Riki

Riki the Stealth Assassin is a melee agility hero that uses stealth in order to surprise enemies and quickly kill them. His trademark ability, Cloak and Dagger, lets him sneak up on his enemies from behind and deal massive backstab damage, then quickly escape. This enables him to close in on the enemy and drop his devastating Smoke Screen, which cripples fighter and spellcaster alike. Blink Strike allows Riki to chase with impunity, while Tricks of the Trade makes quick work of his enemies during teamfights. Riki was born middle child to the great dynasty of Tahlin.

With an older brother groomed for the throne, and a younger brother coddled and kept, Riki, the small middle son, seemed born for the art of invisibility. It was an art he cultivated, and one which ultimately saved his life on the night that his people were betrayed and his family slaughtered. Of all the royal line, he alone escaped—small and agile, unassuming, using smoke as cover. He cut his way out of the royal grounds, using the advantage of surprise, quietly slitting the throats of one enemy warrior after another. Now free of his royal responsibilities, Riki uses his talents in service to a new trade: Stealth Assassin. He silences his enemies, sharpening his skills, hoping to one day take revenge on those who killed his family and robbed him of his birthright.Riki's invisibility is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. On one hand, it makes him able to surprise enemies and farm with very little concern. On the other hand, without invisibility he has no real defense. He still has to watch out for revealing items such as Dust of Appearance and Gem of True Sight, as well as abilities that prevent him from going invisible. If he stays alive and picks off lone enemies, he can quickly get out of control. Riki's Cloak and Dagger allows him to go completely invisible after a short delay. If Riki's enemies do not have any form of detection, this lets Riki escape with ease and roam freely. If they do, Riki has to rely on his cunning and speed in order to get the drop on enemies, and get out alive. It also enables him to deal incredible damage from behind based on a multiplier of his agility (this is known as "backstab damage"). Blink Strike is Riki's chase and escape ability.

It operates like other Blink abilities in that it allows Riki to teleport in and out of battle at will. However, Blink Strike is unit targeted, not point targeted, and as such cannot be used unless there are units around. It helps catch up with fleeing enemies, jump into fights quickly, and escape from situations by targeting allies. Blink Strike pairs well with the backstab damage from Cloak and Dagger, as it teleports Riki behind the enemy. Smoke Screen provides a powerful Silence and gives enemies a high miss chance, as well as slowing them down. If targeted properly, it can hold an enemy down long enough to finish them off. However, enemies must stay in the area to be affected. A good strategy is to throw a Smoke Screen in the enemy's path, rather than where they are presently. Finally, Tricks of the Trade is a devastating teamfight ability that deals backstab damage to all units in its AoE. This ability pairs well with large AoE disables such as Ravage, Reverse Polarity, and Black Hole. Tangos and Salves compensate for poor starting HP, allowing you to stay in the lane longer and reach level 6 sooner. Slippers of Agility and three Iron Branches to increase early damage and both health and mana regeneration, while the slippers prepare for the shield and the branches set up for the wand later. A Magic Stick replaces your consumables with an alternative source of recovery, particularly if the enemy team includes heroes that rely on abilities. Boots of Speed provide movement speed, allowing Riki to keep pace with fleeing heroes while Blink Strike is on cooldown A Poor Man's Shield gives Riki damage block, aiding escape from attempted ganks or providing the defense to land one last hit on an almost dead opponent. Power Treads give Riki increased attack speed as well as a further bonus to attributes. The Magic Wand is an obvious upgrade from the Magic Stick and Ironwood Branches purchased earlier, freeing up inventory slots while retaining the attribute bonuses and healing ability. A Diffusal Blade provides a way to weaken heroes receiving bonuses from buffs, as well as slow fleeing heroes and burn mana from casters. In a pinch, it can also counter use of a Dust of Appearance by purging himself. And using purge on an enemy under Smoke Screen allows for a long silenced duration in which you can backstab them or just fight them while they have an increased chance to miss.  Though expensive, a Butterfly provides a huge increase in both survivability and damage, as well as attack speed. It also boosts your agility which scales well with Cloak and Dagger's backstab damage. Drum of Endurance is a good early/mid game pickup, makes everyone faster and gives you stats, couple with Orb of Venom for a better chasing power. A Black King Bar allows Riki to effectively fight in teamfights and get kills against opponents that have strong disables. Sange and Yasha give great attribute bonuses, as well as an alternative slow method to save charges on, or use in place of a drained Diffusal Blade. A Basher allows Riki to cancel TPs with a lucky bash and continue to lockdown opponents once they have acquired a BKB, and upgrades into Abyssal Blade which allows for more reliable stuns.