Bounty Hunter is a roaming hero who excels at ganking and playing from behind. This is because of his ultimate ability, Track, which gives bonus gold to Bounty Hunter and a smaller gold bonus to his allies near the kill.
Because of how easy it is for him to get a large amount of gold from each Tracked kill, he is often able to buy many utility items which can benefit his team. His item build is also very flexible as he can buy whatever his team needs to have a big impact.
@ Valve
[/column]Bounty Hunter Skill Build Order
- Shadow Walk
- Jinada
- Shuriken Toss
- Shuriken Toss
- Shuriken Toss
- Track
- Shuriken Toss
- Shadow Walk
- Shadow Walk
- Talent
- Shadow Walk
- Track
- Jinada
- Jinada
- Talent
- Jinada
- –
- Track
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Bounty Hunter throws a Shuriken at the target enemy which will bounce to nearby enemies affected by Tracked. Shuriken Toss also applies a mini-stun which means it will cancel any cahnneled abilities including teleport scroll. Aghanim’s Scepter increases the mini-stun duration and allows the Shuriken to bounce twice on enemy heroes. This spell is maxed firstly because it’s Bounty Hunter’s only nuke, and skilling it drastically increases the damage of the spell. If the enemy target is outside of the 400 cast range, try to track them and bounce it off of another target to effectively increase the cast range.
Bounty Hunter’s next attack will slow the enemy’s movement and attack speed and deal bonus damage. Jinada should always be maxed lastly because the crit modifier is a percentage of Bounty Hunter’s damage and the slow increase isn’t as significant. He also doesn’t usually build damage items, as it’s usually better that he gets utility items to help serve his team, so the crit isn’t very effective. When breaking Shadow Walk with an attack, it can be good to wait for Jinada to come off cooldown, however the bonus damage from Shadow Walk is not multiplied by Jinada.
Bounty Hunter becomes invisible after a short fade time and gains bonus damage upon his next attack if it breaks invisibility. You can use Shadow Walk while channelling and you can use items and abilities during the fade time. Note that the fade time decreases with each point in the ability. This spell is usually maxed secondly because with each skill point you benefit from bonus damage, decreased fade time and a longer duration.
In the early and mid game in Dota 2 esports you should almost always be affected by Shadow Walk, as it keeps the enemy guessing where you might be next. Use this ability to scout the enemies and potential ganks or kills, snipe the courier and ward or de-ward the map. Try to go for kills on support heroes in team-fights, as they often won’t have a way to deal with you if you manage to get on top of them. You can also use Shadow Walk to get Tracks off on enemies which might otherwise be a bit risky. Doing so allows them to be scouted for longer periods of time and without you following their every step.
@ Valve
Bounty Hunter tracks the target enemy hero, providing vision and true-sight of them as well as being able to gain information on how much gold they currently have. Allies near the tracked target gain increased movement speed and bonus gold if the target dies near them. Bounty Hunter also gains a larger amount of bonus gold when the tracked target dies.
You should try to keep as many enemies as you can tracked at all times, especially heroes who have invisibility. If you cast the spell from the fog of war, you will not be revealed to the enemy team. You can find out how much gold the enemy hero has and this can be a very effective way to find out how close they are to their next item. This can be very helpful, as you can try to coordinate team movements before a hero has time to get their next core item such as Blink Dagger or Black King Bar.
In general, if you expect the game to go into the late game, then the XP Gain can be quite helpful, as getting more levels in Track faster can help you and your team get a lot of gold, especially with the level 25 talent. However, the extra movement speed is quite significant, and will help you to chase and escape enemies in the mid game. It also stacks very well with the movement speed increase from Track, and in usually a more reliable option, as it can often make a big difference.
The extra health is almost always a better option here. This is because Bounty Hunter doesn’t really need the attack speed, as he usually gets utility items and doesn’t focus on physical damage. Lots of his physical damage comes from Jinada anyway, which the attack speed doesn’t help with either. Lastly, Bounty Hunter’s strength gain is quite on the low side, and an extra 350 HP goes a long way in keeping the hero alive.
The extra Shuriken damage is almost always a stronger option, for similar reasons to the level 15 talent choice. Bounty Hunter doesn’t usually focus on physical damage, and the Shuriken Damage can quickly add up to be a lot of extra damage, especially if you are able to bounce it off of several enemies. If the enemy team has lots of dispels or magic immunity, it may be better to get the critical strike, as they may often be able to purge themselves of Track, which may make it harder to land the Shurikens.
50% Evasion sounds nice by itself, but when compared to a potential extra 300 more gold for every person involved in a track kill, it quickly becomes much less impressive. The evasion can easily be countered by accuracy, while the track gold can help everyone on your team get more and bigger items so much faster. It makes comebacks much more easy and also help you to close the game out if you are struggling to finish it, as with just a few kills from ganks, your team will have a lot more gold. There should almost never be a contest between these two talent choices, as the gold is almost always more significant.
Bounty Hunter spends the early game roaming, looking for kill opportunities and creating space for his team. As such, he doesn’t need more than a set of Tangos and a Clarity for regen. An Orb of Venom helps him to get kills, as the movement speed slow stacks with Jinada and helps him and his allies to chase down his enemies more easily. A Sentry Ward is needed in most cases, since enemies often buy their own Sentries in anticipation of Bounty’s roam. Having your own Sentries allows you to de-ward the enemy and this will make it much less safer for the enemies to be in their lanes. An Observer ward can be good as it may help to scout out the enemy team’s Courier in the early game, which you can very easily snipe.
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Tranquil Boots are usually the boots of choice for Bounty Hunter. This is because he roams a lot on the early game, and having a form of health regen can be very helpful.
Arcane Boots can be a good item choice if your team needs a pair, or if you plan on getting Guardian Greaves. Bounty Hunter does benefit from having a means to replenish his mana-pool, as he can use Shuriken Toss more liberally and won’t have to worry about not having mana for Shadow Walk or Track as much.
An Urn of Shadows is a great item on Bounty Hunter because the hero spends most of the game ganking and aiding in kills. This presents him with many opportunities to gain urn charges which can be used on either him or his allies.
A Magic Wand is often a very strong item for Bounty, since he ganks a lot in the early and mid game, and as such has many opportunities to gain charges. If you’re playing against a lineup with relatively few spells, then it may be skipped.
A Medallion of Courage is a great early game item to get on Bounty because it provides a strong minus-armor de-buff which greatly helps to get kills when the enemies aren’t likely to have much armor. It can be built into a Solar Crest, which provides even greater powers. It works very well with Jinada, as it will make you deal even more physical damage to some of the hardest Dota 2 heroes.
A Solar Crest provides your team with a powerful utility item which can be used either defensively or offensively. Naturally, this can help to sway a gank or a fight in your team’s favour, especially if you’re dealing with an enemy who has evasion. It can provide or remove lots of armor and give your allies evasion which is very strong against right-clickers. Overall, it’s a very cheap and effective item which provides a lot of utility.
A Spirit Vessel is the natural upgrade for Urn of Shadows and should be gotten if you’re facing enemies who have healing abilities, lifesteal or lots of HP regeneration. It provides a lot more survivability for your hero, and more sustainability for your team. It can also be used offensively to make it harder for enemies to escape from ganks or team-fights through healing.
A Force Staff is a great item on Bounty Hunter, because it can help him to reposition himself in bad ganks or team-fights. It can help with situations where it may be risky to get close enough to enemies to use Jinada, or when you need to get in range to finish of an enemy with Shuriken Toss. It can also be used to keep you or your allies alive against melee carries who deal a lot of damage when close. Overall, it’s a great utility item which can be very helpful for your team.
A Mekansm can be a great item on Bounty Hunter if you are likely to team-fight or push a lot in the mid game. The AoE heal they provide can be very advantageous in team-fights if you are able to get it within a reasonable time, which you usually can if you get some gold from Track kills. It’s great on Bounty because he can usually farm it relatively quickly, and it provides a big advantage for your team in the mid game.
A Pipe of Insight can be a great item on Bounty if you’re playing against lots of magical damage. You are quite capable of farming it relatively quickly if you are successful in getting Track kills and it can be a great help to your team if you can farm in time for the mid game.
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A Lotus Orb provides a lot of benefits for you and a powerful defensive ability against single-target abilities. The self-purge can also be great in case you are playing against silences, as it will allow you to cast Shadow Walk when silenced. It can also be used on your allies and this can be very beneficial for your team.
Guardian Greaves are another means to provide you with a defensive purge which can be very helpful against silences and other de-buffs. If you have purchased Arcane Boots and a Mekansm, then a Guardian Greaves can help your team a lot in the mid game.
A Scythe of Vyse is one of the best late game items, especially on Bounty Hunter, as you can scout enemies from the invisibility from Shadow Walk and Hex them upon initiation.
If you’re facing a lot of magic damage or disables, then magic immunity from a Black King Bar may be needed. Having magic immunity will allow you to right-click enemies more and get Jinada procs more often.
A Eul’s Scepter can be a good item on Bounty if you can benefit from, or are in need of the defensive active. It can be used to avoid taking damage from combos and to purge yourself of de-buffs including slows and silences. The extra mana regeneration also goes a long way in you casting your spells throughout the game. If you have very few forms of control on your team, the cyclone can also be used to cancel channelled abilities. Incredibly useful, especially if you don’t have any best hard supports in Dota 2 with you.
A Meteor Hammer can be a good item on Bounty if you have very few disables on your team, and are in a game where you are required to slowly siege the enemy’s buildings. The stats in also very helpful in the mid game, as they help to tank you up and give you lots of all-around stats.
A Heaven’s Halberd is often a very strong pickup against enemy carries, as it can be used to control them during team-fights by preventing them from attacking your teammates. The extra strength and evasion will also help to tank you up from both magic damage and physical. If you’re playing against heroes that can deal a lot of burst damage through their right-clicks, then a Halberd will go a long way in keeping you alive.
Am Orchid Malevolence can be a great ganking tool against heroes with either very strong mobility spells, or spells which otherwise make them harder to kill. It provides a very strong ganking active and lots of stats which help you to keep casting your spells and more easily get solo kills in the mid game.
A Gem of True Sight can be a great item because it gives you a massive amount of map control. The enemy team will not be able to retrieve it very easily, as Bounty can use it to de-ward the map and gank heroes with invisibility through Shadow Walk. However, you must be careful about carrying it and you must be aware of how doing so can impact your play-style, because if it falls into their hands, it can be very dangerous for you.
A Dagon can be a good item in many situations. When coupled with Shuriken Toss and Jinada, you can very quickly burst down enemies and get kills. This is particularly the case against squishy heroes, but there are usually other items you can get which are more valuable for your team.
A Crimson Guard will tank up your entire team against physical damage dealers and is a very strong item if you are facing a line-up with lots of carries. It can also help to keep your towers alive, as the active also affects them.
A Nullifier provides you with a lot of damage and armor, and the active is a very impactful late-game disable. It will prevent enemies from using any items for several seconds, in addition to slowing them whenever they are attacked. This can make it much easier to gank them or to catch them out in the late game. The item is particularly strong against core heroes who rely on the magic immunity from Black King Bar to keep them alive.
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Many heroes have spells which provide true-sight, or which can track the enemy hero’s movement speed. These heroes and spells are naturally very strong against Bounty Hunter, as they can potentially keep track of where he is and can chase him much more easily.
Track is a very strong spell against any hero with invisibility, be it from a spell or an item. It can be quite easily purged, as it is dispelled with any basic dispel. However, it has a very long cast range and a relatively low cooldown, which allows it to be spammed quite easily.
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