Rattletrap, the Best of the Keen Folk

Introduction

Clockwerk is a very strong initiator/ganker who is also a very versatile laner. While he can farm and use said farm well he does not need much to solo kill heroes early on in the game. His abilities allow him to disrupt enemy movement and lock heroes down during teamfights. He's also a Can of whoopass. This guide will talk primarily about Clockwerk in the middle lane.

Clockwerk is also a member of the Keen Folk, which includes Tinker and Sniper, who are both heroes that Clockwerk can **** on.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• +Extremely strong at solo killing heroes during the early-mid game
• +Decent 1v1 laner and can evade ganks with Power Cogs
• +Can also escape with Hookshot
• +Can disrupt fights and enemy positioning with Power Cogs
  
• +Has a 1-2 second Black King Bar piercing stun.
• + Rocket Flare gives Clockwerk's team global vision
• +Good strength and agility stat gains

Cons

• -Often has to throw himself into the middle of the enemy team during teamfights, exposing him to a lot of damage
• - Hookshot is a skill shot with a relatively long cooldown
• -Poor int growth can cause mana problems early on

Skills

Battery Assault

Power Cogs

Rocket Flare

Hookshot!

Mid Clockwerk

Clockwerk is a very versatile laner but I believe that he is best in the middle lane. He can get a quick level 6 and then gank other lanes or even kill the enemy midlaner if they aren't careful.

With Clockwerk you want to lane passively until around level 4. This is when you have enough damage to possibly solo kill the enemy mid if they're a mid without an escape mechanism like Tinker. At level 6 push the lane with Battery Assault and Rocket Flare and go get kills. A haste rune or invis can guarantee a good Hookshot or even just a Power Cogs.

Starting Items (Some assembly required)

A single set of Tangos give Clockwerk enough regen to last until his Bottle.


A Stout Shield allows Clockwerk to trade hits with the enemy laner and to shrug off harassment. It also helps to tank him up a bit when he Hookshots into multiple heroes, who will then focus him.


Basic stats for last hitting, and also builds into a Magic Wand.

First Items (Gear up!)

A Bottle gives Clockwerk much needed mana regen, along with the ability to utilize the runes, which can help Clockwerk gank side lanes.


Clockwerk needs boots to keep up with enemy heroes, especially when Battery Assault is on.


Clockwerk will often be in the middle of fights so the burst 225 hp/mana heal can help him out when he can't Bottle up.

Core Items (The gears are in motion)

Power Treads give Clockwerk the ability to tread-switch, a godsend for low int heroes during the early game. Power Treads also synergize with Bottle; switch to agility and bottle, then switch to strength/int.


Mekansm is an item that is best when gotten early, which Clockwerk can do through his mid lane farm and ganks. The burst heal is wonderful early game, when 250 is a large fraction of a hero's hp, and the Mekansm also gives Clockwerk the tankiness that he wants.


Since Clockwerk jumps into the middle of the enemy team during teamfights and skirmishes with Hookshot he will naturally be focused on by the enemy team. Blademail gives some tankiness (armor) and also allows Clockwerk to do even more damage.

Luxury/Situational

Aghanim's Scepter reduces the cooldown of Hookshot to twelve seconds. This is amazing. This allows Clockwerk to use Hookshot whenever he wants, and even multiple times in a teamfight. This is definitely the item Clockwerk wants after his core items. The extra stats and tankiness don't hurt as well.


A Force Staff is Clockwerk's nightmare, allowing enemy heroes to force their allies out of his cogs. However it is also a very good item on Clockwerk as well, since he is a very positioning-based hero. A Force Staff can save teammates and create even more confusion in a teamfight.


Shiva's Guard is one of the best tank items in the game, giving Clockwerk tons of armor and an infinite mana pool. Once the game starts to go late the majority of damage becomes physical damage, so lots of armor does wonders for heroes who want to tank damage like Clockwerk. The passive slow is great against enemy carries and the slow can keep heroes close to Clockwerk and his Battery Assault.


Scythe of Vyce is a great item pick up if your team lacks lock down. The ability to Hex and enemy carry for 3.5 seconds after Hookshoting for 2 seconds for a total of 5.5 seconds of lockdown is amazing. Also remember that Hex disables evasion so it is a great way to deal with heroes like Phantom Assassin without having to invest in a Monkey King Bar. While it is a very expensive item Clockwerk is a great farmer with his Battery Assault and Rocket Flare. This item also gives Clockwerk all the mana and mana regen he could ever want.


Pipe of Insight is a great item that shields allies from magical damage. This is a great pick up against heroes with tons of magic damage even later in the game such as Zeus, Lich, Venomancer, and Leshrac.


Heaven's Halberd is a good tank item for Clockwerk, giving him hp and the 25% evasion. However the real value is in the 3/4 second disarm against melee/ranged heroes. Before Black King Bars come out, this can completely cripple an enemy carries damage potential, and can continue to do so against carries like Medusa who do not want to buy a Black King Bar


Black King Bar is a great item for Clockwerk when the enemy team has a ton of lockdown (like Lion) or magic burst (like Skywrath Mage) that can kill you before you get your spells off. However in most cases you want to be the one eating all the nukes and stuns so the rest of your team can come in and clean up.


Boots of Travel or BoTs are the ideal late game boots, allowing Clockwerk to teleport around the map every 60 seconds. They can be used in conjunction with buyback upon death to return to the fight as soon as possible.


Dust of Appearance should be bought against invis heroes. Don't want heroes like Bounty Hunter to just fade away while laughing now do we.


Observer Wards can be bought to give vision for your Hookshots, and are worth the gold if you get a single kill off one.

Offlane Clockwerk

Clockwerk can offlane decently well, due to his Power Cogs and Rocket Flare. However due to lack of access to both runes Arcane Boots are bought instead of Power Treads. In addition, since you do not need to save for a bottle, if there is only one support on your team you should buy either the Animal Courier or Observer Ward. The skillbuild can be tinkered with (heh), but Rocket Flare should be prioritized in order to last hit in lane.

The item build stays the same. However if your mid or safe lane hero is a hero like Razor or Pugna that wants to pick up a Mekansm early and can do so earlier than Clockwerk let them build it. This just allows Clockwerk to build more expensive items sooner.

Allies

Foes

Conclusion

Just play Clockwerk. You get the skillshot satisfaction similar to Pudge but instead you're balling into the enemy team like a real man (goblin).