The One Who Shoots First - Bounty Hunter
It is not uncommon for certain heroes to stay relevant despite significant nerfs. Their core concept allows them to be effective in almost any environment, and 
Bounty Hunter is one of such heroes. He has been a viable professional pick for almost a year now, and the trend is unlikely to change—at this point, any simple number tweaking would have little effect.
Originally played as an offlane, DPS hero, Bounty Hunter has since transformed into a heavy utility one. His early game consists of roaming the map and finding pickoffs, where later he becomes a vision and economy booster for his team. More often than not, he boosts the economy of his team, while also forcing the enemy team to spend more resources on detection, leading to a very unfair macro game. We’ll discuss the hero’s position in the meta and look over the more optimal builds for the hero.
Meta Data
Perhaps more than any other hero in the game, Bounty Hunter rewards skill. His win rate is a constant progression from the lower brackets, with an almost 10% difference between 2k and 5k+ games. The only other hero who comes close to this “skill/reward” ratio is 
Earth Spirit.
Unlike Earth Spirit, however, the complexity of Bounty Hunter comes from better understanding of the game momentum and tempo, rather than from the ability to correctly land skillshots. Reading the map is an integral part of playing the hero—there is a hint of luck involved in it, but otherwise it is a trainable skill that can be developed.
The pick rate of the hero is also rather impressive when it comes to the higher brackets—he is in 40% of 5k+ games and the 11th most popular hero in the game. This popularity can be attributed to both the effectiveness of the hero and his appeal from the “fun-to-play” perspective. He is also rather independent in the earlier stages and fits most lineups exceptionally well, as long as they can afford a roamer.
Skill Build
Ever since the 6.84 changes to 
Shuriken Toss scaling, the skill build progression for the hero has become a lot clearer. If previously extra points in it would provide +100/+100/+50/+75 DMG, it is now a much more logical progression of +75 increments. The damage on it has also been substantially increased, capping out at 375 at max level. Hence, the skill is generally maxed out first.
The added scaling to the 
Jinada is a nice touch, however the MS slow aspect of it increases in 3% increments, and it is generally not worth it in the early game, past the value point. Similarly, cooldown reduction does very little in surgical pickoffs the hero is known for. There is an option to go for a second level against heroes with naturally high MS (e.g. 
Luna, 
Chaos Knight, 
Enchantress etc.), but it is generally not worth it.
The return on damage as well as the duration increase for extra levels in 
Shadow Walk is generally a better deal, compared to Jinada. Not only does it increase the burst damage in the earlier levels, but also allows for mana conservation—longer duration means one needs to use the spell less to stay invisible. The fade time reduction is also a very nice touch against high burst heroes and does come up surprisingly often. Due to his nature, Bounty Hunter in the mid-game is a very expensive hero to lose and not dying is almost as important as getting kills on the hero.
Finally, 
Track is taken whenever it is possible—the amount of utility and economy boost from it is unparalleled. This spell should be spammed, since it costs relatively little mana and offers crucial vision for both teamfights and macro-game. It also gives information on the current gold of the tracked hero, something that is utilized far less than it should. Disrupting item timings and catching the enemy cores without buyback gold is a rather underrated bonus, which allows for better decision making and easier courier snipes.
Item Build
Currently, there are two types of Bounty Hunter players—the ones who have fully embraced the utility role of the hero and the ones who are building the hero as a damage dealer. While the first option is generally seen as a more effective one, the latter is not completely awful, unless Bounty Hunter starts going for 
Battle Fury.
The utility build concentrates on getting a lot done in the earlier stages and a smooth transition into mid-game. 
Arcane Boots is a huge enabler in this scenario, since it increases the hero’s sustainability as well as any lane he chooses to gank. It also allows for multiple Shurikens even within a single fight. Given the mana cost increase on it, this item is more or less a must on Bounty Hunter.
Early Game
Mekansm is often praised for what it does, but it is rare for supports to get it in a timely manner. Moreover, supports are generally easily focused down without the possibility of using Mekansm at all or forced to use it too early giving only partial benefit. It is not the case with Bounty Hunter, however, since he can get it very early and generally doesn’t need to stay close to the enemy in a fight—the Track/Shuriken bounces allow for extremely flexible positioning.
Urn of Shadows is a great sustain booster and a decent offensive tool. More often than not, it is built instead of Mekansm, if there is a more natural carrier for it in the team or if the early game did not go well for Bounty Hunter. Overall, while having one Urn in the team is never a bad thing, the item should not be considered core by any means.
Mid Game
If the previous items can be considered more or less staples on the hero, come mid game the item selection becomes very situational.
Guardian Greaves is an amazing item since it allows to conserve item slots and provides a very strong aura. However, more often than not it is not worth extra 1650 gold. It will be generally built at later stages, but unless there are some strong debuffs on the enemy team, the item can be delayed.
Force Staff is the king of positioning and saving teammates. Against any melee core, it becomes a nuisance they have to deal with on a constant basis. Strong single-target focus heroes such as 
Beastmaster and 
Bane will also suffer a substantial hit to their utility. Moreover, having this item against heroes with strong slow effects cannot be underrated. The counter-play mechanic built into the force-staff is simple, yet has almost unlimited scenarios when it is useful.
Blink Dagger can be considered a more aggressive alternative to the Force Staff. It doesn’t save teammates, but the scouting potential it opens up is almost unparalleled. Staying safe while continuously harassing the enemy with Track has a strong effect on the vision your team has and forces them to play more conservatively, which will give your team a macro economic advantage without direct confrontation.
Medallion of Courage and 
Solar Crest are strong early-game counters to heavy-hitting cores such as 
Drow Ranger and 
Sven. It can decide the outcome of the game in these earlier stages before the enemy gets their BKBs and as such should not be underrated. It is also a very strong tool for Roshan killing—having this item will shave off a substantial amount of time from getting the 
Aegis of the Immortal
Pipe of Insight is a rather forgotten item, but its utility against magic-heavy lineups is unparalleled. Since 6.84 it also provides a 10% magic resistance aura. The effect of this aura is not clearly visible, however on tankier heroes it can make a huge difference. The Barrier active is also handy when breaching high-ground against teams with strong outpush potential—at the very least it will allow your creepwave to reach the enemy base and disable the backdoor for 15 seconds.
Crimson Guard is a highly situational pick on Bounty Hunter, but its active effect can become a necessity for your team when facing heroes like 
Windranger. More often than not it will not be the optimal choice, but it is still necessary to give it some consideration. High AS/low DMG heroes can be rendered almost completely useless for a big portion of the game.
Vladmir's Offering is a cheaper, more versatile alternative to Crimson Guard. Straight up armor increase will generally scale better with your teammates’ HP, while lifesteal and mana regeneration Aura will allow for better sustain.
Late-game
Lotus Orb and 
Linken's Sphere are the reactive and proactive items against strong single-target lineups. The former allows for hex/silence dispels, while potentially protecting the target from further focus. The latter is better against the stronger disables, such as 
Doom or 
Primal Roar, since it will generally give your teammate some time to react. Both items are great in their own right, and it is not a bad idea to have both of them available in certain scenarios.
Diffusal Blade is a highly effective dispel which can work wonders when used both on teammates and enemies. It is ill-advised to use it as a generic slow, however against heroes like 
Omniknight it can be the game-winning item on its own. Being extremely stingy with the charges is a necessity—getting this item on Bounty Hunter is almost always strictly a utility play and it gives very little without the active component.
Scythe of Vyse and 
Abyssal Blade are the items no team can have an abundance of. Extremely expensive, they both offer a strong disable which can compensate for lack of DPS in the late game and allow for strong teamfight potential. The first option is arguably better, since it has a longer cast range and duration, however the latter can be a necessity against heavy magic immunity lineups.
Dagon and 
Ethereal Blade are the finishing touches on utility Bounty Hunter. Both of these items provide incredible burst damage and sometimes they are the missing pieces to tip the scales. There is also an option to rush these items, however it is a much riskier build.
Assault Cuirass and 
Shiva's Guard are the last in this list for a reason—these items, while decent on Bounty Hunter are generally better built on other heroes. If there are no natural carriers for either it is acceptable to build a strong late-game aura on BH, however a full return on investment is unlikely.
DPS build
There are two distinct DPS builds—previously discussed Dagon+Ethereal blade rush and the right-clicking one.
The right-click Bounty Hunter suffers from a lack of reliable gap closers on the hero—invisibility simply won't cut it against any team even in the lower brackets. It is also riskier to build the hero as a DPS machine, since it will undoubtedly leave less resources on the map for your teammates.
Otherwise, the item progression is rather simple—
Phase Boots into a strong tempo play in the form of 
Desolator is generally the most popular option. It is often followed up by BKB and more DPS items afterwards. A Rapier Crit is something the enemy team will have to take into account, yet again, it is a high risk-moderate rewards playstyle.
Dealing with Bounty Hunter
When facing Bounty Hunter it is necessary to understand that he is both a micro and macro heavy hero. Not only is he capable of creating an opening for the enemy team to net a kill, but he will also leech resources from the supports. Finding balance between being stingy and being effective with the detection is a must.
More often than not, he forces the enemy team to play reactively—
Sentry Ward is a better alternative to 
Dust of Appearance. The former should be primarily used to ensure safety first and foremost. Spending an extra ward for a chance of a kill on Bounty Hunter is sometimes not worth it—use them only if the kill is guaranteed. Due to his roaming nature, he is frequently underleveled in the early game, and the chance to kill him is unlikely to net enough gold to justify the costs.
If the opposing team plays correctly in the early game, the hero will remain heavily underleveled and will fall off hard in the mid-game. Without the ability to snowball out of control he can quickly become a non-factor. He will generally be able to come back with the track kills later on, but it might be too late.
It is also necessary to understand that high risk plays are not worth it against Bounty Hunter—even trades will put the team with BH in an advantage. Careful approach to the game is advised—staying in groups and having vision on the rest of the enemy team is a good tactic in most games, but even more so against BH.
Final Thoughts
Bounty Hunter is an extremely rewarding hero. It tells a lot about him that he is among the few heroes which have a continuous growth in win rate across skill brackets. Unlike many other heroes who show similar trends, such as (
Invoker and Earth Spirit), his complexity does not come from personal mechanical skill, but rather from the ability to understand Dota on a more strategic level.
As such, the hero is highly recommended to more methodical players, who might not have time to train extensively to achieve the high efficiency of mechanical players. Older, more experienced players might find this hero to be highly effective in their hands—after all Dota is a strategy game first and an action game second.
On Guardian Greaves - "However, more often than not it is not worth extra 1650 gold." ... Uh what?
Good luck trying to tell these kind of things to pub bounties,out of 20+ times of having a bounty in my team only one of them is actually looking at the picks and went for the utility support build,while the others are space leeching,no gamesense,dagon building retards
Meanwhile bh in my 2k though the invi and his ulti are passive.
3
@man don't care
Guardian greaves heals the same as mek and only 25 more mana than arcanes. He's saying you can spend the gold better because you're paying 1650 extra gold basically to remove debuffs from yourself.
nice 1
I don't agree with this argument that the "enemy team will spent more money in detection". If they do, that will pay off, by getting deaths. So the money is coming back with a profit. Which certainly means, that they are "winning more money with the use of detection to predict this guy and possibly his teammates plan and strategy", and are ahead at the game. And that will even, imply that you and your teammates, as Bounty Hounter, will have to buy its on detection too to prevent get caugh unaware by any enemy detection. So, if you don't buy detection you're most likely dead - their profit. And if you do buy detection too, to prevent getting caught, its even - you spent the same money as they did on detection, more or less. Ok, you can say that they're spending more money than you on detection, so that's more likely they catch you. But when you're spending more money on detection as a Bounty Hunter them the enemy team, that's how you win! You're make sure you're controlling the game! And that's how you win this game, controlling it. Everybody knows that. Who cares about money? This game is not about gold, it's about who wins and who loses. So, stop spamming stupidity DotaBuff, you're gonna create a bunch of losers, that don't want to spend money on detection/game control. These fuck***g babies attached to stuff, that can't let go of the money (i.o.e. wards, currier, upgrades and so on) for the win. We all know that a Bounty and winning Riki, will most likely "spend more money on detection", and buy themselves a gem. That's basic play.
Any 2̶k̶ 3k player can spam supp bh at 5k+ with 50% winrate, osfrog
the thing with the greave though, while it's expensive, you can actually see the difference if you usually play a support and go meka and arcane often. The cooldown reduction is just nice and you can get alot more sustain for the whole team. 1650 is a bit much, but rather than buying a random item, going for greaves is usually worth it.
@Xer0 One pro player at stream said that greaves is good but he prefer going arcane -> mek -> 'one item' -> guardians because too hard to get 1650 gold at early game without dying, so 50/50 here. If you know that you can finish guardian fast you can try.
---
Also forcestuff > blink almost always.
@free 2 play scootz. but its wrong. You don't buy Guardian Greaves to remove debuffs. You buy guardian greaves for its cooldown reduction and 1 more slot on your inventory. The cooldown reduction will just get your team way ahead, and more and more faster regenerating itself and get ready for next fight or even being able to defend itself from ganks if the other team try to get you with low health, or not, and you are anywhere near with this item, you just use it and situation changes. You can even spam it to Heal and Mana or both anytime you see your carry with low hp and mana (jungling for ex.), that you're most likely sure you're gonna have it 'till your next teamfight or the next time you'll need. And 1650 is not much money, for the benefits that it has. Any other item you get will cost at least like 30% more, if you're not getting Meddalion, which doesn't imply you're not getting this item, if you prefer to get this one first (depends of the situation, not all of them needs a medallion for an example).
2.4k here and im spamming it.... thanks for giving me usefull insights.
Great article. Btw, ^ viewed your profile. aether lens is really a great build for bh. Im kinda surprise that this article didnt features that.
First(?
Freaking love BH, just won a game with him. It saddens me how badly people build this at lower brackets, he's such a strong utility, I specially like him when there's not supports on the team since he can afford to build whatever he wants while also providing wards for the team.
I personally love getting greaves early. On top of all the benefits stated above, don't forget about the extra 15 regeneration and 15 armor if an ally is below 20%, making saving someone on brink of death even more effective.
Actually, would like to know whether he will be relevant in new patch.
Which we would know already, that is if they cared to FREAKING THROW US A BONE ABOUT NEXT PATCH AFTER HALF A YEAR.
Since when does Bounty use a gun?
What are some other heroes for methodical players? Because that's me (I'm shit at clicking thing but good at positioning and stuff) and BH is the 2nd most played hero on me :)
why do you keep posting these useless articles are they mandatory?
i'm reading those time to time and all articles you produce are obscure and i really hope no new players will catch something up cause that will be bad for them
Battlefury :O
I am puking ...
boots dagon solo kill weak supports and give your team track gold over and over.
later on pick a blink and be an annoying b-word.
Oh and aether lens is always a good choice
bh need buff OsFrog
just ignore Circus of Life comment...
I am waiting for new articles everyday
Some are brilliant, some are worse, but all are globally interesting
Applause for this ;)
prior for methodical players i recommend treant protector as well. I usually don't pick BH if the enemy team has a better teamfight than my team, because they will 5-man and your utility drops considerably.
I go for orchid. Ez kills. Ez regen
I'd say part of the reason for increased viability in higher skill bracket is also due to the fact that players in higher brackets are more capable of capitalizing on the havoc a good BH can cause. So it's not just about the player's macro understanding but also the macro understanding of everyone else around the BH.
@0n3.Eternal
"Stop spamming stupidity DotaBuff." This is exactly why you are mid 2k.
I really have no problem with less able players sharing their thoughts... The way they do it however is simply triggering. Sorry bro, but I do believe that the 1% has a tiny bit bigger game knowledge and is able to make more in-depth analysis than the big average (~70%). So get the stick out of your arse and try to grasp the whole picture.
Cheers
Yep, this hero is very fun to play, at least in support way.
I almost exclusively played support and tend to have a good result with him (17 match - 70% winrate).
He's also really good for roaming, so it's like a change of pace from the other 'standard' support
nice, could you make one about night stalker someday im interested to see how he stands in the meta.
Dont forget that greeves removes global silence from the whole team feelsgoodman
Kawaiisocks has stated the obvious yet again.
i got a strong feeling that 90% of blog topics originate in forum discussions
Not completely awful unless he starts going for Battlefury. I didn't get that..
Does it mean Battlefury is awful for him or the opposite??
//Grammatically awful sentence;
Why isn't aether lense listed?
Anyway only retards and low skill feggits go for battlefury. The most trash item on this hero is battlefury...If you plan to build into a dd then buy a fast desolator and go killing supports or squishy carries. This hero is good but some people take it to a different level of retarded.
@prior
I would say naga and medusa
Good article is good. Ignore the nay-sayers.
@ZenDotA Can u reply my argument? It's quite clear around the globe actually. Who invests more money will more ceartainly gain more money too. That's basic math. You don't need to be a Pro in Dota to know this. I'm not 2k by the way.
I think the numbers are somewhat important though. Shuriken is the best (iirc) lvl 1 nuke in the game making it cruical for getting kills when extremely level starved.
This forum needs votes ala reddit, debate is shit and top comments are "first", 2 or 3.
Anyways, nice write up. I feel it touch very much every aspect of the hero, im a old player and enjoy the macro advantage and reading the map part of his surgical playstyle.
yep totally brilliant to let all people vote
problem with this article is - author can't play dota properly and trying to share the obvious thoughts, some of them are right some of them are wrong and some of them made due to wrong reasoning
and you have to tell your audience that this article has no credibility at all, because most newcomers can see this amazing site and think that there is some amazing quality knowledge on a main page, they are desperate to get better and will take your word for it
as a long time retired player and professional caster now i have quite an experience in things like that and i can see how community degrated due to ability to spill anything barely related to real dota skill all over the net
sorry for retarded spelling and don't be mad just think about it.
Roam BH is balanced http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/2311223636 osfrog
@... Bara maxing q and meepo completely ignoring q. Wow such team, much wow.
@circus of life You're full of shit mate, this article is quite good.
it's good but you don't know what is good about it :D but you do know that people with different opinion is full of shit
classy dota player
As a bh spammer have to said: 1) Greaves are ultra good coz of debuff purge such as silences and dust. 2) Drums is a perfect mid game item.
My usual build:
start items - 2 clarity, orb of venom and sentries;
first items - boots of speed, graded stick and tp;
mid game - arcane boots, mek and bracer;
later - grade ur meka into Greaves; grade ur bracer into drums;
late game - medal and graded medal or pipe if enemy has radiance\zeus\a lot of magic spam
for some situations - linken vs doom, lotus to purge the lion's hexes and beast's ults , gem vs lothar slark, crimson vs jugger or wr, ac vs some armor debuffs, vlads for some carries with pure dmg (phantom lance, traxes, sven etc.)
Don't forget Mekans need 225 mana to activate and guardian no need mana. That was a lot of mana when we need it.
Aether Lens IMO is quite overrated.
- Sure, the added cast range is nice but all of your skill is already long enough, especially your most important one - track.
- It might be good on paper for the shuriken toss, but you can always throw it to nearby creep or heroes to make it bounces to all nearby tracked heroes.
- The bonus magical damage is hardly matter because your shuriken cooldown is quite long and BH mana pool is not too great for spamming it.
I did rather have Veil instead of it. Same price - easier component - better teamfight contribution.
I gave this a shot in 2k mmr. The early game went really well, then my carries had no idea what to build and the games crumbled. I'm thinking DPS build is better for the lower MMR's, while a utility build would benefit organized teams that knows what to do with the extra gold.
I stoped reading when I saw uts the skill that lets bh winrate go up in high mmr...its that you dont go bf deso crits...