Kris’ Guide to Hex Bone


A Brief Introduction
Bone is one of the most unique heroes in dota. He is the only one to lack all of the following: a disable of any kind, an aoe spell, and a nuke. In lacking all 3 he is not an incredibly useful hero without items and because of that most people have considered him as one of the worst hero’s in the game. I hope to show you Bone through a new perspective and to change the way you think about the hero.


Hero Story

The fire that kindles eternally on the visage of the fallen Elven Archer proves to others that his undeath was a mere genesis. Bone seeks perfection in the arts of fletching and never hesitates in sacrificing his own allies for the cause. Still retaining his ability to move with the wind, he is ready to slay the enemy officers with his swiftness and precision in archery. The Fletcher fires arrows that scorch the target with the heat of the Underworld, bringing them closer and closer to their peril. An elvish archer in life, a nightmare in death.



Hero stats
Strength: 15 + 1.6
Agility: 22 + 3
Intelligence: 16 + 1.55

Sight Range: 1800 / 800
Attack Animation: 0.7 / 0.3
Damage: 37-43
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Missile Speed: 900
Attack Range: 600
Casting Animation: 0.5 / 0.51
Armor: 2.1
Movespeed: 300



Skills & Evaluations

Strafe


Increases the rate at which Bone attacks by adding 90% IAS
Level 1 – 4s.
Level 2 – 6s
Level 3 – 8s
Level 4 – 10s
CD 60/50/40/30
Mana Cost 90

A great skill that can be used from things as simple as eating a large wave of creeps before they hit your tower, to providing additional DPS against towers and Hero’s while pushing or fighting. It is rather difficult to support this skill in the early game so I prefer to level it during the midgame.

Searing Arrows


Increases the damage of the Hero's attack by adding fire. If you learn this during wind walk the first time, you will lose the invisibility.
Level 1 - 20 bonus damage.
Level 2 - 30 bonus damage.
Level 3 - 40 bonus damage.
Level 4 - 50 bonus damage.
CD 2/2/0/0
Mana Cost 8


This is one of Bone’s most amazing skills. When coupled together with his base damage of 37-43 this makes his hits deal an average of 60 damage at level 1. Very few hero’s can compete with that kind of damage for last hits and fewer still can endure his harass for long. For the period of levels 1-7 bone starts with a base of 60 damage and gains 8 damage per level. This allows him to take down towers very fast and assist in ganks from stunners or slowers. If you press r or click the skill then you do not attract any agro from creeps and at lvl 5(lvl 3 of SA) you are able to orb walk.

Wind Walk


Turn invisible for a period of time, increasing movement speed.
Level 1 - 10% increased movement speed, 20 seconds.
Level 2 - 20% increased movement speed, 25 seconds.
Level 3 - 30% increased movement speed, 30 seconds.
Level 4 - 40% increased movement speed, 35 seconds.
CD 20
Mana Cost 75


Amazing spell would be ridiculously imba on most other types of heroes. You gain invis, and haste like move speed. It can be used to dodge spells or just to get around faster. Be careful not to blindly walk into areas where the other team has wards in my experience that is the most common reason for any invis hero to die.

Death Pact


Kills a target unit, returning a percentage of its life.
Level 1 - 50% conversion.
Level 2 - 100% conversion.
Level 3 - 150% conversion.
CD 20
Mana Cost 100
Another amazing spell because it allows you to farm woods whenever you want to, keeps you at full HP, keeps a lane pushed in your favor or assists you in pushing a lane, allows you to tank tower hits and nukes while not worrying about how long it will take to heal them off. Take care when using it as it takes about half a second to cast. Also Bone benefits greatly from rax creeps on either side as it allows him to heal even more HP while pushing. (without needing to find a good neut)


General Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:
Amazing physical damage output very early in the game
An orb spell (allowing him to harass without attracting agro)
An Invis skill that also gives him haste like move speed
An ultimate that enables him to keep a lane from pushing while he farms it
An ultimate that allows him to be full HP all the time
A great IAS spell allowing him to do large portions of damage in short periods of time
Very good at taking towers (and landing lasthits on them)
Very good AGI gain

Weakness:
No disable/slow of any form
No Nuke
No AOE spell
Rather low HP
Quite an awkward attack animation to just pick up and play


Skill Build

1. SA
2. WW
3. SA
4. WW/Strafe
5. SA
6. DP
7. SA
8. WW
9. WW
10. Strafe
11. DP
12-14. Strafe/WW
15. Stats
16. DP
17-25. Stats

Explanation of skill build

There are very few reasons to avoid maxing Searing Arrows at level 7. I also see very few reasons not to take them at level 1 because if you are not doing something stupid (looking for runes) there should be no reason you need WW at that time.

Wind Walk is maxed at 9 for the incredible mobility that it gives you. It allows you to get across the map in seconds and saves you from most ganks. This spell is also useful for scouting, however don’t get too familiar with the other team or you risk randomly getting dusted or walking into a ward.

Death Pact is leveled whenever possible because it allows you to farm anything, keeps your HP full increasing the likely hood that you survive a gank, and allows you to tank a bit when stunners and heavy nukers are not around.

Strafe logically is leveled during the midgame when Bone is required to output sufficient DPS in both ganks and fights.




Item Build

Core

Hex

Magic Wand and/or Bottle

Boots of speed

TP



7284g + cost of town portals

Extension



MKB is arguably the best DPS item for bone. The mini bashes combined with strafe make his DPS amazing and allow him to eat an entire caster line in a fight and then move onto fighting/chasing the carry.


BKB is a very good choice after you have your damage item because you will start to get onto even footing with the other heroes in the game and can no longer drop them all in seconds without good team play. You also can’t rely on stuns at this point as fights will last long enough for people to locate you and focus you and under the new buyout system you seldom want to buy back.


Skadi is a very good alternative to BKB if stuns are not the problem because it adds a large amount of HP and the slow is valuable if you don’t have to worry about the target stunning you and running. I prefer this to HOT because death pact tends to waste HOT’s passive.


Buriza is a great item only when you already have a damage item. When you crit it does not consider searing arrows damage so it becomes a fairly weak first damage item however if you need more damage there is little reason not to get this.


AC is amazing on bone because it reduces the armor of both heroes and structures. With AC you can drop buildings far faster and it helps the casters on your team assuming you don’t already have a vlads.


Armlet is a very interesting item that has many great synergies with Bone. Death Pact can easily handle the degeneration and armlet adds good damage and some IAS as well as a significant amount of HP. While armlet is an all around item like orchid it has amazing benefits and would be a tier 4 item if it did not have the degen.


Explanation of Item Build

While at first glance it doesn’t appear that Bone uses a lot of mana in reality he consumes a massive amount of it. Wind Walk eats 75 per cast, Death Pact eats 100 every 20 seconds or so, and strafe eats a large amount of mana once it is at the point where you can use it for farming and have it CD for a gank.

The best item that you can have on Bone is a HEX

Now I know this is the point that most of you are thinking WTF. Some of you may have jumped to see my explanations after reading the title others may have simply posted arrogant comments with little to no logic backing them up. Some of you are confused as to why a hero who is typically used for massive DPS would be getting an item that is most prominently used by supporters?

Guinsoo gives Bone everything he needs but does not have. Hex is an amazing asset to ganks at any stage of the game and is incredibly relevant in team fights. Hex allows Bone to spam his abilities to accelerate his farming and to get away at the first sign of danger. Additionally you can count on hex to break a TP unlike MKB and don’t need to worry about OD anymore .

Bone has two amazing steroid skills for his DPS Strafe and Searing Arrows. If we compare the damage of a naked level 11 potm to that of a naked level 11 bone we can see the huge gap in damage.

Potm: 38-49(base) + 2.75*10(agi per level) = 65.5-76.5 damage per hit

Bone: 37-43(base) + 3*10(agi per level) + 50 = 117-123 damage per hit
Strafe also gives 90% IAS for 4s

We all know that potm has a strong role as a ganker carry. However in the midgame Bone absolutely decimates her in DPS and pushes towers far easier where she has great burst damage and some utility with her ultimate.

Now let us compare the two carries with a similar amount of farm

BOT(2700) + Manta(4850)
Potm: 65.5-76.5 + 26 (manta agi) = 91.5-102.5

Hex(5675) + boots(500) + bottle(600) + magic wand(509) + Gauntlet(150) + TP(135)
Bone: 117-123 + 13(agi from wand and hex) = 130-136

Bone has opted to become useful in fights whereas potm has opted to fill the role of DPS in fights. It is clear that bone still has an edge on the DPS he outputs and contributing a hex to fights is likely as useful as potm if not more so. Bottle and wand are taken to supplement our HP and Mana while farming as well as to better control runes for our team should they need the help(who is more able than an invis jungler to pick a rune or place a ward?)

TP should be core on every hero until BOT's are built. The item is the single most powerful and versatile item in the game.



Hex vs Orchid - due to popular demand


Hex
**Disables attacks for 3.5s
**Disables casting spells for 3.5s
**Disables items for 3.5s
**Reduces MS to 100 for 3.5s
Adds 10 str
Adds 10 agi
Adds 35 int
Adds 200% mana regeneration

Orchid
**Disables casting spells for 5s (dispelled by Manta, BKB, Eul's. Nullified by Ghost scepter)
**20% magic damage amp
+45 damage
+ 30% IAS
+225% mana reen
+20 int

Above I have simplified the pros and cons of both items.
We can clearly see that hex is a real disable that will keep a target in place to kill, save an ally or yourself, and cancel a TP. Orchid by comparison will disable a target from casting spells for 5 seconds if they don’t have a BKB or a Manta, additionally it adds 20% spell damage which is rather negligible especially with how popular hoods are.

On top of its superior active hex also adds HP that Bone needs and a small amount of dps in the form of agility which closes the gap in damage between hex and orchid. Orchid has 35 more damage than hex as well as 20% more attack speed and if it’s any consolation it has 25% more mana regeneration which is almost totally irrelevant due to the regeneration on guinsoo acting on 15 more intelligence.

I have played Bone with a number of item builds and have found none of the other builds anywhere near as effective as a rushed Hex. After your first item there are far fewer differences between Bone’s so it is up to your first item to determine how valuable you are in any given game. Hex never becomes a bad item throughout the entire game whereas orchid feels like a wasted slot and 5k of gold after 40 min(often earlier) when you realize that it is giving a very small increase to your dps and its active is not doing much at all.


Basic fundamentals of gameplay

There are a number of fundamentals you need to be aware of to play an effective Bone Fletcher.

1. Using wind walk effectively:

Wind walk is a great skill with a vast number of applications.

It can be used to dodge spells such as:
Scream of pain
Omni slash
Hellfire blast
Spawn Spiderlings
Shadow Strike
Venomous Gale
Heat Seeking Missile
Eclipse

Keep in mind that you will not dodge any of these spells if you are in true sight range of a tower, wards, a skill, or you have been dusted prior to the casting of the spell. More spells than just those can be dodged because they are based off of the same things and moving while invis can allow you do dodge aoe spells like Dragon Slave or Split Earth.

It can and should be used to move any distance over 1500units in most cases

It can be used to scout (be careful about blue wards and gems though)

It can be used to drop agro in a fight and better position yourself on your next target.


2. Knowing when to start conserving mana

Often times a Bone Fletcher will die because he spent a little too much of his mana using searing arrows or because he wasted WW trying to dodge a spell that was never cast (like Leoric S canceling hellfire blast). If you need to get mana back don’t use searing arrows on creeps, attack them and let them take you into red HP, you have a skill that will put you near max anyways and this way you will be able to keep mana for WW available should someone try to gank you. This is not to say you can’t live dangerously at times as a game of high risk high reward is often worth taking (300g from mystic staff with 100 mana and 100 hp I would use it all to get mystic faster as long as it wasn’t obvious that I was ganked).

3. Map awareness

It is important on every hero in every game however on Bone you need to be aware. You need to show up when your team is taking towers and if you see a chance to pick off a hero that might get away then you should normally take that chance. A bone with kills is a great asset to his team because it can accelerate that hex and allows your team to push towers easier. If you see a lot of people coming to your lane then don’t be stupid, assume they have dust and port out or run out and perhaps hide in a fogged area. If you get ganked it delays your hex and without your hex you are not very useful to your team. Thanks to your jungling tendencies and your windwalk you are one of the best hero’s in the game for warding. Ideally you don’t want to be buying them since you are rushing a hex however you are one of the best people to place the wards without hurting the flow of the game.

4. Getting in and out of fights

You need to be able to enter a fight and avoid the disables, this often means coming into a fight 3-4 seconds late if your team was initiated on or coming in off of most of the other team’s screens. To play a good Bone Fletcher you want the other team to be unaware of your presence for at least 3-4 hits because by that time most of their stuns are going to be in cool down and you are doing a great amount of DPS. I apologize for being unable to explain this much better but it is something you need to learn for yourself through practice.

5. Be able to control your lane.

You have an amazing orb effect for both last hitting and for harassing. If you can’t take a creep and a hero is standing close enough feel free to hit him in the fact. Harassing your opponents make them very easy to kill when a ganker comes and allows you to farm the lane more freely as they become more defensive or overly aggressive and waste their spells. You are expected to rush hex and to do this requires decent CS in lane without deaths or with very few deaths and better than decent CS. Take kills when able and your team will understand how good they are for you late. As a hero who can’t rely on getting kills but needs to rely on farming any kills you get advance you game by massive amounts.

6. Take kills when able

I am a firm believer that there are very few opportunities where something is truly a “ks”
The longer a hero is alive the more distance they can cover and the more distance their allies can cover to help them. While it may seem good to leave the kill for whoever did most of the work it often backfires. The saying “nice guys finish last” is very true in dota as if you give your target time to regen his mana, burn his cooldowns, and let help arrive you will more often than not find yourself dead and your target alive. As mentioned in lane control kills are an amazing thing when they make hex come 5 min faster and allow you to get hex faster and assist in fights and ganks much more.




Some nice tips&tricks

Manually casting searing arrows will use the cast point of .5 as opposed to your attack point of .7(this can help you CS better earlygame)

Trust your attack animation buffer. I have seen it happen many times on bone, drow, and lina where people are too anxious to get in an extra attack and end up canceling the current one. You need to understand how far you can go and trust that your last attack and your allies will be able to finish the job.

Move between attacks. With at BAT of 1.7 and a backswing of 0.3s you can get in 2-3 if not more attacks by moving with your target while attacking him.

Orb walk. press R, right click on the ground in the direction you want to move. The attack will always go off baring special circumstances and you will not waste any time in your backswing allowing you to fire arrow after arrow as fast as possible while still moving. You need to be level 5 before you can orbwalk because searing arrows does not gain 0 cooldown until skill level 3. Orb walking is great for harassing because you can abuse both your 600 range and your animation buffer to attack from further than your max range while staying safe.

Play mindgames, on a hero with windwalk and not much else going for you if you can get into the other guys head and make him waste a spell or stay too long so your allies get there then that will end up winning you games in the long run. Games are lost because of play errors far more than picking mistakes.


Great allies


Sand King – He makes up for the DPS your team will lack and is great when he comes to gank your lane. He also makes a good partner if you dual lane since you can let him farm well for the first 5-7 min if you focus on your harass.


Tidehunter - He works great in a lane that does a good amount of physical dps. With +20 damage on level 1 arrow up to +50 damage at lvl 7 gush will decimate any non str hero in your lane and he keeps people still for you in fights. He is a great ally to have even if he is a faggot to play.


ES – He is both a great lane partner for you if he lands a wall and just like SK if you can afford to give him the first 5-7 min of farm he can be a very effective ganker enabling you to free farm through the late early game and early midgame until you get hex. He also brings down the other teams HP a lot so you can pick them off.


Alchemist – He is a great hero that many people underestimate. He can control the lane for you to get a great deal of farm and just like tide he amplifies your damage by reducing armor. He is both a great lane mate to have and great in team fights.


Clockwerk – you are almost as annoying in a lane as he is and you both can control a lane to the point that they are not even getting exp unless they are under their tower. He is a good ganker however having him on the same team as Bone leaves your last 3 picks to cover all of your AOE needs.


Ogre Magi – He can be both a great lane mate and boost your effectiveness at taking towers in the midgame. He is a great support with his only fault being that he can’t effectively counter ward. Having a support that is not easy to kill is a good idea when you have a hero like bone who gets hurt badly by chain stuns and nukes.


NA – He is a great laner and just like SK and ES you can help him with his early farm before he goes roaming. He is a bit light on AOE and encourages the other team to buy blue wards so picking him and bone on the same team reduces the effectiveness of both of their invis spells.


Warlock – He can make a great dual lane with you that allows you to keep the other team away from the creeps the entire time. He keeps people still for you in fights and can let you stay in the fight a bit longer.


SP – He makes a great lane partner just like warlock and his performance in the midgame is amazing. He keeps you alive against anything, reduces the other teams armor, and slows/stuns people


Bane – He keeps people still for you and cripples the other teams DPS. There is little reason to not pick him if he is available.


Axe – He keeps people in place for you and is great in a pushing lineup. He opens up a second solo for you if he goes in the woods or creates a lane for you to push around 9 min or less if he lanes.


Tree – He is a rather boring and unorthodox hero however he has his moments. He keeps the other team in place for you for a good amount of time and he is good at keeping your towers up. He is not my favorite hero but since he has a good aoe disable he is worth mentioning here.


VS – One of the best heroes in this version. She is a strong ganker and has some value reducing armor in the late game. She is best for the momentum she can create and the freedom she provides for your farming.


Stuff you would rather avoid


Slardar – He is a great hero in the current version and decimates Bone in a good dual lane, ganking, and carrying. You don’t have a great chance of winning a game against a well supported slardar unless you can suppress him while farming yourself. He is more than possible to kill but you need your team to be on top of thins to make that happen.


BH – while many consider him a threat to invis hero’s I would rather play against him than a good deal of other hero’s. He has little presence in a team fight and ever since his model was nerfed he can be easily man handled by almost any lineup. I am listing him because in unorganized play he will often become too big too fast by picking off idiots and noobs.


Zeus – He is one of the best heroes in this version and both his ult and lightning bolt give a very large true sight AOE. He can out lane you before level 6 however you can farm against him and make his efforts futile after that point.


Enchantress – She was an issue before the str nerf and I am unsure of how strong she is atm. It is rather hard to kill something that heals for 900 extra HP and decreases your attack speed by 80%.


NA – he is an even better ganker towards us than usual because he will burn us for more now that it is based on a percentage of our intelligence. Not a fun guy to play against though he is manageable with good play.


Tree - he is a problem in general because every one of his skills hurts us. He can make his allies invis to save them from ganks, give out 12 armor to greatly reduce our damage, plant eyes to make our windwalk useless, and if that wasn't enough his ultimate destroys us in a fight.


Blue wards - They are simply evil, always be careful when wandering by common ward spots and area's where you are expected to push because getting caught by one of these generally results in the death of yourself and or your teammates.

There are many heroes that bone has issues with due to his low HP however many of those can be nullified with smart play.


FAQ

PM me with things you think i should address as i can't guarantee that I will be able to pick them out from the replies

Q: Is bone a noob friendly hero?

A: With this build a noob can play bone and still be very much a part of the game however they will enjoy many sub par results and may often be frustrated if it takes them a long time to farm hex. In short I do not believe that bone is a noob friendly hero.




Replays

"pub clinkz learns of hex bone" - a public game where i suggest hex to a pub, shows how effective the item can be even when just picked up.

"hex bone" - a public game with several leavers however it illustrates how to play bone to some degree. (If i recall there are some funny scenes of myself dying trying to BD top tower)




Change Log

October 19, 2009 - finished basic composition


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