Exploring And Mastering Tier 2 Neutral Items – Patch 7.34b

Diving into the game-changing potential of every Dota 2 Tier 2 Neutral Items 

Step into Dota 2‘s world of enigmatic neutral items. In this series, we decode the transformative potential of Tier 2 Neutral Items, offering insights into how they shape battles for heroes.

Tier 2 Neutral Item Drop Mechanics and Timing

Starting at the 15-minute mark in a game of Dota 2, Tier 2 neutral items step onto the scene, marking an important phase. These items build upon their Tier 1 counterparts, introducing an array of strategic choices that maintain game balance while adding more depth to the gameplay.

Designed to cater to different hero styles, these items offer perks such as improved movement speed for better positioning, increased resilience through added health recovery and armor, and additional abilities that affect opponents, like enduring damage or weakening their magic resistance. Notably, heroes can also benefit from lifesteal and spell lifesteal, granting them the ability to heal during battles.

As the game advances into the mid-game, teams must make careful decisions about allocating these items, which in turn shape their fight strategies and determine what objectives to focus on. Tier 2 neutral items contribute to the ongoing narrative of the game, urging players to use their newfound advantages intelligently, thus influencing the overall tempo and excitement of the gameplay experience.

• Color: Green
• Drop Mechanics: Between 17:00 – 27:00 minutes (8:30 – 13:30 minutes in Turbo) 
• Drop Chance: 10% drop rate (30% at Ancient Camps)
• Items: More impactful benefits, including mobility and defensive enhancements

Tier 2 Neutral Items Explained:

Understanding Tier 2 Neutral Items' timings and significance empowers teams to strategize around these mid-game enhancements. 

Bullwhip – Snapping Speed

This item is well suited for Heroes that benefit from increased movement speed for repositioning or for chasing down enemies with added slow.  

• Ability: Grants 18% bonus movement speed when used on allies and slows by 18% when used on enemies for 4 seconds
• Bonuses: +3 Health Regneration and +2.5 Mana Regeneration 
• 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Witch Doctor, Pudge, Earthshaker, Rubick, Lion, Shadow Shaman 

Dragon Scale – Hot to Touch

This item works best with tanky Heroes who love to get up-close and personal in engagements, so they may deal extra damage over time with their attacks.

• Passive: Attacks on enemies units and buildings apply burn, dealing 22 damage per second for 3 seconds
• Bonuses: +5 Health Regeneration, +5 Armor 
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Pudge, Axe, Legion Commander, Spirit Breaker, Bristleback, Undying

Eye of the Vizier – Wisdomous Trade

This item works well with spellcasters with plentiful Mana pools who can benefit from the extra cast range to land their abilities from a safer distance.

• Ability: Grants 20 attack speed if there are enemy Heroes in a 1200 radius
• Bonuses: -15% Mana, +1.25 Mana Regeneration and +125 Cast Range
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Witch Doctor, Rubick, Lion, Shadow Shaman, Pudge, Lich

Gossamer Cape – Untouchable Luck

This is mostly wielded by aggressive Heroes who have the ability to dish out a lot of damage with increased survivability from the dodge and mobility. 

• Passive: Automatically dodges the next attack from a Hero
• Bonuses: +20 Movement Speed 
• Note: It has a 4 second cooldown and cannot evade true strike 
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Witch Doctor, Spirit Breaker, Lion, Pudge, Earthshaker, Rubick 

Grove Bow – Deadly Range

This item works best on ranged spellcaster Heroes who can deal high right-click and spell damage. 

• Passive: Attacks reduce enemies' magic resistance by 15% for 6 seconds
• Bonuses: +20 Attack Speed and +100 Attack Range 
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Sniper, Nature’s Prophet, Shadow Fiend, Silencer, Invoker

Orb of Destruction – Trapped Chaotic 

This item is perfect for aggressive Heroes that deal high physical damage, similarly to those who usually build items like Desolator.

• Passive: Attacks reduce enemy armor by 3 and movement speed for 4 seconds. Melee Heroes using it slows for 20% (Half if ranged Hero)
• Note: Stacks with Blight Stone, Desolator, Orb of Corrosion and Stygian Desolator
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Phantom Assassin, Legion Commander, Riki, Nature’s Prophet, Wraith King, Monkey King

Philosopher's Stone – Wealthy Investment

This item is mostly picked up by Mana dependent support Heroes who benefit from early gold and item pick-ups. 

• Bonuses: +200 Mana, -30 Attack Damage, +75 Gold/minute
• Note: Grants reliable gold even while dead
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Witch Doctor, Lion, Warlock, Jakiro, Rubick, Shadow Shaman

Pupil’s Gift – Bite of Everything

This item gives a good amount of overall secondary attributes, working especially on Intelligence supports and Universal Heroes. 

• Bonuses: +15 Secondary Attributes or +7 All Attributes (for Universal Heroes)
• Note: Secondary attributes are the other attributes of the Hero’s primary one
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Invoker, Witch Doctor, Necrophos, Lion, Void Spirit, Nature’s Prophet

Ring of Aquila– Strengthening Presence

This item is usually picked up by core Heroes who have poor attribute gain or are squishy, such as Agility Heroes. 

• Passive: Grants allies in a 1200 radius 1 Mana regeneration and 2 Armor
• Bonuses: +3 Strength, +9 Agility, +3 Intelligence and +3 Attack Damage
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Slark, Phantom Assassin, Juggernaut, Riki, Legion Commander, Phantom Lancer

Specialist’s Array – Multi-strike Madness

Similar to Gyrocopter’s Flak Cannon, this ability works best on Ranged cores who seek to deal high attack damage to multiple targets at a time.

• Passive: Every 8 seconds, ranged attacks split to deal 100% damage to 2 additional targets with 20 instant attack damage bonus
• Bonuses: +7 Strength, +7 Agility,  +7 Intelligence and + 12 Attack Damage 
• Note: Has a 8 second cooldown and does not trigger attack modifiers
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes:Nature’s Prophet, Sniper, Gyrocopter, Shadow Fiend, Drow Ranger, Windranger

Vambrace – Power Bracers

This item is similar to Power Treads, as it gives the Hero to switch between attributes for extra stats and benefits. This is usually preferred by cores.

• Ability: Allows the user to switch attributes, gaining 8 of current attributes and 4 of others. 
• Note: Strength gives +8% Magic Resistance, Agility gives +10 Attack Speed and Intelligence gives +6% Spell Damage
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Pudge, Earth Shaker, Legion Commander, Phantom Assassin, Invoker, Juggernaut

Vampire Fangs – Bloody Bite

This item is perfect for core spellcaster Heroes who have both high spell damage and attack damage. 

• Bonuses: +15% Lifesteal (+7.5% for creeps), +10% Spell Lifesteal (+2% for creeps) and +300 Night Vision
• Note: Stacks will all other lifesteal and spell lifesteal sources
• Top 6 Highest Win Rate Heroes: Pudge, Phantom Assassin, Bristleback, Necrophos, Sniper, Legion Commander 

As we wrap up our exploration of Tier 2 Neutral Items, we're excited to continue unraveling the mysteries across the tiers. Join us in the upcoming chapters as we journey through Dota 2's neutral item landscape, gaining a deeper understanding of their competitive significance and strategic value.