Bloodseeker/Guide

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Animations

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Gameplay

Playstyle
Bloodseeker is a snowballing carry who grows faster and stronger as his enemies get weaker. Like a shark in water, Bloodseeker detects injured enemies across the entire map and runs them down with unnatural speed through Thirst. Blood Rite affects a large area, does pure damage, and silences opponents, preventing them from fighting or escaping. His Rupture makes enemies bleed with every step, allowing him to gank targets with ease during the early game. Regaining health each time an enemy falls with Bloodrage, Bloodseeker overwhelms enemy teams in fights, leaving little chance for turnarounds. However, Bloodseeker lacks disables of his own, and must rely on his teammates to lock down targets.
Pros	Cons
Fast movement speed. Regains health by killing enemies. Good early ganker. Blood Rite and Rupture deal pure damage.	Lacks disables. Vulnerable to enemy disables. Countered by tanks.

Carry

• When laning, Bloodseeker will almost always get Bloodrage level 1 in order to improve his last hitting and harassment ability, but will avoid getting more points in the spell until he has levels and items to mitigate the increased damage he can take.
• Thirst is maxed out first as to maximize the bonus damage during the phase of the game where enemies usually have minimal HP regeneration.
• When facing a difficult lane, an early point in Blood Rite allows him to force enemies away from the creep wave for safer last hits, or as a follow up spell to an allied disable.

Jungle

• A jungle Bloodseeker will usually forgo the early point in Blood Rite to build Bloodrage and Thirst in order to speed up farming and strengthen his ability to hunt down wounded enemies.
• The lack of harassment minimizes the downsides of using Bloodrage.

Glass Cannon

• In some situations, Bloodseeker may want to fully maximize Bloodrage early.
• If the enemy team has a lot of healing abilities, the early game value of Thirst is lower, and thus Bloodrage's value rises when considering farming speed.
• In the early game, the biggest danger to Bloodseeker is magical nukes. If the enemy team lacks these, or you have an ally that can counter those nukes (such as Oracle or a natural silence), Bloodseeker has less to worry about in retaliation.
• Bloodseeker can do a lot of damage if he bloodrages, but this strategy makes him exceedingly fragile should the target try to fight back.

Ability Builds

Carry Bloodseeker
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Jungle Bloodseeker
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Glass Cannon Bloodseeker
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	20	25

Talents

Hero Talents
+18% Max Thirst MS	25	2 Rupture Charges
15% Spell Lifesteal	20	+425 Rupture Cast Range
+120 Blood Rite Damage	15	+8% Rupture Initial Damage
+10% Bloodrage Spell Amplification	10	+25 Bloodrage Attack Speed

Notes:

• Stacks additively with other spell lifesteal sources.
  • Heals for 3% from non-hero units. Treats creep-heroes as creeps and does not heal off of illusions.

Tips & Tactics

General

• Bloodseeker should attempt to reach level six as soon as possible so he can start ganking with Rupture.
• Bloodseeker does not absolutely require Rupture to get early kills. With a few points into Bloodrage and Thirst, wounded enemies can be extremely easy to pickoff.
• Because of the damage and speed bonus from Thirst, Bloodseeker players should always keep an eye on the enemy team's overall health, no matter where they are.
  • An enemy team with low health means Bloodseeker has a significant advantage.
• Bloodseeker synergizes well with allies who have AoE damaging effects or global ranged spells, as several wounded enemies provide a large amount of bonus speed and damage for him to run in and finish them off.
• Bloodseeker wins games by being aggressive and maintaining a kill advantage over the enemy team. Do not try to passively outfarm harder carries like Medusa or Spectre.
• Bloodseeker is not a pure hard carry and should not be expected to counter other hard carries in the late game.

Abilities

Bloodrage

• In lane, Bloodrage is especially good to use when your creeps have come under tower, making it easier to last hit.
• Bloodrage costs less mana, and so should be used often to speed up farming.
• A smart opponent will harass a laning Bloodseeker when he has Bloodrage on, avoid using it until you are ready to get last hits; and if your health gets dangerously low, consider bloodraging a target creep to minimize harrass while still gaining some healing.
• When farming early creep camps, avoid taking hits while bloodraged, and only cast it after bringing creeps to near death, as the healing is far more valuable than the damage amplification during the early levels.
• You should Bloodrage the two biggest sources of damage when pushing to take down buildings faster.
  • Siege creeps are effective targets of Bloodrage.
• Use Bloodrage on an ally with AoE nuke abilities to greatly improve their damage output, and thereby increasing your bonus from Thirst.
• Be careful when using Bloodrage when outnumbered, as the increased damage received can kill him very quickly.
• Bloodrage can be used as a source of regeneration for teammates low on health, simply by allowing them to kill creeps while bloodraged.
• Bloodseeker can gain a double dose of healing from a target creep by bloodraging himself and the creep before killing it.
• Since Bloodrage will heal nearby buffed units for reduced value even if they are not the ones scoring kills, a smart Bloodseeker knows to apply Bloodrage to heal a low HP ally as Bloodseeker slain enemies.
  • Vice versa, a low HP Bloodseeker may want to use Bloodrage on himself while allies are killing enemy heroes, as it might be too dangerous for Bloodseeker himself to come close and finish them off.
• Because Bloodrage has a flaw where it slowly drains a percentage of your max HP as damage, it is generally wise to use it to score last hit or use it against creeps or unwise to use it on an ally with low health.

Blood Rite

• Use Blood Rite before closing in to attack. The silence will prevent enemies from disabling Bloodseeker.
• Use Blood Rite when retreating to prevent enemies from disabling Bloodseeker and his allies. The damage done to enemies will also help him move faster.
• Use Blood Rite after using Rupture to disable the target's abilities and prevent escape.
• Eul's Scepter of Divinity may prevent enemies from escaping Blood Rite.
• Blood Rite is best combined with a powerful area effect disable such as Berserker's Call, giving Bloodseeker more time to set up Blood Rite and prevent enemies from using spells to retaliate.

Thirst

• Thirst lets Bloodseeker gain passive buff whenever enemy heroes' HP fall below a certain threshold while also healing him if he kills a hero or creeps.
• During the laning phase, put at least one point in Thirst to remove the movement speed cap and provide heal to your kills.
• If Bloodseeker is near death in a teamfight, kill low health enemies/creeps in order to replenish his health before returning to fight tougher enemies.
• Thirst is usually maxed first because it helps Bloodseeker farm during the early game.
• Attacking the enemy will cause subsequent attacks to hit faster, and damage dealt in other lanes will provide a further boost to your speed.
• Each individual Meepo will add to the Thirst bonus stack.
• Since Thirst reveals low HP heroes on the map, allies with global abilities, such as Invoker or Nature's Prophet will have a chance to finish them off.
  • Ping the minimap to alert your team if you spot an enemy at low health. This is particularly effective in the early game against junglers, who rely on the safety of the trees to farm until their health drops very low.
• Slark is one of the reason why Bloodseeker can be a bad matchup against, because he can disable Shadow Dance passive regeneration.

Rupture

• When ganking, it is sometimes best to save Rupture for when your target begins running away rather than using it to initiate the gank, as they will take no damage while standing still and fighting you.
• Rupture deals pure damage and pierces spell immunity. Because of this, do not hesitate to use it on enemies even if they have Black King Bar or any abilities that grant spell immunity. Rupture can force an enemy to hold on its position and can waste BKB duration entirely.
• Rupture can be used with Force Staff to deal more damage. Or, if you have teammates such as Pudge or Vengeful Spirit, Rupture can be complemented with their abilities to trigger Rupture's damage, or help teammates with difficult aiming spells, such as Sacred Arrow, or Split Earth.
• Rupture works on most blinking heroes.
• Since Bloodseeker lacks any hard disables, thus causing enemy heroes to use Town Portal Scroll and escape, always have a support to help you prevent the enemy from escaping or invest for disabling items such as Skull Basher.
• Rupture is one of the best abilities for intercepting an enemy hero that is chasing you or your allies.
  • Heroes with high mobility such as Anti-Mage, Lycan, Queen of Pain, or Night Stalker suffer devastating damage when Ruptured.
• Some heroes have movement abilities that render them invulnerable, and therefore do not trigger Rupture's HP loss. Using Rupture on these heroes can be wasteful.
  • Storm Spirit with Ball Lightning
  • Faceless Void with Time Walk
  • Morphling with Waveform
  • Ember Spirit with Fire Remnant and Activate Fire Remnant

Items

Starting items:

• Quelling Blade gives more damage when hitting creeps, and is amplified by Bloodrage.

• Healing Salve allows Bloodseeker to heal up in situations where his health is so low that trying to heal with Thirst becomes too dangerous.

Early game:

• Wraith Band gives a cheap and efficient stat boost in the early game.

• Boots of Speed gives a higher base move speed, increasing the effectiveness of Thirst, and the item can be upgraded for very gold-efficient damage or stats.

• Orb of Corrosion can be useful in early ganks, letting Bloodseeker slow enemies and deal more damage.

• Magic Wand provides some attributes and a way to restore Bloodseeker's health and mana on demand.

Mid game:

• Power Treads provide more attack speed and agility for increased damage output; Bloodseeker can switch to strength for survivability, or intelligence for mana when using abilities.

• Maelstrom nicely complements Bloodrage with its Chain Lightning ability, giving a decent damage boost and speeding up his farming.

• Sange and Yasha gives Bloodseeker many bonuses including attributes and movement speed.

• Black King Bar makes Bloodseeker immune to most disables and nukes, allowing him to safely enter teamfights.

Late game:

• Silver Edge can be extremely helpful in ganking due to Bloodseeker's naturally high speed, and able to break enemy passives.

• Abyssal Blade gives Bloodseeker a powerful stun and a modest measure of durability.

• Butterfly provides much needed agility and attack speed as well as evasion.

• Gleipnir upgrades from Maelstrom and provides a root that can also pin down fleeing foes or set up Blood Rite, as well as a way to stop enemies from teleporting away.

Situational items:

• Blade Mail prevents enemies from targeting Bloodseeker during teamfights.

• Hand of Midas is sometimes bought if Bloodseeker has a good early game, or needs to match harder carries in the late game.

• Radiance's area damage allows Bloodseeker to quickly farm large numbers of creeps at once, making it a valuable item when Bloodseeker is taking a carry role. The area damage is amplified by Bloodrage, and allows him to both gain Thirst bonus from all nearby enemies.

• Monkey King Bar adds to Bloodseeker's attack damage, and counters evasion from the enemies with its magical damage Pierce procs that are guaranteed to land.

• Eul's Scepter of Divinity gives Bloodseker movement speed and mana regeneration which Bloodseeker needs as well as a way to stop enemies from teleporting away.

• Nullifier removes buffs (such as Ghost Scepter) that can stop Bloodseeker from focusing down targets.

• Satanic lets Bloodseeker heal himself quickly without having to rely on getting kills, which can be difficult in the late game.