Guide to Boush - The Tinker

Quick Reference Section

This section is for people who want to get a rough idea of the item and skill build of the hero. It’s designed such that you can always tab out in the middle of your DotA game and read it in 10 seconds or so. Enjoy!

Newbie friendly: Yes
Last hit creeping necessary: No
Good micromanaging necessary: No
Good general DotA knowledge necessary: No

Skill Build:

1. Heat Seeking Missile
2. March of the Machines
3. Heat Seeking Missile
4. March of the Machines
5. Heat Seeking Missile
6. March of the Machines
7. Heat Seeking Missile
8. March of the Machines
9. Rearm
10 - 12. Attribute Bonus
13 - 14. Laser
15 – 16. Rearm
17 - 18. Laser
19 – 25. Attribute Bonus

Item Build:



================================================================================

Table of contents:

A. Introduction: Tinker's Basic Information
B. Skill Build
C. Item Build
D. Strategy
D1. Skill Analysis
D2. Walkthrough by game stages:
D2a. Early game
D2b. Mid game
D2c. Late game
E. Conclusion

A. Introduction: Tinker's Basic Information



Initial Stats:
HP/ MP: 473 / 273
Damage: 43-49
Armor: 3
Strength/ Agility/ Intelligence: 17 + 2.0/ 13+ 1.2/ 21+2.2
Range: 500
MoveSpeed: 285

Tinker's Strength:

1. Rearm is imbal with the right items;
2. Uber high survivability with the right items;
3. Good pusher.

Tinker's Weaknesses:

1. Horrible stats gain;
2. IceFrog hates him so he gets nerfed in every single version.

B. Skill build:

1- Laser



Fires an intense beam of light at a target, dealing damage and blinding all in the area for 18(9) seconds. Deals precise damage.

Level 1 - 80 damage, 10% miss.
Level 2 - 160 damage, 15% miss.
Level 3 - 240 damage, 20% miss.
Level 4 - 320 damage, 25% miss.

2 – Heat Seeking Missile



The Tinker fires a rocket at the nearest visible enemy hero. Range of 2500.

Level 1 - 100 damage.
Level 2 - 175 damage.
Level 3 - 250 damage, 2 targets.
Level 4 - 325 damage, 2 targets.

3- March of the Machines



Calls in hordes of robotic goblins to destroy your enemies.
Level 1 - 16 damage/goblin.
Level 2 -24 damage/goblin.
Level 3 - 32 damage/goblin.
Level 4 - 40 damage/goblin.

4- Rearm



Instantly refills the Tinker's weapons.
Level 1 - 3 seconds to rearm.
Level 2 - 2 seconds to rearm.
Level 3 - 1 second to rearm.
Note: Rearm can refresh all items, except for Helm of Dominator, Refresher Orb, Hand of Midas, and Necronomicon

Mana Cost: 150/ 250/ 350

Here is the suggested skill build:

1. Heat Seeking Missile
2. March of the Machines
3. Heat Seeking Missile
4. March of the Machines
5. Heat Seeking Missile
6. March of the Machines
7. Heat Seeking Missile
8. March of the Machines
9. Rearm
10 - 12. Attribute Bonus
13 - 14. Laser
15 – 16. Rearm
17 - 18. Laser
19 – 25. Attribute Bonus

Brief explanation to skill build:

1. Heat Seeking Missile is for harassing enemies, and March of the Machines is your main farming tool. They should be obtained as early as possible.

2. Get Rearm only if you have something to rearm i.e. March of the Machines. Level 2 Rearm is not that different from level 1 because the process is still not instant. That’s why you get it at level 15.

3. Laser is learnt late game because it’s useful in late game team pushes. An 25% AOE blind can be potentially more annoying than Troll’s Blind. To use Laser as a nuke to kill steal is a bad idea because 25% miss for all heroes is much more annoying than just a measly 320 HP nuke.

C. Item Build

Recomended Item Build:

1. Ring of Basilius;
2. Three Robes of Magi;
2. Upgrade 1 of the Robe of Magis to Eul's Scepter of Divinity, Boots of Speed;
3. Upgrade another of Magis to another Eul's Scepter of Divinity;
4. Upgrade Boots to Boots of Travel
4. Upgrade one of the Eul's Scepter of Divinity to Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse;
5. Manta Style;
6. Linken’s Sphere and Eye of Skadi

Final Items:
1. Boots of Travel
2. Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
3. Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse
4. Manta Style
5. Linken’s Sphere
6. Eye of Skadi



Brief explanation to item build:

1. Tinker consumes A LOT OF mana. You need to use all his 4 spells at almost any stage of the game, and since Rearm refreshes his spells, your mana consumption is way faster than others. Therefore this item build focuses on pumping up your mana regeneration. Eul's Scepter of Divinity, Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse, and Linken's Sphere alone give you 400% mana regeneration and +55 intelligence, and should be able to solve the mana problem.

2. Since Rearm refreshes most of the item skills, Tinker should of course get items with activable skills. Boots of Travel = you can travel to anywhere in the map anytime you want; Manta = you can push without fear of being ganked (because you can always run away easily with your images); Linken’s Sphere on Tinker = you are unnukable.

3. Get Skadi as the last item, because images benefit from Skadi’s bonus, and also Tinker has horrible stats gain. (Realisitically you won’t be able to make that far, but just in case your game lasts more than 2 hours, then Skadi will be the best choice to fill up the last slot.

D. Strategy

General directions of using Tinker:

1. Quickly build up your mana pool and mana regeneration pool.
2. Go anywhere in the map to push , gaining more gold and better items.
3. Once you have some/ all of the good items, push with your teammates, and use all your skills to bring your enemies down. Kill the racks afterwards.

Further justification of this build:

1. March of the Machines is your bread and butter move!.

I know most people are tempted to max Laser Missile and get Dagon for obvious reasons, but by doing so you won’t be able to farm at all, and you’ll become completely useless late game.


2. For those who know the power of March of the Machines, Laser is not completely useless too!

Ok I know some members here know that March of the Machines is imba, and eventually they only learn Laser after level 22. Wrong. An AOE spell that causes ALL enemies to miss 25% of the time is just like reducing your enemy team’s damage per second by 25%! If this is not sick I don’t know what “sick” is.

3. Manta is sick with Tinker

Manta is sick because you can constantly cast images around yourself. That way it is impossible to tell which one is the true hero which one is image. Also, Manta helps you break various spells e.g. Overgrowth, Ensnare etc. Once you have got Manta, it’ll be impossible to kill you.

4. There is no such thing as “perma hex”.

Simply said, it won’t work. True you can disable an enemy as long as he is within your range. However when you’re rearming, you can’t move while the hexxed unit can still move (althougth very slow). After you’ve hexxed the unit for 2 times or so he’ll be able to leave your hex range.

A comparison of this build and Virot2's build

Since too many of you guys can't distinguish the difference between this build and Virot2's build, let me explain. Virot2's build works well before version 6.19b, because back then Tinker has decent stat gain (something like 2.0/ 1.8/ 2.4, and Rearm's mana cost is relatively low (250 at level 3). It is very easy to farm like a madman, and once you get a Manta Style, not only can you farm like crazy, you're practically a tank. Moreover, virot2's guide suggests you use Boots of Travel and Manta Style to do Manta Speed pushing so that you can push multiple lanes. In 6.19b games it works, because you have the mana regeneration and mana pool to do so, but in 6.27b map it just won't work.

This new build is a more realistic one. Your core items are no longer Manta Style. It's the Eul's Scepter of Divinity and Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse. Together with Ring of Basilius, you have 315% mana regeneration, and around 600 extra mana pool, and that solves the mana issue. Manta speed pushing is also not recommended, instead your bread and butter farming tool should be March of the Machines, (or Double March of the Machines if necessary). Moreover, since Tinker can no longer take down one lane on his own (because it's too hard to get Manta PLUS mana regeneration and mana pool now), Tinker needs to stay with his teammates, and that's why Laser has to be learnt.

If these differences still can't convince you that this build is different from virot2's build, then go ahead you can say whatever you want.

D1. Skill Analysis

1. How to use Laser

a. Laser is a good starter of a team battle. Nothing is better than causing your enemies to miss 25% of the time throughout the battle. Remember when you couple this with Rearm your enemies will be blinded all the time! Moreover, Laser’s AOE is pretty large so you don’t even have to aim, just use it on a random unit and it’ll work wonders.

2. How to use Heat Seeking Missile

a. Even a pig knows how to use it. Just click T when you enemy heroes are within your missile range.

3. How to use March of the Machines

a. When you cast March of the Machines, you’ll be allowed to click on a specific location. That location is the “destination”, and your machines will “march” towards it. Therefore, if you click it on a location directly below you, the machines will go from top to bottom; if you click it on a location southwest of your present location, the machines will go from your northeast to your southwest direction.

b. Now that you know how the spell works, then it’s time to learn how to use it. First, you use it for farming. When your creeps engage with enemy creeps, position yourself behind your creeps. Next, click a location at the direction opposite to the enemy creeps. For example if most enemy creeps are at your southwest side, then click a location at your northeast. If most enemy creeps are above you, click somewhere below you. That way the robots will clash with the enemies and deal damage (if they don’t touch any enemy they don’t deal damage.

c. March of the Machines can be used for killing aggressive chasing heroes too. When someone chases you, cast March of the Machines somewhere around you, and then walk inside the robots. Very often your enemies will suffer more than you. Use Heat Seeking Missile to finish him afterwards.

d. March of the Machines is a good spell for stopping pushes/ creating a vacuum between you and your enemies. For example if you’re at the Sentinel side, and the enemies are pushing your base tower. You can cast March of the Machines southwest of the ramp, so that there will be a bunch of robots roaming over the ramp. If the enemies really want to walk up the ramp, they’ll have to suffer a lot of damage.

e. With level 3 Rearm, it is possible to double cast Rearm. Although it costs an insane amount of mana (730MP), it can be potentially useful when you’re sieging the enemy base. For example when you and your allies want to destroy the racks and enemy creeps are spawned. Then you can double-cast march, so that you and your teammates can then focus fire on the buildings, and let your robots do the rest.

4. How to use Rearm

a. Level 1 Rearm does not really allow you to use it efficiently during team battles (since Rearm is a channelin spell), so level 1 rearm is strictly for refreshing your skills when no enemy is around. There are several occasions that you should use level 1 Rearm:

• To teleport to any point in the map any time you want;
• To refresh March of the Machines every time after you’ve killed the creep wave (March of the Machines’ cast time is around 30 seconds and you won’t be able to cast it in consecutive creep waves unless you refresh it). If you run out of mana you can teleport to the fountain for quick replenishment.
• To refresh Heat Seeking Missile to kill fleeing enemies. Don’t use this skill to kill steal though!

b. Level 3 Rearm refreshes your skills in 1 second, and therefore it’s possible to use it during team battles. Here are the occasions that you should use level 3 Rearm:

• Everything you could do with level 1 Rearm;
• Double-casting March of the Machines;
• Summoning images around you during team battles;
• Using Laser to blind your enemies all the time;
• Refreshing your Linken’s Sphere so that you are always immune to most nukes.

Note that when you use Rearm, all your spells will be refreshed, therefore you can double-cast, get images, use laser before you cast Rearm. That will save you a lot of mana.

5. How to use Manta Style

a. Manta Style is to help you push once you’ve got level 3 Rearm. Note that level 1 Rearm costs 150 mp, while level 3 Rearm costs 350. It’s ok to use March of the Machines/ Level 1 Rearm combo to push, but you will deplete your mana quickly if you use level 3 rearm instead of level 1 (540 mana per wave!). However, after you’ve got Eul, Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse, and Manta Style, your images are reasonably strong. You and your images can wipe out a full wave of creeps reasonably fast. Therefore when you push, the combo will be: use March of the Machines to kill first wave of creeps, use Manta images to kill second wave of creeps; use March of the Mahcines (should have been ready by now) to kill the third wave of creeps, and so on. Once you have level 3 Rearm, you should save it for team battles and tower sieges.

b. Manta Style allows you to break many spells, thereby allowing you to flee in dangerous situations. When fleeing, remember to bring all your images with you (or if you’re good at micromanaging, send your 2 images to 2 different directions to confuse the enemies). Even if your enemies can catch you, don’t worry. Hex the chaser, and Split image in front of him! As long as you have enough mana, you should be able to run away.

c. Manta Style also gives you the option to play offensively. First, hex the enemy. Then split images and hit hit hit until the enemy is dead.

D2. Walkthrough by game stages:

D2a. Early game:

Your goal is to quickly farm your mana regeneration items. March of the Machines can deal heavy damage to creeps at early level, so don’t hesitate to use it even if you have level 2 March of the Machines only. Last hit creeping is not preferred for Tinker, because he is too fragile, and his base damage is not impressive. Use clarity potions to help you farm if necessary. If conditions permit, you may use Heat Seeking Missile to harass/ kill enemies. However, the main goal should be to build up your mana pool/ regeneration.

D2b. Mid game:

Once you have bought a Void Stone and an Eul's Scepter of Divinity, you should be able to use March of the Machines and level 1 Rearm for every creep wave. This allows you to farm faster, and also gives you the opportunity to help your teammates defend if necessary. You can be more aggressive after you've got Boots of Travel. Push both side lanes to earn gold and also to distract your enemies -- very likely they'll be hunting for you all the time but oops you have Teleport! Your strategy should be to stay in the side lane every 2 creep waves, because usually enemies will gank you when you stay there alone for too long.

When your teammates clash with your enemies, you should help them by using March of the Machines and Heat Seeking Missile immediately. This can seriously weaken your enemies when their HP is not too high. Moreover, you have cyclone/ hex/ pudge with you so don’t hesitate to use it. It is OK to use your charges generously since I recommend you get 2 Eul’s Scepter of Divinity in this build (12 cyclones).

D2c. Late game:

Now you have already got your Manta Style, so let’s be more aggressive! Push with Manta and March of the Machines as mentioned above. When you meet enemies, the first thing you should do is to cast Laser. Then hex/ cyclone/ Split Images/ shoot missiles/ cast March of the Machines (This combo costs you 600 MP; together with level 3 rearm it’ll cost you 950 mp!. That’s why you need A LOT OF mana regeneration!). If you find that this combo takes up too much mana, don't use Missiles, because its effect is negligible when all heroes have at least 2k HP. If the battle still continues, do what you just did again. Note that you should always leave yourself some mana for casting the last Manta Style or to teleport.

When your allies are not ready to clash with enemies, you can use teleport, Manta Style and March of the Machines to hold at least 2 lanes. You should push both side lanes, and lure the enemies to gank you. Once you sense that the enemies are going for you, teleport to the other side lane so that your enemies will waste their time. This also allows your teammates to buy time to do whatever they want too.

To defend against pushes, simply use Manta Style and March of the Machines. This combo alone can stop 15+ creeps from pushing. Of course if enemies are following their creeps, use all your spells to defend.

When you and your teammates are sieging, ask your teammates to focus fire on buildings only. Your March of the Machines, with double casting, can kill all enemy creeps easily.


E. Conclusion

1. Tinker is all about getting mana regeneration and pushing. It is stupid to do cheesy dagon missile laser combo, and after all these nerfs on Tinker, doing so is suicidal.
2. All his spells are useful throughout the game!
3. Make sure you have quick fingers to cast all your spells during team battles!