As a hero, Storm Spirit has undergone many changes in Dota 2. From the early days of being downright broken and demolishing every single game to being nerfed into oblivion and having one of the lowest win rates, Storm Spirit has gone through it all. In the current patch, however, the hero is in a pretty good place with a balanced win rate and pick rate, even in the competitive scene.
Storm Spirit’s unique skillset makes him one of the strongest snowballing heroes in Dota 2. If he has a good early game and can come out of the laning phase with a decent bit of farm, he can take over the game all on his own. For players who want to pick up and master this powerful Midlane hero, our complete Storm Spirit build guide will make the journey easier.
Dota 2 Storm Spirit Hero Overview
Storm Spirit is a ranged, Intelligence hero with three standard abilities and an ultimate that unlocks at Level 6. He has one of the highest Int Gain in the game, and despite being an Intelligence hero, his other stats are also quite high at the base level. Storm Spirit has a relatively short attack range, and his slow movement speed makes his early laning phase particularly difficult.
Here’s a quick breakdown of his abilities:
|
Ability Name |
How it Works |
|---|---|
|
Static Remnant |
Storm Spirit creates a replica of himself that explodes in proximity to an enemy unit. The Static Remnant lasts 12 seconds if no enemies are nearby, providing flying vision in an AOE around it. |
|
Electric Vortex |
Storm Spirit pulls a targeted unit towards him, disabling the enemy hero for a specific duration. |
|
Overload |
Any time Storm Spirit uses one of his abilities, his next attack gets imbued with energy that deals bonus magical damage and applies an AOE slow around the target that he hits. |
|
Ball Lightning |
Storm Spirit turns into a ball of energy and travels to the targeted location. During the Ball Lightning, Storm Spirit can’t be targeted or damaged. Storm Spirit continues towards the targeted point until he reaches the destination or his mana is drained. |
Apart from his four abilities, The Crownfall update in Dota 2 also gave the hero two Facets that players must choose before a match begins. Storm Spirit’s Facets are:
- Shock Collar: Adds a secondary effect to the Electric Vortex. The spell now also applies a debuff on the targeted enemy that causes their next attack to hit themselves and also proc an Overload Charge. The debuff lasts for 5 seconds.
- Static Slide: Static Remnant becomes a ground-targeted ability and now moves to a target location instead after spawning from Storm Spirit.
However, what gives Storm Spirit his massive snowball potential isn’t his spells or Facets but rather his Innate ability. With each kill you get with the hero, you gain a Galvanized charge, giving you 0.2 Mana regeneration. When you unlock your Ball Lightning ability, you gain three bonus charges. On top of that, each time you gain a charge, you permanently gain 0.1 Mana regeneration on the hero.
Each death results in losing 3 Galvanized charges.
Dota 2 Storm Spirit Build Guide
In Dota 2, Storm Spirit is always played in the middle lane as the Position 2 of the team. The hero relies heavily on having a good early game and rarely likes to play catch-up. With some levels under his belt and a couple of key items, the hero can become a massive threat to the enemy team, especially for squishy supports who like to stay in the backline.
Here’s a full breakdown of how you’ll want to build the hero:
Abilities and Talent Build
Storm Spirit’s ability and talent build in Dota 2 is pretty straightforward. Your Static Remnant is your most useful spell, allowing you to shove your creep wave under the enemy tower. Using this spell, you can also clear a stacked neutral camp in the jungle fast. This is always the first ability you want to level up to the max.
Put one point into Overcharge and one into Electric Vortex at levels 2 and 4, respectively. Pick up your ultimate at level 6. After Static Remnant is maxed out, prioritize putting points into Overload to boost your overall damage output. Since this ability activates each time Storm Spirit uses an ability, you can get it to proc infinitely with your Ball Lightning as long as you have Mana to work with. Make sure you always level up your ultimate and take talents whenever possible. Start putting points into Electric Vortex once your other spells are upgraded to the limit.
As for Talents, at level 10, go for the +1.5 Mana Regen. Storm Spirit is an extremely mana-hungry hero, and the extra regen from this talent is too good to pass up. At level 15, pick extra health, extra duration for Electric Vortex at level 20, and finally, go with 2x Overload Attack Bounce at level 25.
Item Progression
With Storm Spirit, you want to start the laning phase with as much Gold saved as possible to get to your Bottle quickly. A set of Tango and four Iron Branches gives you enough stats to secure the early last hits. If the lane matchup is difficult, you can replace one of the Iron Branches with a Faerie Fire. Ask for an Observer Ward or buy one yourself to scout Runes and potential ganks from the enemy team.
Your priority in the lane is to rush the Bottle. Once you have it, keep an eye out for Rune spawns and use it to refill your Bottle to top off your health and Mana. This is Storm Spirit’s main source of regen for much of the early game. Null Talisman and Boots of Speeds are the next two items you’ll want to pick up.
Upgrade your Boots of Speed whenever you get enough Gold. After that, you’ll have a choice to make. Witch Blade and Orchid Malevolence are both excellent items on Storm Spirit, and the one you build first depends mainly on the enemy team. If you plan to get active early, utilizing the active Silence to secure kills, go for Orchid Malevolence. Witch Blade will also add a ton of damage to your hero because of your high Int scaling. If the enemy team has a lot of disables, a Black King Bar rush isn’t a bad idea either. A Kaya is also an essential purchase on Storm Spirit since it makes your Mana management much more efficient.
Once you’ve bought the essentials, the item choice for Storm Spirit opens up a lot. This hero likes to stack up on Mana Regen, which makes Linken’s Sphere, Shiva’s Guard, Parasma, Bloodthorn, or even Eul’s Scepter of Divinity a good item on the hero. But you also want to consider the enemy heroes and buy items that offer extra value against them. For example, if your team is lacking disables, and an enemy Pos 1 Hard Carry is wrecking you during team fights, a Scythe of Vyse can be an excellent option to go for with Storm Spirit.
Aghanim’s Shard and Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades for the hero are also amazing. Aghanim’s Shard will allow you to manually activate Overload and grant the effect to your nearby allies for three attacks. This, combined with the level 25 talent from the hero, adds a lot of AOE damage during team fights. Aghanim’s Scepter, on the other hand, turns Electric Vortex into an AOE ability, allowing you to disable multiple heroes at the same time. Both are excellent items on Storm Spirit, depending on the matchup.
How to Play Storm Spirit in Dota 2
Much of Storm Spirit’s early game revolves around rotating between the lane and the jungle camps, farming up his key items. The laning phase is when the hero is at his weakest. Instead of trying to go for kills, you want to play safe, secure your last hits, and walk back to your tower whenever you feel a gank coming.
Once you get a couple of levels and your Bottle, start shoving the creep wave and fall back to nearby jungle camps to increase your net worth. Make sure you check the Rune spots to fill up your Bottle. If the enemy team is contesting Runes heavily, consider buying Clarity’s to keep your Mana up. After you hit level 6, you get your first big power spike. With Ball Lightning, you can get on top of any enemy hero on the map. With a second hero helping you out, you can take down most heroes. But only go for kills if you’re sure you’ll come out safe. While kills can give you a nice influx of Gold, you don’t want to waste time farming on this hero.
Once you have your core items, you can play more aggressively. During team fights, always look for squishy backline heroes that you can jump on using Ball Lightning. Storm Spirit can dish out a ton of damage as long as he has enough Mana. So make sure you don’t overspend your Mana when farming. You’ll need every bit of it when a fight breaks out.
Also, make killing Roshan a priority when you’re playing as Storm Spirit. This hero is one of the best Aegis carriers in the game, and with Roshan claimed, you’ll be able to play more aggressively on the map. Storm Spirit’s biggest weakness, however, is his reliance on his Mana. If you get caught with your Mana Pool empty, it won’t take long for the enemy team to take you down.
Storm Spirit isn’t the easiest hero to learn in Dota 2. Mastering the hero requires a lot of quick thinking and decision-making, which for a new player isn’t all that easy. But once you get past the initial learning curve, things become a lot easier, and you’ll find it easier to climb the MMR rankings with the hero.
