Dota 2

Riki

● Agilitymeleephysical damageCarryEscapeDisabler

Riki stalks the battlefield, unseen by the enemy. He chooses his moment carefully and bursts forth in a puff of silencing smoke, stabbing at his foes before they even know he's there.

Pos 4 — Soft support · Pos 1 — Carry
Win rate
52.8%
Pick rate
4.9%
Armor / MS
5 / 315
Range
150
Plan matchupRole builds

Abilities

Official ability data from Valve
Smoke ScreenQ⏱ 15 / 14 / 13 / 12s◆ 75
Throws down a smoke bomb, silencing enemies and causing them to miss attacks.
Mechanics notes (2)
  • • Can be cast during Tricks of the Trade.
  • • Doesn't prevent the use of active items.
Blink StrikeW⏱ 13 / 10 / 7 / 4s◆ 50 / 55 / 60 / 65
Teleports behind the target unit, momentarily slowing them by 100% and attacking them with bonus damage if it is an enemy.
Tricks of the TradeE⏱ 21 / 18 / 15 / 12s◆ 65
CHANNELED - Riki phases out of the world and periodically strikes 2 random enemy units from behind in an area around him. He has fixed attack damage while phased out.
•
BackstabInnate
Every time Riki strikes his enemy from behind, he deals additional bonus damage equal to a multiple of his Agility.
Mechanics notes (2)
  • • Works when denying friendly units at 30% effectiveness.
  • • Illusions of Riki will play Backstab animations, but not deal any bonus damage.
Cloak and DaggerR
Riki fades into the shadows, becoming invisible until he attacks. Hero kills and assists grant additional experience.
Traits ours:InvisibilitySilencesPhysical burstHigh mobility

Our ratings

0–10, our judgement — every planner uses them
EarlyMidLateLaningWave clearTeamfightPickoffDisableDurabilityMobility

Aghanim's upgrades

Upgrade text from Valve · priority is ours Our recommendation
Aghanim's Scepterlow priority
Tricks of the Trade: Increases Cast Range to 500. Allows you to target an allied unit, hiding inside them for the duration. While hiding in an allied unit, they have 15% bonus movement speed, and Tricks of the Trade lasts 1s longer and does an additional 2 attacks.
Aghanim's Shardmedium priority
Smoke Screen: Enemies caught in the smoke screen have their armor reduced by 5 and cannot be targeted by their allies.

Tips & counterplay

Playing as Riki

Roaming assassin. Pick off supports and burn their resources.

Laning: Blink Strike harass; Smoke Screen in trades.

Kill combo: Smoke Screen → Blink Strike → backstab autos.

Staying alive: Tricks of the Trade dodges; invisibility escapes.

From real games (OpenDota)
  • • Most games are in the safe lane (45.4%, 44.7% win rate).
  • • Best results come from the mid lane (55.7% over 185 games).
  • • Power Treads: usually done by 8 min; finishing it by 8 min wins 56.6%.
  • • Diffusal Blade: usually done by 15 min; finishing it by 12 min wins 72.7%.
  • • Manta Style: usually done by 25 min; finishing it by 20 min wins 70.4%.
  • • Gets stronger the longer the game goes (46.8% before 20 min → 52.9% after 60 min).

Playing against Riki

Generated from this hero's traits, counters and real matchups

Invisibility Carry Dust of Appearance and Sentry Wards. A Gem on a durable hero gives permanent vision.

Silences Manta Style, Eul's Scepter or Lotus Orb dispel the silence. Keep a dispel ready before you commit.

Physical burst Ghost Scepter, Aeon Disk and Blade Mail punish or survive the burst. Keep a save item on your supports.

High mobility Lock them down before they can jump away: Rod of Atos, Orchid, Scythe of Vyse or Abyssal Blade.

  • • Respect Riki at Lvl 6: Permanent invisibility pickoffs.
  • • Respect Riki at Diffusal Blade: Burns supports' mana.
  • • Respect Riki at Orchid: Deletes casters.

Items that counter it

Hurricane Pike High mobility, Physical burstSentry Ward InvisibilityDust of Appearance InvisibilityBracer Physical burstGem of True Sight InvisibilityGhost Scepter Physical burst

Heroes that beat it

Talents

Current talents (Valve)
-4s Tricks of the Trade Cooldown
25
+500 Blink Strike Cast Range
+0.3 Backstab Multiplier
20
-1s Blink Strike Cooldown
15% of Riki's Base damage added to Tricks of the Trade
15
-3s Smoke Screen Cooldown
+50 Smoke Screen Radius
10
+10% Cloak and Dagger Movement Speed

Best items

Position 4 build Our recommendation
Starting
Early
››
Core
››
Luxury

Power spikes

Our recommendation
Lvl 6Permanent invisibility pickoffs.
Diffusal BladeBurns supports' mana.
OrchidDeletes casters.

Best skill build

Position 4 Our recommendation
123456789101112131415161718
Q Smoke ScreenQQQQ
W Blink StrikeWWWW
E Tricks of the TradeEEEE
R Cloak and DaggerRRR
T Talent★★

Counters

Strong against ours

Countered by

Weak against ours

Synergies

Great with ours

Best lane partners

Toughest lane opponents

From our matchup model, adjusted by each opponent's laning rating Our recommendation
Centaur Warrunner−20
Chaos Knight−17
Faceless Void−16
Earthshaker−16
Spectre−15

Live stats OpenDota · 2026-10-14

Public match stats

Win rate (all ranks)
52.8%
Win rate (Divine+)
52.3%
Pick rate
4.9% of matches
Sample
201,450 picks

Lane presence

safe45.4% · 44.7% WR
mid39% · 55.7% WR
off15.6% · 56.8% WR

Win rate by rank

Public matches per medal bracket
52.1%Herald52.4%Guardian52.3%Crusader52.7%Archon53.4%Legend53%Ancient52.3%Divine

Win rate by game length

Minutes · OpenDota parsed games
46.8%10′48.7%20′51.2%30′52.2%40′52.2%50′52.9%60′

Item timings

When the item is finished, and the timing that wins most (≥15 games)
ItemGamesUsualWin %Best timing
Power Treads4078′52.1%≤8′ · 56.6%
Diffusal Blade40315′53.1%≤12′ · 72.7%
Manta Style20825′58.2%≤20′ · 70.4%
Aghanim's Shard14430′51.4%≤20′ · 54.3%

What players actually buy

Most purchased items by game phase
Start
Early
Mid
Late

Recent pro & league games

Most recent league matches featuring this hero
LeagueResultK / D / ALengthDate
The International 2026Win16 / 8 / 1562′2026-08-14
Ultras Dota Pro League 2025-26Win9 / 9 / 830′2026-06-09
SIVVIT LeagueLoss22 / 10 / 1467′2026-06-07
刀塔扭蛋杯Win7 / 7 / 1931′2026-06-05
刀塔扭蛋杯Loss7 / 7 / 1552′2026-06-05
刀塔扭蛋杯Loss12 / 3 / 1153′2026-06-05
刀塔扭蛋杯Loss20 / 6 / 1966′2026-06-04
Destiny LeagueWin19 / 3 / 329′2026-06-04

Lore

Riki was born middle child to the great dynasty of Tahlin. With an older brother groomed for the throne, and a younger brother coddled and kept, Riki, the small middle son, seemed born for the art of invisibility. It was an art he cultivated, and one which ultimately saved his life on the night that his people were betrayed and his family slaughtered. Of all the royal line, he alone escaped, small and agile, unassuming, using smoke as cover. He cut his way out of the royal grounds, using the advantage of surprise, quietly slitting the throats of one enemy warrior after another. Now free of his royal responsibilities, Riki uses his talents in service to a new trade: Stealth Assassin. He silences his enemies, sharpening his skills, hoping to one day take revenge on those who killed his family and robbed him of his birthright.