Hand of Midas --- When to pick on up? When is it Useful?

What heroes should Had of Midas be used on?

Are there any heros where Hand of Midas is essential?

What situations should a Hero purchase Hand of Midas?


Should a hero use Hand of Midas on weak or strong creeps?
+Using it on a weak creep = more gold
+Using it on a strong creep = more EXP, less damage taken in jungle.

1. I believe a midas should be used on any jungler/carry that is going to farm to the point where it ends up making a profit, rather than just delaying your core items.

2. Midas is really a luxury item, but it is commonly picked up one Nature's Prophet, Alchemist, and the likes.

3. A midas is very useful when you know you will have safe farm and can farm it up in 4-8 minutes.

4. It really depends on your own preference - you can use it on big creeps for large exp advantages or on lane creeps to make more money in less time.

1 Heroes who need a lot of gold and farm, so won't be aggressive early on
2 No
3 When he can get it very fast and doesn't need to help his team fight all that much with fighting and can continue farming for a lot of time and it pays for itself
4 Bigger creeps, because you want levels in the beginning if you have midas late use it on small ones for more gold

Damn those colors hurt.

I don't understand how weak creeps give more gold. Do you mean that you can use it more often because weak or lane creeps are present more often?

Even then, if you are using it in jungling, then getting the large creeps is always the better option.

You get more overall from a neutral camp(unless the creatures are the same).

Let's say we have a centaur camp.You get 20 gold from the little guy and 80 from the big guy(example).

If you use midas on the big guy, you get 190 flat +20 that is 210.
If you use midas on the little guy, you get 190 flat and +80 that is 270.

However, if you use it on the big guy, you get more XP.

1. Heroes who can farm it quickly and will focus on farming and leveling up instead of helping the team.

2. No, not really, it's not a must, it's just a good option in some games, it's all situational.

3. When he has free farm to get it quick and needs a lot of experience. It's not a good item if your team dies and loses the game while you're farming, and it also doesn't help you fight the enemy team.

4. Early-mid game, use it on the biggest creep for quicker clearing camps and more experience, in late game, use it on the little creep to get more gold.

1. Hand of Midas can be used on any Hero that is going to carry the team - depending on the situation - or on common junglers that spend a lot of time farming.

2. I don't think I remember a competitive Nature's Prophet game in which NP didn't take a Midas.

3. If you know you'll be against an empty lane or a very passive off-laner, you can start with a Tango and three Iron Branches and get a Midas in less than 5 minutes; otherwise get it before the clock reaches the 7-8 minute mark if the enemy team is not focused on the mid-game (weak gankers, poor teamfight spells etc; basically a turtling team that protects their carry).

4. Always use it on strong creeps: level advantage is better than farming advantage since, if you get a Midas by 5-7 minutes, it means you're farming very well anyway.

1. Nearly any hero, preferbly a jungler, though. But, taking it up needs to be within the time limit as you know. Normally for those who needs a hella load of farm.

2. No. All situational.

3. If he needs farm and managed to get the gold within the time limit mark. Normally the jungle shouldn't be occupied except by the Midas-user.

4. Strong creep in early game since you want to cut down the damage taken so you can last longer and is less risky. In late game, when level is not that important anymore or jungle creeps are giving too little exp, grab the little buggers so you can maximize your profit.

Thank you all for the insight and helping make the use of Midas more clear. Great stuiff.

Here's the criteria I use as to whether you should get one or not, though it's subjective. Just remember that HoM gives +30 attack speed and experience above normal (transmuting a centaur gives equivalent exp to an entire creep wave, which is not insignificant), which is worth some subjective amount of gold. Just to review the math:

HoM = 1900, gives +30 IAS, adds about 100 GPM (more if you transmute on the dot)
Gloves of Haste = 500, +15 IAS, so HoM is probably worth at least 1000 just for its effects alone, assuming you are a right-clicker
Extra experience = 100-200 gold (for a few transmutes)

So for 1900, you get about 1200 or so of tangible effects, leaving a 700 gold difference. This can be made up in about 6 minutes. At about 9 minutes, you make up the gold completely, as you can sell it for 50% with no net gain, but still have kept the benefits of extra exp.

So as far as when you should get one:

1) You are planning to be relatively hands-off for 6-9 minutes from the time you acquire HoM
2) You are not actively working toward a farming item (Maelstrom, Battlefury, etc)
3) You can be effective without major items for the next 6-9 minutes
4) You can't get your core items within 9 minutes anyway
5) You need to farm items, but don't actually have a great farming skillset

Just remember, there is no hard cutoff times as to when you should get a HoM. All that matters is what your timeline is in relation to the current situation. Obviously, if it's at 20 minutes and you still don't have HoM, you should probably consider a different strategy.