Shadow Shaman · Hard Support (pos. 5)
Shadow Shaman Aggressive Guide
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
This guide is about playing Shadow Shaman aggressively. Aggressive support means harassing from level one and rotating early to create kills on other lanes. Your spikes are level 6, when Mass Serpent Ward comes online, and your core items: Blink Dagger and then Aether Lens. This patch, Shadow Shaman wins 51.9% of the 519,187 public matches we measured (A tier on our ladder).
Strengths
- Heavy magical burst: Valve lists it as a Nuker.
- Takes towers quickly: Valve lists it as a Pusher.
- Clear job in the team: keep your carry safe in the safe lane, buy the wards and give up farm so the cores can have it.
Weaknesses
- No escape in the kit: without good positioning and vision, Shadow Shaman is easy to catch.
- Plays on little gold: expensive items arrive late.
- Every death while playing aggressively hands the tempo back to the enemy.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
- Damage buildOffensiveRecommendedMoves the popular items that add damage — Shadow Blade and Blink Dagger — to the front. Choose it when your lane went well and you can afford to be greedy. Built from what Shadow Shaman players buy in the public matches we measured.
- Against magic damageDefensiveSituationalFor games where the enemy kills with spells: keep your first two core items and add magic resistance or spell immunity.
Builds
Damage build
When to use it
Moves the popular items that add damage — Shadow Blade and Blink Dagger — to the front. Choose it when your lane went well and you can afford to be greedy. Built from what Shadow Shaman players buy in the public matches we measured.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
232%164%- Safe laneMain64% of matchesSafe lane next to your carry, as Hard Support (pos. 5).
- OfflanePriority 232% of matchesOff lane next to your offlaner, as Soft Support (pos. 4).
Starting items
Core items
- 1Shadow Blade+25 Damage, +35 Attack Speed. Active: Shadow Walk.
- 2Blink DaggerActive: Blink.
- 3Aether Lens+300 Mana, +2.5 Mana Regeneration, +225 Cast Range.
- 4Aghanim's Shard
Boots
Late game
Skill order
Max order:Shackles›Hex›Ether Shock
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Talents by level
- +1 Ward Attack Targets+250 Ether Shock Damage25
- +1.5s Shackles Duration+50% Serpent Wards Max HP20
- +160 Serpent Wards Attack RangeHex Breaks15
- +170 Shackles Total Damage+1.75 Mana Regen10
Against magic damage
When to use it
For games where the enemy kills with spells: keep your first two core items and add magic resistance or spell immunity.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
232%164%- Safe laneMain64% of matchesSafe lane next to your carry, as Hard Support (pos. 5).
- OfflanePriority 232% of matchesOff lane next to your offlaner, as Soft Support (pos. 4).
Core items
- 1Blink Dagger
- 2Aether Lens
Situational
Skill order
Max order:Shackles›Hex›Ether Shock
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | ● | ● | · | · |
| · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● | ● | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● |
Talents by level
- +1 Ward Attack Targets+250 Ether Shock Damage25
- +1.5s Shackles Duration+50% Serpent Wards Max HP20
- +160 Serpent Wards Attack RangeHex Breaks15
- +170 Shackles Total Damage+1.75 Mana Regen10
Abilities
- Ether Shock14 / 12 / 10 / 8s90 / 105 / 120 / 135 mpCreates a cone of ethereal energy that strikes multiple enemy units.
- Targets
- 3·5·7·9
- Damage
- 125·190·255·320
- Hex24 / 20 / 16 / 12s130 / 150 / 170 / 190 mpTransforms an enemy unit into a harmless creature, disabling their attacks and abilities.
- Duration
- 2·2.3·2.6·2.9
- Shackles14 / 13 / 12 / 11s125 / 140 / 155 / 170 mpCHANNELED - Magically binds an enemy unit so that it cannot move or attack, absorbing their life energy over time.
- Total damage/heal
- 100·160·220·280
- Max duration
- 2.4·3·3.6·4.2
Fowl PlayPassive120sWhen taking lethal damage, Shadow Shaman receives a strong dispel and survives as a 1 HP chicken with increased movement speed. Incoming damage is reduced to zero for a short duration and additional chickens are created to confuse the enemy. Cooldown resets when Shadow Shaman respawns.
DISPEL TYPE: Strong Dispel- Duration
- 3
- Movespeed bonus
- 5%
- Total chickens
- 1
Urnaconda50s140 mpThrow a snake jar at the target location, damaging all enemies in the AoE and creating a Massive Serpent Ward that has 4x the base Serpent Ward damage and health there that lasts 15s.- Impact radius
- 225
- Impact damage
- 275
- Mass Serpent Ward110 / 105 / 100s200 / 350 / 550 mpSummons 10 Serpent Wards to attack enemy units and structures. The Wards are immune to magic. Creeps deal half damage to the Serpent Ward.
- Duration
- 45
- Hits to destroy
- 2
- Ward damage
- 50·85·120
- Mega ward health
- 8
- Mega ward damage
- 200·340·480
Most played skill order
The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.
Max order:Shackles›Hex›Ether Shock
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | ● | ● | · | · |
| · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● | ● | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● |
Strategy
1When to fight
Your spikes are level 6, when Mass Serpent Ward comes online, and your core items: Blink Dagger and then Aether Lens. Aggressive support means harassing from level one and rotating early to create kills on other lanes.
2Picking your targets
Stay behind your cores, keep your mana for the key moment and protect whoever the enemy dives. The best target is the one your team can reach and kill before the enemy answers, not always the most valuable one.
3Snowballing a lead
After a won fight, take towers and Roshan before anything else: that's what turns kills into a lead the enemy can't erase. Early, your objectives are a safe lane for your carry, vision on the runes and stacked camps for when your carry has time to farm them.
4When to back off
Safe support means warding ahead of danger, staying out of the enemy's reach and saving spells to protect your cores. If your key abilities are on cooldown or the enemy is missing from the map, the aggressive play is to wait.
Tips
- Fight on your spikes: right after Blink Dagger, look for the next fight instead of farming.
- Look for kills when Mass Serpent Ward is ready and the enemy's key ability is not.
- Track the enemy's key cooldowns and attack right after they use them.
- Turn every kill into towers and Roshan: a kill without an objective is a wasted lead.
- Push your lane before you roam so the aggression doesn't cost you resources.
Matchups
Strong against
- Razor58.7%win rate in the matchup
Shadow Shaman wins 58.7% of the 104 games measured against Razor this patch.
104 matches
- Ring Master57.2%win rate in the matchup
Shadow Shaman wins 57.2% of the 138 games measured against Ring Master this patch.
138 matches
- Crystal Maiden55.0%win rate in the matchup
Shadow Shaman wins 55.0% of the 120 games measured against Crystal Maiden this patch.
120 matches
- Slardar53.4%win rate in the matchup
Shadow Shaman wins 53.4% of the 116 games measured against Slardar this patch.
116 matches
- Puck53.3%win rate in the matchup
Shadow Shaman wins 53.3% of the 135 games measured against Puck this patch.
135 matches
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 7.41.
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