Strength · Melee
Takes reduced damage when facing away from enemies
Win rate
48.8%
C across all ranks
Pick rate
6.4%
of public matches
Public picks
218.2K
in the sample
Pro scene
1
3 bans · 100% win rate
Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 10K · Guardian 30.3K · Crusader 47.7K · Archon 56.5K · Legend 45.4K · Ancient 19K · Divine+ 9.4K.
Last 6 days
49.2%
Bought before the horn
Iron Branch
Gauntlets of Strength
Tango
Circlet
Magic Stick
The first minutes
Bracer
Boots of Speed
Power Treads
Ring of Health
Soul Ring
Vitality Booster
Core items
Aghanim's Shard
Lotus Orb
Consecrated Wraps
Sange and Yasha
The full build
Heart of Tarrasque
Sange and Yasha
Black King Bar
Assault Cuirass
Ultimate Orb
Aghanim's Scepter
Most-bought items for Bristleback in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,678 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Bristleback bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Bristleback’s average). Teams that are ahead buy items sooner, so a high number shows the item goes with winning games, not that it causes the win. Items with fewer than 100 games show no percentage. Cheap components are hidden from the mid and late game.
Perseverance
114 games
Phase Boots
83 games
Power Treads
361 games
Consecrated Wraps
74 games
Platemail
65 games
Sange
72 games
Aghanim's Shard
234 games
Lotus Orb
93 games
Reaver
88 games
Heart of Tarrasque
68 games
Ring of Tarrasque
90 games
Final items compared within the same purchase window (at least 60 games each), so they are not simply ranked by how late or expensive they are. Still a correlation: a team that is far ahead can buy anything sooner.
55
Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.
140
90
Use: Devour: Consumes a target tree to gain 7 health regeneration for 16 seconds. Consuming an Ironwood Tree doubles the heal duration. Comes with 3 charges.
155
200
Active: Energy Charge: Instantly restores 15 health and mana per charge stored. Max 10 charges. Gains a charge whenever a visible enemy within 1200 range uses an ability.
17s
Active: Energy Charge. Instantly restores 15 health and mana per charge stored. Max 10 charges. Gains a charge whenever a visible enemy within 1200 range uses an ability.
505
500
Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
1,400
Active: Switch Attribute: Switches between +10 Strength, +10 Agility, or +10 Intelligence. Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
Win rate when bought48.3% · 420 games
Active: Switch Attribute. Switches between +10 Strength, +10 Agility, or +10 Intelligence. Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
700
805
Active: Sacrifice: Consume 170 health to temporarily gain 170 mana. Lasts 10 seconds.
30s
Active: Sacrifice. Consume 170 health to temporarily gain 170 mana. Lasts 10 seconds. If the mana gained cannot fit in your mana pool, it creates a buffer of mana that will be used before your mana pool.
1,000
1,400
Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades an existing ability or adds a new ability to your hero.
Win rate when bought52.2% · 433 games
3,850
Active: Echo Shell: Applies a shield to the target unit for 5 seconds which re-casts most targeted spells back to their caster.
Win rate when bought50.4% · 260 games
15s175
Active: Echo Shell. Applies a shield to the target unit for 5 seconds which re-casts most targeted spells back to their caster. The shielded unit will still take damage from the spell. Dispel Type: Basic Dispel
2,600
Passive: Hallowed: Gain a charge every 4s, up to a maximum of 3 charges. Upon gaining a charge, your movement speed is increased by 15% for 5s.
Win rate when bought48.7% · 224 games
Passive: Hallowed. Gain a charge every 4s, up to a maximum of 3 charges. Upon gaining a charge, your movement speed is increased by 15% for 5s. Whenever you take damage from a player-controlled source or Roshan, consume all charges to gain an all damage barrier for 5s that absorbs 120 damage per charge (360 max).
4,200
Win rate when bought62.6% · 174 games
5,300
Passive: Behemoth's Blood: Your health regeneration is increased by 1.5% of your missing health.
Passive: Behemoth's Blood. Your health regeneration is increased by 1.5% of your missing health.
4,050
Active: Avatar: Applies a basic dispel. Grants 60% magic resistance and immunity to reflected and pure damage.
95s50
Active: Avatar. Applies a basic dispel. Grants 60% magic resistance and immunity to reflected and pure damage. For the duration of the effect, any negative effect from enemy spells has no effect. Duration: 9 / 8 / 7s Dispel Type: Basic Dispel
5,125
Passive: Assault Aura: Grants 30 attack speed and 5 armor to nearby allied units and structures, and decreases nearby enemy unit and structure armor by -5. Radius: 1200
2,800
4,200
Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.
Covers a target in snot, causing it to have reduced armor and movement speed for 5 seconds. Multiple casts stack and refresh the duration.
Sprays enemy units with quills dealing damage in an area of effect around Bristleback. Deals bonus damage for every time a unit was hit by Quill Spray in the last 14 seconds.
Bristleback takes less damage if hit on the sides or rear. If Bristleback takes enough damage from the rear, he releases a Quill Spray of the current level.
Aghanim’s ScepterAdds active ability to Bristleback. Bristleback rotates towards the targeted direction and, after 0.5s, forcefully ejects 5 sequential Quill Sprays in a tight conical pattern out of his back every 0.4s. Bristleback's facing is locked during this time, he is disarmed, and his speed is reduced by -40%.
Coughs a quill-packed hairball towards the target location. Erupts at the location, hitting enemies with Viscous Nasal Goo stacks and Quill Spray.
Bristleback works himself up into a fury every time he casts a spell, increasing his movement speed and damage.
Bristleback has bonus damage and debuff duration amp against enemy heroes that are behind him.
-30 Bristleback Damage Threshold
25+18 Warpath Damage Per Stack
+25 Health Regen
20+20 Quill Stack Damage
+250 Goo Cast Range
15+8%/4% Bristleback Back/Side Damage Reduction
+25 Attack Speed
10+1.5 Mana Regen
Strength22+2.8/lvl
Agility17+1.8/lvl
Intelligence14+2.8/lvlNever one to turn his back on a fight, Rigwarl was known for battling the biggest, meanest scrappers he could get his hands on. Christened Bristleback by the drunken crowds, he waded into backroom brawls in every road tavern between Slom and Elze, until his exploits finally caught the eye of a barkeep in need of an enforcer. For a bit of brew, Bristleback was hired to collect tabs, keep the peace, and break the occasional leg or two (or five, in the case of one unfortunate web-hund). After indulging in a night of merriment during which bodily harm was meted out in equal parts upon both delinquent patrons and his own liver, Bristleback finally met his match. "Your tusks offend me, sir," he was heard to drunkenly slur to one particularly large fellow from the northern wastes whose bill had come due. What followed was a fight for the ages. A dozen fighters jumped in. No stool was left unbroken, and in the end, the impossible happened: the tab went unpaid. Over the weeks that followed, Bristleback's wounds healed, and his quills grew back; but an enforcer's honor can be a prickly thing. He paid the tab from his own coin, vowing to track down this northerner and extract redemption. And then he did something he'd never done before: he actually trained, and in so doing made a startling discovery about himself. A smile peeled back from his teeth as he flexed his quills. Turning his back to a fight might be just the thing.
Win rates come from public Dota 2 matches (OpenDota), 3.4M matches counted, refreshed Oct 24, 2026. Tiers use the win rate in the chosen rank: S 52.5%+, A 51%+, B 49%+, C 47.5%+, D below; heroes with too few games are left unrated. Hero data and patch notes are Valve’s. Builds Forge is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Valve.