Dota 2: Items that are abused too much even though they are not as strong as you think

The buffs and nerfs on heroes are often the most noticeable point when a new patch is released. The gameplay has also since been shaped based on these changes. Heroes that are heavily buffed are usually banned first, but the player has no way of banning the item (unless Valve wants to remove the item as well). So, the item is actually what helps shape the overall meta of the game more. Over the past year, reworked items such as Monkey King Bar and Abyssal Blade have been used more. With this article we will learn about items after being buffed or nerfed, which items are being abused too much in the game, although they are not as strong as some gamers think. These items can make you waste a lot of precious gold and worse, make you lose the whole game.

ITEM CONSUMALBE

Mango, Salve and Tango. For a long time, healing played a very important role in Dota. The truth is that the longer you stay on the map, the more advantages your hero has: gaining exp, fam, teamfights, as well as controlling objectives (turrets, bounty, outpost..). However, now consumable items (used and lost) are no longer considered the most effective way to achieve those purposes.

The fact that basic recovery items like Sage’s Mask and Ring of Protection are reduced in price, plus consumable items are nerfed, leaving many pro players wanting to buy nothing but original items like: Tango, Salve or Mango . Gold has become much more valuable in the last few patches, which means spending hundreds of gold on healing or mana is temporarily not optimal. It’s better to focus on the stat boost item to improve the potential in the mid game. Now, low tier items like Bracer add healing and early game hp/mana recovery items can also be turned into useful mid-game items, as well as late-game items. Your investment in these will be more than worth it in the long run.

PHASE BOOTS

Phase Boots and Power Treads have consistently been the best picks over the years. In recent patches, Phase Boot used to be the best item in the early game. By adding higher stats (compared to other boots at the same price point) with decent armor, it has helped strength heroes dominate for several patches. After a few months of Phase Boots being nerfed, the game slowing down and focusing on farming, and people favoring heroes based on attack speed, things quickly changed 180 degrees.

For quite some time now, Phase Boots has been a great choice for ranged heroes due to their ‘kite’ abilities and decent damage boosts. Now, when we see a ranged hero on Phase Boots, it’s easy to see that this person doesn’t know the meta well. Treads offer better value in nearly every situation. Here are the recent changes to Phase Boots:

7.22g

Armor reduced from 6 to 5

7.22h

Armor reduced from 5 to 4

Blades of Attack price increased from 430 gold to 450 gold (total cost increased from 1480 gold to 1500 gold).

7.26a

Changed movement speed bonus from 15% to 45.

Phase movement speed bonus reduced from 22%/10% to 20%/10%.

MAELSTROM

Maelstrom lost his ground in the 2019 patches. This item previously increased the magic damage of many farmable carries needed in the early game. After Javelin was nerfed, people don’t go to Maelstrom as much as they used to. Chain Lightning is also nerfed, but the critical hit that finishes off this item is the loss of attack speed. To farm or improve DPS (damage per second) really effectively, we probably have to upgrade Maelstrom to Mjolnir too, not just stop at Malestrom. Meanwhile, items like Midas and Battlefury are gradually getting stronger, increasing the hero’s poison farming speed more than the current Maelstrom. There’s no reason to buy an item that’s only meant to be used as a springboard to Mjolnir.

RADIANCE

For a long time, Radiance was mistaken by many as an item to increase farm speed, but it was actually used more as an item to control the tempo of the game. Radiance up as soon as possible has a bigger impact on the game. However, early game gold is often more difficult to earn. When you hoard most of the gold you earn early in the game to build an attack item that doesn’t add anything but damage, it’s not worth it. This is especially true when comparing Radiance with items of the same price range.

With Radiance nerfed to illusion, this item is only suitable for buffalo heroes that can put pressure on the opponent early. Right now we don’t have that many heroes in the meta. And yet, heroes prone to kite no longer need Radiance, thanks in part to Abyssal Blade. Specifically, nearly every core hero that is considered strong today is very mobile and has the ability to resist the opponent’s kite.

PIPE OF INSIGHT

Just a year ago, almost every game teams needed a Pipe. Simply put, Pipe is then ‘faulty’. Up the pipe is quite beneficial in terms of cost, plus index. It also heals everyone significantly and the Barrier buff helps you push the high ground super early in the game. Due to the slower pace of the game than before, plus the increase in Pipe becoming more expensive, this item is no longer as effective as before. To be more precise, 36% of item prices now belong to the recipe. This recipe really doesn’t add much value other than combining them into one item to save your slot inventory. Most of the heroes who liked to go Pipe in the past can live just fine with Hood of Defiance in the present. Additionally, Pipe’s Barrier can’t do anything against the newly buffed Glyph: Glyph grants turrets the ability to clear creep waves with physical damage.

Let’s compare the Pipe of Insight recipe price with other items to clearly see the value lost in this item:

Abyssal Blade reduction 26% of the gold price in the recipe. The item also allows the user to add a stun with the mini Blink Dagger.

Black King Bar 35% off the gold price in the recipe. This recipe is almost as expensive but it adds magic immunity instead of blocking 400 magic damage to some allied heroes standing near you. (and it’s rare for the whole team to stand around to take full advantage of this 400 magic damage block).

Force Staff 46% reduction in gold price in recipe. This item is no longer favored as before and almost entered the article’s waste list. But, its mobility is still very strong and can justify this expensive cost.

Assault Currais 26% reduction in gold price in recipe. AC combines multiple items into one, and then adds excellent attack and defense bonuses with no active mana cost.

Guardian Greaves 32% reduction in gold price in recipe. I wish Pipe was as effective as Greaves. This item adds healing, mana, armor, and dispell to the cast. That makes Greaves a really strong team fight item.

Satanic reduction 9% gold price in recipe. It’s not surprising that Satanic is increasingly becoming one of the most popular and powerful items in the game. Items that don’t require a recipe or that have a low recipe cost are most likely to be rated as effective now.

EPILOGUE

It’s likely that these items will be adjusted in upcoming patches, but for now, it’s better to avoid them in most situations. With a variety of items in the game and many overlapping supplements, the game always has better options suitable for you to up.

According to dotabuff

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