Jin'zakk, Death from Above

Introduction

Batrider is a low-range Intelligence hero that excels at ganking, disrupting the enemy team's positioning with his Flamebreak and isolating key targets with his Flaming Lasso.

He is the most deadly hero in DOTA at level 2 with a haste rune, nothing can run away from him when he has Firefly & haste on, the damage he gets from Firefly and Sticky Napalm make for easy kills.

He starts out as a ganker early game & slowly begins to transition into a tank in mid & late-game.

Skillset

This is Batrider's bread and butter skill, it allows you to keep the enemy laner(s) under control, if they take 5 or more stacks of this then you can most probably go for the kill with Firefly and autoattacks.
Normal attacks from Batrider and all his skills get the bonus damage from Sticky Napalm.




This is a skill that can create complete chaos in the enemy lines due to the the push-back effect it has. I generally get only one level of it for the effect itself and not the damage, my Batrider usually takes a lot of pain especially during the early levels, so I need all the extra hitpoints I can get.
Good to cancel channeling spells and snipe enemy heroes getting away (sort of like Mirana's arrow).




Excellent synergy with Sticky Napalm, this skill allows Jin'Zakk to escape nasty ganks and in the same time allows him to get good positioning for his own ganks. This skill will not do much damage without Sticky Napalm though so keep that in mind.

In teambattles spam your Sticky Napalm as much as you can and in the same time spread your Firefly all over the battlefield, the damage will be easily noticeable once you get 3 or more stacks of that Sticky Napalm on the entire enemy team.




This skill might not look like much but it's pretty decent, use it on key enemy targets, blinkers, initiators (before they initiate ofc), carries, nukers.
Sometimes it's best to use this on the enemy carry(biggest damage dealer) even if you can't kill it, negating it's damage for 3/3.5/4 seconds is sometimes enough to give your team the upper hand.

Goes through Black King Bar, use it to get enemies closer to your team, make sure you have Firefly activated after your used this.

When to pick Jin'zakk

I generally take solo mid with Batrider, he's supposed to work solo side-lanes as well though.

Keep in mind, this hero has low range, which means he will most probably get out-harassed by long ranged heroes and he will have a hard time getting lasthits.

Long slows are your worst nightmare, they take out big chucks of your speed which decreases the time that you have to spread Firefly on the field.

Batrider is generally effective against most lineups except teams with extreme mobility (blinkers) and teams with lots of slows in their arsenal.

Batrider food

As I said before however, there aren't many heroes that are hard to take out for Batrider. He is effective most of the time.

Batrider counters

Very annoying to lane against especially if you happen to be a solo vs a dual with Lich in it. He has bigger range than you and his constant harassment will run you down.
This hero is easy to take out in a gank, however, he can be quite disruptive in teamfights.
Averagely annoying hero.


You would normally fear him during the lanning phase but he should fear you more, your Sticky Napalm will destroy any melee hero hoping to lane against you.
Only dangerous if he gets to cast Crippling Fear on you before you manage to pull out Firefly, the slow from his Void can be annoying as well.
Averagely annoying hero.


Let's see, he has magic immunity from Blade Fury but he doesn't deal too much damage to begin with, his damage mostly come from his Omnislash when he's in the early-mid stages.
Can be annoying to gank, he's out of the picture once he wasted his skills though.
Annoying hero.


You tank, he deals damage in percentage of your health and life-drains it in the same time with Feast, he has magic immunity from Rage and he has a slow from Open Wounds, not the best hero to go against.
Annoying hero.


He has Degen Aura which is a aoe slow, Repel which removes all of your Sticky Napalm stacks and Purification.
Hard to gank his allies or even himself, not as disruptive in teamfights for you since his ultimate only blocks physical damage and not magical.
Averagely annoying hero, would've been more annoying if his aura had a bigger aoe.


He is a slow killer and so are you, his Venomous Gale will make your ganks a bit harder and his Poison Nova will tear you apart in teambattles if you are not prepared for it.
Annoying hero.


This is a double-edged sword, if he can keep his distance, he will run you into the ground with his Nethertoxin and Poison Attack, however if you get close to him he will most likely die unless he has his Viper Strike to save him and that's not a certain escape either.
Can take away a big chunk your teamfight potential by casting Viper Strike on you once you cast your Firefly, he gets magic resistance from Corrosive Skin and all of your skills are magic damage, he is however easy to gank.
Annoying hero, depends more on player skill level.


Shouldn't be too hard to outlane, should be impossible to kill though. His only annoying skill against you is Nightmare and his Fiend's Grip if he decides to cast it on you but that's highly unlikely.
His Nightmare lasts 7 seconds, that's even worse than Viper Strike so you won't even be able to cast anything...
Extremely annoying hero if the player is skilled, Nightmare is easy to break and he isn't such a easy hero to play as.

Batrider synergy

Surge is haste on demand, Vacuum helps your deal your damage and get your Sticky Napalm on everyone and Ion Shell works so well on you because you are generally really close to your enemies. Makes for easy ganks and good teamfights.


All you want from his is that spammable Repel, you will be unstoppable in teamfights with it. The purrification is a welcome addition as well. Makes for great teamfights.


Most of the time when you go in teamfights people will try to gun you down, and sometimes they might succeed, however with Dazzle and his Shallow Grave around you should have time to deal a decent amount of damage before going out. Makes for good teamfights, doesn't have as much synergy with Batrider as the others do.

Similar concept to Dark Seer except one is channeling in a smaller aoe and the other is a big aoe stun. Be careful to don't send everyone out of Enigma's Black Hole with your Flamebreak. Great teamfight potential.

Runes

As a solo mid player/hero you want to keep a close eye on those runes, don't hesitate to scout top or bot if you manage to push the mid lane early game to the enemy tower.


Illusion - only good for scouting and refilling bottles (if you have one), can be decent in late-game pushes.

Invisibility - not such a great rune on Batrider but I guess it can save you a part of your Firefly duration so you can activate it when you are close the enemy already.

Double Damage - this with your Sticky Napalm will make for ever quicker ganks, not the best rune on Batrider but definitely not a useless one either.

Haste - the most powerful rune for Batrider with this, nothing can get away from you. It's very easy getting first blood at level 2 with this rune, Firefly and Sticky Napalm, never miss any of these runes.

Regeneration - more of a lane sustainability rune, always a good rune to find during any stage of the game.

Item choice

---

Healing Salve
2 sets of Tangoes
2 Iron Branches
Circlet

The Healing Salve and 2 sets of Tangoes are there for surviving early game harassment (if any).

The 2 Iron Branches are there for the status and will later be turned into a Magic Wand.

The circle is there for status as well and will later be turned into a Bracer.

---

Power Treads
3 Bracers
Magic Wand

I pick Power Treads for the hp boost mostly.

The 3 Bracers are there to help you tank in the early levels. The build-up these have really help you through your early game tankage in your ganks.

The Magic Wand is there for those marginal cases where a small boost of hp/mana can make a difference in whatever situation you find yourself into.

Total gold: 3534

---

Blink Dagger

If you are having a hard time getting to your targets or you simply need to mobility it provides, Blink Dagger is a good item to have on Batrider, know that if you blink while you have a enemy latched by your Flaming Lasso, your ultimate will be canceled.


Force Staff

Yet another loved item on Batrider, the active effect can be used while you have a enemy in Flaming Lasso without canceling it, it's a bit more reliable than Blink Dagger for getting out of sticky situations & saving allies but sadly, the range is smaller.


Heart of Tarrasque

The enemy like focusing you ? This is the perfect item to build if you truly are your team's main tank. Especially effective against those pure damage dealers when hp is the only way to go.


Shiva's Guard

Getting owned by autoattackers and ranged fire? Does the enemy team have armour reduction skills? Another great item for Jin'zakk, helps you tank and further empowers your already huge potential to deal aoe damage and also allows for better chasing/pushing. That early Platemail can help you a lot.


Hood of Defiance

If the enemy team is full of magic damage, this is the way to go, we don't want to go Black King Bar and make the enemy focus our weaker allies now do we? A early Cloak can be helpful.

---

Most players usually build Vanguard to boost up their hp, but I found out that 2-3 early Bracers serve my gamestyle way more than that later Vanguard.
Let us compare the 2 options:

Vanguard gives :

275 hit points
+6hp/sec
70% chance to block 40 damage

Components : Stout Shield + Ring of Health + Vitality Booster
Total cost : 250+875+1100= 2225 gold

3 Bracers give :

19hp(per str point) x 6(bracer gives +6str) x 3(3 bracers)
342 hit points in total
3(bracer gives 3 damage) x 3(3 bracers) + 3(dmg per point of int) x 3(3 bracers)
18 damage
9 agility which roughly translates into 1.3 armor

Components : 3x Gauntlets of Strength + 3x Circlets + 3x bracer recipe
Total cost : 3x 150 + 3x 185 + 3x 190 =1575 gold


The advantage of the 3 Bracers is that they are easy to build & you get them way earlier, they also offer more hp than Vanguard.
However, they do not offer you any kind of regeneration or damage block and they also take up 3 valuable inventory slots, so if you think you'll need that damage block specifically (against Broodmother or Death Prophet) then go ahead with the Vanguard otherwise I think a bunch of Bracers should suffice.

---

Most of my games usually end with: 3x Bracers Power Treads Magic Wand and a Platemail or Hood of Defiance

---

Early game, lanning phase and early ganks

As said in the "Runes" chapter I prefer my Batrider solo mid.
If the enemy mid laner is melee then you really shouldn't have any problems keeping him down, spam your Sticky Napalm on him, if he stands in it for 5 stacks and refuses to go back, go for the kill, if he does go back, use that time to get some lasthits.

If the enemy mid laner is ranged, you might have some issues, try to keep your distance (most heroes will have bigger range than you) and spam your Sticky Napalm on them, it has a very big casting range. Same rules apply as if he was a melee hero from there on.

You can start your spamming even from level 1 preparing them for your Firefly once you reach level 2. Some of them might get a Magic Stick to "counter" you a bit, this might work if the lane is pushed towards their tower, however if they manage to push the creeps to your tower and they got a bunch of stacks on them, a Magic Stick just won't save them, the slow from Sticky Napalm will be unbearable and you will have plenty of damage.

If you manage to push the creeps a bit closer to his tower, don't hesitate to scout for runes and maybe get that early first blood with a haste rune.

Focus lasthitting rather than denying, Batrider needs at least a Boots of Speed to be effective in his ganks.

At level 6 your laning phase officially ends and you are now a constant roamer, you should have a Boots of Speed and a Town Portal Scroll at least, waiting for you home. Focus on finishing your Power Treads first instead of getting early Bracers, speed is more important for a ganker.

Mid game, ganks and suicide missions

Once you got home, get whatever items you could afford + that Town Portal Scroll, tp on one of your allied lanes (use second tower if the lane is too pushed, so the enemy won't see you coming) that is a bit pushed and proceed to get your first kill (if you didn't get a first blood already).

Start your Firefly and get in a good position (since you can fly over anything), then just simply cast Sticky Napalm on your targets until you reach your main target, cast flamming lasso on it a drag it back towards your teammates so you can finish the job faster. It's kind of impossible to avoid Batrider's ganks unless they towerhug, and even then, Batrider is a good tower diver.

If your allies happen to have stuns and are capable of taking 1 enemy laner alone, maybe you can focus on the one they can't take out instead.

Once that is done, you should be able to get your Belt of Strength and have another Town Portal Scroll waiting for you home.

You could farm a bit while your ultimate is in cooldown, but once it's up or nearly up it's time to get moving.

Focus item-dependant heroes in your ganks, especially carries. Try to help with the pushing after a gank if your lanemates are capable.

Keep ganking until the laning phase is officially done for everyone. Don't ignore runes!!

By the end of midgame you should have your Power Treads,2-3 Bracers, Magic Wand and a part of your next big item, or a bunch of gold.

Late game, teambattles and pushes

If your team is average and you did a good job in the early stages, there really shouldn't be any late-game to speak about.

If things drag this long it's either because you have some kinda of hard carry in your team that just can't do much early-mid game or you are kinda on the loosing side.

If you are however, doing fine and everything is under control, focus on finishing your first big item and working towards your second.

If you opt for mobility with Blink Dagger and Force Staff you will end up as your team's initiator, pick your targets carefully.

If you opt for tankage, then either wait for their initiator to initiate or yours, then just spam your Sticky Napalm and spread Firefly across the the battlefield, disable the enemy carry with Flaming Lasso and drop a Flamebreak from time to time. Don't forget to autoattack as well since your attacks also get amplified by Sticky Napalm

If you win the teambattle then push if you are able to, otherwise look for a rune (maybe you get a lucky regeneration) or go heal.

You should be a annoying hero to kill even for enemy carries due to your extreme tankiness and Firefly.

There isn't much to say in this section, ganking time will be over, most of the time it will be clashes, outlast your enemy and burn them all for as long as you can. If you manage to catch lone targets before a push, especially important heroes like : Enigma Earthshaker Storm Spirit Lich Sand King or their carry then kill it and the push while they are dead. Watch out for buybacks.

Notes

Here is a small video I did of Batrider in DOTA1, it shows a level 2 gank with haste rune, teambattles and fast decisions.

Play Video

• If you go for a Hood of Defiance and the enemy is full of magic damage, maybe you can build a Pipe of Insight out of it for your teammates as well seeing as you will be close enough to them when you cast it.
• While Fireflying you are unjukeable, Batrider gains vision in a decent aoe around him.
• Flamebreak will push away targets near the location of impact, so if you want to push someone aim to a target close to him and not at him directly. Use it to scout surroundings since it gives decent vision.
• If the enemy has a spammable silence on their side make sure you have your Firefly activated before you meet them.
• You will most probably have a hard time killing heroes with escape mechanisms ( Mirana Weaver Storm Spirit Queen of Pain) alone, so try to have a teammate around before wasting your time like that.
• Once you get used to Flamebreak's range you can guess when it's going to blow up on it's own and you can push enemies back with it towards your team.