Top 5 broken Neutral Items that were removed from Dota 2

Neutral items were first introduced with the Outlanders update in Dota 2 along with the release of update 7.23.

Since the initial introduction of these new items in the game, Dota 2 players have witnessed changes to the neutral items. Ranging from the alteration of neutral item timings to the overall removal of certain neutral items, Valve and Icefrog have experimented to find the optimal balance.

Considering the fact that neutral item drops are heavily influenced by random number generators (RNG), there is a very high chance that items for both teams won't be identical.

There have been a few neutral items that could be labeled as truly broken. Fortunately, most of these broken neutral items have been removed from Dota 2 with gradual updates.

This article features the five most broken neutral items in Dota 2 that eventually had to be removed from the game.

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Broken Neutral Items in Dota 2

#5 - Phoenix Ash

Eventually removed in update 7.24 after an to balance the item with a tweak in update 7.23a didn't really pan out, Phoenix Ash was a tier five neutral item in Dota 2. This specific neutral item allowed players to survive a killing-blow and regenerate 50% of their entire health pool.

Considering the fact that tier five neutral items usually drop in the extreme late-game scenario, the ability to dodge death and regain 50% health was absolutely broken while it existed in Dota 2.

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#4 - Fusion Rune

Arguably one of the strongest and most-broken items to have ever existed in Dota 2, Fusion Runes had three charges and granted the player who consumed a charge with all six power rune-effects in Dota 2. The six power runes available in Dota 2 are,

• Haste Rune;
• Regeneration Rune;
• Arcane Rune;
• Illusion Rune;
• Invisibility Rune; and
• Double Damage Rune.

Consuming one charge from a Fusion Rune resulted in the player gaining boosts from all in-game power runes. Most of these boosts can be extremely over-powered by themselves alone. Combining them all together on a single hero provided an absolute broken boost in late game fights. This neutral item was also removed with update 7.24 from Dota 2.

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#3 - Prince's Knife

An extremely underrated neutral item while it existed in Dota 2, Prince's Knife not only granted players with a massive attack-projectile speed bonus but also hexed an enemy for 1.5 seconds at cooldown of 10 seconds. Needless to say, an additional ability to hex an enemy without spending any mana or casting any spells can truly turn the entire tide of a match in a single team fight.

Considering the fact that the Prince's Knife was a tier four item, players couldn't find one of these during the mid/late game situations. Nevertheless, the item remains equally broken throughout all stages of a game in Dota 2. Although the item received a buff in update 7.27, the developers eventually chose to remove Prince's Knife from Dota 2 with update 7.28.

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#2 - Third Eye

One of the most short-lived neutral items in Dota 2, the Third Eye granted True Sight to the player carrying this item. Although the Third Eye is extremely similar to the already present Gem of True Sight, the fact that the neutral item did not drop from the player's inventory after death is what made it truly broken.

Unlike the Gem of True Sight that is dropped whenever the player carrying it dies, the Third Eye had three charges. Instead of dropping the item upon death, this neutral item loses charge every time the player dies while carrying it. Once all three charges of the item are lost, the Third Eye gets destroyed on its own.

Needless to say, warding and vision are extremely important aspects of Dota 2. The fact that the Third Eye allowed the carrier to see and destroy all enemy wards to cut off the enemy's vision without even spending any gold on Sentry Wards or a Gem of True Sight is an absolutely game-breaking factor in Dota. No wonder it was removed so swiftly by the developers.

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#1 - Tome of Aghanim

Arguably one of the most broken neutral items to have ever existed in Dota 2, Tome of Aghanim was a tier two item which could be consumed by a player. Consuming Tome of Aghanim granted the respective hero with Aghanim's Blessing status for a duration of three minutes.

Given that tier two neutral items are available quite early in a game of Dota 2, three minutes of Aghanim's Blessing on a hero like Lina or Lion can turn the entire flow of a match.