Dota 2 has many routes to itemization. With different items having different outcome, let’s explore the most suitable itemization route and some of the best items in Dota 2.
Itemization plays a crucial part in Dota 2. And this guide will hopefully help you decide what items you should buy in Dota.
Knowing which item to get under different circumstances would often result in victory.
Nevertheless, with over a hundred items and the addition of neutral items, it can be overwhelming for players to decide on suitable itemization under pressure.
Moreover, the wrong itemization often has dire consequences for the team. However, this proposes a rhetorical question – how do you know which itemization is wrong or right? The answer is simple – you won't win with the wrong itemization in high-level pubs.
The correct itemization will make the match a lot easier and fun. Additionally, it helps a lot in late-game skirmishes as you have the item needed to achieve a favourable outcome.
In the late game, Dota 2 became a complete chaos. It transcends beyond what you could comprehend about a match. Pushing lanes becomes harder, farming netural camps become wary, you keep a constant eye on Roshan, and most times, all of your opponents will be missing on the map.
At such critical times, your itemization will decide your hero's survivability. Thus, in this article, let's discuss how you should itemize effectively to increase your chances of surviving in the Dota 2 late game, which could lead to victory.
When thinking about itemization, this is the first question you should consider – which item is required to win a particular match?
Don't just buy items in your item guide. Instead, try to thoroughly analyse the current in-game situation and itemize accordingly to give you an in-game advantage.
There are many ways you could itemize in Dota 2, and itemization options are endless. Perhaps your opponents have a lot of magic damage – in such cases, a Black King Bar is your best choice.
To counter single-targeted spells, consider a Linken's Sphere, and if you want to avoid getting burst down easily, consider getting an Aeon Disk. With these principles in mind, let's explore the most appropriate itemization for cores in the late game of Dota 2.
Do you ever get annoyed of playing against a Phantom Assasin because she kept evading your attacks and burst you with a crit? Do you know there is an item in Dota 2 that can give you evasion nearly like PA? Well, if you don't look no further than Butterfly.
This 5450 gold item can allow any hero in Dota 2 to evade nearly like PA – including Crystal Maiden. Additionally, Butterfly grants additional attack speed to its users. Moreover, agility heroes and universal ones will also get additional attack damage by picking up this item.
Butterfly is a great tool to pick up in a match against many high-burst physical heroes due to its evasion, which can prolong the hero's survivability.
It's also an ideal choice for many agility heroes like Phantom Lancer, Faceless Void and Anti Mage because of the agility and the attack speed it provides. However, this item can be countered similarly to PA – with a Monkey King Bar.
This item needs to be put on this list for a reason. Despite Black King Bar winning games, many core players don't pick up this item in their matches. If you watch professional matches, BKB is literally a third or second item they get. Sometimes, on certain heroes, it's even the first item they get.
This is for a good reason. When activated, BKB applies a basic dispel and grants magic resistance and immunity to the user for a particular duration.
Any negative effects from the opponents' spells (except spells dealing physical damage, i.e., Jugg's Omislash ) will not affect the user.
Additionally, Black King Bar grants additional health and HP regen to the buyer. Moreover, it grants additional damage to strength and universal heroes.
With a BKB in your inventory, you will be less likely to get lockdown. In unfavourable worst-case skirmishes, you can just BKB tp out in most cases. The only drawback of this item is that its spell immunity duration decreases with each usage. At its minimum, BKB has a six-second duration.
In the late game, there are a lot of items that give evasion in Dota 2. Some examples of these items include Butterfly, Radiance and Heaven's Helberd. On top of that, there are also several neutral items in the late-game that give evasion.
Evasion is the most annoying to deal with in Dota 2. It makes your physical hits not land on your opponents, causing them to get away with a single hp, which allows them to turn fights. If you want to lower the chances of your physical attacks getting evaded, get a Monkey King Bar.
Monkey King Bar allows you to pierce through evasion. Thus, it is a solid item choice for many safelane heroes. Though the item will take players some time to collect its components, it does provide them with additional attack speed and attack damage.
In the late game, there are some issues players will face. One of them is lack of damage. This issue is a serious threat as it can often swiftly cost the game.
Thus, to avoid facing this issue in Dota 2, consider getting one of the following items for the late game: Daedalus or Khanda.
Daedalus is one of the most aggressive options in Dota 2. The item gives tremendous physical attack damage to its user. It also gives them a chance to crit in some of their attacks. One of the advantages Daedalus gives is that it allows the buyer to build this item slowly, as it's one of the upgraded versions of Crystalys.
However, there's another option if you don't want to purchase a Daedeulus in Dota 2 for the late game – Khanda. In contrast to Daedalus, Khanda offers health regen, mana regen and additional mana.
Additionally, it surges additional bonus damage to the user's next single targeted ability. As a result, Khanda became an ideal choice for many heroes that like to deal hybrid damage like Morphling.
Another issue that players will face in the late game of Dota 2 is sustainability. With every move revealing information about your team to your opponents in the late game, they can easily jump you on the map.
Survivability is a precious treasure in the late game. It allows you to kite and turn fights around. However, with every hero on the map having their items, it can be hard to survive in late-game skirmishes.
One way to ensure you come out on top in skirmishes is with life steal. There are many items that give life steal in Dota 2 and in the late game some netural items also offer this feature. However, there's one life-steal item that is above all the others – Satanic.
Satanic can easily make an unfavourable situation, favourable due to the active life-steal it provides. When the item is activated, it gives a 175% life steal percentage, which can easily make a core recover to 100% from 1% hp. It also stacks with other life-steal items. Additionally, the item provides some attack damage and health regen.
There is no item that gives more damage than a Divine Rapier in late-game Dota 2. It's the ultimate damage item. Picking this item in the game means a team is trying to come out on top regardless of their in-game situation.
In the past, Divine only gives physical damage. However, in recent patches, Valve has reworked this item to also be beneficial for the magic damage heroes. By purchasing you're also taking a huge risk.
Divine Rapier is like a double-edged sword. Though this item costs 5600 gold, it will be dropped once you're dead. Moreover, opponents can pick up this item once its buyer dies, granting them all its benefits. Thus, dying while carrying this item is like opening a Pandora's box.
Itemising in Dota 2 is often one of the hardest tasks in the game. However, by reading this article, we hope you got a general idea of what to itemise under different scenarios.
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