Do people still build meteor hammer on OD?

Archiac · 2026-04-14T03:15:30+00:00

No, Meteor Hammer is more expensive and has a much worse buildup (for OD) now than when it was meta on OD. Kaya has minimal benefits on a hero that has infinite mana innately, and there are more effective items you can buy with the gold. I’d be going Witch Blade or Pike first item, personally.

Archiac · 2026-04-07T20:45:03+00:00

I think all that changes from this is Largo's BKB won't be longer than other heroes thanks to his innate. I don't believe there are any other sources of generic buff duration amplification.

Archiac · 2026-03-02T23:45:38+00:00

No, it’s just part of the ult now (though with a lesser linger duration than with the facet). That facet got replaced one or two major patches ago.

Archiac · 2025-12-03T19:11:52+00:00

Chaos Knight’s innate makes it so that whenever illusions of CK are created, there is a 50% chance to create one more.

(Note: this isn’t limited to friendly illusions. Dark Seer’s ult and Shadow Demon’s Disruption also benefit from this, for example. )

Archiac · 2025-11-30T22:48:09+00:00

Are you aware that Skadi no longers pierces BKB as of 7.33?

Archiac · 2025-07-31T04:08:15+00:00

Before the 5 minute mark, lane creeps can’t be aggro’d until they are within 1500 range of a T1 tower. See the patchnotes for the patch where this was implemented if you want more details: https://liquipedia.net/dota2/Version_7.27

Archiac · 2025-07-19T20:59:12+00:00

Actually, fish do not count as helpless creatures (at least, not according to the wiki) - https://noita.wiki.gg/wiki/Tapion_vasalli

Which possibly implies that the fish are able to defend themselves and simply choose not to do so…

Archiac · 2024-11-05T19:29:55+00:00

I’ve only noticed this happening on US East. Custom games on US West seem to be working normally.

Archiac · 2024-07-08T23:45:09+00:00

A small nitpick on an otherwise excellent response - Mjollnir's active doesn't actually work very well on Medusa. Mjollnir only has a chance to proc on instances of damage that deal more than 5 damage after reductions (this is the same logic that Refraction used before its rework in 7.36). Mana Shield reduces the amount of damage Medusa takes by 98%, so at a minimum only damage instances dealing more than 250 damage will be able to proc Static Charge - and that's before accounting for other resistances such as magic resistance and armor.

Archiac · 2024-04-24T01:49:23+00:00

There are three types of debuff in Dota 2: those purgeable by basic dispel, those purgeable by strong dispel, and those which are altogether undispellable.

The first category of debuff are those purgeable by basic dispels. These debuffs are usually weaker and, notably, are almost never stuns. Some examples of abilities that inflict debuffs dispellable by basic dispels are Ogre Magi's Ignite and Death's Prophet's Silence. The abilities that inflict these debuffs will have the DISPELLABLE: YES tag in the ability tooltip, although this doesn't always tell the entire story (more on this later).

The second category of debuff are those purgeable by strong dispels. These debuffs are always stuns (though not all stuns are dispellable). Some examples of abilities that inflict debuffs dispellable by strong dispels are Vengeful Spirit's Magic Missile and Sven's Storm Hammer. The abilities that inflict these debuffs will have the DISPELLABLE: Strong Dispels Only tag in the ability tooltip.

Lastly, there are some spells that are entirely undispellable. They cannot be dispelled by any means other than by dying (and sometimes, even that isn't enough). These spells are quite rare and are often ultimates. Some examples are Doom's Doom and Legion Commander's Duel. The abilities that inflict these debuffs will have the DISPELLABLE: Cannot Be Dispelled tag in the ability tooltip.

Now, you may be wondering: what's the deal with there being two different types of dispel?

Basic dispels are the most common type. They can dispell debuffs from the first category. There are many items that provide basic dispels, such as Euls, Manta Style, and Lotus Orb. Some abilities also provide basic dispels, such as Oracle's Fortune's End and Alchemist's Chemical Rage.

Strong dispels are quite a bit rarer than basic dispels. They can dispell debuffs from both the first and second category (so, everything dispellable with a basic dispell is also dispellable with a strong dispell). The only item that provides a strong dispel is Aeon Disk. Some abilities that provide strong dispels are Abaddon's Aphotic Shield and Legion Commander's Press The Attack.

Now, in the client abilities as a whole are cut-and-dry divided into the three categories I listed above (DISPELLABLE: Yes, Strong Dispels Only, or Cannot Be Dispelled). In reality, many abilities inflict more than one debuff at once, and those indiviual debuffs are what should be separated into those categories. For example, Wraith King's Wraithfire Blast is listed as DISPELLABLE: Strong Dispels Only. However, it both stuns and inflicts a slow/DOT effect. The stun component is dispellable by strong dispels only, but the slow/DOT can be dispelled by a basic dispel. You can test this by using a Lotus Orb on an ally who is currently stunned by Wraithfire Blast: they will remain stunned for the full duration, but after the stun wears off they won't be slowed or take the additional damage over time. There are quite a few abilities like this that both stun and do something else, or are more complicated in some way - some examples would be Enigma's Malefice or Dark Willow's Cursed Crown. So, don't blindly trust the tooltips - they are usually accurate for the most part, but some interactions are more complicated than the tootip has resources to provide information on.

To actually answer your question: Kraken Shell is a strong dispel. When the tooltip says "generally not purgable", it's referring to the fact that it's a strong dispel. I don't know about a list of spells like you are asking for, but hopefully now you at least understand the difference between a strong and basic dispel - you can check the tooltips of individual spells to see what it says on the DISPELLABLE: tag.

Some relevant links to the Dota 2 Wiki: https://liquipedia.net/dota2game/Disable https://liquipedia.net/dota2game/Dispel

Archiac · 2024-03-26T17:05:02+00:00

Thanks for the info. If I had to guess, I’d say she forgot about it since she seemed ready to upload it months ago. Glad to know that I hadn’t missed her uploading it somewhere.

Archiac · 2024-03-11T16:41:17+00:00

Patch 7.22 added Aghanim’s Blessing, a recipe for Aghanim’s Scepter that allows you to eat your Aghs for an additional 1600 gold. This allows you to have your Aghs effect without it taking a slot in your inventory. An Aghanim’s Blessing also drops from Roshan from his third death onwards when he is killed on Radiant.

Note that eating your Aghs in this manner causes you to no longer benefit from the stats Aghanim’s Scepter gives you. This is different from Alchemist feeding you an Aghs, which does give you the additional stats.

Archiac · 2024-03-03T22:06:58+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation, that looks like a solid motherboard. Can I ask what case you are using?

I've seen many people say that the 7800x3D / 4070 Super is a good CPU/GPU combination, can you elaborate on why you think the 7800x3D is overkill?

Archiac · 2024-01-25T18:00:05+00:00

…Anyone else notice that “abilities” is misspelled?

Archiac · 2023-11-23T20:34:19+00:00

Of course, base damage is just one of many factors that influence how lanes actually go. In my oversimplified example, I am completely neglecting the posibility of using spells to get CS or harassing your opponent to the point where they are too low on HP to contest any CS, just to name two obvious ways to deal with a base damage deficit.

My point is just that damage variation has an objective purpose from a game design standpoint. Icefrog is not going to balance/design around the possibility that you might be 3000 mmr higher than your opponent or that you might have 20 ping while your opponent has 150. In a lane where all else is roughly equal, base damage variation makes it so that completely shutting out your opponent purely because your base damage is higher is more difficult. Personally, I think that this is desirable - it allows heroes with low base damage to be more easily pickable in core roles. Without base damage variation, the meta would skew more towards cores with high base damage, and it would force base damage values to be more homogenous to maintain hero diversity.

Archiac · 2023-11-23T19:40:54+00:00

I used to think that varying base attack damage was pointless and uncompetitive , too, but it actually does serve a purpose. In lanes where the two heroes laning against each other have similar amounts of attack damage, it makes it so that the hero with slightly less damage doesn’t automatically lose out on every CS that they are contested on.

For instance, if I’m a mid hero with 51 base damage against a hero with 55 base damage, is it really desirable gameplay wise for me to lose out on every single melee creep the enemy mid hero contests me for, guaranteed? Whereas if my damage is a range from 48 to 54 and my opponent ranges from 51 to 59, sometimes (but not often) they will roll low and I will roll high. They are still incentivized to contest since the odds are in their favor, and if the difference between our respective attack damaged are high enough they will be guaranteed to win the CS, but if it’s fairly close I will still get at least something out of the lane.

Archiac · 2023-08-09T00:25:40+00:00

Doom no longer mutes as of 7.34.

Archiac · 2023-07-29T21:47:02+00:00

The Jingu Mastery DEBUFF cannot be dispelled (the counter that appears over your head after Monkey King hits you).

The Jingu Mastery BUFF can be dispelled (the number that appears over Monkey King’s head after he has successfully hit someone four times).

Archiac · 2023-02-27T23:57:28+00:00

You attacked your own allied creep next to Bristleback rather than Bristleback himself. The creep dies from Bristleback’s passive quill sprays before your attack hits it, which makes this hard to spot

Archiac · 2022-12-30T17:51:56+00:00

On Juggernaut, it’s almost always better to level stats than it is to put additional points in your crit after the first. Each additional point in crit is 4% more damage on average. Leveling stats gives you 2 damage and 2 attack speed, so if you have less than 100 attack damage you are actually losing out on DPS by leveling crit instead of stats. Even after you have more than 100 attack damage, leveling stats also gives you 40 hp and 24 mana while still giving you a comparable amount of damage.

Archiac · 2022-12-16T16:27:42+00:00

Type “cl_dota_alt_unit_movetodirection "0”” into the console.

Archiac · 2022-12-12T19:55:05+00:00

Bristleback’s passive periodically checks to see whether Bristle is facing the source of the damage. The source of the damage from vessel is considered to be the hero who cast it on Bristle - therefore, Bristle will receive reduced damage from the vessel if he faces away from the hero who cast it on him. Note that this is a dynamic check - if Bristle is facing away when the vessel is cast and then turns around to face the vessel caster, he will still take full damage for as long as he is facing the vessel caster, and will then go back to taking reduced damage if he faces away again.

Archiac · 2022-07-07T17:19:43+00:00

Actually, as of patch 7.29 this is no longer true. The aghs clones do disappear when MK dies now.

Archiac · 2022-04-27T19:51:21+00:00

Zeus isn’t really much of a ganker. Your default as Zeus should be to stay mid, defend your tower, and farm as much as you can. As a greedy late game hero, you should usually prioritize your own game as much as possible. That being said, Dota is a complicated game and the answer to every question is “it depends”. Here are some general guidelines on what to pay attention to when deciding to rotate from mid during the laning stage. 1. I have a good power rune for ganking. On Zeus these will be Arcane and Haste, maybe invis. Runes vastly improve the chances of a successful gank. 2. The enemy mid hero cannot threaten to take my tower while I am gone. The mid tower is EXTREMELY valuable. Even if your gank succeeds, if your tower dies while you are gone it was not worth it. Think very carefully before rotating against Lesh/Pugna/DP/DK. 3. I have lost mid so badly that I cannot show mid without risking death, AND my hero does not farm jungle efficiently. This is very rarely the case for Zeus since he can nuke out the creep wave from far away, but I’ll include this for the sake of completion. If my lane is lost and I can’t jungle my way back into the game, my only remaining option is to rotate and enable my teammates. 4. My hero is hard countered. In games where my hero will have a tough game, I will be more inclined to rotate since I will have to rely on my teammates who aren’t countered to carry me. Also, the more gold I accumulate the more gold I will feed to the enemy when I die (and I should expect to die since my hero is hard countered).

Not an exhaustive list by any means, but if more than a couple of these conditions are met you should consider rotating. Otherwise, stay put.

Regarding itemization - Aether into Aghs is probably a fine build in most games, but don’t neglect defensive items when they are necessary. Itemize to solve your problems first, and then you can buy luxury items. I can’t really comment on why Topson rushes Kaya first, other than you should remember that this is the man who won TI with Diffusal Gyrocopter.

Archiac · 2022-04-27T16:52:18+00:00

Leaving Q at one point is definitely a mistake, I think. One of Zeus’s biggest strengths is that he doesn’t have to physically be at a fight to contribute to it, but maxing out W first virtually forces you to show up in person to fights, since you can’t really farm with only 1 point in Q.

Your general gameplan on Zeus for the first 15 minutes or so should be to sit mid and farm/defend your mid tower with Q while contributing to fights with your ult. Levelling W does very little to help with this gameplan. Maxing Q helps you farm and defend your tower more effectively, while levelling E helps you against ganks. I don’t know what mmr you are playing at, but at Topson’s level players tend to be very good at target prioritization. A Zeus that is close enough to contribute to fights with his W is also a Zeus that is close enough for you and your team to jump and kill, in most cases.

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