Dota 2: How to Build Kez Support

Kez is the newest Dota character and arrived with the new chapter of Crownfall, with the promise of changing not only the lore of the game but also the gameplay. He’s a Flithless, a young warrior who must lead a rebellion to restore the reign in Skywrath.

[quote]{Flightless fury! Heh, that’s what they call me}{Kez}

Kez has been available for use in matches for just over two weeks, and since his release, there has been a lot of talk about this hero due to his abundance of abilities and Valve's history of releasing new characters that end up needing to be rebalanced soon after due to being too broken.

Kez's winrate is currently quite below 50% in all positions, which can be considered a low performance, but analyzing the data from recent matches and considering the rate at which the hero is selected in matches, we can see that, as expected, many players have been choosing Kez in competitive matches at the highest ranks, and this can be a determining factor for a low winrate.

I believe that since the hero is still new to the game, a lot about him still needs to be tested further, such as builds, play style, etc. This includes his position in the team. In the vast majority of matches, you can see that Kez is chosen as a Hard Carry, the most obvious role for a melee hero with combat skills, but what if there are other roles where he can be more useful?

In this article, I will present a different and more fun build proposal for this hero, thinking about how he can behave in the Support 4 position. It’s important to emphasize that the objective of this article is simply to propose a fun and creative strategy, but one that is still functional, exploring this new character to the fullest.

Abilities

Kez has no facets, but he does have an Aghanim upgrade, which we will discuss later. All of his abilities are based on his weapons and he can switch between his Katana or Shodo Sai through his innate ability, Switch Discipline, which changes his skills and provides new possibilities and combat strategies, making this hero extremely versatile. When Kez activates his innate ability, the skills of the switched weapon go on cooldown.

It’s important to note that Kez can switch to Katana after using a Shodo Sai ability, maintaining its effects, and vice versa.

Echo Slash / Falcon Rush

Echo Slash is a dash forward, slashing the path Kez passes through, followed by a second slash from Kez's echo. Units hit are slowed. This ability is great for farming quickly or gaining ground in combat while dealing damage.

Falcon Rush allows Kez to move quickly to attack his opponents, generating secondary echo attacks while the effect lasts. Falcon Rush can be activated right before Switch Discipline to deal more damage per second. The main advantage of this ability is to use it and then immediately switch to the Katana, which maximizes the damage output and can secure some kills in the first few minutes of the game.

Grappling Claw / Talon Toss

Grappling Claw throws a grappling hook at a tree or enemy, allowing Kez to quickly travel the distance to his target, slowing the target. If the target is an enemy hero, Kez gains lifesteal. Use this ability to escape, move faster, or reach a distant enemy.

Talon Toss will deal damage and silence units within the ability's radius of effect.

Kazurai Katana / Shodo Sai

Kazurai Katana is a powerful passive ability that reduces the regeneration of enemies hit by katana strikes, in addition to applying a debuff that deals bonus damage over time based on the damage dealt by the attack. It can be enhanced with Aghanim's Shard.

Shodo Sai is another passive that causes all Sai attacks to have a chance to mark the enemy hit, applying a slow. Marked units, when attacked by Kez, get stunned, are dealt critical damage and the attacks have a true hit.

Raptor Dance / Raven’s Veil

Kez's ults are quite different from each other and can be utilized in very interesting ways depending on the situation.

Raptor Dance requires a channeling time, but grants Kez immunity and absolute magic resistance, which is quite powerful. After the channeling ends, Kez performs a series of slashes around himself with his katana, dealing damage while being healed based on the max HP of the enemies hit.

Raven's Veil releases a smokescreen over an area, reducing enemy vision and applying the Shodo Sai mark. Kez becomes invisible, allowing him to flee or perform a new attack.

Aghanim

Aghanim’s Shard enhances Switch Discipline, allowing Kez to reset the cooldown of the ability upon using any weapon skill.

Aghanim’s Scepter enhances both passives, allowing Kazurai Katana to be cast on a target, impaling and stunning them. However, Kez is also stunned. Shodo Sai passively grants movement speed based on enemies affected by the ability’s debuff.

Building the Hero

For this build, we will consider Kez playing in position 4, as a support. Since he’s a hero who already deals a lot of damage right from the start, you can secure some kills in the initial minutes by focusing on the weaker enemies and executing ganks in the other lanes.

To achieve this, leave your base with Orb of Venom and sustain items. The orb will deal extra damage per second to enemies and will be great for punishing them in lane. Keep an eye on the map to execute ganks when necessary, always focusing on the weaker heroes. Falcon Rush finishing with Falcon Dance is a combo that will almost always guarantee kills and even some team wipes in certain situations.

As soon as possible, buy your Orb of Corrosion and start acquiring items for Desolator, which goes very well with this strategy, and if executed well will practically turn you into a killing machine. Tranquil Boots is a great option since you will be constantly fighting and can be combined with Drum of Endurance to later acquire Boots of Bearing, benefiting not only you, but also your allies. Sange and Yasha is another item that goes very well with this hero, and Orchid Malevolence will be the main weapon to bring hell upon any enemy you catch off guard along the way.

Black King Bar is always an essential item for any melee hero and will allow you to start fights more safely. Bloodthorn will provide more attack speed and damage, in addition to silence.

Some optional items you might want to consider are Vladmir’s Offering, which will make Kez more resilient in combat; Gleipnir, which provides increased damage and attack speed, as well as allowing you to trap fleeing enemies and deal extra damage to illusions; Mage Slayer, which is an excellent option over Orchid Malevolence; Linken’s Sphere if you’re constantly being targeted by control or annoying single-target abilities; and Daedalus to maximize critical damage.

As for talents, you can opt for +12% magic resistance at level 10 and focus on talents that improve Falcon Rush and Shodo Sai at later levels to maximize the effectiveness of the build.

Kez is a strong but complex hero, who demands a bit more than conventional melee heroes and can become as powerful as any of them in the late game. As a support, alongside a strong Offlaner, this hero can do a lot of damage in a match and provide very fun and interesting games.

This concludes another article. Leave your questions, suggestions, criticisms and/or compliments in the comments. Thanks for reading, and see you next time.