I’ve felt like making a guide for my legitimate, (now) unironic main, WP Ozo for a while now so anyways, here it is. Prepare for a long read, btw.
Ozo has always been the off-meta, neglected hero in VG. Because of this, there aren’t many guides for him, especially for his WP path, no less. I’ve decided to make this guide to change that and maybe some some others try him out for once.
At his core, WP Ozo is a powerful sustain hero with an insane amount of mobility to stick to his targets and synergy with crit items to burst down squishy heroes. This allows him to succeed in both duels and teamfights. Additionally, he scales very well during all points of a match. However, as a sustain hero, he is extremely weak against mortal wounds, burst, and stuns. As the current meta is highly anti-sustain, with SF and PS being common items, Ozo can’t shine very well, especially in draft matches.
Ozo’s kit mainly focuses on self-healing with his perk and Three-ring Circus and mobility with Acrobounce and Bangarang. These traits allow him to be a strong sustain hero with a ton of stickiness. However, with the large amounts of damage he can do with a single Three-Ring Circus combo, he can also work as a bursty assassin.
Carnie Luck
Ozo’s perk, Carnie Luck, provides him with 10-25% (based on his level) extra healing from all sources excluding his automatic health regen. This allows him to synergize extremely well with SM, PS, Fountain, and heroes who can heal their allies.
Three-ring Circus
Three-ring Circus is an integral part of WP Ozo. It is a unique ability with 3 different attacks that can be chained together to combo enemies. Each attack is considered an AA, so they can crit, apply on-hit effects (only on the selected target, however), and build up BP stacks. Additionally, each attack heals Ozo for a set amount of health (which isn’t boosted by his perk), is an AA reset, and deals additional damage proportional to 40% of his WP (as of 3.3). The first activation preforms a short-ranged AOE attack in the direction of his selected target. It is best to use this when there are multiple enemies clustered together and/or when you have missing health to take full advantage of the combo’s built-in healing. Next, the second activation preforms a dash attack that sends Ozo behind his selected target. It is best to save this for when you need to stick to a target. Finally, the third activation preforms a circular AOE attack around Ozo. It is best to use this when there are multiple heroes within range. Optimally, you’d want to AA -> use TRC -> AA -> repeat to make the most out of it, but using all three attacks of the combo immediately to gain a burst of health back is perfectly fine when needed. As WP Ozo, Three-ring Circus should ALWAYS be upgraded at level 1 and overdriven ASAP.
Acrobounce
Acrobounce is Ozo’s main mobility tool. Upon activation, Ozo gains fortified health and jumps on the selected target (ally, enemy, or minion), dealing CP damage and applying a light slow to the target if they are an enemy. However, while he is in air (before jumping on his target), he can select another target to bounce off of, up to a maximum of 2 additional targets. After preforming 1 additional bounce, Ozo gains a burst of bonus movespeed after completing the bounce. After preforming 2 additional bounces, the final bounce will deal damage in a small AOE. Acrobounce is a very versatile part of WP Ozo because of its many uses. It can be used to dive (either into enemy turrets’ range or past enemy heroes to reach squishy, backline, heroes), to stick to targets, or disengage, among other uses. However, it should only be used for its utility as WP Ozo, as it leaves him very vulnerable and greatly lowers her overall DPS. Acrobounce should only be overdriven when necessary for its lowered CD.
Bangarang is a fairly simple ability that gives Ozo some extra mobility and CC. Upon activation, Ozo rolls to the selected hero, stunning them and flipping them over him. During the roll, Ozo deals damage and pushes any other enemy heroes he comes into contact with. However, the roll is capped at a maximum time of 1 second and it fails to land on stealthed heroes. Additionally, it is arguably the easiest ability to Reflex Block. As WP Ozo, Bangarang can be used to engage a hero, bait out RBs for allies, or to catch enemies attempting to disengage. Bangarang should almost always be overdriven for the greatly lowered CD, but choosing to overdrive Acrobounce over this is fine if needed.
Because of Three-ring Circus’s ability to apply on-hit effects, as well as its ability to build multiple BP stacks with its AOE attacks, Ozo works very well with every WP item. However, a few stand-out items include SM (for the WP and lifesteal it provides), TM (for its ability to provide burst to Ozo), SSw (for its WP, CD, and energy renewal), and BP (as he can last long enough to build up and maintain high amounts of stacks). As with any other melee hero, a sustain one no less, WP Ozo should almost always build defense items. Buying two (one for shield and another for armor) is ideal, but buying one or even none at all is fine, granted you can pull it off. If in the unlikely case that the enemy team has little, if any, CC, buying Fountain over Aegis is good idea for its utility for the entire team and extra sustain for Ozo himself. As for boots, JB are the best in most situations for its ability to provide a ton of extra stickiness and mobility (especially in 5v5), but buying other types of boots is fine when/if needed. In addition, counterbuilding items (such as PS, Atlas, etc.) should be purchased when necessary.
Here are a few example builds for WP Ozo. Note that these should change according to the situation and items do not have to be built in the order shown, ofc
Bursty Sustain Bozo a personal favorite of mine
SM, TM, TM, Def, Def, Boots
With this build, Ozo becomes a bursty, crit assassin with a really good amount of sustain and mobility. TM can be swapped with TT if preferred, but it provides less burst with TRC. I personally love this build just because of the sheer amount of damage you can do with a single TRC combo, especially on squishy targets.
Long-lasting Lozo
SM, BP, BS, Def, Def, Boots
This build focuses on Ozo’s ability to last long in fights. With this build, Ozo focuses on building up BP stacks and applying armor shred to become a monster in long teamfights. BS can be swapped out with any other WP item if the enemy team has minimal armor.
High WP Nozo
SM, SB, SSw, Def, Def, Boots
This build focuses on gaining large amounts of base WP to deal a ton of damage midgame with TRC due to its new WP ratios. This build is very weak against tanky heroes and enemies who just build armor, however.
Assassin Zozo
SB, TM, TM, TM, Def, Boots
This build focuses on the high amounts of damage Ozo can deal with a TRC combo, especially with crit. A TB can be put in the build if wanted, but I personally don’t recommend it. Additionally, SB can be replaced by SSw if preferred. This build has little sustain, however, but it can actually be a good thing in some cases.
General Tips
Ozo should generally start out with a WB and BoE in order to have access to SM ASAP, but going double WB initially can be a good idea if you don’t want to rush SM as hard, if at all, and/or play more aggressively earlygame. However, without a roam to back him up, WP Ozo is fairly weak earlygame and he should play safe. If he does have a roam with him, however, he should play more offensively to take advantage of the relatively high earlygame damage with TRC and mobility with Acrobounce in order to apply pressure to the enemy team. Ozo hits his powerspike after finishing his first T3 WP item, usually SM or SB. After building it, it is MUCH more safe for Ozo to play aggressively and, therefore, he should do it more actively to take advantage of his strong midgame, especially with more bursty builds. Additionally, picking up two Weapon Blades after SM (if chosen ofc) can further his powerspike. As with any other hero, he should usually start buying defense and boots after finishing his first T3 WP item, but he should still focus primarily on buying offensive items. Lategame, he should mainly focus on sticking with his allies for teamfights, while also not neglecting to clear jungle or his lane, depending on his position. In 5v5, getting the WP buff is extremely helpful due to the very strong slow it provides. Getting the CP buff (preferably from an invasion) is also very helpful because of the lifesteal it provides.
Jungle
Overall, playing WP Ozo in jungle is pretty much the same as most other WP junglers. He should focus on farming earlygame if he’s alone in the jungle or invading if he’s supported by an aggressive earlygame roamer. He should also gank the enemy laner(s) and help take objectives while waiting for his jungle farm to respawn.
Lane
While WP lane Ozo can work in 3v3, he is much better in 5v5. In 5v5, he can take any lane quite well, but he is best on top or bot. BoE is a MUST as an initial item due to the important lane sustain it provides, especially for a melee laner. He should play safely at first and become more aggressive once he hits his powerspike.
Despite all of his strengths, WP Ozo is quite possibly the WORST hero in draft. His sustain builds are near useless against a team that has at least one hero who has mortal wounds built into their kit or works well with PS or SF, which is most of the cast. In addition, he is weak against assassins because they can kill him before he can gain back his health. Furthermore, he is also weak against heroes with stuns, as they can allow him to get bursted down while stunned. However, he can work in draft occasionally (moreso in 3v3) against low/no CC comps and paired with aggressive early-game roams and healers. Here are some quick analyses on each hero and how Ozo fares both against and with them:
Note that I’ll only be taking into account viable draft build paths for each hero, no WP Celeste, WP Phinn, etc.
Adagio
As an enemy: A good/bad matchup, depending on Adagio’s build. Adagio has NOTHING outside of boots to disengage against Ozo, so Ozo can kill him very reliably. However, with CP and WP, he can work well with SF and PS, respectively.
As an ally: Ozo works extremely well with roam/CP Adagio, as Adagio can greatly him quite often and benefit from doing so.
Alpha
As an enemy: A very bad matchup. Alpha can destroy Ozo at any point in a game, especially earlygame, with both WP and CP. Due to her perk and sheer strength, she can always win duels against Ozo.
As an ally: Ozo and Alpha work fairly well with each other. Together, they can effectively dive against an enemy hero to kill them quite easily.
Ardan
As an enemy: A good matchup. Outside of his gauntlet (the stun from it, in specific), Ardan can’t do much against Ozo and his perk won’t be very helpful against an assassin Ozo.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Ardan because of Ardan’s ability to reliably protect Ozo and group up enemy heroes.
Baptiste
As an enemy: A fairly bad matchup. Baptiste can gain the upper hand in a battle due to his CC and strength while empowered. In addition, he works well with both SF and PS and his sustain in lane is much greater than Ozo’s.
As an ally: Baptiste works fairly well with Ozo. He can help Ozo lock down a target with all of the CC he possesses.
Baron
As an enemy: A mixed/bad matchup depending on his build path. He can burst down Ozo with both WP and CP, reliably disengage with Jump Jets, and he works well with SF. However, Ozo’s mobility allows hi, to dodge Porcupine Mortars quite easily.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Baron, granted there is teamwork between the two. Baron can use his Jump Jets in combination with Ozo’s Acrobounce in order to help Ozo travel a great distance and Ozo can use Bangarang in order ensure that a target is hit by Baron’s Ion Cannon.
Blackfeather
As an enemy: A mixed matchup. Using bursty builds, Ozo can deal a ton of damage to Blackfeather while his barriers are down and he has mobility that matches Blackfeather’s. However, Blackfeather can burst Ozo down with CP and he can easily dodge Bangarang with a Rose Offensive.
As an ally: The two are bad teammates, as they have no synergy with each other at all.
Catherine
As an enemy: A bad matchup for Ozo. As she can stun him on a constant basis, Ozo will greatly struggle staying alive. In addition, her silence can prevent him from catching a target trying to disengage.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Catherine. Her stun can allow Ozo to get free damage (as well as lifesteal if using a sustain build) on a target and her silence is extremely helpful against CC-oriented heroes.
Celeste
As an enemy: A mixed matchup. While Celeste works extremely well with SF, can burst Ozo down, apply pressure in lane, and has a stun, Ozo can easily dive to reach her and he can kill her quickly using a bursty build. However, with assassin builds, Ozo will do much better against her.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Celeste. He can help apply pressure on the frontline with his sustain, keeping enemies away from reacher her.
Churnwalker
As an enemy: A decent matchup. While Churnwalker has strong CC and the ability to spread his teammates’ damage to multiple heroes, Ozo can build up easy BP stacks off of him due to his tankiness and he can almost always secure a kill on Churnwalker once his allies are dead.
As an ally: Ozo works very well with Churnwalker. Churnwalker’s ability to prevent enemies from escaping helps Ozo secure a ton of kills and Ozo’s high damage can help keep Churnwalker alive. In addition, Churnwalker’s ability to spread damage across multiple targets greatly amplifies the damage Ozo’s TRC does.
Flicker
As an enemy: A bad matchup. As Flicker can stealth himself, as well as allies, easily, Ozo will have a ton of trouble landing his abilities on enemies. In addition, Ozo struggles against the pressure and CC Flicker can provide.
As an ally: Ozo works quite well with Flicker. The two can work very effectively to lock down and kill targets.
Fortress
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Fortress can reliably provide mortal wounds, stickiness, and burst to his allies, which greatly hurts Ozo.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Fortress. Together, the two can stick to enemies and burst them down very easily.
Glaive
As an enemy: A bad matchup. While Ozo can duel Glaive quite well, Glaive’s Afterburn can easily put Ozo in a very bad position, allowing enemies to kill him without effort.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Glaive. The two can lock down enemies with an Afterburn/Bangarang CC chain.
Grace
As an enemy: A fairly bad matchup. Grace can apply a ton of earlygame pressure and burst against Ozo, causing him to be severely underfed. However, Ozo can use Bangarang to prevent her ult from landing.
As an ally: Ozo works extremely well with Grace. The two can apply a ton of pressure earlygame both in lane and in the jungle. Additionally, Grace can heal Ozo for a ton of health with her ult.
Grumpjaw
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Grumpjaw can deal a ton of burst damage and tank damage all throughout a match. In addition, Grumpjaw’s ult can put Ozo in very compromising positions if not RB’d.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Grumpjaw. The two can become a very tanky, bursty duo that can lock down enemies.
Gwen
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Gwen can easily burst down Ozo, cancel out his Bangarang with Skedaddle, and stun him fairly reliably. In addition, she can greatly pressure him in lane once she builds TB.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Gwen. The two can burst down targets very easily and prevent them from disengaging.
Idris
As an enemy: A bad matchup. With both CP and WP, Idris can burst down Ozo very easily. In addition, Idris can dodge Bangarang using Shimmer Strike. Lategame, Idris can provide a ton of pressure in lane.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Idris. The two can burst down targets and Idris can gain some extra mobility by using Shimmer Strike on Ozo mid-Acrobounce.
Joule
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Joule can easily burst down and stun Ozo and her perk allows her to tank a ton of Ozo’s damage. Additionally, she can apply pressure against Ozo in lane.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Joule. The two can chain CC and burst down enemies quite well.
Kestrel
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Kestrel can burst down Ozo and pressure him in lane very easily and she works extremely well with SF. In addition, she can easily avoid Bangarang by stealing herself.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Kestrel. The two can burst from both near and far and they can chain CC if they have proper teamwork.
Kensei
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Using the barriers from his perk, as well as the fortified health from Kensho, Kensei can suppress a large amount of Ozo’s damage and he can retaliate with large amounts of damage himself. Additionally, due to Ozo’s higher base health, Kensei can almost always get empowered basic attacks on Ozo.
As an ally: Ozo works fairly well with Kensei. The two are very mobile and they can easily take down both squishy and tanky enemies alike.
Koshka
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Koshka can burst down Ozo very easily and she can provide a ton of pressure against him.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Koshka. The two can burst down and dive targets very easily and they can chain their ults together very nicely.
Krul
As an enemy: A very bad matchup. As the king of duels, Krul will ALWAYS win against Ozo. Krul can outdamage, outlast, and stun Ozo with minimal effort.
As an ally: Ozo doesn’t work very well with Krul. The two don’t have any synergy with each other outside of CC chains and they’re both very weak against moral wounds.
Lance
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Lance can prevent Ozo from reaching his squishy allies with his CC, with Gythian Wall completely canceling Ozo’s Acrobounce and Bangarang.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Lance. Lance can greatly help Ozo stick to enemies and the two can be a threat earlygame.
Lorelai
As an enemy: A good matchup. Lorelai can’t do much to protect her allies from Ozo outside of Waterwall. In addition, Ozo’s mobility allows him to dodge Fish Food easily.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Lorelai. Lorelai’s Fish Food and Splashdown can help Ozo stick to targets and Waterwall provides a huge barrier to Ozo due to his perk.
Lyra
As an enemy: A decent matchup. While Lyra can provide pressure throughout a game, she is very squishy and Ozo can burst her down very easily, even when she is a roam.
As an ally: Ozo works extremely well with Lyra. She can greatly heal him due to his perk and she can greatly help in providing pressure in both lane and jungle.
Malene
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Malene can burst down Ozo very easily using AS builds, apply pressure in lane, disengage and avoid Bangarang using Wicked Escapade, and apply mortal wounds using SF.
As an ally: Ozo doesn’t work very well with Malene. The two have very little synergy with each other outside of Malene providing roots.
Ozo (in blind)
As an enemy: Good/skill-based matchup based enemy Ozo’s build path. WP Ozo can almost always beat a CP Ozo in a duel due to his higher single-target damage, while in a battle between 2 WP Ozo’s, it’s an ultimate 1v1 to see who’s the top banana or chimp chump.
As an ally: Ozo best ally. If they can actually play Ozo.
Petal
As an enemy: A very good/mixed matchup based on Petal’s build. Ozo can easily kill Petal’s munions using TRC and he can use Acrobounce on her munions to reach her. However, if Petal is WP, she can build PS to effectively apply moral wound to Ozo.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Petal. He can use her munions to reach enemies and the two’s playstyles based around long teamfights work well together.
Phinn
As an enemy: A good matchup. While Phinn does have a ton of CC and is immune to Bangarang, Ozo can build up easy BP stacks off of him, dodge Quibble easily using the second attack of TRC, and secure a kill on Phinn once his allies are dead.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Phinn. The two can apply earlygame pressure together and Phinn helps Ozo lock down enemies with his CC.
Reim
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Reim can always defeat Ozo in a duel due to his tankiness and CC. In addition, SF works fairly well with Reim.
As an ally: Ozo doesn’t work very well with Reim. Reim can’t keep up with Ozo in teamfights due to his extremely low mobility and they’re both very weak against mortal wounds.
Reza
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Reza can burst down Ozo very effectively, match Ozo’s mobility, and dodge Bangarang using Netherform Detonator.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Reza. The two can burst down targets easily and safely dive together.
Ringo
As an enemy: A mixed matchup. While Ringo can greatly pressure Ozo in lane using his perk and he can burst down Ozo with crit builds, Ozo can burst him down easily himself and he can Bangarang Ringo to cancel Hellfire Brews.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Ringo. The two can stick to targets very easily and Ringo can use Bangarang to bait out RBs so Ringo can effectively land Hellfire Brews.
Rona
As an enemy: A very bad matchup. Rona can greatly pressure Ozo with her strong earlygame and she can melt him quite easily. In addition, her ability to apply mortal wounds causes Ozo to struggle against her.
As an ally: Ozo doesn’t work very well with Rona. While they can do quite a lot of damage together, they’re both extremely weak against mortal wounds if they’re using sustain builds.
Samuel
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Samuel can greatly pressure Ozo in lane and his sustain is very strong. In addition, SF works extremely well on Samuel, as he can apply mortal wounds in an AOE using empowered Malice and Verdics.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Samuel. Together, the two can burst enemies both near and far.
SAW
As an enemy: A decent/bad matchup depending on SAW’s build. While WP SAW can deal a ton of damage and pressure Ozo at full Spin Up stacks, Ozo can deal a ton of damage to SAW when he has little to no stacks. However, CP SAW can burst down Ozo very easily.
As an ally: Ozo doesn’t work very well with SAW. While they can deal a ton of damage together, SAW is too slow to keep up with Ozo.
Skaarf
As an enemy: A mixed matchup. Skaarf works extremely well with SF, so Ozo will struggle fighting against Skaarf. However, Ozo can burst down Skaarf quite easily.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Skaarf. The two can last in long fights and the slows from Skaarf’s Goop and Dragon Breath can help Ozo stick to targets.
Skye
As an enemy: A mixed matchup. While Skye has a ton of mobility to avoid Ozo and her crystal path works well with SF, he can use Acrobounce to catch up with her and burst her down.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Skye. The two’s mobility allows them to dive very easily and delete squishy heroes.
Taka
As an enemy: A very bad matchup. Taka can burst down Ozo very easily and apply mortal wounds when doing so. In addition, the stealth on his Kaku allows him to avoid Bangarangs.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Taka. The two can dive and burst down squishy targets easily and safely.
Tony
As an enemy: A bad matchup. Tony can burst down Ozo quite easily using Jawbreaker and the stuns from Jawbreaker and Bada Boom can hurt Ozo quite a lot.
As an ally: Ozo works decently with Tony, as Tony’s CC can help Ozo take down targets and the two can burst down targets quite well together.
Varya
As an enemy: A mixed matchup. While Varya can burst down Ozo using AAs, he himself can burst her down easily as well.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Varya. The two can deal a ton of damage to groups of enemies clumped together and use their mobility to disengage or stick to targets.
Vox
As an enemy: A good/bad matchup depending on Vox’s build. Ozo struggles against WP Vox because of his great synergy with PS. However, he doesn’t struggle as much against CP Vox due to CP Vox’s weak single-target damage and lack of ability to apply mortal wounds, although Ozo’s allies will take a ton of damage if they stay too close to him.
As an ally: Ozo works well with Vox. Their highly mobile playstyles synergize very well together and they can deal a ton of single target and AOE damage, depending on Vox’s build.
