Kunkka
Once a proud Admiral, Kunkka now commands the spectral tide. With tidal force and rum-soaked courage, he turns battles into shipwrecks and sends foes back to the depths.
At a Glance
Core Principles
“Mark them, move them, drown them—an Admiral wins fights by choosing where they happen.”
Play From Fog
Hide your Torrent and Boat animations. Vision denial turns your telegraphed combo into a surprise.
Angle the Splash
Tidebringer is geometry. Hit a low-value front unit to cleave critical targets behind.
Own the Map with X
X is macro power: fast shop trips, safe deep TPs, and guaranteed pickoffs when timed.
Rum is Tempo
Boat defensively to absorb damage and disengage; offensively to force a window to fight.
Displace to Win
Use Tidal Wave, Torrent, and Return to drag enemies into your team’s damage and out of safety.
Hero Overview
Kunkka is a strength-based tempo controller who blends burst physical damage with displacement and control. He dominates lanes with Tidebringer cleave, sets kills with long-range Torrent, and manipulates positioning with X Marks the Spot. In teamfights, Ghostship’s Rum mitigation and stun create powerful windows to engage or disengage.
Early, use Tidebringer to secure last hits and harass while threatening Torrent from fog. Mid game, X + Torrent + Boat combos punish mispositioned cores and secure objectives. You decide when fights happen: place the X, force movement, then choose to commit or reset. Tidebringer’s splash angles and Ghostship’s Rum timing make you a frontline caller who can flip fights from chaos into order.
Pros
- Strong lane control and wave clear with Tidebringer
- Long-range setup and vision from Torrent
- Unique macro plays with X Marks (recalls, saves, catches)
- Powerful teamfight stun and mitigation with Ghostship Rum
- Good at punishing poor positioning and defending towers
Cons
- Combo is telegraphed if cast in vision
- Reliant on positioning and map awareness
- Can be kited without blink/mobility
- Break disables Tidebringer and Rum innate
- Needs items to scale damage past mid game
Ability Analysis
Torrent
Target AreaSummons a burst of water at a target area after a delay, damaging, stunning, and slowing enemies. Grants brief vision around the cast point.
Notes: Abuse the huge cast range and the vision it grants. Cast from fog or high ground to avoid being juked. Deals multiple damage ticks and continues slowing in the AoE even if enemies dodge the stun. Constant AoE damage helps cancel Blink Daggers and channeling.
Tidebringer
PassiveEmpowers Kunkka’s next attack with bonus damage and wide-area cleave.
Notes: Primary target only takes the bonus hit, not the cleave. Angle your splash so multiplied base damage hits important targets behind a less valuable one. Splash particles can reveal the location of invisible units via directionality. You can splash a Nightmared unit without waking it.
X Marks the Spot
Target UnitPlaces a mark on a target hero. After a duration or on command, returns them to the mark. Can be used on allies or self.
Notes: Use on yourself or an ally before teleporting to quickly shop, bottle, or rotate, then snap back. You can X debuff-immune targets and wait out immunity before Returning. Against short banishes (Eul’s, Disruption, Phase Shift, Doppelganger), fake Torrent after X to bait the dodge, then finish the combo.
Return
No TargetReturns the target affected by X Marks the Spot to the marked location. Cancels the target's current cast animation when it triggers.
Notes: Return cancels ongoing cast animations. Skilled enemies can spam Blink during their own cast to instantly escape on Return. Rubick interactions: the first Return cast on an X’d target overrides the other.
Ghostship
Target AreaSummons a spectral ship that travels through a target area, stunning and damaging enemies. Allies in the area receive Rum, granting movement speed and delaying damage taken.
Notes: There’s no such thing as a fail boat—cast it defensively for Rum to save teammates or enable disengage. Multiple Rum sources (innate Rum, facets like Grog Blossom, Ghostship) don’t stack for damage reduction; one source is enough.
Tidal Wave (Aghanim's Shard)
ActiveConjures a wave that drags enemies and disarms Kunkka while surfing, allowing spell and item usage.
Notes: Great for repositioning, saving allies, or pushing enemies into Torrent/Boat. Disarms you while surfing, but you can still cast spells or items.
Developer's Notes
Developer Insights
Kunkka rewards precision and map sense. Tidebringer gives lane control and burst, Torrent adds long-range setup and vision, X Marks enables creative macro plays, and Ghostship turns skirmishes into wins with Rum mitigation. Use fog and high ground to hide your Torrent animation, abuse X for fast recalls and repositioning, and think of Ghostship defensively when saving allies. Timing is everything—your combo is strong, but predictable if telegraphed.
Game Strategy
Early Game
Timeframe: 0-12 minutes Objective: Win the lane with Tidebringer and threaten kills with Torrent from fog Key: Use high ground and tree lines to hide Torrent’s animation; Angle Tidebringer to splash onto enemy heroes while hitting a less important target; Control runes with Bottle and secure catapult waves for tower pressure; Stack a jungle camp with Torrent at ~57.5s when applicable Items: Bottle; Phase Boots; Bracer Tips: Torrent grants brief vision—use it to scout cliffs and cancel TPs; Your hero can face any direction when casting Torrent; don’t telegraph the cast by turning; Draw creep aggro before Tidebringer swings to set up better splash angles
Mid Game
Timeframe: 12-28 minutes Objective: Force fights on your terms with X + Torrent + Ghostship Key: X enemy cores, bait movement, then Return into Torrent + Boat; Use Ghostship defensively to grant Rum and reset skirmishes; Pick off isolated heroes with Shadow/Silver Edge and Tidebringer burst; Control objectives after successful boats: towers, Roshan, map wards Items: Armlet; Black King Bar; Aether Lens or Blink Dagger (preference) Tips: Fake Torrent after X to bait short banishes (Eul’s, Disruption, Phase Shift), then re-cast; Return cancels current casts—abuse this to interrupt channels or to disrupt enemy combos; Boat Rum sources don’t stack; one Rum is enough to mitigate damage for an engage or a disengage
Late Game
Timeframe: 28+ minutes Objective: Secure key picks and provide durable frontlining with Rum Key: Initiate from fog: Blink/Harpoon into Torrent + Boat; Use X on allies before deep teleports to create instant reposition plays; Displace threats with Tidal Wave (Shard) into your team’s damage; Prioritize armor shred angles and high-value splash targets Items: Daedalus or Silver Edge (scaling); Harpoon (catch and drag); Aghanim’s Shard Tips: Tidal Wave sets up perfect Torrent/Boat layering—disarm doesn’t stop you from casting; Against BKB lineups, focus on Rum timing and displacement rather than raw stun chains; Keep buyback and X plays in mind for high ground defense and split-push punishment
Tips & Strategies
Torrent Mastery
- Abuse Torrent’s huge cast range; cast from fog or high ground to avoid jukes.
- It provides a small vision radius—use it to scout cliffs, trees, and cancel teleports.
- Torrent damages in multiple ticks and slows even if the stun is dodged; useful for canceling Blink Daggers.
- If body-blocked in trees, Torrent the blocker and walk under while they’re lifted.
- At ~57.5s, Torrent can stack certain camps by lifting creeps above the spawn height. Test which camps in a lobby.
Tidebringer Mechanics
- Primary target only gets the bonus hit; cleave won’t apply to them.
- Spend your bonus hit on an unimportant target so the multiplied cleave reaches priority heroes.
- Splash particle direction can indirectly reveal where an invisible unit is.
- You can Tidebringer splash a Nightmared target without waking them.
X Marks Tricks
- X yourself or an ally before teleporting to snap back for quick bottle refills or shop trips.
- Return cancels current casts—enemies can spam Blink during a cast to escape on Return; keep that in mind.
- You can X debuff-immune (BKB) enemies and wait for immunity to expire before Returning.
- Versus short banishes (SD Disruption, Puck Phase Shift, Eul’s, PL Doppelganger), fake Torrent after X to bait outs, then finish the combo.
- Rubick vs Kunkka: if both X the same target, whoever casts Return first prevents the other’s Return.
Ghostship & Rum Usage
- There’s no fail boat—cast defensively to grant Rum for move speed and delayed damage.
- Multiple Rum sources (innate Rum, facets like Grog Blossom, Ghostship Rum) don’t stack damage reduction.
- Keep Raindrop ready: Torrent alone may not break it, but the follow-up boat is what hurts.
Shard: Tidal Wave
- Tidal Wave disarms you while surfing, but you can still cast spells and items.
- Use it to peel, reposition carries, or push enemies into Torrent/Boat.
Item Guide
Starting Items (Mid)
Secure last hits with Tidebringer, sustain with Bottle, and trade efficiently with a Bracer.
Quelling Blade, Tango, Bottle, Bracer
Core Items
Phase for positioning and armor, Armlet for massive Tidebringer burst, BKB for reliable fights, Silver Edge for pickoffs and break utility.
Phase Boots, Armlet, Black King Bar, Silver Edge
Situational & Utility
Blink for surprise Torrent + Boat, Lens for safer X range, Harpoon to drag targets through splash angle, Khanda for heavy strike synergy and potential break, Daedalus to scale physical burst, Radiance for aura farming/offlane builds.
Blink Dagger, Aether Lens, Harpoon, Khanda, Daedalus, Radiance
Counter Guide
Good With
Kunkka excels with follow-up damage and chain control. Mirana lands Arrow off Torrent/X, Invoker combos Meteor + Blast on boated targets, Skywrath Mage and Snapfire punish stationary enemies, and Disruptor synergizes with displacement and forced positions. Pair Kunkka with heroes who capitalize on grouped, slowed targets and who benefit from Rum-enabled dives.
Bad Against
Break effects stop Tidebringer and disable Rum survivability: Viper, Silver Edge carriers, and Khanda users are problematic. Lifestealer and Razor kite and out-sustain, while Oracle and Abaddon purge or save boated targets. Debuff immunity (BKB) prevents Return, and invulnerability (Eul’s, banishes) can dodge it with good timing. Versus a fake Torrent, watch Kunkka’s mana—if it drops, he committed; otherwise hold your defensive tool.
Good Against
Channelers and immobile backliners suffer against long-range setup and Rum-enabled dives: Witch Doctor, Crystal Maiden, and Sniper are prime targets. Kunkka punishes poor positioning and split pushers: Ember Spirit and Tinker get caught by X + Boat when misplayed. Illusion wave clear and armor shred angles make him solid into illusion spam during mid game defenses.