Intro

Aghanim’s Shards were the biggest addition to Dota 2’s gameplay on December 18’s Mistwoods Update, and one of the most impactful in the MOBA’s history. With the exception of the newly arrived fox ranger Hoodwink, each hero could interact with one of those items to unlock a unique bonus, either enhancing an existing ability or unlocking a brand new one. The shard can be bought at the Main Shop for 1400 gold after the 20-minute mark, making it relatively affordable but still a risky pick for builds that rely on acquiring certain items early to be effective.

Given the sheer variety of heroes in the game, it was inevitable that some of them would get more use out of those upgrades than would others. While many of the new or improved abilities would be fun to experiment with in normal games, not all of them would be worth the risk to your MMR in ranked matches. The first two patches after the update have buffed many of the shard abilities while nerfing a few others. Doing so has given the system a wider appeal, but some shard upgrades are still clearly much more optimal compared to others.

Strong upgrades

Some of the upgrades were obviously strong from the update’s release and went unaffected by subsequent rebalancing:

The enhancement to Enigma’s Black Hole adds an extra pull towards its heart within a radius almost three times the size of the original power’s area. While this pull is weaker and does not interrupt abilities or attacks, it can easily move unwary enemies into the main vortex. They can try to run away before that happens, but doing so will still distract them and leave them exposed to other attacks.
Crystal Maiden can vastly expand the versatility of her Frostbite ability. Not only would the upgrade allow her to cast it while channeling, but she would also be able to cast it on herself for a considerable damage reduction. Combined with her armor, this use of the spell can make the champion nearly invulnerable at the cost of being unable to move or attack (but not cast spells).
Keeper of the Light’s upgrade allows him to provide a large fraction of his Illuminate damage as healing to his allies during the daytime. Illuminate is already a very potent ability for clearing away waves of weaker enemies, so combining it with a versatile healing power may be just the thing for restoring this somewhat neglected champion’s popularity.
The similarly underrated Nature’s Prophet has gained the ability to summon Greater Treants from the first two trees destroyed using Sprout. Although only two of that summons can be active at any time, their health and damage are tripled compared to regular treants, ensuring a nasty surprise for the prophet’s adversaries.
Earthshaker has long suffered from poor speed and maneuverability, sometimes even becoming trapped by his own Fissures. The shard turns the tables by allowing him to travel without obstruction over those Fissures, even when they overlap with otherwise impassable terrain. Additionally, the use of his abilities sets off Aftershocks along the Fissures, damaging and stunning nearby opponents.
Lina’s Laguna Blade can now be improved to send the lightning bolt to the (extended) maximum cast range, inflicting heavy damage on all enemy units in the way. She can target this improved version of the spell at the ground or a unit, though it will always go the full distance. Moreover, the upgraded version completely ignores spell blocks.
While the latest patch has reduced Batrider’s ability to hunt down ancients, his shard upgrade remains intact and highly useful to his team. It allows him to cast Flaming Lasso on allies, providing them with high damage reduction without doing any damage.
Witch Doctor’s new Voodoo Switcheroo ability enables him to temporarily transform into a Death Ward at that spell’s current level (and potentially incorporating the Aghanim’s Sceptre bouncing attack and True Strike upgrade). Although its attack speed is reduced, it may still be able to hit seven times while the spell lasts. The doctor himself will be functionally invisible and invulnerable during that time, but also will be unable to act unless one counts the automated attacks.

Perspective upgrades

Quite a few upgrades came into their own after the patches, though some among them already held obvious promise before that:

Ogre Magi’s Fire Shield is a fun and versatile shard-unlocked ability that creates a protective shield around any allied unit. The shield can respond to three attacks before it runs out. This response consists of a hefty damage reduction and a small fireball being thrown at the attacker. If Multicast, the spell applies protection to random allies in the mage’s vicinity. The latest patch has significantly reduced its mana cost and cooldown, turning it into a surprisingly efficient protective option.
The Naga Siren’s Rip Tide upgrade saw a more extensive rework in the patch, losing the bonus damage in exchange for becoming more potent in other ways. The upgrade adds a stronger, active version of the random passive Rip Tide, slowing the enemies in the wave’s path and sapping their armor to open them up for the kill.
Terrorblade can develop the Demon Zeal power, which sacrifices his health for a movement and attack speed boost when he is not in Metamorphosis form. Consecutive patches reduced the health cost somewhat while extending the duration and increasing the bonuses. As of now, both bonuses double when the champion is in melee. Overall, this power presents a serious advantage for those occasions when Metamorphosis is not available.
Alchemist gained an easy-to-use buff in the Berserk Potion. It includes a basic dispel, an Attack Speed boost, and health regeneration – all in a conveniently throwable package that can be applied with equal ease to the Alchemist himself or his allies. The recent cooldown reduction has made this projectile power even handier.
Skywrath Mage’s enhancement adds a 50% status resistance reduction to the already formidable Ancient Seal. This effect means that all other debuffs on the target will last considerably longer, with potentially debilitating consequences for the foe. On top of that, the enhanced spell will expose its victim’s location to other players.
Bloodseeker stands to gain a Bloodrage upgrade that increases the attack’s damage by 2% of the target’s health while healing the champion by the same amount. While this improvement does not extend to any allies affected by Bloodrage, its scaling design can help keep the hunter put up a fight against enemies of any size.
The Jetpack allows Clockwerk to fly, giving him faster, unobstructed movement and an enhanced line of sight. While those advantages come at the cost of slow turning and an inability to attack, the mechanic can still use other abilities without needing to turn. That said, successful use of the Hookshot would end the flight. Thanks to the update reducing the mana cost and cooldown, returning to the sky are now much easier and more practical.

Nerfed upgrades

Finally, there are the upgrades that were nerfed, but remain formidable:

Nyx Assassin’s upgrade increases the movement speed gain associated with Vendetta while empowering the ability’s attack to chip away at the enemy’s magic resistance. Even after a substantial reduction to this bonus, the ability remains an effective way of maintaining combat tempo and opening up enemies to annihilation.
The boost to Monkey King’s Tree Dance is as simple as it is effective. By drastically reducing the ability’s cast point and cooldown, it enables Monkey King to strike from the trees and jump back up again at a vastly increased speed, making the champion extremely difficult to pin down in wooded terrain.
Despite a slight nerf, Bounty Hunter’s Track upgrade remains a gamechanger. It not only provides a wide field of vision around the tracked enemy hero but also shares half the ability’s speed bonus in that hero’s proximity with all of the Bounty Hunter’s nearby allies. If cleverly exploited, it can be used to swiftly overwhelm an unwary foe after using them to scout around.
By removing Reincarnation’s mana cost, Wraith King can vastly increase his survivability. Spawning three skeletons per nearby hero upon reincarnating is also a nifty trick. Illusions do not give rise to more skeletons, but invisible heroes do, providing a potentially helpful clue when dealing with classes likely to use such abilities. For their part, the skeletons are moderately powerful, putting additional pressure on the king’s enemies.

Conclusion

It seems highly unlikely that patch 7.28b will be the last effort to adjust the shard upgrades. Nevertheless, it was fairly extensive and addressed many of the most widespread concerns about their balance. Perhaps that means that their stats will go mostly unchanged for the near future, allowing the meta to finally stabilize and fully adapt to this new feature. If so, the upgrades listed in this guide should remain highly relevant as well. Still, as players have more time to become acquainted with the 119 total upgrades (whether as a result of their own experience or through coaching), new uses or tactics may be found for the options that did not seem as interesting or as optimal at first. That will be something to look out for in the months to come, whether you are controlling one of the champions not mentioned here or facing off against them.

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