Bane

Atropos the Bane Elemental, also known simply as Bane, is a ranged intelligence Hero, possessing dark and nightmarish abilities that give him strong disabling, ganking, and nuking prowess. Mostly played as a support, he has some of the highest starting stats of any hero, yet is unique in the sense that all his attributes and stat growths are equivalent. In addition, he possesses four highly potent single-target spells, which if used properly can more than make up for his complete lack of area of effect presence and pushing power. Enfeeble reduces the target's attack damage by a tremendous amount, which can highly reduce an attack-reliant enemy hero's effectiveness from as early as the laning stage all the way to the endgame. Brain Sap is a nuke that deals hefty pure damage to the target, healing himself for the same amount as well. Nightmare puts a unit to sleep, completely disabling for several seconds and dealing minor damage per second. If the slept target is physically attacked, it wakes up and the spell transfers to the attacker (spells will also wake the target up, but will not transfer the effect to the caster). Finally, Bane's Fiend's Grip is a channeling spell that completely disables the target for several seconds, dealing heavy damage per second and giving Bane some mana back as well. Bane's debilitating lockdown abilities are what make him an invaluable support to allies, and a feared one for enemies.

Equipment

 * Bane currently has no equipment.

Tips

 * Between levels 6-12 Bane is comparatively a very powerful hero. If Brain Sap is maxed by then, Bane is able to solo kill most heroes entirely on his own by means of Fiend's Grip followed by Brain Sap. It is necessary to get kills during this phase of the game; as if Bane is not well-geared and leveled up later in the game, he will be relegated to a support.
 * It is important for the player to judge when to change roles; as mentioned above, Bane should gank constantly in the middle of the game to gain a gold advantage and avoid getting shut down or subjugated to a conservative support role. A well-managed Bane can change the outcome of a team fight in the late game with effective use of items such as Necronomicon, Scythe of Vyse, and Aghanim's Scepter.
 * Bane is not an initiator; despite having two disables, he is far too delicate to withstand the initial retaliation. Instead, he should hide until such time as his abilities become crucial when the team fight has ensued (preventing escapes, finishing off enemy heroes with Brain Sap, etc.).
 * He can however initiate on out-of-position heroes with Nightmare, wait for allies to get in position and then wake the hero up with the sub-ability.
 * Heroes with stuns should be avoided, as they can interrupt Fiend's Grip. If they must be dealt with, Bane can Nightmare them, hex them with Scythe of Vyse if he has it, or cast Fiend's Grip on them instead. Picking Bane in a match against several heroes with disables is unwise. Black King Bar is typically an effective first major item to build on Bane if the enemy has many disables which don't pierce spell immunity.
 * If the enemy team has only single-targeted stuns, a Shadow Amulet can make be bought instead of a Black King Bar. With the item's invisibility, enemies cannot target Bane with their disables and are forced to buy detection against him. The invisibility can be cast while already channeling, without interrupting it.
 * Bane is a strong mid-lane character. Enfeeble can severely weaken heroes reliant on physical damage to last hit, while Bane's strong ultimate and nuke allow him to solo almost any hero, allowing him to make great use of the level advantage he gains from the mid lane. Also, Bane's ability set also allows him to survive ganks on him, allowing him to get through the lane without any help. The mid lane also allows Bane to farm up his core items.
 * Do not hesitate to defensively use Nightmare, especially on allied heroes that are being initiated upon. The 1 second of invulnerability upon cast can negate a significant amount of burst damage and save an out of position teammate, and the damage over time can be used to deny allies or Bane if the enemy lacks off-cooldown spells to cancel it. Bane can wake up his ally at any time.

Trivia

 * The origin of the name "Atropos" comes from Greek mythology. One of the Moirai Sisters (commonly referred to as the Sisters of Fate), Atropos was the sister in charge of cutting the "Life Thread" of those who were going to die. Her name literally means 'the no-Turning One' (> α 'no, without' + τρέπειν 'to turn'), referring to the irriversible and inevitable destiny of death.
 * Bane's riva line towards Bane rival 16.mp3 "Do Tinkers dream of electric sheepsticks?" is a reference to Philip K. Dick's book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? . "Sheepstick" is also a commonly used fun-name for the.
 * The theme and abilities of Bane are based off the game Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis. In this game, there is a Bane "element" which provides spells that are named Enfeeble, Brain Sap, Nightmare and Fiend's Grip, with a similar theme of Bane in Dota 2.
 * Bane's move line Bane move 17.mp3 "Sleep no more!" is a reference to Shakespeare's play Macbeth. The ghost of Banquo haunts Macbeth constantly saying "Sleep no more"
 * Fiend's Grip sound effect makes use of one of Bane's lines (" Bane ability fiendsgrip 05.mp3 The bane of your existence").