Intelligence · Ranged
Disables enemies with a swipe of his brush
Win rate
52.1%
A across all ranks
Pick rate
7.0%
of public matches
Public picks
237.5K
in the sample
Pro scene
9
4 bans · 78% win rate
Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 3K · Guardian 11.4K · Crusader 26.4K · Archon 50.1K · Legend 67.5K · Ancient 44.2K · Divine+ 34.8K.
Last 6 days
52.1%
Bought before the horn
Iron Branch
Tango
Blood Grenade
Faerie Fire
Sentry Ward
Observer and Sentry Wards
The first minutes
Boots of Speed
Core items
Arcane Boots
Blink Dagger
Glimmer Cape
Aghanim's Shard
The full build
Blink Dagger
Aghanim's Scepter
Scythe of Vyse
Aeon Disk
Glimmer Cape
Aether Lens
Most-bought items for Grimstroke in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (1,197 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Grimstroke bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Grimstroke’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.
Glimmer Cape
70 games
Blink Dagger
286 games
Arcane Boots
140 games
Aether Lens
80 games
Ghost Scepter
181 games
Aghanim's Shard
221 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.
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.
50
Use: Throw Grenade: Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5…
10s
Use: Throw Grenade. Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5 seconds. Radius 300.
65
Use: Imbue: Instantly restores 85 health.
5s
Use: Imbue. Instantly restores 85 health.
50
Use: Plant: Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a…
1s
Use: Plant. Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a 1050 radius. Lasts 7 minutes. Does not grant ground vision. Hold Control to give one Sentry Ward to an allied hero.
50
Use: Plant: Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.
Use: Plant. Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.
500
Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
1,500
Active: Replenish: Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200
Win rate when bought48.4% · 1,394 games
55s
Active: Replenish. Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200
Passive: Basilius Aura. Grants 1 mana regeneration to allies. Radius: 1200 Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.
2,250
Active: Blink: Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.
Win rate when bought54.0% · 891 games
15s
Active: Blink. Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.
2,150
Active: Glimmer: After a 0.5 second delay, grants invisibility, 20 movement speed and a magic damage barrier that absorbs up to 375 damage to you or a target allied unit…
Win rate when bought48.4% · 376 games
15s125
Active: Glimmer. After a 0.5 second delay, grants invisibility, 20 movement speed and a magic damage barrier that absorbs up to 375 damage to you or a target allied unit for 5 seconds. Can be cast while channeling.
1,400
Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades an existing ability or adds a new ability to your hero.
Win rate when bought57.4% · 289 games
4,200
Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.
5,200
Active: Hex: Turns a target unit into a harmless critter for 2.8 seconds. The target has a base movement speed of 140 and will be silenced, muted, and disarmed.
20s250
Active: Hex. Turns a target unit into a harmless critter for 2.8 seconds. The target has a base movement speed of 140 and will be silenced, muted, and disarmed. Instantly destroys illusions.
3,000
Passive: Combo Breaker: When you take damage and your health falls below 70%, a strong dispel is applied and you gain a 2.5 second buff that provides +75% Status…
105 / 125 / 145 / 165s
Passive: Combo Breaker. When you take damage and your health falls below 70%, a strong dispel is applied and you gain a 2.5 second buff that provides +75% Status Resistance and causes all damage you deal and are dealt to be reduced to zero. Only triggers on player based damage. Cooldown increases every time it triggers. Dispel Type: Strong Dispel
2,275
Win rate when bought62.7% · 126 games
Grimstroke paints a curved path of ink with his brush, damaging and slowing enemies. The damage is increased with each enemy the ink hits. Can be put on alt-cast to have the path be straight.
Summons a phantom that moves quickly towards the target, latching to it when she arrives. Once latched, the phantom damages and silences. If she survives the full latch duration she rends her victim for heavy damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown. Hero attacks against the phantom count as 3 attacks each.
Grimstroke shrouds an allied unit in ink, increasing its movement speed. Enemies in range of the allied unit are damaged with inky tendrils over time. After 3 seconds it applies damage and stun in an area around the unit in proportion to how long ink tendril was near any hero.
Aghanim’s ShardInk Swell dispels the allied unit when cast. Causes Ink Swell to deal 40% more damage and heal the target for 40% of the damage Ink Swell deals. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Creates an ink illusion of a target enemy hero. Illusion is debuff immune, has 90% magic resistance, and has bonus movement speed and attack damage.
Binds a targeted enemy hero to its nearest allied hero within the bind radius, preventing both from moving away from each other. Any unit-targeted ability that either bound hero receives also gets cast on the other hero. If the bind is broken before the duration expires, the initial target will be bound to its nearest allied hero in the radius.
Grimstroke's attacks and spells cause affected enemy heroes to leave a trail of Ink behind them and deal less damage to Grimstroke for 4s.
+150 Ink Swell Radius
25+70% Stroke of Fate Speed and Travel Range
+80% Stroke of Fate Damage
20+2 Attacks to Destroy Phantom
+25% Soulbind Spell Damage
15+15% Ink Swell Movement Speed
+65 Phantom's Embrace DPS
10-4s Ink Swell Cooldown
Strength21+2.4/lvl
Agility18+1.9/lvlIntelligence25+3.8/lvlThe people of Ashkavor crowded around the temple square, eager to witness the ascension of their new guardian -- to stand near the man as he bound their souls to his own. But as his final brush strokes fell against the runestone, and the bond of a new Ascended One was forged, everyone -- even those who'd stayed in their homes -- could sense that something had gone terribly wrong. He knew the cause instantly. The droplets of ichor he'd procured to amplify the potency of his inkpots had instead contaminated them, and the power of the binding spell he'd cast now threatened to consume him. An inky corruption snaked upward from the runestone, along the handle of his brush, soon overtaking his hands. From there it spread quickly. Once it overcame his face and his mouth, he couldn't have screamed even if he'd wanted to. All of his life he'd calculated on how to attain ever greater powers than the limits presented by his teachers would allow--going so far as to break the sacred prohibition against augmenting the inks. Indeed, with the wellspring of the Ascended bond open to him, he felt a measure of power coursing into his soul like he'd never imagined. His greatest triumph was upon him, if he could only survive it. He drew deep from the power of the bond, pushing back against the corrupted ink flow. A great moan filled the air -- the collective cry of his people. Some swayed on their feet. The weakest collapsed. Many tried to run. And still deeper he pulled from their bloodline reservoir. But it wasn't enough to stop the ink tide. It was only when the breath trapped in his lungs began to fail him, and the inkpool darkness fully encased him, that he saw his way out. The bond he'd made with the Ashkavoran people -- his people -- meant to be drawn upon only in service of their protection... It flowed two ways. With a final surge of strength -- this time directed by more than just blind repulsion -- he pushed the ink torrent into the bond itself. Slowly, he felt the tide retreat... and heard the awful wails of his people as the corruption in turn rolled over them. When at last the ink relented, his eyes opened upon a world changed. The Ashkavoran people as he knew them were gone. Every last soul was transformed into terrifying shades of their former selves -- comprised no longer of blood and bone, only viscid, tainted ink.
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.