Best Riki Dota 2 build for patch 7.34

Stalking his target from the shadows to strike with deadly damage, Riki is one of the most well-known heroes in Dota 2. The 7.34 patch buffed his stat gain significantly to give him further viability as the time-honored terror of the supports. Even though his base Agility and damage were nerfed, the Agility gain can more than recoup to get the overall much higher than Backstab damage.

The changes made in Dota 2 patch 7.33 compound on top to arguably bring Riki to the stature of the biggest snowballing carry in Dota 2. Not only is he adept at picking off the backline in skirmishes, but he also gains flat bonus experience for both kills and assists.

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How to play Riki in Dota 2 7.34

Riki changes in Dota 2 7.34 (Image via Valve)

Playing carry Riki entails maxing out your Blink Strike and Tricks of The Trades skill. Like most lanes in Dota 2, you should identify whether you exert enough kill threat on the opponent. If this condition is satisfied, it warrants one value point in Smoke Screen to find a kill on slippery heroes.

Smoke Screen, coupled with the natural Health regeneration Riki has, makes him hard to trade into for most melee heroes. Later on, Riki's current stats per the changes made in 7.34 gives him more of a glass cannon role. Unlike many of the heroes in this niche, Riki is not a ranged one.

The way to make up for this is by dealing damage primarily through the relative coverage from various threats that you gain from Blink Strike, Smoke Screen, and Tricks of The Trade combined.

In a solo pickoff, the classic Riki combo remains the same. Cast Smoke Screen on the target while invisible, instantly press Diffusal Blade on them to delay their escape from it, and whittle them down with a barrage of right clicks. If this does not finish off the prey, Blink Strike is the clean-up skill.

In teamfights, however, you need to diligently make use of all three of your abilities to deal damage and kite out as possible. Generally, Riki can only man up when he can get on his target uninhibited. Two scenarios satisfy this condition:

• When there are ample disables to pin the target down
• When the target cannot reliably kite Riki once they are engaged
• When Riki can jump into the fray with Black King Bar, or in other words, when there are no BKB-piercing means to disable him

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Best Riki items for Dota 2 patch 7.34

Meteor Hammer is a situational farming tool for an alternative Riki build in Dota 2 (Image via Valve)

Backstab deals damage in multiples of Riki's Agility attribute. The most optimized items in terms of damage are, therefore, those that boost Agility. Generally, Diffusal Blade is a peerless core item to enable this hero. Early-game items include:

• Power Treads
• Wraith Band
• Orb of Corrosion
• Diffusal Blade
• Magic Wand

If you need to fulfill a lategame hard carry role, Battlefury is still a subpar option. The build-up to it puts a dent in Riki's early to midgame power spike potentials. Instead, it is better to build Aghanim's Scepter as a stopgap farming accelerant while you work your way to late-game items per how the game is going:

• Disglair
• Manta Style
• Sange and Yasha
• Eye of Skadi
• Aghanim's Scepter
• Daedalus
• Nullifier
• Monkey King Bar
• Abyssal Blade
• Butterfly
• Black King Bar
• Linken's Sphere

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Best Dota 2 team composition with Riki in 7.34

Dark Seer is an interesting hero to pair with Riki (Image via Valve)

Riki generally works well with high-tempo teams that thrive on taking over territory and have high uptime for brawling skills. Dark Seer also presents an interesting combo where Riki can apply Ion Shell damage on targets while invisible.

• Disruptor
• Lion
• Lifestealer
• Spirit Breaker
• Meepo
• Axe
• Dark Seer
• Storm Spirit
• Clockwerk

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Riki counters to avoid in Dota 2 7.34

Bristleback is the most direct counter for Riki in Dota 2 (Image via Valve)

Invisibility is the primary means through which Riki exerts his presence on the map and engages fights. As such, heroes that counter Riki have some way of revealing him or dissuading him from engaging fights.

• Disruptor
• Faceless Void
• Bloodseeker
• Bounty Hunter
• Slardar
• Underlord
• Meepo
• Viper
• Zeus
• Legion Commander
• Axe

A less used theoretical counter to Riki is Bristleback. Backstab can only deal damage from behind, and Bristleback has a passive percentage-based damage mitigation from all attacks on the back.