1. Backstory (ignore this if you don't want to be serious)

Kardel Sharpeye is a Deathwing Terminator of the First Company of Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter. To be among the brethren of the Deathwing is an extraordinary honor that was bestowed upon Kardel after his many years of service to the Imperium and the Emperor. Yet, Kardel strives to be something above his equals, as the Deathwing is by no means a small unit; roughly 100 Terminators compose the First Company and Kardel is just one among them. Fortunately, the Imperium is constantly riddled by war on its many worlds, and Kardel is finally given a chance to stand out from his brothers by First Captain Belial: Dispatch to the world of Dota II in the Valve System to punish the threats of mutants, aliens and Chaos heretics with his trusty Storm Bolter gun. Will he accomplish his task and return to the Chapter as a first among equals, or will he perish unremembered in this mission? 


Basically this is what happens after patch 6.86


2. Pros and Cons

- Pros: 

+ Attack outranges every other hero and towers, except for a few spells 

+ Long range ultimate that ignores invisibility and cancels channelled spells 

+ Good scouting, farming and slowing ability with Shrapnel and Headshot 

+ Good harassing ability (if played correctly he can easily dominate any lane he goes early game due to his INTENSE MANLINESS)

+ Best ranged projectile speed in the game, rivaled only by Gyrocopter (because bullets are always better than those pansy arrows, especially bullets that are tipped with the EMPEROR'S FURY) 

+ Said bullets can only be dodged by Keanu Reeves HERETICS WHO USE WARP MAGIC

+ Best Intelligence gain among Agility heroes (2.6). Because Space Marines are not only fighters; they are also Einsteins IN SPACE


- Cons:

+ Without upgrades, the early game standard-issue Terminator armor that he wears is rather squishy, meaning he can die easily from heretics who nukes the shit out of him PUSSIES THAT DON'T USE BULLETS TO FIGHT LIKE A MAN

+ Early game damage is like throwing chicken eggs at a giant Daemon

+ The bulky weight of the ammunition he carries as well as the Terminator armor itself also means that he moves very slow (290), below average base movement speed (300)

+ No escape mechanism and heavily dependent on item upgrades provided later on by the Adeptus Mechanicus

+ Needs BALLS OF STEEL to play him in a game full of predators like Spirit Breaker, Pudge, Queen of Porn Pain, Riki and Storm Spirit (who cares? Dying is the least grimdark thing in this grimdark galaxy, and even if you die THE EMPEROR STILL SMILES ON YOUR SOUL) 


3. When to pick and when not to pick

- Pick Kardel when:

+ Enemy team has a lot of melee heroes

+ Enemy team has squishy heroes that you can finish off easily with proper harassment and the ultimate (a.k.a. a giant bullet in the anus from far far away)

+ Your team has allies who have good synergy with Kardel (i.e. Drow Ranger, Shadow Demon, Ogre Magi and Faceless Void)


This guy is ugly. Nothing more to say.


- Don't pick Kardel when:

+ Enemy team has those heretics (like the Space-Cow) that warp space-time reality and can easily close in on you for a melee duel, which you rarely win unless the Chapter has provided you with sufficient gear. You can still fight them with your BALLS OF STEEL, though.

+ Enemy team has some tanky heroes that even your Bolter is ineffective in just scratching their heads (Centaur, Bristleback, Undying, etc.). Only the Chapter vehicles can field bigger guns than you. Bastards.

+ Enemy team has Omniknight, OD, Zeus, Nyx Assassin or those with high burst damage and multiple disables that can send your tattered body floating in space in one combo, or making you useless due to silly things like immunity to physical damage.

+ Your team already has one or two other carry players, because they're better than you BECAUSE THE EMPEROR DOES NOT WANT TO WASTE SUCH A PRECIOUS WARRIOR LIKE KARDEL!


4. Skills usage:

- Shrapnel: 

Kardel's Bolter is equipped with incendiary magazines with 3 special bolts each, which explodes in mid-air dropping pellets of IMPERIAL STEEL BALLS. Since it gives up to 825 damage in 10 seconds, vision and a decent 30% movement slow at the target location, it should be used for the following purposes:

+ Lane harassment:  When you're going against a lane of melee heroes, drop some rounds of these on their heads in addition to shooting your normal bolts to scare them away from denying their creeps or farming your creeps. In cases when you're laning against strong harassment aliens like Viper and Huskar, these bolts can also make your life easier too due to its long cast range.  

+ Farming and pushing: As said above, when you find it too difficult to survive in a lane with strong opponents, Shrapnel helps you farm better by killing creeps and discouraging enemies from entering the Shrapnel zone, therefore giving you some space and a bit more damage to farm TRAIN YOURSELF BY KILLING ENEMIES OF THE EMPEROR. 

+ Ganking: You can't be a Terminator if you don't know how to hunt those who oppose the God-Emperor. Since your Shrapnel gives vision over an area, you can either use it to scout ahead for enemy movements (especially when you're standing downhill) or to finish off those cowards who run away from your mighty presence with aforementioned giant bullet to their anus. Shrapnel's constant damage also prevents heroes like Tinker or Axe from using Blink Dagger, too.


- Headshot: 

In a galaxy where the enemies of the Imperium uses a variety of weapons, nothing compares to the Storm Bolter which Kardel uses to unleash the Emperor's righteous fury upon His enemies. The bullets, or "bolts", are miniaturized rockets that penetrates the skin of the victim THEN explodes, dealing considerable damage. The experience is so painful that enemies hit by bolts are usually unable to act or to move due to shock and blood loss. While the bonus damage (90) isn't much later in the game, it is still useful early game as it helps you to last hit better considering your overall DPS at that time is still underpowered and not upgraded. Also, remember that it procs 40% of the time and the 100% slow is EXTREMELY good in slowing attack animations TAUNTING THE ENEMIES TO ATTACK YOU, WHICH THEY CAN'T DUE TO YOUR SHEER MANLINESS, especially in late game situations when you have to fight against an enemy carry dependent on DPS. 

Depending on the playstyle, one might choose to max either Shrapnel or Headshot first. Before 6.83 many players chose to max Headshot first, but as Shrapnel was recently buffed to deal considerably higher damage in 6.87-88 than before, I would recommend maxing out Shrapnel first as it serves more purposes in early-mid game than Headshot. 


- Take Aim: 

As you gradually increase your effiency in combat, the Chapter's Master of the Forge will provide you with additional wargear so you can better serve the Chapter and the Emperor; in this case, a relic M40 Targeter System scope for your Storm Bolter exclusively gifted by the Sternguards of the Imperial Fists Chapter. The scope's Machine Spirit is compatible with your helmet visors, granting enhanced range and zooming ability for your weapon. This is your bread and butter skill and must always be maxed out as early as possible, as the range provided by the scope is so OP that you can safely stay away from melee combat and shoot at your foes like an artillery crew NO ENEMIES MAYBE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE YOU WITH THEIR COMBAT SKILLS. Except when they use Warp powers to get close to you. Pussies. 

Once you have TWO POINTS in Take Aim, remember to assist your team immediately in pushing towers because the towers themselves are scared the shit out of their pants due to your very presence and will not dare shoot you back. Once you have maxed Take Aim, participate in combat more often to get the kills that you need, because it helps you stay out of the killzone of various abilities like Tidehunter's Ravage, Enigma's Asshole Black Hole or Faceless Void's Chronosphere, so position yourself wisely and take advantage of your range. There are many times where a Sniper SPACE MARINE's opponent is too focused on combat without noticing the rain of bolts coming at them from a million miles away until the very moment when they get their anus shoved up by a giant exploding bullet from afar.  


- Assassinate: 

You have honed your skills in combat so well that the Adeptus Mechanicus decided to gift you with some Mars Pattern Stalker Bolter magazines, which you use to deliver said giant bullets to your enemy' anus most of the time when they refuse to die or when they try to run from the Emperor's Holy Fury. As a long-range ultimate and Kardel's most powerful nuke, it is very useful in many instances and should be skilled whenever possible. These include:

+ Finishing off your foes: This is the primary purpose of this skill. With a very short cooldown and ridiculous cast range (2000-2500-3000), it can be used to kill those wounded heretics who are having very low health but is inside your gun sight. Do a bit of Math before you cast it off though, as it deals 320/485/650 damage but will only secure you a kill if the enemy has 235/360/486 health or less due to the 25% base magic resistance. Also, against those xenos who use Warp powers to go invisible like Riki and Bounty Hunter, your giant bullet is attached with a built-in sensor to detect them, ensuring that you can cheat due to your gun is too OP NO FOE SHALL ESCAPE THE MIGHT OF THE EMPEROR'S JUDGMENT!

+ Initiating combat and harassment: This idea may be more useful when your team has mana-replenishing heroes like Kotl or Crystal Maiden, or at least two heroes who use Arcane Boots. As mentioned before, the short cooldown and long range of Assassinate means that you can spam it quite often and deal considerable damage to the enemy team before combat begins, to either taunt them or scare them away encourage them to use their healing items like Mekansm prematurely. 

+ Cancelling channelled spells: In some cases when the enemy is escaping via TP, you can't reach him in time but there's a nearby ally who can, consider using Assassinate to disable their long-range teleportation device and force them to travel on foot and let your ally do the job. If the enemy still doesn't die, you can fire the giant bullet again to ensure the kill or at least scare him away from wandering about waiting to set up an ambush. 


4. Items

- Starting safelane build: 

+ 8 Tangos: Built-in armor repair kits, provided by the Chapter's Forge to ensure survivability in constant combat. Despite your OP range with the scope, some enemies may still be able to harass you from afar (Such pussies. I'm no better though YOU USE BULLETS TO FIGHT, NOT MAGIC) with their Warp abilities (like Windranger's Powershot) or use their passives to counter harass you (Kunkka's Tidebringer, Viper's Corrosive Skin), so you should always have a means to repair your armor.  

+ A Circlet and a Slippers of Agility: Phase I deployment, tier I armor upgrade. This will build into Wraith Band and eventually Ring of Aquilla later on which helps you a lot with more stats and mana regen for spamming Shrapnel. In case your support carry the Tangos for you, consider getting Wraith Band right at the start of the game with 4 Tangos.


- Starting mid build:

+ 4 Tangos and a Healing Salve: You will mostlikely face a strong opponent at mid who has strong harassing abilities and nukes (Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit, Death Prophet), so a Healing Salve should be ready when you need emergency field repairs as your armor goes to shit, which can piss off the Machine Spirit inside and force you to go all the way back to the Deep Strike Beacon (Fountain). 

+ A Circlet and a Slippers of Agility: Same as above. 

+ Observer Ward (optional): The idea seems retarded because warding is the job of supports but due to certain circumstances you'll need to increase your map awareness (especially when laning against a Pudge player), in addition, your supports may not be there the whole time to assist you. Putting one in the enemy's opposite hill is never a bad idea as it gives you a better view of the battle and lets you observe enemy movements, and last hit the ranged creeps which you cannot see from downhill, especially at night when your sight range is reduced. Beware not to put it too close to the enemy tower or right-click harass the enemy too much, you may alert him to the presence of your ward in their turf, prompting them to use sentrys.


- Early game:

+ Phase Boots: Sprint boosters upgrade for your armor boots to run away from enemies CHASE DOWN AND KILL ENEMIES OF THE IMPERIUM. I prefer this over Power Treads as it gives more mobility to escape certain enemies in dire situations by increasing movement speed and phasing through other units. Also, that 24 plus damage is good in the laning phase as your bullets can't hurt anyone except the courier BULLETS ARE SO STRONG EARLY GAME THAT IT HAS TO BE CONCEALED WITHIN A PLASTIC SHELL TO PREVENT HURTING ANYONE. 

+ Ring of Aquila: Tier 2 armor upgrade kit with improved arm movements for better weapon handling. Comes with a built-in liquid coolant system to allow incendiary bolts to be used more often. Good stats, fair mana regen for more Shrapnels. Faster attack speed. All around good early item. 

+ Magic Wand: When laning against heroes who like to spam their abilities a lot (Jakiro, Zeus, Necrophos, etc.), this item is very effective as it can save your ass in desperate situations by instantly healing and restoring mana base on the number of charges. The stats are nice too. Harry Potter would be proud. 

+ Wind Lace (optional): Your armor may protect you from one or two enemies, but when you're surrounded by many, the best solution is to run away TACTICALLY FALL BACK TO A DEFENSIVE POSITION. In this case Kardel's slow speed can be a real problem as many heroes have above-average movement speed and can chase him down quickly. So consider saving 235 gold for that 20 movement speed bonus if you need more mobility.


- Core items:

+ Blink Dagger: This is your standard-issue must-have short range teleportation device. It offers excellent mobility to compensate for your bulky Terminator armor, the ability to both escape from certain ambushes as well as position yourself exactly where you need in combat. Also, it helps to chase your foes better by jumping uphill/downhill, forward/backward and into spots where you could have a good vantage point over the battlefield or Lina's underpanties. It also helps you dodge many disjointable spells, like Phantom Assassin's Stifling Dagger, Skywrath Mage's Concussive Shot, Tinker's Missiles or some direct stuns like those of Vengeful Spirit, Chaos Knight and Wraith King. 

+ Dragon Lance: A multipurpose tactical upgrade from the Chapter's Techmarines that grant your Storm Bolter extended barrels, allowing for greater firing range (1090) as well as better armor maintainance kits to increase durability and weapon handling.  The 1090 range makes Kardel technically out of harm's reach in many situations as he is effectively out of the cast range of many spells (including Tidehunter's Ravage) and he can pump his bolts at the enemies like a woodpecker before they can shoot him back with their inferior weapons. BECAUSE NOTHING IS AS DEADLY FROM FAR AWAY AS A SPACE MARINE EXPRESSING HIS LOYALTY TO THE EMPEROR THROUGH THE BULLETS FROM HIS GUN. Also, you can build this into Hurricane Pike later in game for added lulz when firing at your enemies from unseen distances. 

+ Manta Style: Apparently during times of great battle pressure, Kardel can call for help from his Deathwing brothers by activating a built-in sensor array which provides Deep Strike Beacons on the spot, allowing two other Terminators to instantly join him in combat, albeit for only 20 seconds due to the array's limited energy capacity. Why? Because IceFrog is a heretic, that's why. The stats increase the durability of your armor and enhance your legs' sensors so you can move faster. Remember to call out your brothers whenever you enter combat, are being attacked, or pushing towers. Note that using Manta Style also changes your original location, so use this to dodge spells too. 


- Situational items for late game:

+ Shadow Blade / Silver Edge: Cloaking Devices for when you need to enter Pussy Mode Sneaky Mode. While this may sound like a good escape mechanism, most of the time the enemy team will counter your sneaky mode with sentrys, Dust of Appearances and Gems. However, in games when the enemy team has heroes with strong passives like Bristleback, Enchantress or Huskar, upgrade your Shadow Blade into Silver Edge to punch your bolts through their thick skins. 

+ Desolator: Stalker Armor-Penetrating Bolts. These bolts are sharp-tipped with concentrated incendiary clusters which, after penetrating the target, can let you see the scenery behind your opponent through a hole in his body. Though the damage and armor penetration power somewhat loses its effectiveness late game, it is a good offensive upgrade for your Bolter and a good item to pick up if you need to finish the mission early.

+ Maelstrom / Mjolnir: Apparently the Chapter's Librarians has found a way to meddle with your Storm Bolter mechanism by fusing electric energy into it, turning it into a hybrid Power/Force weapon, making you more heretic than a heretic who uses magic in combat USING EMPEROR-SANCTIONED MAGIC IS A WAY TO ENSURE NOTHING SURVIVES HIS WRATH. Your bolts are channeled by this energy and shocks multiple enemies upon impact, making it a good crowd-control solution. Also, the Librarian's energy makes your gun fires a lot faster, which means MORE LOYALTY IS UNLEASHED UPON THE ENEMIES OF THE IMPERIUM. 

+  Monkey King Bar: For when you need to deal with Keanu Reeves. This is basically an improvement to your M40 scope by installing a software which guides a bolt's fly path, allowing it to hit 100% all those aerobatic enemies who try to dodge your bullets without missing a single shot. The bolt's increased precision means that Kardel is more likely to pop the enemies' brains, disabling their abilities to escape via long range teleportation. Useful for shooting enemies like Windranger, Phantom Assassin, Riki and cancelling channeled spells. 

+ Crystalys / Daedalus: Your Storm Bolter is reconfigured to receive even bigger Heavy Bolter 0.998 caliber rounds, used only on the Chapter vehicles. This ensures that your bolts can shred through anything regardless of armor and skin, and due to the high recoil produced by more powerful bullets you will not always likely to hit an enemy's weak spot, but if you luckily do, they will truly know the pain of rejecting the Emperor's guidance. 

+ Eye of Skadi: An upgrade from the Chapter's Librarians to fuse your bolts with freezing effects so that you can cheat better by freezing your enemies NOT EVEN THE MIGHTIEST FOES MIGHT CHALLENGE THE MANIFEST OF THE EMPEROR'S WILL IN COMBAT. The fusing process is costly, however, due to a complicated ritual method. 

+ Assault Cuirass: Horus Heresy-era Cataphractii Terminator Armor. A true relic from the past, made super resilient by the Chapter's Artificiers. Donning this armor ensures your manliness can help you survive almost anything on the battlefield while making the your team's female heroes orgasm while pleasuring themselves due to your awe-inspiring presence on the battlefield. 

+ Butterfly: Armor upgrade kit, tier 3. The ultimate improvement to everything from durability to enhanced reflexes and reducing movement restrictions. Comes with a built-in thruster to occasionally helps you sprint in combat. Apparently, despite being bulky and all, Terminators can be fast like Usain Bolt, too. (though still not faster than him, regardless) 

+ Boots of Travel: An upgraded communications port in your helmet that allows to call for a Thunderhawk Gunship to transport you over long distances for extra mobility. A great item late game for pushing and defending base. It also reduces the weight of the armor boots, allowing for much quicker movements. 

+ Moon Shard: PPPPPPRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTT

+ Divine Motherfucking Rapier: Replaces your standard Storm Bolter with a portable Autocannon which fires explosive shells. For when you want to anally rape the enemies straight on the battlefield, accept no substitutes. And no, you cannot say Divine Motherfucking Rapier without "Motherfucking" in the middle.


5. Summary:

Overall, Kardel Sharpeye is - like most other carries - heavily dependent on farming and killing enemies at the right moment. While his lack of survivability is a bit of a problem, he was NEVER intended as a hero suitable for close combat and so his ridiculous range makes up for this. There are many ways to counter him and his range, but with proper positioning and quick reflexes, he can easily wreck havoc on entire teams while staying out of harm's way. It is best to pick him when there are other heroes that can augment his power in teamfights or assist him early game, rather than picking him because you think his gun looks cool. He is strictly a situational choice, one that every player must consider whether he will be of good use in the match or not. 


NTL