Dota 2 7.36c: How to Play Offlane Ember Spirit

The metagame of Dota 2 Patch 7.36c is all about uptempo strategies involving heroes that can fight early and often — and one such hero that fits the bill is Xin, the Ember Spirit. Ember Spirit has all the characteristics that you would want out of a hero that can dictate the pace of the game: great damage output with levels, immense versatility when it comes to itemization, and spells that are extremely useful in teamfights.

There’s one issue with Ember Spirit, though, and that’s his need for items to survive the mid game. He is quite squishy for a hero that needs to be in the thick of things to do his work, and he is also very hungry for mana throughout all stages of the game. Furthermore, he tends to fall off in the late game with the build he typically goes for these days.

But this is where something unusual comes in: putting Ember Spirit in the offlane. Normally, Xin is played in the solo mid position due to his need for experience, which he then uses as leverage for his ganking activities. Plus, going mid allows him to buy a Bottle, which provides him with the mana regeneration he needs to get through the laning phase.

That last bit is especially important in this discussion, because on the other hand, going to the offlane means Ember Spirit won’t have easy access to runes that refill his Bottle. But don’t worry — we’ll get to alternative refreshment methods later on in this guide. For now, hear us out as we tell you about the magic of offlane Ember Spirit.

Why Offlane Ember Spirit Works

Even with the reduced experience gain that naturally comes with having a partner in your lane, Ember Spirit thrives nonetheless. With the changes to how Flame Guard (E) works and how it’s now built into his kit as an innate ability, Xin’s experience requirements are actually not that big in this patch. He can still survive the first ten minutes of the game just fine with the right items and the right playstyle.

How exactly, you ask? It’s by maxing out Searing Chains (Q) and Sleight of Fist (W) while ignoring Flame Guard entirely through the laning phase. That’s right, going all in on damage and kill potential allows Ember Spirit to operate with another hero in the lane and get great results out of it. The way the scaling works on both of these spells means that you can easily contest ranged creeps, punish overextending opponents, and rack up chip damage in a hurry all at the same time.

Of course, doing this is very mana intensive, and like we mentioned before, offlaners don’t typically buy Bottles because they have to walk long distances to grab runes. This is where Arcane Boots come in. With the passive mana regeneration from the Ring of Basilius component and the Replenish Mana active, Ember can poke and prod at his lane opponents incessantly without worrying too much about running out of juice.

We’re not kidding; it really is that simple. Ember Spirit dominates the lane just by virtue of being able to constantly deal damage from afar, because his two main spells have such short cooldown timers. If your lane opponents have no way of sustaining themselves while you repeatedly slash away at them, they will eventually either get so annoyed that they try to dive you, or move elsewhere to farm.

Ability/Talent and Item Builds

Like we said, the ability and talent build for this strategy is really simple: max Chains and Sleight, ignoring Flame Guard until you hit level 10. Grab a point in Fire Remnant (R) whenever it’s available, unless you need more points in Flame Guard in order to survive against magic damage lineups in the mid game.

For the talents, you actually want to skip the level 10 talent in order to get points in Flame Guard when you do hit level 10. Then, spend your first talent point on the level 15 talent that increases Searing Chains duration by one second, then double back and get the +200 Flame Guard Barrier Amount talent from there. The two Sleight of Fist talents at levels 20 and 25 will round out the build here.

Speaking of Sleight of Fist, the Double Impact facet is what we highly recommend here. It’s just so much better than the Chain Gang facet, even though Searing Chains is a big part of why Ember Spirit is so effective in the lane and in teamfights. Double Impact just allows you to deal a lot more damage in the mid to late game, which can help your team clean up in teamfights once you’ve caused chaos and disrupted your opponents’ positioning.

Thus, the full build is as follows:

• Searing Chains
• Sleight of Fist
• Sleight of Fist
• Searing Chains
• Sleight of Fist
• Fire Remnant
• Sleight of Fist
• Searing Chains
• Searing Chains
• Flame Guard
• Flame Guard
• Fire Remnant
• Flame Guard
• Flame Guard
• Level 15 Talent: +1 Searing Chains Duration
• Level 10 Talent: +200 Flame Guard Barrier Amount
• Fire Remnant
• Level 20 Talent: +55 Sleight of Fist Hero Damage
• Level 25 Talent: 2 Sleight of Fist Charges

As for items, you’ll want to start with the usual: Tangoes, some Iron Branches, and Wraith Band components if you’re against a lane that doesn’t cast a lot of spells. Otherwise, get three Iron Branches and a Magic Stick for some sustain. Complete your Wraith Band if you have the components, then build an Orb of Corrosion and Arcane Boots, in that order.

From here, you have two main choices for when the mid game comes around. Mage Slayer is the preferred pick against heavy magic damage, so if you are against such a draft, you’ll want to get this right after Arcane Boots. If not, you can go straight into Maelstrom, which you can then build into Gleipnir if you’re up against heroes with mobility spells. Spirit Vessel is another great option against heroes with lifesteal, regeneration, and/or healing.

Mjollnir is generally not advisable, because with this strategy you won’t always want to be in the middle of teamfights right clicking illusion heroes. Gleipnir’s own Chain Lightning is more than enough for that purpose when combined with Sleight of Fist anyway. Instead, you can let your hard carry build it if absolutely necessary.

Then, if you’re facing a lot of stuns and disables, buy a Black King Bar. This is not a suggestion; you will need BKB if you want to be effective in teamfights. Otherwise, you are just going to get chain disabled and dispatched easily by teams that are even half competent. Flame Guard will not be enough to save you unless you have such a huge net worth lead that you have items that give you a ton of health.

From here, the world is your oyster. Ember Spirit’s sheer versatility in terms of items is what makes this strategy work as well as it does in the late game. Need to be more durable while also reducing healing? Buy a Shiva’s Guard. Just want to get stronger overall? Build Kaya and Yasha. Want even shorter cooldowns? Octarine Core is there for the taking.

With regards to Aghanim’s Scepter, though, getting this item is a matter of when, not if. The ability to fly across the map with Fire Remnant is too good to pass up, especially in the late game. When it is exactly that you build it depends on the game state and what it is you might need in the moment. You’ll just have to judge this for yourself, but know that you will need Scepter if you want to stay relevant in longer games.

Overall Gameplan

Here’s where we divert from the usual a little bit, especially for those that are used to playing Ember Spirit in the midlane. Things change a lot when playing a 2v2 matchup instead of a 1v1 like in the midlane, so what exactly it is that you do in the laning phase is likewise different.

For the first three or four levels, you want to hang back and save your mana in most cases. Play more passively in the early goings, and use the Sleight-Chains combo to secure ranged creeps. If you have a lane partner that can do this for you, all the better, since this allows you to save even more mana until you get your Arcane Boots.

Once you hit level 5, though, it’s time to get really aggressive. With your Orb of Corrosion and Arcane Boots in tow, you can really amp up the pressure by using Sleight and Chains whenever they’re off cooldown. Seriously, that’s all you need to do in the lane while keeping up with your CS. The damage you’ll be racking up over time is nothing to sneeze at, and eventually your lane opponents will have to do something about it, which you can capitalize on either way.

When the laning phase ends, your job is to farm aggressively until you get your first major item, which will be either Maelstrom or Mage Slayer. Force the opposing team to respond to you by pushing their lanes in as hard as you can, using Sleight and Chains to farm every creep wave you see. Yes, these are your two primary farming abilities now, not Flame Guard.

In order to keep yourself safe during this, however, you’ll want to have a Fire Remnant active at all times — preferably on a nearby creep camp. This way, you can jump out instantly if there’s ever any danger present. Should you ever die while pressuring the other team, don’t let it get you down. That’s you creating space for your teammates. If you’re being a pest 24/7, the your opponents will have to do something about it eventually, which you or your team can capitalize on either way.

That last part sound familiar? It should, because it encapsulates your overall goal as offlane Ember Spirit: just be as irritating as you can be. Make yourself a prime target for your opponents’ ire. Your teammates will thank you for it, and you don’t even have to sacrifice your own farm.

This mentality extends to teamfights as well. Your goal is not to fight alongside your teammates in a 5v5 situation, but rather to force the opposing supports to use spells on you instead of your team, and buffing items on themselves instead of their cores. To this end, all you have to do is Fire Remnant onto the least durable, most valuable support when the fight starts, and just stick to them like glue until one of you is dead.

Disrupting the other team’s positioning this way has ridiculous teamfight impact, even though it effectively subtracts one hero from your team when the engagement breaks out. The value of isolating a key support is more than what you can typically contribute trying to be in the middle of the action anyway, so don’t be afraid to have a single-minded approach when the situation calls for it.