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.

Tips

 * Between levels 6-12 Bane is comparatively a very powerful hero. If you maxed Brain Sap you will be able to solo kill most heroes 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 unit.
 * 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, take the nightmare and wake himself up.
 * Avoid heroes with stuns, as they can interrupt Fiend's Grip. If you must deal with them, incapacitate them via Nightmare, a Scythe of Vyse, or Fiend's Grip itself. 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 you need to help your team disable someone before they retaliate.
 * If the enemy team lack area-of-effect stuns or interrupts, a Shadow Blade can make your ultimate harder to stop, since your opponents must first reveal you and then interrupt you. As with all similar abilities, you can activate invisibility without breaking your channel. While Shadow Blade is also effective for ganking solo heroes and escaping, you should still get Black King Bar instead if the enemy team have ranged AoE interrupts such as those possessed by Lina, Drow, Dark Seer, or Death Prophet, for example.
 * 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, while ganking should be no problem. 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 yourself if the enemy lacks off-cooldown spells to cancel it.

Trivia

 * The origin of the name "Atropos" comes from Greek mythology. One of the Moirai Sisters (commonly referred to as the Fates), 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.
 * The quote " 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?, and "sheepstick" a common nickname for Scythe of Vyse.
 * The theme and abilities of Bane Elemental 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 quote " 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"
 * Friend's Grip sound effect makes use of one of Bane's lines (" Bane_ability_fiendsgrip_05.mp3 The bane of your existence"), which only the owner of the gripped unit will hear.