Bristleback build & guide

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.

Strength: 22 +2.8
Agility: 17 +1.8
Intelligence: 14 +2.8
Damage: 53–59
Armor: 3.8333335
Move speed: 295
Attack range: 150

Bristleback abilities

Viscous Nasal Goo

Covers a target in snot, causing it to have reduced armor and movement speed for 5 seconds. Multiple casts stack and refresh the duration.

Quill Spray

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

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 Scepter: Adds 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%.

Hairball

Coughs a quill-packed hairball towards the target location. Erupts at the location, hitting enemies with Viscous Nasal Goo stacks and Quill Spray.

Warpath

Bristleback works himself up into a fury every time he casts a spell, increasing his movement speed and damage.

Prickly

Bristleback has bonus damage and debuff duration amp against enemy heroes that are behind him.

Biography

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.

Heroes