Boots first, then whatever is actually killing you
Start with the hero’s job and the damage stopping you from doing it. Boots help you move, escape or resist control. Then finish the core items that make the character work before adding defense or penetration for the opponent.
Our October 13 review covers 62 items and 399 builds for 133 heroes, using Patch 2.2.16 as the reference. These are hero and situation recommendations. Their frequency is not a community purchase statistic.
Tough Boots cost 700 gold, provide Magic Defense and reduce control and slow duration by 30%. They answer those threats. A protected marksman may prefer Attack Speed, while one dying to control needs to survive first.
Use our roles and lanes guide to identify the job, then the emblem guide by position to complete the part of the setup that does not cost gold.
Tank and support: staying alive is cheaper than you think
Immortality costs 2,120 gold and revives you 2.5 seconds after death with 16% of your Max HP and a shield. Its cooldown is 210 seconds. It can create a second chance in a fight, but that chance is small if you revive surrounded and unsupported.
Dominance Ice costs 2,010 gold and adds eight Hybrid Defense per nearby enemy hero, up to 40. Its aura leaves enemy shields and regeneration at 60% of normal. It helps you remain near a healing opponent, but no longer reduces a marksman’s Attack Speed.
Flask of the Oasis costs 1,850 gold and adds protection when a healing or shielding skill reaches an ally with low HP. It fits Estes. An initiator such as Tigreal needs different pieces because he makes contact with the opponent instead of healing from behind.
Fighter and assassin: War Axe early, Malefic Roar late
War Axe costs 2,100 gold and rewards staying in combat until its stacks are complete. Malefic Roar costs 2,060, with extra penetration that scales with enemy Physical Defense up to 30%. Buy timing depends on the armor you are facing.
The difference is in how each one works. The Axe stacks physical attack as you keep swinging, up to six stacks, and at full stacks adds true damage, so it pays off from the first lane trade. Malefic Roar grants penetration scaled to the enemy's physical defence, 0.1% for every point they have. The passive contributes less while the enemy’s Physical Defense is low.
Do not copy a fighter’s item order onto an assassin. Chou can take an EXP or roam route, while Lancelot needs to turn mobility into damage on a target. Their guides show the variants and matchup swaps.
One detail on War Axe. Marksmen, mages and supports only get half of the stacked effect, so the item carrying your fighter does nothing like the same work bolted onto a mage.
Marksman and mage: damage, penetration and an exit
Divine Glaive costs 1,970 gold and grants 40% Magic Penetration, with up to 20% extra based on the target’s Magic Defense. It matters more as the enemy starts resisting your damage. Kagura’s guide lets you compare routes and change the order.
Demon Hunter Sword adds Physical Damage equal to 8% of the target’s current HP to each basic attack. Against Hylos at 6,000 HP, that percentage portion is 480 before defense. It falls as his health falls, rather than dealing 480 on every hit.
Blade of Despair costs 3,010 gold. Saving for it does not solve being killed before you can attack. Check Beatrix’s survival options and consider protection or penetration that you can complete in time.
The item you buy when the other team is beating you
Everything above is a starting point, not a script. Lim Ming Dao, staff writer at ONE Esports, puts it well in his beginners guide: "In tougher games, adapting to the enemy and buying the right gear to suit the situation is key to winning."
Three items reduce healing and shields, with different strengths. Dominance Ice at 2,010, Sea Halberd at 2,050 and Glowing Wand at 2,050 leave shields and regeneration at 60% with Dominance Ice and Sea Halberd, and at 50% with Glowing Wand. I have watched this go wrong in Mythic more often than I would like, five players buying damage into an Esmeralda who heals herself.
Against burst from Physical Damage skills, Antique Cuirass at 2,170. Against a crit marksman, Blade Armor at 1,910, with its 20% critical damage reduction. Against a mage you have to choose, though the rule is simple. Athena’s Shield costs 2,150 and protects against a short burst. Radiant Armor, at 1,880, is better suited to repeated Magic Damage.
Winter Crown costs 1,910 gold and grants invulnerability for two seconds, but also prevents movement and skill use during that time. Wind of Nature costs the same and lets you keep acting while granting Physical Damage immunity for two seconds. Non-marksmen receive only one second. Neither button helps after the lethal hit has already landed.
If what you actually want is who to play rather than what to buy them, that lives in our season 42 tier list and in the best heroes for beginners.
Guardian Helmet also needs a fresh check. It costs 2,500 gold, restores health out of combat and now adds a defensive passive against hits over 500 damage. An old description mentioning only regeneration is incomplete. Check the item catalogue before copying a build.
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