How Kez Actually Works

[@figue6103]

He is just Leonardo and Raphael in a single person

[@MrLin0690]

Who?

[@francisjosephcutamora8530]

Teenage Ninja turtles​@@MrLin0690

[@Aimsireal3780]

Damn. Now i wish he get a tmnt set in the future

[@lehoaggron2177]

🤓☝

[@BlueFlash215]

​@@MrLin0690Two famous artists/engineers/architects from the Renaissance. The were into cosplay and loved fighting with two of their buddies between painting unknown paintings like "Lady with an Ermine", "The last supper" or some funny woman's picture called "Mona Lisa". I doubt anybody knows them. They lived in the ancient sewer system of Italy which led to their skin turn somewhat green. They always looked a little sick but cool. It is said when they popped shrooms together, they could see a rat that taught them what colors you get when you mix red and yellow as well as some martial arts. They were totally bonkers when they met a guy named "Shredder". This is possibly the only artist you know since his paintings are well known across the world. He draws cats on walls and stuff.

[@judeaberdeen6848]

When a character this complicated is released youre always happy to see him on the enemy team for an easy win.

[@BlueFlash215]

Since Dota 1 and nowadays I'm playing Invoker, Puck, Chen, Brewmaster and new more "complicated" heroes like the four spirits. Invoker is playing around CD and memorizing it. Kez feels different. It feels more like a Tekken or Street fight character with combos since you can reset the CD. Somewhat intimidating. And you are totally correct. To learn such a hero there is always the problem that you need to spend ungodly games in normal and turbo.

[@lokikokoko5833]

​@@BlueFlash215played like 10 turbo games yesterday. Didnt even manage to pick this hero. Always banned 😂

[@angelofdeath7207]

no...definitely not. He's insanely broken and if anyone knows how to play him its joever

[@knkaitlog]

30% winrate in all pubs lmao

[@DreamOnDamu]

@@angelofdeath7207his damage over time can really fuck people up if you do a decent combo with it, problem is that kez players still dont know how to farm or get strong enough in time for it to actually be a threat

[@NaTHGamin]

Can't wait to see pros play this hero in actual tournaments.

[@odarkeq]

He's such a wild card, my prediction is Valve keeps his stats high for DreamLeague wackiness, but then nerfs his stats for TI's solemnity.

[@imfinishedgrinding638]

​@@odarkeq Ringmaster isn't even playable for pro play yet. It's gonna take a long while for Kez to be as well. 5-8 months is my estimate.

[@PetarIvanovic-wl5wr]

Morphling: Nice abilities you have there... It would be a shame if someone... stole it.

[@dylankoch6764]

Didn’t even think about morphling carry matchup lol. Should be good for morph

[@DaiCh_Shinku]

Tested it earlier and it seems 1st skill is broken on morph and morph can't copy the stance

[@ArmoredSilverDevil]

@@DaiCh_Shinku he can lol, just like invoker he need to re change to steal the form, if he stole sai form and enemy kez change to katana morphling can go back to his morphling form and change to kez again and he will gain katana form

[@BlueFlash215]

​@@DaiCh_Shinku"Morph neither acquires innate abilities nor other innate ability traits" Which stance and what spells does he copy? Is it always the set of Katjana spells? Or does he indeed copy the correct stance with that according spells?

[@bigsean6045]

Also what happens if Rubick steals the ‘stance changing’ spell from Kez?

[@t_kon]

Falcon rush benefits are still maintained when you switch your weapon So the easiest combo is to switch to dagger stance, falcon rush -> switch back to katana stance, and just hit your enemy, this hurts a lot without aghanim bread&butter starts in dagger stance W (silence) -> R (invis/mark) -> Q (falcon rush) -> K stance -> hit hit hit He can do a lot of variety of combos with aghanim D stance (dagger) -> W (silence) -> K stance (katana) -> W (gap closer) -> D stance -> Q (falcon rush) -> R (invis / mark) -> K stance -> Q (echo slash finisher) D stance -> Q (falcon rush) -> K stance -> W (gap closer) -> D stance -> R (invis/mark) -> K stance -> Q (echo slash) -> R (raptor dance) Longest combo: D stance -> W (silence) -> K stance -> W (gap closer) -> D stance -> Q (falcon rush) -> K stance -> Q (echo slash) -> D stance -> R (invis/mark) -> K stance -> R (raptor dance) -> E (detonate passive) if you have refresher, you can repeat the longest combo by going to D stance again.

[@riank1418]

So ult also count as free ability? (From aghs) seems balanced

[@CompleteReview]

what would be the equivalnce of Injoker insult for Invoker as it is for Kez?

[@Pedram_Aphotic]

feels like im playing Tekken from back then...

[@Haevokk]

​@@CompleteReviewinstead of 2 skills injoker you get 1 stance kez

[@jawohlmeinfuhrer8933]

​@@CompleteReviewchicken, cock, flappy bird u name it

[@equinte5344]

10 secs holy shit this hero is complicated

[@wanderingbufoon]

4 moonshard on daggers. it's not that complicated

[@Felt3012]

@@wanderingbufoon at herald rank?

[@wanderingbufoon]

@@Felt3012 surprisingly, it can go even higher. Maybe up to legend 1 depending on the server. This hero is crazy broken. Katana deals damage nuke too. If you build him with damage, just use his 3rd after a couple of hits and he basically nukes a tank. 5k damage without daedalus. Absurdly broken hero after a well balanced ringmaster release.

[@MidaniElden]

​@@wanderingbufoonbro do you expect the opponents gonna let you free hit them, whats this herald rank?

[@wanderingbufoon]

@ sounds like a skill issue on your part. 🤷‍♂️ Do you always say that to every squishy agility hero? 😂 "Who's gonna let them free hit you?" 😂😂😂

[@dianajehovah3562]

Dota 2 featuring Vergil from devil may cry this feels like a dota 3 hero

[@TheTriangle444]

It's a league champ

[@yuhan4469]

​@@TheTriangle444 true, dota players gonna get the 200 years experience

[@imfinishedgrinding638]

​@@TheTriangle444 A League champion can only hope to be as complicated as this hero but the motif and look is there though.

[@basti.9022]

​@@TheTriangle444 Retards has been saying this since Mars. Get a fuckin life.

[@magentaurous4025]

@@TheTriangle444 You haven't played league, nothing like that. Just because its a fun and fluid hero doesn't mean its a league champ.

[@MadiMisaki]

More tips 1. Grappling claw can be used on trees. 2. After Raptor dance is done channeling, you can move while performing it.

[@LoLaSn]

1. was covered

[@stimshots178]

echo slash is affected by his falcon rush btw so if you hit 5 enemies with echo slash during falcon rush it will actually spawn 5 extra slashes all at once only possible with scepter

[@varlsenjoyer]

He is rly cool ngl❤

[@AalapShah12297]

4:01 You can also move during the slash time (not the channel time) to make sure your slashes hit fleeing enemies near the edge of the AoE. Also, you can cast Falcon Rush, switch to the Katana discipline, channel Raptor Dance and then right click an enemy to quickly rush to them during the slashes so that they don't escape your ultimate.

[@imfinishedgrinding638]

Will I be able to move even a bit of distance at level 1 with just 2 slashes?

[@itsjustxuan]

​@@imfinishedgrinding638my guy he is talking about the ultimate not the echo slash

[@AalapShah12297]

@@imfinishedgrinding638 Yes, but it's a really short distance. The first slash will hit the exact AoE where you channeled and the next will be slightly offset to where you move

[@LegendaryHT]

Dude, i really love your content. Please make a tier list of all crownfall mini games.

[@qoreng2274]

thanks alot , cleared up a lot of questions i had about the little nuances that make this character have a high difficulty ceiling. easy to learn, hard to master.

[@m136dalie]

Great video. Found this hero a bit confusing but you explained it really well and now I want to play him!

[@RandoMattz]

finally understood that atk speed factor % with Falcon Rush, ty :)

[@cowpolk5763]

A really effective early game combo available as soon as you hit level 6 is to use Grappling Claw to close the distance on an enemy, immediately echo slash on them to hold them in place with the slow, and immediately start channelling Raptor Dance. They'll be slowed by a combination of Claw + Echo to keep them from running out range of your raptor dance. A lot of burst damage very quickly

[@OliverNybroe]

Nice walkthrough! Would be neat if you also mentioned which abilities can trigger attack modifiers

[@clydenavs8498]

Your video is so better and more informational than hero spotlight

[@michael-c.]

Awesome content, thank you for trying that many interactions! 🧐

[@durere]

There was a dota 1 map way back in the day, that had different heroes (including Son Goku) and you could chose how many lanes the map had (1, 3 or 5) at the start of the game. There was a hero that looked like Mirana, had 3 regular skills and an ult that would turn you into a Vengeful Spirit, that had 3 other skills. They did a ton of cool stuff with that map, like, if you bought the strongest sword (that wasn't a rapier), it would appear in your hero's hand. Anyone else played it?

[@raggy-ganadalf]

thanks a lot for the video so fast after release!

[@dipper7802]

Wraith King is shaking right now with only 1 button mechanism 😂

[@xMoomin]

lololololololol

[@brixxconnor3411]

Not really, Valve made Wraith King less dumbed down to play as of recently. He now has 3 active abilities, W being a summon and R being a Resurrection on demand. He's less braindead than ever before.

[@dipper7802]

@@brixxconnor3411 yet it has no impact at all. he is still a 1 button hero compared to kez. kez is like invoker but carry version not with spells from his brain

[@MustafaSalihATES-ft6vf]

This guy is super good to explain very nice concept

[@cjgent4394]

High ceiling hero just like Morphling. Not anyone can use it to his full potential. You can use straight 8-combo wit the aghanims on this, hence getting the name Melee Invoker. Only possible though with aghanims scepter.

[@JohnnyPaw]

Amazing spotlight. Commend for including item synergy

[@yoelv4012]

This guy is gonna get nerfed PRETTY FAST !!

[@marcelomendoza1973]

Unlikely. He has abyssmal winrate

[@knkaitlog]

he is horribel. he needs buffs

[@knkaitlog]

actually all melee carry needs buff. if your enot picking sf, luna, medusa, you lose

[@owammantsithi2843]

Of course his winrate is abysmal skill Issues this is not axe people still learning him

[@bunnyfreakz]

Agha is the first item to rush. It allowed you to combo with spells from both stance which previously not possible.

[@subschool5]

thank you for the vid!!! i just wish valve had given him a support label as well so i'd hear 15% less crap about drafting him.

[@CompleteReview]

This is one of the best format for new hero analysis, my advice for next time maybe you could also inclue Yasha n Kaya for experimenting the cast time reduction. Thanks for the video, tho!

[@BlueFlash215]

*Fight!* Doesn't this hero feel like a Tekken or Street Fighter character? Thanks Adrian for the cool overview! Very well documented and explained. You even found a bunch of edge cases (the Lifesteal working on different targets). It feels like you don't play around a cooldown if you have Aghanims. It feels like you have to picture what you want to do and execute that combination which gets harder as every game will have different items, enemies and allies. I can play invoker while almost falling asleep with near perfect feeling of his Cooldowns but this hero is on another level.

[@user-rn4kl7uv3y]

Once he has Aghanim, he gets wilder with his spells combo.

[@shbmd451]

my thoughts aswell, he has alot of "basic" attacks you can combo off with, even more so with agh. they cooked with this chicken man.

[@abdallahmagdy8358]

thank you for the video, very informative and precise, as for the hero, this bird dude has a lot of stuff going on apparently!

[@themetalwolf8210]

I am not very good at MOBA games but I really appreciate how unique every hero and their abilities look in dota. In league, everything looks the same. I always felt that looking at dota and learning things is easier than league.

[@JuStFU6]

You can move while on raptor dance. Good for chasing enemies or running from enemies while damaging them.

[@rikiiskandar8988]

The bird just need 7 moon shard 1 consume...

[@FrustratedProgrammer]

tested it out yesterday. Did you know there is such thing as TOO MUCH attack speed? Most heros CAP their attack speed at 700, making the fastest they can attack be every 0.21 secs. With Kez's Falcon Rush, you can surpass that. Making it possible to attack at 0.01 secs. (1 consumed moonshard, 4 moon shards, 1 butterfly, 1 bloodthorn, pirate's hat) BEWARE! It's possible to surpass TOO much that it goes into the negatives, making Kez attack SLOWER than if he had 0 attack speed items. *EDIT* Nov 8th 1 day after kez released, Gameplay update hotfixed it, and Falcon Rush no longer ignores the attack speed cap. Making falcon rush actually SLOW you down if you had max attack speed. Going from 0.21 to 0.27 (tho evasion and rushes make it worth it)

[@DeezBaeNaeNae]

not worth it, tbh he also needs damage items

[@carpediem32147]

The video we needed

[@BreadAccountant]

You can cancel his shoto sai active (parry) with ability casts so you can press it to give yourself some breathing room and then try to get away immediately using any of his skills

[@DieTreppenwitz]

Was hoping you'd go more into how you combo the disciplines. It's actually crazy how you can use falcon rush to mass stack kazurai katana for instance

[@alfymendez3714]

1 tip for sai mode, use falcon rush before activating R as any abilities casted afterwards pop invis

[@ImaginationKiller]

Note that +1 echo slash, instead of adding duration to fit one more slash they make echo slash faster so it fit 3 slash instead of 2

[@6Unknown_Source9]

My guy is a mix of Troll and Invoker but has a lot of debuffs, can stun, silence, slow, life steal, crit, phase movement, mobility(movement and invisibility) He's pretty much Invoker but Melee!, but you need Aghs to do so Overall a fun hero and they definitely cook with this one, it's not OP(ignore the Moonshards build going on) but a fun hero. I do wish his talents would be a choice between Katana and Sai bonuses (stats or spell improvement) for more playstyles

[@cabbage_cat]

it's so strong when used right but then again the level of complexity will be a great filter for people resulting in low WR because, well, it's a complex hero

[@gnooshguhh]

One thing I found is that Magnus’ empower cleave for some reason procs all marked enemies’ crit So if you Raven’s Veil a group of enemies while empowered and hit them it just crits all in one go

[@choccymilk7913]

So basically Kez has lifesteal, multiple gap close, multiple escape, debuff immunity, stuns, silences, invisibility, movement slows, critical damage, multiple dispels, long range aoe nukes, wave clear, multiple low cool down ults, blind effects, regen reduction and damage over time all built into his abilities 😂 what a broken hero

[@odarkeq]

My assessment: Kez looks like a flex core, gaining great scaling from levels in Mid, farm speed boosting (cliff-hopping) options for Carry, and chase/escape assassination tools for Offlane. When his stats are good in the patch, he will likely be popular in pro drafts. He is another "ability draft" style hero, taking elements of extant heroes instead of innovating new mechanics. Mars bulwark and Ultimate Ability Enemy Vision Reduction. Riki's AOE attack, displacements, and evasiveness. To me, Kez is a finesse hero that overlaps in many ways with Pangolier. Spells that ROOT will increase in value: Treant Protector, Crystal Maiden, breathing life back into a deflating Gleipnir.

[@dustinhexg]

Nice content. Let's proceed to itemization. 😊

[@elbuhodeheraclito]

You forget to mention Graplin Claw can target trees, to escape or close de distance

[@Bonkibuuri]

The League of Legends Chamion explenation is wild...

[@rev9115]

his sai mark passive gives crit but his other weapon give more damage .... so when you have a mark on enemy you can switch weapon with D for more crit before next attack if you plan to burst them

[@rainchopper898]

I cant wait to watch the pros play this hero

[@wisestump211]

I tested Bloodstone on Echo Slash. It does work. Same goes for Rubick's Echo Slash with Acrane Accumulation. Also need more explanations on Shodo Sai mechanics. It is a true magical crit. If Kez throw Talon Toss to marked enemy Shodo Sai's passive will increase magical damage. Same ALSO goes for Rubick's Fade Bolt or any stolen ability (Rubick can oneshot 100% hp anyone with Life Break on marked enemy). Magical Crit from Shodo Sai cannot proc on items, so Dagon or Phylactery won't work, but u can prepare enemy with Ethereal Blade and then throw Talon Toss. Also since Shodo Sai considered as crit, Revenant's Brooch will not trigger marks (that info goes for quirk builds or, again, Rubick players). Brooch is good for stolen Falcon Rush, but bad for Shodo Sai or Raven's Veil. Rubick can trigger "double crit" if he cast nuke on enemy while Rubick's attack is still flying towards enemy. In this case both nuke and ranged attack will do more damage.

[@MarkorLP]

I think you could have gone more into detail with the grappling hook interactions. Can you use items during hook? What happens if someone cuts your tree down? When does the tree get destroyed that you latched onto? And regarding his Echo Slash you could have also mentioned that you can use it to chop down trees. Still a good video tho don't get me wrong.

[@Not_Chen]

Kez support 🙏🏻

[@notyouraverageguy2265]

with aga shard, scepter and octarine, he could combo for a very long time. best current item build for me - mageslayer to linken/bkb to khanda then (aga shard/scepter and octarine for mid) or (dmg item for carry)

[@anti-h2894]

I love this hero, he is like Talion from Shadow of War but in Dota 2!! I feel like that character playing this hero

[@michaelseanchang]

great video, I'm still intimidated by these button combos what has valve done.

[@tarfernan]

Best analysis ty

[@xRyoden]

Man I had an idea for a hero that switches weapons and subsequently skills for years. Now if I ever talk about it people are going to think I am copying Kez.

[@jeremyteti914]

this is the best hero release since last 5 years, High skill,high risk, high ceiling hero I think its versatile can be played as 1 2 and 4... not as hard as invoker but makes people want to grind this hero, good job valve.. PARRYING and stunning BKB is just a bit op tho.

[@kleffzz2336]

can you make a video explaining on attack modifiers and which stacks and which doesnt?

[@corniel657]

this hero is definitely motivated

[@anthonyhernandez3005]

this hero is insane

[@sbastianbrilyanto4722]

so Kez's Katana ult is basically Yamato's 3rd skill, his grapple is Yamato's 2nd skill, the shodo sai stack is fixation stack, and his sai ult is smoke bomb. Kez is basically Yamato and Haze's lovechild.

[@ejpenafuerte6221]

Bara's bash, slardar's bash, walrus punch disturbs raptor dance

[@imnottanya1149]

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS, I IMMEDIATELY CHANGE MY ACC NAME WITH SUNRAKU LOLLLL

[@carrotc1525]

not sure if this was covered in the video but echo slash can proc maelstrom and maybe other items. i think falcon rush strike can also proc maelstrom but not 100.

[@leonidasmarronidas7619]

I wanna see oldest heroes VS newest ones played by pros

[@ukkirot8264]

Yasuo of dota

[@GurneroMaelstrom]

And Yone?

[@alexcarson2065]

Yasuo and nidalee

[@JifuChan]

This is 2 Hero in 1 body 😅

[@lazylonewolf]

If I'm carrying I usually like Slark since he's not that straightforward compared to say PA or Troll. Kez seems a little too complicated for my taste, but I guess I'll try him for a bit. Crit, stun, silence, parry, lifesteal, spell immunity, dispel, DoT, "harpoon", invi, "omni slash", true strike all in one here... I dunno, his kit is too much IMO, but I suppose the shared cooldown balances things and he's a bit vulnerable to silence. I do like versatile heroes though.

[@muhammadshahzaib1492]

Oh another invoker in an agility form, makes sense!

[@spardathedevil7956]

Main dev at Volvo:We need carry passive for a new hero! 1st dev at Volvo: Crit? Main dev at Volvo: Crit!

[@lleaflag]

now new mechanic is added, pango shield crash should have the parry mechanic

[@weaboojones6111]

You can switch discipline without breaking invisibilty after casting ravens veil. Dunno if this hasn't been commented yet.

[@randomchannel2780]

this basically invoker but faster cooldown

[@SeraNeph]

Invoker has the most spells an Int hero can have and Kez has the most spells an Agi hero can have. I wonder how IceFrog will do the same for Str and Universal. Can you imagine IceFrog making his take on K'Sante for Dota 2 and did it right the first time?

[@corniel657]

I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING!

[@7Exartive]

about time we get a new complicated hero... these kind of heroes are the best thing about dota heroes imo. next please release new macro heroes valve.

[@varadillath4508]

Hi there can I ask how you got the camera to zoom out that much on 2:36?

[@giovannicomparsi]

It's a replay only feature but people have found a way to cheat it in on normal games

[@varadillath4508]

@@giovannicomparsi Is there a link I can follow to enable it into normal games?

[@godemisempire8225]

@@varadillath4508thats a cheat bro

[@rickyrico900]

@@varadillath4508no that’s cheating lol

[@varadillath4508]

@ for both matches lmao

[@ThePersonNetwork]

I've played 5 games with him so far and crushed all 5 with him. I don't think he's that hard of a hero. Yes he has 2 sets of skill which take a minute to figure out, but his kit is soooo good and versatile at the moment it makes him not that hard to play. He just has too many utilities at his belt that you really don't have to worry about positioning much at all, which is what makes certain heroes really hard. Like he's nowhere near as hard as arc warden, hell I would probably say he's easier to play then Ember Spirit. His abilities are super easy to cast. The only ones that take even a little bit of skill are Echo Slash and Shodo Sai, but none of his skills are like ground target or vector target abilities that can miss heroes like Muerta's Deadshot or Mirana's Arrow. He's just really good all around. AND GET HIS SHARD!! It's so freaking good rn, idk they're definitely going to nerf it or just him overall in general.

[@maxdowning649]

echo slash can be used to kill couriers too

[@KHkhalil313]

Birb

[@galahad4787]

he's pretty nuts tbh. have poke, chase, cc, invisible, and silent

[@skar9556]

Kez is what happens when Icefrog get triggered by LoL players saying DotA heroes are too simple and need some complexity. Also, I love Kez's defeat animation after the ancient explodes.

[@myonionsmatter7843]

Katana is more efficient against tanks to build up debuff stacks and popping shard ability. Sai is better for squishy elusive targets.

[@Nevamo-i4s]

Falcon rush illusion will instantly miss its attack if Kez way too far from target

[@CrucialflyHD]

3:42 this is kinda wrong, Each damage instance has its own timer. The circle timer shown is just based on the last, aka longest duration of all instances. Thats why you can see the number shown going up and down over and over

[@drops043]

2 minutes in, it lowkey feel like an arena fighter character

[@versev0]

After lol got temu invoker, now dota chose to make invoker 2.0 melee edition

[@hiyorisutaba2326]

Kez is definitely LoL tier skill shot hero

[@rishen]

Doing a better job than DotaCinema 👏

[@ruepama7801]

Got quadruple Rampage using Kez today.

[@ValAllenSamonte]

early game, triggering falcon rush then switching to katana is OP, you are benefiting from the damage over time of the katana. katana is more effective to tank enemies early game, but sai becomes overall imbalanced late game.

[@TheMezmeriZe]

So this hero is basically oldschool street fighter combo play style but in dota

[@bucher2635]

lifesteal, regen reduction, silence, slow, bash, stun, bkb, gap close, invis. what does this guy have not build in?

[@ValAllenSamonte]

break, fortunately 🤣

[@basti.9022]

They don't need to nerf this one. He's hard to pull off.

[@DeezBaeNaeNae]

REAAAL + he doesnt have facet atm

[@MrAndreasgeb]

Highlights: - Melee, agi, complex hero. - Mobile gab close/escape hook. - Scaling burst core, can farm stacks. - Semi low cd abilities (shared cool down). - Aghs allows for more ability activations. - Shard provides mobility OR stun+damage. - Aoe silence ability. - Parry can stun through bkb. Conclusion: anyone below a certain mmr will likely grief the team by picking this. The complexity of the many abilities, the play style and adopting it to match the specific game and game state will often go wrong and thereby greatly affect the game result. The hero currently has 25 35% win rate. I my games (3k mmr) most KEZ end up with a negative score and low damage dealt but decent gpm, as he farms well enough. If the hero is spammed and practiced, it is very versatile and could in time be a high tier pick or a smurf pick. My personal plan: If enemy picks this as pos 1, I check his/her personal win rate on the hero and I double down ;)

[@leonidasmarronidas7619]

He feels like a better pango to me

[@dewaeryadi7776]

The melee version of master of arms

[@MrHabibi3]

So agh is mandatory item for him to become REAL ROGUE?

[@naha7999]

sunraku what you doing there ?