He may not be much of a force in the competitive scene, but if you want to slaughter pubs and get rich (or die trying) Bounty Hunter is your man. He's extremely effective at punishing mistakes, and transitions from an effective ganker to a hard carry if he makes enough money, which happens to be something he excells at. And worst case scenario, if you end up poor you can still make your teammates rich and hope they'll carry you. Let's get started.



ABILITIES
BH is incredibly skill dependant. His skills serve different purposes throughout the game, and you'll need to make use of all of them to perform optimally. You won't be grabbing early stats on him, that's for sure.

Shuriken Toss


Shuriken Toss is a basic nuke. At rank 4 it deals 325 magic damage and ministuns, making it BH's go-to method for stopping TP scrolls, cancelling channels and finishing off low health runners. The problem is that at 155 mana per toss it'll tear your tiny mana bar a new one, so make your tosses count. You'll want to max this first, but not until you grab a couple ranks in your other skills.

Jinada


This is what gives BH his burst when ganking, as well as scale into late game. 225% of your damage is nothing to sneeze at, and being on a short cooldown of 6 seconds means you'll never have to worry about bad luck. What a lot of players forget is that this also procs a 25% move and attack speed slow, which helps secure kills in ganks as well as neutralize carries in teamfights. An early level of this will make last hitting a breeze, and grabbing the rest of the ranks later will make you a force to be reckoned with as the game goes on.

Shadow Walk


A great invisibility skill. The fade time is very fast, which means it can be used to dodge projectiles with good timing. Breaking invisibility with an attack gives that single swing up to 120 bonus damage, which when combined with Jinada can lead to some massive numbers. However, the 15 second cooldown will keep you from being able to use it too often. Getting two levels of this fairly early is wise, as it allows you to maintain permenant invisibilty as long as your mana holds out.

Track


Oooooh yes. Prepare to make money. How much money, you might ask?

When Track is used on an enemy hero your team gains true sight of them and they lose a flat amount of armor for 30 seconds. If the hero is killed with Track on them, BH and any other nearby heroes recieve bonus gold on top of the kill and assist rewards. The cooldown is quite short on Track, so it should be used on anyone you intend to murder. In larger engagements it's possible to track multiple people and recieve a tidy sum in bonus gold. This ability also has the bonus effect of helping pub players focus on individual enemy heroes of your choosing, because everyone loves extra gold.

SKILL ORDER
There are two paths in BH's skill build, and they don't vary too greatly. The main thing to consider is how quickly you're gaining items, and therefore damage. If you're rich, maxing Jinada before Shadow Walk is smart. If you're not doing as well, the bonus damage from Shadow Walk will matter more than Jinada during mid game. Either way, you're maxing Shuriken Toss very early to maximize its damage, and taking Track whenever you can.

Rich Path:
E/W/Q/Q/E/R/Q/Q/W/W/R/W/E/E/Stats/R/More stats

Poor Path:
E/W/Q/Q/E/R/Q/Q/E/E/R/W/W/W/Stats/R/More stats


ITEM BUILD
A lot of items are useful on BH, so there isn't just one set build. What I'm listing here is what I tend toward, but feel free to be creative and buy whatever seems right at the time, even if it's 5 Divine Rapiers.

Especially if it's 5 Divine Rapiers.

Starting Items


This is my usual start. The slippers and branches give BH a massive amount of last hitting power, and they all build into useful items later on. The Tangoes and Salve are almost always enough to keep you alive in lane. I've seen many BH's walk into lane with a Stout Shield, but that's something to pick up at the side shop if you feel it's needed.

Early Game Items

These all build out of the items you walked into lane with, with the exception of boots which are just mandatory. I generally grab a Poor Man's Shield since you can finish it at the side shop and it grants a respectable amount of survivability for very little gold, but if you don't feel you need it you can turn your slippers into Wraith Bands for more AGI. A Magic Wand is a good idea on almost any hero. It gives stats and it saves lives. I don't know what else you could want in an item.

Boot Upgrades

Phase Boots and Power Treads are the only good choices on BH. Phases give you a sizable chunk of damage, as well as speed and unitwalking, which makes for great ganking and crits. With them you can change locations much faster than your enemies may expect, as well as chase better than they might think. Power Treads are more for the confident, late game-aspiring BH. These won't make you as fast, but the stats are great and the attack speed is useful. I tend towards Phases to bolster my mid game roaming and ganking, but Treads are perfectly valid.

Mid Game Items
 

These are less expensive, but effective items to help you in the mid game ganking spree. Any one of these can be very useful, however I would generally not recommend buying more than one unless you're hard up for cash. You do want your late game items, after all.

Medallion is a popular choice for ganking and blowing up a single opponent, but can be difficult to use. You don't want to waste your bonus damage on your attacks out of stealth, and using it early makes BH vulnerable as well as telegraphs your attack. It can be useful, but I usually go for Vlad's. Vlad's is a fantastic item on BH, and the one in this list that I tend to grab most often. The stats on this aura are fantastic. If no one else on your team is planning on building one it would behoove you to consider it. Urn rewards you even more for good ganks, and your team will thank you (though they may not say it) when you save them with a heal. Drum is fantastic if you're aiming for a slightly more supportive role, especially for the active.

Late Game Items


Battle Fury is what you buy if you're going to need to carry hard and have free farm to take advantage of, otherwise it's probably smart to skip it. Desolator removes even more armor, allowing you to shred anyone you shank. MKB will make your crits inescapable and you'll hit a lot harder. Orchid is great if you need to assassinate that troublesome hero who's reliant on their skills.



Assault Cuirass and BKB are worth considering if you need to bulk up. Often you'll want to grab one of these after one of the damage items so that you don't melt in teamfights. BKB in particular is strong because Bounty Hunter already has good innate armor thanks to his AGI gain, and it gives him even more damage.

DIVINE RAPIER


The holy grail. If you're having a great game, buy a rapier or three and have fun. If your team is losing but you have a good bit of gold, a rapier may be just what you need to win a teamfight and turn the game around. Then again, if you make a mistake you could be handing 300 damage to the enemy Lycan. Rapiers make Dota a crazy place. It's your call.

STRATEGIES
These are a few useful tips and tricks for playing the great Gondar.

-When picking heroes, don't lock BH right away. Some heroes counter invisibility with their innate abilities, and this can make life very difficult. The biggest offender is Slardar. Do NOT pick BH if the other team has a Slardar, he counters you hard.

- In lane, you can get an early level of Jinada and time your use of it for effortless last hits.

- An effective harassing technique in lane is to use Shadow Walk, wait until it's about to run out, attack an enemy hero with a bonus damage Jinada and immediately Shadow Walk again.

- If the enemy team drops a Sentry Ward in your lane it's not the end of the world. You can counter with a ward of your own or dust, especially if you have a support in your lane who's feeling generous. If not, it's not the end of the world. BH doesn't need his invis in lane to function. Just remember if that they have vision and play more defensively, as you won't be able to simply stealth out of ganks.

-Mid game, run up and down the river invisible and jump on anyone who's over extended. Tell your teammates first if you plan on attacking someone and your ganks will go much more smoothly. Never assume your teammates know what you're planning.

- When ganking, try to get between your target and their escape route before you attack. It'll take them longer to get away, and that's at least a few more attacks for you and your allies.

-Beware of burst! BH doesn't have a lot of health, and certain heroes eat low health ones for breakfast. Avoid enaging them alone mid game unless they're very low on health.

-Don't run into a group of enemies unless you've already checked their inventories for Sentry Wards, Dust and Gems. Even then it's probably not wise to do so, but at least it's not suicide that way.

-Remember that Shuriken Toss ministuns. As the damage from this wanes off in the late game, save it for any channels or long cast times you see. On a similar note, as the enemy carry gets more and more dangerous it becomes important to use a Jinada Strike on them for the move and attack speed slow. Your team be better off for it.

-If you're dusted, keep calm and run like hell.

Conclusion


I hope this guide has been useful to anyone looking to start playing Bounty Hunter, AKA Gondar for you WC3 Dota players. Get out there and get rich!