We take a look at how good the nine reworked Aghanim’s Scepters from Dota 2 patch 7.31 are.
With all the changes that came along with Dota 2 patch 7.31, a few Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades were reworked, whichblessed Marci with an upgrade (she previously didn’t have one). Along with that, some of the old Scepters were reworked. Here, we look at the usefulness of the reworked Scepters and rate them on a scale of 0 to 10. The list of ratings starts with the Scepter upgrades that are the worst of the lot and proceeds in ascending order towards better ratings.
1) Underlord (2/10)
Reworked Scepter: Fiend's Gate spawns a Pit of Malice under both portals. Pit of Malice slows enemies by 40%.
Possibly the worst reworked Scepter of Dota 2 patch 7.31. A good amount of gold to get a Pit of Malice that doesn’t even root? No thank you. There are a lot of other team fight items Underlord can get for that price.
2) Oracle (3/10)
Reworked Scepter. Grants Rain of Destiny. Brings forth rain on a 650 unit area for 10 seconds. Enemies standing in the area receive 50 damage per second and have -25% heal amplification. Allies heal 50 health per second and have 25% increased incoming heal amplification.
Cooldown: 40 seconds
Mana cost: 250
Oracle, like Dazzle, has had a history of bad Scepters, and the legacy continues. It is a huge AoE, but Oracle is typically played as a position 5 hero, and reworked Scepter is not worth investing 4200 gold into by a long shot. Cast range, positioning, and anything that can save allies is what Oracle has to think about while prioritizing items, and Scepter does none of the above. The worst part is, it doesn't even stay on a hero that ventures out of the AoE. Unless there is a setup like Chronosphere, the full potential of the Scepter won’t be utilized anyways. The one bonus is the 25% heal amplification, which is great for allies on whom Purifying Flames is being spammed on. But on the whole, a Scepter Oracle probably didn’t foresee.
3) Techies (4/10)
Reworked Scepter. Reactive Tazer can be cast on allies within 500 range and deals 300 damage in its final detonation.
Reactive Tazer is the least impressive skill the reworked Techies have. The most popular skill build and the skill build with the highest win rate, both don’t take the skill until the other two are maxed out. Spending 4200 gold to be able to cast it on an ally is not the best use of gold, at least early on in the game. Towards the later stages, when there is a surplus of gold, it can be a good skill to cast on a siege engine like Alchemist or Medusa, but by that point the 300 damage (225 after reductions) is barely a scratch. The disarm is nice, but it can be removed with a basic dispel, so it isn’t the biggest of deals with most heroes have a BKB late in the game.
4) Marci (5/10)
New Scepter: Reduces Unleash cooldown by 10 seconds. While Unleash is active, Marci's abilities trigger Unleash pulses.
Not the most lucrative Scepter. It does reduce the downtime of Unleash from 54 seconds to 44 seconds (18.52% reduction), but realistically, the only spell Marci wants to use while unleashing the power of Unleash on an enemy is Sidekick. Rebound cannot be used on enemies anymore, and Marci doesn’t want to throw away an enemy she is punching with Dispose. Let’s say even if Sidekick and Dispose are used, it’s two additional pulses, which is 300 extra magic damage. Investing that 4200 gold in a damage item could stand to benefit Marci a lot more and help her dish out more damage with her fists.
5) Bloodseeker (6/10)
New Scepter ability Blood Mist: Bloodseeker sprays his blood in an area, taking 5% max HP in pure damage every second while dealing 5% of a unit's max HP to enemies within a 450 radius, and slowing his enemies by 25%. While Blood Mist is active, Thirst's healing is increased by 50%.
Cooldown: 4s Cannot be turned off while on cooldown.
This is a tricky Scepter to rate. The skill is toggleable and can be kept on indefinitely. It isn’t lethal for Bloodseeker, and takes the hero heal for Thirst to 37.5%. The ability when activated cannot be turned off for 4 seconds, so it is guaranteed 20% damage to BS, which means it should be activated at the exact right moment. In case Bloodseeker is disabled with Blood Mist on, he keeps on losing 5% damage per second due to it. Playing fast and loose with it will have a detrimental effect. It is beneficial for a right click Bloodseeker, but not really over six initial items. It can serve as a good item to get after BS is six slotted or if the Scepter drops from the third Roshan or higher, but not something that would be prioritized.
6) Dazzle (6.5/10)
Reworked Scepter: Good Juju now also reduces all of Dazzle's item cooldowns by 50% and can be cast on an ally to reset their item cooldowns.
Cooldown: 180 seconds
Mana cost: 250
The old Dazzle had 50% cooldown reduction as a passive at level 3 of the ultimate, which was only Bad Juju back then. One of the main reasons he was played as a core, if not the main reason, was the fact that his Hand of Midas cooldown was halved as well, and he could farm and get experience at a much faster rate than a lot of other cores. But with that now out of the equation, Dazzle is pushed back to a support role again. Not that the current Dazzle can’t be played as a core, but he would have to get a very early Scepter for that.
Coming to Dazzle’s Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade, it is probably the one that has gone through the most number of changes through the years. The current one is good –not for himself, but for his cores – and more specifically, the BKB dependent cores. There are certain heroes in certain scenarios that can completely change a tea fight on its head if they are allowed to hit enemies, and can’t always do so because of low BKB cooldowns towards the later stages of the game. Dazzle’s Scepter essentially guarantees 12 seconds of BKB (double BKB usage), which can be game changing. The only issue is, a support Dazzle can’t farm too fast or prioritize an Aghanim’s Scepter, which makes it a difficult item to rely on.
7) Magnus (7/10)
Reworked Scepter: Increases Shockwave range by 150 and radius by 50. Shockwaves now Erupt after 1.5 seconds, dealing an additional 50% of Shockwave's base damage and applying a debuff that slows and reduces base Armor by 50%. Affected units recover over 5 seconds.
With the Scepter, increases the damage of Shockwave from 300 to 450 for creeps and 225 to 337.5 for heroes with the 25% magic damage reduction (increases with the level 20 talent that gives +125 Shockwave damage, making it 637.5 damage for creeps and 478 for heroes.
The additional damage from the eruption looks very similar to Elder Titan’s Split Earth. The added damage is quite good, for heroes and especially creeps, as 637.5 is a good amount of damage to kill off an entire creep wave until 54 minutes (after which the melee creeps will have slightly higher HP to survive a Shockwave). This amplifies Magnus’ potential to push out lanes, and as a hero who is a natural Blink builder and has a movement spell (Skewer), he can easily hide in trees and keep Shockwaving creep waves.
The issue with the Scepter is – what position Magnus builds it? A position 3 Magnus will prioritize team fight items, which a position 1 Magnus try to make himself a right click monster. The only possible position the Scepter could work on would be a position 2 magic Magnus, which, let’s face it, is not something professional teams are going to be opting for. But it could be a bit of fun in pubs. With the +0.5 seconds Shockwave slow talent at level 10, the chance of landing the damage from the eruption would be higher.
8) Puck (7/10)
Reworked Scepter: Waning Rift now has 150 extra radius and range and knocks enemies back 400 distance over 0.5 seconds (non-interrupting). Reveals invisible enemy units and wards in the area for 5 seconds.
The negative thing about Puck’s Scepter rework is that the hero has to wait till level 25 to get the old Dream Coil, which pierces magic immunity. The good part is that there is a strong new tool in Puck’s arsenal. Position 3 or position 4 Puck’s can be dewarding machines with a Scepter, and the added AoE for the silence is quite good as well. The 400 unit knock back is a surefire way to ensure enemies affected by Dream Coil break the Coil and take the extra damage and the stun. A Scepter worth getting.
9) Windranger (7/10)
Reworked Scepter: Windrun is undispellable, slow is increased by 20% and enemies affected by it are blinded by 40%.
The reworked Windranger Scepter is more for the team than just for her on solo missions, like the previous Scepter was. The increased slow (going from 20% to 50%) brings enemies to a crawl, and it can’t be gotten rid of as it is undispellable. The 40% blind benefits Windy’s allies, because she herself has 100% evasion during Windrun. Of course, that can be dispelled, but more likely than not, she is bound to have the evasion. The Scepter suits a position 4 Windranger more than a position 2 Windranger, as long as she can find the space to farm it.
10) Morphling (7.5/10)
Reworked Scepter: Replicate steals 20% of each stat from the replicated hero. If the replicated hero's primary attribute is Strength it will also steal 35% status resistance, if it's Agility, it will steal 50 attack speed and if it's Intelligence, it will steal 20% spell amplification. Reduces Replicate cooldown by 20 seconds.
The days of the Morph-Shaker and Morph-Willow drafts are gone, because the reworked Scepter no longer gives Morphling the ability to cast Replicate on allies. However, it has its own upsides. The reduced cooldown brings the Replicate downtime from 30 seconds to 10 seconds, so Morph can cast it twice in a fight if needed. And the stat steal is just amazing! It leaves the affected hero with significantly lesser HP, mana, armor and damage. Stealing 20% strength from behemoths like Centaur Warrunner or Primal Beast will not only make Morphling tankier, but it will also make them easier targets. Depending on opposition heroes, definitely an item worth investing in for Morphling in the right games.
11) Rubick (8/10)
Aghanim's Scepter no longer reduces cooldown. Aghanim's Scepter now lets you steal 2 spells. (Note: If you steal a spell with 2 subabilities like Sun Ray, it will take both your spell slots.)
One of the best Scepters to come out patch 7.31 is Rubick’s new Scepter! The ability to steal two spells is priceless. Rubick can now have three disables or even three nukes. Depending on the spells that are available to be stolen, he can be a one man combo machine. After all, he is Aghanim’s son, so you would expect some bias while the Scepters are being handed out.
The seconds DPC Season of the Dota 2 year is just around the corner. When the DPC Leagues begin and the meta starts to unfold on the professional scene, we will get a better idea of how good the reworked Scepters actually are.
