General Stat Priorities:
High Priority: STR, Attack Speed, HP Regen, Status Resistance, Movespeed, Spell Immunity
Middle Priority: Armor, HP, Attack Damage, AGI, Lifesteal, Spell Amplification, Mobility
Low Priority: Magic Resistance, Mana Regen, INT, Cooldown Reduction, Cast Range, Mana
Early:
Bracer,
Soul Ring,
Morbid Mask,
Crown,
Faerie Fire,
Magic Wand,
Helm of Iron Will,
Orb of Venom,
Blades of Attack,
Blight Stone
Boots:
Power Treads is generally more valuable as it adds more health and attack speed which is better for this hero but
Phase Boots can be easier to snowball with.
Tranquil Boots for utility nuker, as you’re trying to cast more spells and need the regen with that build.
Mid:
Carry:
Armlet of Mordiggian,
Sange and Yasha,
Desolator,
Orchid Malevolence,
Echo Sabre,
Black King Bar,
Crystalys,
Shadow Blade,
Battle Fury
Utility:
Spirit Vessel,
Vladmir's Offering,
Drum of Endurance,
Heaven's Halberd,
Blink Dagger,
Crimson Guard,
Solar Crest,
Lotus Orb,
Pipe of Insight,
Force Staff,
Mekansm
Nuker:
Veil of Discord,
Kaya and Sange,
Dagon 1
Late:
Heart of Tarrasque,
Satanic,
Daedalus,
Silver Edge,
Eye of Skadi,
Aghanim's Scepter,
Assault Cuirass,
Nullifier,
Bloodthorn,
Mjollnir,
Monkey King Bar,
Butterfly,
Abyssal Blade,
Dagon 5,
Ethereal Blade,
Guardian Greaves
Shiva's Guard,
Moon Shard
Some Item Builds:
Early Activating Armor Reduction Carry:
Power Treads/
Phase Boots>
Armlet of Mordiggian>
Desolator>
Black King Bar>
Assault Cuirass>
Heart of Tarrasque/
Satanic
Ganker Semi-Carry:
Phase Boots>
Shadow Blade>
Black King Bar>
Silver Edge>
Abyssal Blade>
Assault Cuirass/
Heart of Tarrasque
Farming Lifesteal Carry:
Power Treads>
Battle Fury>
Sange and Yasha>(
Black King Bar)>
Satanic>
Daedalus>
Butterfly/
Bloodthorn
Utility:
Tranquil Boots>
Spirit Vessel>
Heaven's Halberd>
Blink Dagger>
Aghanim's Scepter>
Lotus Orb>
Shiva's Guard
Nuker:
Tranquil Boots>(
Veil of Discord)>
Kaya and Sange>
Aghanim's Scepter>
Dagon 1>
Ethereal Blade>
Dagon 5>
Heart of Tarrasque
Neutral Items:
Broom Handle,
Faded Broach,
Iron Talon*,
Ironwood Tree,
Ocean Heart,
Poor Man's Shield*,
Royal Jelly,
Clumsy Net,
Dragon Scale,
Essence Ring*,
Imp Claw,
Nether Shawl,
Vambrace*,
Vampire Fangs,
Enchanted Quiver,
Greater Faerie Fire*,
Orb of Destruction*,
Paladin Sword,
Spider Legs,
Titan Sliver*,
Flicker,
Havoc Hammer*,
Minotaur Horn*,
Prince's Knife,
The Leveller*,
Timeless Relic*,
Witless Shako*,
Apex*,
Ex Machina,
Fallen Sky,
Force Boots,
Mirror Shield,
Pirate Hat*,
Stygian Desolator*
*Denotes an extra useful neutral item
Item Discussion:
First Damage Item:
Armlet of Mordiggian: Probably most reliable first item as a damage dealer as is pretty common on strength cores, but very strong on Kurthifa due to how her passive works. This item can also be used to keep her health lower to get more damage, though with the Mortality Rush toggle, it means that it is not entirely necessary to get Armlet to keep health low.
Shadow Blade: A less damage but more of an impressive ganker item, Shadow Blade allows Kurthifa to get kills all over the map by positioning well for Run Through. Builds into Silver as well.
Echo Sabre: Alternative item for building into Silver. This item offers some mana regeneration and allows Kurthifa to easily deal a lot of damage with the double strike, since she gains a lot of attack damage from her passive.
Battle Fury: If for whatever reason you decide to build Kurthifa as a farming hard carry that builds around her Crits and buying lifesteal, this item fits her, as she has built in damage, can cast crit, and has mobility spells to clear camps very quickly. Also very useful against summons and illusions.
Minus Armor:
Assault Cuirass: A very good and balanced item on this hero, massively increasing the value of her hit points. Should be a big priority in late game in carry builds. Pairs well with Desolator.
Desolator: A powerful item if bought reasonably early, this stacks well with Assault and the hero’s level 25 Armor Corruption talent.
Utility:
Spirit Vessel: A great option, stacks with the regeneration reduction of Run Through. Makes her a huge anti-healer threat.
Heaven's Halberd: Useful against key enemies and generally makes the hero very survivable. Probably a legitimate option even on the carry build of Kurthifa.
Solar Crest: A good item for utility Crimson Knight, as it makes her tanky but also allows her to do some physical burst damage with the armor reduction.
Shiva's Guard: Another useful anti-regen item and adds a huge amount of armor. The slow is also very useful.
Eye of Skadi: If you need further anti-regen and slow. Slowing attack can help her if she is getting kited too.
Mobility:
Force Staff: As Run Through allows you to drag the latched hero, you can use Force Staff and Crimson Impact to significantly displace your Run Through target far from the enemies. Useful in general as a utility hero with certain matchups as well.
Blink Dagger: If played like an initiator, Dagger allows Kurthifa to jump enemies with Retribution's stun (and significant damage, even if cast from full health) and then use the other mobility skills to flee, disengage or chase.
Nuker:
Kaya and Sange: Boosts the damage of Crimson Impact and Retribution on two fronts with health pool and spell amp. Also makes Kurthifa much harder to kill.
Aghanim's Scepter: Adds 1000 to the cap of Retribution, makes the potential combo damage much bigger, especially with Adrenaline Burst.
Ethereal Blade: Can massively boost the damage of Retribution, making it one of the most powerful nukes. Its own nuke scales well with Kurthifa’s high strength too.
Dagon 1 to
Dagon 5: It’s Dagon. 3 guesses on how it synergizes with the Nuker build.
Tank and Status Resistance:
Sange and Yasha: A good all around item, the speed helps with kiting and pairs excellently with lifesteal.
Satanic: A huge damage boost for Kurthifa, and the status resist fits well on her too. With Run Through's crit, the Satanic active is an effective way to heal to full.
Heart of Tarrasque: This is one of the best potential damage boosters on this hero, as it gives you more health and survivability which boosts 3 skills. However, if you do not use your Mortality Rush toggle, it will keep you at full health and will massively slow down your farming potential, so be mindful.
I think Run Through as a skill is complicated enough, and I don't feel it is overpowered so it seems unnecessary to do that.
It would indeed more realistic though, no doubt about that.