Rigwarl, the Bristleback, is a melee strength hero famous for his array of synergistic, simplistic, and yet effective spells with low mana costs and cooldowns. Though each cast of his spells has relatively weak potency on its own, their instances have a cumulative effect, making the Bristleback quite deadly the longer he stays alive in a fight; this is directly reflected in his ultimate, Warpath, which powers up his movement and attack damage based on the number of spells he recently cast. He is able to increasingly slow his enemies down and reduce their armor with Viscous Nasal Goo and hit them with a barrage of Quill Sprays, making him an effective chaser when ganking enemies. His low strength gain makes him seem less tanky than most strength heroes at first glance, but his signature Bristleback passive substantially reduces all damage he takes from the sides and especially the rear, making him very difficult to bring down if he’s facing away from his enemies. In the right hands, Bristleback is a powerful ganker in the early stages of the game, and a powerful hard carry in the later stages depending on how much farm he gets.
Abilities:
1. Viscous Nasal Goo – Covers a target in snot, causing it to have reduced armor and movement speed. Multiple casts stack and refresh the duration.
2. Quill Spray – Sprays enemy units with quills dealing damage in an area of effect around Bristleback. Deals bonus damage for every time a unit was hit by Quill Spray in the last 14 seconds.
3. Bristleback – Bristleback takes less damage if hit on the sides or rear. If Bristleback takes 210 damage from the rear, he releases a Quill Spray of the current level.
4. Hairball – Coughs a quill-packed hairball towards the target location. Erupts at the location, hitting enemies in a 700 radius with Goo and 2 Quills. ***Requires Aghanim’s Shard to be unlocked.
5. Warpath – Bristleback works himself up into a fury every time he casts a spell, increasing his movement speed and damage.