Kez Dota 2 hero guide — How to play Kez in Dota 2

Kez is one of the newest heroes in Dota 2, and it’s clear to see that he’s one of the hardest to master. This bird hero brings a new, interesting concept to the game with two sets of abilities. If you’re looking to play this hero to perfection, here is what you need to know about Kez in Dota 2.

What is Kez All About in Dota 2?

Kez is hands-down one of the most complicated heroes in Dota 2, mainly due to his two different stances: Kazurai Katana and Shodo Sai. Each stance changes the abilities available to him during a fight.

When Kez switches between stances, his entire skillset shifts to match the weapon he is using. To put it simply: Kez has two separate ability kits in a single hero. However, both forms share the same cooldown pool. For example, if you use Q in Katana stance, then switch over to Sai stance, the Q ability in Sai will also be on cooldown. 

So, mastering him requires understanding both forms and how to combine his abilities to reach his maximum potential.

What Role is Kez in Dota 2?

Kez is strictly accepted as a carry hero. It’s hard to pull him off in other roles, but several players make him work as a mid-laner. He is a hero who can dish out a lot of damage, especially with the right amount of farm. 

How to ACTUALLY Use Kez’s Abilities

Kez’s abilities can be confusing if you’re reading them for the first time, so bear with us. Since he has two stances with differing abilities, we’ll go over each form individually. 

Kez Kazurai Katana Abilities

Kez is in his Katana stance if he’s wielding his sword. His abilities are color-coded to orange during this form. 

Echo Slash (Q)

Echo Slash allows Kez to issue an AoE attack, where he deals damage and applies slow to enemies within the radius. 

This ability provides Kez with decent wave clear and farming capabilities. However, it is most effective in teamfights, because Echo Slash attacks also apply Kez’s attack modifiers. If Kez has something like a Desolator, the reduced armor will be applied to every unit hit by the radius. 

Kez also leaps forward when casting this ability. He can leap forward across terrains, allowing him to go from low ground to high ground, vice versa. The ability also cuts down trees, making it effective for spotting heroes that are trying to hide, or heroes that rely on trees, such as Monkey King or Treant Protector. 

Grappling Claw (W)

Grappling Claw is Kez’s mobility spell. He swings on a grappling hook towards a target. Once he arrives, he applies a movement speed slow and also lands an attack on them. 

This ability is pretty straightforward – it’s Kez’s way of closing the gap on escaping enemies, allowing him to target less-mobile heroes like supports. The cast range for this ability is also relatively far.

Also note that Kez can cast Grappling Claw on trees or creeps, too. This allows Kez to use this ability as an escape mechanism. He can also hover between terrain while grappling. 

Kazurai Katana (E)

Kez’s Kazurai Katana is a passive ability that can also be activated. The passive part comes from his attacks and abilities, applying stacking damage over time to enemy heroes. He can activate the ability to deal damage from these stacks immediately. 

Kazurai Katana is one of Kez’s best ways to deal damage, especially when he can lock down a target and build up stacks. The active ability is also useful to provide Kez with burst potential if he wants to take out an enemy.

However, keep in mind that the maximum burst stacks from Kazurai Katana’s active ability is only 500, so you don’t have to hold on to this ability for too long. At max level, it only has a five-second cooldown and 40 mana cost, so it’s cheap to spam. 

Raptor Dance (R)

Raptor Dance is one of Kez’s ultimate abilities. Kez channels his ultimate for 1 second, and if he successfully does so uninterrupted, he goes ham, letting out slashes around him.

It’s very important that Kez manages to channel his ultimate without getting stunned or silenced. Otherwise, he won’t let out all of his slashes. This is why getting a Black King Bar can be a viable option to reliably get his ultimate off every time.

If the cast is successful, Kez’s slashes deal pure damage, meaning they ignore armor or magic resistance. Additionally, these slashes provide him with 100% lifesteal. If Kez is low and the ultimate connects on multiple targets, he could immediately heal up to full health.  

Kez Shodo Sai Abilities

Kez is in his Sai stance if he’s wielding two daggers. His abilities are color-coded to blue during this form. 

Falcon Rush (Q)

Falcon Rush works similarly to Phantom Lancer’s Phantom Rush. Kez approaches his enemy faster, allowing him to close the gap. However, the most useful part of this ability is that he “echoes” hits, where his clone deals secondary attacks. 

Overall, Falcon Rush is just a solid ability for Kez to jump targets and build up his stacks for later on. During the duration, Kez is also free to switch between targets, meaning he can go for another hero if a better opportunity presents itself.

On top of the offensive capability, Kez can also use Falcon Rush on creeps. He can use it to try escaping from sticky situations. 

Talon Toss (W)

Talon Toss is a straightforward spell. Kez throws one of his daggers at a target unit. Once the dagger lands, it explodes in an area, dealing damage and applying a silence. 

This ability is a decent tool in the laning stage to help him secure ranged creeps. But its value comes from skirmishes due to its silence mechanic. The silence allows Kez to lock down slippery heroes like Puck, Ember Spirit, Slark, and more. 

Keep in mind that Talon Toss has a projectile, so the dagger will need to travel before applying the silence. Throwing it when closer to an enemy will make it land faster. 

Shodo Sai (E)

Similar to Kazurai Katana, Shodo Sai is another two-part ability: it has a passive and can also be activated. 

For the passive side, Kez’s attacks and abilities with the Sai have a chance to “Mark” enemies, which pretty much allows his successful attacks to stun, deal critical damage, and have True Strike. The chance of Mark is only 18%, but these hits mean a lot.

The active side allows Kez to “parry” attacks and effects from the targeted direction. Kez is disarmed, and if he is successful in parrying an attack, he will stun and Mark the hero. 

Raven’s Veil (R)

Raven’s Veil is Kez’s ultimate from Sai form. When activated, Kez goes invisible and releases a huge wave around the area. He essentially Marks all enemies affected, meaning his next hit will deal bonus damage and apply a stun. Upon activation, he also receives a dispel and movement speed. 

Though Raven’s Veil doesn’t immediately deal heavy damage as Raptor Dance does, it’s a great way for Kez to navigate fights, reposition, and choose better targets. The dispel and invisibility he gets can also be used to escape instead of fighting. 

Also note that enemies affected by the Raven’s Veil radius are also blinded, meaning their vision becomes limited. This helps Kez isolate targets and go for meaningful pickoffs, hoping to burst them down in four seconds or less. 

Kez Aghnaim’s Upgrades

Kez doesn’t have the best Aghanim’s Shard, but his Scepter is pretty solid.

Aghanim’s Shard

Aghanim’s Shard only upgrades Kez’s Katana stance, so no modifications on Sai. The Shard upgrade allows him to receive a 100% lifesteal from the impale attack. If Kez impales from behind the target, they get stunned. 

Overall, it’s not the greatest Aghanim’s Shard in the game, and most people don’t buy it at all. 

Aghanim’s Scepter

Kez’s Aghanim’s Scepter, on the other hand, is much more effective. The Scepter upgrades Switch Discipline, which is the ability that allows Kez to swap between forms. 

Normally, casting a weapon ability will put its alternative ability on cooldown. But, with Scepter, it doesn’t as long as it is the first one used within 3 seconds after Switch Discipline was cast.

So, Aghanim’s Scepter pretty much allows Kez to use two abilities from different stances with no cooldown. It’s a great way to give him more mobility or damage in fights. The best part is, you can create your own combination of abilities based on the situation at hand. 

Kez Ability Build

In terms of facets, 95% of Kez players always go for the Flutter facet. It simply provides more value than Shadowhawk (the facet doesn’t even do anything at the time of writing). 

Now, let’s go over the best Kez skill build in Dota 2:

You almost always want to max out Kez’s Q first, particularly for Echo Slash from the Katana side. This is because Echo Slash provides you with everything you need in the early game. It does well in securing ranged creeps, going for kill opportunities, and improves farming pattern with jungle camps – the number of uses early on doesn’t get better than this. 

Kez Item Build

There are multiple approaches to building items on Kez, and the two options will be discussed in the Core Items section:

Early Items

Kez players typically go for the same items in the early game, which often include:

• Magic Wand: An item every Dota 2 hero needs to sustain themselves in the early game.
• Falcon Blade: Provides Kez with great stats and mana regeneration to spam spells. 
• Power Treads: Every player has agreed that Treads are the best type of Boots on Kez. 

Core Items

There are two item build routes for Kez: one for scaling, and the other aiming for heavy damage:

Scaling Route

Kez follows traditional carry builds by buying a farming item which will secure his late-game farm:

• Battle Fury: Buying Battle Fury will help Kez scale, but at the cost of early fighting potential. 
• Manta Style: Provides Kez with amazing stats and a way to dispel slows and other debuffs.
• Black King Bar: A necessary item for Kez to get his abilities and channeling off. 

Damage Route

If you’re looking to come online earlier and dish out heavy damage in the mid game, this build looks much better:

• Desolator: Allows Kez to deal serious damage, especially in the 15 to 20-minute mark. 
• Black King Bar: Since Kez will be fighting a lot, an earlier BKB timing is necessary. 
• Daedalus: To amplify Kez’s natural physical damage and armor reduction from Desolator. 

Both builds work fine on Kez – it just depends on whether you would like to join fights earlier on or keep farming. 

Luxury Items

Once his core items are built, Kez has several choices for luxury items. Some of the most popular ones include:

• Aghanim’s Scepter: Allows Kez to use abilities without sharing cooldown – providing him with more utility.
• Nullifier: Though Kez has good mobility tools, he is still vulnerable to getting kited. Nullifier solves some of those issues. 
• Satanic: Great for man-fighting and dispelling silences or other negative debuffs. 
• Monkey King Bar: Ideal for dealing more damage and providing True Strike to his attacks. 
• Butterfly: An amazing stat item, and the evasion always works well for Kez who loves going in the middle of fights.