Chase me, and attack me from behind!

Introduction

Hi guys, I'm Soebardjo. This is my first guide ever. Personally, I've below 50% winrate, but, my winrate on BB (short of Bristleback) is above 50%. So, let's get started with my guide to Bristleback.

Most hero have than one role, but they can't use it simultaneously. A supoort Abaddon with Arcane Boots, mek and stuff will have a hard time to be a semicarry Abaddon. Bristleback is different, as he can be a tank while hitting like a truck. He also have a 'unique' playstyle, require him to be CHASED and CHASING people.

Bristleback could go anywhere (except jungle maybe), but he's best in the hardlane, either solo or duo.

Pros n' Cons

Pros Tanky Sick attack animation Sick INT gain for a STR hero. Sick ganking skill Can push tower somewhat fast due to Quill Spray and Warpath Can turn 3 man gank into a triple kill Punish the enemy team Riki

Cons Low STR gain for a STR hero Silence, hex and mana burn will screw you. Consider this if enemy has picked Lion and/or Shadow Shaman His disable is not really 'disabling' Feed the enemies' Magic Wand

Skills

[Q] Viscious Nasal Goo Range: 600 Duration: 5 Armor Reduction: 1/1/2/2 Movement Speed Reduction per Cast: 20% and +3%/+6%/+9%/+12% Mana Cost : 30 Cooldown : 1.5

Bristleback's disable. It's not really 'disabling', as it only slow, and doesn't cancel channeling. However, it synergies with your other skill when chasing or being chased. It reduce armor, making your Quill Spray and your auto-attacks to hit harder. It's cooldown is only 1.5 seconds from level 1, so, given you have enough mana, you can permaslow someone from level 1. And this is why you could get first blood easily.

Mastering This Skill

When ganking : Appear out of nowhere, locate yourself IN FRONT OF your ganking target, and then snot him a few of times. Make sure before 'snoting' you're in front of your target, 'cause it will make your foe have a hard time running back to hug their tower.

When being ganked : As you see some heroes getting in your lane, position yourself near the tower, but still out of the tower shooting range. 1000 to 1300 unit from your friendly tower is enough to 'bait' them. Snot someone who is to near to you OR someone who has great movespeed ( Luna, Death Prophet etc). Run toward your tower, but remember to juke around (don't take a straight path, except your foe is 2spooky4u, someone like Lion or Shadow Shaman or anyone who has 'hard' disable. They're 3spooky5u), and keep snoting while stacking Quill Spray. 90% of the time you will get a triple kill, instead of dying.

If you're facing some easy foe (such as : squishy carry with no escape and 'small' disable), you can pick this skill earlier for some EZ firstblood.

The only things that you really need to practice is canceling this skill backswing animation, 'cause it's as long as a Terrorblade's Sunder cast animation. This will save you a lot of time when you're chasing someone or being chased.

More detailed explanation will be available on the on the 'Visual Guide' section.

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[W] Quill Spray Radius: 625 Debuff Duration: 14 Base Damage: 20/40/60/80 Stack Damage: 30 Damage Cap: 400 Mana Cost : 35 Cooldown : 3

Bristleback's AOE damage output. It's not really a 'nuke', because it's damage is not instant 400, but it stacks. Meaning, it first apply 20/40/60/80 damage to any foe in the radius, but the next Quill Spray will deal additional stack damage until you reach 400 damage cap. The stacks are independent and not refreshing, which means the Bristleback need additional Quill Sprays from Bristleback passive to reach the 400 damage cap.

Mastering This Skill

Since it has 625 radius, you can use Quill Spray for last-hitting creeps. You can use this skill if you have a hard time last-hitting in the hardlane.

In teamfight, spam this skill, even if it hit nothing. Why am I advising to doing this? The answer is : To stack your Warpath. Get 1 or 2 stacks of Warpath before any clash will make you run faster and deal more damage faster.

More detailed explanation will be available on the on the 'Visual Guide' section.

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[Passive] Bristleback Reduced Damage (Rear): 16%/24%/32%/40% Reduced Damage (Side): 8%/12%/16%/20% Quill Spray auto-trigger damage : 250

Bristleback's Bristleback is what make a Bristleback a Bristleback. He reduces any type of damage. Yes, that's true. Magical, Physical, even Pure (except HP Removal. That sh*t is not even counted as a damage. I almost forgot, tower damage is not reduced by Bristleback, for balance reason), if taken from his back or his side. He can reduce DoT (Damage over Time).

Since 6.81, Bristleback isn't disabled by hex, but still disabled by Doom or Chronosphere. Thank you, based IceFrog.

(Keep in mind : Bristleback's rear is considered to be within 70 degrees from the back, and his side is considered to be within 110 degrees from the back. Damage reduction are calculated by comparing the location of the damage instance's source to Bristleback's orientation. This applies to DoT as well.)

Mastering This Skill

"Oh no... There's a flying arm targeting me!!!1 What should I do?", "Obviously, turn your back". There's a flying Arcane Bolt? Turn your back. Flying sp00ky scary Wraithfire Blast? Turn your back. It's easy if you're facing a projectile-based nukes. However, if you're facing Impale or any nuke that didn't have projectile, you should turn your back when your foe is casting their spell. That's not EZ. You must practice that.

More detailed explanation will be available on the on the 'Visual Guide' section.