Abaddon is a very strong off laner due to his ability to survive and sustain himself in fights. He is usually played as a semi-carry and builds aura items as they compliment the hero’s ability to survive for most of the fight. Abaddon can also effectively be played a semi-support as Aphotic Shield is a very strong support spell.
Abaddon suffers from a low mana-pool relative to his very low cooldown spells so you should use your spells sparingly. Borrowed Time makes Abaddon very good at soaking large amounts of damage and he should be the front-lines of his team as a result.
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[/column]Abaddon Skill Build Order
- Aphotic Shield
- Curse of Avernus
- Aphotic Shield
- Curse of Avernus
- Aphotic Shield
- Borrowed Time
- Aphotic Shield
- Curse of Avernus
- Curse of Avernus
- Talent
- Mist Coil
- Borrowed Time
- Mist Coil
- Mist Coil
- Talent
- Mist Coil
- –
- Borrowed Time
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Abaddon targets a unit, damaging enemies or healing allies at the cost of his own HP. This is usually maxed lastly because you can make more use out of the other two skills in the early game. This is because Mist Coil costs a lot of mana. However, you can get one level of Mist Coil if you think it is likely that you will be killed in your lane as you can use it to deny yourself. Mist Coil is an effective way to deny yourself if you are low enough when the self-damage is applied to you. Use Mist Coil to damage out of reach enemies who are low or use it to heal allies who are close to death.
Abaddon grants a shield to an allied target which blocks damage and purges debuffs on the target ally. After blocking the full damage or after a certain amount of time it will explode dealing damage to all nearby enemies. The purge will remove any negative debuffs that they are under, including stuns. This is maxed first as it decreases the cooldown and increases the damage absorption. Aphotic Shield will explode when re-cast if it is still active at that point. The shield will not damage foes that are invisible or in the Fog of War.
Try to run towards enemies when Aphotic Shield is about to expire so that they will take the damage, provided doing so will not put you in a bad position. You can dive towers with Aphotic Shield very easily as the enemy will take damage from it when it explodes as a result of you taking tower damage. When you are laning, you should use Aphotic Shield to purge any slows or silences on you, especially if you are being threatened by death. Keep an eye out for allies as well as it can be used to purge any stun, including those from powerful ultimate abilities. If you are under-farmed or if your team is behind, you can stay on the back lines of a team-fight using Mist Coil and Shield on your cores instead of attacking with Curse of Avernus. While this won’t instantly make you the best hard support in Dota 2, it will still do a decent job.
Abaddon drains the attack and movement speed of enemies for himself and any allies attacking the same enemy. This is also prioritized early, usually secondly although it can be prioritized first if you feel that you want more movement and attack speed. Curse of Avernus is a strong spell against melee heroes and supports as it creates a movement speed difference between you and your enemies and as such can be used to deal extra harass. The Curse is also applied on towers which makes you quite good at pushing. Make sure to hit the tower while you are pushing as it will significantly increase the rate at which you take the tower.
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When activated, Abaddon will heal for all damage he takes. This spell is automatically triggered when he is damaged below 400 HP. Aghanim’s Scepter increases the duration and causes 50% of the damage that all nearby allies take to be redirected to him when Borrowed Time is activated, effectively healing you and protecting them.
If you are low, use Borrowed Time whenever you expect to take a lot of damage. Enemies can simply not attack you when it is activated, so it may be less effective to wait for Borrowed Time to trigger by itself in certain situations. Borrowed Time applies a strong dispel on you when cast, be it manually or passively. This means that you can use it to escape from stuns and other disables, but of course not silences. However, it will activate passively even if silenced. Note that Breaks will prevent Borrowed Time from passively activating, so you will need to cast it manually.
The XP gain is definitely nice, as it really helps you to get your levels a lot faster. With Curse of Avernus and the movement speed talent however, Abaddon will easily be able to chase down most heroes in the game. If you need to be very aggressive in the early and mid game, the extra movement speed might be more worthwhile, otherwise the increased XP gain is a safer option.
At level 15, the armor will generally help you more. Abaddon tends to be on the front-lines of his team and soaks up a a lot of physical damage which the armor really helps against. If you are playing more of a support role, or if the extra armor won’t help you against the enemy’s overwhelming magical damage, then the extra heal/damage will be more helpful to you
The extra damage is very significant if you are able to contribute right-clicks in team-fights. If you are playing more of a support role or if you are fighting a lot, then the reduced cooldowns will let you heal and shield allies more and use your ultimate to tank more damage sooner.
Generally, the increased Shield is better as it can be applied both to yourself and allies several times thanks to its low cooldown. The amount of damage it deals is also increased up to 500, which is quite significant. If you need more control in team-fights, then the extra slow might be a better option.
Abaddon really appreciates having a Stout Shield if you expect to take a lot of harass, you should also get a set of Tangos and a Healing Salve. A Clarity or Enchanted Mango will give you more mana to get another Aphotic Shield off which can potentially save you, or give you enough for Mist Coil, which can be used to deny yourself. Iron Branches can be built into a Magic Wand or Mekansm if you choose to purchase it and can also be used for more regeneration through Tangos.
Orb of Venom is a great item on Abaddon as the slow from OoV stacks with the slow from Curse of Avernus. This helps you to kite, flee or chase your enemies for kills. If you’re facing heroes with generally quite low movement speed you can skip it, although it’s pretty good in most games.
Phase Boots are the most popular item choice on Abaddon because they give an even higher movement speed when stacked with Curse of Avernus. The extra damage will also help you to transition into more of a semi-carry role as well.
Arcane Boots can be a good option if your team needs the mana regeneration or if you need to fulfill more of a supporting role. These let you use your spells much more freely, and makes you better at sustaining your team in long fights.
A Magic Wand is a great item on Abaddon, as it gives him some stats, but more importantly lots of sustain. Abaddon does well in prolonged team-fights, which means you’ll have many opportunities to build up charges.
A Hand of Midas will make it much easier to farm a Radiance, if you intend to get one. It can be a good item if you are able to get some farm from your lane, otherwise it can be used to catch up on some farm if you are playing in a semi-carry role.
A Drum of Endurance can be a good item in games where you are fighting a lot in the early and mid game. It gives you even more movement speed and some decent early game stats. In most situations, you can skip a Drum.
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Helm of the Dominator is a strong early-to-mid game item for Abaddon. The controlled unit benefits from the extra attack and movement speed from Curse of Avernus. This effectively increases Abaddon damage output quite significantly if you can get it around 15 minutes. It will also provide a lot of extra utility since the movement speed will allow neutral creeps such as Centaurs and Hellbears to position themselves for their spells much more easily. An overall great pick for Abaddon in Dota 2 esports.
A Radiance is a decent item on a semi-carry Abaddon as he tends to live for a long time and as such is able to deal a lot of damage to nearby enemies. The problem with Radiance is that it doesn’t tank you or your team up in any way, which is arguably Abaddon’s main role. It does give nearby allies some evasion, but it’s not very significant given it’s high price tag. It can be good against heroes with Blink Daggers, but it’s up to what your team needs and how your game is going.
Mekansm is a great item on Abaddon because it replaces the HP that you lose through Mist Coil. Although the aura it provides is relatively minor, it adds up especially on Abaddon as he usually is the last on his team to die.
The Aura from Vlad’s makes Abaddon a much stronger fighter in the mid game. His team will benefit from the lifesteal, bonus damage and armor it provides significantly.
A Blade Mail does a great job of keeping you alive for even longer. Enemies won’t want to attack you when you are charging at them on the front lines of your team. When it expires, you also have your ultimate to heal you back up. This means that you will be alive for longer and able to use more Shields and Mist Coils for your allies.
A Bloodthorn will give you a large amount of mana and mana regeneration, essentially meaning that you don’t have to worry about not having mana to cast your spells. It also gives you a lot of damage and a powerful disable against spell-casters or evasion cores.
Octarine Core is a decent pickup on Abaddon if you got a Radiance. He will heal through the damage which Aphotic Shield, Radiance and Mist Coil deal. It will also reduce the cooldown of his spells which is particularly significant for his ultimate. Octarine Core will also provide a large amount of HP and mana.
An Agh’s is a really good item on Abaddon. It essentially forces the enemy to heal you or not damage your allies for the 7 second duration. It functions as a better Crimson Guard for your team, as it blocks more damage and not just physical damage but magical also. An Aghanim’s is a great item in almost every game, especially if your team is behind. When you have an Aghanim’s Scepter, you may need to use our ultimate slightly differently to how you would normally. It becomes more effective to use it when your team is taking lots of damage rather than when you are becoming low on HP. Ideally, both of these events will be true for you to be able to make full use out of it. Abaddon with Aghanim’s is one of the best Dota 2 heroes to climb MMR.
Assault Cuirass is another aura item which works very well on Abaddon for all of the same reasons as other aura items. An Assault Cuirass is more suited for a semi-carry Abaddon and when you face lots of physical damage. This is because it makes your right-click stronger and protects you and your team against their right-clicks.
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A Pipe of Insight is a great aura item for your team and the active is great against compositions with lots of magical damage. The increased magic resistance it grants you also means that you can stand on the front lines and soak up more damage.
A Solar Crest gives you some evasion, armor and mana regeneration. It can also be used on an enemy with evasion to provide accuracy for your team. This helps to let you soak up more physical damage than normal and is great against lineups with lots of physical damage.
Lotus Orb gives Abaddon some armor, mana and HP regeneration. It grants him another way to purge himself or an ally of a debuff. Lotus Orb is very strong against lineups with lots of single-target spells, however it is somewhat counter-intuitive on Abaddon, as it discourages enemies from casting damaging spells onto him which is exactly what he wants. That said, it can still be very good if Borrowed Time is on cooldown or when cast on an ally, just be careful about how you use it.
A Halberd is a good option against carries with lots of physical damage or burst. It tanks you up through more HP and evasion. It’s especially good with a Blink Dagger if you have one, as it cannot be purged with a BKB and you won’t die from initiating like so.
If you’ve gone for a semi-carry build, the bash chance goes well with your high attack speed from Curse of Avernus. It will also give you a bit more HP which is great.
You can use Blink Dagger during your ultimate, even if the enemy is attacking you. This is because the damage is converted to healing, so you technically aren’t being attacked which means that Blink will not go on cooldown.
A Spirit Vessel will increase the amount of healing you do with Mist Coil, although it is generally only worth it if you are facing a team with very strong heals.
A Nullifier provides great stats for a semi-carry Abaddon, and the active is very strong against heroes with strong active buffs. The slow stacks very well with the slow from Curse of Avernus, and allows you to control the hero very well. If you manage to get it off before the enemy has a chance to use their defensive items, you will be able to deal a lot of damage to them as well due to the mute.
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Spells like Jakiro and Death Prophet’s ultimates work very well in favor for Abaddon. This is because it’s quite easy for you to soak up the damage as you can just stand in its path/area of effect.
If you are laning against 2 supports with for example a stun and a slow, it should be quite easy for you to survive when being gone on. This is because you can purge the slow with your Shield. If you are in a dual-lane against a tri-lane, it should be very easy for you and your ally to survive as well, for the same reasons.
The Break ability which is applied by, for instance Silver Edge, prevents Borrowed Time from being activated when you are low on HP. This means that you have to manually cast when you’re under Break’s effects.
Heroes like Pudge and Ember Spirit deal damage by being close to enemies. This makes them great to use Aphotic Shield on because if they take damage, the shield will explode to deal damage to nearby enemies.
Ancient Apparition’s ultimate will prevent you from healing through Borrowed Time if you are under its effects. Avoid being hit by it, play more defensively and avoid using Mist Coil if you’re low on HP.
If Bloodseeker ruptures you, you can simply pop Borrowed Time and run away. You’ll heal up to full HP very quickly.
You can trigger Borrowed Time during Reaper’s Scythe.
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