Blink dagger... Really? In depth Anti-Mage Guide

Good guide, defs +1 from me. But a few things I would like to say is NEVER, EVER say that a hero is not allowed to buy a certain item, as every item is usable by EVERY hero, e.g. People may flame a Doom who gets a BF, even though they're up against a PL, and it's a perfectly logical pickup against PL, in fact, I would encourage any melee hero to pick up a BF against a PL. The reason I'm mentioning this is you've banned Blink on AM, it still has a use, say as an initiation tool if you think you need to have your main Blink off cooldown at all times for an escape mechanism.

Mjollnir is horrible, you should ALWAYS get treads before battlefury, and it's also okay to get Vlad's on yourself (but not as your first item like most pubs do!)

Overall, pretty decent guide.

Awesome guide I would have never thought of mjollnir my self but it works really great. +1 Would though like to know at what time in game should I have which item?

Manta gives better stats than Mjollnir, not quite sure what you're thinking. Also every time mjollnir procs you don't get mana break so it doesn't even end up being that useful apart from for farming, but you already have the battlefury for that.

I don't want to be a **** here... but I have to question your skill level if you claim this build works best for you. You end up being stupidly squishy with absolutely no health boosting items. The attack speed from mjollnir is so inferior to an actual agility item like a butterfly.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to downvote this quite simply because it's not a sensible way to play anti-mage. Guides are intended for people who are relatively new to a hero, and telling someone who is new to anti-mage not to get a single HP boosting item is ridiculous. You have no survivability at all.

A level 25 antimage with your suggested item progression has 1594 HP. That is terrible given that carries lategame can often crit for 800.

Also, attack speed items on antimage are ****. They just are. He has a fast base attack time anyway, and gets good agility items. I just tested it, a 6 slotted antimage the way I would build him (bf, bfly, abyssal, BoTs, heart and manta) hits for 413, 0.45s/att = 917dps. Replace manta with mjolnir and you get 410 damage at 0.40s/attack = 1025dps, BUT you don't have the illusion mana drain/damage from that, or the ability to remove silences, or the splitpush manta gives. It is just worse, and ends up with a lower DPS output, as well as a far far inferior mana burn potential, meaning the chance of getting a good ult of is much lower.

Honestly, the reason people build antimage the way they do is because it's the best way to do it. You are free to make an inferior guide but don't be surprised when people tell you its bad and downvote it.

dynasty987,
In a previous comment, I said this:
"As far as the Manta Style goes, it isn't a favorite of mine, maybe it is just my luck but my illusions get vaporized immediately and the effect is lost. For 5050 gold, vs 5400 for Mjollinir which gives better stats and a great passive nuke that is almost guaranteed to go off a few times a fight, plus the Maelstrom being slightly better than the Yasha in my opinion in the build up, makes the Mjollinir more worth it, at least for me. As I stated in the explanation sections, I use attack speed to capitalize on Mana Break as opposed to relying on the illusions, which are less reliable in my opinion as it is an active ability with a semi-long cooldown, and the illusions are extremely squishy."

Manta Style does not allow me to carry as it requires other items in order to be even slightly successful. The extra farming that is required to be useful keeps you out of the fight longer and gives them the advantage for every second you waste. Even with good use of the Manta Style it is still obvious which are illusions as they take 350% of the damage you take. A single AeO and they will all focus you or vaporize your illusions immediately, the latter being more common in my case. Maybe I just have bad luck with the Manta Style but it has little to no use for me most of the time, whereas Mjollinir always works.

Quoting myself again, "By the way, I put this guide up here because I find this to be how I most effectively play, I'm sure there are several Battlefury Manta Style rush builds and it would be redundant and useless for me to put another up."

MrJamFury,
Usually I go through stats in leveling instead of items (it saves money/slot space), as a damage reduction on every hit from heroes is really close to the stats Iron Branches give you, plus the Poor Man's Shield offers you more agility than Iron Brancheses, which is what you really need from stats, as your mana pool isn't an issue and health is covered through damage reduction. If your lane is so bad you can't even farm up a Ring of Health you should really consider switching as the situation is only going to get worse anyway. I find that the combo of a Poor Man's Shield and a Ring of Health makes you negate normal harassment very easily and give the other lane a reason to fear you, as you can trade blows with almost no risk. Obviously there are those death lanes, but in reality all you can do is switch, or you will lose the lane and the game if your team relies on you.

Against any team with silences manta is an absolute essential. It's great for split pushing, gives good stats and the active will save your life. It is a big dps increase also due to mana break, you say you don't like it... but why? The reason everyone gets it it because it is the best item to get after battlefury.

Your recommended item progression is quite frankly, bad. You have no strength items apart from power treads. You have no health, no magic immunity and no manta to remove debuffs. You will not survive a teamfight.

Mjolnir is just not a good item for 90% of agility carries. You don't need the attack speed increase that much, you are SO much better off with agility items which give damage, attack speed and armor. You also need HP. Antimage has a terrible strength growth. Manta into BKB/Heart is standard for a reason.

Good guide, I like it, but I wouldn't recomend to buy both the stout shield AND the quelling blade at the start of the game because you won't have money for extra stats(gg branches for example) and for extra regen, getting the ring of health won't be so easy if you are facing a bad lane so, I guess you should pickup the shield if you think you'll be harrassed a lot, and the quelling blade if you think the lane will be easy, like a double melee lane.

Thank you both the comments!

As far as the Manta Style goes, it isn't a favorite of mine, maybe it is just my luck but my illusions get vaporized immediately and the effect is lost. For 5050 gold, vs 5400 for Mjollinir which gives better stats and a great passive nuke that is almost guaranteed to go off a few times a fight, plus the Maelstrom being slightly better than the Yasha in my opinion in the build up, makes the Mjollinir more worth it, at least for me. As I stated in the explanation sections, I use attack speed to capitalize on Mana Break as opposed to relying on the illusions, which are less reliable in my opinion as it is an active ability with a semi-long cooldown, and the illusions are extremely squishy.

In the Offensive and Survivablity, they aren't in a specific order just listed, and not all intended to be used together. I'll change the titles to reflect it. Also I'll add in more items because I only put five in each one.

Bloodstone is more of an item that is geared towards people who are more prone to death, as its respawn benefits will be more helpful than a bar more of health and faster regen the Heart of Tarrasque gives, as in the long run they will be alive longer with the Bloodstone. Additionally, building up to the item gives more benefits along the way, if that is a factor in your choices. It is all about picking the best item for yourself, as usually I don't need either to be effective with the combo of lifesteal and high DPS, as you can see in my recommended progression.

By the way, I put this guide up here because I find this to be how I most effectively play, I'm sure there are several Battlefury Manta Style rush builds and it would be redundant and useless for me to put another up.