Bane is an aggressive support hero, who is capable of disabling a hero 5 seconds through magic immunity with Fiend’s Grip. This is arguably Bane’s strongest ability and his items should be built around helping him to get a full duration Grip off and keeping him alive.
Nightmare and Brain Sap allow Bane to be very active during the early game and get kills across the map.
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Bane Item build
Starting Items
- Observer Wards
- Sentry Wards
- Smoke of Deceit
- Healing Salve
- Tango
- Clarity
- Iron Branch
Early Game Items
- Wind Lace
- Arcane Boots
- Tranquil Boots
- Soul Ring
- Magic Wand
Mid Game Items
- Glimmer Cape
- Force Staff
- Medallion of Courage
- Aether Lens
Late Game Items
- Solar Crest
- Aghanim’s Scepter
- Blink Dagger
Situational Items
- Spirit Vessel
- Lotus Orb
- Black King Bar
- Meteor Hammer
- Kaya
- Brain Sap
- Nightmare
- Brain Sap
- Brain Sap
- Nightmare
- Fiend’s Grip
- Brain Sap
- Nightmare
- Nightmare
- Talent
- Enfeeble
- Fiend’s Grip
- Enfeeble
- Enfeeble
- Talent
- Enfeeble
- –
- Fiend’s Grip
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Bane reduces the amount of attack damage that the enemy hero has. This is usually left until your other spells have been maxed as they are more useful in the early game. However, if you are against a hero that needs to farm and you are for example in a dual-off lane, you may want to put some points from Nightmare into Enfeeble. This is a very powerful spell against carries at all stages in the game and is undispellable which makes it very powerful against heroes with magic immunity or other dispels, for example Manta Style or Dark Pact. You may also want to max Enfeeble over Nightmare if the enemy has several physical damage carries on their team.
Brain Sap
Bane drains the HP of the target enemy, healing himself for the same amount. Aghanim’s Scepter reduces the cooldown and makes it pierce magic immunity. Brain sap is usually skilled and maxed first. This is because you can use it to trade hits with the enemy in the early game advantageously and because it’s a very powerful nuke and heal when maxed. The Pure damage makes it a very strong spell against heroes with higher magic resistance, for example Pudge and Viper.
Nightmare
Bane puts the friendly or enemy target to sleep, making them invulnerable for 1 second and disabling them for several seconds afterwards. If the target is attacked by any hero other than Bane, then the nightmare will transfer to that unit. This is prioritized secondly as it reduces the cooldown and increases the duration. You should skill Nightmare first if you have an ally that can benefit from it and more easily land unreliable stuns.
Nightmare can be used defensively and offensively. You can use it on an ally to make them invulnerable for 1 second to dodge incoming damage or you can use it to set up stuns against enemies. As Bane, you can attack units that are Nightmared, which is very helpful in the early game, as you will be able to zone enemies very easily and deal much more damage than you would otherwise. You can also try to deny your allies if they are low enough and are taking damage over time from spells like Shadow Strike by first Nightmaring them, so that enemies cannot attack them. This makes denying a lot easier for you.
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Fiend’s Grip
Bane channels a disable that deals damage and drains the target of its mana for 5 seconds. Fiend’s Grip pierces magic immunity, although the damage does not. You should prioritize their largest threat, which is usually the hardest Dota 2 hero carry. Positioning is key for this spell as it’s less effective if the enemy can simply cancel it. For this reason, it’s important to buy mobility items such as Blink Dagger and Force Staff as well as Aether Lens and Glimmer Cape which help you to get a full cast off. Note that you can use Glimmer Cape while Channeling Fiend’s Grip. This makes it a very strong item in protecting you from stuns during the channel time.
Talents
Level 10: +6 Armor or +100 Cast Range
The armor is a great choice if you’re up against lots of physical damage. It’s especially good if you’re very poor and cant afford a survivability item, as it can tank you up against spells like Stifling Dagger. The increased cast range can also be advantageous if you are against very mobile heroes that can close the distance on you very easily and interrupt Fiend’s Grip. Note that the cast range is also helpful for your active items, of which you tend to buy many.
Level 15: +40% XP Gain or Enfeeble Steals Damage
If you think the match will last until the late game, then the extra XP gain will be well worth it as it will help you to get those important levels which make all of your spells better and give you great talent choices. If you are looking to end the game sooner, then the damage steal will probably be more helpful. In most games, the extra XP gain will be preferred as it will help you get your important levels much more quickly. Enfeeble Steals Damage can be a very powerful talent choice in most games, even if the game is likely to last into the late game. In most fights you will be able to use Enfeeble once or twice and be able to get a few right-clicks off, especially on Nightmared heroes. With level 4 Enfeeble and the damage steal talent, you will be able to deal a very significant amount of right-click damage as a support hero. If you are somewhat behind and generally unable to attack enemies very much in team-fights, then it may be less useful.
Level 20: +75 Movement Speed or +100 Enfeeble Damage Reduction
If you are playing against a hero with very high attack damage, then the increased Enfeeble damage can be very good, especially if you chose Enfeeble Steals Damage talent at level 10. You’ll be able to right-click enemies for a significant amount of damage, especially for a support hero. The increased movement speed will help you to position yourself in fights and move in and out to get Nightmare and Enfeeble casts off more easily.
Level 25: +250 Brain Sap Damage/Heal or +7s Fiend’s Grip Duration
The extra Brain Sap damage/heal will increase your survivability in team-fights and amount of damage you deal. If you can get an Aghanim’s Scepter, Brain Sap will have a 1.5 second cooldown which, with the increased damage, will be very powerful.
The increased Fiend’s Grip duration increases the total duration to 12 seconds. This is a massive amount of time, and the enemy team will likely have a few opportunities to interrupt your channel at some point. Naturally, this can be a very good against teams with few silences or stuns. It helps to have increased cast range through an Aether Lens and/or the level 15 talent as well as a BKB/Glimmer Cape. If you manage to position yourself well, you will most likely be able to keep the target disabled until they are killed by your teammates. Fiend’s Grip magical damage will be increased to almost 2600 magical damage at full duration and will burn 60% of the targets mana.
What Items to build on Bane
Starting Items
- Animal Courier
- Observer Wards
- Sentry Wards
- Smoke of Deceit
- Healing Salve
- Tango
- Clarity
- Iron Branch
As a support hero, you will need to buy several support items. In addition to this, you’ll need some regeneration and lastly, you can pick up some Iron Branches for some stats and some more regeneration. If you don’t need to buy many support items, you can be greedy and get a Wind Lace with your starting gold.
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Early Game Items
Wind Lace
A Wind Lace will increase your movement speed and allow you to position yourself for Fiend’s Grip and Nightmare more easily.
Arcane Boots
Arcane Boots will give you enough mana regeneration to use your spells more often. It also goes very well with Brain Sap as you can restore the mana you used to heal yourself up.
Tranquil Boots
If your team already has a couple of Arcane Boots on your team , you won’t need the extra mana regeneration from them and can get Tranquil Boots instead. These will give you more movement speed which helps you to position yourself for your spells and give you lots of HP regen.
Soul Ring
If you opted for Tranquil Boots, you may feel that you need a Soul Ring for mana regeneration. This lets you use Brain Sap much more often and is very useful in games where you are playing aggressively as you can use it to harass enemies much more.
Magic Wand
A Magic Wand is a great item on Bane because it gives you lots of sustainability and is a very effective and cheap item.
Mid Game Items
Glimmer Cape
Glimmer Cape can be used on yourself during your ultimate to allow you to ult fur the full duration much more easily. This is most effective against lineups with few AoE disables, or only single-target stuns as they won’t be able to disable you at all while you’re channeling it.
Force Staff
A Force Staff helps you to position yourself for your ultimate much more easily and escape when needed. It’s preferable to Blink Dagger if you also need defensive capabilities.
Medallion of Courage
A Medallion of Courage builds into a Solar Crest later. In the mid game, it will give you some armor and mana regeneration, as well a decent ganking active ability. If you’re going to be going for a Solar Crest, you can get a Medallion in the mid game to start you off.
Aether Lens
Aether Lens is always a great pickup on Bane. It helps him to land all 4 of his spells and to channel Fiend’s Grip from an even safer position. From one where he doesn’t risk making himself vulnerable.
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Late Game Items
Solar Crest
Solar Crest is a great item against heroes with evasion and lots of physical damage. It can be used in a number of ways, but is typically a good pickup in these circumstances.
Aghanim’s Scepter
An Aghanim’s Scepter costs a large amount of gold, especially for a poor hard support Dota 2 hero like Bane. However, if you manage to farm this item, you will be able to dish out a massive amount of damage in team-fights and be able to sustain yourself for as long as you have mana to cast Brain Sap. The main problem with this item, is that it can cost you a massive amount of mana to keep casting the spell. However, if you have a relatively full mana pool and a few intelligence items, you should be able to use it several times.
Blink Dagger
A Blink Dagger gives you an unparalleled ability to pick off enemies that are out-of-position. If you spot an enemy that you believe is on their own, ping it out to your team, smoke yourselves, and catch that kill before they back off. With Blink Dagger, not only can you reach further with your ultimate, but you can and should also use it to position yourself for a good ultimate if a fight were to break out.
Situational Items
Spirit Vessel
If you’re playing on a team with a particularly aggressive early game draft and you are being active and taking part in many kills, an Urn can be a decent pickup on you. The stats are nice for Bane and the ability to heal an ally after a fight or gank is always helpful. Generally it’s not worth it because Bane needs mobility items, but in some games it can be helpful for a team to have an Urn, especially if no one else on your team will have one. You can upgrade this to a Spirit Vessel if the enemy team has very strong healing spells, and in this case it’s much more valuable to your team.
Lotus Orb
Lotus Orb will give you some armor, mana and regeneration, which are pretty decent stats for Bane. The active will allow you to purge slows and, more importantly, silences. This means that you will be able to cast Fiend’s Grip even if you are initially being silenced in fights. It will also force enemies to stun themselves back if they try to interrupt your channeling. Overall, a Lotus Orb is a very decent item on Bane.
Black King Bar
A BKB is an item that will prevent you from being interrupted by everything but the strongest disables in the game. This is another item that is relatively expensive, especially given your lack of farm priority, although if you are able to farm a BKB, then very few spells will be able to interrupt Fiend’s Grip.
Meteor Hammer
A Meteor Hammer will give you some decent mid game stats and increase your ability to push as well as giving you an AoE disable. This can be a good pickup if you need to push towers in the early and mid game, or if you need another disable on your team. It works very will with Nightmare, as you can keep the target slept while you channel the Meteor Hammer.
Kaya
A Kaya is a relatively cheap mid game item that gives you a lot of helpful stats. It’s particularly effective against heroes that can drain you of your mana.
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Interesting Match-ups for Bane
Slark
Slark is able to dispel Nightmare and Fiend’s Grip with Dark Pact. Make sure that he hasn’t begun casting it when you target him with either of those spells. The damage reduction will persist through Dark Pact however.
Unreliable stuns
Any ally with a stun that is unreliable, for instance Torrent, Sacred Arrow or Light Strike Array, are much more likely to land after Bane casts Nightmare on them to prevent them from fleeing.
