Support · Field guide
Bane
Remove one enemy from the fight long enough for allies to win the remaining exchange.
First check
Who can interrupt Fiend’s Grip, and can your team reach the target while it lasts?
Play as Bane
- Use Nightmare to protect a partner or isolate a reachable target; tell allies which hero should remain untouched while the team changes position.
- Begin Fiend’s Grip from fog or behind your front line so the enemy must spend time reaching you before they can end the channel.
- After a pickoff, move vision or a wave toward the nearest objective while the enemy team is short one useful responder.
Play against Bane
- Keep an interrupt outside the likely Fiend’s Grip area instead of placing every save hero beside the intended target.
- Pressure Bane’s position before starting an isolated fight; a support forced to defend himself cannot freely select the best channel target.
- When Nightmare separates an ally, decide who can cover that hero and who can attack Bane without waking the wrong target.
Make the lesson stick
Review three Fiend’s Grips: identify the target, interruption route, allied follow-up, and whether the pickoff changed an objective.
Added September 26, 2026. These are decision cues, not fixed builds or matchup guarantees. Verify current spell and item behavior in the Dota client, the official Bane hero page, and official updates.