How Ringmaster Actually Works

Ringmaster is finally here, so let's look at how he works.
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Check out my playlist where I take a deeper look into the mechanics of something that I think is widely misunderstood, confusing, or just interesting - • How Crystal Maiden's F...

[@rhonelterol9067]

another tip is, you can use souvenirs even while on silence.

[@akashP998]

Can you use the illusion souvenir to dispel silence?

[@soldieroftruth77]

It’s not a dispel

[@hartonosutrisno5452]

@akashP998 No, it doesn't. It only Disjoint the spells/attacks but not applying Basic Dispel like Manta Dodge did. It was really useful for evading Stuns, AoE target and spells due 0.2 seconds disjoint duration. As for Escape Box, it was like Book of Shadow but lesser due it has limited distance to move before it expired or out of safe range. I think they should nerf the cooldown quite a bit to make it balance.

[@AalapShah12297]

@@rhonelterol9067 Yeah I guess the game treats them like items that happen to be inside an ability slot. You can't use the souvenirs when you are muted by something like Aghs static storm.

[@primodial_potatolord]

I think it is a bug.

[@AtillaTheFun1337]

You know a stink cloud smells bad if Pudge of all people is slowed by it

[@mnation694]

people?

[@AalapShah12297]

These is mine by the way

[@nvvv_]

For some players Ringmaster actually does have a hidden facet. While walking around, channeling Tame the Beast, or whenever a team fight starts, Ringmaster has the secret passive to completely freeze player's games for several seconds. It's an incredibly strong secret ability, but still inconsistent I hope they fix it so everyone can experience the slideshows I've been watching.

[@HappySmilingDog-d7u]

lol buy a proper pc XD

[@mycoplasm]

bro how bad is your pc u must be playing on spoon

[@AndrewRusinas]

Jokes aside, dropping fps as an ability would be super fun and would suit Ringmaster pretty well :D

[@nvvv_]

@@mycoplasm I think it has something to do with the Linux build right now.

[@al-adeelah2507]

I used to have similar issue with monkey king ult at release until they patched it.

[@AalapShah12297]

My main takeaway tricks from this video: 1. Using tame the beasts to fear enemies towards the wheel. 2. Using wheel to gain vision during a fight. (The vision range is actually big enough to justify the manacost/cd). 3. Great support for providing long range vision/true sight in general. (Total of 3 abilities that give vision. 4 if you use the illusion for scouting.)

[@KitsuneFaroe]

Escape Act does not apply a dispel by default but it DOES stop channeled disables such as those of Pudge, Bane, Shadow Shaman and Primal Beast (wich you showed on the video) without the need of the talent. It also completely ignores any skill that is an instant attack like Monkey King's Boundless Strike and Pangolier's Swashbuckle. Casting multiple daggers doesn't stack, it just resets the effect of damage and slow. The Tonic stregth always heals and is considered as such (including IO's tether share) but is not affected by heal boost or reductions. However heal negating like AA and Doom Ult still nullifies it. All the souvenirs can be used while silenced but not while muted. Any angle under 90° counts as facing wheel. The wheel has a minimun cast range of 700 so you can't place it right in front of you, and it blocks movement like any other unit, wich can be ignored by phase movement.

[@rodrigoborges3876]

Does escape act interrupt duel?

[@KitsuneFaroe]

@@rodrigoborges3876 if I remember correctly it doesn't. The duel is still active and you're still provoked. Even though you're inside the box.

[@wisestump211]

Sup. I will contribute with something I have. The amount of stabbing from "Impalement Arts" depends on the spell duration. Level 3 Spell Steal gives the spell 5 stabs instead of 4. If the enemy has Sange & Yasha or another source of status resistance, the ability's damage will be noticeably reduced. Turning the hero towards the "Wheel of Wonders" is not enough. The enemy must SEE that wheel. This means that, for example, if the wheel is on a hill where enemy can't see it but is looking in its direction, there will be no provocation. "Spotlight" circles on a trajectory, drawing an infinity sign, starting upwards to the right. Moreover, we do not just create light in the specified area, and throw it there from us. That means, the light can briefly illuminate the area on the way to the specified point. Spotlight do not show wards. Wheel of Wonders provocation can be briefly dispelled, but I guess only one hero can utilize that. Slark can time his Dark Pact and turn away from Wheel and Pounce, even if he triggered it. Enemies feared by Tame the Beast will destroy trees on their way. Which is kinda weird tbh in comparison with other sources of fear. If enemies are standing in the area of two wheels (Refresher Orb), they will trigger one at a time. The second wheel will not provoke until the first wheel's provocation is over. Just don't think of this tactic as a chain-stun. There will still be a 0.5 second window between the two wheels due to the mechanics of the ability. Hope this helps.

[@Cherry-rh5xc]

New dota hero means new Adrian video. That’s the only thing that makes me happy.

[@MaymunLega]

A video from a person you dont know is the only thing that makes you happy? Woah lil buddy maybe you should seek help? Sheesh

[@Marcusianery]

@@MaymunLega Yeah, calling people "lil buddy" sure will help.

[@MaymunLega]

@@Marcusianery and here i was hoping to save the world through the youtube comment section lil buddy

[@koroll_rakov]

1 - about "Spotlight" - it does damage only to 'weak' illusions - like Naga's ones and does not work against "strong" - like the illusions from Chaos Kinght ultimate; 2 - about triggering of wheel on hero, which just after that uses bkb - it works just as it should be as those are two different statements: yes, wheel will be triggered by the look into it and will turn to red, but as hero got Avatar - that hero does not get taunt - because taunt effect and activation of wheel - it's different things.

[@BreadAccountant]

about your second point, this IS an inconsistancy. The hero that is affected by avatar doesn't trigger the wheel at all under normal circumstances so it should not be possible for them to BKB -> activate the wheel. If a hero looks at the wheel and then turns away before activating the taunt then the wheel doesn't activate but if you look at the wheel then BKB, you should not activate the wheel either. I could be missing something but I'm pretty sure this is not the intended effect

[@ufanrunning]

ty verymuch

[@francisjosephcutamora8530]

Na bro I tried on strong illusions from CK facet and still works

[@Asesindark]

Actually I used ringmaster to kill chaos clones from CK. So not sure if thats a bug then?

[@francisjosephcutamora8530]

@@Asesindark was bug tried it this time with strong illusions and does not work

[@Captain1nsaneo]

Hit ult is a physical object which can block movement. Got trapped by it as Veno yesterday.

[@antonioemilio9932]

Love the L4D reference. Maybe Ringmaster and Undying are connected by voice lines due to the L4D parallels.

[@anhtuantran4961]

Some voicelines like: "You are tall enough to die" when Undy kills Ring or "Have u brought the Gnome?" when they meet as allies would be cool.

[@FlorianWendelborn]

8:42 the whip's fear direction is based on where Ringmaster is WHEN IT LANDS. If you have a blink dagger or similar utility you can cast the whip and blink to wherever you want the enemies to run away from. You could theoretically use this to cast wheel in front of them, channel a whip and blink behind them. This would mean they're all feared and taunted towards (hopefully) your team

[@BreadAccountant]

I was going to comment about a bug from yesterday where ringmaster would repeatedly start his attack animation if he tried to attack a unit that was revealed by Spotlight but they seem to have already fixed that. Great video

[@KristophJeffers]

Fantastic crash course on the new hero, thanks man!!

[@galahad4787]

holy shit he was teased back on TI 2023 and we got to play him 2 weeks before TI 2024

[@grapy83]

Hey there. Great content man! I watch all of it and learn so well 😊. Please make a few vids on following topics: - Medusa snake jump mechanic. It's often unpredictable - how evasions, resistances, lifesteals, spell amps stack - how can we noobs keep track of, control and take advantage of side objectives like Roshan, tormentors, side ancients, new exp runes etc. mostly these are ignored completely - how vision changes with daytime and specific abilities (night stalker) and how we can better use it like moon shard on mk while he sits on a tree?

[@mathematicalaria]

Oracle fortunes end can purgue escape act when it land

[@BreadAccountant]

thats pretty cool

[@abhitejvelore]

True. And just in case you don't have an oracle on your team, nullifier removes it too.

[@brilliantbrunch]

I think this is a bug, as the tooltip says it's undispellable

[@mathematicalaria]

@@brilliantbrunch yeah I thought that too, it's probably gonna get patch

[@baskuijer5380]

What happens when u cast his ult on a hg ward spot, but the enemies have no vision on that spot. Wil his ult still trigger when enemies face it? Or just explode after the timmer?

[@Noffish]

I'd imagine this would work similuar to axe's taunt. If he would taunt from high ground, such as a ward pillar spot while in fog of war -> enemies would be taunted, but lacks a target to attack as they have no vision. Granted, axe does not reveal himself in this scenario by auto attacking, casting battle hunger etc. With that in mind, i'd imagine its an independant function regardless if they have vision or not, as long as they are within the aoe and faces towards it.

[@efann4405]

Similar to Medusa ultimate, as long as enemy within the range of ultimate facing it, timer will began else it will just explode after 8 second, as for whether enemy can see it or not I'm pretty sure anything that dmg you will have it position revealed

[@rainchopper898]

Just tested. it doesn't trigger

[@salihhaider348]

Its wont work and it should work i think but yeah icefrog never test his stuff

[@max-tp1xv]

no it does not, i have watched streamers that uses it on mid. the wheel doesnt trigger when the opponents is on lower ground and the wheel is on the high ground

[@justyouraveragelurker]

so Aether is the most valuable item for ringmaster at the moment. even the dagger gives vision and spotlight is truly a huge vision advantage.

[@JB-ti9wz]

Cool. Great explanations and examples Adrian.

[@iliamohammadi4565]

The classic title has come back 😢

[@BlueFlash215]

You and allies can look into Mars' Arena and you can remove the darkness of Nightstalker.

[@6Unknown_Source9]

A support Hero I suppose, though I would love to see a facet centered around his Box spell, like when the box explodes it launches 3rd skill knives in different directions, the more the box is hit the more knives it would launch another facet would probably be a different spell that changes his 2nd skill, idk what would be a good spell but something that roots or increase spell amp. would be nice to give this hero some damage boosts

[@Deunstephe]

Though billed as a support, this hero is incredibly strong with a level advantage, and since his spells are overtuned right now, works as a decent mid hero that likes to gank and help other lanes more than he likes to sit and farm a lane. While Tame the Beast and Impalement Arts may be underwhelming spells on their own, Wheel of Wonder's 0.5 second "hypno" time is far too fast to react to (so far) at early levels, and combos incredibly well with other AOE (and some single-target) spells that want to force heroes to move in a specific direction. Stone Gaze + Wheel or KOTL's Will-o-Wisp + Wheel are pretty powerful combos. Wisp + Wheel because enemies who turn to hit the Wisp while not BKB'd will then be taunted by the wheel, and Gaze + Wheel because if you throw the wheel into an enemy team and have Dusa run at them, the enemy team is either forced to look at the wheel and be taunted, or look at Medusa and be stunned. It's very strong and will no doubt be nerfed soon in the future as all new heroes tend to be, but those are my 2 cents at the minute. Also, since Escape Art is a SUPER POWERFUL SAVE early, Ringmaster can build pretty much any items he wants to as far as utility goes. With a Kaya item and the talent, Tame the Beast is a devastating magic damage nuke at high levels, helping the hero scale a little bit if you want to build for damage. Things like a Gleipnir, however, feel way more situational, since he farms well with his spells and is not much of a right-clicker.

[@John-wv9iw]

The channel for q is up to 1 second

[@miasma529]

Yeah, dunno how he saw 4

[@TheMongooseOfDoom]

I love this. Can you go back to make this style of video for all the heroes that came out in the last few years? For people who want to get back into the game or, like me, want to be able to follow TI games.

[@usernamed0189]

They bought back tumbler's toy and gave it to Ring master.

[@majmunbezgaca5220]

very cool hero design! + looks super broken atm, as every new hero does xd

[@official_noself]

if you could make videos covering every heroes like this, it would be awesome to watch and learn.

[@HuyLe95]

Quality content as always! Can you explain new venomancer ultimate next sir?

[@Joel2Million]

seems like euls or atos is pretty mandatory unless you are a premade team with good coordination

[@francisjosephcutamora8530]

I use gelpnir

[@notyouraverageguy2265]

they need to make the 3 souvenirs into separate facets. separating those will make him more balanced and consistent.

[@CallOSaulTitan]

Although I won 10 out of 12 games with this hero, I wanted him to be a more unique hero, like he can mind control enemies as if he was orchestrating a performance with enemy heroes; he was more of a toy maniac rather than an actual ring master. And since he was teased to be like a kidnapper of heroes in the trailer, it would have been awesome if he could have a spell wherein he could like summon an unpicked hero (None of the 10 heroes in the game), that can be summoned in the game, since trailer-wise- he kidnapped other heroes before the game started and is using them as a performer. Might be op, but like the souvenir innate, it can be a random hero with no item.

[@flibben]

Great review of the new hero, thank you!

[@MrDaldagnuur]

whip fear should be originated from the center so that you can control which directions heroes will go.

[@Fribuzz]

Also if you queue blink after tame the beasts, you can control the direction of the fear!

[@antonshevchuk6604]

very nice guide, thanks

[@r-eazygaming]

He's kinda op right now as a support, imo. Going strong with 3-1 doing rank games double down MMRs with no practice.

[@brilliantbrunch]

With the pierce talent on his third skill, the projectile has a limited range it travels after passing through the first target. The spell has a 2400 range iirc, but if the spell first hits a unit close enough to Ringmaster it won't travel the full distance after the first impact

[@bruskydu]

Thanks for the detailed breakdown

[@iliamohammadi4565]

BTW for some reason allies also can see the aoe of the Q when casting

[@armiddle29]

I noticed that his W stopes Bane ult even without 25 talent, even if Bane has aghs

[@Shabercom]

First video of yours I’ve see . Solid video!! New follow 💯

[@lucastarning2469]

You can't trigger the ringmaster ult timer even if you're in the range and looking at it, if you don't have vision of it

[@kristofmeszaros5223]

That vision from the ult is absurd 5:29

[@_HaSSaaN_]

It looks absurd because he destroyed all the trees. Try it with trees it will look normal

[@aMondayMorning]

@@_HaSSaaN_ that doesn't matter if it's on a cliff

[@tengkualiff]

​@@_HaSSaaN_ by that logic a cliff ward would be blocked by trees 😂

[@_HaSSaaN_]

@@aMondayMorning yes but it do matter when it's on the ground

[@_HaSSaaN_]

​@@tengkualiff no it don't. If you would be high rank player you would have known what's the difference between cliff ward and ground ward.

[@sr.lontra]

I think the Spell Immunity after the taunt is working as intended Imagine you step on a trap and then walk away. The trap was alredy set in motion. You may escape. But the contraption won't stop

[@joemarichristiansantos7926]

I love the fact that ringmaster ain't that pudge pick that the enemy team is also vying for. 3 Spamming the hero makes you better at it. 3 straight doubledowns, 2 MVPs

[@bartomiejm2160]

it really feels like an ultimate support. Ring Master does everything you might need from a support. Damage/Disruption/Escape/Save/Vision

[@creoowl]

No heal.

[@bartomiejm2160]

@@creoowl good point, always can buy mek 😅

[@nikitosha1000]

​@@creoowl yes heal Stronk man tonic heals in a way, similar to Infest

[@Takotino]

Ringmaster's W works like that T5 neutral item but with MS bonus and Magic Resistance bonus.

[@fifofuko1864]

nice video, no fillers

[@addi9090]

HYPED ABOUT THIS NEW HERO

[@thedog5k]

I haven't played dota in so long I totally forgot about him. Looks fun though.

[@durere]

Every time I decide to stop playing dota, they add a new hero. YOU GOT ME WITH HOODWINK GABEN, BUT NO MORE! Even if this guy gives major Bioshock Infinite vibes.

[@edisonvirtanen2404]

Pudge can hook the box. Spotlight burns illusions very fast

[@tacogodboomdogg]

Very cool, interesting that all of Ringmaster's abilities are avoidable by the enemy.

[@reason239]

Would be nice to know what the spotlight movement pattern is

[@alexanderericson8628]

I am a showman you are the circus I LOVE THIS HERO

[@RibbitMartinez]

when there are two wheels of fortune (refresher orb) the second one lays dormant until the first one finishes its animation

[@mikevinz0793]

finally a usefull new support hero for wombo combo

[@Riztrecia]

great video sir!

[@shmeepo2428]

When I played Ringmaster, I noticed that you can always cast the Dark Carnival Barker abilities while silenced. I dunno about hex, and they might have patched it since yesterday, but that's what my experience was.

[@mohamadamirulabdlah6089]

I think because the souvenirs is considered as item and not a spell. Thats why it’s not silenced. Maybe disruptor ult + agha would done that.

[@huniverso]

Tomorrow gonna play ringmaster, seems fun ..

[@NamakuMatphan8]

can you explain witch spell that is trigger heal amplification, is health regen count or just insta heal from spell/item thanks~

[@BanielDrown]

channelling tame the beasts up to 4 seconds? say what 0:11

[@TheM00ndawg]

spotlight will reveal wards too i think. I think. I'm not sure. he seems fine, played one game with him and got a bug where my sound went away. so that was unhelpful. but he seems useful. I can see his aghs making the save not have a restrictive aoe it works in.

[@andrasjuhasz5064]

First game whith this hero: dota plus wanted to buy aghanim scepter...😂

[@icariamcgordon358]

His ult remind me "Release the kraken"

[@emca1597]

It seems difficult to do a rampage with this hero but I could be wrong.

[@dux8251]

Can you analyze my game with Ringmaster? I don't really know what are the best items for him atm but he's really good mid game support

[@Nitishastra]

Well detailed

[@m136dalie]

Good video thanks for posting

[@addi9090]

THIS WAS SUPER POG

[@ardheanf3810]

So this hero would be good with refresher isnt it? Cuz he can re-ulti his enemies which already facing certain direction

[@CallOSaulTitan]

I won 5 straight games with a rod of atos and refresher build. It felt like using enigma, because my enemies got taunted for 6 seconds and were close together, that my team just cleaned them up before the 2nd wheel exploded.

[@todd3143]

yooo doesn’t this ult combo nastily well with kotl or phoenix? maybe you could cast it on tombstone even so they’ll trigger it as they try to kill the tombstone

[@anthonymercuri8885]

Maybe, but egg and tomb both encourage "just run away from it and reset until after it's finished", as does the wheel. So putting them on top of each other is just "yeah ok I'm just gonna walk away from that", times 2. Unless there is some other stun that actually keeps them trapped in the area.

[@nathanielborland3073]

ty mr untiltable mountain

[@johancito16345]

this heroe will surely be a hard counter of ilusion heroes and hard cc

[@krazed0451]

I think he's going to be more of a menace than people realise... Once people stop playing him mid and utilise him as a support 😂

[@castielrainyday8531]

Been playing him as a support, got lots of help to provide to allies

[@henrybottomsworth]

the strongman tonic heals. the illusions are distinguishable based on their weird looking models.

[@errixmancao9380]

I think it doesnt heal. Heal is different from giving you extra HP. It gives strenght hence giving extra life points and then disappears after the duration. Heal is giving you the chance to recover from damage but not increasing the HP.

[@nikitosha1000]

​@@errixmancao9380 but you don't lose your hp after losing the effect (granted you were low enough)

[@CallOSaulTitan]

It does heal, same mechanic as morphling’s strength gains

[@errixmancao9380]

@@nikitosha1000 I've been using him and I stand corrected.

[@notlegna]

Ringmaster's shard vs strong illusion? what is the interaction?

[@abhitejvelore]

Nothing. Treated like heroes.

[@MrFunnyman5260]

I strongly believe this hero got completely scrapped and reworked from scratch and that's why his release got a MASSIVE delay. Not only his skills pulls nothing from the trailer we saw last year where he said he would "capture heroes" (dont give me that "his ultimate taunts" bullshit) but also compared to all the unique new heroes that we got in dota 2, he looks so... bland. He has literally nothing special, perhaps the most unique thing about him is his souvenirs which is "ok". I think Valve was making a too complex character and they thought he wasn't going to be popular enough.

[@aristamythryus888]

i didnt see people mentioning the shard doesnt effect strong illusion so im gonna say it here, the shard doesnt work on strong illusion AKA ck illusion meaning ck illusion doesnt take any damage from the shard -1400 gold

[@andrew1470]

The first skills seems broken. OMG imagine what it can do on the laning phase.

[@monkeydog8681]

That save is actually broken

[@rattango9819]

If you use q then interrupt it with blink, you target will run away from blink location

[@mattripodi6474]

I Enjoy your videos.

[@czual2632]

Escape act is more like book of shadows

[@leonora.officialshop]

Is his 3rd skill really that useful? it seems like it barely has much impact.

[@memb.]

the ult is going to be fun at low elo alright

[@coldflames6927]

MMR. Not Elo

[@CollectiveAcuity]

KOTL and him will be deadly.

[@ericklocordz]

If i tried to attack an invisible riki with the shard showing him it didn't make the attack, only half the animation

[@avinashdeo5712]

Does the illusion ability dispell

Is illusion thing give dispell?

[@DExTER-fy2xr]

no

[@shayatz]

I tested the hero in Demo mode only against QoP. Apparently, RM's W can dispel QoP's first skill. Maybe it could dispel other types of effects. Also, even when the hero/ally is in box, it takes full damage from QoP's E and Ult. So QoP is kinda a good counter for it.

[@jfatsnorlax]

can you cliff people with the ult?

[@Va4xD]

"D" can be use while hero is silenced

[@chynarasan9924]

here just hoping my future ringmaster teammate knows at least the basic of what this hero does and not just picking him just cause

[@AngeloArmadaapistar]

Did you say 4 sec channels 0:14? Tame the beast it's just 1 sec my guy

[@caindain2179]

4 seconds for non-heroes

[@arthank1263]

It seems to me like he gets souvenirs if he dies as well?

[@artyom8456]

can you toggle the souvenirs?

[@ClaudioBOsorio]

I think this hero is very well design. It has a little bit of everything

[@LovelyToaster]

the channel on Q is only 1 second not 4 the 4x is the damage values

[@abdulrajia.minalang3687]

He should ride a unicycle with aghs