Please verify that you are not a bot to cast your vote.
Help SupportOur Growing Community
DOTAFire is a community that lives to help every Dota 2 player take their game to the next level by having open access to all our tools and resources. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting us in your ad blocker!
Want to support DOTAFire with an ad-free experience? You can support us ad-free for less than $1 a month!
Anti-Mage can theoretically do well against Clockwerk in mid because of Mana Burn and ability to escape Power Cogs. However, this weakens your overall lanes because Anti-Mage is a much weaker ganker than Clockwerk, meaning that as soon as Clockwerk hits 6 he’s going to start steamrolling through your team faster than you can.
“Usually you can skip a Healing Salve since you should be the one harassing, not the one being harassed” If they have any ranged heroes at all you’re going to regret that decision.
If you’re ricing the jungle, the health from Ultimate Orb doesn’t do anything for you since you shouldn’t be in danger of dying to neutrals and because your Battle Fury regen should sustain you. Yasha allows you to kill the jungle faster overall.
I'm going to guess that you might be talking about vladimir's offering as an item for Anti-Mage?
I don't really like it, since I don't feel that the lifesteal is very helpful.
It is very helpful, just have one of your Teammates build it whenever possible, since you want to save your Slots for other Items ;{)
I'm going to guess that you might be talking about vladimir's offering as an item for Anti-Mage?
I don't really like it, since I don't feel that the lifesteal is very helpful. Your Battle Fury and Power Treads provide more than enough regen to jungle just as well, and you'll do it much faster--with a vlads you only attack one creep at a time, so jungling is less effective than lasthitting in lane. The vlads just delays your core, and doesn't help you in team fights, since a Heart of Tarrasque is much more effective in terms of staying alive longer. Additionally, if you are stun-locked or chrono'ed, the vlads does nothing for you. So you will eventually sell it, basically making it a waste of 1000-ish gold when you take into account the sell price.
Also, to have more of a mid game presence surely it would be better to get your Basher before your Heart and Butterfly?
Butterfly gives more Damage as well as Attack Speed and the Evasion (and Bonus Armour from Agility) help you to go 1 vs 1 against their Carry/Carries even sooner, not to mention, the Agility and Evasion pass on to your Manta Illusions too, meaning they do more Damage and proc Mana Break more often. This is why Butterfly is a much better Mid-Game Item than Skull Basher.
As for Heart of Tarrasque, just having Spell Shield does not mean you can survive easily in Teamfights especially when you get Silenced and Focused down. Once again, a lot of the extra HP will pass to your Illusions, so by this point your Illusions can do a lot of the work for you, e.g. Pushing Towers alone, even when their entire team is coming in to defend.
A basher can make the difference between kills on occasion - that bash can prevent a hero from blinking before they die or TPing out as well as doing solid damage itself. Anyway those are just a couple of ideas tell me what you think ^_^
Skull Basher only gives a bit of Damage and a Bash to AM, and almost nothing to his Illusions (6 Strength). Thanks to Mana Break, it's already difficult to Blink away if you have no Mana, and Mana Void has a small AoE Mini-Stun, so Town Portal Scrolls are never a problem. Basher is a Late Game/Situational Item, since you don't really need it, unless you're trying to lock down 1 troublesome target on their Team.
By the time you get your Heart a fair amount of time would have elapsed and you won't actually be outputting very much damage.
Picking up a Basher won't give you as much Damage as you think, Anti-Mage has a low Base Attack Time and Mana Break, meaning his Attack Speed gets improved more by Attack Speeed Items than most Heroes, and more Attack Speed means more Damage + Mana Burned. By the time you have a Butterfly you have a scary amount of Damage already, especially if you add in the Manta Style Illusions. This is why Daedalus is also a Situational Item, since it makes use of your Attack Speed, but not your Mana Break
I'd also give Black King Bar a bit more air-time, although it's not core, it can be the difference between winning and losing in some games. Sure it's not as sexy as a Butterfly or a Heart of Tarrasque, but against some lineups is important.
You could also expand with a section on friends/foes (foes especially), for example he's pretty good against Medusa but heroes like Shadow Shaman and Bane can cause him problems.
I will add a friends and foes section, thanks for the advice!
As for bkb, I do get it fairly often, when there's a close game. Here's a fairly recent, very close match where I definitely should have gotten bob (I made sooo many mistakes, but that was one of them.) http://dotabuff.com/matches/385965615
I usually don't get it though because to be honest, you usually are so over-leveled and over-farmed compared to others that you don't need it. I will make mention of the "close game" thing though. Thank you!
Secondly, is there any particular reason you do not put a point into spell shield at level 4? 26% magic resistance is a huge figure, and can make the difference between surviving and dying on many an occasion. Just this one point will be enough until you have maxed out Mana Break and Blink I feel.
I actually do this about 40% of the time, when I don't have absolute free-farm. I've added a second skill build, thanks for the advice!
Overall good guide, well written. I think you do a good job of describing the common decisions an AM faces and what you should consider. I would agree with the point made about a level of Spell Shield - it can be pretty important in some situations. I'd also give Black King Bar a bit more air-time, although it's not core, it can be the difference between winning and losing in some games. Sure it's not as sexy as a Butterfly or a Heart of Tarrasque, but against some lineups is important.
You could also expand with a section on friends/foes (foes especially), for example he's pretty good against Medusa but heroes like Shadow Shaman and Bane can cause him problems.
Hey there, first of all nice guide. Secondly, is there any particular reason you do not put a point into spell shield at level 4? 26% magic resistance is a huge figure, and can make the difference between surviving and dying on many an occasion. Just this one point will be enough until you have maxed out Mana Break and Blink I feel. Also, to have more of a mid game presence surely it would be better to get your Basher before your Heart and Butterfly? By the time you get your Heart a fair amount of time would have elapsed and you won't actually be outputting very much damage. A basher can make the difference between kills on occasion - that bash can prevent a hero from blinking before they die or TPing out as well as doing solid damage itself. Anyway those are just a couple of ideas tell me what you think ^_^
DOTAFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite DotA hero’s build and strategy.
You “hard counter” Storm Spirit after 20 minutes? After 20 minutes, Storm Spirit will have his Orchid Malevolence and ruin your day because there’s nothing you can do until you get Manta Style.
Anti-Mage can theoretically do well against Clockwerk in mid because of Mana Burn and ability to escape Power Cogs. However, this weakens your overall lanes because Anti-Mage is a much weaker ganker than Clockwerk, meaning that as soon as Clockwerk hits 6 he’s going to start steamrolling through your team faster than you can.
“Usually you can skip a Healing Salve since you should be the one harassing, not the one being harassed” If they have any ranged heroes at all you’re going to regret that decision.
If you’re ricing the jungle, the health from Ultimate Orb doesn’t do anything for you since you shouldn’t be in danger of dying to neutrals and because your Battle Fury regen should sustain you. Yasha allows you to kill the jungle faster overall.
Aside, from that, good guide.
I'm going to guess that you might be talking about vladimir's offering as an item for Anti-Mage?
I don't really like it, since I don't feel that the lifesteal is very helpful.
It is very helpful, just have one of your Teammates build it whenever possible, since you want to save your Slots for other Items ;{)
If Vlad's Till The End?
I don't know what this means.
I'm going to guess that you might be talking about vladimir's offering as an item for Anti-Mage?
I don't really like it, since I don't feel that the lifesteal is very helpful. Your Battle Fury and Power Treads provide more than enough regen to jungle just as well, and you'll do it much faster--with a vlads you only attack one creep at a time, so jungling is less effective than lasthitting in lane. The vlads just delays your core, and doesn't help you in team fights, since a Heart of Tarrasque is much more effective in terms of staying alive longer. Additionally, if you are stun-locked or chrono'ed, the vlads does nothing for you. So you will eventually sell it, basically making it a waste of 1000-ish gold when you take into account the sell price.
Also, to have more of a mid game presence surely it would be better to get your Basher before your Heart and Butterfly?
Butterfly gives more Damage as well as Attack Speed and the Evasion (and Bonus Armour from Agility) help you to go 1 vs 1 against their Carry/Carries even sooner, not to mention, the Agility and Evasion pass on to your Manta Illusions too, meaning they do more Damage and proc Mana Break more often. This is why Butterfly is a much better Mid-Game Item than Skull Basher.
As for Heart of Tarrasque, just having Spell Shield does not mean you can survive easily in Teamfights especially when you get Silenced and Focused down. Once again, a lot of the extra HP will pass to your Illusions, so by this point your Illusions can do a lot of the work for you, e.g. Pushing Towers alone, even when their entire team is coming in to defend.
A basher can make the difference between kills on occasion - that bash can prevent a hero from blinking before they die or TPing out as well as doing solid damage itself. Anyway those are just a couple of ideas tell me what you think ^_^
Skull Basher only gives a bit of Damage and a Bash to AM, and almost nothing to his Illusions (6 Strength). Thanks to Mana Break, it's already difficult to Blink away if you have no Mana, and Mana Void has a small AoE Mini-Stun, so Town Portal Scrolls are never a problem. Basher is a Late Game/Situational Item, since you don't really need it, unless you're trying to lock down 1 troublesome target on their Team.
By the time you get your Heart a fair amount of time would have elapsed and you won't actually be outputting very much damage.
Picking up a Basher won't give you as much Damage as you think, Anti-Mage has a low Base Attack Time and Mana Break, meaning his Attack Speed gets improved more by Attack Speeed Items than most Heroes, and more Attack Speed means more Damage + Mana Burned. By the time you have a Butterfly you have a scary amount of Damage already, especially if you add in the Manta Style Illusions. This is why Daedalus is also a Situational Item, since it makes use of your Attack Speed, but not your Mana Break
I'd also give Black King Bar a bit more air-time, although it's not core, it can be the difference between winning and losing in some games. Sure it's not as sexy as a Butterfly or a Heart of Tarrasque, but against some lineups is important.
You could also expand with a section on friends/foes (foes especially), for example he's pretty good against Medusa but heroes like Shadow Shaman and Bane can cause him problems.
I will add a friends and foes section, thanks for the advice!
As for bkb, I do get it fairly often, when there's a close game. Here's a fairly recent, very close match where I definitely should have gotten bob (I made sooo many mistakes, but that was one of them.) http://dotabuff.com/matches/385965615
I usually don't get it though because to be honest, you usually are so over-leveled and over-farmed compared to others that you don't need it. I will make mention of the "close game" thing though. Thank you!
Secondly, is there any particular reason you do not put a point into spell shield at level 4? 26% magic resistance is a huge figure, and can make the difference between surviving and dying on many an occasion. Just this one point will be enough until you have maxed out Mana Break and Blink I feel.
I actually do this about 40% of the time, when I don't have absolute free-farm. I've added a second skill build, thanks for the advice!
You could also expand with a section on friends/foes (foes especially), for example he's pretty good against Medusa but heroes like Shadow Shaman and Bane can cause him problems.