We take a look at how good the reworked Aghanim’s Shards from Dota 2 patch 7.34 are.
Image: MikeAzevedo on Deviant Art
A big new Dota 2 patch always brings with it a bunch of new Aghanim’s Scepter and Aghanim’s Shard upgrades, and Dota 2 patch 7.34 is no different. A few days ago, we looked at the ratings for the reworked Scepters of patch 7.34. Here, we rate the Shards from patch 7.34. Rating of Shards is always tricky, especially for supports, as it is 1400 gold for an item without stats, and it can possibly be obtained by taking the Tormentor at 20 minutes.
A rating of 0 means the Shard should be destroyed, as Tundra Esports’ Martin “Saksa” Sazdov once did while playing Marci last season (that was for her old Aghanim’s Shard upgrade). A rating of 10 means it should be obtained at the 15 minute mark, with players smashing the Aghanim’s Shard button as the timer runs down from 14:50 to 15:00. The list of ratings starts with the Shard upgrades that are the worst of the lot and proceeds in ascending order towards better ratings.
Anti-Mage (5/10)
COUNTERSPELL: Aghanim's Shard Upgrade reworked. Previous effect removed. Now creates an illusion of Anti-Mage next to an enemy caster upon reflecting their spell. Illusion deals 75% damage, takes 100% damage and has a duration of 4 seconds.
Anti-Mage’s previous Aghanim’s Shard upgrade was extremely useful, where it reduced the magic damage of close by enemies (300 radius) by 30%, and those between 300 radius and 900 radius by 10%. This helped his team mates as well. The new Shard is very dependent on how many single target spells are aimed at AM, and how many he can reflect. The benefits aren’t nearly as good as the previous Shard, but in certain situations, where multiple spells are hurled at AM in a short duration and he manages to reflect a lot of them, it can lead to a lot of mana burning illusions!
Monkey King (6/10)
BOUNDLESS STRIKE: Aghanim's Shard now also applies Primal Spring where Monkey King lands, with 50% power of the max channeling duration.
The Shard now takes Monkey King right to the target and deals an additional 175 magic damage, while applying a 40% slow for 4 seconds. Can be a good way to initiate, especially if Primal Spring is on cooldown. This isn’t the highest priority item for Monkey King though. An item like Harpoon is preferred for gap closing.
Troll Warlord (6/10)
FERVOR: Now upgradable by Aghanim's Shard. Increases max Fervor stacks by 4 and grants Troll 20% + 3% chance per Fervor stack to fire an additional ranged attack to any unit within the ranged attack range plus 175.
This is exactly like Muerta’s Gunslinger. An additional target is hit, and the chances go up from 20% to 68%! With 16 Fervor stacks, Troll will be hitting an additional target in two out of every three attacks. But for that, he first needs to build damage. Without damage, this Shard doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is a good option after four or five big item pickups.
Weaver (6/10)
SHUKUCHI: Aghanim's Shard Upgrade reworked. Now procs Geminate Attack 0.2s after exiting the Shukuchi invisibility and also procs an additional attack if Weaver has level 25 talent +1 Geminate Attack. Procs still search for marked enemies in 1200 radius around Weaver.
Like Troll Warlord, an impactful Shard only if Weaver has a good amount of damage built up to justify 1400 gold for that extra right click.
Luna (7/10)
MOON GLAIVES: Now upgradable by Aghanim's Shard. When activated, creates 4 Moon Glaives that rotate around Luna in a 150 radius for 6 seconds, reducing any damage she takes by 20%. If the glaive collides with an enemy unit, it deals 75% of Luna's attack damage once per its revolution. Cooldown: 25s; Mana Cost: 25.
Luna’s new Aghanim’s Shard is much better than her old one, and this one will be played in games where the enemy team has heroes that can jump on her. A 20% damage reduction is sizable, especially in the late game when she might have a Satanic. Not something to get early in the game, but good to buy once she has a good amount of HP.
Razor (7/10)
STATIC LINK: Now upgradable by Aghanim's Shard. Increases cast range by 150 and adds alternative cast to Static Link. When toggled on, it pulls Razor and his linked target toward each other at a rate of 100 units/s while the link is active. The pull stops if the distance is less than 175 units from Razor. Does not affect debuff immune enemies.
More than pulling the enemy towards Razor, the increased cast range is what is good about this Shard. The thing about the pull back is, Razor is one of the higher movement speed heroes in the game due to Storm Surge. On top of that, Phase Boots is a common item choice for the hero. So enemies outrunning him is not usually his biggest issue in the game, especially when the Lightening Revenant can slow them down with Plasma Field. In certain situations, like playing against a slippery high speed carry, a handy Shard to get after the first few core items.
Bounty Hunter (8/10)
FRIENDLY SHADOW: New ability granted by Aghanim's Shard. Applies Shadow Walk and all of its bonuses to the target ally. Fade time: 1s. Casting this ability does not break invisibility or interrupt the target.
Bounty Hunter’s Shard only had a slight rework in patch 7.34, but that makes it a lot better. The previous one let him cast Shadow Walk on allies, but that put Shadow Walk on cooldown, and it broke his own Shadow Walk. With Friendly Shadow having its own separate cooldown and not breaking Shadow Walk’s invisibility, it can be used for helping an ally with initiation or escape. And working together, the two out of invisibility stuns can be combined to get a 2.8 second stun! A handy Shard, especially for a support Bounty Hunter.
Crystal Maiden (8/10)
CRYSTAL CLONE: New ability granted by Aghanim's Shard. Crystal Maiden slides backwards 275 units, creating a crystal clone of herself in her place. Whenever the clone times out after 5 seconds or is destroyed, the current level of Frostbite is applied on all enemies within 400 radius. The clone is untargetable, but can be damaged with AoE effects. Clone Health: 150; Mana Cost: 50; Cooldown: 12s.
Crystal Cone is a very useful ability to have in a team fight for multiple reasons – it gives Crystal Maiden a way out of tough a situation, and a chance to land an AoE stun. The 5 seconds timer is quite long, and most opposition heroes will be able to get out the 400 AoE (it was buffed from the original 300 to 400 in Dota 2 patch 7.34b). But it serves as a great lockdown mechanism for one hero, who can be Frostbitten, hit by Crystal Nova and then be rooted again with Crystal Cone. Teams with Crystal Maiden will have a good reason to take the Tormentor at the 20 minute mark.
Doom (8/10)
SCORCHED EARTH: Now upgradable by Aghanim's Shard. Heals Doom and controlled units for 60% of the damage values.
At level 4, Scorched Earth does 65 damage per second. 60% of that is 39, so each target being hit by Scorched Earth will heal Doom and his controlled units for 39 HP. Between five heroes, that heal goes up to 195 HP per second, which is a lot of sustain!
Sand King (8/10)
EPICENTER: Aghanim's Shard effect now triggers every 3.5s instead of every 700 units moved.
When Dota 2 patch 7.34 was released, this triggered every 2.5 seconds. But it was nerfed in patch 7.34b to 3.5 seconds. It still is a very good Shard though. In a 15 seconds team fight, as long as Sand King manages to stay alive, that is 5 pulses doing 130 magic damage each in an AoE. According to Dotabuff, the Aghanim’s Shard has been Sand King’s third most popular item in pubs after Blink Dagger and Aghanim’s Scepter.
Enchantress (9/10)
SPROINK: Now granted by Aghanim's Shard. Targets decreased from 3 to 2. Additional Enemy Search Range decreased from +200 to +100. Cooldown increased from 4s to 8s.
Enchantress, irrespective of what position she is played in, ends up being a right clicker because of the insane Impetus damage. With Sproink being moved from Scepter to Shard, she can have a much higher damage output earlier in the game. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more core Enchantress’ because of her reworked Shard. According to Dotabuff, the Aghanim’s Shard is her third most used item in the last week. If playing her as a core, it makes a lot of sense to get the Shard right after Dragon Lance or Hurricane Pike. It has the potential to be a massive power spike.
Tidehunter (9/10)
DEAD IN THE WATER: New ability granted by Aghanim's Shard. Tidehunter throws a chain that leashes an enemy hero to a heavy anchor. Attempting to move more than 350 units away from the anchor reduces the hero's movement speed to 100, while dragging the anchor behind them. The anchor can be destroyed with 5 hero attacks. Initial chain deals 200 magical damage, has a 1000 travel speed and can be disjointed. Ability removes invisibility and provides fog of war vision on the target. Cast Range: 350; Duration: 10s; Mana Cost: 80; Cooldown: 25s.
Tidehunter lost an amazing Shard, but he got another one as a replacement. Dead in the Water brings enemies to a crawl, regardless of what buff they have on them. Lycan when Shapeshifted cannot be slowed down, unless he is leashed to Tide’s anchor! Everyone has to adhere to the 100 moveme speed limit – Lycan in wolf form, Bloodseeker with a lot of thirst movement speed, you name it! It is Tide’s second most used item from the last week according to Dotabuff, and it makes sense because it is that good.
Once the TI12 qualifiers conclude, GosuGamers will take a detailed look at which Aghanim’s Shards saw the most play. That will give us a better idea of how good the Shards from Dota 2 patch 7.34 are.
