View Strategy > Weapons of Mass Destruction
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Created by KingV on 2009-05-08
Last modified: -
Viewed 199950 times
This is the second installment in my military themed guides series and it's focused on Crixalis. His versatility is almost unmatched, his nuking power is feared by everyone and he is a very easy and fun hero to play. What more could you want? I'm going to teach you some of the tactics that made this scorpion famous, aswell as some detailed information about him. Without further ado, I give you Crixalis the Sand King!
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Burrowstrike (E)
The Sand King burrows into the ground and tunnels forward, impaling everything above him, then resurfaces. Burrowstrike stuns enemies for 1.65 seconds.
Level 1 - Deals 100 damage, 350 casting range.
Level 2 - Deals 160 damage, 450 casting range.
Level 3 - Deals 220 damage, 550 casting range.
Level 4 - Deals 280 damage, 650 casting range.
• Damage type: magical
• Hit units will fly for 0.52 seconds before the real stun is applied.
• Area of Effect: 175
Mana Cost: 110/120/130/140
Cooldown: 11 Seconds
Comment: This will be explained later on.
The Sand King burrows into the ground and tunnels forward, impaling everything above him, then resurfaces. Burrowstrike stuns enemies for 1.65 seconds.
Level 1 - Deals 100 damage, 350 casting range.
Level 2 - Deals 160 damage, 450 casting range.
Level 3 - Deals 220 damage, 550 casting range.
Level 4 - Deals 280 damage, 650 casting range.
• Damage type: magical
• Hit units will fly for 0.52 seconds before the real stun is applied.
• Area of Effect: 175
Mana Cost: 110/120/130/140
Cooldown: 11 Seconds
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Sand Storm (R)
Sand King creates a fearsome Sand Storm. The storm blinds his enemies and he becomes invisible to them. The storm also causes his opponents to take damage.
Level 1 - Deals 20 damage per second. 0.6 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 20 seconds.
Level 2 - Deals 40 damage per second. 0.9 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 40 seconds.
Level 3 - Deals 60 damage per second. 1.2 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 60 seconds.
Level 4 - Deals 80 damage per second. 1.5 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 80 seconds.
• Damage type: magical
• If the Sand King is magic immune at the moment of casting Sand Storm, it will not become invisible.
• Sand Storm is considered a channeling spell.
• Area of Effect: 300/350/400/550
Mana Cost: 60/50/40/30
Cooldown: 40/30/20/10
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Sand King creates a fearsome Sand Storm. The storm blinds his enemies and he becomes invisible to them. The storm also causes his opponents to take damage.
Level 1 - Deals 20 damage per second. 0.6 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 20 seconds.
Level 2 - Deals 40 damage per second. 0.9 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 40 seconds.
Level 3 - Deals 60 damage per second. 1.2 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 60 seconds.
Level 4 - Deals 80 damage per second. 1.5 second delay before Sand King is revealed, lasts 80 seconds.
• Damage type: magical
• If the Sand King is magic immune at the moment of casting Sand Storm, it will not become invisible.
• Sand Storm is considered a channeling spell.
• Area of Effect: 300/350/400/550
Mana Cost: 60/50/40/30
Cooldown: 40/30/20/10
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Caustic Finale (L)
Each of the Sand King's attacks injects a deadly venom that causes the target to explode violently on death, dealing damage in an area.
Level 1 - 90 damage.
Level 2 - 130 damage.
Level 3 - 170 damage.
Level 4 - 220 damage.
• Caustic Finale is an Orb Effect.
• Damage type: magical
• Exploding units leave no corpse.
• Caustic Finale places a buff on the attacked unit that lasts 2 seconds. If a unit dies with the buff on it, it will still explode, regardless if Sand King delivered the killing blow or not.
• Does not work on denies (the buff is not placed on allied units).
• Area of Effect: 400
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Each of the Sand King's attacks injects a deadly venom that causes the target to explode violently on death, dealing damage in an area.
Level 1 - 90 damage.
Level 2 - 130 damage.
Level 3 - 170 damage.
Level 4 - 220 damage.
• Caustic Finale is an Orb Effect.
• Damage type: magical
• Exploding units leave no corpse.
• Caustic Finale places a buff on the attacked unit that lasts 2 seconds. If a unit dies with the buff on it, it will still explode, regardless if Sand King delivered the killing blow or not.
• Does not work on denies (the buff is not placed on allied units).
• Area of Effect: 400
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Epicenter (C)
Sends a disturbance into the earth, causing it to shudder violently. All caught within range will take damage and become slowed. The closer to the epicenter, the more damage taken.
Level 1 - Emits 6(8*) pulses. Each pulse deals 110 damage and slows by 30%.
Level 2 - Emits 8(10*) pulses. Each pulse deals 110 damage and slows by 30%.
Level 3 - Emits 10(12*) pulses. Each pulse deals 110 damage and slows by 30%.
• Damage type: magical
• Sand King channels for 2 seconds before activating this skill. Stopping the channeling will waste the cooldown and mana required for the skill.
• The pulses are centered on the Sand King's current location, not where he first casted the spell.
• The AoE of the pulses is 300/350/400/450/500/550/600/675/700/725/(800*)
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
Mana Cost: 175/250/325
Cooldown: 140/120/100 (120/100/80 with Scepter)
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Sends a disturbance into the earth, causing it to shudder violently. All caught within range will take damage and become slowed. The closer to the epicenter, the more damage taken.
Level 1 - Emits 6(8*) pulses. Each pulse deals 110 damage and slows by 30%.
Level 2 - Emits 8(10*) pulses. Each pulse deals 110 damage and slows by 30%.
Level 3 - Emits 10(12*) pulses. Each pulse deals 110 damage and slows by 30%.
• Damage type: magical
• Sand King channels for 2 seconds before activating this skill. Stopping the channeling will waste the cooldown and mana required for the skill.
• The pulses are centered on the Sand King's current location, not where he first casted the spell.
• The AoE of the pulses is 300/350/400/450/500/550/600/675/700/725/(800*)
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
Mana Cost: 175/250/325
Cooldown: 140/120/100 (120/100/80 with Scepter)
Comment: This will be explained later on.
Skill Build:
1. Burrowstrike2. Caustic Finale
3. Burrowstrike
4. Caustic Finale
5. Sand Storm
6. Epicenter
7. Burrowstrike
8. Burrowstrike
9. Caustic Finale
10. Caustic Finale
11. Epicenter
12. Sand Storm
13. Sand Storm
14. Stats
15. Stats
16. Epicenter
17. Sand Storm
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats
Item Build:
1.
Phase Boots (1400)
60 Movement Speed
24 Damage
Active: Phase
Gives 16% movement speed bonus and lets you move through units. Using items or abilities cancels Phase. Lasts 4 seconds. 8 second cooldown.
Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed.
Boots of Speed + 2x Blades of Attack
2. Eul`s Scepter of Divinity
3.
Shiva`s Guard (4700)
30 Intelligence
15 Armor
Passive: Freezing Aura
Gives -25 Attack Speed to enemies. 1000 AoE.
Active: Arctic Blast
Emits a freezing wave around the caster. Enemies hit by the wave take 200 magic damage and have their movement speed slowed by 40% for 4 seconds. The wave extends at a speed of 300 to a max size of 744. 100 manacost. 30 second cooldown.
Note: Can be disassembled.
Plate Mail + Mystic Staff + Shiva's Guard
4. Kelen
5.
Radiance (5150)
60 Damage
Passive: Burn Damage
Deals 40 damage per second. 650 AoE.
Note: Clicking Radiance will toggle Burn Damage on and off.
Sacred Relic + Radiance Recipe Scroll
6.
Heart of Tarrasque (5500)
40 Strength
300 HP
Passive: Health Regeneration
Regenerates 2% of max health each second. Only regenerates health when the bearer has not taken damage from a player owned source or Roshan in the last 6 seconds (ranged) or 4 seconds (melee). Doesn't stack with itself.
Messerschmidt's Reaver + Vitality Booster + Heart of Tarrasque Recipe Scroll
Early Game:
Hero overview:
| Pros of Crixalis: | Cons of Crixalis: |
| - Devastating AOE spells | - Low armor |
| - Very good farm hero | - Ultimate is channeling and one spell is a orb effect |
| - Great lane control and good harasser | - Jack of all trades but master of none |
| - Very versatile and fun to use |
Level 1:
Level 25:
Strength: 18 + 2.3
Agility: 19 + 2.1
Intelligence: 16 + 1.8
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Attack Range: 128 (melee)
Attack Animation: 0.53 / 0.47
Casting Animation: 0 / 0.51
Sight Range: 1800 / 800
Move Speed: 300
HP regeneration: 0.79 HP/sec
MP regeneration: 0.65 MP/sec
Conclusions: Crixalis has a well-rounded stat gain and a average movespeed. But most important he has a long attack range for a melee hero (128). Combine that with a big base damage and you have a perfect synergy with his orb (Caustic Finale).
Skill build explanation:
This is a balanced skill build, having a little bit of everything. Harras and farm with Burrow and Caustic. One level of Sand Storm is for escaping gangs and avoiding targeted projectile spells. Burrow Strike is maxed first because of it's range increase as well as it's importance all-game. The build is very effective against melee heroes, and a good way to establish lane domination.
Alternative skill builds:
- Burrow Strike
- Sand Storm
- Burrow Strike
- Sand Storm
- Burrow Strike
- Epicenter
- Burrow Strike
- Sand Storm
- Sand Storm
- Caustic Finale
- Epicenter
- Caustic Finale
- Caustic Finale
- Caustic Finale
- Stats
- Epicenter
- - 25. Stats
This is the best alternative to the main build, and is my favorite. This skill build is for those lazy players who don't fancy last hitting (like myself). Sand Storm excels against orb walkers like Huskar or Viper, but sucks against AOE heroes like Tiny and Jakiro. Heroes with melee/short range can't even come to last hit/deny creeps because of the heavy damage.
- Caustic Finale
- Sand Storm
- Caustic Finale
- Sand Storm
- Caustic Finale
- Sand Storm
- Burrow Strike
- Epicenter
- Burrow Strike
- Burrow Strike
- Epicenter
- Burrow Strike
- Caustic Finale
- Sand Storm
- Stats
- Epicenter
- - 25. Stats
This skill build is made for lane dominance. Of course, you need a partner if you want to make some kills. Even in pubs nobody is that stupid to come close (or are they?!). It's good if you are going mid lane because you will push like mad.
Hero skill explanation:
Sand Storm (R)
Sand King creates a fearsome Sand Storm. The storm blinds his enemies and he becomes invisible to them. The storm also causes his opponents to take damage.
- 20 damage per second, 0.6 second delay before revealed, 300 AOE
- 40 damage per second, 0.9 second delay before revealed, 350 AOE
- 60 damage per second, 1.2 second delay before revealed, 400 AOE
- 80 damage per second, 1.5 second delay before revealed, 550 AOE
- This skill is channeling.
- If you use this skill while having Spell Immunity, you will not get the invisibility.
- The invisibility can be purged.
- Sand Storm deals Magical damage which is reduced by the target's Spell Resistance and is blocked by Spell Immunity.
- Can be used to dodge projectile spells.
- You gain extra vision from using it.
This is extremely usefull if you juked on a cliff and need to see if the gankers are waiting for you or if they left the scene.
If you interrupt Sand Storm with a spell (Epicenter, Burrow Strike, item spell) the "X second delay before revealed" will not take effect. The invisibility will be cancelled instantly. The delay will only take effect if you interrupt SS via movement.
Caustic Finale
Each of the Sand King's attacks injects a deadly venom that causes the target to explode violently on death, dealing damage in an area.
- 90 damage
- 130 damage
- 170 damage
- 220 damage
- When Crixalis hits an enemy unit, it places a buff for 0.25 seconds. If the unit dies while still under the buff, disregarding who gives the final blow, it will explode dealing damage in an AoE around it with a delay of 0.1~0.15 seconds.
- The AOE of Caustic Finale is 400.
- This skill is an Orb Effect. Orb effects do not stack.
- The buff placed with each attack can't be purged.
- The unit killed by Caustic Finale leaves no corpse behind.
- Caustic Finale deals Magical damage which is reduced by the target's Spell Resistance and is blocked by Spell Immunity.
Burrow Strike (E)
The Sand King burrows into the ground and tunnels forward, impaling everything above him, then resurfaces. 1.65 seconds stun at all levels.
- 400 range and 100 damage
- 500 range and 160 damage
- 600 range and 220 damage
- 700 range and 280 damage
- If you target the enemy hero who has a Linken's Sphere, it would trigger Linken's Sphere's cooldown but Burrowstrike would still take effect. If he is not targeted, it would not trigger Linken's Sphere's cooldown.
- Burrowstrike deals Magical damage which is reduced by the target's Spell Resistance and is blocked by Spell Immunity.
- The impaled / burrowstriked unit undergoes an airtime of 0.52 secs before the actual stun. So, the actual disable time for burrowstrike is 2.17 secs. This means that we have enough time to channel Epicenter, but fast reflexes are needed.
Juking/Escaping/Chasing with Burrow Strike:
This skill is a combination of 2 other spells : Blink + Stun (AOE). It's a multi-purpose spell and needs to be maxed ASAP. It's serves as AOE disable, instant damage spell, escape mechanism, chase mechanism. When being in a tight situation always remember that this spells doubles as Blink. Do not hesitate to use it. It can also be used to evade some projectile based spells like Storm Bolt or Magic Missile.
Like the Basic spell Blink, Burrow Strike can be used to travel over cliffs and ledges. Always remember:
- Be at (max) 400 range from the ledge
- Click somewhere in between 50-100 distance over the ledge
Furthermore some spots on cliffs have some special properties, letting you to travel further than normal. They are execellent for juking because aprox 95% of players are unaware of them. These spots are illustrated in this video:
When being ganked, Burrow Strike into trees/unpathable terrain and use a Town Portal. This is good way to shake off enemies because you will be covered by the Fog of War, therefore safe.
This is how you use Burrow Strike to chase:
If you click, behind the hero he will get away. If you click on the hero, the stun cannot be evaded via normal movement, but you will end up in the rear of the chased hero. If you click in front of the hero, after the stun occurs you will be positioned in front of him. This is a big advantage because his escape route has been cut, forcing the victim to go pass through your "blocade", and therefore allowing Crixalis to score some extra hits. The downside is that this can be evaded.
Epicenter (C)
Sends a disturbance into the earth, causing it to shudder violently. All caught within range will take damage and become slowed by 30%. The closer to the epicenter, the more damage taken.
- 6 pulses of 110 damage and slows by 30%
- 8 pulses of 110 damage and slows by 30%
- 10 pulses of 110 damage and slows by 30%
- The area of Epicenter increases by 50 with each pulse, starting with 300 AOE, reaching 800 AOE at level 3.
- Epicenter has an interval of 0.35 seconds between each pulse.
- This skill is a Channeling spell and will channel for 2 seconds before it would take effect. The animation consists of Crixalis swinging his tail two times, each swing lasting one second. He has a green glow at the tip of the tail. At the end of the second swing Epicenter will start.
- Epicenter deals Magical damage which is reduced by the target's Spell Resistance and is blocked by Spell Immunity.
- Epicenter works by creating a dummy unit casting Thunder Clap on every pulse. This means that once the skill has been channeled it will continue, even after disabling Sand King, hiding Crixalis like with Obsidian Destroyer's Astral Imprisonment, or killing him.
- The Epicenter will follow Crixalis if he changes location, for example when he blinks with Kelen or uses Burrow Strike.
- Item spells can be activated while channeling, without interrupting: Lothars Edge, Shiva's Guard, Necronomicon.
Shift-Queing:
Sand King's signature move is to pop out of nowhere with Epicenter in full swing. This can be achived with 100% efficiency, meaning no resource is wasted in the process, by shift-queing. For this you need the item called Kelen's Dagger. This will provide us with Blink. Now all you have to do is:
- Activate Epicenter.
- While Epicenter is channeling, press Shift.
- Left click Kelen's Dagger in the inventory.
- Left click the desired destination. Carefull not to click too far, or you will blink shorter than the maximum lenght. A flag will be planted in the spot you clicked.
- After Epicenter is finished channeling, you will instantly teleport to your chosen location with Epicenter starting only when you reached your destination.
