HERO / GET TO KNOW THEM

Monkey King

Abilities, roles and builds with an explanation for every purchase.

VALVE · 7.41fChecked 06.10.2026Game data source ↗

HERO GAME PLAN

Ruslan Ukrainskyi· OOPS DOTA

What I want to do in the game

I maintain a favorable engagement for Jingu Mastery and place Wukong’s Command to suit the fight.

Always in search of a good fight, Monkey King travels atop the trees aiming to spring from leafy cover and surprise his enemies. Calling upon an army of monkey soldiers to overwhelm opponents, this agile trickster revels in the chaos of battle, ready to slam his legendary staff down on any hopes of escape.

Abilities at hand

01 / ROLE IN THE TEAM

A pick is not a plan yet.

My recommendation is a starting point. We choose another position together with the team and for its needs.

Carry · position 1

Initial recommendation

I need protected farm, my item window and damage on important targets.

Mid · position 2

Levels, lane control and joining the team at the right moment matter.

MY VIEW OF THE HERO

Pick for a purpose. Play with a plan.

When I pick

I choose this for close-range attacks and fighting in my own area if trees and a safe approach are available.

What I watch out for

A cut tree can break the ambush. Distance and the enemy leaving the circle reduce the value of a strong attack window.

What I do in combat

Before jumping, I look at tools that destroy trees. I place Wukong’s Command where the team can hold the fight, not where enemies happened to be a second ago.

What I check first

A cut tree can ruin an ambush: I account for enemy abilities and items that destroy trees.

02 / ITEMS FOR A PURPOSE

What I buy and why.

This is an editorial starting plan based on hero mechanics. It is not presented as a match I have already tested or a popularity ranking.

Carry · position 1

My starting plan

Here is my initial plan: I do my role's job first, then choose the items the team needs. I adapt the order and expensive purchases to the opponent.

01 / First stepPower Treads
Provide attack speed and switchable attributes for farming and managing my resources.
02 / FoundationEcho Sabre
Strengthens a melee hero’s short engagement and helps secure the first attacks.
03 / FoundationBlack King Bar
Provides a window for my actions against eligible magical damage and disables. I check effects that pierce the protection.
04 / Next choiceAghanim's Scepter
Unlocks or upgrades Wukong's Command. The exact effects are shown below in the abilities section.
05 / Next choiceEye of Skadi
Improves attributes and lets attacks keep a target under control, limiting suitable sources of its restoration.

What I change for the situation 3 options

Maelstrom ↗

Speeds up creep clearing and adds attack damage against multiple targets.

Harpoon ↗

Helps close the gap to a target and builds on items for close-range combat.

Skull Basher ↗

Adds a chance to stun on attack, making it harder for the target to get out of melee range.

I see the minute on the clock. And the situation too.

I do not assign one ‘correct’ minute to every purchase. I look at my gold, the next fight and the problem: am I missing mana, target access, control or protection? If an expensive slot will arrive too late, I get a useful answer earlier.

03 / HERO ABILITIES

Abilities. As in the game.

Original Valve icons and descriptions. Cooldowns and mana are shown by level from the data snapshot; talents and upgrades can change the values.

Ability

Boundless Strike

Monkey King enlarges his staff and slams it against the ground, stunning enemies in a line and damaging them with bonus damage and a critical hit based on his attack. Has True Strike.

↻ 24 / 21 / 18 / 15 sec.Mana 85 / 90 / 95 / 100

Details and upgrades

Monkey King enlarges his staff and slams it against the ground, stunning enemies in a line and damaging them with bonus damage and a critical hit based on his attack. Has True Strike.

Aghanim’s Shard

Boundless Strike applies Primal Spring with 35% of the max channeling duration power to enemies along the staff and at the end of the staff. When Boundless Strike is set to alt-cast, Monkey King leaps to the end of his staff.

Ability

Tree Dance

The hero leaps to the top of the selected tree. While there, he gains Primal Spring, a channeled leap to a location. If the tree is destroyed, the hero falls and is stunned for 3 sec.

↻ 0.9 / 0.6 / 0.3 / 0 sec.

Details

The hero leaps to the top of the selected tree. While there, he gains Primal Spring, a channeled leap to a location. If the tree is destroyed, the hero falls and is stunned for 3 sec. Taking damage while on the ground puts the ability on cooldown.

Ability

Jingu Mastery

Monkey King's attacks awaken the Jingu Bang's power. Upon the fourth hit on the same enemy hero, Monkey King earns 4 charged attacks that have bonus damage and lifesteal.

Ability

Wukong's Command

The hero creates a circular formation of soldiers that spread out from his position. If he leaves the ability’s area, the soldiers disappear.

↻ 100 / 90 / 80 sec.Mana 100

Details and upgrades

The hero creates a circular formation of soldiers that spread out from his position. If he leaves the ability’s area, the soldiers disappear. Their attacks are the same as the ability owner’s, but occur at a fixed interval of 1.1 sec. and only target enemy heroes. The hero gains bonus armor for the ability’s duration. During Wukong's Command, the hero can briefly swap places with one of its soldiers and become an indistinguishable copy of it.

Aghanim’s Scepter

Spawns a monkey soldier near Monkey King at regular intervals. Soldiers do not spawn while invisible or on trees. Soldiers only attack buildings when Monkey King himself is nearby. Soldiers can now gain Jingu Mastery charges independently.

Innates, upgrades and other forms2 abilities +

These abilities are not necessarily available at the same time. I check the condition beside the name: innate ability, another form or an Aghanim purchase.

Innate

Mischief

Changes Monkey King's shape to deceive opponents, using the environment nearby as inspiration for the disguise. Taking damage, attacking, or using any item or ability breaks Monkey King's disguise. Grants damage immunity for 0.1 seconds upon transforming.

Full description

Additional / other form

Changing of the Guard

During Wukong's Command, the hero can swap places with one of its soldiers and become an indistinguishable copy of it for 1.5 sec. In soldier form, the hero is invulnerable but cannot attack or cast spells.

Full description

Valve base stats +

Health · base: 538
Mana · base: 315
Damage · Valve field: 52–56
Armour · Valve field: 4.83
Movement speed: 300
Attack range: 300
Strength · base / gain: 19 / 2.8
Agility · base / gain: 23 / 3.7
Intelligence · base / gain: 20 / 1.8

These are fields from the official source. The hero's final values in the client account for attributes and other active mechanics.

KEEP EXPLORING

One hero. Many decisions.

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