Dota 2 | Kez Hero Build Guide

Kez is the newest member of Dota 2's roster of distinguished heroes. A flightless wonder bird, he wields two weapon sets, giving him access to two different disciplines. The leader of the Kazurai, Kez, swoops in with his Katana and Sais to overwhelm his enemies with his superior Disciple.

He is a flexible carry, offering an incredibly versatile playstyle with many flexible options. He is one of the harder heroes to play and manage, sitting up there with the likes of Invoker and Meepo. His wide range of abilities is incredibly versatile, but this also makes him hard to master.

Kez has his signature ability, Switch Disciple, which basically allows him to switch between his Katana and Sais.  His Katanas have a longer range and deal more damage, while his Sais are fast. In the early stages of the game, you'll probably rely on the Sais for quick last-hitting and switch to the Katana when it comes to bullying the enemy in the lane. Later on, the Katana should rotate to be your go-to option, while the Sais remain mainly for farming. Regardless, once you get your Aghs, you can easily and quickly switch between them, blurring the lines of use they may have.

1st Abilities

Echo Slash

Echo Slash lets you move in a static direction and deals a moderate amount of damage. This is no nuker by any means and is far more reliable as a finisher, letting you close in on fleeing enemies. This is good when paired with his 3rd Sais ability, mainly because disabled or stunned enemies maximize any damage dealt by Echo Slash. Like many other abilities of its kind, Falcon Rush can be creatively used to run away from danger by utilizing terrain like cliffs. Remember that this ability instantly casts in the direction you're facing. So be careful when using it.

Falcon Rush

Falcon Rush is most useful when in the heat of battle, giving you evasion and phased movement. In the early game, it is also useful when chasing down enemies in lane since the phased movement lets you basically walk over enemy or ally creeps in the way. Note that you can switch back to your Katana with Falcon Rush active to maximize the damage you deal.

2nd Abilities

Grappling Claw

This is another great movement ability that lets you not only close in on fleeing enemies or otherwise initiate but also claw back to potentially full HP because of the lifesteal. One of his strongest abilities, you can also use it on trees for bonus movement shenanigans, cruising around the map, and ignoring cliffs if there are trees nearby. Grappling Claw is good when paired with his first and second Sais abilities since the first instinct of a ganked enemy is to right-click you. If you're lucky, they might even auto-attack you.

Talon Toss

Tossing a sai, dealing with some damage, and silencing nearby enemies. This ability is great for interrupting enemy spells or for you to use when initiating allies to maximize effect. It has a relatively low cooldown at max level, so don't be afraid to spam it all the time.

3rd Ability

Kazurai Katana

His third ability is great for dealing with enemy tanks, especially against heroes with high regen like Huskar and Timbersaw. Remember that this stacks, so the more you fight, the more effect this has. With Aghanim's Shard, this becomes a decent finisher to quickly deal damage and lock the enemy in a mini-stun. Exceptionally good when used with the first ability.

Shodo Sai

A really cool-looking ability, the Shodo Sai marks enemies when you attack them, so it basically boosts the damage dealt by you. You should use the active component often, especially when facing enemy carries. Try to time it right to be unpredictable instead of having it active for a while. Remember that the active portion only works if you're facing the enemy and you're locked while the ability is active.

Ultimates

Raptor Dance

This is something you want to use when the enemy is clumped together, so it's definitely a team fight ability. If you're ganked, don't be afraid to use it in conjunction with your movement abilities to either run away or buy enough time for your team to swoop in. The health restoration it offers is also useful for you when in a pinch. Remember that you can still be attacked when channeling it, so don't use it when you have incredibly low HP. At that point, the other ultimate is more useful.

Raven's Veil

Drops a smoke bomb, or rather creates a smoke wave. A great disruption ability, making you invisible and giving you movement speed. Raven's Veil is best used for escaping a gank or to set up one. You can switch disciplines while under this invisibility, so you can use it with Raptor Dance and potentially negate any risk to yourself with Raptor Dance's channeling.

Skill Order

For the first five levels, it is generally better if you stick to the Katana abilities since all the Sais ones are better for dealing with enemies. So, you should get the 3rd skill first, giving you a good passive to work with but also a nice active with the Sais, letting you potentially negate damage from enemy harassment and instead deal a good deal of damage back. You'll want a 1 1 3 build during the laning stage, getting the ultimate at 6th. Afterward, you want to max out the 3rd skill and focus on the 1st, ignoring your talent upgrade in favor of the 2nd skill. Then, at level 14, you should get your level 10 talent, followed by your level 15 talent. Afterwards, it mainly depends on what you are facing. 

The reason you go for a 1 1 3 build is that in the early game, you can easily placate enemy regeneration, while one level in Echo Slash and Grappling Claw gives you a lot of movement options. As a carry, your goal in the early game is to survive, after all. As for your talent build, you want to get the 12% magic resistance, as you can get mana regen in other ways. For the level 15 talent, you should get the Falcon rush duration. For level 20, get the increased DPS. Finally, at level 25, the extra attack from the Echo Slash turns that particular ability into a scary nuke.

Item Builds

For starters, you will want the usual quelling blades for farming, tango, and iron branches for sustainability during the lane. You should grab an early magic stick if you have lots of spammy spellcasters around. Only one wraith band is good enough for your early items.

The main items you should get are phase boots or power treads. This mostly depends on the playstyle you want. If you want a more aggressive playstyle and find yourself not being able to keep up with the enemy, get the phase boots. If you need more versatility and hitting power, get the treads. Another key item you want early is a Yasha, building into a Manta Style. This gives you a lot of agility to work with, as well as illusions that work great with your other abilities.

Diffusal Blade, Desolator, and Shadow Blade are all nice mid-tier items to get, mostly depending on what kind of enemies you are facing. For instance, if you feel that you're not dealing enough damage, get a Desolator; if you're dying a lot, or if the enemy has heroes like Bristleback, build a shadow blade. Black King Bar is a universal choice and is always helpful.

Some of the key and core items Kez should try and get are Butterfly, Satanic, and Aghs. The butterfly is the best agility item, and although it has been nerfed to oblivion, it is still useful. Beware of enemies that naturally build into MKBs, though. You also want to keep an eye out for enemies building the Eye of Skadi. This is an item you would also have fun with, so it's obvious why they're annoying to play against. Satanic keeps up your survivability, especially against enemy carriers.

For super late-game items, nothing ever goes wrong with an Abyssal blade or Nullifier for that extra bit of disruption and disabling.

Picks & Counters

Kez is good against illusion heroes like PL due to his abilities and his having a lot of AoE options. He also suffers against Diffusal builders like PL, so it's a more balanced relationship. He also suffers when enemies can restrict his movement or nuke him down. He is also one of those carries who prefers to fight with his team rather than go on solo killing sprees.

Kez is an incredibly complicated hero that requires a thorough understanding of his abilities and mechanics. You will always keep the enemies guessing due to the number of abilities at your disposal. Ultimately, you must play and learn effective use of these to really get better. However, proper use of his abilities will get you far as long as you remember to use them in concert with each other instead of spamming them one after another.

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