Top 10 Tier-2 neutral items in Dota 2

The Outlanders update added neutral items to Dota 2. Over the next year and a half, they have gotten some polarizing reactions from the community.

Neutral items are available in five tiers, which randomly drop when a neutral creep dies around heroes. They drop depending on when the creep dies in-game.

• Tier-1 items drop after 7 minutes.
• Tier-2 items drop after 17 minutes.
• Tier-3 items drop after 27 minutes.
• Tier-4 items drop after 37 minutes.
• Tier-5 items drop after 60 minutes.

Neutral Drops Overview — Which one is your favorite so far? #Outlanders #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/RtSd5Uzk8p

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) November 27, 2019

Check out: Top 10 Tier-1 neutral items in Dota 2.

Disclaimer: This list solely reflects the opinions of the author.

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The Tier-2 neutral items of Dota 2

A total of four Tier-2 items randomly drop from 17 minutes onwards. They are stronger than tier-1 items but aren't quite game-changing. A player usually uses tier-2 items until the next tier of items starts dropping.

These items drop just as the game is transitioning from early to mid-game. Thus, they must provide heroes with a particular power spike that helps them transition smoothly without falling behind the enemy.

The tier-2 neutral items of Dota 2

There are 11 tier-2 items in Dota 2. Ring of Aquila is the only item missing out on the top 10. It gives +3 Strength, +3 Intelligence, +9 Agility, +7 Attack Damage, and has an aura effect granting +2 armor and +1.5 mana regeneration.

Although it sounds excellent considering it gives many individual stats, the numbers on those stats aren't very high. As a result, it has very little value after 17 minutes. Had it been dropped as a tier-1 item, it definitely would have been one of the best tier-1 items in Dota 2.

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10. Vambrace

Vambrace gives +10 Primary attributes, +5 secondary attributes, and can be switched between Strength, Agility, and Intelligence giving a bonus of 10% Magic Resistance, +10 attack speed, and 6% Spell amplification, respectively.

The stats that vambrace provides are good, but they lose their value once in mid-game like the ring of Aquila. This item has been nerfed several times over the last year, and the current iteration is the weakest version ever to exist.

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9. Nether Shawl

Nether shawl gives 25% Magic resistance, 8% spell amplification, and -3 armor.

The stat removal feature was added to Dota 2 with neutral items. Nether shawl removes 3 armor from the holder and is the reason it's so low on the list. The spell amplification makes this item useful for spell casters, but spell casters already have very low armor.

This item is mostly used by heroes like Bristleback or Centaur, who have a lot of physical resistance and don't get affected by the -3 armor.

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8. Pupil's Gift

Pupil's Gift gives +14 secondary attributes.

This item feels very underwhelming on paper. However, it is one of the best items a non-strength support hero can use. In Dota 2, one point of strength gives 20 health which gives them 280 health when holding this item, making them much more durable.

Agility heroes can also use this item to get both health and mana since intelligence also gives 12 mana per point in Dota 2.

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7. Grove Bow

Grove Bow gives +100 attacking range, +15 attack speed, and reduces enemy magic resistance by 15% on the attack.

This item is great for ranged core heroes. The +100 range and attack speed are beneficial, while the 15% magic resistance reduction is a bonus. Unfortunately, this item loses its value once the tier-3 items start dropping. Even then, some heroes like Sniper might hold on to it.

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6. Dragon Scale

Dragon scale gives +5 armor, +5 health regeneration, and causes attacks to deal 18 damage per second for three seconds.

The stats provided by this item are good but nothing special. But its attack modifier is what makes it special. This ability affects buildings, making this one of the few items that can do building damage in Dota 2.

This item can deal 54 damage to towers with just one attack. Supporting heroes love to hold on to this item since they can become more durable while allowing them to push towers.

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5. Imp Claw

Imp Claw gives +26 attack damage and deals a 130% critical strike every seven seconds.

Imp Claw is a great item for carrying heroes. It massively increases the damage output of right-click heroes. The critical strike every 7 seconds improves a hero's effectiveness in team fights. The raw damage increase is also useful for farming and pushing out lanes.

This item is often more useful than tier-3 items and carries heroes who choose to hold this item throughout the mid-game if the situation asks for it.

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4. Quicksilver Amulet

The Quicksilver Amulet gives +4% movement speed, +10 attack speed, +40% attack animation speed, +40% attack projectile speed, and grants the holder a bonus of 4% movement speed and 20 attack speed anytime an ability is on cooldown.

This item was added to Dota 2 in the 7.28 patch. This included certain mechanisms that are relatively new to Dota 2, like improving attack animation and projectile speed. However, this new addition makes heroes a lot stronger, specifically ranged core heroes.

Improved animation and projectile speed make the hero feel much smoother, and the bonus movement and attack speed greatly improves a hero's mobility. Heroes like Gyrocopter, Riki, and Shadow Fiend greatly benefit from this item regardless of which stage of their game.

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3. Philosopher's Stone

Philosopher's Stone gives +80 passive gold per minute, +200 Mana, and -30 attack damage.

This item is a support's dream item. Getting free gold is something everyone likes in Dota 2, but the -30 attack damage is disadvantageous to carry heroes. This also gives support to heroes 200 mana which means they have to spend less on regeneration. This is the only item in Dota 2 that increases GPM, further increasing its value.

But what makes this item truly broken is when heroes like Zeus or Tinker get their hands on it. Zeus and Tinker are core heroes who never deal physical damage. As a result, this item increases the GPM of a core hero without hindering them in any way, making it one of the broken items in Dota 2.

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2. Essence Ring

The Essence Ring gives +6 intelligence, +2.5 mana regeneration and can increase the holder's maximum health by 400 for 15 seconds.

The mana regeneration is one of the highest amongst tier-1 and tier-2 items making this item really valuable. But what makes it one of the best items is its active ability. The 400 health increase is not just a heal. It increases the max health of a hero by 400 for 15 seconds.

This basically means enemies will have to deal 400 more damage to kill the holder. The holder also keeps the 400 bonus health when the effect expires, making this item one of the best neutral items in Dota 2 for both support and carry heroes.

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1. Bullwhip

Bullwhip gives +3 health regeneration, +2.5 mana regeneration, and increases or decreases movement speed by 18% for 4 seconds when cast on an ally or enemy, respectively.

This item was added to Dota 2 in 7.28. Instantly, it became one of the best items in the game. The mana regeneration was huge, and the active ability to increase movement speed was even better. The insane cast range of this item allowed heroes holding it to cast it on enemies from a great distance.

The movement slow to enemies allows the holder to catch enemies easily, while the bonus speed increases efficiency during farming. The item was nerfed in 7.29 but remained one of the best neutral items in Dota 2 as it remains useful throughout the entire game, never losing its effectiveness.

Related: Top 5 ridiculous items in Dota 2 update 7.29b that need a nerf