Bristleback

Takes reduced damage when facing away from enemies

Melee

Tank through the toughest skirmishes with Bristleback, passively Reducing all damage taken from the rear and sides. Wade into the enemy team with reckless abandon, continuously spraying armor-piercing, damaging quills and chasing them down with sticky, slowing snot.

Bristleback abilities, talents and win rates on this page are from Dota 2 patch 7.41e.

1/3

Complexity

3/3

Durable

2/3

Carry

1/3

Nuker

1/3

Initiator

Bristleback Performance Summary

On patch 7.41e, Bristleback holds a 48.82% win rate across 301,330 ranked games. That average hides a 8-point swing between skill brackets — 53.26% in Herald against 45.26% in Divine — so Bristleback rewards knowing the hero far more than the raw number suggests.

Base Stats

Health604+1 / s

Mana243+0.4 / s

AttributeBase / Growth per lvl

Strength

22+2.8 per lvl

Agility

17+1.8 per lvl

Intelligence

14+2.8 per lvl

StatValue

Damage

53 – 59

Armor

3.8

Movement Speed

295

Attack Range

150

Win Rates by Rank

Patch7.41e

Public Win Rate49%301.3K matches

Pro Win Rate33%1W / 2L

Pro Bans125% of contests

RankPicksWin Rate

Herald

22.2K

53%

Guardian

60.5K

51%

Crusader

70.6K

49%

Archon

65.2K

48%

Legend

44.5K

47%

Ancient

22.9K

46%

Divine

15.4K

45%

Faces of Bristleback

Data Timeframe: Past 6 months

Innate Ability

Prickly

PhysicalDispellable

Passive

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

Damage And Debuff Duration Amp4.5%

Angle110

Talent Tree

+18 Warpath Damage Per Stack

-30 Bristleback Damage Threshold

+20 Quill Stack Damage

+25 Health Regen

+8%/4% Bristleback Back/Side Damage Reduction

+250 Goo Cast Range

+1.5 Mana Regen

+25 Attack Speed

Abilities

Viscous Nasal Goo

Dispellable

Unit Target

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

Goo Speed1000

Goo Duration5s

Base Armor Loss1.5 / 2 / 2.5 / 3

Armor Loss Per Stack2 / 2.5 / 3 / 3.5

Base Movement Slow12%

Move Slow Per Stack3% / 6% / 9% / 12%

Stack Limit6

Cast Range650

Cast Time0.3s

12 / 16 / 20 / 24

1.75s

Quill Spray

PhysicalPierces BKB

No Target, Instant Cast, Autocast

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.

Radius700

Quill Base Damage25 / 45 / 65 / 85

Quill Stack Damage30

Stack Duration14s

Max Damage500

Projectile Speed2400

Bristleback

Passive

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.

Side Damage Reduction8% / 12% / 16% / 20%

Back Damage Reduction16% / 24% / 32% / 40%

Side Angle110

Back Angle70

Damage Threshold275 / 250 / 225 / 200

Quill Release Interval0.1s

Activation Cooldown24

Activation Manacost125

Activation Delay0.5s

Activation Num Quill Sprays5

Activation Spray Interval0.4s

Activation Angle45

Activation Movement Speed Pct-40

Activation Turn Rate Pct-100

Activation Disable Turning1

Activation Ignore Cast Angle1

Activation Turn Rate500

Warpath

Passive

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

Damage Per Stack12 / 16 / 20

Movement Per Stack2% / 2.5% / 3%

Stack Duration16 / 18 / 20s

Max Stacks8 / 10 / 12

Aghanim's Upgrades

Aghanim's ScepterUpgrades Bristleback

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%.

Aghanim's ShardUpgrades Hairball

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