Kez stats, abilities and strategy
Flexible melee master with two sets of weapons and abilities
When it comes to strategy, Kez tends to wing it — he's able to swap on the fly between his katana and sai to slash, dash, swoop, and parry as the needs of the battlefield demand. But when he puts his mind to it, he can account for any eventuality, choosing the right tool to attack, escape or simply outwit his enemies with a little advance planning.
Win Rate 41.9%
Pick Rate 4.0%
Attributes
538 +61.6/lvl
315 +20.4/lvl
19 +2.8/lvl
27 +3.5/lvl
20 +1.7/lvl
Stats
Damage:
50 - 56 + 3.5/level (165 - 171 at level 30)
Range:
225
Armor:
5.5 + 0.6/level (24.8 at level 30)
Movement:
315
Roles
Carry
Durable
Nuker
Pusher
Support
Escape
Disabler
Initiator
Patch 7.39
- Base Health Regen increased from 1.0 to 1.5
- Base Attack Speed increased from 100 to 110
Facets
Flutter
Win Rate: 42.5%
Pick Rate: 56.1%
Kez deals extra damage on the first attack or ability after switching to Katana, and gains bonus movement speed after switching to Sai.
Shadowhawk
Win Rate: 41.2%
Pick Rate: 43.9%
Triggering a Shodo Sai Mark from invisibility deals bonus critical damage. Increases Raven's Veil invisibility duration.
Patch 7.39
- No longer grants cooldown reduction
- Invis Bonus Crit decreased from 40/60/80/100% to 30/45/60/75%
- Raven's Veil: Now also increases buff duration from 7/8/9s to 8/9/10s
Abilities
PASSIVE: No
Kez switches between his Kazurai Katana and Shodo Sai.
He gains different attack capabilities and abilities based on the weapon equipped. The abilities level up together, and when an ability is used, the associated alternate weapon ability also goes on cooldown.
Switch Discipline cooldown decreases by 0.2s per Hero level.
KATANA ATTACK RANGE: 225
KATANA BASE ATTACK TIME: 2
KATANA BONUS AGILITY BASE DAMAGE: 20%
KATANA SWAP BONUS DAMAGE: %
SAI ATTACK RANGE: 150
SAI BASE ATTACK TIME: 1.5
SAI SWAP MOVEMENT SPEED: %
SAI SWAP SPEED DURATION:
8
FACET: Flutter
Kez deals extra damage on the first attack or ability after switching to Katana, and gains bonus speed after switching to Sai.
Aghanim's Scepter
Casting a weapon ability that would set its alternate weapon ability on cooldown does not do so if it's the first one used within %scepter_cooldown_timer% seconds after casting Switch Discipline.
Casting any weapon ability refreshes the cooldown of Switch Discipline.
KATANA SWAP BONUS DAMAGE: %
SAI SWAP MOVEMENT SPEED: %
SAI SWAP SPEED DURATION:
Patch 7.39
- Katana Discipline no longer increases damage by 12%
- Katana Discipline now increases damage gained from Agility by 20%
As former followers of the Shodo, the leaders of the Kazurai Order can switch effortlessly between twin disciplines of martial mastery over sai and blade.
Echo Slash
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
PASSIVE: No
Kez slashes forward in a line with his Katana, attacking enemies in an area and applying a brief slow. After a short delay, the area is attacked again. Heroes take bonus damage.
Destroys trees. Doesn't apply Cleave.
ATTACK DAMAGE: 70% / 80% / 90% / 100%
BONUS HERO DAMAGE: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80
ATTACKS: 2
ECHO DELAY: 1.2
SLASH RADIUS: 200
DISTANCE: 800
MOVE SLOW: 100%
SLOW DURATION: 0.25
21 / 18 / 15 / 12
85 / 100 / 115 / 130
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +1 Echo Slash Attack
Patch 7.39
- Cooldown rescaled from 20/18/16/14s to 21/18/15/12s
- Bonus Hero Damage decreased from 25/45/65/85 to 20/40/60/80
Kez and his master Kraw have worked tirelessly to train the Kazurai new ways to keep the flyers off balance by improving upon ancient techniques.
Grappling Claw
AFFECTS: Unit
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
Kez swings on a grappling hook towards the target unit or tree. When the grappling hook collides with the target, that unit has slowed movement speed. Upon reaching the enemy target, Kez lands an attack on them.
SLOW DURATION: 0.7 / 0.8 / 0.9 / 1
MOVE SLOW: 70% / 80% / 90% / 100%
13 / 11 / 9 / 7
40
650 / 750 / 850 / 950
Patch 7.39
- No longer has lifesteal
- Mana Cost decreased from 50 to 40
- Cooldown decreased from 16/13/10/7s to 13/11/9/7s
- Cast Range decreased from 700/800/900/1000 to 650/750/850/950
- Move Slow rescaled from 80% to 70/80/90/100%
- Slow now lasts a fixed 0.7/0.8/0.9/1s instead of Kez's travel time
The Kazurai have the speed and reach to drag even the highest flyers from the skies.
Kazurai Katana
AFFECTS: Unit
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Yes
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Katana attacks and abilities apply a stacking damage over time to enemies that deals a percentage of the original attack's damage as additional damage over time.
Kez may activate the ability to impale the target with his attack, preventing them from moving or turning. The target's Katana debuff bursts, causing some of the stacks to deal damage instantly.
DURATION: 7
DAMAGE PER SECOND: 5% / 7% / 9% / 11%
IMPALE DURATION: 0.6
STACKS AS BURST DAMAGE: 50%
20 / 15 / 10 / 5
50
200
Aghanim's Shard
Kez lifesteals %lifesteal_pct%% from the impale. If the impale comes from behind the target, the target is stunned and the full stack amount bursts.
LEVEL 20 TALENT: +4% Kazurai Katana Damage Per Second
Patch 7.39
- No longer applies health regen reduction
- Damage per second rescaled from 6/7/8/9% to 5/7/9/11%
- Duration rescaled from 5/6/7/8s to 7s
- Now has a reworked active component as a default part of the ability
- Kez impales the target, landing an attack on it and setting its move speed and turn rate to 0 for 0.6s. The target also takes 50% of current Kazurai Katana bleed stacks as burst damage. Cast Range: 200. Mana Cost: 50. Cooldown: 20/15/10/5s
- This attack can proc attack modifiers similarly to regular attacks. The stacks that would be created by the impale are not added to the burst damage and are added after the effect ends as the usual bleed stack. Previous version did include them in the burst
- Reworked Aghanim's Shard upgrade
- Adds 100% lifesteal off the attack damage dealt on impalement. If the impalement was made from behind (in a 105 degree cone), the slow is replaced with a stun, and the number of Bleed stacks is increased from 50% to 100%
To fight back against the reach of Imperia and her Queensguard, the Kazurai had to become skilled in the ways of attrition.
Raptor Dance
AFFECTS: Area
DAMAGE TYPE: Pure
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
Kez enters into an uncontrollable state for %AbilityCastPoint% second, becoming invulnerable for %invuln_period%s and receiving a basic dispel, remaining immune to magic damage for the remainder of the cast time and the duration of the slashes.
If the cast completes successfully, Kez performs a series of deadly radial slashes around him that deal damage based on the max health of the target and heal Kez for a percentage of all damage dealt.
Slash Lifesteal is reduced to 20% when slashing a creep or an illusion.
STRIKES: 4
RADIUS: 450
BASE DAMAGE: 30 / 60 / 90
MAX HEALTH AS DAMAGE: 3%
40 / 35 / 30
100 / 125 / 150
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +1 Raptor Dance Strike
LEVEL 10 TALENT: +50 Raptor Dance Radius
Patch 7.39
- 1s channeling was replaced with a 1s cast time (still cannot be cancelled by Kez)
- Strikes count increased from 2/3/4 to 4
- Base Damage rescaled from 75 to 30/60/90
- Max Health as Damage decreased from 4% to 3%
- Lifesteal against illusions now has an 80% penalty, similarly to creep lifesteal penalty
Unleash the inner fury of the Flightless to feast on the essence of your foes.
Falcon Rush
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Yes
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Kez gains the ability to rush towards enemy targets to deliver echoing secondary attacks. While in this state, Kez has phased collision, slow resistance, and an attack rate that is less affected by attack speed.
RUSH RANGE: 525
RUSH SPEED: 1000
SECONDARY ATTACKS DAMAGE: 45% / 55% / 65% / 75%
SLOW RESISTANCE: 15% / 30% / 45% / 60%
DURATION: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
SAI BASE ATTACK RATE: 1.3 / 1.2 / 1.1 / 1
KATANA BASE ATTACK RATE: 1.5 / 1.4 / 1.3 / 1.2
ATTACK SPEED FACTOR: 6% / 8% / 10% / 12%
CURRENT ATTACK RATE:
21 / 18 / 15 / 12
85 / 90 / 95 / 100
LEVEL 15 TALENT: +2s Falcon Rush Duration
Patch 7.39
- Now also provides 15/30/45/60% Slow Resistance during the buff
- Secondary Attacks Damage decreased from 100% to 45/55/65/75%
- Rush Range is no longer increased by AoE bonuses
- Cooldown rescaled from 20/18/16/14s to 21/18/15/12s
An ancient Shodo technique used to hunt faster aerial foes, stealing the advantage and delivering multiple attacks within a single flap of their prey's panicking wings.
Talon Toss
AFFECTS: Unit and area
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: No
PASSIVE: No
Kez throws a Sai at the target unit, applying a fixed damage attack and silence.
The fixed damage attack has True Strike.
RADIUS: 0
DAMAGE: 60 / 120 / 180 / 240
SILENCE DURATION: 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 / 2.75
13 / 11 / 9 / 7
75
1200
LEVEL 20 TALENT: Add 50% of Attack Damage to Talon Toss
Patch 7.39
- No longer has an AoE effect, proccing only on target
- Now inflicts an attack with True Strike and fixed damage instead of simply dealing physical damage
- Damage rescaled from 75/125/175/225 to 60/120/180/240
- Silence Duration increased from 1.75/2/2.25/2.5s to 2/2.25/2.5/2.75s
- Cooldown decreased from 16/13/10/7s to 13/11/9/7s
The Shodo learned to rely upon distance and disorientation to survive against much stronger opposition.
Shodo Sai
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Strong Dispels Only
Kez's attacks and abilities with the Sai have a chance to Mark enemies. The next attack or ability damage from Kez will stun the enemy and deal a critical strike, consuming the buff.
Kez may activate the ability to disarm himself, lock his facing, and parry attacks and attack effects from the targeted direction for 2 seconds. If an attack is parried from an enemy Hero in this way, that Hero is stunned and Marked.
The sub-ability may be used to cancel the blocking early.
CHANCE TO MARK: 18%
MARKED DURATION: 8
MARKED CRITICAL STRIKE: 140% / 160% / 180% / 200%
MARKED STUN DURATION: 0.5
PARRY STUN DURATION: 0.5
20 / 15 / 10 / 5
30 / 20 / 10 / 0
LEVEL 25 TALENT: +100% Shodo Sai Mark Critical Strike
Patch 7.39
- Chance to Mark increased from 17% to 18%
- Mark no longer provides True Strike
- No longer grants bonus stun or critical strike from marks generated by parrying an enemy Hero
The Shodo may have lost their way, but Kez and the Kazurai can still use Shodo knowledge for the good of the people.
Raven's Veil
PIERCES DEBUFF IMMUNITY: Yes
PASSIVE: No
DISPELLABLE: Strong Dispels Only
DEBUFF [E]: Yes
Kez releases a wave of smoke that applies his Mark to nearby enemies, briefly reducing their vision. Kez receives a basic dispel and gains bonus movement speed and invisibility until he attacks or casts a spell.
WAVE RADIUS: 1500
WAVE SPEED: 1500
BUFF DURATION: 7 / 8 / 9
VISION DEBUFF DURATION: 4
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED: 15% / 25% / 35%
SLOW: 0%
40 / 35 / 30
100 / 125 / 150
FACET:
Increases Raven's Veil invisibility duration.
Eying either threat or opportunity, Shodo masters slip instantly into shadow to reset the terms of any engagement in their own favor.
Cancel
PASSIVE: No
Stop blocking physical attacks.
Talents
+1 Echo Slash Attack
+ 0.0 %
+100% Shodo Sai Mark Critical Strike
Add 50% of Attack Damage to Talon Toss
+ 0.0 %
+4% Kazurai Katana Damage Per Second
+1 Raptor Dance Strike
+ 0.0 %
+2s Falcon Rush Duration
+50 Raptor Dance Radius
+ 0.0 %
+12% Magic Resistance
Win Rate
Pick Rate
Patch 7.39
- Level 10 Talent +1.5 Mana Regen replaced with +50 Raptor Dance Radius
- Level 15 Talent Raven's Veil Mark Applies Parry Bonus replaced with +1 Raptor Dance Strike
- Level 20 Talent +50% Falcon Rush Evasion replaced with Add 50% of Attack Damage to Talon Toss (always uses attack value of Sai discipline)
- Level 20 Talent Kazurai Katana Damage Per Second decreased from +5% to +4%
Strategy
Rush {cornucopia} as early as possible when facing a difficult lane. Use it to get an early {battle-fury} and get consumables in the meantime to keep your HP and mana up.
Use Echo Slash to secure the ranged creep last hit.
Look to farm instead of fighting or rotating to acquire {battle-fury} as early as possible. Your farming speed goes up exponentially with it.
Plant {observer-ward} for yourself in the area you are farming to secure vision for yourself and your team.
Build items that give you tankiness such as {black-king-bar} or {sange-and-yasha}. These items provide good overall stats and durability with damage.
Raptor Dance applies a basic dispel on cast and gives you a minor invulnerability period alongside high magic resistance. Use it to get yourself out of roots or slows as well as dodge magic damage combos from enemy heroes while dealing massive AoE damage.
You can stop {town-portal-scroll} and channeled spells on enemy heroes by Marking them with Raven's Veil and then targeting them with an ability or right click.
Shodo Sai can be activated to stun enemy heroes while facing them when they are right clicking you. It can give you an initiation to follow up with Falcon Rush and the rest of your spells. Particularly useful against ranged heroes.
Counter Strategy
Look to disrupt Kez while he's jungling by placing deep {observer-ward} and {smoke-of-deceit} on him.
Kez is squishy early on and needs levels to ramp up in strength. Look to pressure him on early levels.
Kez has multiple mobility spells to close the gap on your or dodge spells. Be mindful of your positioning and spell casting.
Raptor Dance applies a basic dispel on cast and provides high magic resistance for the duration. Avoid wasting spells that might get dispelled or dodged.
Lore
"I was born with a price on my head. As I got better at causing trouble, that price went up. Every time Queen Imperia raised the bounty, I knew I must have done something right. I think that's the worst part about being gone so long in Icewrack... I've got to get that price back up to a respectable number."