Gameplay

Playstyle
Storm Spirit is a very mobile ganker who thrives on an aggressive play style. While he is very mana-hungry and difficult to master because of his notorious Ball Lightning, he more than makes up for this by rewarding players with aggressive mindsets and good dexterity, who can use his abilities to jump on foes from extremely long distances, pummel them down with tremendous amounts of magical damage, and escape before their allies can turn on him.
Pros	Cons
Incredibly mobile with Ball Lightning. High snowball potential. Low cooldowns on all of his skills. Can reliably solo-kill most fragile heroes. Great at clearing creeps.	Fragile. Can run out of mana very quickly without proper management. Very vulnerable in the early game. Very dependent on item. Slow movement speed.

Ability Builds

Generic Storm Spirit
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Talents

Tips & Tactics

General

• In order to make the most of his mobility, Storm Spirit's first priority should be to build items that give him both mana and mana regen. Ball Lightning allows him to initiate and escape at will, making him very hard to catch in the hands of a skilled player, however it consumes large amounts of his mana pool, meaning that life or death literally rests on how much mana Storm Spirit can muster up when needed.
• Storm Spirit is most generally played in the mid lane, as his abilities make him an extremely powerful hero to have early levels and gold on. While he is quite weak and vulnerable before he hits level 6, he becomes a force to be reckoned with once he obtains access to his ultimate.
• In terms of talents:
  • Level 10 talents: If Storm Spirit hasn't been able to farm items that give him mana regen or is just using his spells a lot, the +2.5 Mana Regen talent could alleviate some issues in the early game. If he doesn't have mana issues though, the +200 Health talent is never bad.
  • Level 15 talents: If you're the primary target of fights or are just getting ganked a lot, it might be better to get the +400 Health talent. However, if you're not targeted that often or are doing a lot of ganking yourself, the +80 Static Remnant Damage might be better.
  • Level 20 talents: If you're relying on Overload, the +30 Attack Speed talent can allow you to launch Overload attacks faster between each spell cast. If you are against heroes that are hard to catch though, the +0.4s Electric Vortex talent could be helpful.
  • Level 25 talents: If your foes constantly sticks to each other and relies on their teamfights, grab the 2x Overload Attack Bounce, especially when combined with Aghanim's Scepter, allowing you to easily turn the tide in fights as you lay waste to the enemy team. If your presence in teamfights is weak or unneeded, then the 550 Distance Auto Remnant in Ball Lightning should do the trick to help you 'carpet bomb' an area filled with Static Remnants.

Abilities

Static Remnant

• Static Remnant drops a remnant on Storm Spirit's position upon cast, detonating when an enemy walks into its trigger radius or when it expires.
• In the laning stage, Static Remnant can be used to apply nuke damage to a creep wave, useful for getting multiple last-hits at once or pushing the lane in order to buy yourself space to check the runes. However, it is also dangerous since the spell's small radius means that Storm Spirit, a ranged hero with low HP, must walk into melee range of the creep wave in order to make the most of it. Make sure that the enemy cannot easily capitalize on this disadvantageous positioning before doing this.
• If your laning opponent is a melee hero, Static Remnant would be very effective to prevent them from lasthitting. Cast Remnant when the hero comes close to the creep wave to apply the damage, also with attack and Overload proc.
• Due to its area-of-effect nature and low mana cost and cooldown, Static Remnant can be a useful spell for farming neutral camps, especially if they have been stacked. Each remnant can deal its damage to the entire camp if placed close enough, reducing the amount of time required to farm them.
• Mind the delay between placement and materialization of a Static Remnant. Smart enemies can run outside of its radius in the second after placing the remnant, so try to make sure that the enemy is otherwise disabled in order to land the explosion on them. Position yourself using Ball Lightning and cast Static Remnant on their escape route to inflict more damage or for enemies to change their path.
• Static Remnant has an instant cast time, allowing Storm Spirit to place them without breaking stride. When running from enemies, leaving a Static Remnant in your wake can discourage enemies from pursuing in the early game if they cannot afford to take the damage.
• Keep in mind, a Static Remnant will still explode if an invisible enemy enters its radius. If a Static Remnant explodes without a visible enemy entering its radius, but before its expiration time, it means that an invisible enemy is approaching.
• Static Remnant gives flying vision for its duration, which allows it can be used to gain vision through the fog of war. This can be used to check inside Roshan's pit, or to see over trees and high ground. It can be particularly useful when placed behind a tree, as enemies will be unable to see the remnant but it will still provide vision of them until it explodes.

Electric Vortex

• Electric Vortex is a short disable that stuns its target as it is pulled in.
• As a general rule of thumb, Electric Vortex has little value at level 1, and is only useful for catching enemies at level 3 or higher, so it should either have multiple early skill points put into it in order to increase Storm Spirit's disable potential, or altogether ignored in the early game for more damage output through his other spells.
• Regardless, allocating a single point can be useful to proc Overload an additional time and hinder enemy movement to get more chance to attack. It can also be used to interrupt channels, such as Town Portal Scrolls.
• At any level, Electric Vortex can pull an enemy into the explosion radius of Static Remnant, provided that it was already placed at the same location that Storm Spirit casts Electric Vortex from. However, keep in mind that Static Remnant takes time to materialize, and at level 1 Electric Vortex only pulls for just barely the theoretical amount of time and distance needed for this; in practical terms, a fleeing enemy and the delay between commands means that they will likely run outside of the remnant before it materializes unless Electric Vortex is cast on a target inside of its maximum range. Regardless, it is wise to put at least two levels into Electric Vortex in order to ensure that enemies will be caught by a Static Remnant.

Overload

• Overload is the linchpin that links together all of Storm Spirit's abilities and augments the amount of damage that his physical attacks deal.
• Overload procs every time Storm Spirit casts any of his spells. As such, mastery of Storm Spirit requires that players learn to attack targets between every spell in order to maximize the amount of damage dealt.
• The area-of-effect nature of Overload allows for it to be used as a farming spell. Throwing an Overload charge at the center of a group of creeps will apply the damage and slow to all of them, which allows Storm Spirit to deal aftershock damage to groups of creeps after using a spell.
• The damage from Overload also allows it to be used as a harassing spell in the laning stage, especially in the mid lane due to easier access to runes to replenish mana using bottle. Hitting enemy player with attack together with Overload damage is the main way to harass a ranged hero since most of them won't trigger Static Remnant often. However, the attack range of Storm Spirit is relatively short - 480 compared to Queen of Pain's 550 or Lina's 670. Laning with an experienced player of these heroes would be dreadful. Use the damage of Overload to lasthit to counteract heroes with either long attack range or high attack damage, such as Shadow Fiend and Viper, to gain gold and experience instead of harassing.
• If the enemy is standing close to a creep (such as the ranged creep), attacking that creep with the Overload charge can deal splash damage to the enemy player without drawing aggro.
• Overload may help Storm Spirit overcome uphill miss chance in the laning stage to grab last hit. Meaning, with bonus damage, he can launch an attack earlier to last hit; if the first attack misses, he may still has enough time for a second attack before the creep dies to his creeps or opponent's deny.
• Keep in mind, attacks will check for Overload procs when they successfully connect. As such, it is possible to throw an attack, and then cast a spell while the projectile is mid-air, and the projectile will still proc Overload on its target. This can be used to get kills on low-health enemies who are fleeing, but who will escape before a spell comes off cooldown for proccing Overload prior to attacking; attacking and then casting a spell to proc Overload will cause the subsequent attack to deal its damage and slow.
• Beware that attacking spell immune units, particularly ancients and wards, will still proc Overload even if it will not deal the damage or slow on that unit. In the early game when Storm Spirit's mana is still finite, this can result in a wasted Overload proc, so be careful about which targets to attack in order to maximize the usage of Storm Spirit's mana.

Ball Lightning

• Ball Lightning makes Storm Spirit one of the most mobile and deadly heroes in the game, as it gives him strong initiation and escape potential. However, it is also one of the most mana-costly spells in the game, so good mana management is key to playing Storm Spirit well.
• Because Ball Lightning's mana cost is expressed as a percentage of Storm Spirit's total mana pool, it is crucial to build mana regen items on him, since the mana cost of the spell increases in tandem with the size of his mana pool. By focusing on mana regen, Storm Spirit can quickly replenish the mana used by his ultimate between engagements, allowing him to be ready for another one shortly after.
• Keep in mind that Ball Lightning does have a flat mana cost for each activation as well as per distance traveled. The larger Storm Spirit's mana pool is, the more negligible this flat cost becomes. As well, a larger mana pool also reduces the cost of his other spells relative to how much mana he has, allowing for more profligate use of Static Remnant.
• Storm Spirit is invulnerable during Ball Lightning, so he cannot be damaged, disabled or otherwise affected by most spells in the game. As such, it can be cast to disjoint incoming projectiles or to avoid other types of damage and disables if timed properly.
• As Ball Lightning has no cooldown, it can be used to travel over short distances to proc Overload. This can be a powerful, albeit costly way to add more damage to Storm Spirit's attacks during ganks.
• Items can still be used, and Storm Spirit can still attack during Ball Lightning. During initiations, this means that enemies can be disabled prior to arrival with items like Orchid Malevolence and Scythe of Vyse, an Overload attack can be made before emerging, and Shiva's Guard can be activated to expand its radius to encompass multiple enemies. This also means that during escapes, Town Portal Scroll can be channeled during the jump, allowing Storm Spirit to put distance between himself and any pursuing enemies while channeling.
• When using Ball Lightning to initiate or escape, it is sometimes wise to only jump the minimum distance necessary, due to the spell's high mana cost. Making unnecessarily long jumps will drain Storm Spirit's mana quickly, allowing for less mana to be used for attacks and disables upon reaching a gank target, or allowing for less mana for making a secondary escape jump if needed.
• Never discount the damage that Ball Lightning itself deals if it connects with a target, especially when upgraded to Level 3. When initiating over longer distances, it can put a respectable amount of damage on the table, increasing the odds of a successful kill. However, doing so effectively requires Storm Spirit to land right on top of, or pass right over the enemy, which requires additional skill since the target's path must be predicted right when the jump is made.
• The massive initiation potential of Ball Lightning means that Storm Spirit can engage foes who are behind their teammates, focusing down squishy supports with low HP at the beginning of fights. This can be useful for removing them from the picture before they can cast any of their powerful teamfight spells, or use any crucial items such as Mekansm or Pipe of Insight.
• Initiating on and killing enemies requires good mechanical skills and planning in order to make the most of all of Storm Spirit's spells. The textbook initiation is: Ball Lightning to close the distance > Cast disable while en route ( Orchid Malevolence) > Overload attack (if no quick counteract items such as Manta Style or Black King Bar in terms of Orchid Malevolence) > Electric Vortex > Overload attack > Static Remnant > Overload attack > Ball Lightning over short distance > Overload attack > Repeat as needed using either Static Remnant or Ball Lightning > Escape with Ball Lightning if necessary. With Scythe of Vyse more actions could be applied before casting Electric Vortex.
• You can cast Ball Lightning during Ball Lightning, but if you reach its cast point and you're still traveling, it fails casting. When you travel to a bad location and you still have enough mana, you can cast Ball Lightning to the right direction at about 375~522.5/562.5~783.75/750~1045 (0.3*1250/1875/2500, and because of turn rate) distance to destination. If you succeed, you would turn to right direction right after you land without any trails.

Items

Starting items:

• Tango regenerates health so Storm Spirit can trade hits better.
• Healing Salve also restores health in lane.
• Clarity allows Storm Spirit to replenish his mana so he can use Static Remnant more.
• Iron Branch gives cheap attributes and can regenerate more health from Tango.
• Enchanted Mango gives burst mana for Storm Spirit to use Static Remnant.

Early game:

• Regular Stick can give Storm Spirit nothing. This can not help give Storm the extra bit he needs to do anything.
• Boots of Speed are important on all heroes as early as possible. For Storm Spirit, the ability to outmaneuver his lane opponent is crucial to victory.
• Null Talisman gives Storm Spirit a good balance of attributes, most importantly intelligence and damage for more mana and last-hitting power. Depending on the situation, two Null Talismans can be useful for giving Storm good early attributes whilst providing a decent reduction of his mana cost, allowing him to use Ball Lightning with much ease.
• Bottle is crucial to obtain early when playing in the mid lane. Bottling runes allows Storm Spirit to maintain his HP and mana against his lane opponent, and the runes themselves can be put to use at a time of the player's choosing, making it an extremely potent item at all stages of the game.

Mid game:

• Magic Wand is a cheap upgrade from Magic Stick which provides very cost effective attributes, as well as additional burst HP and mana regen.
• Power Treads give Storm Spirit the ability to treads switch, crucial when combined with a Bottle. The attribute bonus can be shifted between strength for more survivability, or intelligence for more mana and attack damage.
• Kaya amplifies his mana regeneration and spell damage, allowing him to recover faster and increases his overall presence in the game. Upgrade it later into a Kaya and Sange for more sustainability and higher recovery from Bottle.
• Orchid Malevolence is extremely strong on Storm Spirit, as it greatly magnifies his offensive potential. The intelligence and mana regen bonus allow him to remain relatively autonomous when roaming the battlefield, giving him the mana to engage on enemies. The damage and attack speed bonuses, combined with the intelligence bonus, increase Storm's right-click power, allowing him to use his physical attacks to greater effect. Most importantly, the active allows Storm Spirit to silence enemies that he initiates on with Ball Lightning, magnifying the amount of damage he deals due to the damage amplification, as well as preventing targets from simply using their escape spells. Later you can upgrade your Malevolence into a Bloodthorn.

Late game:

• Black King Bar is useful when the enemy team has numerous disables that they can use to catch and kill Storm Spirit. The spell immunity can be used during a fight to focus down enemies without fear of being stunned or silenced.
• Kaya and Sange is now the go-to item for upgrading Kaya and increases HP pool alongside status resistance, which allow Storm Spirit to survive disables (as well as breaking certain combos, which rely on cast timing which is altered by the status resistance provided).
• Scythe of Vyse is a very strong item to purchase on any intelligence hero, and is good on Storm Spirit for all the same reasons as Orchid Malevolence. The item grants a strong intelligence and mana regeneration boost, making Storm extremely mana-independent, and the bonus strength and agility shore up his weaknesses in those areas as well. The active ability allows Storm Spirit to instantly disable an enemy during an initiation, and more than double up on the time that the enemy is hard-disabled when combined with Electric Vortex.
• Linken's Sphere gives Storm Spirit attributes across the board and increased mana regen, as well as a very strong survivability passive. Spellblock can block targeted disables, making him much harder to catch out of position and an extremely slippery foe.
• Shiva's Guard gives Intelligence, armor, and a giant slow that is useful for teamfights. It can be a strong item if Storm Spirit needs survivability against physical damage instead of against disables.
• Bloodthorn's active ability guarantees critical damage and accuracy, allowing Storm Spirit to melt his targets.

Situational items:

• Aghanim's Scepter turns Electric Vortex into an AOE disable, which on Storm Spirit allows one of the best initiation options in the entire game. Storm Spirit can initiate from the fog and potentially disable the entire enemy team for up to 3 seconds, comparable to a hero like Magnus, except with a 16 second cooldown; if Storm Spirit misses, he can back up and simply try again in 16 seconds.
• Revenant's Brooch increases Storm's DPS and gives opportunity to attack ethereal units and True Strike.
• Refresher Orb can be an extremely powerful late game item alongside Aghanim's Scepter, as every aspect of the item benefits Storm Spirit. It provides the highest mana regen out of any item in the game, which when combined with Bloodstone is doubled, giving Storm Spirit an additional 26 mana/sec, allowing him to use his spells, like his ultimate, more frequently, and means the item is extremely useful even when it is on cooldown. When combined with an Aghanim's Scepter, it allows for up to 6 seconds of AOE disable on one of the best initiation heroes, which can easily result in a team wipe late game.