Hon Guide Night Hound - Hero guide, Item, Abilities and strategy
Introduction
Night Hound is the only hero with a passive stealth ability, making him permanently invisible as soon as he obtains it. The combination of Smoke Bomb and Pounce allows you to get to enemies quickly while leaving them unable to defend themselves.
Night Hound is best played with a ranged support. He fulfills the hard carry role.
Hero guide
Normally you won't go too aggressive early on with Night Hound. However he is able to output a lot of damage with just Pounce and auto-attacks. If you run into a sticky situation remember that Pounce can also be used on allies in order to escape. Try to place Smoke Bomb a little ahead of where your opponent is moving to in order to maximize the length of time the enemy is in it.
Work on building up your Agility and attack enemy heroes form the back. Using a Nullfire Blade can force enemies to be under Smoke Bomb for the entire duration thanks to the slow effect. Pay attention to the items of enemy heroes so that you know who has True Sight and who doesn't, as you'll want to avoid enemies who can see you.
In the late game, it's safe to assume your opponent will always have True Sight. Shrunken Head and Geometer's Bane should help in keeping you alive. Placements of Smoke Bomb will be the key to victory against other more powerful late game heroes.
Abilities
Smoke Bomb: Night Hound throws a smoke bomb at target location. Enemies standing within the smoke are silenced and will have a higher chance to miss with their attacks. Enemies within the cloud also have reduced Movement Speed and Attack Speed.
Pounce: Taking full advantage of the element of surprise, Night Hound teleports behind a target unit. If target unit is an enemy, Night Hound will strike them when he teleports behind them, dealing additional damage.
Backstab: Night Hound is a master at exploiting openings in combat. When he attacks a target from behind, he does extra damage equal to a percent of his agility.
Invisibility: Night Hound learns to better conceal himself, making him invisible to the naked eye when not attacking.
Item Build
