Dota 2 Heroes – An Introduction to Kardel Sharpeye the Sniper

By: Jason McCarthy

  |   December 5th, 2012   |  

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Kardel Sharpeye the Sniper is a hard ranged carry that takes pride in sitting back in battles while dealing a lot of damage to the enemies. With the potential to control lane as well as rune, he is among the best heroes for mid lane, bringing even the likes of Pudge and Nevermore to their knees if played correctly.

His first ability Shrapnel is a 325 Area of Effect (AoE) spell that deals 48 damage per second, plus slowing enemies by 30%. This lasts 8 seconds and deals 1/3 damage of the original damage to buildings. It can used early game to harass heroes and making them think twice before coming into range to last-hit creeps, thus affecting their early-game farm significantly.

His second skill Headshot is a passive ability that gives you 40% chance to deal 50 damage and apply a mini-stun to the target. The mini-stun itself plays out very well throughout the game. The skill helps him in last-hitting creeps, doing a greater deal of damage to enemies and last but not the least, stop channelling skills. It contributes heavily to the respect that Sniper enjoys in the battlefield.

His third skill Take Aim is his second passive ability that increases his range by a wealthy 260 range, which allows him to out-range towers. Just to give you an idea about how much range this is, his base range is 550. If you add the 260 to it, it takes it all the way up to 810. This gives Sniper the biggest range in the entire game, beating out Drow Ranger and Lina who have a range of 625.

Assassinate is Sniper’s ultimate. It is a single-target skill that allows him to deal a burst amount of damage to his target from a very long range. The casting range at Level 3 is 2500, while the damage dealt is 655. This ability takes 1.7 seconds to cast, but can be cancelled mid-animation without the worry of using spell. Assassinate also interrupts channelling spells and this interrupt works on magic immune targets.

Sniper is pretty easily to play with because his skills do not require a great deal of reflexes. His farming capability is greatly enhanced by Headshot, while Take Aim allows him to stay out of harm’s way. Once his core items are farmed, he will not require much of an effort to take down enemy heroes. He may be frail, but if put in the right hands and team, he is capable of causing devastation. His ultimate is pretty powerful and allows him to get many kills. However, his ultimate is also the very reason why Sniper is recommended for intermediate players. Newbie players have been found using this ability to steal kills, which is extremely frustrating for the entire team.

Disclaimer: The research used in this article is accredited to Dota Cinema and SUNSfan. No copyright infringement is intended.