Continuing our series, today we focus on the best Aghanim’s Scepters for heroes lacking damage output. These items either directly or indirectly boost your team’s DPS, making them crucial in team fights.
Zeus: The Must-Have Aghanim’s Scepter
Zeus is a prime candidate for an Aghanim’s Scepter. This upgrade grants the Nimbus ability, which creates a nimbus that automatically strikes Lightning Bolts at enemy units within its radius. This is particularly effective in team fights and can be enhanced with a Refresher Orb or Shard to create a lockdown situation.
While there are reasons to delay Aghanim’s on Zeus, such as needing other items or tools to handle problematic heroes, in most games, it is a must-have.
Luna: Tempo Core with Eclipse
Luna is another hero who benefits significantly from an Aghanim’s Scepter. This upgrade increases the total beams and duration of Eclipse, removes the limit on beams per unit, and makes the beams appear twice as fast. This allows Luna to cast Eclipse on an allied unit, herself, or an area, making it a powerful tool for breaking the high ground.
Despite her scaling abilities, Luna struggles against heroes like Phantom Lancer or Terrorblade. However, with an early Aghanim’s Scepter and Eclipse, she can effectively take out enemy supports and potentially secure a lane with minimal retaliation.
Ember Spirit: Enhanced Mobility
Ember Spirit benefits from an Aghanim’s Scepter that increases cast range, initial remnant speed, and maximum charges. This item enhances his mobility, leading to higher survivability and more potential damage output throughout the fight. While Ember Spirit may not be the most successful hero in the professional scene, he excels in pubs, where longer game times allow for more opportunities to purchase this game-changing item.
Juggernaut: Swiftslash Range
Juggernaut’s Aghanim’s Scepter is notable for its increased cast range of Swiftslash, from 350 to 650. This makes it harder for enemies to kite him and allows him to initiate and prioritize targets more effectively. Although Abyssal Blade might take priority in some games, having both items can be beneficial in late-game situations.
Phantom Lancer: Time Lock Proc
Phantom Lancer is a challenging hero to deal with, especially without an Aghanim’s Scepter. This item applies a Time Lock proc to all units at the landing destination, stunning all illusions right after he uses Doppleganger and dealing significant damage. Combining this with items like Maelstrom or Battlefury maximizes the effect, making it easier to handle Phantom Lancer’s illusions.
Queen of Pain: Cooldown Reduction
Queen of Pain benefits from an Aghanim’s Scepter that reduces cooldowns, allowing her to fight in every single fight with her full kit. This is particularly effective against enemies relying on longer cooldowns. With reduced cooldowns, Queen of Pain can potentially use two ultimates in a single fight, making her a formidable tempo setter.
Tinker: Laser Refraction
Tinker’s Aghanim’s Scepter causes Laser to refract between all visible enemy heroes within range, increasing the target count for Heat-Seeking Missiles. This setup is oppressive, applying a continuous blind effect to a large group of enemies, rendering many popular cores in the current meta useless. The pure damage on Laser leaves little counterplay, except for a BKB or trying to kill Tinker before he gets to kill you.
Black Dragon: Corrosive Damage
Black Dragon’s Aghanim’s Scepter adds a 4th level, Black Dragon, which has bonus Corrosive Damage, Splash Damage, and Slow amount. This allows Black Dragon to fly over obstacles and deal significant damage to cores and supports. The added splash damage ensures that Black Dragon can effectively handle illusion-based heroes.
Elder Titan: Spell Immunity
Elder Titan’s Aghanim’s Scepter causes him to become Spell Immune for 2 seconds per affected enemy hero when the spirit returns. This item doesn’t strictly give DPS but creates conditions under which dealing damage becomes trivial. While Elder Titan might not be a core hero, this item makes him a formidable opponent, especially in Meepo matchups.
In conclusion, these Aghanim’s Scepters are crucial for heroes lacking damage output, enhancing their abilities and making them more effective in team fights. Each item offers unique benefits, from increased mobility and damage output to enhanced survivability and spell immunity.