[Clockwerk Goblin] How To Rattle Your Opponents

[Piejonk]

Guide Version | Forum Version

Rattletrap the Clockwerk Goblin

Written by Piejonk

The by-product of Goblin technological weapon research during the old War, Rattletrap the Clockwerk Goblin was shut away into storage for countless decades until the Sentinel found and reactivated him. Combat-wise, this goblin's capabilities know few bounds; his body is stocked with a huge array of armaments that destroy targets both near and far with ease. His trademark wrench can even extend itself like a grappling hook, allowing him to pick off individual targets with pin-point accuracy.

Welcome to my guide on Rattletrap. I noticed that there are not very many guides dedicated to this hero on playdota.com so I decided to write this guide. This is my first guide that I have written so please bear with it. This guide is also not meant for competitive use as I do not play competitive dota, however some if its concepts might apply to competitive play and strategies.

Table of Contents

I. The Alt-Tab Mini Guide
II. Hero Statistics
III. Hero Introduction
IV. Skills
V. Skill Builds
VI. Item Build
VII. Gameplay and Strategies
VIII. Friends and Foes
IX. Conclusion
X. FAQ
XI. Fun Facts
XII. Replays
XIII. Credits and Changelog

Or you can try 'Ctrl+F' and search the thing that you are looking for.


The Alt-Tab Mini Guide

START:

and maybe

CORE:



OPTIONAL:



LUXURY:



USUAL SKILL BUILD:



EARLY GANKING SKILL BUILD:



GAMEPLAY:

Try to gank as much as possible with/without teammates. Pick of disabler/nuker/carry in teambattles. Late game try to disable their carry as much as possible.

Back to top

Hero Statistics

Level 1 Statistics:

STR: 24+2.4
AGI: 13+1.2
INT: 17+1.3
HP: 606
MP: 221

Level 25 Statistics:

STR: 81+20
AGI: 41+20
INT: 48+20
HP: 2041
MP: 884

Advanced Statistics:

Affiliation: Neutral
Attack Animation: 0.33 / 0.64
Damage: 55 - 57
Casting Animation: 0.3 / 0.51
Armor: 1.82
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 315
Missile Speed: Instant
Attack Range: 125 (melee)
Sight Range: 1800 / 800

Back to top

Hero Introduction

When i first played DotA and I first used Rattletrap he quickly became one of my favorite heroes. His skills syenergize incredibly well and he is the ideal ganker, for picking of lone heroes who are trying to farm. Even after all those nerfs he has endured, he still is a very powerful hero especially with the addition of scepter to him. He may seem tough to play, and he can be, to play him well but once you get a hang of him you will be a killing machine. He will soon become a quick favorite of yours too, and this guide will "guide" you on how to play clockwerk.

When to pick:

• Your team needs a good ganker and map-controller
• Your team is using a gank strategy

When to not pick:

• Enemy has many multiple-unit heroes
• Your team will not be ganking much

Pros

[+] Excellent ganker, if not the best in the game
[+] Scepter buff is actually extremely useful for him
[+] Excellent attack animation, which provides easy last hitting
[+] Imba map and rune control
[+] To an extent item dependent to be effective
[+] Very hard to kill late-mid game
[+] Skills have very low mana cost
[+] Can gank and kill heroes by himself
[+] 2 escape mechanisms

Cons

[-] Poor stats and stat growth
[-] Skills are hard to learn and use
[-] May or may not need quite a bit of survivability
[-] Poor farmer (rocket is better used for scouting and map control)
[-] Poor mana pool

Back to top

Skills

More detailed information on Rattletrap's skills can be found here.

Battery Assault



Skill Notes:

• Damage type: magical
• Remains active even if Rattletrap is disabled.

Skill Usage: This is Rattletraps bread and butter skill. This skill is what will get you the kills in your ganks. It works like Leshrac's diabolict edict with a smaller aoe. Once the enemy is trapped in your cogs they cannot escape and the damage from this skill is huge. The skill works as a ministun so it's great for interrupting channeled spells or tps.

Power Cogs



Skill Notes:

• Damage type: magical
• Cogs can shock magic immune and invisible units.

Skill Usage: EA hard skill to use to its full effectiveness. If you dont master how to use this skill you will not be able to play clockwerk effectively. It is mostly used for ganking and trapping your opponents so they recieve as much damage from battery assualt and are helpless, but it can also be used for juking as well. More info on this skill in the In-Depth Skill Usage section.

Rocket Flare



Skill Notes:

• Damage type: magical
• Does not kill enemy animal couriers.
• Will stop neutral creeps from spawning near the revealed area.

Skill Usage: The damage from this skill is pretty pathetic, it can hardly be called a nuke. Instead it can be used for rune scouting, preventing monster camps from spawning, providing vision so that you can hook the enemy hero, etc. It can also be used to finish fleeing heroes which is very tricky to do but it just requires some calculation.

Hookshot



Skill Notes:

• Damage type: magical
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
• Improved version can latch onto allies. The allied unit will not get disabled or damaged, and enemy units will still get damaged and disabled.
• The affected enemy will be paused until the hook retreats.

Skill Usage: At first this may seem as a weak version of Pudges hook, but actually it is a lot better. First of all I have to note the range on this skill is huge. It is 3 times the max range of Pudge's hook and actually requires little practice to use and land (it launches and hit hits very fast). The damage is fine and the stun allows you to get up close to the enemy hero, trap them in your cogs and kill him. With scepter this skill is incredibly powerful, and with the addition that you will be able to hook to allies, it will be incredibly hard for the enemy to pull off a successful gank and kill you. Also note that this skill has an AOE of 150 where it lands. So you could hook a creep thats close to a hero and still deliver the damage and stun.

Back to top

Skill Builds

A. Regular Mid Game Ganking Build

This build is pretty effective and you will want to go for it most of the time as it maximizes ganking potential mid game. It also gives maximum map control and tries to utilize clockwerk's strengths in the best way possible.

1. Rocket Flare
2. Battery Assualt
3. Battery Assualt
4. Power Cogs
5. Battery Assault
6. Hookshot
7. Battery Assualt
8. Rocket Flare
9. Rocket Flare
10. Rocket Flare
11. Hookshot
12. Power Cogs
13. Power Cogs
14. Power Cogs
15. Stats
16. Hookshot
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats

Reasoning: One level of rocket flare is taken early for harassing and rune control. Then take as many points in battery assault as you can as it is your main damage skill. Get one level of power cogs early for possible juking, ganking or first blood. Take your ultimate whenever possible as you will need it to obtain kills. Then max rocket flare for maximum map control, and after that cogs. Finish everything with stats.

B. First Blood/Early Ganking Build

This is the build that you want to go for if you think there is a good chance to get first blood. For example if you are laned with a stunner or Rhasta, then it might be a good idea to go for this build. This is also a good idea if your team will be ganking a lot early on. Also note that this build will rely on a lot of cog usage so you have to be good at trapping heroes, otherwise this build is pretty ineffective.

1. Battery Assualt
2. Power Cogs
3. Battery Assualt
4. Rocket Flare
5. Battery Assault
6. Hookshot
7. Battery Assualt
8. Power Cogs
9. Power Cogs
10. Power Cogs
11. Hookshot
12. Rocket Flare
13. Rocket Flare
14. Rocket Flare
15. Stats
16. Hookshot
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats

Reasoning: This time we take battery assault and cogs early on. One level of rocket flare will help us with scouting and finishing people off. Then max battery assault and cogs to get maximum disabling power. Finish with rocket flare and then stats. Take you ultimate whenever possible, of course.

Back to top

Item Build

Core Build

Early Game

and maybe

Go with a couple of gauntlets/branches and some tangoes and clarities. If you know you will be facing a strong lane it is wise to get a ring of regen so you can stay in your lane longer. Turn the gauntlets into bracers and branches into a magic wand is it is a great item on any hero, especially for clockwerk. Make sure that you complete your wand first rather than the bracers. You can also consider getting a courier, if your team did not get one, as you might need the extra item space.

Mid Game



Focus on getting your bracers, wand, boots, and bottle. Now you can start ganking. This will get you the money for those phase boots, and you can start working on your scepter. You should have your scepter completed sometime during this time of the game.

Core Item Build



Now that your basic core build is finished you should start looking towards one of the luxury items. Choose one that will benefit your team most.

Optional Core

Urn is a great item for Clockwerk. It can replace your bracer and even your bottle! And since Clock will be ganking a lot, he will be getting a lot of charges on the urn.



Hood of defiance is a good option for clock if you are dying a lot because of burst damage. It helps a lot with survivability and gives some regen which is always useful. Get this if you team is up against a lot of nukers. If your team or you really require it, it is viable to upgrade to pipe, but most of the time hood will be good enough and then we can start working right away on that scepter.



BoT are nice for better map control, but phase is a much better choice in general, it makes it much easier to chase down heroes and therefore ganking is easier.



Vlads is a decent option for clock if no one else on your team is getting it. The benefits are always nice for your team and since clock doesnt have a very expensive core, he can afford to get it.



I really dont think clock needs this item, as he is not a tank, but if you MUST need more survivability for some reason, then this item is still a viable choice. Otherwise it is just a waste of money.

Luxury Items

Almost any strength hero benefits from heart, especially clock, as it beefs him up quite a bit and gives him the hp that he needs badly.



Radiance synergizes very well with battery assualt and the extra DPS is of course a welcome bonus.



Guinsoo is actually not that bad of an idea on Rattletrap. It gives him one more disable, fixes his mana problems, and gives him some nice mana regen which we want, of course.



Black King Bar adds to his survivability in team battles. He often gets focused on, so this is a great item to have.



Shiva is a great item for clock as it improves his mana pool and gives him a nice slow which synergizes well with battery assault. It also gives him some much needed armor for extra survivability.



Necrobook is nice to have for a couple of reasons. It gives us some nice health and mana and helps with ganking invisible units. Also the other buffs are nice and help us kill the enemy hero faster. Make sure that if you are getting this that you take it up to level 3.



Blademail is great for killing those hard carries. Since they cannot escape your cogs they will most likely try to kill you, and blademail is perfect for countering their dps.

Rejected Items

Any DPS item that does not synergize with Clockwerk, and is a waste of time and money, because of his poor agility.



As much as it seems as a good item for Clock, he simply cannot afford it, because items such as Radiance or Heart are much more useful for him.



Hes not a farmer nor a DPS so this item is stupid to get for him. Battlefury doesn't help us at all for ganking, other then the mana regen, but there are better items to get for regen.

Back to top

Gameplay and Strategies

Laning: Clock does not have very good armor so stay back and last hit to the best of your ability. Harass occasionally with your rocket, it is excellent for dispelling salves and clarities. Also use your rocket for rune control. Battery Assault gives you a decent shot at first blood if laned with the correct hero.
Ganking: Lets say for example sniper (food for us) is farming bot lane. he is alone and none of your teammates are close by. The best thing to do now would be to gank him, it is your responsibility to gank him. Hook in, use cogs and battery assault. He dies easily with no resistance, an easy kill for you. Make sure that when you gank you first have: 1) enough mana for the hook/cog/battery combo, 2) can actually kill the enemy hero(s). To not go into the middle of a centaur, rhasta combo, as you will be disabled and raped and we don't want that to happen. We want to maximize the profit by getting as much kills as possible without feeding.
Team Battles: Your responsibility in team battles is too look for an open shot at their disabler, nuker, carry as they are the easiest to kill most of the time. Once you pick of one of their heroes your team has the upper hand, and you will most likely win the battle. Remember you are NOT an initiator, leave that role to centaur, raigor, or magnus. Just try to pick off the weakest enemy heroes in battle and you should do fine.
Late Game: Later in the game it is our job to disable the carry/disabler while our own carries rip them apart. Hook has a nice stun, and cogs effectively removes one of the enemy heroes from battle.

Remember use rocket flare to scout ALL THE TIME. It is vital that you do this as without it you are wasting a lot of clock's potential in ganking, preventing ganks, and just plain map control.

Mini-Guide to Using Battery Assault

Maximizing Damage With Battery Assault: Whenever we gank, we want to maximize the damage output of Battery Assault to the enemy hero without getting interfered with creeps. This just requires to be smart and stay out of range of the creeps. However if hero you are trying to gank is smart, then he try to use the creeps around him to take the damage for him. You will have to then clear the creeps with your rocket, and once you have done that you can chase him.

Here is an example of how to use Battery Assault properply to get maximum damage:

I manage to get close to Bane with Battery Assault on, and I start to chase him. However my goal is to either kill him or try to do as much damage as possible so that he has to go back to base and heal.



Notice how I do not go close or by the imaginary red line so that none of the creeps, especially the necromancer don't steal any hits of my Battery Assault. Try to always keep a good distance away from the creeps when chasing heroes. Sometimes you will have to use your rocket to clear the creeps so that you can get at the enemy hero easier.

Mini-Guide to Using Power Cogs

There are two main purposes for cogs. One is for trapping the enemy, and one is for juking and blocking. Both are hard to do first, but with some practice it becomes very easy. I will explain how to use cogs for both in this section.

Juking: There are really two ways that you can juke effectively with cogs. One way is to block a passage/ramp and escape the other way, and the other way is to simply use cogs and tp away. The second one only works if the other team has no long range stun. The first one is pretty easy to do, it's sort of like fissure blocking but easier and less effective at the same time. The easiest way to block with cogs is to use it on a narrow ramp (the ones by the river work great) or a big clump of trees (by the each side shop is a good example). Since the enemy cannot get past the cogs, all you have to do is destroy the one on that will let you out the other way.

Here is an example of how to do this:

Axe and Lion are trying to gank me when I go to check for the rune. I also realize Abbadon coming from mid to join in for the kill. I realize that if I dont do something quick, I will be surely dead.



Luckily, I am close to a narrow ramp. The moment Puck blinks in I cog on the ramp blocking them and even knocking them back. I destroy the middle cog on the right side, and easily escape to my teammates. Failed gank.

Here are some good examples of places that you can cog, block off, and escape:

There are many places that you can do this, just make sure that you dont block yourself, or block other teammates.

Trapping: At first, this seems easy to do and aim, however it requires some practice and even sometimes luck to trap enemy heroes. The range is the most important thing to take in consideration when trapping heroes. Pretty much the easiest way and the only way to trap someone in your cogs is to have them in 0-55 range around you when you do it. Anymore range will just knock back the hero instead of trapping him. Thats why disables help so much, because we can get up close to the hero for an easy cogs.

Here is a picture illustrating the range of cogs:

Pretty much anyone that is still and is in the gray aoe around you will get caught by the cogs. Moving opponents are a quite a bit harder to catch, try to plan ahead and cog the moment they step into the aoe. Anyone that is in the blue aoe will get knocked back, it doesn't matter whether they are still or moving. There are some exceptions of course but the far majority of the time this is the real cog aoe.

Here is an in-game example of trapping heroes:

Bane and Earthshaker are being very aggresive in my lane but this all works against them. They get to close and I manage to catch them and start chasing them with my Battery Assault on.One void from NS helps me a lot with my cog placement. Visualize the AOE of cogs, and you will see that Bane is in it and Earthshaker is barely in it. So if I cog right at that moment I will surely catch Bane and I might catch Earthshaker.



The cogs actually catch both of them a bit unfortunately, as I would rather have only Bane in my cogs to get the maximum damage.



Still it doesnt matter too much and I weaken Bane enough so that my ally can get the easy kill.

Mini-Guide to Using Rocket Flare

Rune Control: Every know and then you will want to check for the rune with your rocket. The best way to do this is to launch your rocket so it passes over both rune spots. There is only two places that you can do this from, one from top lane, and one from bot lane.

How to scout from bottom lane:

Here is the bottom spot for double rune scouting. Its near the tombstone-looking artifact. Just aim at the top rune spot and as you see the rocket goes over both rune spots.

How to scout from top lane:

This spot is near the trees with the passage in between them on the other side of the side shop. And again aim for bottom rune spot and the rocket passes through both.

Remember to concentrate on the rocket because you dont have much time to see what rune is on the rune spot as it passes over.

Getting Vision For Hook: Your rocket can be used very effectively to gain vision for you hook when you gank. This is much better to do rather than just guess where the hero is.

Here is an example of using this strategy:

I see earthshaker leaving mid to help his allies up top. Not if we can help it, of course.



So, I launch my rocket at the rune spot where im guessing that he will be.



It hits him and even though he is soon out of vision again, I can see that he is heading for one of the ramps to the north.



By calculating it a bit, I successfully hit him with my hook...



And trap him in my cogs with Battery Assault on. On a strange sidenote there is a funny graphic of Earthshaker repeatedly trying to use his fissure when he can't because of the ministun (repeatedly raises his totem). Anyways, he falls quickly. One more kill for me.

Finishing Heroes of With Your Rocket: This is very hard to do. You have to guess where the person will be by the time your rocket hits the spot. You need to take into consideration the speed of the rocket and of the hero.

Here is an example of this, and how to calculate where to launch the rocket to:

Me and crix had just ganked Earthshaker, but very luckily Pudge manages to hook him away and save him. Not for long of course. Judging by his average ms I aim it at the entrance to the fountain area.



And hits him right on netting me a kill. Longer range rockets become much harder as this one was pretty simple because of the shorter range.

Mini-Guide to Using Hookshot

Aiming Hookshot: Aiming your hook is actually really easy to do once you learn the speed of it based on the distance you are from the hero you are trying to hook.The farther you are from the hero, the farther you have to aim from him. Hookshot releases and lands about 3 times faster than Meat Hook. This can make it both tricky and easy to aim it.

Here is a diagram showing how to aim your hook depending on distance:

The diagram is based on an enemy movespeed of around 325-375. So you will have to adjust the hook spot accorsingly to the ms of the hero you are trying to hook. The max range of hookshot is 3000. An example of this range is middle lane to the left ramp by Roshan. Here are some comparisons of Hookshot to other skills: HS is 3-4 times faster than Meat Hook, 6-8 times faster than arrow, and around 4 times faster than our rocket. So it's up to you to learn your hook ranges and speeds and also how to aim it.

Here is an example of aiming your hook in-game:

Nerub has just ganked someone but is pretty low on health and his ultimate is on cooldown. Now is the chance to get him! By the time he gets to the END of the arrow I want to release my hook at the marked spot. Compare this spot with the previous diagram (I am on the other side of the river).



Success. I hit him right on, allowing me an easy cog.



And there even the annoying bug is dead with a simple well-aimed hook.

Using Hookshot To Escape: Note that this only works with scepter. If you are still and danger after blocking with cogs (or if it is on cooldown), you can use your hook to hook onto nearby allies and escape. You still have to aim your hookshot and everything but if done correctly you will be 2000+ range away from the enemy. Also if you have the opportunity to do it then hook over impassible terrain such as cliffs and trees to make the juke more effective.

Back to top

Friends and Foes

Friends

Disablers/Stunners


These heroes allow you to get up close to the enemy hero and easily trap them in your cogs. They also make your hooking a lot easier. Besides, who doesn't love these guys?

Carries/DPS


Your cogs and even your hook allow your carries and dps heroes to get free shots at your enemy. Battery Assault works well as a slow too. Carries that don't have a slow or some sort of debuff/disable, such as Clinkz work well. Kunkka also works very well with clock because cogs make it much easier for his torrent and ship to land.

Foes

Illusions/Multiple Units


These heroes are the perfect counter to Clockwerk. They wreak his Battery Assault and even make it hard for you to hook the real hero. Broodmother, Phantom Lancer, and Chen are good examples of heroes that clock doesn't do so well against.

Disablers/Stunners


As much as we love them, we must hate them as well, because they can screw us over real hard.

Terrorblade


We hate, hate, hate this guy. We have him trapped in our cogs and he is almost dead... when he sunders and kill you easily. And he is an image hero which is like a double counter to clockwerk. Terrorblade is probably the best counter to clockwerk that there is around.

Back to top

Conclusion

I hope that this guide will or has already helped you on how to play Clockwerk well. He is an excellent hero with lots of potential but requires some practice to get proficient at him.

Back to top

FAQ

1.OMG WTF?!?!? Where is the Buriza and Battlefury in your item build?

As I have said before Clockwerk is a very poor carry, because of his awful agility growth. He requires quite a bit of items to actually become a fearful carry. Clock does not have this farming ability, and the game is much better spent ganking those who are trying to farm, rather than farming yourself. Sure I hear you say, but Battlefury allows Clockwerk to farm fast. Clockwerk is a ganker hero, and nothing else, and Battlefury does not suit him. It is a much better choice to go straight for scepter which would increase your ganking capabilities.

2. Why not get some stats early game because of Clock's horrible stats?

It really is situational whether you would need stats or not. Most of the time you don't and skill points are better spent for Battery Assault. It might not be such a bad idea, but Clock really needs more damage for ganking rather than stats.

3. Why is it that when I gank that I always get myself killed?

You have to play smart and use rocket flare to its maximum effectiveness, and you will see that your death count will gradually decrease. Make sure to scout for incoming heroes and try not to go for heroes that you know have a good chance on killing you (Juggernaut, Cent, heck even Dark Seer).

4. Why didn't you list invisible heroes as a counter to clockwerk?

Sure Battery Assault and Hookshot do not work on invisible units (rocket still does), however there are things called wards, dust, and truesight gem. So just counter the invisibility, and invisible units are no longer a problem.

5. I hate your guide and the way you play Clock, it sux, mines better.

Why read this guide then in the first place? Anyways you can always give me suggestions. Or just go write your own guide..... If you think your play style is better. If not then just stfu :D.

Back to top

Fun Facts

-Tinker is sort of Rattletraps father as in Warcraft 3 ladder, one of the neutral heroes from the tavern was a Goblin Tinker which had the ability to spawn factories which would then produce Clockwerk Goblins that would suicide into nearby enemies.
-Ever since the introduction of Clockwerk to DotA, he hasn't seen a single buff only nerfs (other than the scepter addition and a slight good change for cogs that didnt really matter).
-Clockwerk is an excellent hero to trashtalk with as it leads to interesting mindgames, especially if you own and keep outwitting the enemy until they start complaining that clockwerk needs another nerf. (thx to Milk for this one)
-For advertising purposes: DotA Theme Manager is excellent for spicing up your DotA games, you should go check it out.

Back to top

Replays

Here is a good showing of clock's potential. This time he opts for a build of Hood, BoT and then Scepter. Overall a pretty good game.

Date: 24/10/2009 07:18
Patch version: 1.24
Map: DotA Allstars 6.63b
Game mode: Normal mode
Game length: 45:16

cD

Sentinel:
:es: cD.insence.YY, level 13
:rhasta: cD.ZippO.YY, level 17
:cw: cd.SanSheng.YY, level 20
:drow: cD.zhou.YY, level 19
:potm: cD.diqiuchaoren, level 18

Scourge:
:spec: mski.net|BG01!, level 18
:tink: mski.neT|vigass, level 17
:lion: HK_Host, level 15
:vs: mski.neT|Yukz, level 12
:chen: Mski.net|rhom, level 12

Download Here

Kuroky plays a great clock in this game. He follows the skill and item build in the guide. Very recent game too, so it is worth the watch!

Date: 22/02/2010 18:06
Patch version: 1.24
Map: DotA Allstars 6.66b
Game mode: -cm
Game length: 1:06:41

Winner: Scourge

Sentinel:
:sven: M|MICEMICEMICE, level 20 (Top)
:puck: M|BULBA^FY, level 21 (Mid)
:pugna: M|Brax3FUCKYEAH, level 15 (Jungle)
:rhasta: M|PhinX, level 15 (Bot)
:razor: dmZ^Black^, level 24 (Bot), left: 54:34

Scourge:
:chen: Nirvana.Swy, level 17 (Jungle)
:tide: Nirvana.Demon, level 20 (Jungle)
:cw: Nirvana.KuroKy, level 25 (Mid)
:storm: Nirvana.Fear, level 23 (Bot)
:lock: Nirvana.Merlini, level 23 (Top)

Download Here

Back to top

Credits and Changelog

Thanks to all that have helped me with this guide. I appreciate your suggestions and they have helped shape this guide to be the best that it can be. Also thanks for the great replay Eumellein. And not to forget... a big thanks to you for reading this guide!

Changelog:

• [09/12/2009] - Major visual change to the guide
• [11/12/2010] - Updated to 6.69c

Back to top

[3955elits]

add hood in his core.it's most likely that you'll get nuked instantly the moment you latch onto enemies.especially if you can only catch one enemy with your hook.

[Piejonk]

Hmmm yes i was gonna put that into optional items as that is a good point. It really depends what team you are up against. If ur up against a team of nukers then it would be smart to get it, if ur not then it there really is no point. Anyways im open to suggestion always, so thx.

[Piejonk]

Bump. I need some comments/suggestions on how the guide is looking so far.

[UTDC.Justin]

Looks very solid and comprehensive so far, I would just look at the hero stat information part and make that a little more uniform. Keep up the good work and remember to post you-know-where when it's ready for publishing.

[Eumellein]

First thing, your album has to be public otherwise only you, admins and friends are able to see the pictures you post. Learn to check this UTDC.Justin ;p

Next thing add Anchors to your TABLE OF CONTENTS for easier and faster navigation through it. Your headers are important therefore I would change them from I. Hero Information into I. Hero Information.

Hero information got already mentioned, maybe you will like this one you could change it to your needs.
PROS should get a [+] and CONS a [-] for faster recognition.
Hookshot needs a different color gray is nearly the same as the normal text. Maybe Hookshot?
Both Item and Skill Build are looking fine but you switched from Purple to Red in your subheadings.
Harrass occasionally with your rocket, it is excellent for dispelling slaves and clarities. Typo ^^

VI. Gameplay could be a bit more precisely but you mentioned the core parts. Not sure what I am missing here maybe some pictures are going to help after you finished the VII. In-Depth Skill Usage Guide part.
And a pretty nice replay showing Clockwerks potential is available here.

[UTDC.Justin]

Re: Eumellein

I always review guides from the guide page, because that is where over 90% of your readers will come from when it's published. Make sure that the main version that will be looked at (the /guides section) is the finished version, not the forum one, something to note if you're doing fonts or specific formatting.

[Lycan]

Pro's / Con's
+ 2 escape mechs
-cons (melee)

Battery Assault
This is Rattletraps bread and butter skill. This skill is what will get you the kills in your ganks. It works like Leshrac's diabolict edict with a smaller aoe. Once the enemy is trapped in your cogs they cannot escape and the damage from this skill is huge.
It does not deal damage to tower but it does to creeps AND MINISTUN so it can be abused to cancel TP's or other spells (a well timed ministun can negate Ravages for instance)

Cogs

A hard skill to use to its full effectiveness. If you dont master how to use this skill you will not be able to play clockwerk effectively. It is mostly used for ganking and trapping your opponents so they recieve as much damage from battery assualt and are helpless, but it can also be used for juking as well. More info on this skill in the In-Depth Skill Usage section.

It can be used just to knockback enemies over cliffs and alike it also destroys tree iirc?


Rocket flare

Speed of the Rocket ? (helps in calculating), But on the Anticipation part it doesn't differ to much from a Sun Strike

Hookshot:

Hookspeed vs Hookspeed vs Arrowspeed (this will greatly improve newer players i'm suppose to got the actual numbers somewhere just ask in the mecanic forums.


Turn the gauntlets into bracers and branches into a magic wand is it is a great item on any hero, especially for clockwerk. -> Turn branches into stick an gauntlets into bracers magic stick first

Basher is Sucks on Clock you already stated that he lack Agility for DPS item he also lack attackspeed for a PermaStun Lockdown.

Eul is a Great alternative for the less advanced Clockwork players (after a failed hook and you allies aren't coming you can Cyclon yourself) and you get the time to set the cogs properly, get close etc. (it's not the best)

Shiva's... is a great addition for his lack of armor. Grant mana a slow and more burst dmg.

Pipe-Carrier is also a viable option for clockwork.

Vanguard <<<<<< Blademail <<< Shiva for survivability

Dagger ? No mention of dagger At all ?

Boots:
Treads ar meh you don't need IAS...
BoT why waste 2200 gold on Bot when you don't need farm all day long and can just hook yourself around the map (at least the important places). And you can't walk through creeps for proper posistioning.
Phase , you can phase, you get the most Burst Movement speed, great for chasing. and it's cheap easy buildup.

So why waste gold for mobility if you got an ult as insane as his.


Mates and Meats:

Zeus = like <3 hump hump Rocket Grants him vision to abuse his range on his Lightning Bolt (don't underestimate this combo combined they can deal quite the amount of burst damage

Well TB... I'm not sure.... you can actually rape him and feed on him since he is very fragile for ganks.... If you solo gank him well k well than he is a problem but when duoganking nothing to be worried about.

Format:
Looks great, Readability is good, you might want to add in anchors though.


Well Looking forward to the missing pictures Looks great so far.

One of the best Guides I've read about clock at least some people still have common sense about items xD

Good Luck with it

~Lycan

[Piejonk]

All right thanks for the more in-depth review. Some of the points you brought up are great but I do have to argue some:

-I will add the pro part, I think the con is a bit unecessary, but i imght add it
-I will add the little piece about Battery Assault, i was doing the skills pretty fast so I guess I forgot to mention the ministun.
-Cogs only destroy trees when the hero is knocked back into them, and knocking heroes over cliffs is pretty hard to do and is very situational (I might add this piece)
-I believe it says on the hero information at playdota.com the actual ms of the rocket but if it doesnt then i will add this
-I also compared Meat Hook to Hookshot speed, but I probably should compare it to Mirana's arrow.
-Yes, wand should be made first I will add that little bit in just to clarify
-I just tried Basher the other the and it was horrible on Clockwerk (I was almost sure it was going to be, it was a test afterall), so yes I will remove that
-Eul I just think that scepter is overall better (once you practice with clock you will get the hang of hooking and cogging, although even I miss hooks or cogs sometimes) altough eul does provide some ms for better chasing and mana regen. I guess I will have to try it out and then I will decide whether to put it into optional items or not
-I also think that Shivas is a great item for clock as a luxury as it synergizes pretty well with him and gives him a nice boost in armor, but i really think that either heart, radiance, or bkb are far superior luxury choices for Clock. But hey since I have guinsoo there I might as well add Shivas.
-I will add pipe as I agree with you that it is a completely viable item for clockwerk to have If he decides to go for hood.
-I did state that I did not like the idea of Vangaurd for survivabilty, but If u must have it then I guess u must. Shiva is a luxury and Blademail... well its for the hard carries like troll (make sure u dont try to hook in and kill him late game alone, even if he is farming and half health!!)
-I have already thought of dagger and the reason that I have not included it in his build for him, is because I think its a waste of money for him and just makes his core more expensive. His ultimate with scpeter is already a pseudo-dagger and money is better put into working on your scepter rather than delaying it further with dagger (ok so dagger does help in ganks but the slow from Battery Assault should be enough to get the kill). Thats just my opinion, so i prob wont add anything aboiut dagger into the guide.
-I never mentioned anything about treads.... and BoT are optional instead of phase (I have actually recently watched a couple of replays where Clock with Bot was pretty effective), but in general phase is a much better choice.
-Havent heard much of a Zues-Clock combo but if you say that its that good, then I will try it out and see.
-I should of added the 'solo ganking' part as that is what I meant for TB. He might still kill you though, even if you dualgank if he has enough images. And late game, he is your worst nightmare as images + crazy dps+ sunder, makes it very hard to kill him without dying yourself. And since late mid-late game teams start to stick together (in pubs anyways) it would be hard to take care of him without a ton of disables and/or the enemy team killing yours by the time TB dies.
-As for anchors, i did add some to the table of contents, not sure where else it would be nice to have them
-Oh and its awsome that you asked for the speeds of Arrow,Hook,Hookshot,and Rocket Flare as know i can easile add a comparsion for them

And as for everything else Ive been busy lately so I havent had that much time to go through replays or play games myself so the pictures part might take a while. I was hoping it wasnt going to be a noob guide so im pretty happy about that. Well thanks for the great review!

[Milk]

You should also add that Clock is a great hero to trashtalk with, since it leads to interesting mindgames.

[Piejonk]

Originally Posted by Milk

You should also add that Clock is a great hero to trashtalk with, since it leads to interesting mindgames.

Lol might add this to the fun stuff/interesting things section if i add one. Hes great to trashtalk with once you go 20-2 and they start raging that clock needs another nerf because he is still imba.

[Milk]

You need to start early and make it a battle of attrition. :P

And pick on those people that have a short fuse. They will threaten to "eat your eyeballs and your intestines" and then proceed to make a fool of themselves by chasing you across half the map.

[iKrivetko]

Some notes on the items:

Radiance no longer gives Evasion.
Consider mentioning Blink Dagger/Lothar's
Necronomicon + Power cogs = zomgwtfbbqd
Also mention EoS as a luxury - bonus HP, bonus MP and a nice orb effect

[Piejonk]

I will change the evasion part about radiance, since im still in the past for some items. I have said before dagger can be nice but there is not point to it as your ultimate is already a psuedo-dagger. Lothars is just a waste as there is no need for it and it just delays your core. Necro book is interesting and it counters invisible units so it seems nice. EoS is nice but sadly i do not think that clock has the power to farm that it much better profiting of ganks, and it is very expensive. But I will think about it I will prob need to test out necro and maybe EoS. Thx for pointing these things out.

Oh and if someone has a more interesting picture of clockwerk then it would be greatly appreciated that i could use it as the current one is rather plain.

[iKrivetko]

One more thing - Ghost Scepter/Euls to safely lock DPSers.

[Xmas.Dasher]

Items that especially well counter clock are: Force Staff!

After he hooks you, cogs and starts battering you, the enemy or an ally of the enemy's will use force staff and boom-chaka-laka he's out of danger, you are trapped inside your cogs. ( at least for a sec ). I always get that item vs Clock, it works wonders.

-Great guide, I must say for a public player you have a very deep understanding of the game and especially Clock. Liked the many pictures very much

[Piejonk]

@Xmas yes Force Staff and heroes like Pudge(anything that eliminates his ganking capability of cogs/disables are a great counter to clock. They are not "real" counters but instead the neutralize clock so ganking is much harder for him. I will add this into the guide.

Heh thanks, I could prob play in a clan if i wanted to its just that I dont have enough time dedicated to DotA to play on a team (as I am pretty busy with school these days).

@iKrivetko The problem with getting those items is just that they are inferior to other optional items and slow down your core. Scepter is what makes clock a incredibly powerful hero if not imba. So thats why we head straight for scepter as it's the item that will benefit us the most. Although Euls might help newbie players (with cogging or even hooking) it just delays your core longer. Most of the time if clock goes for an optional item his scepter is delayed for a very long time (sometimes to the 40-50 min mark!!). And if that happens then you wont get a luxury as the game will be over soon. Skip that optional item which will save us 2000-3000 gold and we will have that scpeter 10-20 min earlier depending no how well you are doing. So in a normal game farming an optional and your scepter is probably the most you will be able to get.

Altough Euls does seem as a great item (gives him some nice ms and another disable) I just think that its better to rush agahnims (i prob will put it into optional core). On the other hand i disagree wit ghost scepter as it makes him more vulnerable to nukes which is not what we want of course.

[UTDC.Justin]

Finally, this guide took forever to be published.

On that note...

Congratulations on Spotlight.

[janex_143]

what is ganking????
thx for the the tips!

[InNeedOfFreedom]

this a great guide t-up