He Bo: Going with the flow

Welcome to my He Bo guide! This will be slowly updated as I gain time to actually work on it.

He Bo is an excellent burst caster, excellent at ganks and capable of doing huge amounts of damage over a sustained duration (quick cooldown) in a fair area of effect. He also has excellent utility being able to knock enemies in the air (forcing their tragectory in the direction they were moving when struck) and can slow enemies in a line whilst speeding himself up.

There are a couple ways to play He Bo. Besides going all-out burst caster and mage focused, you can play He Bo in a more sustained tanky form, more suited for close-quartered team fights that you have no choice but to be a part of (see Ares, Odin, and anyone else with an obnoxious initiation ability).

As a disclaimer, these are my OPINIONS and preferences on how to play He Bo. If you do not agree, then qualify why and state it as YOUR OPINION and leave calmly. If you're polite and non-inflammatory, I will respond in kind. :)

Pros:

• Fantastic early game harass (due to his "3")
• Great lane clearing abilities
• Fantastic damage potential
• Nice in-build utility (which gets better if you choose Gem of Isolation)

Cons:

• Squishy if you get carried away with Magic Power
• Escapes are not fantastic (one requires you to be on the line as a speed buff and the other is a huge damage potential ultimate that throws you forward in a straight line)

Passive: Steady Flow

Each time you use an ability, his passive gains 1 stack (up to 3), giving you a nice boost to your Magic Power. It will encourage you to chain your abilities to output more damage and reward you for spending your well-maintained mana reserves.

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[1]: Water Cannon

His highest damage output ability due to it's near-spammability in a cone in front of him. This requires him to be within moderate range and it is ideal for farming and maintaining your Steady Flow passive. It is not ideal for early game poke/harass due to it placing you in close quarters, so opt to max it second after your Waterspout. Also, be wary of it's minute delay in casting and aim accordingly!

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[2]:Flood WatersFlood Waters

His utility move, allowing him to speed himself up and slow enemies down in a line in front of him on the ground (is a ground targeted ability). Useful to zip around the map (mana allowing), open on enemy gods while stacking your passive, and escaping and preventing them from following in close quarters. Take a point at level 4 and max it last as you won't be utilizing it much early on, because we're a mana-conscientious mage.

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[3]: Waterspout

His primary poke move with a bit of utility, it lauches enemies in a small area of effect into the air towards the tragectory they were facing when struck. It can be a very useful opener on cocky gods running towards your tower or an unfavorable jungle opening with your team waiting right behind. It can also be cast around corners and walls, making it fun to steal jungle camps from enemies and catching them when they think they've successfully juked by hugging that wall so tightly. There is also a slight delay on this.

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[4]: Crushing Wave

His ultimate transforms him into a massive wave and surges him forward dealing damage to enemies in a straight line (this means he travels WITH the wave). A great multipurpose tool that can be used to run away (though you will cringe for having to do it), initiate from behind the enemy from the jungle, and of course, do massive damage to potentially their entire team. Gem of Isolation is excellent for slowing enemies caught in the ability and leaving them vulnerable for your team to clean them up and you to get away after tossing yourself into close quarters. Using this ability, you will have to weigh the pros and cons of every situation and decide whether it's worth it to take one for the team and potentially get that deicide, or save it for cleaning up.

Starting Items:

Boots of the MagiMeditationMeditation
Healing Potion Healing Potion Healing Potion Mana Potion
I prefer this start as it gives me ample movement (especially now with the 10% movement speed buff for Gods), mana, and lots of sustain. I do hate to be driven out of lane before I hit 5, and being stocked on potions with Mediation to ensure that you can harass and farm will prevent any obnoxious early returns.

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Mid Game Core:

Get your second level of Boots of the Magi asap, and don't forget to keep stocked on Healing Potion (you may not wish to continually purchacse Mana Potion, and that's fine since you have Meditation and are a mindful mage!)

Spear of the Magus
Build your full Spear of the Magus before completing your third level of Boots of the Magi. This gives you a nice health boost, some additional power, and early game magic penetration which will allow you to get through some more damage while providing you with useful early game stats.

Warlock's SashWarlock's Sash
Next get that Warlock's Sash built! This will give us plenty of extra magic power, mana, as well as a much needed health boost that will let us get into close range and not squish instantly. It is a more reliable item than Doom Orb, and since I really don't believe in snowballing unless you are playing with a team you are confident in (remember you will be getting into close range and potentially may die in team fights), I prefer this overall.

Rod of Tahuti
Oh, Rod of Tahuti! You are our bread and butter massive damage spike. Get this next to complete the core of that which makes you awesome: flinging water from your sleeves to kill enemies.

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Against Heavy Magic:

Stone of Gaia
This item is your friend. It scales well with all that health we're heaping upon you with warlock's sash, gives you the highest Magic Defense of any of the other items, and gives you excellent HP and MP regeneration allowing you to sustain in later game team fights and pushes.

You COULD get Magi's Blessing, Hide of Leviathan, or Void Stone (or a combination if their casters are so very frightening), but I don't feel any one of them more suitably fills the "screw your casters" slot if it is required. Magi's Blessing can be useful for ulting in to them and avoiding being caught in CC or instantly dieing, but I prefer to rely on Aegis Amulet or Purification Beads for that.

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Against Heavy Physical:

Breastplate of Valor
This fulfils the "screw your Physical Power carries" quite nicely. It is an excellent all-around choice with the additional mana and 20% cooldown reduction. 75 Physical Protection is nothing to scoff at, and will help you if you decide to rush into them and a wave of their creeps (or a tower) with your ult, you suicidal geezer you.

You COULD get Hide of Leviathan, Hide of the Nemean Lion, or BOTH if you are extra frightened of them. However, for the amount that their carry should be hitting you, Hide of the Nemean Lion does not give you much benefit with its passive and you would be losing out on the excellent 20% cooldown reduction that I feel far outweights a bit of damage return. It does however provide you with overall higher defensiveness, so the choice is ultimately yours.

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Late Game Core:

Sell that Spear of the Magus after you've purchased either a situational defensive item, or after you're purchased one of your luxury items. Before you do so, make sure you have enough money to buy the level 3 version outright of...

Obsidian Shard
I know what you're thinking: "Why on earth would you sell a magic penetration item when they STACK SO NICELY?"

My answer to that is simple: real estate space. As one of the squishiest mages, you have other needs than just worrying about your damage output. You also have fantastic utility value, and you want to be sure you are bolstering that at the same time you are sustaining through a team fight which then allows you naturally to output more damage. Therefore: one magic penetration item only, so we choose the biggest one out there.

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Luxury Items:

Gem of Isolation
This lovely little gem of luxury makes it so that ALL of your abilities apply a movement speed debuff, allowing you to be extremely obnoxious with your near spammable Water Cannon and works fantastically with Crushing Wave in team fights. Also allows you to escape more readily after ulting into an enemy team. Oh, it also gives you Magic Power, Health, and Mana too.

Polynomicon
If it bothers you that He Bo is one of the wimpiest auto attackers next to the arrow minions (and even they are better after the pheonix upgrade), then this is the item for you! It allows your regular attacks to do damge equal 100% of your magical power, after you have cast an ability, but only once every 2 seconds. This means, you get extra rewards from chaining (as long as you can aim and keep up to them when they turn tail and flee). It also gives you the tiniest magic lifesteal as well as magical power and mana.

Pythagorem's Piece
If you're on a team with other mages or magic-damage oriented characters ( Freya, Ares, [[Hades], etc.) and no one else is interested in getting this, it's an excellent damage boost. Also gives mana and some magical lifesteal. It sits slightly lower in usefulness than the previous two items in my opinion, but has a place when you simply crave more damage and have the team composition to call for it.

Special Note About Situational/Luxury Items:

While I have given reasons for purchasing defensive items, not every person will feel inclined to focus defensively on an offensive caster. Sometimes you are simply playing against a team that hasn't figured out that you are a threat and ignores you. Sometimes you are simply so far ahead, you can outbuild their team with your massive income. In these cases, mixing luxury items and opting away from situational defense items works splendidly.

Any two of the above listed luxury items works in perfect tandem together. My favorite combination is Polynomicon with Pythagorem's Piece if you don't need the additional movement speed debuff from Gem of Isolation. This gives you 25% magic lifesteal, a massive amount of magical power, and gets your Polynomicon hitting for more.

Question: "Why you no get Chronos' Pendant you nubsauce?!"
Answer: "Because the cooldown cap is 30%."

To elaborate on this, if your jungle camps give you 20% and your item gives you 20%, you are at 40% and have a 10% just floating about your person doing nothing. It's inefficient. I prefer to obsessively nab the cooldown buffs when able starting midgame or when I'm roaming/ganking. Your primary ability has a near spammable cooldown to begin with, and unless you are going to focus on building defensively with Breastplate of Valor, I believe the cooldown item isn't neccesary. I would rather fill that last item slot with a higher magic power item with other utility.

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Abilities:

Thankfully, He Bo tends to not be reliant on abilities to keep him relevant due to his inbuilt utility, so taking Meditation early on poses no hindrance to our usefulness later on in the game.

SprintSprint
Fantastic for darting about the jungle, increasing your assasin potential, and giving an overall speed boost with an additional 10% passive movement speed. Also lets you be more evasive of skillshots and allows you to focus your Flood Waters on the enemy team rather than on your own movement path.

Aegis Amulet
Useful when you're facing up against initiators who force close-quarters upon you ( Odin, Ares, etc.) and allows you to get off all the damage you can with a quick Waterspout into a Water Cannon, pause for two seconds, then either do it again or Crushing Wave out (and hopefully over the enemy).

Purification Beads
If they have a ton of crowd control and it is driving you up the wall, or back to the fountain, get this.

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After Completing Your Build:

Potion of Magical Might Elixir of Power Elixir of Defense
Buy, use, and rebuy as neccesary.

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

Coming soon!