Dota 2 Hoodwink Guide for Every Kind of Player

With a myriad of patches, Dota 2 has a new hero come out every once in a while. Some of them can be pretty busted, others come out well, and some have something interesting that makes them unique. Today, we’re going to talk about Hoodwink, one of the newer heroes to come out on Dota 2.

Who Is the Dota 2 Hero Hoodwink?

Hoodwink used to live a peaceful life with no cares, living in the edges of Krimwohl, a vast expanse of green trees and grass. However, Krimwohl grew in scope, and eventually, the needs of its people and army grow great. Various individuals began to fight it out for the best cut of the land, to devour it to line up their coffers.

This caused many of Hoodwink’s friends, and even Hoodwink herself, to immediately walk away from their homes. They have few options here: they could either stay, fight, and die — that’s the first option. They could also go to the pacified zones, with an uncertain hope of finding refuge. And lastly, they could tempt fate by going north, to the Tomo’kan.

Hoodwink chose the last option, it was here in these treacherous woods that Hoodwink plied her trade. From dodging the vicious and dangerous predators to allying herself with some of the local banditries, finding, and causing mischief, and more.

Eventually, though, Hoodwink decided to see what exactly these Krimwohls are all about and left her new home temporarily. What she saw opened her eyes: these people aren’t monsters, they’re just people. Every day, normal people, who were just doing what they’re told. Compared to the dangers that the Tomo’kan have, they’re pretty much a cuddly comparison.

Because of this, Hoodwink left her more dangerous home to strike those that try to destroy it. From stealing their items to attacking them, she does all this while leading those who, like her, were once refugees into a new home.

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What Type of Dota 2 Hero Is Hoodwink?

Hoodwink is a ranged agility hero with a lot of quirks in her kit that benefit a roaming playstyle. Her various skills have a lot of versatility and lend well to players that want to gank whole lanes and ambush fleeing heroes. With enough coordination and a player that knows the map intimately, Hoodwink can terrorize the enemy team, while her teammates destroy key objectives and march to victory.

What Is the Role of Hoodwink in Dota 2?

Hoodwink is usually played as a Nuker/Position 4 as her abilities can lead to several cool ganks. Her Scurry allows her to get to places fast, while Bushwhack can stun enemies for a time for her allies to get to her enemies. Sharpshooter is a great way to pick off stragglers, as any enemy hero with low HP can be instantly killed when it’s maxed out.

Hoodwink can also be played as a Midlane hero, especially if the player rushes Falcon Blade. Falcon Blade is pretty much her go-to item in the early game, due to its myriad of benefits with low cost. The item only costs around 1100 gold, 90 gold more than 2 Wraith Bands, but gives similar benefits.

Also Read: Dota 2: Invoker Guide for Every Mid Player

Dota 2 Skills of Hoodwink

As with any Dota 2 hero, it’s important for beginning players to understand the skills of Hoodwink in order to triumph in the game. Here are the skills of this Dota 2 hero!

Acorn Shot

Hoodwink always makes use of anything that she can find. In terms of projectiles, she finds out that Oak and Ironwood acorns not only hurt the most but are also the most numerous.

When used, Hoodwink’s attack is accompanied by an acorn at the target unit or area. When it reaches the area or target, the acorn proceeds to bounce to nearby enemies. This reduces their movement speed and deals a percentage of Hoodwink’s attack with some bonus damage. Also, if Hoodwink targets an area instead of a target, the Acorn will create a tree on the target area.

Notes:

• Acorn Shot’s Cast range is based on Hoodwink’s attack range, plus the ability’s bonus attack range of 125/200/275/350.
• In addition to Hoodwink’s current damage values, deals 50/75/100/125 additional damage. The ability also procs item passives like Maelstrom.
• Hoodwink’s tree gives 200-unit radius ground vision around it. This lasts until the tree is destroyed or 20 seconds pass.
• When Acorn Toss is unit-targeted, the first hit isn’t counted towards Acorn Toss’ bounce limit. With the addition of the initial hit, Acorn Toss can hit 3/4/5/6 times. 5/6/7/8 times with Talents.
• Acorn Toss can return and bounce on the same unit as many times as possible. However, this only happens when another target is hit and it bounces back towards them.
• Acorn Toss won’t bounce on invulnerable, hidden, or invisible units. However, the acorn can bounce on units that are inside the Fog of War.

Bushwhack

Hoodwink usually conducts her ambushes on the Ironwood groves she favors. However, one must always keep a keen eye and wary step in the entirety of the mistwoods.

Hoodwink proceeds to toss a net that damages and immediately applies a stun on enemy heroes. However, this only happens if there’s a tree in the area. When Bushwhack hits, enemy heroes affected are dealt damage and immediately pulled towards the nearest tree. Their vision is also reduced to 0 for the stun’s duration.

Notes:

• Deals 75/150/225/300 damage and stuns for 1.5/1.8/2.1/2.4 seconds.
• Nothing happens if there are no trees within the spell’s AoE. However, if there are two or more trees in the AoE, enemy heroes will be bound to the tree closest to them.
• Gives Hoodwink and her allies 265 radius flying vision at the location Bushwhack was cast on. This lasts for 1.5/1.8/2.1/2.4 seconds.
• Doesn’t affect invisible units, but does affect units on Fog of War.
• Enemy heroes can be freed from Bushwhack’s effect by destroying the tree they’re bound to.
• Trees planted by items like Ironwood Branches or Acorn Shot have an expiration timer. If Bushwhack is used with a planted tree, the tree cannot expire until Bushwhack’s duration ends.

Scurry

Hoodwink’s paws know every nook or cranny in the Wood of Tomo’kan.

Hoodwink has a passive that gives her a chance to evade physical attacks when trees are in Hoodwink’s vicinity. Its active ability allows Hoodwink to obtain phased collision, increased movement speed, and tree-walking for a few seconds.

Notes:

• Hoodwink immediately gets 2 charges in Scurry when she first levels it up.
• Any channeled abilities are interrupted when Hoodwink uses Scurry
• Gives Hoodwink phased movement and tree-walking.
• Gives 8%/16%/24%/32% passive evasion to Hoodwink.
• Hoodwink receives 20%/25%/30%/35% bonus movement speed when used as an active ability. Scurry lasts for 4 seconds, 5 seconds with the Level 10 Talent.
• With the Level 15 Scurry Camouflage talent, Hoodwink passively turns invisible when near trees for 1.2 seconds.
• This invisibility is broken the moment that Hoodwink casts abilities, items, or launching an attack.
• When Hoodwink’s position changes, the invisibility is broken as well.

Decoy

Hoodwink puts a decoy illusion to a location of her choosing. When attacked upon or hit by any targeted ability, the Illusion is immediately destroyed. It will then proceed to throw a lesser bushwhack towards the enemy that destroyed it.

Notes:

• Needs Aghanim’s Shard before it can be used.
• The ability can be cast even when Hoodwink isn’t facing the targeted point.
• Hoodwink’s channeling or current orders aren’t interrupted when casting Decoy.
• Players can control the Decoy illusion as if the illusion is Hoodwink, but can’t cast spells.
• Illusions will have the Scurry buff based on the ability’s current level. However, if the ability isn’t learned, the animation and buff will be present, but will not have any values.
• The illusion that Decoy creates is permanently phased.
• Decoy’s effects trigger when it’s hit by an enemy attack or active ability within a 1000 unit range from it.
• Attacks that are evaded do not trigger Decoy.
• Decoy’s ability is only triggered on Heroes, including Creep-Heroes, clones, and Illusions.
• Decoy deploys a lesser Bushwhack on a target location, and it doesn’t follow the enemy hero that attacked the Decoy.
• The bushwhack first creates a planted tree before stunning enemy heroes in its collision for 2 seconds. The tree lasts for 20 seconds and can be eaten by tangos.

Hunter’s Boomerang

Hoodwink throws a boomerang at any targeted enemy that flies in an arc. When it hits, the boomerang immediately returns to Hoodwink. It deals damage to any enemy that it passes through and also puts a Hunter’s Mark. Enemies marked with the Hunter’s Mark are slowed down and receive increased spell damage and reduced status resistance.

Notes:

• Needs Aghanim’s Scepter before it can be used.
• Hunter’s Boomerang homes in on a target when it’s unit-targeted.
• Can be cast on any unit other than buildings, self, and wards, but including allies.
• Hunter’s Boomerang is always thrown on Hoodwink’s right side and comes back towards her left side.
• It first applies the Hunter’s Mark Debuff before the damage.
• Hunter’s Mark is an applied generic damage amplification on enemies affected by it. This is stacked additively to other sources of generic incoming damage manipulation.
• This amplification only affects damage that isn’t flagged as HP removal.

Sharpshooter

Hoodwink’s first arbalest was a chance discovery that made her into what she is today. Now though, Hoodwink ensures that her new arbalest is taken care of, including carving and maintaining it herself. Of course, the components that are made out of it are pretty much either taken or made by her own hands.

Hoodwink stays still and proceeds to charge up her arbalest. After a few seconds, she fires a deadly bolt. When it hits an enemy hero, it gives slow, breaks, and heavy damage. The damage and debuff duration that Sharpshooter scales up to its maximum output after 3 seconds of charging. The bolt is immediately fired after 5 seconds have passed. After firing, Hoodwink is knocked backward from the force of the shot.

Notes:

• Hoodwink’s turn rate is reduced and she’s not allowed to move or attack when using Sharpshooter. However, she can still be moved with items like Force Staff/Hurricane Pike.
• A timer is placed on Hoodwink’s head to indicate how long she can charge her crossbow before she fires. This timer is visible to everyone.
• Deals 550/900/1250 damage and slows heroes by 30%/40%/50%. The slow and Break effects last for 5 seconds.
• Hoodwink can still use items when she’s using Sharpshooter. However, targeted items can only be used in the direction Hoodwink is currently facing.
• Sharpshooter can only be canceled with “End Sharpshooter”, Sharpshooter’s sub-ability that immediately fires the bolt, casting Town Portal Scroll, or Hoodwink’s death.
• Hoodwink is immediately knocked back a few units away after firing Sharpshooter.

Dota 2 Talents of Hoodwink

These are the Talents that Dota 2’s Hoodwink can get. Hoodwink gets these abilities when they reach levels 10, 15, 20, and 25. When they reach levels 27, 28, 29, 30, they can pick the Talent that they haven’t picked.

Suggested Item Build for Hoodwink in Dota 2

Now that we’ve talked about Hoodwink’s talents, let’s start talking about what items you should use from the start to the end of the game.

Start of Game

• Iron Branch – Gives extra stats to Hoodwink and allows her to heal more when the branch is planted and tango is used on it.
• Blades of Attack – Gives Hoodwink extra attack damage and builds towards Falcon Blade.
• Faerie Fire – Gives Hoodwink extra damage, allowing her to last hit properly.
• Circlet – One of the items that build towards Wraith Band. However, it’s possible to forgo this if the player is building Falcon Blade immediately.
• Slippers of Agility – The second item that builds towards Wraith Band, right after the recipe. Like Circlet though, it’s possible to forgo this item if the player is building Falcon Blade immediately.
• Healing Salves and Tangos – Allows Hoodwink to heal while she’s in the lane. Do note that the best way to play is to avoid damage as much as possible. Doing so allows the player to build to the items that empower their characters.

Early-Game

• Boots of Speed – Gives Hoodwink extra movement speed to engage and disengage from enemies. Also builds towards Arcane Boots, Power Treads, or Phase Boots depending on player preference.
• Magic Stick – Allows Hoodwink to store charges when enemies cast spells to heal herself. Builds towards Magic Wand, which is an empowered version of the item that also gives extra stats.
• Falcon Blade – This is Hoodwink’s best early game item as it gives her a lot of good stats for the price of 2 Wraith Bands. If the player is getting Falcon Blade for Hoodwink, they can immediately forgo buying 2 Wraith Bands as Falcon Blade serves as a better alternative.
• Veil of Discord

Mid-Game

• Power Treads – Gives Hoodwink extra movement speed and stats. It also allows her to swap between Agility, Strength, and Intelligence attributes depending on the situation and her current needs.
• Phase Boots – Gives Hoodwink Movement Speed, extra armor, and damage. It also gives Hoodwink a good active ability that increases movement speed and gives her Phasewalk for a few seconds.
• Arcane Boots – Gives Hoodwink Movement Speed and extra MP and an active ability that restores a set amount of MP.
• Maelstrom – Increases Hoodwink’s damage, and gives her attacks the Chain Lightning Passive. Perfect if the player wants to farm lanes and other creep camps. The Chain Lightning Passive also works with Acorn Shot.
• Boots of Travel – Gives Hoodwink a global presence by allowing her to teleport anywhere on the map with an allied creep in it. Not a good idea if the player’s building a carry Hoodwink though.
• Dragon Lance – Gives Hoodwink extra stats and additional attack range. Builds towards Hurricane Pike.

Late Game

• Yasha and Kaya – Gives Hoodwink additional stats, movement speed, and improves her spell damage.
• Aghanim’s Scepter/Shard – Gives Hoodwink Hunter’s Boomerang and Decoy respectively, bot abilities having good utility when used properly.
• Hurricane Pike – Allows Hoodwink to have the ability to move away from enemies and pelt them with auto-attacks. Also gives her extra attack range and stats.
• Mjolnir – Gives additional attack speed to Dota 2’s Hoodwink and improves the Chain Lightning Passive. It also allows Hoodwink to use the Static Charge active ability, which puts a Charged Shield on herself or others for 15 seconds. The Charged Shield has a 20% chance to discharge a lightning bolt that deals 225 damage to a nearby enemy. The bolt also passes over to 4 other enemies near it.
• Gleipnir – Gives more stats and damage to Dota 2’s Hoodwink, Improves the Chain Lightning Passive, and gives the Eternal Chains Active ability. Eternal Chains allows Hoodwink to root enemies in a 450-unit radius for 2 seconds. The chains will also deal 220 damage to enemies that were rooted.
• Daedalus – Improves Hoodwink’s damage and gives her the Critical Strike Passive, which gives her a chance to deal more damage.
• Monkey King Bar – Gives Hoodwink more damage and the True Strike Passive, allowing her to hit enemies with evasion all the time.
• Linken’s Sphere – Gives Hoodwink extra stats, MP Regen, and allows her to block 1 spell from enemies.
• Eye of Skadi – Gives Hoodwink extra stats and allows her attacks to slow enemy attack and movement speed in addition to reducing any type of healing by 40%.

Situational Items

• Blink Dagger – Allows Hoodwink the ability to reposition herself better in combination with her Scurry. In addition to this, she can also use Blink Dagger while she’s in the middle of her Sharpshooter ability. This allows her to chase down fleeing enemies.
• Mage Slayer – Gives Hoodwink extra agility and magic resistance. In addition to this, it reduces Blade Mail’s damage and is helpful against spellcasters due to its passive.
• Black King Bar – If Hoodwink is a carry, BKB would be essential as it gives her magic immunity.
• Refresher Orb – Allows Hoodwink to use Bushwhack and Acorn Shot multiple times in a teamfight. This has the possibility of completely turning the tide of battle if done correctly.
• Ethereal Blade – Gives a hefty damage amp on Sharpshooter’s damage thanks to its active ability. In addition to this, the slow and ethereal from the active ability is longer compared to Sharpshooter’s charge time.
  More accurately, it’s longer than the 3 seconds needed to max out Sharpshooter’s damage. Thus, you can pretty much combo someone with Acorn Shot, Bushwhack, Ethereal Blade, then Sharpshooter if the player’s fast enough.
• Skull Basher – Allows Hoodwink to stun enemies every time she attacks. Acorn Shot will also have the chance to proc the stun.
• Eul’s Scepter of Divinity to Wind Waker – Gives Hoodwink extra Mana Regen and like Ethereal Blade, the ability to set up Sharpshooter on enemies.

Neutral Items

• Quicksilver Amulet – Makes Hoodwink’s attack animation faster, making her shoot even more attacks.
• Groove Bow – Decreases enemy magic resistance in enemies Hoodwink attacks, which means Sharpshooter and Acorn Shot deal more damage.
• Vambrace – Functions similarly to Power Treads, another great item for Hoodwink.
• Enchanted Quiver – Gives extra range and a decent damage boost on occasion. The extra range is great for landing more Acorn Shots.
• Elven Tunic – Gives Hoodwink more attack speed, movement speed, and some evasion.
• Stygian Desolator – Allows Hoodwink to reduce slow and enemy armor using auto attacks and Acorn Shot. Stygian Desolator would also add more damage to Hoodwink.
• Flicker – Gives Hoodwink additional mobility by teleporting her to a random location a few units around her. Flicker can also be used while she’s on Sharpshooter. Do note though that this might screw up where she’s aiming and she might need to adjust.
• Trickster Cloak – Adds more evasion to Hoodwink combined with the evasion that Scurry gives her. It also gives her additional Magic Resistance.
• Penta-Edged Sword – Gives Hoodwink extra damage and a chance to reduce movement and attack speed when she damages enemies.
• Fallen Sky – Gives Hoodwink additional stats, HP and MP regen, and the Fallen Sky active ability. Fallen Sky transforms Hoodwink into a meteor that damages and stuns enemies. Perfect with a Sharpshooter combo or an Acorn Shot, Bushwhack combo.

Best and Worst Hero Matchups for Hoodwink in Dota 2

Now that we’ve talked about what items to get for Hoodwink, let’s talk about who she’s good and bad against. Do note that these are merely analyses of how Hoodwink’s and their abilities work against each other. It’s still up to the players to leverage these abilities to get the highest

Best Dota 2 Matchups for Hoodwink

Here are the Dota 2 heroes that Hoodwink is effective against.

Bristleback

Hoodwink’s Scurry and Bushwhack can be used to kite around Bristleback and his Quill Sprays. In addition, Sharpshooter can be used to disable his Warpath and Bristleback abilities as well.

Lion

Sharpshooter isn’t canceled when Lion uses Hex or Earth Spike. Do note though that Hoodwink’s low HP makes her vulnerable to Finger of Death.

Huskar

Husker needs to be at low HP to thrive. This makes him very vulnerable to burst damage abilities like Hoodwink’s Sharpshooter.

Abaddon

Abbadon’s Borrowed Time can be disabled by Sharpshooter, allowing Hoodwink’s teammates to kill him easily.

Phantom Lancer

Bushwhack can be used to stun Phantom Lancer and his illusions, and Acorn Shot is great for finding the real PL. In addition, Sharpshooter can disable Juxtapose, Phantom Lancer’s ultimate. This stops him from creating more illusions and allowing Hoodwink’s team to kill him.

Morphling

Like Huskar, Morphling likes to play Dota 2 with low HP. This makes him very vulnerable to a fully charged Sharpshooter. Do note though that this only works on the early game and midgame.

Monkey King

If you can find him in a tree, Monkey King can be stunned using Bushwhack. Acorn Shot can also find Monkey King because it can be ground targeted.

Worst Dota 2 Matchups for Hoodwink

Meanwhile, here are the Dota 2 heroes that Hoodwink players might want to steer clear of.

Timbersaw

Timbersaw uses trees constantly to amp up his damage. However, he’s also very notorious for cutting trees down with his abilities. This, of course, would be bad for Hoodwink as Scurry’s passive requires trees to function.

Vengeful Spirit

Vengeful Spirit’s Nether Swap can reposition Sharpshooter, preventing Hoodwink from landing the shot.

Storm Spirit

Storm Spirit can easily nuke down Hoodwink due to how low her HP pool is. In addition to this, Storm can easily get close to Hoodwink due to Ball Lightning. He can even destroy trees with it when they’re in his path while using this ability.

Warlock

Warlock’s Chaotic Offering destroys trees in an AoE in addition to the summoning, stun, and damage. This, combined with Upheaval, makes Hoodwink’s life difficult as she cannot retreat easily.

Beastmaster

Beastmaster’s Wild Axes can be used to cut down trees. This is already pretty bad, but Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade makes it so that this ability no longer has any cooldowns. The moment that the axes come back to Beastmaster, he can throw them again, and again, and again. This isn’t good for Hoodwink’s play.

Zeus

Zeus can easily burst down Hoodwink due to how much damage his abilities deal. A combo of Arc Lightning, Lightning Bolt, then Thundergod’s Wrath can easily nuke Hoodwink’s HP to oblivion. When Zeus gets Nimbus? Well, Hoodwink better be prepared to have a bad time.

Techies

Techies tends to put mines in trees, especially Remote Mines. A savvy Techies player can use this to his advantage by killing a low HP Hoodwink when she’s trying to retreat. Even their Proximity Mines can kill Hoodwink with enough of them placed in an area.

Master Hoodwink in Dota 2 Today!

If you are in search of a new hero to try, the new Dota 2 hero Hoodwink should be on top of your list. Mixing a blend of crowd control, damage, and escape ability, Hoodwink is pretty unique. She can also fulfill multiple roles depending on what your team needs.