Exactly as the title says, I need a little help building my Sand King, had fun playing him today but there were too many mistakes that brought my team down in our MM game. (Other than being in Low Priority).

First, I need a guide to my ultimate (Epicenter) because sometimes I cast it too early or I am out of range for it to be effective.
Second, what should I build on him?

The sand beckons, and I would like some help here.

Normally I get arcane boots and then rush blink dagger. Blink is extremely helpful in getting the most out of your ulti, because it allows you to start it up somewhere hidden and then in a flash drop that damage right on top of a group of enemies. Some people also like to get normal boots and then build into an urn of shadows, since SK excels at setting up early kills with his burrow strike. But I would say that blink is almost always a must get on this guy.

I like going phase boots or arcane boots on him early since he runs into some mana issues if you constantly gank ALOT.

your big item is blink dagger since you channel your ult, blink into all of them and unload 1100 magic damage on them!

Your a little weak early since your stun has a short range (it increases the range the more you level it up so you want to max it asap!)

Late game the best option would be aghanims scepter or bkb so you can live a little more and help your team push later with caustic finale!

As Alverez said, blink dagger is a how to best utilize his ultimate by channeling, then blinking in and immediately stunning. One thing you could do is check the enemy team and if there are zero stuns/silences (you can dream, right?) then you can potentially walk in, burrow strike to pin a few people down and then start channeling your ultimate. If you do not have blink then the only way that you can get off a great epicenter against a team with stuns is to abuse vision. For example, if a teammate is being pursued by a few enemy heroes you can set up out of vision (say around some trees or up some stairs) and channel as they get close. This is still not guaranteed, but can punish aggressive teams.

In this case would it be wiser to max out Q first and leave one into sand storm? Or just balance out caustic and stun?

I think I normally go something like this

q, w, q, stats, q, ulti and then branch from there. CF helps with farming but I've never really liked it until mid game.

No matter the skill build you want to get your stun maxed as fast as possible because it increases in range the more it gets ranked up.

My skillbuild with him is usually Q W E Q Q R Q E E E, i like caustic finale because it makes farming such a easy thing to do, plus when you gank it gives such good damage if theyre inside a creep wave.

Sandstorm vs Caustic finale is a common thing people debate, im of the opinion that its good to have at least 1 level early in it. You really have nothing you can do with it except maybe sit invis for a few seconds waiting for support but if they other team has a little more coordination and communication theyll probably drop a sentry ward so they can see you. Sandstorm is great in the midgame when you have your blink dagger because you can go sandstorm and wait for your blink cooldown to refresh and then blink away A O K.

I like getting more W than E depending on who I am fighting. Leveling up more in W increases the time it takes for you to be revealed out of your sandstorm when you move. What this means is you can hit sandstorm and immediately move without them seeing you for a bit allowing for some fun juking around in the jungle or lane.

However, Sand King is not my best hero and being able to do this is completely dependent on what heroes you are put up against.

I only grab Caustic if I'm trying to farm or push a lane. It's great mid-late game, but when I play SK I usually play him as a ganker, make Sandstorm a lot more powerful. Stun in, sandstorm, chase a bit, second stun.

Yeah if im farming my sk then im going caustic
If im roaming ill do a level of sandstorm early then ill actually go stats to give myself some more hp/mana to work with in those ganks

I'm nothing special by any means, but I love playing SK and do pretty well, especially in terms of contributing to the team. I usually am the one that buys the courier and/or wards, as SK can still be plenty useful w/o the farm.

My typical build order is to level Burrow Strike (Q) and then Sand Storm (W), and then take Epicenter (R) when available (Q/W/Q/W/Q/R, etc.). I then follow up with Caustic Finale (E) and then stats. I would avoid leveling Caustic Finale early, unless you are laning against pushing heroes like Broodmother (spiderlings) or Venomancer (Venom Wards) where it can be more useful. Even then, I prefer to just adjust my build to level Sand Storm quicker (i.e. Q/W/W/Q/W/R, etc.). Keep in mind, Sand Storm works as a great escape/dodge ability too...learn to love it! Caustic Finale IS great for farming and pushing lanes, but you don't really want that early (unless you're going for an early push strat). By the time you reach late game, you should be one of the best lane pushers in terms of killing creeps. BS coupled with CF can kill a wave near-instantly.

Now, as for items:

· Starting: Donkey or Wards, Tango, Salve, 2x Clarity, Gauntlet (+3 str) ==> You can substitute however many clarity potions for branches if you want. I personally go clarity for more early-game harass and potential first-blood opportunities.

· Rest of game: I don't like to specify early/mid/late because it will vary game-to-game in terms of timing and how much supporting you're doing. Essentially, get your boots, finish bracer, upgrade boots (Arcane), Blink Dagger, Aghanim's Scepter, Heart of Tarrasque. I find it very rare that I don't at least have a completed Agh's before the game ends. Keep in mind, this is with getting almost no farm early game (usually laning with a carry). Our farming power increases greatly later on. If you're in mid-game and aren't getting much in the way of ganks, you can stack the neutral camps and then SS them for easy, relatively quick farm (not worth it until at least lvl 3 SS). Another note, if you feel like your survivability is waning and aren't getting much income, don't hesitate to build a second bracer. It will help you more than you think.

Playstyle: Harass/Gank/Initiate.

· Harassing will basically be on a case-by-case basis depending on what you're facing in lane. This is where having those clarity potions will come in to play with BS. Use your judgement. This will be done a lot easier vs. melee hero's. The key is to make them think twice about having a go at you or your lane mate...and make them antsy about last-hitting.

· Ganking will play a big part in your ability to earn gold for the early-mid/mid game. Be smart, sneaky, and memorize your ranges for the various levels of BS. Remember to coordinate with your teammates, as your solo-killing power is horrible (until late-game). Also, don't get prideful, and be willing to take a chance and possibly sacrifice yourself with a clutch BS to save your carry. If they're any good, it'll pay off in the long run. Remember to use SS to help yourself get out of sandy (ha!) situations, and that BS can go through trees, up cliffs, etc. Use the tools available to you. Keep in mind, your ganking will be limited by mana, so being successful and getting your Arcane Boots will help immensely.

· Initiating will be a huge contribution to your teams success. Honestly, IMHO, you cannot really effectively initiate team fights until you get your blink dagger. Standard procedure is to set-up, start channeling your Epi, shift-queue your blink dagger, then once you blink, BS. This is an incredibly effective, and deadly combination, especially once you get Agh's. Remember, you can use SS right after to help you escape.


Sorry for the general sloppiness of this post, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. Feel free to nit-pick/ask questions.