Versatility in one word-Abaddon

Introduction

Abaddon.Even the name itself makes you remember the days where you wasted a Lina Laguna Blade on him and he returned to full HP.

This is my guide to Abaddon.Enjoy.

Abaddon-Versatility in one word

Abaddon is one versatile son of a *****.I can't just describe it otherwise,you can support,you can decently carry,you can save allies,you can tank and you can initiate by just baiting randomly while your team hides behind your rotten back.Yes,that good.

Roles:
-Support 5/5
-Carry 3/5
-Tank/Durable 6/5
-Initiator 1/5(assuming you are not baiting)

Debating roles

SUPPORT

Many people prefer to play Abaddon as a support.And this is true,he is one of the best supports in the game,with great measure.

He is one of the best in this role,possesing a heal that is also a nuke,a shield that blocks incomming damage,reflects it after the cap is reached,REMOVES DEBUFFS,has a passive that slows and allows allies to hit harder certain enemies(by certain I mean ones that were hit by Abaddon before,and an AMASING ultimate that allows you to heal instead of taking damage.

CARRY

People never play Abaddon as a carry,but he is hella good.I mean,immagine this: Curse of Avernus is a slow with an attack speed steroid,you have a heal/nuke,you have the shield to remove the negative buffs from yourself,and he has Borrowed Time,to make you survivable.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• A heal that is also a nuke
• A skill that absorbs damage,removes negative buffs and returns damage in an AoE
• Attack speed steroid
• Amasing ultimate
• Above average movement speed
• Durable
• Very versatile
• You cannot kill what is already dead

Cons

• Silence renders him not so useful(ultimate still activates itself)
• Not so decent casting animation
• Countered by Axe and by Lina and Lion to an extent

Skills

Mist Coil

The good:This dual purpose spell makes a nice heal and nuke. Abaddon heals/nukes for 250 damage. The cd is short at 6 sec, the mana cost is paltry at 75, and the casting range is excellent at 800 range! There is also no projectile so its impossible to dodge and it acts very quickly. Abaddon can use the skill to deny himself and to burst his own Aphotic Shield.


The bad:Well honestly,as every move that requires yourself to sacrifice HP,its annoying that it also costs mana.


Aphotic Shield

The good:One of the most unique moves in the game, Abaddon can cast a protective barrier around his buddies. The barrier will protect that ally from 200 damage. And, after it has reached its 200 damage limit, the shield bursts and damages everything in a nice 675 aoe for that same 200.


The bad:The casting range is decent in 475,but its much lower than the 800 range that death coil has.


Curse of Avernus

The good:This is such a cool idea for a passive. Everytime Abby attacks a unit he slows them by 20% for 2 seconds. In addition to that he also gains 40% attack speed and 15%ms. What's really cool is that the bonus moves onto any allies who attacked the marked unit.


The bad:The lowest slow value is 5%,that is kind of small.


Borrowed Time

The good:The ultimate survival move, Abbadon can face the full fury of The Fountain and come alive. Once Abbadon is place on Borrowed Time, any damage he takes, magic, physical, pure, whatever, will heal him. That's right. You are invulnerable for the next 5 seconds.


The bad:It's worth noting that there is ONE single counter to Borrowed Time, and that's Axe's Culling Blade.

Items

So,as he is a really versatile guy,there are a lot of items for him.Varying from healing to damage booster and aura items,he is one of the heroes that can afford to build anything and make good use of it.

SUPPORT

STARTING OUT

No debate over this one,you need to get the courier and to upgrade it,if you're supporting.If you do not,you can buy .Both are helpful and make you fill up really well the role you are playing.

CORE

This is a mean bad boy.First of all,it boosts your STR by +6 and it gives 50% mana regen.Now the funny part is that,it also gains charges while killing people,and you use HP while using death coil(assuming you didn't cast Aphotic Shield on yourself in the beggining).You can essentially become The Fountain for your allies,but mind your own HP while casting death coil.You might want to have 1 urn charge just for yourself,after healing somebody with death coil.Or you might as well just use the urn...

More heal!What's not to love?Oh but wait,we also get extra armor,stats and a regen aura.Holy mother of God this is a good bargain.You will be the uncrowned king of teamfights early game wearing this bad boy.However,it also costs a lot of mana...

Did anyone call for the koolaid man?Wearing this snazzy footwear gives our rider here +55 movement speed,an extended mana pool(as your skills are extremly spammable)and a way to replenish people's mana.

CORE EXTENSION

Ah yes,the mask of Vladmir.This green soothing mask will make all of the allied melee units arround you lifesteal and an mana regenerating aura that also gives armor!This is really good for 5 manning because it will give your team an advantage that is not to be overlooked during the entire game.

This blue staff gives you the power to invoke the power of the wind god Eul,and to cyclone somebody up in the air for several seconds.You can choose between yourself and the enemies,yourself for dire situations and enemies in ganks or to stop channeling abilities like Witch Doctor's Death Ward.

The drums that when carried,increases the attack speed and movement speed of everyone arround the user!But wait,it also has 4 charges that can be effectively used to double its potential for several seconds.Also builds up from a Bracer which stats are beneficial for every support in the game.

The book of dead.Allows you to summon 2 necro warriors,one that is melee and one that is ranged both with manaburning capabilities,that also have an aura that further boosts attack speed and movement speed as well as the punishment for killing the melee one,the painful at all levels 600 true damage.It also gives some STR and INT that are beneficial for Abaddon,as his spells are highly spammable and the STR increases his durability.

LUXURIES

The most powerful wizard of all times created a sceptre that carries forward his power to its user. Aghanim's Scepter increases the potency of your ultimate skill,in this case, Borrowed Time,by a hefty +2 seconds.While that doesn't seem that much,it also gives some decent stats and raw HP.

This heavy armor boosts your intelligence.How is that possible?It may be encrusted with gems from the Mystic Staff.Neverthanless,it is heavy and it boots your armor by 15 and your intelligence by 30.It also has an active part that damages by 200 and slows people in its AoE.

The heart of a fallen beast,whoever bears it gains the fortitude of the dead beast.But no,really,this item boosts your HP pool by a raw value of 300+40 STR.The Reaver might be expensinve,but all in all,a solid item for Abaddon.

This staff has the power to turn people into chicken!Also boots your intelligence by 35 and all other stats by 10.It gives an impressive 150% mana regen that is not to be overlooked.Moreover,hexed units cannot dodge attacks by evasion or gain experience.

SITUATIONAL

A freaky armor that returns all the damage you receive,but as magic damage.The funny part is that while under the effects of Borrowed Time,you still return damage.Also boosts intelligence and armor.

This can be used to manipulate your surroundings.Its a fun item that also increases regeneration and intelligence.It can be used while damaged,that is why I dislike Blink Dagger on non-initiating heroes.

Increased magic resistance,and a 400 magic absorbing barrier.This is kind of good,combined with Aphotic Shield you can,theoretically,absorb 600 magic damage.It is also cheap,and its components have a decent use during the build-up time.

Now this item does not benefit Abaddon directly,but is half decent if your team is composed mostly of magic damage dealers.Also gives +5 armor and 5 HP reg/sec.

An all in all good item,with decent stats.Attack speed,mana regen,damage and a silence.Decent if you are facing Anti-Mage, Storm Spirit, Queen of Pain or Mirana.

CARRY

CORE

The drums that when carried,increases the attack speed and movement speed of everyone arround the user!But wait,it also has 4 charges that can be effectively used to double its potential for several seconds.Also builds up from a Bracer which stats are beneficial for every strength hero in the game.

This is the item that transforms Abaddon into a mean looking half dead hard hitting guy.And most of all,he can use it freely,because he is under the protection of Borrowed Time and Aphotic Shield.It increases his attack speed by 100% and his movement speed by 25%.However,it also makes you take 30% extra damage,which in Abaddon's case,MIGHT BE GOOD.The main reasons are:

• Aphotic Shield can be bursted faster.
• Borrowed Time can active unsuspectingly fast,making that Lina or Lion that is waiting and cautiously calculating how much damage you need to still take for it to activate,actually heal you with the ultimate,because the 30% damage increase screwed up their calculations.

The main reason why we get skull basher is Curse of Avernus+ Mask of Madness,and that is scales off pretty well with a hefty 1.4 seconds of stun,40 extra damage and 6 strength.Later on it can be built into Abyssal Blade with a Sacred Relic.

CORE EXTENSIONS

As an extension,gives a hefty amount of armor and attack speed,while making enemies more vulnerable.Do note that: Assault Cuirass's aura does stack up with Vladmir's Offering one now, it has been changed.


This item will increase,at the loss of your own HP,your damage,attack speed,and strength.However,do note that the degen gets negated by Aphotic Shield.This might also help you deny yourself with death coil.


BKB is a half decent item on Abaddon,providing him with +10 STR,+24 damage and the Avatar.This might not be the best idea,because,durring Borrowed Time,he cannot reflect magic damage.

LUXURY

The heart of a fallen beast,whoever bears it gains the fortitude of the dead beast.But no,really,this item boosts your HP pool by a raw value of 300+40 STR.The Reaver might be expensinve,but all in all,a solid item for Abaddon.


This item is a straight upgrade to Skull Basher,so there is nothing to complain about.Also gives that 2 second goes-through-magic-immunity stun.Might be a bit expensive to upgrade,so don't go for it as first.


This weapon its more than decent on Abaddon,provides some evasion,damage,the maim and the ever-so-good disarm.The good part is that the item has no recipe.Beware though,that the disarm can be purged via Diffusal Blade and the Satyr Trickster's purge(this only in case of Chen, Enchantress,doom bringer,or somebody with a Helm of the Dominator on the other team).


The most powerful wizard of all times created a sceptre that carries forward his power to its user. Aghanim's Scepter increases the potency of your ultimate skill,in this case, Borrowed Time,by a hefty +2 seconds.While that doesn't seem that much,it also gives some decent stats and raw HP.


The monkey king lends you his staff!IT gives 88 damage,a 15 attack speed boost,and a ministun that also deals +100 damage each time it procs.Decent at stopping channeling abilities.

SITUATIONAL

If you really want it, sure.It gives a significant damage boost and the burn damage is nothing to sneeze at.Just make sure you get it rather early, it doesn't scale that well later in the game.

For a measly sum of 275 gold, you can improve Abaddon's early game significantly.Remember that I said Curse of Avernus was bad early game, it only has 5% slow?Well this changes everything, because Orb of Venom slow stacks with Curse of Avernus, so it suddenly turns close to a level 4 Curse of Avernus, with 18% slow on hit, and the poison damage to boot.

Early game

EARLY GAME SUPPORTING

You should focus on helping your carry last hit,by occasionally casting Aphotic Shield on him,or on the creep that is tanking the other wave,as the shield would burst unsuspectingly.Usage of death coil should be minimised in early game,as you take damage from using it,although you might use it to burst your Aphotic Shield(if cast on yourself).

CARRYING EARLY GAME

Focus on last hitting.Try to exploit the mistakes of your enemies and net early kills with the help of your support.Remember though,that you cannot use death coil on yourself,and make sure you use Aphotic Shield smartly.

Mid game

SUPPORTING

You should be involved in every fight that occures,raking up that assist gold everywhere. Borrowed Time will make you durable,so try to sacrifice your life for your carry,as most of times,you will both escape(lol then how did you sacrifice). Mekansm+ Urn of Shadows+death coil can instantly revigorate any wounded teammate.

CARRYING

At this point you should have already aquired your core.Try to be in fights,as your DPS might be higher than you expect. Curse of Avernus+ Mask of Madness+ Skull Basher will make sure that no enemy escapes from you.
Try to build-up to your luxury items as fast as possible so you don't fall behind.Abuse the power that Abaddon has early to mid game.

Late game

SUPPORTING

Keep up the good work.Now that you are more durable,you can actually run head first into teamfights or play the role of a bait.Your healing/protecting combo still helps in teamfights,and your extreme durability will turn the tide of fights in your favor,mostly due to Borrowed Time.

CARRYING

You probably have at least 2 luxury items in your inventory at this point.If that is so,than good for you.You have done well until now,and you should probably do well in late game.

Beware though,people that are illusion based: Chaos Knight, Naga Siren, Phantom Lancer,might cause you trouble.Remember to tell one of your teammates to get some heavy AoE to counter their presence,or a silence to stop them from replicating(though it doesn't stop Phantom Lancer do it.)

End note

I hope this guide will make you understand the role of Abaddon,and especially why he can be so versatile.

Wulfstan,out.