Hoodwink · Soft Support (pos. 4)
Hoodwink for Beginners
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
Hoodwink is a ranged Agility hero that Valve tags as Support, Nuker and Escape. It is played mainly as Soft Support (pos. 4): 65% of the public matches we measured, by starting lane and starting items. In this guide you play it as Soft Support (pos. 4): your job is to help your offlaner win the hard lane, rotate for kills and make space with your spells. Hoodwink is of average difficulty: learn the basics below and it rewards you quickly.
Strengths
- Reliable stun: Bushwhack sets up kills and interrupts enemy channels.
- Invisibility with Decoy to scout, escape or set up ganks.
- Heavy magical burst: Valve lists it as a Nuker.
Weaknesses
- Low base armor (0): vulnerable to physical harass early on.
- Plays on little gold: expensive items arrive late.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
Builds
Simple build
When to use it
The most-bought items without the situational ones: buy them in this order and focus on playing the hero.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
230%166%- OfflaneMain66% of matchesOff lane next to your offlaner, as Soft Support (pos. 4).
- Safe lanePriority 230% of matchesSafe lane next to your carry, as Hard Support (pos. 5).
Starting items
Core items
- 1Essence DistillerYour first big item.
- 2Blink DaggerSecond: buy it right after.
- 3Force StaffThird: completes your core.
Boots
Late game
Skill order
Max order:Bushwhack›Acorn Shot›Scurry
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | ● | · | · |
Talents by level
- +400 Sharpshooter Max Damage2 Acorn Shot Charges25
- Sharpshooter Provides Vision While Charging+2 Acorn Shot Bounces20
- +1 Scurry Ability Charge+10 Agility15
- +175 Health+50 Bushwhack Damage10
Abilities
- Acorn Shot19 / 16 / 13 / 10s70 / 80 / 90 / 100 mpFires Hoodwink's attack with an acorn at the target unit. The acorn bounces to nearby targets, slowing them and dealing a percentage of Hoodwink's attack with bonus damage.
If point targeted, a tree is created at the target position and the acorn will bounce to nearby targets. The ability may be placed on alt-cast to force this behavior.
- Bonus damage
- 45·90·135·180
- Base damage
- 80%
- Bounce count
- 2·3·4·5
- Slow duration
- 0.3
- Movement slow
- 100%
- Bushwhack15 / 14 / 13 / 12s90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mpTosses a net trap that stuns enemies if they are near a tree in the area. Affected enemies take damage over time and are pulled towards the tree nearest to them within the target area, and have their vision reduced to 0 for the duration of the stun.
- Radius
- 265
- Stun duration
- 1.5·1.7·1.9·2.1
- Total damage
- 90·180·270·360
- Scurry35 mpHoodwink gains bonus movement speed, phased movement, and tree-walking for a brief time. While active, the redirect chance of Mistwoods Wayfarer is multiplied by 2.
- Bonus movement speed
- 15%·20%·25%·30%
- Buff duration
- 3.5·4·4.5·5
Decoy30s60 mpHoodwink turns invisible, increasing her movement speed, and creates a decoy illusion that starts aiming a decreased damage Sharpshooter at the nearest enemy hero. If the illusion is attacked or hit by a targeted ability, it is destroyed and it throws a lesser bushwhack towards the enemy.- Illusion duration
- 6
- Bushwhack radius
- 250
- Bushwhack duration
- 1.6
- Movement speed
- 15%
- Sharpshooter damage
- 60%
Hunter's Boomerang20s125 mpTosses a boomerang in an arc. Upon contact, it returns to Hoodwink. The boomerang will deal damage as it passes through or hits enemies, and apply a debuff that causes affected enemies to be slowed and be more vulnerable to spell damage.- Radius
- 150
- Damage
- 200
- Debuff duration
- 6
- Movement slow
- 25%
- Incoming spell damage amp
- 20%
- Sharpshooter45s150 / 200 / 250 mpHoodwink charges up and fires a deadly bolt from her crossbow, dealing heavy damage, break and slow to an enemy Hero. The damage and debuff duration scale up to max after x0.75 seconds, and the bolt is fired automatically after x0.75 seconds.
Hoodwink is knocked backwards for a distance of 350 from the force of the shot. Creeps hit by the bolt are damaged for half the values.
- Arrow speed
- 2200
- Max wind-up time
- 3
- Max damage
- 600·975·1350
- Max debuff duration
- 5
- Move slow
- 30%·40%·50%
End SharpshooterRelease the charged up shot, regain ability to move and attack.
Mistwoods WayfarerPassive- Tree search radius
- 275
- Redirect chance
- 14.25%
Most played skill order
The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.
Max order:Bushwhack›Acorn Shot›Scurry
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● | · | · | ● | ● | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | ● | ● | · | · | · | · | ● | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | · | · | ● |
| · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | ● | · | ● | · | ● | ● | · | · |
Strategy
1What Hoodwink does
Hoodwink is a ranged Agility hero that Valve tags as Support, Nuker and Escape. It is played mainly as Soft Support (pos. 4): 65% of the public matches we measured, by starting lane and starting items. The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Bushwhack and invisibility with Decoy. Its ultimate is Sharpshooter.
2The basics
In this guide you play it as Soft Support (pos. 4): your job is to help your offlaner win the hard lane, rotate for kills and make space with your spells.
- Vision: a ward in the right place saves more lives than any spell.
- Positioning: you are the easiest kill on the map, so stand where the enemy can't reach you first.
3Common mistakes
Most new players lose games with the same few mistakes. Avoid these and you'll already be ahead:
- Taking last hits from your carry.
- Placing wards during the fight instead of before it.
- Standing in front of your cores in fights.
4Your first games
Position 4 starts in the off lane with your offlaner: harass the enemy carry, block or pull their camp when it helps and look for the first rotation to mid once the runes spawn. Use the simple build in this guide and don't worry about situational choices yet.
Tips
- Vision: a ward in the right place saves more lives than any spell.
- Positioning: you are the easiest kill on the map, so stand where the enemy can't reach you first.
- Check the minimap every few seconds: most deaths come from heroes you didn't see coming.
- Learn what Sharpshooter does before anything else: it's the ability that wins fights.
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 7.41.
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