Welcome to the Abaddon guide. At first, let me tell you that you're a lucky guy for choosing Abaddon as your hero! :) I hope you'll find here some useful information as well as inspiration for this awesome hero. Please, keep in mind that there are many ways how to play (not only) Abaddon and the way I want to show you is just one of many. I can't say it's the best one, but I can tell you: I use it and I'am quite successful with it. I would like to say that this guide isn't primary for competetive scene but mainly for public games... So again, welcome and I hope you'll enjoy this one. Let's go.

Abaddon - Lord of Avernus

Death Coil (D)
Abaddon releases a coil of death that can damage an enemy unit or heal a friendly unit at the cost of some of Abaddon's health.
Level 1 - Heals or Damages for 100 HP. Deals 50 HP to himself.
Level 2 - Heals or Damages for 150 HP. Deals 75 HP to himself.
Level 3 - Heals or Damages for 200 HP. Deals 100 HP to himself.
Level 4 - Heals or Damages for 250 HP. Deals 125 HP to himself.
• Damage type: magic (on the target) / pure (on Abaddon)
• Abaddon will not receive Death Coil's damage if he has magic immunity when he casts it.
• Self-damage from Death Coil can burst Aphotic Shield just as any other kind of damage.
• Abaddon can deny himself with this skill.
• Casting range: 800
Mana Cost: 75
Cooldown: 6
Comment: One of the most versatile skill in DotA. Please note: It damages Abaddon, which seems quite useless, but, in fact, it is a great synergy with Aphotic Shield and Borrowed Time. Also note the Casting Range: 800. Using of this skill will be explained later.

Aphotic Shield (T)
Summons dark energies around an ally unit, creating a shield that absorbs a set amount of damage before expiring. When the shield is destroyed it will deal damage equal to the amount it absorbed to an area around it. Removes certain types of negative buffs on cast. Lasts for 15 seconds or until it bursts.
Level 1 - Absorbs and deals 110 damage.
Level 2 - Absorbs and deals 140 damage.
Level 3 - Absorbs and deals 170 damage.
Level 4 - Absorbs and deals 200 damage.
• Damage type: magic
• If Abaddon has Aphotic Shield on him, it will not burst if Abaddon is currently under the effect of Borrowed Time.
• Will replace any Aphotic Shield currently active on the target, so two shields will never be active at the same time on the same unit.
• Casting range: 450
• Area of Effect: 700
Mana Cost: 100/105/110/115
Cooldown: 18/15/12/9 seconds
Comment: One of Abaddon's signature skill. Please note: It also removes the negative buffs on the hero the shield is casted on. Also have a look at its Area of Effect: 700. It's great stuff right here. Works well together with Death Coil. Using of this skill will be explained later.

Frostmourne (F)
Abaddon strikes an enemy with Frostmourne's chilling power on each attack, causing all units who attack the slowed enemy to gain 15% increased movement speed, along with faster attack speed, for a limited time.
Level 1 - Slows enemies for 5%, gives +10% attack speed to allies.
Level 2 - Slows enemies for 10%, gives +20% attack speed to allies.
Level 3 - Slows enemies for 15%, gives +30% attack speed to allies.
Level 4 - Slows enemies for 20%, gives +40% attack speed to allies.
• Frostmourne is a Buff Placer.
• The Frostmourne buff is placed before Abaddon attacks, so he gets the bonus on his first hit.
• Duration: 2 seconds (Slow on enemy); 4.5 seconds (Increased movement and attack speed on allies)
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Comment: What would Abaddon be if there wasn't his mighty sword. Please note: It's buff placer and buff placers (like Stygian Desolator or Difussal Blade) don't stack! It also increases move speed quite significantly -> 15%. Using of this skill will be explained later.

Borrowed Time (B)
When activated, most negative buffs will be removed and any damage you take will heal you instead of damage you. If the ability is not in cooldown, it will passively activate when your hitpoints drop below 400 hp.
Level 1 - Lasts 3 (5*) seconds.
Level 2 - Lasts 4 (6*) seconds.
Level 3 - Lasts 5 (7*) seconds.
• Borrowed Time can be manually activated.
• Upon casting Borrowed Time, Abaddon will effectively dodge any projectiles currently flying at him.
• When activated it removes negative buffs from Abaddon.
• Aghanim's Scepter improves duration (noted by *)
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: 60
Comment: Abaddon's signature ultimate and (along with Stryg's Rupture) the most annoying skill of the whole game. Please note: You can activate it manually. You'll dodge any projectiles upon casting it. It removes negative buffs (similar to Aphotic Shield) Using of this skill will be explained later.

Skill Build:

1. Aphotic Shield
2. Death Coil
3. Death Coil
4. Frostmourne
5. Death Coil
6. Borrowed Time
7. Death Coil
8. Aphotic Shield
9. Aphotic Shield
10. Aphotic Shield
11. Borrowed Time
12. Frostmourne
13. Frostmourne
14. Frostmourne
15. Stats
16. Borrowed Time
17. Stats
18. Stats
19. Stats
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats

Item Build:

Magic Stick (200)
Active: Energy Charge
Restores 15 HP and mana for each charge. Note: Gains 1 charge every time an enemy unit casts an ability in a 1200 AoE that is not in the fog of war. Maximum of 10 charges. Certain abilities, such as arrow abilites (Frost Arrow, Poison Attack) and item abilities, will not add a charge.
One of the most amazing item in DotA. +3 to all stats and mana/health charges are simple too great to be overlooked
2. View Details for Sobi Mask

Sobi Mask (325)
50% Mana Regeneration
This item will help you with the early mana problems. Then it just should be turned into Ring of Basilius or Urn of Shadows (which I like more)
3. View Details for Boots of Speed

Boots of Speed (500)
55 Movement Speed
Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed.
Base item on every single hero. Depending on situation in game, these should be upgraded to either Power Treads, Arcane Boots or View Details for Boots of Travel

Boots of Travel (2700)
95 Movement Speed
Active: Teleport
Teleports you to an allied non-hero unit or building. 3 seconds casting time. 75 manacost. 60 seconds cooldown. Shares cooldown with Scroll of Town Portal.
Note: Movement speed bonus doesn't stack with Boots of Travel, Phase Boots, Power Treads, or Boots of Speed. Double clicking teleports you to fountain.
Boots of Speed + Boots of Travel Recipe Scroll
4. View Details for Ancient Janggo of Endurance

View Details for Ancient Janggo of Endurance

Ancient Janggo of Endurance (1725)
9 Stats
9 Damage
Passive: Endurance Aura
5 attack speed, 5% movement speed, 900 AoE
Active: Endurance
Gives 10 attack speed and 10% movement speed during 6 seconds to all allied player-controlled units. 900 AoE. Lasts for 6 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
Note: Comes with 4 charges. The charges can be replenished by buying the recipe again.
Bracer + Robe of the Magi + Ancient Janggo of Endurance Scroll
Amazing item that solves 2 biggest problems - Early game's mana issue and movement speed. The best thing is that everyone in team can benefit from it
5. View Details for Aghanim`s Scepter

Aghanim`s Scepter (4200)
10 All Attributes
200 HP
150 Mana
Passive: Ultimate Upgrade
Upgrades the ultimate of Earthshaker, Pandaren Brewmaster, Stone Giant, Clockwerk Goblin, Sacred Warrior, Sand King, Spiritbreaker, Axe, Doom Bringer, Lord of Avernus, Night Stalker, Butcher, Undying, Juggernaut, Moon Rider, Faceless Void, Lightning Revenant, Vengeful Spirit, Venomancer, Netherdrake, Crystal Maiden, Enchantress, Faerie Dragon, Holy Knight, Prophet, Lord of Olympia, Slayer, Windrunner, Goblin Techies, Invoker, Shadow Priest, Shadow Shaman, Tormented Soul, Twin Head Dragon, Witch Doctor, Bane Elemental, Demon Witch, Lich, Necrolyte, Oblivion, Obsidian Destroyer, Queen of Pain, and Warlock.
Point Booster + 1 each of Ogre Axe, Blade of Alacrity and Staff of Wizardry + Aghanim's Scepter Recipe Scroll
Aghanim's provides quite boring ultimate upgrade but it's quite useful. It makes you even more annoying hero

Early Game:

Abaddon The Lord of Avernus

for DotA 6.72c

Welcome again. Well, are you ready to learn some of Abaddon's strategies? C'mon I know you are! :D Let's start!

0. Abaddon in General

If you ask a DotA player, what is the most annoying thing in DotA, you probably get this answer: "Well... oh, yes... Abaddon! That immortal *#&!* against me!". If you ask a DotA player, what is the most versatile hero, you probably get this answer: "Abaddon!". If you ask a DotA player, which hero he wants to share lane with, you probably get these answers: Dazzle; Ezalor (but this one is damn stealer); Omniknight and.. yeah of course - Abaddon! That guy is just awesome!"

So, that's how DotA players looks at Abaddon - annoying (almost immortal), versatile, great babysitter and support, hated by enemies (and neutral creeps as well :D) and loved by allies. A lot of people don't consider Abaddon as a major threat, but much more like uninspired hero, that is hard to kill, but also hard to get killed by. This is kinda advantage for you! Let them see, that you are someone, who isn't good to underestimate! Now, here is the question: why do they think all the stuff about you? It's simple -> your skills are "two-side". What I mean by this is that 3 of your skill are designed to have an effect both on allies and on your enemies (not in the same time however, the target can be either your ally or your enemy) so they never saw the second-side of it. The fourth spell - your godlike Ultimate - is here just to keep you alive longer and to give you extra time while using the rest of skills. This is VERSATILITY at its finest!

Abaddon, the Lord of Avernus

23 + 2.7

Abaddon Agility 17 + 1.5
Abaddon Intelligence 21 + 2

Abaddon's stats Compared to others

Affiliation: Scourge -
Attack Animation: 0.56 / 0.41 Below Average
Damage: 55 - 65 Slightly above Average
Casting Animation: 0.452 / 1.008 Below Average
Armor: 4.4 Above Average
Base Attack Time: 1.7 Average
Movespeed: 300 Average
Missile Speed: Instant -
Attack Range: 128 (melee) Classic
Sight Range: 1800 / 800 Classic

Abaddon - level 1

Abaddon - level 25 + stats

Now we'll go through some basics -> we'll look at Abaddon's Pros & Cons. We will choose the right Team Role for him in your game. Then, we'll look at how to use Abaddon's skills and we gonna make up the strategy for Early to Late game...

1. Pros & Cons

Pros

You have a horse -> you have a larger collision size and you can block creeps easily & effectively + it's cool to have a horse, indeed.
While played properly, you are almost immortal. It's not miracle to see Abaddon with 0 or 1 - 2 death per game.
Ultimate has short cooldown.
You are item independent. I mean, you can still do well even with almost no items. In fact, you need just Boots and some mana / mana regen to work properly. Of course, if you wanna be the top, you need few good items
Nice INT gain on Strenght hero (one of the highest). Unfortunately, this doesn't solve your early mana problems.
Awesome skill synergy
You are able to do (doen't matter how weak it is) AoE damage through Aphotic Shield
You are Mr.Versatile

Cons

Mana problems early on
Slow attack animation
Low AGI gain
Only average movement speed 300 (despite of fact that you have a horse! It's certainly not fair, because Chaos Knight and Ezalor have much higher movement speed)
Your versatility makes you "man of any role". What I mean by this is: Abaddon can take almost every role in your team. It's sure that if he is someone, who knows how to tank and who knows how to deals "tons" of damage, he simply cannot be expert in both of these things. E.g. "Carry-like" Abaddon meets Mortred with proper items (both players are equally skilled) . What gonna happen? Abaddon will fail, regardless of his skills or ultimate. He simply cannot compare himself to true carries. Very same situation with tanks. Abaddon can tank quite well ( I would say: better than most of heroes) but his tanking skills will be always beaten by Axe's or Centaur's.
He loses a lot of his power lategame. Not exactly the entire Abaddon, but just some of his spells. The idea is: 250 damage from Death Coil could have been fatal in the Early Game but it's not anymore in Late Game. This means you need items to scale well into Late Game and to be dangerous for enemy, despite of "item independent philosophy". If you don't have proper items, you can still be pretty good support, but you'll have probably hard times facing overfarmed heroes alone.

I hope this gave you an idea of Abaddon weaknesses and strong sides. Now it's time to choose a team role for this awesome guy.

2. Team Role

I have a surprise for you, hope you've not heard it before -> Abaddon is the Versatility itself! You can choose whatever role in team you want (except for few roles). Will you be successful? Depends! Let's have a look.

Here are the most common and ( I hope) well known roles:

Carry: The idea is: You carry your team to victory! Doesn't matter who you are or how good you are ... Just you will (or already) have the main word in the game and it's you, who is "the hope" and it's you, who everyone relies on. In the DotA world, carry usually is agility hero (but it's not a rule). Why? Because they usually don't have powerful spells with defined damage in numbers, but have spells that are typical for chance on proc (like Bash) or % damage and thus as the game goes on, they have better and better items and are more and more dangerous. Typical carry needs to farm/kill furiously and get proper items. Abaddon can benefit a little from better items in the way that carry do, so you can take this role, but remember, that you cannot compare yourself to true carries, such as Mortred, Void, Medusa or Troll. If there is already a carry in you team, you shouldn't go this way and instead of it, you should help this carry.

Abaddon as carry:

Typical Carries:

Support & Babysitter: The idea is to support your team to win the battles. This goal is reached by e.g. healing allies, preventing them from death, encouraging them, raising their strenght etc. Babysitter is just supporter on lane, which he shares with another hero and helps this hero as much as possible by e.g. healing, providing nice auras, replenishing mana, maintaining the lane control, denying own creeps and/or harrassing opponent, so the hero doesn't need to worry about the opponents and can be focused on last hiting. Supporters usually buy Courir and Wards to make the life of hero they are babysitting even easier. Abaddon is great babysitter and supporter thanks to Aphotic Shield and Death Coil. You should take him if there is at least one hero that really needs babysitter or support and there isn't another babysitter / supporter that could take care about it. It's believed that this is Abaddon's only role, but I think it's just one of many.

Abaddon as babysitter:

Typical Babysitters:

Tank & Initiator: The idea is: Tank is someone who attracts enemies, so they focus on him and let the rest of your team do their stuff (which can be devastating). To take such a role, you need 2 things: You must have enough HP (hit points) or EHP (Effective Hit Points), becuase you don't want to to dieimmediately, and you need to be interesting for them to hold their attention. Tank goes usually first to the battle -> this makes him interesting for enemies enough. Abaddon is able to tank thanks to Aphotic Shield and Borrowed Time. Problem is - when your ultimate is casted, you lose all the attraction. But still you can do an important job in the beginning. Remember -> biggest battles last no more then 10 sec. If you attracted enemy for just 3 sec. you did well and gave your allies time to do their magic. You shouldn't go this way if there is just 1 another tank hero better than you.

Abaddon as tank:

Typical Tanks:

Ganker/Killer: The idea is to surprise enemy and kill him in few seconds. If you want to play this one, you need usually disable (like stun, hex or something like that), map awarness, high movement speed, an ability to surprise the enemy and an ability to deal lot of damage in very short time. Abaddon doesn't have a true disable, only slow - Frostmourne. This might be enough in some cases. But you are not a typical Ganger/Killer. I wouldn't recommend you to play Abaddon this way, but of course, you can do that.

Abaddon as ganker/killer:

Typical Gankers/Killers:

Disabler & Mana destroyers: The idea of disable is: you have spell that can prevent enemy from moving/casting/fighting or just doing something else. Most common spells for this reason are: Bash = Stun, Silence, Hex, Net and special spells like: Dismember, Overgrowth, Astral Prison, Decrepify, Pounce etc. Mana burners will "disable" you by sucking your mana away, so you became useless in most cases. Abaddon, unfortunately, doesn't have any fine disable or mana burn. He can slow the enemy via Frostmourne, but it's not the real disabling. However, you can buy special items to make Abaddon at least semi-disabler. Items like Cranium Basher, Guinsoo or Orchid will make you at least feel like semi-disabler. Problem is their price. So, I guess, to be disabler isn't your primary goal, but much more like semi-goal. You will probably buy some of these items while doing Support or DPS/Carry...

Abaddon as disabler:

Typical Disablers and Mana Burners are:

DPS: the idea of DPS is to deal sustainably "tons of damage". These guys are reason why are team battles so fast and why are towers gone in few seconds. Abaddon is capable of dealing serious damage through Aphotic Shield and Death Coil, especially early and early-mid game. I recommend you to try this role, combinated with a little bit of supporting... This is the role I play and this is the role I find funny and entertaining enough.

Abaddon as DPS:

Typical DPS heroes:

and a lot more................

So.. I hope you understood, what does VERSATILITY mean. Don't be afraid and try and try to find out which role do you enjoy most and is the best for you. Remember that DPS & Support are roles you can play everytime.

3. Best Friends & Worst Enemies

Best Friends

How does your team influence your pick? Abaddon's presence is fine for all heroes, so you'll propably never do bad if you pick him. But still, here are some very interesting synergies, that are worth picking Abaddon more than usually:

The Immortals:

Once this duo reaches lvl 6, they are the most annoying thing in the whole DotA!! They simple refuse to die! On top of it, Leoric has stun... so it's like: Stun -> Death Coil -> Aphotic Shield Burst. This can be devastating on both the killing sprees and opponents nerve breakdown.

The Evil and God:

Shied, Heal, Burst, Coil, Repeal, Degen Aura + Frostmourne aura => your opponent will probably leave this game, so do not try this :D

Shield Bursting

You give Axe the Aphotic Shield and Axe just pull the entire enemy team on himself -> resulting in Counter Helix + The Shield bursting, so you cast another one. In the end, you just heal Axe by Death Coil or finish the broken enemy.

Tips from the players:

Tip by karolko: "those two guys ROCKS! 2 slows, 2 nukes, shild, silence and tower dive with no trouble - no hero can stand this ..."

Thanks for all the tips guys! :)

...if you have another tip, don't be afraid and write a comment...

Worst Enemies

Abaddon's counter hero is, of course, Omniknight! But he isn't the most dangerous hero for Abaddon, in fact, Axe is! Axe just doesn't give a shit and cuts through your ultimate as it was just a paper. If you have less then 300/450/625 HP (depending of Axe's level), always keep eye on him. Believe me, there is nothing better in DotA than to see Abaddon dead (Well, nice Hook or Arrow is also good :D) and Axe's players know it.

Well, if Abaddon is out of mana, silenced (or disabled), he is kinda useless, but still can do wonders with Frostmourne and annoying Ultimate.

His ultimate doesn't care about yours. Another instagib crushers, who could cause problems (but no in way that Axe can), are

Repeal will not make your day (as well as the rest of his skills)! If Repeal is casted on you, you cannot put Aphotic Shield on yourself and your ultimate will not be autoactived, if your HP drop under 400, so you need to activate your ultimate manually!!

and other silencers/mana burners/disablers. They are annoying! None of them is able to disable your ultimate - thanks god - but they will just make you "big creep" and then you must return to the fountain (hopefully, you'll go there by yourself and not respawning there).

Doom is the most feared disable in the game. It not only silences you but also makes you unable to use your own items. However.. If you are under effect of Doom and you're HP drops under 400, Borrowed Time activates and also ends the Doom. You cannot active your ultimate manually but it will be still autoactivated under 400 HP, regardless of all disables and your mana.

Please, this DOESN'T mean: "Do not take Abaddon if these guys are in game!" That's nonsense. Just keep eye on them if they're close!

4. Skills & Items

This is a very important part. We will discover the synergies between skills and find the ways how to use them effectively. The Skillbuild is written at the top of the page, as well as Skill's descriptions! Please, for better understanding, read them if you didn't . Ok, at first, look at the skills one by one.

Death Coil

Yeah. Look at the mana cost, look down, look at the mana cost again! Sadly, it's still the same. But that's just great!!! 75 mana cost is so amazing.. it makes this spell one of the best spell in the entire DotA! 250 Damage / Heal is just superior. It deals damage to you, which is even better than if it wouldn't! And the range -> 800! It's pretty above average spell range! That's the reason, why we want to have this spell maxed ASAP. (Believe me! I didn't believed too, but once I tried it, i just felt in love with it)

When to use this spell:

You need to finish off enemy
You need to heal friendly unit -> Lot of people forget that it's also heal! They think that Death Coil is just boring mediocre nuke.. it's not just a nuke! Don't forget to heal your allies!
You need to burst the Aphotic Shield you have on yourself, so you use the damage it deals to you and do crazy stuff
You need to heal yourself while under effect of Borrowed Time. If your ultimate is active, you may use the damage to you and turn it into health.

Range of 800

Here is shown the 800 range of Death Coil - nice, isn't it?

Aphotic Shield

One of your signature spell. It removes all negative buffes. We use only first level of it early on (I know what you think - "Aphotic is the best Abaddon's spell, you must max this up ASAP or you are total n00b!3 and l0s3r!!!" - Please, get over it and face the truth), because the difference between Aphotic Shield lvl 1 and Aphotic Shield lvl 4 is not so signiticant - only better cooldown but low damage growth and higher mana cost. This is why we max out first rather Death Coil. As I said before - a lot of people max out Aphotic Shield first, but believe me - it's not needed. The psychologic effect is the same -> enemy is about to run away while Aphotic is about to burst - doesn't matter which level of Shield is on (because he doesn't know if it's 1 lvl Shield or 4 lvl Shield). Area of Effect is very nice: 650! it's more than Ranged heroes Attack range, so they will get the load!

When to use and how to use:

Use the Aphotic Shield (if you want to use it for the damaging purposes) on creep/hero that is being focused! Don't use it on yourself if you're not focused by the enemy! That would be pointless - it's a waste and result is: -100 mana, which you cannot afford early on!
Shield your ally/yoursefl if he/you needs it. Here are some examples: ally is being chased;; ally has buff that is either killing him or is fatal for him;; you are doing combo, that will be explained later, etc.
Enemy towers can be your friends if they make the Shield burst and enemy hero is near! Abuse of it.
Rather shield your friend than yourself, because you do have the ultimate which can save you -> he (usually) doesn't.
Be careful with mana! It's quite expensive spell and with your early game mana pool you cannot afford to spam it!

Aphotic Shield Range

Here is shown the AoE range of Aphotic Shield when it bursts.

Frostmourne

This is your carry-like skill, very useful because of its bonuses. Slowed enemy is just angry and you are fast enough to chase him. +40% Attack speed is nice for everyone. This skill is reason why you can purchase Cranium Basher and don't be called the fool. Beware: it's buff placer and buff placers do not stack! This buff is so precious that you shouldn't buy another buff placer to replace it.

When to use:

It's passive. This skill is applied just by hitting enemy -> he gets the buff - and everyone from your team who hits him will get the bonus as well.
Is very nice on Roshan
Before you go to destroy tower, you can find a creep and by hitting it, you get this bonus, so the tower will go down faster.

Borrowed Time

This is your very signature! While under effect of Borrowed Time, you can (or even should) find a source of damage (fountain, tower) and get few hits to restore your life. You can activate it manually, but I strongly don't recommend it to the beginners. You can activate it perhaps if you're running away and someone is chasing you. -> When you activate it and your HP is high enough, he will give up the chasing, because he becomes bored... but if he burns your life to 400, he will be motivated by your low health and will continue in chasing you until your death; or when you need seriously to get rid of enemy.

What to do while you're under the effect of Borrowed time:

Find a source of damage and heal yourself
Cast the Death Coil to heal yourself and damage foe/heal ally
Continue in your activities
Teleport away
Run away
Try to beat down that man!
Continue in chasing, even if it means that you have to visit the enemy base
etc.

Skilled enemies will usually stop attacking you, so you will not regain your HP by taking attacks. Newbies, however, usually continue in damaging you and wonder, why are your HP raising... Very common mistake (which I make as well :D) is to think that you are imba immortal Rambo combinated with Chuck Norris and Terminator - you might be - as long as the ultimate is active. When it disappears, you are mortal for next 50 seconds! Enemies are waiting for that moment, so be ready and don't underestimate the situation! On the other hand, a lot of people challenge you, thinking: "he's got 2000 HP, i've got 2500 so I gonna melt his ass!". And suddenly they have 600 HP, you have 400 -> ultimate active -> 5 sec -> enemy has 200 HP, you have still 400 and he just says -> WTF?!.

The biggest "ultimate batteries", that are usually attacking you even with Ultimate on, are: Ursa, Mortred, Krobelus, Juggernaut etc. -> if they don't pay enough attention and don't stop their attacks/spells soon, they can easily heal you to the max.

Rememeber, spells like:

are able to full your HP if their owners are not careful enough. Some of them you are not controllable, so once they were casted, you may just enjoy the healing. In this cases it is quite reasonable to activate your ultimate manually on e.g. 600 HP to full your HP, rather than on 400 with no such a enemy spell/opportunity in the air.

Also rememeber -> if you're under effect of magic immunity, your ultime will not be autocasted and you must cast it manually!!!

Spells / Items like:

etc. provide magic immunity.

Now, let's have a look how work these skills together.

Well, you've obviously chosen DPS & Support Abaddon.. cg :D Here are some ideas how to use your skills to become early Killing Spree Machine with 0 - 1 deaths:

450 Magic Damage

The Idea is: Aphotic will burst if you get 200 damage -> few hits by creeps + pure damage dealt to you from Death Coil used on enemy, which deals 250 damage to him) => Burst of Shield (which is 200 damage)

Heals 125 HP regardless of everything else

Net a Kill and (hopefully) survive

This is, generally, chasing-like schema of killing foes. As you can see, Death Coil is our basic nuke and very important skill - that's why we maxed it out first.

Total damage dealt: 1150 magic damage + some hits (all before mitigation) at level 10. This can be fatal for most of Agi / Int heroes in early / mid game. In late game, it loses most of its power but still can hurt!

If there is an ally with disable, the kill is almost guaranteed.

Here are some GIFs to show, how it works:

This is the very basic scheme! Tauren was being harrased before so he has only half HP, low mana and Fissure on cooldown. Now I know it's time to kill. Shield on, run to the Creeps, Death Coil (which results in) Shield bursts + few hits and Tauren is dead.

And here is chasing scheme:

This one starts near our tower. I chased him and repeated our combo with Shield and Death Coil again and again. Frostmourne gave me a movement speed advantage and slowed Tinker enough. Borrowed time gave me extra time to finish that guy. If there hadn't been Borrowed Time, I would have had to return home without scoring :(

Well, I hope you got the idea of how to kill someone with awesome Death Coil + Aphotic Shield combo. Please realize, that 450 damage is nice number in early game but it isn't that nice in late game.

Early Game

lvl 1 - 8

Finally, early game is here.

Abaddon is hidden in Scourge Strenght Tavern. There you can pick him if you play -ap mode. Once you picked him, you must decide, which role you gonna play.

Choosing the Role

1.) Does your team look like this?

cg, it's time to play Carry Abaddon - it looks like you are your's team only hope in late game. You need to farm for good items! Ask your team for solo lane. Aim for getting expensive and useful items.

2.) Does your team look like this?

cg - it's time to play Tank Abaddon - get items that drastically increase your endurance.

3.) Does your team look like this?

cg - it's time to play Baby-sitter & Support Abaddon - you have 2 true carries that need gold and levels -> you can help them to get these things faster and effectively.

4.) Does your team look like nothing special, just mix of average heroes (which is in 90% of games true)?

Go for DPS & Support Abaddon. As the game goes on (reaching the mid-game), decide your specialization.

Items to get

I usually start with these items (with 603 gold on my hand), regardless of my role:

Ironwood Branch Sobi Mask Lesser Clarity Potion

or simply with

Notice, that I don't have tangoes or salves, but Clarity Potion instead -> this is because of Aphotic Shield, that can protect me enough if I'am in trouble.

If you are support & babysitter, you should buy courier and wards if is required:

Which Lane

I prefer top and botton lane over mid lane. It's becuase of Secret Shop, where i buy items i need. But of course you can go mid lane as well...

Go alone or with someone?

If your role is babysitter or support, always go with someone else and help him by healing him, harrassing enemies or shielding him/creeps to burst and do AoE damage.
If your role is Tank / DPS -> you can choose either going with someone or going solo.
If your role is Carry, you should go solo.. even mid if there is not other option

Early Gameplay:

You're early gameplay consists of repeating these activities:

Harrassing Opponents
Healing allies
Last hitting creeps (only if you're carry or tank, otherwise let your ally to last hit and make money - you can do well with few items, he probably can't!)
Denying creeps
Killing enemies

Yeah, pretty common gameplay. It may sound easy and in fact it's easy if you have your mana under control... Lack of mana is your early game biggest problem, that's why you have Sobi Mask and Clarity Potion to fix it a little.

How to harrass enemy when you are melee hero? By Aphotic Shield bursting. This is how it works:

Harrass

One creep was focused by enemies -> I had shielded it and the shield bursted! Magina got the load! + it killed one enemy creep so i got money

Yeah, this is your early game...

Items you should have at the end of Early Game is your core and it's not problem to purchase them due to their low price:

Boots should be upgraded to either Power Treads or Arcane Boots -> depends on your situation and mana. I usually go for Arcane Boots and after some time, when I don't need that mana, I disassemble them and make Power Treads.

If you don't know how to Disassemble, this could help you:

Dissassemble

This is how disassemble works

Jungling:

Abaddon isn't primary a jungle hero! Don't try to transform him into Lycantrophe or Chen, because he simply isn't like them. But if you feel urgency (but, honesty, I just can't imagine the reason) for jungle, you can try it. Abaddon can do better than most of heroes in jungle! You just need a LOTS of mana -> buy Bottle or RoB instead of our starting items! Skillbuild also changes -> maxing Aphotic Shield + Frostmourne is your primary goal, Death Coil is pointless in this case. And scenario is simple: Aphotic Shield on you and hit! But let me say: Jungling is possible, but very uneffective way of how to play early game as Abaddon.

Tips Dota

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Traxex - The Drow Ranger Guide

Friday, September 16, 2011