – 2x Power Relic.
A serious boost to power. If you have gotten to the point in the game where you bought this item, the game is starting to drag and you need a way to finish it. The mana regen upon kill will definitely help as well.

Hexbane (Restraint or none) – 1x Power Crystal or 1x Health Crystal, 1x Power Relic.
If the enemy team has an out-of-control carry, you need to pick this item up. (This is just a general Strife rule, but this craft is particularly good for this build.)




Windrush of Diligence – combination of Power, Health, or Clarity Shards.
Sometimes your team needs mobility to keep up. It's always good to have a couple Windrushes on your team. If the situation calls for you to make one, this is how I suggest you'd craft one. You can also buy the default if you want.




Oracle's Trinket (any enchantment or none) – combination of Health and Power Shards, 1x Health Crystal or 1x Power Crystal.
If the enemy team has lots of CC and you didn't choose Pincer, you're going to get CC locked when you dive into the enemy team. Having Rocket Boots is too important, so I can't recommend switching to Inertia Boots. Instead, consider an Oracle's Trinket. If you can use positioning and quick reflexes to forgo it, please do (especially because Stone Skin will give you a good boost to CC reduction,) but if you really need a CC purge, this is probably how you'd want to craft your Oracle's Trinket. The default is also fine.

Go for a duo lane. While Bandit.0 does well in the solo lane, this guide is catered more toward a duo lane. Try to get a lane partner with some CC you can chain off to make sure you land Searing Cards. Good lane partners include, but are not limited to:

• Ray
  
• Malady
  
• Bastion
  
• Shank
  
• Iah

Bandit.0 is very good at farming due to Searing Cards. During the laning phase, try to focus on farming so your laning partner can harass or at the very least stay safe. Be sure to rotate to the jungle in between waves to increase your team's GPM. Searing Cards lets you clear green camps very quickly and safely.

I suggest maximizing Searing Cards first because of this. It's your primary source of damage output, after all. The next skill to maximize would be Gambler's Fortune as it scales better than Token Toss. Token Toss' stun duration doesn't scale with level, and the gold bonus for hitting it is pretty minor, so putting lots of points into it early on won't really help you. As I mentioned earlier, though, you may need to focus on Gambler's Fortune depending on how the game goes. It's really a matter of playstyle for you.

Don't try to get kills until you get your Rocket Boots. Once you have them, it will be much easier for you to secure a kill without putting yourself at risk. Once you get Cursed Wand, things get even easier and you will be able to punish any opponent that gets out of position.

When attacking a tower, be sure to use Searing Cards for lots of damage. But be careful not to also hit an enemy hero, lest the tower begin to target you.

Once you build your core (Golden Protector, Cursed Wand, Soulstealer, and probably Stone Skin) you can stop trying to focus on farm so much, as you'll be able to get multikills in team fights with a little luck from RNGesus. Therefore, start rotating frequently to ambush opponents who are pushing, help your allies with pushes or Baldir/Cindara, or push out a lane that isn't getting a lot of attention.

As always, the key to a decisive victory in Strife is twofold: objective control and lane pressure. Your forte is definitely lane pressure, and hopefully your teammates can focus on objective control a little more. Still, it's your job to chip in for objective control. One thing you are particularly good at is zoning for your team while they take Baldir/Cindara. Make sure you maintain control of the observatories, and watch the minimap to predict where your opponents are heading.

In the very late game, even with Stone Skin your opponents will kill you before you can kill any of them if you dive alone. Sure, you can probably handle a 2v1, but you're playing with fire with anything more. If you have a melee initiator like Hale or Bastion on your team, let them charge in first with their ultimates and quickly follow up by dashing in with Rocket Boots, casting Double Down, then spamming Searing Cards. A Ray with Shadowveil also works very well for a similar initiation.

One final word: the wheel spin that gives you seals and elixir? Some players may remember that Moxie used to be the hero there, but I suggested that it should be Bandit.0 instead because after all, he's a gambling droid. So they changed it, you're welcome ;) Can't win if you don't spin!