What time is it? Time to Clockblock your way to victory you Goddamn Mongoloid (6.87)

6.87 OVERHAUL

AWWWWW SHIIEETT CLOCKWERK IS BACK IN DA BUILDING MORONS YEAAAAAA

"But Milk," you ask, "What's the big deal? They only buffed the damage from Battery Assault right?"

You dirty mongrel. Here's a list:

Other beneficial changes

Balancing of:
Burst damage heroes OD and Zues
Competing Off-laners Void, Enchantress and Beastmaster
Rats Prophet, Chen and Zet, and lastly
Illusion spammer Phantom Lancer via Diffusal Blade

Addition of Tome of Knowledge
Changes to Vanguard, Blade Mail and Lotus Orb


As such, the content in this guide has been overhauled to show you how to take advantage of the recent changes and get your filthy paws on that tasty, tasty +25

*Edit: Starting items changed due to Wind Lace costing 235 instead of 225 previously

A Totally Unbiased Introduction

Why Clockwerk you ask?

***** get off the bus if you don't know how good this rattle-rolling trashcan of death this guy is. With all the changes in 6.87, the world will once again recognize the game-changing power this badass holds in his pimp hands.

We all know the legend that was Bulba's Clockwerk back in 2013, the sound of his hook bringing forth as many cheers as heart attacks. For those of you who did not witness the savagery in TI3, here's a brief taste of the fear and trembling that he inspired in the souls of his enemies.

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With just Power Threads and BKB 40 minutes into the game, this man finds the kills that sets his team up for the game-winning push. That said, I am going to shove my 4.7k opinion down your throat and say that if you believe you are the **** and can bring your team to victory with nothing but pure skill, this is the guy you want. Not Shadow Feed, not ***gernaut, not ****chemist, this guy.

Why do I put my intelligence on the line to say this?

From the moment you pick Clockwerk, you are making a commitment to 1v3 a lane, rely on map awareness to scout enemy positions, make snap decisions on engaging, and be the first one everyone and their 2nd cousin clicks on the moment you land a 125aoe skill-shot. All this while making sure the enemy never sees you on their minimap until it's too late.

Make the right call, and you force the enemy to fight on your terms. Make the wrong call and take responsibility for your death, or worse, dragging your whole team out to die trying to save you. The ability to shape teamfights anywhere within 3000 range gives Clockwerk an immense influence over the game, while his short cooldowns and item independence allow the player to be active all the time.

With that out of the way, let's look at his skills.

The Tin Man Battle Plan

Easily the most annoying spell in the game, Battery Assault does a buttload of damage while making the unfortunate victim spaz out and panic. On a single target it is impossible to cast spells that have a casting time longer than 0.7 seconds, acting as a sort of silence as well as deterring the use of channeling spells. You will commonly see this happening on Earthshaker (before aghs), Shadow Fiend, Leshrac, and Luna.

This skill is insane at level 1, dealing a total of 320 damage. In comparison, Gyrocopter's Rocket Barrage does 210. Combined with the mini-stun, it has huge potential to score a first blood at the rune spot. It's also great at farming neutrals once maxed during a standstill, hot damn!

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Trap people inside, annoy people outside! This spell can be used to drain the lane, block off entrances or exits and even control the creep wave. Knocking back enemies also stuns them for an additional 0.85 seconds (an increase of 0.01!), which is handy against escape artists like Ember and Weaver. The decision to trap or knock back after landing the hookshot can determine the outcome of the fight, more on this later.

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Find enemies hiding in the trees, provide uphill vision, check Roshan, reveal enemy stacks, push a lane, harass and get last hits. This spell does so much work for just 50 mana and makes you feel like an absolute boss when you snipe off a hero returning to his fountain. Tell me someone saw that!

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Bloodseeker gets hard just thinking about this one. Covering 2000 range at level 1, you can walk off your lane, take a rune and gank the mid in just 10 seconds. You can engage faraway enemies from the moment you TP in. Simply being off the map forces supports to stay away from the river, whether to place wards or secure runes, and if you're ahead it can even scare them off their own jungle. You big bully.Clockwerk is a high octane, instant gratification-seeking hedonist and a masochistic attention *****. The lore fails to cover this, but we all know why, and it's because of this ultimate. Not only is it great at starting fights, you can also use it to escape ganks by targeting creeps or friendly heroes. It even goes through BKB, WHAT.

Now we'll look at the item and skill choices to best exploit the opposing team's v̶i̶r̶g̶i̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ weaknesses .

Skill/Item Choices

Skills

Rattletrap has to adapt to his situation and play accordingly. Save your first skill point until you need it, deciding in this manner:

You see a Drow Ranger coming in for the bounty rune alone at the 0-minute mark? Put that skill point in Battery Assault and go for it.

You're in a lane with melee heroes who cant kill you? Rev up those Power Cogs and tax them 80hp/mana per creep wave.

Does showing your face mean certain death? Your lane sucks *** buddy, get that Rocket Flare up and running, you can at least get last hits if you time it right.

You would want to max Battery Assault by level 7, but the path would vary based on your lane. The build presented above provides the most killing and harassing potential, saving Rocket Flare for level 8 to use only for scouting.

Of course, life is seldom that easy and you might have to swap Cogs for Flare much earlier, but you'll only want to keep it at level 1, as the damage from Battery Assault and duration of Cogs are your top priority.

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Items

When considering your starting items, look at the enemy line-up. Does your expected lane have early escape mechanisms like Leap, Pounce or Blink?

If yes, Orb of Venom isn't going to help much, get 2 Enchanted Mangos and Clarity instead.

Side note: You'll need to drain all the mana from these idiots before thinking of killing them yourself.

If no, Orb lets you easily close down and trap heroes in the first few levels. Once you reach level 6 you will no longer need it. Now that Wind Lace costs 10 extra gold, it cant be bought together with Tango and Orb, and the item no longer has value for money.

Ring of Health now gives 6hp/s for just 850 gold, making it much better than the conditional Tranquil Boots. Securing this item early gives you immense staying power in the lane, rush it. Once you have that and Stout, focus on getting your Arcane Boots before completing Vanguard.

With these two items, you will literally have NO HP or Mana regen problems. Bottle is a luxury at this point, and is more useful for storing runes now than previously when it was the sole source of fast mana when going Tranquils.

Now that Blade Mail reflects damage before all reductions, you can use it to full effectiveness with Vanguard and Pipe of Insight. And since you'll be the first one in most of the time, the item does an insane amount of work.

If you have the space, you should always pack (by order of importance) a TP, wards, and smoke. Being the ballsy, aggressive steel trap that he is, Clockwerk can (and should) run into the opposing jungle, get that vision, and maybe even a kill along the way. Use sentries to block camps and more importantly, deny vision from the enemy team. Smoke is used to cover your entry, but if you're into the whole clock mentality and simply DGAF, just walk in with only a Rocket Flare like the madman you are.

Once you have your big three, it's really up to you to decide which threats to address first, and if they work for multiple enemy heroes, more power to you. Some examples would be:

Ghost Scepter for Juggernaut
Lotus Orb for Lion (Can now be built easily by disassembling Arcane Boots)
Black King Bar for Invoker
Heaven's Halberd for Windranger

"But what if I don't need any of those?" Wehehellll then let's get some real damage in.
Veil of Discord increases the damage of ALL your spells, as well as the magic from the rest of your team.
Shiva's Guard gives armor, mana pool, and a huge aoe nuke-slow. What more could you ask for? I'd marry a Shiva's Guard if it was legal.

If gold is a problem, Force Staff provides good utility for its price. Push unsuspecting enemies into your Cogs or save yourself/your teammates from certain death. Just look at how this genius does it:

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I hope your pants are as wet as mine are, because now we're going into our decision making.

You mean I have to think to use this hero?

Of course you smelly camel humper! Your decisions on whether to hook, when to hook and who to hook can make the difference between getting kills, and getting killed. Do I grab the rune and jump on the mid near his tower, or do I wait for him to come closer to the rune before I "SPRING MY TRAP"? These small decisions will pop up all the time because Hookshot makes them all possible.

Let's look at another, more urgent decision.


An enemy Shadow Fiend is backing off after seeing you at the rune. At the same time, a friendly Dragon Knight and enemy Witch Doctor are closing in.

Your gut reaction would normally aim for the Shadow Fiend, especially if the ward is not present and Witch Doctor is not revealed. If you hit SF however, WD's spells would wreck both you and DK. You have to get past the initial pressure to engage and identify WD as the better target. Then his casks would not bounce, he cannot cast his ultimate, and SF's best option would be to walk away by the river or risk a 1v2.

Clockwerk needs vision to make the best decision, that's where Rocket Flare comes into play. If a fight is forming and you are going in, use it to scout the area behind the enemy line. Your mission is to snag and shag the enemy teamfight specialists like Enigma, Sand King, Magnus and Earthshaker before they ruin all of your ****.

How to Cogblock

A teamfight has broken out, and you've already joined bodies with a rival hero. Now the question is if you should force your masculinity on him or push him away, and where. Here's a brief overview of what to do.

Good Situations
Enemy is completely helpless to fight back, other heroes are distracted, you and him are at the edge of the fight. Trap and kill the nerd. Business as usual.

Okay Situations (Most Common)
Enemy is able to cast some spells, some heroes are targeting you, you and him are in the middle of the fight. Trap, and immediately open the cog facing your team. Most idiots would panic and spam right-click outside the cogs, pushing them further towards certain death. The smarter ones would attack the cog facing their own team, which would take a while if your Cogs are already maxed.

Bad Situations
Enemy has activated BKB, everyone is targeting you, you are far from your team but near his. Distance yourself, push him away and GTFO.

Combining what we've learnt on Hook and Cogs, let's look at another example:

Here we see a push being repelled and an opportunity to force a fight. The possible Hook lines are colour coded for levels of danger. In this case hooking the one in front is the safest choice, but the better play is to trap the one in the river while pushing back the front-most hero.

Also, if you're confident of killing a certain hero by yourself, tell your team in advance to focus the others if you land the hook on your target. No one likes securing that juicy enigma only for your whole team to flustercuck around him and get BLACKKKKK HOLEEEEEEEEED when he activates BKB.

Play it right, and Clockwerk can be the most fun, rewarding, and internally fulfilling hero you'll ever find. This guy pushes the hero in ways I never even thought possible, it's no wonder his M A T C H M A K I N G P O I N T S are twice that of mine:
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Now get out there, rattle and roll, and make your family proud for once. Any recommendations are welcomed.