Riki

When to Pick Riki?

Tips & common mistakes

• Backstab scales with hero level at 0.55 + 0.05 per level, which means reaching high hero levels as fast as possible is more important for Riki than raw agility itemization early in the game. Mid lane provides the fastest level acceleration available to any hero in Dota 2, which is specifically why Riki mid outperforms Riki safelane at Immortal rank—the higher the hero level, the more bonus pure damage every single Backstab hits deals, and levels are free while agility items cost gold.
• Blink Strike has two charges with independent restore times — most pub Riki players use both charges immediately on the same target and then have no gap closer or escape available. The correct use is to save one charge as an escape option while using the first charge for initiation. If the gank goes wrong and the target has backup arriving, the second Blink Strike charge behind the arriving support for an unexpected backstab position is both a counter-engagement tool and a repositioning escape in the same cast.
• Smoke Screen silences AND blinds ALL enemies inside the radius simultaneously—most pub Riki players use Smoke Screen reactively after initiating with Blink Strike, by which point the target is already alerted and moving. The correct order is Smoke Screen FIRST at the target's current position, then Blink Strike behind them while they are already silenced, blinded, and unable to cast spells. The target cannot use a blink escape, cannot cast a save spell, and cannot call for help through the silence before Backstab begins hitting from behind.
• During Tricks of the Trade channel, Riki becomes invisible and attacks all enemies in the radius from behind automatically—every single auto attack from Tricks of the Trade applies Backstab damage regardless of facing angle, which means the ability deals pure physical spell damage scaling with agility on every interval. At max agility scaling with multiple items, Tricks of the Trade with high agility is one of the highest burst damage channeling ultimates in the game per second. Most pub Riki players save Tricks of the Trade purely as an escape tool and never use it offensively on a rooted target inside Smoke Screen.
• Cloak and Dagger grants bonus experience on hero kills AND assists — which means supporting your team's kills as a position four Riki still accelerates your level scaling for Backstab. Do not feel obligated to secure every kill yourself as a support Riki—the assist experience from your team finishing kills you set up counts toward the level multiplier scaling just as effectively as solo kills. Track your hero level obsessively because each level increase is a meaningful flat backstab multiplier improvement.
• Aghanim's Scepter on Riki reduces the armor of enemies inside Smoke Screen by five and makes them untargetable by allies—which means a support trying to save the hero inside your Smoke Screen with False Promise, Glimmer Cape, or Force Staff cannot target them during the Scepter Smoke Screen duration. The armor reduction makes Backstab hit harder simultaneously. Against lineups with active save supports like Oracle or Abaddon, Aghanim's Scepter Smoke Screen is one of the best counter-itemization tools available, specifically because it prevents the save ability from connecting on the target while Riki finishes them.
• Most pub Riki players never place their own observer wards as a support Riki and rely entirely on hard supports to provide vision. This is wrong—Riki can place wards from permanent invisibility without ever being spotted, from angles that a visible hero could never safely approach. Cliff wards, deep jungle wards, and high-ground wards that would be suicidal to place on a visible hero are trivially safe for Riki to plant mid-game. Use the permanent invisibility as a warding tool, and your team's map vision will be dramatically better than if you leave it entirely to the pos five.