Items That Could Use a Rework
With the new patch slowly approaching, it is perhaps the time to have a discussion on what changes we would like to see. While the hero changes are always a breath of fresh air, changes to the items usually have a much bigger impact on the overall meta, as they are options available throughout the whole match and not something you sometimes blindly commit to during the draft stage. With that in mind, here are some of the item changes we would like to see.
Mage Slayer
We’ve talked about the item previously and while we firmly believe that it is an excellent item in its little niche, the niche itself is just way too narrow. This item is only good on heroes who can attack multiple targets, mostly Ember Spirit or Pangolier, and it is only good against heroes with sustained ability damage, be it Leshrac, Timbersaw or Bristleback. The subset of games where it is a worthwhile purchase is incredibly small and it is the reason we see so little of it.
There are also other problems with the item, the biggest one being the opportunity cost. With a 2400 gold price tag, this item can’t compete with Hood if Defiance in terms of cost efficiency as a magic damage mitigating item. It can’t compete with a simple Falcon Blade as a mana regeneration tool or with Echo Sabre as a tempo purchase. It has a bit of everything and it is never a bad purchase per se. It’s just rarely the best purchase.
Making it lean heavier into one of its aspects could do wonders for the item. Adding a slow, perhaps based on enemy cooldowns, similar to Void’s Time Dilation could fit thematically and gameplay-wise. Or getting rid of the recipe and adding an extra component with extra stats could help it shine.
Maybe a Hood of Defiance price nerf could make Mage Slayer a more appealing option. Considering how the Pipe of Insight recipe is more expensive than the Hood, maybe splitting the recipe cost into two parts, one for Hood, one for Pipe would not only bring Pipe back into the meta, but will also allow Mage Slayer to have some breathing room.
The item is in a weird spot, where it is even being forgotten in games where it can be a good purchase. Maybe over buffing it slightly for a short period so players actually know about the existence of this option could do wonders for Mage Slayer.
Vladmir's Offering and 
Helm of the Overlord
Somehow Vlad’s stopped being an independently valued item. Ever since the introduction of Helm of the Overlord the Vlads’ been losing a lot of popularity, as most players think of it as part of the Helm, and Helm is a pretty niche item itself.
Helm is also mostly a core item, while Vlad’s doesn’t feel like one. It is a good aura, but it’s not something you go for as one of your first items on a core, even an offlane one, unless you are Beastmaster or Lycan. It used to be decent on TIdehunter, but then other items usually take priority.
Separating the two is not necessarily the way to go, but perhaps changing some of the buildups could work and return Vlad’s into the realm of supports. A small price decrease could do wonders in that regard.
Making Helm of the Overlord more appealing to a wider variety of heroes could also work, but we are not entirely certain how feasible it is: very few heroes can fully utilize an extra creep and very few players actually want to.
Offlane Defensive Items: 
Guardian Greaves, 
Pipe of Insight, 
Crimson Guard
While Helm of the Overlord and Vlad’s suffer from being a little bit too niche, there are three items that, in our opinion, suffer from the current meta. It feels a little bit too burst-heavy, making items like Guardian Greaves, aforementioned Pipe and Crimson Guard seem out of place.
Pretty much every single meta offlaner wants a Blink Dagger and at this point, with the ability to initiate deep into the enemy formation, why go for defensive items, when you can build more burst? Armlet on Mars and Legion Commander, Tidehunter with an Aghanim’s Rush, a Shadow Blade Spirit Breaker or Meteor Hammer OD is what the meta is about.
Go in, get a quick kill, snowball the fight is how the vast majority of lineups are being played. This leaves very little room for defensive builds, with Offlaners sometimes getting Hood or Vanguard and calling it a day.
The trio of defensive items is also not that cost efficient, unless you fight 5v5. Both Pipe and Greaves have incredibly high recipe costs, pricing supports out. Crimson simply doesn’t have a good support buildup. This results in a situation where cores don’t want these defensive items and supports can’t afford them.
Perhaps the situation will change with the new patch without direct buffs to the items. However we feel like the higher level of Dota now almost requires constant aggression and there is very little room for save. Having the first move advantage became a little bit too important and playing off counter-initiation is a little bit too expensive and unreliable.
We feel like a tankier meta, with significantly more back-and-forth in the teamfights and “higher TTK” could really benefit the game, at least for a little while. Do you agree, or do you feel like the meta is in a good place and it is just these three items that could use a little buff to become slightly more popular? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
1st! Well said!
Vlads used to have HP regen component. I dont know why they removed it. And Vlads only builds into one item. Why cant it be a part of Satanic?
I've always thought that part of the issue with Mage Slayer is that to me it doesn't feel like a final item. It feels like a Crystalys or a Hood of Defiance - an effective mid-game item that you CAN finish a game with, but usually you want to be upgrading it by late-game. Mage Slayer is definitely a good item in the right circumstance, but unless you know that the game isn't going to go late, there's not much point in going for it, because late game you're probably going to want to replace it with a bigger item, particularly if you're a position 1 Ember, MK, or PL.
I don't know what form such an upgrade could take, because you don't want to risk creating an unstoppable monster of a weapon. Thematically I think it could pair well with a Diffusal Blade, particularly given that this would fit really well into the buildup of most of the heroes that already use Mage Slayer, however i could see this buffing those heroes too much: unstoppable monster - fucking cancer. Diffusal is already a really strong item particularly on heroes like PL and Riki that also do well with Mage Slayer, and adding a stronger combined version could be a step too far.
It's funny because Vlads I think has the opposite problem in some ways. It worked great as a mid-game/pos 3/aggressive support item and didn't really need a tier up, particularly one that pushes it more niche. I feel like it was more just an apology to Lycan players for removing Necronomicon.
Recently played a game as pos 4 with a toxic Viper offlaner, no pun just facts - he did buy MS against safelane BB and worked wonders with consistency. But that is the only game since MS was introduced that I was like oh thats actually good. Mos def needs a rework. Also I think Windwalker is pretty much in a useless position aswell, way too expensive for a support and very little utility for a core over a euls. You might just buy it in a 50 min game if your eul is core and you want to keep it in your 6 slot and have nothing to spend gold on.
How about Mage Slayer can be combined with Echo Sabre? Right now Aether Lens and Dragon Lance both have an upgrade in Octarine and Pike while Echo doesn't have one since the new Silver Edge (that being said I still prefer Orb of Corrosion to be its upgrade though)
I'd be fine with a tankier meta. Not overkill though, it wasn't that long ago that vlads was THE item to win the game.
I still as an offlaner build Pipe a lot. A part from a few physical burst heroes, usually the initial high burst of damage is magical. And if you can give 10% magic resistance and and 400 point magic damage reduction quite effectively takes the edge off of this initial burst. Leaving you a good chunk of hp still left to fight on and not trigger that flight reaction... Also Vlad's is good for the team if you can live through that initial burst magic damage. But on the other hand, I play shit tier dota, it is a whole different game when you know what you are doing, but in general in low tiers of the game, the only magic resistance item is BKB which doesn't do anything if you get jumped. Apart from the 200 hp the +10 str it gives. Magic resistance works if you stunned or not... I feel Crimson Guard could use a buff, I feel for the price it doesn't do much. Especially for an item that is exclusively a defensive item... The damage block is underwhelming, when you got heroes hitting you for 1k+ damage.
Well, the 23rd of Feb is soon here... And I'm hoping we get a real bonafide post TI patch finally. And not just some balance tinkering.
For Crimson Guard, they could make the active be like reduce physical damage by 50% for 4 seconds or something... That blocking 70 damage doesn't amount to much when you get a crit from PA valued at 1,6k... The difference between Crimson Guard and Pipe of Insight is basically this, magic damage in the game ramps up for the first 20 minutes of the game, but then it levels off quite hard while the physical damage just keeps on ramping up all game long, until it eventually reaches the point where damage wins in the end. There isn't enough tanky items you can put into your item slots that will allow you to overcome the damage output in the late game.
If Crimson Guard even gave out this type of ridiculous reduction it wouldn't still be an overpowered item as the there is no limit to physical damage the heroes do. There is no mana to run out and reduce the numbers you hit for with your right click... Disarms and stuns do that, but only for a while delaying the inevitable, it is not like you are out of mana and suddenly don't do any damage.
And drums of endurance, charges be antiquated af. Buff
Oooh^ This one I 100% agree with.
Yea, Drums are one of the lost items in the game as well. Could use some reworking... The charges should be removed and just give it a cooldown. It is not like the item is somehow OP without.
remove recipe from pipe
new pipe = hood+mage slayer
drums is the deadest item now lol
yasha and kaya is a pretty obsolete item too
Crimson needs to have a defensive aura.