Takes reduced damage when facing away from enemies
When it comes to a fight, Bristleback really puts his back into it. Reducing all damage arriving from the rear or from the sides, he wades into battle with barely a care, spraying enemies with damaging quills and slowing snot.
Win Rate 49.0%
Pick Rate 7.1%
Attributes
604 +59.4/lvl
243 +33.6/lvl
22 +2.7/lvl
17 +1.8/lvl
14 +2.8/lvl
Stats
Damage:
53 - 59 + 2.7/level (145 - 151 at level 30)
Range:
150
Armor:
3.8 + 0.3/level (14.9 at level 30)
Movement:
295
Roles
Carry
Durable
Nuker
Pusher
Support
Escape
Disabler
Initiator
Facets
Snot Rocket
Win Rate: 50.6%
Pick Rate: 52.9%
Bristleback now fires Viscous Nasal Goo instead of Quills when damaged. Viscous Nasal Goo effects are stronger.
Seeing Red
Win Rate: 47.1%
Pick Rate: 47.1%
Warpath can be activated to gain extra bonuses. While Seeing Red, Bristleback's vision is limited and he does not receive vision from his allies.
Abilities
ABILITY: Passive
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: Breakable
DISPELLABLE: Yes
Bristleback has 10% damage and debuff duration amp against enemy heroes that are behind him.
Viscous Nasal Goo
AFFECTS: Unit
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Yes
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Covers a target in snot, causing it to have reduced armor and movement speed for 6 seconds. Multiple casts stack and refresh the duration.
BASE ARMOR LOSS: 2 / 2 / 3 / 3
ARMOR LOSS PER STACK: 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 / 3
BASE MOVEMENT SLOW: 15%
MOVE SLOW PER STACK: 3% / 6% / 9% / 12%
STACK LIMIT: 4
1.75
12 / 16 / 20 / 24
650
FACET: Snot Rocket
Max stacks and armor reduction per stack increased.
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +250 Goo Cast Range
Having caught a cold while stuck in the snow, Bristleback turns it to his advantage.
Quill Spray
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
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.
Quill Spray damage is not reduced by damage block abilities.
RADIUS: 700
QUILL BASE DAMAGE: 25 / 45 / 65 / 85
QUILL STACK DAMAGE: 30
STACK DURATION: 14
MAX DAMAGE: 500
3
35
LEVEL 20 TALENT: +20 Quill Stack Damage
An enforcer's honor can be a prickly thing. So can his quills.
Bristleback
ABILITY: Passive
PASSIVE: Breakable
Bristleback takes less damage if hit on the sides or rear. If Bristleback takes %quill_release_threshold% damage from the rear, he releases a Quill Spray of the current level.
Bristleback's rear is considered to be within 70 degrees from the back.
Bristleback's side is considered to be within 110 degrees from the back.
SIDE DAMAGE REDUCTION: 8% / 12% / 16% / 20%
BACK DAMAGE REDUCTION: 16% / 24% / 32% / 40%
DAMAGE THRESHOLD: 275 / 250 / 225 / 200
NASAL GOO RADIUS: 0
FACET: Snot Rocket
Instead of releasing Quill Spray from taking damage, he instead launches Nasal Goo of the current level at all nearby enemies.
Aghanim's Scepter
Adds active ability to Bristleback. Bristleback rotates towards the targeted direction and, after %activation_delay%s, forcefully ejects %activation_num_quill_sprays% sequential Quill Sprays in a tight conical pattern out of his back every %activation_spray_interval%s. Bristleback's facing is locked during this time, he is disarmed, and his speed is reduced by %activation_movement_speed_pct%%.
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +8%/4% Bristleback Back/Side Damage Reduction
PATCH 7.38
Quill Sprays that were released by the ability now deal damage that is classified as reflection damage
Aghanim's Scepter Mana Cost increased from 100 to 125
Turning his back to a fight might be just the thing.
Warpath
ABILITY: Passive
PASSIVE: Breakable
Bristleback works himself up into a fury every time he casts a spell, increasing his movement speed and damage.
Bristleback's illusions will receive the bonuses.
Items will not trigger Warpath.
Break disables the gaining of new stacks.
Break does not disable the bonuses from existing stacks.
DAMAGE PER STACK: 15 / 20 / 25
ATTACK SPEED PER STACK: 0
MOVEMENT PER STACK: 2% / 2.5% / 3%
STACK DURATION: 16 / 18 / 20
MAX STACKS: 8 / 10 / 12
ACTIVE BONUS DAMAGE PER STACK: 0%
ACTIVE BONUS MOVEMENT PER STACK: 0%
DURATION: 0
45
FACET: Berserk
Warpath grants scaling Attack Speed instead of Damage.
FACET: Seeing Red
Warpath can be activated to grant bonus attack damage and movement speed for a short duration. While Seeing Red, Bristleback's vision is reduced to a narrow cone and he does not receive vision from his allies.
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +18 Warpath Damage Per Stack
PATCH 7.38
Movement Speed Per Stack decreased from 2/3/4% to 2/2.5/3%
'Temper, temper,' his mum always chided. But in a fight, a temper can come in handy.
Hairball
Shard grants new ability
AFFECTS: Area
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Yes
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Coughs a quill-packed hairball towards the target location. Erupts at the location, hitting enemies with Viscous Nasal Goo stacks and Quill Spray.
RADIUS: 700
QUILL STACKS: 1
GOO STACKS: 2
13
60
750
PATCH 7.38
Mana Cost increased from 40 to 60
Talents [E]
+18 Warpath Damage Per Stack
+ 4.4 %
+12% Spell Lifesteal
+20 Quill Stack Damage
+25 Health Regen
+ 5.5 %
+8%/4% Bristleback Back/Side Damage Reduction
+250 Goo Cast Range
+ 4.4 %
+1.5 Mana Regen
+25 Attack Speed
+ 0.8 %
Win Rate
Pick Rate
Strategy
If you can be aggressive in lane, take a point in Viscous Nasal Goo as it will greatly improve physical damage output when paired with your support in lane.
Turn your back to opponents, their towers or stacks of neutral creeps whenever you expect to take loads of damage. It greatly reduces the amount of damage received and procs your Quill Spray stacks.
Alert your supports to stack for you, especially ancient camps as you can clear it at level 7. This will give you the ability to scale fast into the game compared to everyone else.
Once you get Vanguard, play very strong in lane. Look to push the enemy out of the lane and break their Safelane tower with the help of your support.
Check opponents' inventories frequently in search for break effects and healing reductions. Black King Bar and dispel items counter some of them.
You can take Roshan down fast and early with your team thanks to Viscous Nasal Goo. Abuse these openings for an early power spike into a high ground push off the Aegis.
Use the Bloodstone active together with Bristleback active from Aghanims Scepter upgrade to do a massive burst of damage while healing yourself quickly in fights.
Bristleback's lack of disables can allow enemies to teleport away rather than try and fight him.
Counter Strategy
Magic Stick and Wand are must items against Bristleback's Quill Spray spam. He will use it to secure last hits so you will be able to get many charges on your magic stick or wand.
Someone should buy Spirit Vessel against Bristleback to counter his regeneration and healing. This makes him drastically squishier in the mid-late game phase.
If you have no good way of dealing with Bristleback, ignore him and don't waste too much resources on him. Deal with his teammates instead.
Silver Edge allows you to break Bristleback's passives. This is extremely important to make him squishy by breaking down his tankiness in fights.
Armor items are good to counter Bristleback's physical damage output.
Lore
Never 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.