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5 Votes

Abaddon in a nutshell

September 1, 2012 by justanasian
Comments: 10    |    Views: 35791    |   


Typical me

DotA2 Hero: Abaddon




Hero Skills

Mist Coil

2 8 9 10

Aphotic Shield

1 3 5 7

Curse of Avernus

4 12 13 14

Borrowed Time

6 11 16

Talents

15 17 18

Intro

BOOM, you have just picked abaddon, what u gonns do. No but seriously why did you pick abaddon?

Pros
-Tank
-Tank
-His tankiness can push :3 (shield)
-If you can time death coil correctly, not only can you self deny yourself but you can kill someone else at the same time (which is hella fun), and its a pretty good nuke as well, it's got an insane range and cast speed
-If you have a teammate that you have good communication with, you can usually get first blood all the time if you put frostmourne first and have a slow (eg veno) or a stunner etc
-The shield can farm to high hell and harass the enemy ****loads earlygame as well as saving teammates
-Ult is a free aegis?
-Does pretty well even at ~300GPM

Cons
-Isn't really supposed to carry
-Death coil takes off hp from abaddon (that can be a advantage as well)
-Pretty much every item you go for builds hp unless you get really fat
-You're going to be the primary target some of the times making you die quite a bit unless you have the know-how

When to pick abaddon

Yes
-Team has 2 carries or so
-Team doesn't have a tank
-You're cool
-You can multitask (aka kill the enemy team, tank and save teams life at the same time [actually easier than it sounds])
-WHEN YOU WANT TO ME AN ULTRATANK MUAHAHAHAHA

No
-You suck
-You can't lane really great, abaddon may seem like a right click and win hero but a **** abaddon really is ****
-Team is full of melee's (unless you're sure abaddon will be fine
-Team has no carries
-Team has noone that can mid efficiently

Skills

Death coil
At a low level, i only use it to last hit enemy heroes or self deny. HOWEVER, it can heal allies as well, maybe babysit a carry and dump this on them before they die. Otherwise it only gets full capabilities later on where it actually does decent damage to nuke people.

Aphotic Shield
Abaddons signature move, also one of my favourite skills in the game. Using this to full potential will make abaddon a pushing machine throughout the entire game. Use it early game as well and try to rack up some kills, tower diving? No problem! The more the tower attacks the more likely you are able to kill an enemy hero :). I usually chuck it either on myself or the creep (on your side) that is most exposed to the enemy OR dump it on a teammate to save their life. It's pretty much a free temporary hp boost as well as a small aoe nuke.

Frostmourne
I'm not going to go into this much, all i can say is it slows whatever is attacked, it's sort of like a disable, but not really a disable :\. Not the most important but nevertheless, pretty decent.

Borrowed Time
With ulti stick it lasts 7 seconds and has a cooldown of 60 seconds, imagine that every tenth of a minute you are completely unkillable (assuming you don't always rely on autocast). It pretty much 'nope's everything there is, but be wary if you have 401hp and you're a nub and don't cast ur ult and lina casually comes and gank's you, you WILL die (when uses laguna blade etc)

Item reasoning

Stout Shield
This item is a no brainer, 20 damage blocked from most attacks (60% proc) saves a lot of hp and possibly $$$. Also builds to vanguard which is well, a bread and butter for most tanks.

A BIG HOWEVER THOUGH

Sage's Mask
I get this on abaddon all the time (well as far as i know), the mp regen helps me spam shield, also builds to basi (ring of basi/whatever it's called) which builds to vlad's, if i tend to start with sages/sobi mask (i still prefer the legacy names :[ ) i build into vlads, otherwise well. I get whatever. So i could either start with a ring of basi + tango unless you randomed abaddom (you lucky son of a..) or get the stout shield + gg branch + tango or sobi/sage's mask + gg + tango.

Iron Branch
Ok, you can either start off with 3 branches OR 1 gauntlet of strength. Ironwood branches build into magic stick which is a really nice item early game as it restores 15 hp+mp every charge. The stat bonus is nice as well.

Healing Salve, Tango
Basic regen, get it. I can't garuntee aphotic shield will keep your head above water.

Urn of Shadows
Strength bonus, mana regen helps you spam shield. It also acts like a better version of magic stick except the charge doesn't regenerate the hp instantly.

Ring of Health
More hp regeneration so you can farm longer :3 and it also builds to vanguard which is a bread and butter

Town Portal Scroll
o_o, it's like a taxi except it takes you to places nearly instantly. Helps pushing as you can go lane to lane without having to use your horsey to do the work.

Which boot to get?
Tranquil Boots? lolno. Arcane Boots, i don't think you would even consider getting this but maybe you would because of the mana bump it gives so you can spam shield, but no, other boots are better. Power Treads, this is one set of shoes you can go for, 8 strength and 25 attack speed is nice, pretty much a core on most heroes as treads is like, a staple food, it gives a bit a of everything and doesn't really have a negative side
HOWEVER, imo, you should go for Phase Boots, attack bonus helps you last hit/deny, harass whatever, but no the main reason is that you can phase, which is why it makes aphotic shield so annoying as you can run right through creeps, chase etc w.e.

Now onto lifesteal
You have two choices, get either Vladmir's Offering or Mask of Madness
Both are situational but here are the things i follow
Team has decent carries that aren't completely ******ed and/or you feel like pushing - Get vlads, just push2win. I can solo a few towers before the 10 minute mark. The lifesteal aura will help creeps regen hp while well, it just helps regenerate hp, dump a shield on whatever and you're good to go.
However, this is debatable, mask of madness, why? Well, first of all it synergises with abaddons ultimate, the 30% extra damage taken means you will, well gain 30% more hp EVERY hit/nuke whatever gets thrown at you (during ult), thus, more longevity ftw? Also gives a chasing ability , killing ability and well, yes killing ability :| The bonus AS will help turn abaddon into a semi carry/tank if fat enough.

Vanguard
Herp derp, hp regen and moar hp to tank, i've never played abaddon without it. I usually tend to get vanguard, boot, urn stick and lifesteal before the 15 minute mark.

Also, by the 20-25 or so minute mark you'd want to start building your first HoT unless you have something else in mind, otherwise just grab a vitality booster.

Heart of Tarrasque
By now i'd find it quite hard to die, you don't even need a full heart of tarrasque to kill ROSH, get someone that can deal damage and just keep spamming shield (as well as tanking rosh) and make sure you have a lifesteal beforehand -.-. Heart just makes any tank well... tankier, i can't say no to heart unless the enemy is ******ed and you just want to go for damage items.

Black King Bar
Magic invuln, nuff' said. Get it if you need it, otherwise Abaddon can cope without it.

Assault Cuirass
Attack speed, armour, attack speed aura, helps the pushing you know ;), also grants some killing ability but other than that, i use the AS to help me farm, sometimes i don't finish off assault i just use the Hyperstone to help me farm. However i've never tried MJO (hammer v2), if anyone wants to try it out tell me how it works out.

Blade Mail
Sometimes you may go for this, but i rarely get it, IMO it's a waste of money because people would hardly be aiming at you when you have you ult on, they just wont attack you because your hp is waaaay too high. It's all situational so if you need it get it, otherwise i wouldn't bother.

Aghanim's Scepter
Only get if you need the 7 second ult at max level, otherwise don't bother i don't very like this item :(

Hood of Defiance
Just one of those item's to extend you longevity (against nukers etc)

Heart of Tarrasque
Who says you can only get one >:3, if i ever manage to get more than one i get it around the 50 minute mark, but by the time you get a second heart the game should nearly be over anyway :\.

Heaven's Halberd
Another item that makes abaddon a carry (if you really want to), i've only gotten this on abaddon a few times but it is ANNOYING AS HELL. The 25% evasion on top of massive hp pool just makes me laugh at anyone *miss miss miss*. The disarm is another big fat *nope* to anyone as you can just run up to anyone and dump the disable, activate shield, mask of madness (if you have one, if i have vlads the game is already over :3) and hit away.

Radiance
Heh, well, as abaddon has no real killing capability, this item will help you ****loads, the extra damage bonus as well as 40 damage in an aoe PER second. Once i was in a 1v5, i did ****loads of damage TOO BAD I WAS FIGHTING ****IN PEOPLE WITH SLOW/STUN ETC, i was close to killing windrunner nope, shackle shot :(/ Oh hey look orge hes right next to me *hit hit hit* nearly dead CMON DIE, *nope* i get stunned :( sad face, and here we go i was stuck in invokers ice wall all along. Was aimed at for a whole minute and ended up self denying myself and killing a nub gondar at the same time whereas i could have just gotten a radiance and they probably would have died, 60x40 = 2400dmg, im pretty sure thats enough to kill most people, even with magic reduction. Abaddon is so tank, by getting this item you can just roll around the battlefield and suck on their hp.

Shiva's Guard
A slow blast so you can help chase whoever, whatever and kill any stragglers and also drop their attack speed so you can either use this when you're gapping is or when you're chasing someone.

Monkey King Bar
:|, i only recall getting this item on abaddon once, give a damage bonus and ministun, with AC/hyperstone it's nice but it's not priority.

Heart of Tarrasque
I don't think you'll need a third but this will pretty much allow you to tank the fountain and kill whoever, by this time you might have like 4k+ hp.

Don't get

Dagon
No... just no. =_= I got this once because my carry would solo the other team, otherwise get this if
1 - you feel like trolling
2 - you're going to win regardless of the decisions you make in buying stuff
3 - enemy is derp ****

Butterfly
- Abaddon isn't a carry
- Not an agi hero
- Basic attack to win? no
- Heavens halberd gives evasion and is a better item compared to bfly, afaik bfly costs around 6k, when you could have just bought HoT :3

Divine Rapier
Not a hard carry, even mkb would be better than this unless the enemy team is really ****/ you are very fed.

Daedalus
Again, there are better items than this

Abyssal Blade
I guess you COULD get this, it costs even more than a divine rapier so unless you're just so fed i guess you could get this as it doesn't drop when you die, otherwise this item should be last priority.

Early game

Generally, abaddon is able to play all lanes except mid lane. Farm (if needed), otherwise i just deny, and get last hits whenever i can, pull the creeps if needed and chuck on shield to make the enemy heroes not be able to farm without being hit ****loads of times.
To use the shield effectively, chuck shield on and dive between the enemy ranged creep and the melee creep. Occasionally creep close to the enemy hero and whack when you get the chance, babysit the carry but dealing with the other 2 enemy heroes and pull (if you can). Otherwise, do whatever you think you can do, save teammates with shield/coil, let them dive with shield/coil etc. (the latter is not recommended). Make sure the team gets a courier because Abaddon can stay in the lane for as long as he wants (when he has sobi mask/ sage's mask) which is why the courier would save so much time as well as money :D cha-ching!. If you're laning with a stunner/disabler/slower whatever, don't be afraid to jump on a ******* whenever they dive too far, simple, ping, then get a carry/someone that actually does better damage than you to harass whoever, then get close a bit with shield, if they keep attacking whatever, whack them. If they run back, 1 - if they're low hp you can dive , 2 - keep farming :3
Now heres the thing, abaddon is one of my favourite divers, because the more damage done to abaddon (usually 2-3 tower hits will break the shield), more damage done to his surroundings (aka his shield).
This tends to only work on squishier heroes though. And when the shield breaks, chuck another on and you can probably kill and enemy hero without even taking 1 damage.
Don't forget to abuse the tp scroll, i tend to carry 2 at a time, 1 to tp to the far tower, the second to tp to another tower so you can gank/ defend whatever. Don't be afraid to gank early game, rack up some kills and assists, and after 15 minutes you should have lifesteal+boots+urn+maybe magic wand if you went for it aaaaaaaand some tp scrolls :3.
The only thing that is going to delay your pushing early game other than a 3+ v 1 gank up your *** is when the enemy hero right clicks you, thus making all the creeps go towards him, thus, you are probably the only one left attacking the tower. When this happens, you wont be able to tank the tower (as this is sadly only early game). Instead attacking the tower, quickly skim the minimap to see if enemy heroes are there, if you see them, good, if you don't, they're probably hiding in the jungle ready to kill you if you go too far. If on the otherhand, your judgement tells you that theres noone in the jungle, and there is only 1 lan partner (or noone with a disable), push the lane, the lifesteal aura (assuming you got vlads) will help the creeps regenerate hp while they attack, thus giving you the upper hand,.
During the push, your lanes creeps will attack the tower, with no creeps from the opposing lane, a few groups of creeps should be able to take down the tower.
By the end of early game you should have most of your cores and start building better items.

Mid game

By this time, hardly anyone should stay solid in lane and should be fluid in terms if moving lanes (but don't move too much), whenever you see a lane with hardly any enemy heroes, go push it. The typical public game is too unorganised to be able to defend from a push whenever they first see it, they end up coming in late and well... The tower is gone. However, if the enemy team seems to be smarter, just because abaddon is a tank doesn't mean he can tank everything (unless you got all the cores and a heart within the 25 minute mark). Stay back a bit and chuck a shield on the second creep from the front, they tend to be attacked after the first creep but the other lane. This usually stalls a second or two which will allow your team to land some more hits as well as harassing the enemy with the shield. If you have all the cores and half a HoT, get someone that can do decent damage to come rosh with you, i usually go rosh around the level 14/15 mark, and believe me, you can really tank roshan, just keep chucking shield on yourself and roshan should be dead before you can say aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaha.
Keep pushing and ganking, making sure your carries get fed so you can win :3
If you manage to do decently (as well as the carry/ies) the game should end soon. Otherwise just gank/push/farm2win. Thus ending the mid game phase.

Late game

Now late game is where abaddon turns to utter **** because you suck at farming or have no sense of teamwork. Or you were outplayed :|. Otherwise, you are a super tank, a carry, someone that will carry the team if there is every a base race.
After you get your first heart of tarrasque (which should have been in midgame), the rate at which your money comes in (cha-ching! :D) will increase insanely. After 10 minutes you should be easily able to farm an assault cuirass/ bkb (if you need it but i never do) or blademail (which i highly recommend you don't get as it is highly situational.
Go for your 2nd heart after assault cuirass (which i normally get) or radiance if you feel the enemy won't do enough damage to chuck you off your horse. Otherwise get a heavens halberd if the enemy team has a carry which is well farmed (which you should have harassed!), the halberd gives a 1/4 chance to nope.avi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvdf5n-zI14) the damage, otherwise the disarm ability works heavens, it will seriously give someone a bad day. Other than that if you are in the situation where you would need an aoe disable b/c the enemy team has no particular carry but they do decently when stuck together like glue, grab shivas and pick out (abaddon) the main carry from the other team, slow him the hell down while your team picks off everyone else, while you annoying their carry and prevent him from doing jack.
But in all seriousness, but lategame (eg 40-50 minutes) i'd usually have phase,vlads, a heart or 2, a/c and ONE of the 'late game items' which tends to be heavens halberd (#1). I've never stretched a game that long as when i get that fed it's gg and you can tank anything with the rest of your team killing the tower.
However, there has been a situation where i was in a base race (both teams have all towers down and most people are dead), i was with a slardar i think, what you want to do is rush the hell to the enemy base, and chuck the shield on whoever is the slowest in terms of movement. Once you get to the enemy tower, whack whack whack, whenever a disabler comes along chuck ur ult on OR chuck ult on whenever they cast something, i think either the ult or shield disables stun projectiles i forgot :|.
Try to end to game as fast as you can as you may end up getting fatter than the carry in your team, and you don't generally want that to happen unless you know how to play abaddon efficiently, otherwise grab a high end dps item (don't get divine) and hope the game will end soon.

People you do, and don't want to be against

Generally, you'd want to be laning with people with stuns/disables (and also preferably ranged people). is probably my favourite laning partner, with his and your pushing ability, towers and kills should be down in no time. Simply place shield on a creep (your team), once in a while the enemy will come along and go for a last hit and deny, and get hit with the shield :D. Once their hp goes to a moderate amount (just not max or anything above 2/3 or w.e) just get leshrac to harass. Then chuck shield on yourself and start harassing the target, and get leshrac to stun (under the assumption the leshrac isn't ****) and whack away, when the shield explodes the target should be dead, rinse and repeat for the next 6 minutes and you should get ALL the cores by the 10-12 minute mark (seriously =D)
Otherwise, you tend to want to be laning with people with orbs (aka searing arrow/burning spear etc) but esp huskar because you can dump shield on him before he ults :D. Disables stuns etc.
People you don't generally want to lane against is people with orbs as well or similar. Worst situation is probably venomancer+drow ranger. Otherwise abaddon can handle most situations.

Final words?

Well, there are no final words, if i was to talk about all i know about abaddon it'd become a thesis which would take an eternity to write. Other than that, this is only a brief guide if you actually look at it. More will come :o

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