Taught never to retreat, never to surrender. Taught that death in the battlefield is the greatest glory he could achieve in his life. Spartans: the finest soldiers the world has ever known.

Leonidas is an extremely cookie-cutter-rinse-repeat type of character to play,but from experience (pubs and lower-level leagues) lots of people just play him wrong. Taking a look at the other guides,it's the same story.


Compared to his brother (Rambo) Leonidas is much more defensive (that's why he has a shield) and should farm more so that he can get his ownage items. Unlike Rambo, Leoindas' DPS is based on his crits and so he needs a good damage item and not strength like Sven. Leonidas is a carry hero who can also tank and he is always the last man standing. His job is to get his Radiance and stand in the middle of a team battle pissing off his enemies with his aura (a lot like in the movie).

His role is to carry and tank. This concept may be confusing but I will explain it, normally a carry hero farms all game and then deals as much DPS in a team battle so that his team will win and yes GG, a tank wants to get focussed and will increase his DPS so that people will see him as a threat and thus focus him, but he is tanky and thus his allies will be saved from taking damage an will win the battle and GG. When you combine these two his role becomes obvious, you will be farming for DPS and tanking items so SK can deal heaps of DPS in team battles while he is seen as the threat and be focussed,(too bad you have two lives so you waste even more of the enemies time) thus you are doing both tanking and carrying as your team will benefit from both of your roles simultaneously.

This guide was written to teach and help improve your DotA skills. Though nothing can substitute experience, a fun to read guide can atleast get you on the right path. Because of the release of 6.50 many of the changes actually benefit SK. We will be discussing them in the guide.

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Storm Bolt:
Mechanics:has a Range of 525 and deals Magical Damage. Can be dodged by Invisibility and Blink. Has a cooldown of 8 seconds and costs 140 mana at all levels.
Strategics:Storm Bolt:Click-and-win skill. Use it in conjunction with another friendly disable for maximum effect. Use it to chase down fleeing heroes while the Radiance immolation burns them,kill loads of Persians. The 8 second cooldown is just awesome in ganks and chases.


Vampiric Aura:
Mechanics:Stacks with other lifesteal auras like Vladmirs. Yes you can lifesteal from your Criticals Strikes.

Strategics:This is only helpful when you have enough damage to lifesteal from and when you can actually hit the opponent multiple times.


Critical Strike:
Mechanics:Stacks with Buriza but with diminishing returns.

Strategics:This is your main source of DPS (excluding your ownage base damage) and will rape once you get high damage.

Reincarnation:
Mechanics:Can only be stopped if you don't have Mana for this spell. Wastes Shallow Grave and any other buffs that were cast on you before you died.
Strategics:This is your tanking skill and why you can farm your items. It provides a second life so you can GTFO that gank. People will really hate targetting you because they will have to kill you twice compared to other heroes.
"Relax, old friend. If they kill me, all Sparta goes to war. Pray they're that stupid. Pray we're that lucky. "

he one and only Build (though some of it depends on your line-up and situations):

Level 01 - Storm Bolt
Level 02 - Attribute Bonuses
Level 03 - Storm Bolt
Level 04 - Attribute Bonuses
Level 05 - Storm Bolt
Level 06 - Reincarnation
Level 07 - Storm Bolt
Level 08 - Attribute Bonuses
Level 09 - Attribute Bonuses
Level 10 - Attribute Bonuses
Level 11 - Reincarnation
Level 12 - Critical Strike/Vampiric Aura
Level 13 - Critical Strike/Vampiric Aura
Level 14 - Critical Strike/Vampiric Aura
Level 15 - Critical Strike/Vampiric Aura
Level 16 - Reincarnation
Level 17 - Vampiric Aura/Critical Strike
Level 18 - Vampiric Aura/Critical Strike
Level 19 - Vampiric Aura/Critical Strike
Level 20 - Vampiric Aura/Critical Strike
21 to 25 - Attribute Bonuses

So many players say to get Lifeleech early for survivability. But you have to auto-attack,and the hp you get is so mediocre. Some say that critical strike helps you last hit/deny better but with such good base damage,you are sacrificing hp and mana if you can't last hit without crits. But, there was a legend of a DotA player who decided to try Storm Bolt and Stats and succeeded beyond all possible expectations. Because of this revolutionary skill-build many other people have copied him by using the same build on Sven and VS.

Vampiric Aura can be more useful than a crit when neutral creeping and if you will not be participating in team battles and plan to farm all game then the aura will help you more because your HP will constantly be high and you can Neutral/farm all game without having to return to the fountain as much.

Critical Strike is taken when you plan to fight against enemy heroes. It is better to have some damage before you get Critical Strike because you will just be hitting puny criticals and that's why you get it at mid-late game.

Reincarnation whenever possible,with those stats you can use stun a lot and still have mana for this, also the cooldown is damn long at level 1.

Build order: Tangoes/Branches > Boots > Radiance > Upgrade Boots

This is an item build that requires thought and not for you to just follow it word by word. You might want to get Bracers to help in the survival department or Bottle for regeneration during and after ganks. Hood parts will be helpful for lane-staying and of course BoT or Treads can be taken depending on your game.

Starting Items - Bunch of Tangos and Branches to help with regeneration and last-hitting. You can't really complain about starting items lol. If you plan to buy a Hood then you can start with a RoR and if you plan to build some bracers you can buy some Gauntlets to help in last-hitting.

Radiance - Leonidas is a carry/tank and no-one wants to kill him with reincarnation when he is so tanky but Radiance will either force them to attack you or let you deal significant damage to them. Radiance also helps you farm up your tanking items. If you can't get this within 30-40 minutes I suggest you skip it and buy the tanking items because Radiance is not so effective later in the game. As of 6.50 Blink has been nerfed so that you are unable to blink away if you took damage in the last 3 seconds, this really makes Radiance an even better item because your enemies will never be able to Blink away if you keep them in your AoE. Because of the nerf to Blink and the semi-buff to Lothars, Lothars may appear more often in the games and that's not a bad thing because Radiance still damages your opponents whether they are invisible or not.

Boots of Travel/Power Treads - BoT is the one of the best items for Leonidas because it allows you to chase better and nets lots of kills. The teleportation is also very helpful in jumping to lanes and farming up a storm. You can get this after Radiance if you desperately need to carry and do not want to participate in ganks as much. BoT helps in ganking as well but you will mainly use it for ricefarming globally, it can also be used for ganking purposes but it requires some farming so if you don't find -ms as important then buy Treads instead.

Boots of Travel or Power Treads? You won't need the stat bonus with the stats you leveled previously. As for the IAS, Lenoidas is more of a chase down and hit, not a duke-it-out-1v1. IAS matters less than chasing ability, since you can take down most heroes even if they stand and fight. As of 6.50, -ms has become readily available to everyone. However, because the boot upgrade will be the only MS boosting item in our build, BoT provides the edge against all the high MS heroes who bough SnY or Euls.

Hood of Defiance - is a fucking rape item that I get on a lot of heroes, including Leoric. It helps you tank spells more, allowing you to chase and kill pretty much anybody without fearing nukes/disables. Regen helps you creep better too. Get this after your Radiance if there are strong spell-casters who all focus on you or if you're facing AoE damage. This is a really solid item if there are many casters. Get this instead of BKB if you aren't facing Mana Burn because you want the enemy to waste spells on your tanky skeletal being.


Bracer - are basically bought on every hero and if you feel you neeed the hp, why not. I don't get them however, because I think the 5 stats levels combined with Ulti and his strength growth, is enough EHP. Feel free to get them if you really need the HP and stats.


Bottle - Because you will be ganking occasionaly you will want burst regeneration after ganks and tower dives. Another reason to get Bottle are the runes that you can pick up. Leonidas loves runes. Because of the nerf to Bottle in 6.50 I have added this into optional. You should only buy this if you plan to do a lot of ganking and if you are farming more than ganking then you should skip this.

Black King Bar - you're the tank. It isn't the end of the world to be disabled and you're not like Sven who needs every second to hit the opponent with his God Strength. Since you're getting Radiance don't even need to hit the opponent to damage them. However, if you are facing your most hated of all enemies (mana burn) then BKB will be your answer. Get this only if you are having huge problems with Mana Burn.



After radiance, get what you want depending on the situation. Radiance is the core, the rest are situational.

Assault Cuirass - This is a great late game item. The IAS and armor is really nice and overall it is great for your team. Get this if you can farm it. The Platemail and Hyperston are mainly the most helpful components before you complete it and you can buy those before and buy a heart before finishing the Assault because the recipe imo doesn't give enough bonuses.


Heart of Terasque - HP and damage are good. With Heart and Radiance you are damned hard to kill and the Radiance damage will really start to hurt. This combined with Assault is a deadly combinaton with plenty of EHP and HP and DPS (highly recommended). I suggest you get a Platemail before or after your Reaver to boost your EHP because Leonidas's armor is relatively low. Heart is chosen over Satanic when you are being disabled often and plan to tank even more.


Armlet of Mordigian - For it's price it provides a lot of bonuses. However unless you are having a bad day farming you can get much more solid items that will overall be bigger in terms of DPS and EHP. Get this for some cheap DPS and HP.


Sange and Yasha - When playing a mass ganker SK, SnY is a good item since it comes in small parts and helps you chase even better. However, there should be another carry on your team since this way you won't carry as hard. Even though it seems like a pub item, it really helps for a ganking build and extra ms never hurt. As of 6.50, SnY has been buffed a bit more so you get even more -ms and a higher chance to Maim. This is handy if you want even more chasing power because of all the high MS heroes around the new map.


Eye of Skaddi - Skaddi is a mean item. It provides a slow, similar HP to a Heart and bonus to all stats. There's nothing wrong with this item apart from it's cost and build up. Get this if you like the luxury of being unable to escape from and also extra tanking. Just remember the high price for the bonuses.


Satanic - Lifesteal is nice. Get this if you can afford it. I don't really advise this because the DPS is low and the survivability isn't that great either. This can be taken instead of a heart if you are really into lifesteal. This is only useful when you have the DPS and IAS to ensure that you are lifestealing a good amount of HP.


Monkey King Bar - Really nice DPS. Get this to finish your item build or if you really need more DPS and less survivability. The build up of this item is great because Javelins provide nice damage.


Stygian Desolator - Combined with Assault the negative armor of the enemy can allow you to deal a lot of DPS. It is pretty easy to build up and is a great DPS item with your spells.



Battlefury - Cleave is bad, damage is subpar, mana regen isn't needed since you aren't spamming spells constantly enough. This might be useful late-game if you really want to push faster but get everything else before this because it really isn't that great. The major problem is that you don't really need it as much because it doesn't help you carry/tank as much as the core and extension items. You will attract more attention with a Radiance and you will survive better with Hood/Heart/Assault. The only time you should get this is against mass images/summon heroes.

Kelen's Dagger of Escape - Unlike Sven you have as many seconds as you want to own people because you have crit and Radiance and not a timed ultimate. You might need it to chase if everyone else bought it but usually you can live without Blink. As of 6.50 Blink's uses have gone much lower and there is probably no need for this item in any non-initiator's itembuild.

Refresher Orb - Please don't get this item. It costs so much for a second reincarnate. You mught as well just buy back when you die instead of wasting item slots and money on this.

Guinsoo Scythe of Vice - This item is so wtf on Leoric it's not even funny. Leoric only has one spammable skill and he has plenty of mana for that with stats and bottle. You are a damn tank and not a pussy disabler so don't buy this. This also costs way too much for a disable.

Vladmir's Offering - Even though it stacks with your aura, get your allies to buy this instead. It just doesn't provide anything solid enough for a tank/carry like you.

Buriza-do cannon - FFS you have your own crit already. Just buy a MKB and stfu about double crit. Also the build up isn't that great while you have a huge crit already.



Manta Steel - Never seen a SK with one and theres a good reason. It doesn't do jack. This is really madness! not sparta. Don't be fooled of stories about Manta making you a better tank because AoE spells plow through images like it's none of your business.

We apologise but Leonidas is not a difficult hero to play. He doesn't require intense skill or timing and basically you play a good SK if you can last-hit and stun/chase with your team well, none of that extreme hooking/arrow/blink-ava-toss-dagon/double-triple creep pull stuff.

Not-so-Spartan-Mentality:
Ok let's be honest. Leoric isn't a Spartan, you're not a Spartan and I'm definitely not a Spartan. So we don't have to follow Spartan tactics when playing. Instead of never retreating, retreat to lure the enemy. Use the fog and trees for escape and mind-games. One of the most powerful things about being a STR hero with high STR growth is that your HP bar can be deceiving. Even though you might be on an orange bar, it will probably be the same as a full hp agi hero. Play mind-games with your opponents to fool them into attacking you. The fact that you have a second life means that you can take a lot more risks than your allies and so you should be drawing attention and letting your (better) carry heroes or disablers survive battles.

Animation-Cancel:
Start to move after you see the hammer in the air because you don't want to waste time standing around (unless you're talking to the Persian king). This will help you gain as much distance possible wen chasing your enemy and will also

Immolation-Chase:
This is actually one of the most important techniques because you want to be able to keep the enemy within Radiance's AoE while you hunt down your opponents and use your aura to kill them off. Throw your Storm Bolt to catch up and keep chasing till they die. Try not to let them juke you, but if they do your aura's range is so big that you can probably catch up anyways. Do not attack them until you are sure you will kill them because the animation will slow you down. This is an even more important technique to master if the enemy has Blink because you don't want them surviving 3 seconds to blink away.

Chain-Storm:
Basically you want to combine your stun with an allies' spell so that you can deal as much disable and damage as you can. Your stun is a single-target spell so it is extremely easy to aim (lol duh).

Bone-Bait:
Leonidas has a high amount of testosterone and so he will release an equal amount of pheromones to the opponents. Use this to your advantage by running up to the enemy and inflaming their senses so they will chase you into your traps. Tell your allies (AoE stunners) to hide in the fog while you release your pheromones and make the enemy think that they have you outnumbered. It's ok if your baiting fails because you have reincarnation if all goes wrong. Sometimes the enemy might not take the bait because they know it will take too long to kill you but a good time to try this is when your team is pushing and then you guys back off so that the enemy see only you. You have to pressure your opponents enough to want to attack/chase you. This also works when a few of them decide to gank you and you can turn the gank around.

Subtle-Stand:
Try to deal as much damage and stay as long as you can in a team battle without being focussed hard. You want to deal as much damage as you can while tanking some hits but not all. Being in the opponents face is extremely helpful as your big model-size is asking to be right clicked. Even though you don't have any major AoE damage you have huge crits and a stun so use all the resources you have available to your advantage.

When-to-Storm:
When chasing past towers try to get out of the tower's attack range before you stun and attack so that you won't get pounded on while you own your victim. It is also better to stun your enemy when they are about to run instead of when you first see them.

Channel-Storm:
That silly WD is channeling his Voodoo shizzle on you, give him a little hammer loving. Basically spam Storm Bolt so that your opponent's will hate it.

Rune-Check:
Try to get them all. DD owns. Haste owns. Illu can be used to make people think you're in lane so you don't get called missing. Regeneration is always good. Invis is rape, but give it if somone like Lina (with a hard-to-aim stun) if they are around.

Big-Man-Walking:
SK has a huge collision size and you can block a lot of heroes paths. Use your hero to slow down heroes chasing your allies by pressing (H) continuously like a creep.

Target-Focus:
You will want to focus on a specific type of hero in battles:
- Always go for the channelers because they deal the most damage if they get their spells off. Let all of the casters/channelers use spells on you because you have a second life to tank again. If they don't have BKB they are obviously asking to be Storm-Bolted.

- After channelers comes the carry heroes and then you can focus on anyone else after. The reason you go for carry heroes is of course because they deal the most DPS but also because they usually tend to stay behind and try not to get noticed, this is why you want to run up and focus them because you will get a lot of attention and your allies can do some combos while the enemy are distracted.

- The leftovers are usually the tanks/support and weaksauce heroes who will die anyways. Use your Storm Bolt to help in chasing and cleaning up the leftovers.




Laning - Try to get an Allied hero (preferably ranged) who can chain stuns with you. Leonidas is good in a lane; His animation and damage is good, he has no problems last hitting. Leonidas can work in any lane because his Stun will always be useful. Remember to Animation-Cancel so you don't stand around looking like a persian. You should lead with your stun because it is the easiest to aim and will make it easier for allies to throw theirs.


Soloing - Soloing is not advised but if you have to... do it. Just farm your and be aggressive. Don't let your opponent get the advantage. If your opponent has extremely strong lane control or you are against a duo or tri-lane then stand back and don't even try to last-hit unless you are in your towers safety. Laning can be tough because you are melee but with good last-hitting and denying you should be able outlevel your opponents with your good animation and base damage, leading to a early relic.


Getting Ganked - You have a stun and Reincarnation. You are a pain in the ass to gank and requires at least 3 people to kill you. Just spam your stun (of course save mana for ulti) and run away. When you get BoT you are even more annoying to gank because you can TP away after stunning the enemy and hiding. You can use yourself as bait so that you lead the opponents into your allies hands. Or, you could fight back like a real Spartan. Also remember to use trees and cliffs to juke the enemy.

" My children, gather round! No retreat, no surrender; that is Spartan law. And by Spartan law we will stand and fight... and die. A new age has begun. An age of freedom, and all will know, that 300 Spartans gave their last breaths to defend it! "


Ganking - Ganking for Leonidas can depend on how you want to play: If you already have a strong carry hero, you can spend more time ganking and less time farming. However, if you are the main carry hero you will need to devote more time to farming.
To gank, simply combo your stuns with your allies. There isn't much more you need to do apart from throw your hammer and occasionally hit the enemy. Remember to try to enter/start a gank by entering from behind the enemy or from the fog so that you have the element of suprise. You can be overly agressive once in a while (up to the point of suicidal) because you can reincarnate and do some risky shiit like chasing past tower etc.


Farming - Last hit with your awesome base damage and high damage crit. Rape neutrals and creeps with Radiance aura. change lanes often by TP-ing around the map so you are harder to gank. Not much need be said.


Pushing - Use your Radiance aura to push and basically tank the creeps so that your creeps can own the enemy creeps.


Backdooring - Not really. You don't have the IAS required for a 9 seconds tower like Fletcher. Some bones are just not meant for that job and Leonidas is one of them.


Team Battles - Radiance. This says it all. Once you get Radiance your goal will be to stay in the battle as long as possible while throwing your stun out and disabling the enemy. Follow your initiator once he jumps in and start hitting people. There is this ignore-the-tank-theory which some people advise against Skeleton/BB/etc but this is good for you as you will be able to proc your massive 2.75x crits and also burn them with your aura. Do your allied spartans proud and behead some persians on the way. Target the low-hp as per usual and try to throw as many Storm Bolts as you can. Remember to Target-Focus and communicate with your team so that your battle will be easier to win.

"It's been more than thirty years since the wolf and the winter cold. And now, as then, it is not fear that grips him, only restlesness. A heightened sense of things. The seaborn breeze, coolly, kissing the sweat on his chest. Gulls cawing, complaining, even as they feast on thousands of floating dead. The steady breathing of 300 at his back, ready to die for him without a moments pause. Everyone of them ready, to die. "

Good guide. I prefer bfury over radiance on him, but I might try radiance.

More people need to play stats/stun for at least the first seven levels of their hero with storm bolt/magic missile/whatever. Seriously...your aura isn't going to help you at level 7. Instead, 100 more HP and 100 more mana (2 levels of stats, 4 levels of stun, ultimate) is going to be much, much more useful in chaining your nukes, staying alive, etc. etc.

Battlefury is bad. IMMOLATION>cleave ,and you don't need the MANA regen. let's compare Hood to Battlefury? Hood blocks spells,so enemies can't kill you with lots of burst damage. Battlefury gives sad damage,and Cleave's AOE doesn't matter,you can stun only 1 hero.

I agree... Battlefury is one of the cheapest ways to increase your damage... its about 22 gold per damage more effective than radiance, easy to build up and you do use the mana regen... if you can regen mana then the extra stormbolt+hits is better than sparkles... Get radiance on someone like spectre, treant or TB since they all have the means to use it effectively. SK really cant farm up that much gold. I would still take bfury over radiance in a 3v3 b/c radiance will hit less people in a 3v3 making it less effective. I use the splash mainly for farming or pushing... not for attempting to splash crits on enemies. If you want the splash to be effective in a team battle you would need some like Magnus or enigma to group up the eniemies for you... that's why radiance is used so much, because you don't need to group your enemies.