Gondar the Bounty-Hunter - A guide for being an unstopabble ganking machine

A guide focused on ganking everywhere on the map as soon as possible. In here you will find optimal skill and item builds for ganking effectively as early as possible, keeping preassure all around, and thus, gaining space for your team to farm and strategize effectively.

I. Intro - Who is Gondar the Bounty-Hunter

Gondar, according to Valve's lore:
"When the hunted tell tales of Gondar the Bounty Hunter, none are sure of which are true. In whispered tones they say he was abandoned as a kit, learning his skill in tracking as a matter of simple survival. Others hear he was an orphan of war, taken in by the great Soruq the Hunter to learn the master’s skill with a blade as they plumbed the dark forests for big game. Still others believe he was a lowly street urchin raised among a guild of cutpurses and thieves, trained in the arts of stealth and misdirection. Around campfires in the wild countryside his quarry speaks the rumors of Gondar’s work, growing ever more fearful: they say it was he who tracked down the tyrant King Goff years after the mad regent went into hiding, delivering his head and scepter as proof. That it was he who infiltrated the rebel camps at Highseat, finally bringing the legendary thief White Cape to be judged for his crimes. And that it was he who ended the career of Soruq the Hunter, condemned as a criminal for killing the Prince’s prized hellkite. The tales of Gondar’s incredible skill stretch on, with each daring feat more unbelievable than the last, each target more elusive. For the right price, the hunted know, anyone can be found. For the right price, even the mightiest may find fear in the shadows."

• Role Description
  In Dota 2, Gondar is a very flexible hero who can easily adapt into various roles. A lot of times in pubs, we see Bounty-Hunters rushing Battlefury and trying to farm for 40 minutes straight, while their team struggles and lose the game 4v5.
  Since Gondar falls in comparison to most of the more carry-centered heroes (Anti-Mage, Void, Lone Druid, etc) as the game goes late, I prefer building him into more of a 2 or 3 position role.
  ~For those of you who arent familiar with the current team composition organization, Dota 2 teams are usually divided into 5 roles, from 1 to 5, 1 being the most farm-dependant and 5 being the least (i.e. ward ♥♥♥♥♥).~
  His unique skill set and stats make him excel in taking an active roaming and ganking role as soon as he gets his first levels.
  
  
  
• Pros and Cons
  As much as his skills, Gondar is really defined by his stats (as seen on the image)
  Pros:
  -Good aglity gain(not ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥-good like PL, but still very good)
  -Reliable escape mechanism (as long as you dont take invisibility for granted. remember: invisible does not equal invincible)
  -Although being relatively item independant, has a very good gold gain due to track (i.e., not dependant of farming)
  -Good base movespeed (315 is above average)
  -Versatile skill/item build possibilities (This guide focuses only on

  one

  of them)
  -Cool ~shadow-assassin-ninja-awesome vibe (If you're into that kind of stuff anyway)
  -Possibly one of the best support ultis in the game ($$$)
  
  Cons:
  -Fairly fragile due to low str gain
  -Low mana pool leading to problems if you have poor mana management
  -Vulnerable to detection (which every half-good opponent you face WILL buy to counter you thoughout the game.)
  -Weak lane presence in the very early stages
  -As mentioned, gets outcarried by most viable carries in the lategame

II. Skill description and proper usage

In this section, we will discuss Gondars amazing skillset and how to proper utilize it.

[Q] Shuriken Toss
Active Ability (single target)
Damage: Magical
Hurls a deadly shuriken at an enemy unit, dealing damage and ministunning the target.

Range: 650 CD: 10 sec
Damage: 100/200/250/325 Mana cost: 90/115/135/155

• This is Gondars nuke. With a good cast range, damage and a mini-stun effect, is very useful to finish off escaping/teleporting enemies. Due to its relatively high mana cost and "poor" scaling (damage increase is lower when leveling the skill from level 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 than when leveling it from 1 to 2) many players judge it best to leave it at level two and level Jinada instead, but in my experience, when trying to quickly finishing off foes in the early levels, a high level shuri toss offers more damage output than the alternative.
  Beginner players tend to quickly cast the spell after atacking the enemy and this more times than not lead to the victim escaping with little health.
  It is far more effective to, after coming out of invis by hitting the target, to keep attacking him. Due to you high base move speed and the slow from the Jinada strike, you will be able to get more than a few attacks and effectively lower his health to the point when, if necessary, a Shuri toss will kill them.
  If by any chance you feel you can kill them without casting your shuriken, go for it. By saving the mana you would have otherwise spent without need, you can be better prepared for your next gank, or a counter-gank by your opponents.
  Needless to say, if someone tries to TP away from you or your teammates, your shuriken will cancel the tp channeling, leading to a very happy Bounty-Hunter, and a very sad victim.

[W] Jinada Strike
Passive Ability
Damage: Physical
Bounty Hunter plans his next hit, passively adding a critical strike and maim to his next attack.

Duration: 3 Movement Speed Slow: 25%
Attack Speed Slow: 25 Critical Damage: 150% / 175% / 200% / 225%
CD: 12/10/8/6

• A passive cooldown ability much like Kunkka's Tidebringer, the Jinada Strike is a percentage based damage amplifier, meaning it will scale with bounty's damage as it increases and thus, it benefits from damage-output items and lategame situations (an early level is good though, for the critical damage helps greatly with last-hitting in lane.)
  The movement speed slow sinergizes very well with the entirety of the hero, increasing even further his chasing ability. The attack speed slow is also very good in both 1v1 ganks (if your victim tries to fight instead of run) and, to a lesses extent, in later situations during teamfights. Try to always proc the jinada on the opponent that would most benefit your team from having lower attack speed (for example, its better to use the Jinada hit on an enemy Anti-Mage or Faceless Void than, lets say a Bane or a Zeus).

[E]Shadow Walk
Active Ability (Self)
Damage: Physical
Bounty Hunter becomes invisible and gains the ability to move through other units until he attacks or uses an ability. If he breaks the invisibility with an attack, that attack will deal bonus damage
Duration: 15/20/25/30 Bonus Damage: 30/60/90/120
Fade Time: 1/0.75/0.5/0.25 Seconds
CD: 15 Mana cost: 50

• Bounty's invisibility. Quite a good skill. The low CD and manacost give the hero the capability of staying invisible(not invincible, please remember to be wary of detection) for a very long time, and the ability to move through units make it an even better chasing/escaping mechanism. People often overlook the bonus damage you get from the first strike of Shadow Walk. Don't. When ganking, every little bit of damage helps. It should be noted that the Shadow Walk bonus damage does not stack with the Jinada Strike percentage bonus, though.
  A trick many beginners do not know, is that Shadow Walk and a few other spells in the game do not cancel channeling when used, making it possible to use, for example, a TP scroll to escape from a tough situation and immediately use Shadow Walk to greatly increase your chances of survival. Keep that in mind.

[R]Track
Active Ability (enemy heroes)
Tracks an enemy hero and grants a gain in movement speed to allies near the hunted. If the target dies, Bounty Hunter and nearby heroes collect a bounty in gold.

Range: 900/1050/1200 Bonus movement speed: 20%
Speed Radius: 900 Bonus Gold for Self: 150/200/250
Duration: 30 Bonus Gold for Allies: 50/100/150
CD: 10/7/5 Mana cost: 70/60/50

• Bounty-hunter's ultimate and signature skill. In my humble opinion, hands down one of the best support skills in the game, if not the best.
  For starters, it gives True Sight of the target, so it counters any invisibility-reliant enemy, and no one will be able to juke away from you, besides being a great skill for scouting, when coupled with his invisibility. Friendly units around the target also get a movement speed bonus, making it near impossible for the target to get away. As if not enough, every target that dies while the Track debuff is still active on them, will award Gondar and his team bonus reliable Gold for his death, and because the cooldown is so low, in a teamfight situation you can basically track most or every enemy hero on the opponents team giving your team a clear advantage in positioning.
  To top it off, Track can be cast on magic-immune units(altough it can be purged by diffusal, manta and BKB).
  I told you it was a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome skill.

III. Skill Build

(content from the http://www.dotafire.com website used for the image)

• As previously explained, the reason for taking 4 points in shuri toss before fully leveling Jinada is because this guide focuses on rapidly taking down enemies in the early stage of the game, allowing you and your team to snowball more effectively
  
• The Jinada early level should help you in getting last hits, especially in a tough lane when you are being harrased.
  
• Some people like to take 2 levels of Shadow Walk early so the duration can be longer than the cooldown, but for the porpuse of this guide, it is not worth it to spend a point that could be in Shuri Toss or Jinada, which would sacrifice damage output

IV. Item Build

Starting Items:

• Basic regen for early game survivability

• Stout Shield for more durability against heavy harrassement

• GG branches because GG branches are awesomely cost effective(and if you want, you can turn it into a magic wand. Personally, I dont, but its a valid choice)

Early Game:

• Boots, because running without boots hurts Gondar's feet, and we cant have that, can we? (seriously though, get boots, theres absolutely no reason not to)

• Turning your Stout Shield into a Poor Man's Shield is cheap and very cost effective

• Sage's mask. This is where it gets interesting. Because this guide focuses on high level Shuri Toss, it gets mana expensive very fast, and the 50% regen is nice even if it isnt much. Some people may argue that it isnt very cost effective to get %based mana regen this early, but considering that the Medallion of courage is the 1st or 2nd item you should build if you are following this guide, the mana regen is basically free, since you will be using the item anyway.

Core Items:

• Some guides refer to Power Treads as a superior choice, due to the stats compensating a little of Bounty-hunter's low str gain. While this is true, the purpose of the phase build is to finish people off in 1v1 situations fast enough that they wont have time to make your low heath a problem for you.

• The minus six armor from the medallion debuff is very strong early game, especially against some of the more squishy carries and most supports. coupled with the mana regen the item is ideal for the purpose of this build.

• The orchid has been really popular lately in the pro-scene in the off chance a bounty-hunter gets picked(unfortunately, BH has fallen a little out of favour in the current meta)
  
• The silence guarantees that no ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ escape/invis/lolantimageblink will be pulled when you come in to gank, so it is especially powerfull against heores like Anti-mage, Storm Spirit and Queen of Pain.
  
• The 25% bonus damage makes it worthwhile even when theres is no escape mechanism, because it increases your chances to defeat your enemy in case they decide to fight you, and helps you finish them off quickly in case they decide to run.
  You should see the Orchid as the Core item of the Core items in this build.

• Drums is largely accepted as one of the most cost-effective item in the game, and the movespeed bonus makes Bounty the ideal man to hold it. Also, it helps your team in teamfights, where your presence is not all that strong. Be a team player, get the drums.

Situational Items:

• Comes the late game, your presence will be greatly diminished (which is why you should strive to not let the game go late and end it asap), so it is more efficient to make the progression to a more push/splitpush oriented build. The deso is a very good item for that, since the negative armor debuff will work on towers.

• For the same reason of the Desolator, the Vlads is a good item. The armor bonus is also very helpful in teamfights and its might help with roshan, sinergizing with your medallion. Overral a good item. If no one in your team has one, pick it up.

• Gondar is a low health pool hero, so even with his invisibility escapes, he is very prone to being stunned and nuked away. If you feel the enemy team composition might give you problems with that, pick up the BKB between the core items whenever you feel is needed.

Cheat Sheet:

There are not a lot of big carry gg items in this build, because as I said, Gondar gets outcarried lategame. It is more effective to put him in a 2 or 3 position and try to end the game early, or give your postion 1 carry the chance to farm.

V. Laning Decisions

Lets talk about the lanes in a Radiant perspective, but keep in mind all is valid for the respective lanes on the Dire side.




1:
The offlane Bounty is a classic. Due to his invisibility and relative independance to farm he can very confortably stand solo in a hardlane getting exp until such a moment when he feels confortable enough to gank. The stout shield/poor mans also help with the eventual harrass that should come when getting cs in a solo lane versus 2 enemy heroes.


2:
Mid Bounty-Hunter is also viable, since he benefits greatly from early levels. going in at level 6 vs an enemy at level 4 is pretty much a guaranteed kill. The shields will also help when going mid vs. a ranged hero and you should be able to get last hits and denies in most situations. Try to gain control of the runes, and as soon and as frequently as you can, take advantage of that to gank other lanes.


3:
The safelane is usually reserved for the most farm dependant hero on the team, which is why I dont think its a good idea for Bounty to take the farming role in that lane. If you do, and there is no one else to take the position 1 role on your team, try to coordinate well with you lane partner (idially a support with good synergy) to get first blood and as many kills as possible, to compensate the lack of help you will be able to provide to other lanes.

VI. Friends, Foes and "oh god please dont"s

In this section I will cover heroes that have significant interactions with Gondar throughout the game. I will not cover ALL of the heroes, but will try to get the ones that represent well the idea im trying to express.


VI.a) Friends
In general, heroes that benefit from the movespeed bonuses and that have some sort of negative armor and slows to synergize with this build item and skill choices are very good friends with Gondar.

Dazzle's ulti provides massive negative armor for the enemies, and bounty thrives on that. Very good friends that walk down the streets holding hands.


With good positioning, the slow of a Jinada will make the victim of a Bladefury a very, very sad hero.


Good dammage output and a passive armor debuff makes SF the ideal partner to help BH with ganks. Presence of the dark lord and medallion debuff will make the both of them hit very hard and burst someone down quickly simply by auto-attacking them.

Also a powerful right-clicker with a good armor debuff. If you havent noticed, Bounty loves him some armor-reducing-right-clickers to hang out with


VI.b)Foes
Heroes that can sustain high amounts of burst damage, or that have the inate capability of turning 1v1 fights around are Gondar's nemesis. Ganking attempts are better suited if you have someone to assist you.

Axe is a very tanky hero and his counter-helix can really destroy you if he get a couple lucky procs.


Well, this guy would usually be a very nice hero to gank due to to his extremely low armor. Unfortunately, Icefrog decided to give the best 1v1 skill in the game to compensate it. Doom is really strong, and if you cant use your items or your skills, you are screwed. dont engage when Doom is off cooldown.


Huskar is very pubstompy. If you cannot kill him in the initial burst, and simply leave him with low health, he will turn around to face you and just destroy you due to his passive. Granted, with a few tactical shadow walks, you can kill him in a double engagement, but it is still very risky due to the possibility of a counter-gank.


Lifestealer also has low base armor, but still, his Rage skill will render you unable to perform half your combo, and due to his lifesteal he just might turn the fight around. Be careful when engaging.
Use Orchid wisely.


Slardar has a similar ulti to Track, except that instead of Bonus gold, it will massively reduce your armor while giving the enemy team True Sight of you. Be careful and try to Orchid him before he gets his ulti off.
Some patches ago Track used to also reduce armor, but some crybabies said it was OP and thet removed it =(
Oh, i miss those days.


Tiny is here for 2 reasons.
One, he is a str hero, and is tanky. That coupled with his stun make a counter-gank very likely.
Two, Craggy Exterior. I hate that skill. Seriously, I hate it. There are few things as frustrating as initiating on a Tiny just to be stunned and nuked to death. Such ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥


A powerful nuker with True Sight skills and decent Str gain. If you manage to get the jump on him 1v1 it should not be a problem, but in Teamfight situations he can be

very

dangerous to you.

VI.c) "Oh great Lord Gondar, please dont kill me!"
Here we will discuss heroes that tremble before the presence of the mighty Bounty-Hunter. It pretty much sums up to heroes that are either very squishy, depend on invisibility heavily, or both.


Squishy support, and its worh mentioning that when he ultis, if he has no bkb, a good Shuri Toss will cancel the channeling.


Powerful but squishy, if he is caught out of position(BH's specialty) he will drop very quickly


Has good presence in the game due to his invisibility and the fear factor it brings, but if tracked when visible, he is rather squishy and will drop fairly quickly


Not much to say. Low health pool and below average move speed = happy bounty.



Same as riki basically. A very strong 1v1 fighter and ganker, but if caught out of invis can be hunted and nuked down without much effort.


Im running out of things to say. Invis dependant, if tracked = dead. You get the picture


Squishy support and like WD, has a channeling ulti that can be easily interrupted by Shuri Toss

VII. Final Considerations

Well, this is the guide for a early-ganking centered Bounty-Hunter. Keep in mind I am in no circumstance a pro, but made this guide based on my personal experience playing Dota2 and watching pro matches.
As you can see from my Steam profile, english is not my first language, and even though I like to think I am pretty good with it, I am sure there are a few errors in the guide. If you catch any, please let me know and I will proceed to correct them.
Thank you if you stuck with me all the way here, and I hope I was able to improve your Dota2 experience in some way.

[Autumn<3brooklynn]

By far the BEST guide I have ever read. Dude you say it like a pro. Good Job!

[B[A]lto]

Upon reading section VII: For someone who speaks English as a second language you're pretty darn good with it. Better grammar skills than most high school students who speak it as a first language. :P That said when mentioning Lifestealer you say "enage" instead of "engage." I found more but don't feel like hunting them down again. (No pun intended. :O )

[Vindex]

you said "do correct them" i think you meant "to" (2nd last line)

[Dr. Báthory Mengele]

гавно сбрка чушь полная

[WHITE MORPHEUS]

Still getting used to the shuri toss method, but I feel like maxing shadow walk earlier is better for off lane situations. LOVE the desolator, good choice

[Fingolfin]

not good dont like it...

[Weetirador]

kid not kit hahaha on your early post

[ScrEAmyYy]

im a verry good bounty hunter , and for me there is no danger :)i can even kill doom..zeus..incredebly fast. :)

[Smitty.Werben.Jager.Man.Jensen#1]

Pretty sure gondar is the beastmaster not bounty lol

[Novandrie]

@Anato
Precisely the reason this guide recommends an Orchid. If youre not gonna spend much time farming, youre not gonna get many survivability items, so yes, inexperienced players may suffer when going up against heroes with good skillsets as CM and more seasoned players. But, with the orchid all that can be put aside, and before that, a good player will probably not just stand and hit her allowing her to counter him. knowing when to go in and come out of invis is very important, and something you can only pick up from experience.