Exciting New and Reworked Items
New and reworked items in the gaming world always bring an element of excitement, as they lead to significant meta shifts and interesting new building strategies. They can also create frustration for traditionalists; however, these new items can prove to be game-changing as they become a more mainstream part of the experience. In this article, we will evaluate new and reworked items to determine which are worthy of praise and which deserve criticism.
Khanda: Decent but Limited
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Khanda is not a bad item. It offers stats, damage, and crits with a 600 gold recipe that makes it efficient. However, the item is limited in its late-game usefulness, as it is tailored towards auto-attacking stats while its ability is more focused on casters. This makes it particularly effective for Morphling but less so for Luna, who typically prefers a different approach to crits such as Daedalus.
Parasma: An Upgrade to Existing DPS
Parasma, unlike Khanda, is not an alternative to DPS items, but rather an upgrade to an existing one, Witch Blade. This upgrade enhances the DoT effect and amplifies incoming magic damage, making it ideal for magic burst-heavy heroes like Puck and Winter Wyvern.
Eternal Shroud: Strong Anti-Magic Burst Item
Eternal Shroud is a powerful item for anti-magic burst defense, offering extra HP and mana pool support. However, it is most effective on mana-intensive Strength DPS heroes, and may be worth considering alternatives like Pipe of Insight in certain lineups.
Mage Slayer: A Versatile Defensive Option
Mage Slayer is proving to be a strong item on heroes with decent HP pools or Barriers, offering extra Intelligence, Mana Regen, and the ability to mitigate ability damage. It is particularly effective on heroes like Mars and Ember Spirit.
Octarine Core: A Better Fit for the Meta
Octarine Core, built from Aether Lens, has found its place in the meta, offering a strong save against auto-attacks and burst damage amplification. Additionally, it is advisable to delay the recipe until necessary to free up inventory space for essential items.
Solar Crest and Shiva’s: Constantly Viable
Solar Crest, while currently on the backfoot, and Shiva’s, remain consistently strong and viable items in the gaming world. Shiva’s ability damage amplification and great defensive stats make it powerful on offlaners, especially when fitting into various builds and matchups.