Irithel

Introduction

Greetings! Today we will be discussing about an unique marksman, who has the potential to hard carry, with great kiting passive… and also the only hero who sit on a tiger/lion/leopard (What is it?). Anyway, her name is Irethel, Jungle Heart. I would say, she is one of the strongest marksman at the moment, the reason would be probably her ultimate and passive which we will discuss further later. Irethel is very item-dependent as her skills and passive scales really high in mid to late game. Let's get on with it and move on.

Lore

Irithel was abandoned as a child in the jungle by her parents. Under the guidance of the God of the Jungle, a female smilodon that had just given birth adopted her. Under protection of the mother smilodon, the little smilodon Leo and Irithel learned to hunt, survive - she grew up like an animal. During a territorial fight, the mother smilodon was badly injured. When Irithel and her "brother" Leo went into town for help, these "smilodon children" were captured by a slave trader. When the cat elf mage - Nana passed by, she couldn't bear to watch them get beaten by the slave trader, so she used her supernatural strength to save these 2 poor children. With the help of Nana, Irithel learned to speak as a human and also learned how to fight, while Leo grew up to be a strong adult smilodon. However, to this day Irithel still hates human kind and trusts only her friend - Leo.

Abilities

• Take note, Irethel can ATTACK WHILE MOVING. Take advantage of that to kite jungle to reduce damage taken, or kiting/gap closing on an enemy hero
• This is actually damage boost, 45% x3. 35% more bonus damage than regular attack.
• Scales well with Scarlet Phantom

•  You can't hit this ability if the enemy target is nearby you. Make gap for it.
• Dealing some damage with physical defense reduction, not so bad.

• Great movement speed impairing, use when needed, not necessary for damage.

• You can use this ability to escape and chasing, not just damage boosting.
• Don't be afraid to use this ability quickly to boost your damage.
• Deals an AOE damage around your target, scales with critical strikes.
• Strongest marksman ability at the moment.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Can move while attacking + AOE basic attack, every marksman dream
• Great kiting
• Scales well with items, high damage
• Armor break
• High carry potential

Cons:

• Weak early game
• Requires item to shine
• Doesn't have reliable crowd control

Items & Battle Spells

(Don't mind the chinese language)

Core Items:

Scarlet Phantom - This is a must-buy without any hesitation or doubt. Your passives granted you 3 basic attack instead of 1, which means more chance to crit in 3 basic attack instead of 1, which means more proc on Scarlet Phantom.

Berserker's Fury - Whenever there is crit potential, there will be always this item.

Haas's Claws - Scaling is pretty high due to Irethel's high basic attack damage.

Whenever you acquired these three items + boots, you can always buy anything else you want either for more defensive or offensive. But these two build on the top is my favorite ones (first and second column only!).

Because of Irethel's passive to kite really well, Purify seems to be the best option. But, most of the times, Irethel uses her ultimate for damage boost, not for defensive, so Flicker is also a great choice.

User's preference, Flicker or Purify.

If you're playing in lower ranks, you could take Retribution as well. Farm gold quickly than everyone and carry the game.

Game Plan & Conclusion

I have played Irethel for a while now and I had a blast with her. I've been to mid lane, or bottom/top duo lane with a friend playing either a hero with support capability, or engage, or both. So if you aren't feeling comfortable about laning with a stranger, go ahead and solo mid!

Irethel isn't that mana-hungry since you won't really spam her ability too much. There is no need for magic necklaces start. You could start with a jungling item for more exp + clear speed in the jungle, it's fine if you don't like it!

Early game is pretty simple, if you're mid lane, just simply clear minions waves, then jungle, repeat. Look for chances to 1v1 the enemy mid lane if possible, if you can't, it's okay. Irethel is stronger in the mid to late game. I wouldn't recommend to gank at all.

If you're side duo lanes, same strategy, farm up but look for chances to kill the enemy laners with your duo laner whenever there is chance.

Try to get your core items as soon as possible. Kill potential is even higher when your ultimate unlocks.

For end game, simply stick with your team and shoot whoever you can! Take advantage and kite with your passive. Your ultimate deals ton of damage. Or if you think you are really ahead of the game, try to catch someone off-guard and push turrets, objectives to secure the win.