Attack modifier


Items

  • Effect: Causes attacks to deal extra damage against non-hero units.
    Fully stacks with everything, except with other sources of Quell.
  • Blight Stone - Lesser Corruption
    Effect: Causes attacks to reduce armor.
  • Desolator - Corruption
    Effect: Causes attacks to reduce armor.
  • Echo Sabre - Echo Strike
    Effect: Causes the proccing attack and the following attack to slow movement and attack speed, and Causes the following attack to have drastically increased speed.
  • Eye of Skadi - Cold Attack
    Effect: Causes attacks to slow.
  • Heaven`s Halberd - Lesser Maim
    Effect: Causes attacks to slow when proccing.
    Fully stacks with everything, including maim from Sange and Yasha and Sange. Proc chance stacks with that of multiple Heaven`s Halberds, but share a debuff.
  • Iron Talon - Quell
    Effect: Causes attacks to deal extra damage against non-hero units.
    Fully stacks with everything, except with other sources of Quell.
  • Javelin - Pierce
    Effect: Causes attacks to deal extra magical damage when proccing.
    Fully stacks with everything, including multiple instances of Pierce.
  • Maelstrom - Chain Lightning
    Effect: Causes attacks to launch a Chain Lightning when proccing.
  • Mjollnir - Chain Lightning
    Effect: Causes attacks to launch a Chain Lightning when proccing.
  • Orb of Venom - Poison Attack
    Effect: Causes attacks to slow and deal damage over time.
  • Effect: Causes attacks to deal extra damage against non-hero units.
    Fully stacks with everything, except with other sources of Quell.
  • Sange - Lesser Maim
    Effect: Causes attacks to slow when proccing.
    Fully stacks with everything, including maim from Sange and Yasha and Heaven`s Halberd. Proc chance stacks with that of multiple Sanges, but share a debuff.
  • Sange and Yasha - Greater Maim
    Effect: Causes attacks to slow when proccing.
    Fully stacks with everything, including any source of Lesser Maim. Proc chance of multiple Sange and Yasha stack, but share a debuff.

Info

Attack modifiers are modifiers which apply an effect to a unit`s basic attacks. These effects can widely vary, from healing, to damaging or even disabling effects. Most of these modifiers have their own rules. For instance, some modifiers may not stack with others, some may fully stack, some may be for melee units only and others for ranged or both. Attack modifiers can be active, in which case they require to be used manually, though most have an autocast Abilities are unique skills that heroes and creeps have access to on the battlefield. They range from simple passive effects, to devastating explosions of energy, to complex, terrain changing feats. All heroes have four or dota2 option, but they also can be passive, proccing, or having a chance to proc on each attack.

Videos

Stacking

There is no set rule of how attack modifiers stack, except for the group of unique attack modifiers. In most cases, an attack modifier does stack with another attack modifier.

Common attack modifiers

There are many attack modifiers which are seen very commonly in the game. The only difference between them are their numbers and how they are activate, some being applied on each attack, others being chance based.

Abilities which simply grant or reduce attack speed (e.g. Focus Fire or Overpower) or attack damage (e.g. Sleight of Fist or Alacrity) are not attack modifiers in that sense, as they directly enhance the attack, instead of granting a modification.

Critical strike

Critical strike causes the attacks to deal multiplied damage. Most critical strikes are chance-based, but not all. This modifier can be used by any unit.
Critical Strikes fully stack with other attack modifiers. Be that as it may, they do not fully stack with themselves. Multiple sources of critical strike have all their own proc chance. But if multiple would proc on the same attack, only the one with the higher multiplier is applied.

  • Examples of critical strike are Mortal Strike, Shapeshift and Jinada.

Cleave and splash

See more: Cleave

Cleave causes the unit`s attack to deal damage in a circular area in front of the unit. The damage is based on the unit`s attack damage. Cleave can only be used by melee units.
Cleaves fully stack with other attack modifiers. Multiple sources of cleave on the same unit work fully independently of each other. Each source applies its full damage within its area, without interacting with the other cleave sources.

Splash works similar to cleave. It causes the unit`s attack to deal area damage, but this area is rather a circular area centered around the attacked unit. Splash can only be used by ranged units.
Splash fully stacks with other attack modifiers. Multiple sources of splash on the same unit work fully independently of each other. Each source applies its full damage within its area, without interacting with other splash sources.

  • Examples of splash are Elder Dragon Form and Splash Attack.

Bash

Bash causes the unit`s attack to stun Stun is a status effect that prevents active actions like moving, turning, using spells or items, but does not prevent passive abilities, such as evasion and Damage Block. Stuns also interrupt spell casts, channeling spells dota2 the target and in some cases to also deal extra fixed damage. As of now, all bashes are chance-based. Bash can be used by any unit.
Bash fully stacks with other attack modifiers, except with other bashes. Multiple sources of bashes do not stack at all. The later acquired bash has absolutely no effect. The only exception is Monkey King Bar For the hero, see Monkey King.   Item   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Monkey King Bar A powerful staff used by a master warrior. Cost5200 Bought FromWeapons Passive Mini-Bash, True Strike Bonus +66 dota2 , which fully stacks with any other bash.

Lifesteal

Lifesteal causes the unit`s attack to heal the attacking unit. In any but one case, the heal is based on the unit`s attack damage. Lifesteal can be used by any unit.
Lifesteal can come in the form of a regular attack modifier, in which case it fully stacks with any other attack modifier, including other sources of lifesteal, or in the form of a unique attack modifier, in which case it does not stack with other sources of unique attack modifiers.

Mana break

See more: Mana

Mana break causes the unit`s attack to burn a portion of the target`s mana and deal damage based on the amount of mana burned. Mana break can be used by any unit.
Mana break can come in the form of a regular attack modifier, stacking with all other attack modifiers, or in the form of a unique attack modifier, stacking with all attack modifiers, except with other unique attack modifiers. Multiple sources of mana break do not stack at all (the source of mana break which is oldest overrides the others), regardless of which type it is.

Other modifiers

There are many modifiers with unique effects. Most of them are specific to a hero, unit or item. Most of them fully stack with every other attack modifier. Although these abilities have all unique effects (i.e. none of these abilities appear on more than one hero), these are not Unique Attack Modifiers.

Heroes

Units

Active attack modifiers

Active attack modifiers are modifiers which must be actively used on each attack to apply its effects. They also can be set on autocast Abilities are unique skills that heroes and creeps have access to on the battlefield. They range from simple passive effects, to devastating explosions of energy, to complex, terrain changing feats. All heroes have four or dota2 , causing each attack to apply the effect if the hero can support their costs. Some of these are Unique Attack Modifiers.

When set on autocast, they still count as a regular attack. When used manually, they partly count as a spell cast. This means, unlike regular attacks, they do not cause any aggro from lane creeps. Be that as it may, they do not count as spells in any other scenario, meaning they cannot be used when attacking is restricted and do not proc anything which triggers on spell cast.

Orb walking

Issuing an attack command on an enemy hero causes all nearby enemy creeps and towers to switch their aggro to the attacking unit. This is not the case for casting spells on enemy heroes. Orb-walking is the act of manually casting active attack modifiers like other active abilities, instead of using autocast Abilities are unique skills that heroes and creeps have access to on the battlefield. They range from simple passive effects, to devastating explosions of energy, to complex, terrain changing feats. All heroes have four or dota2 and right-click or auto-attacks. When used manually, the attack is partially treated as a spell cast. This causes the hero to not draw aggro from nearby enemy creeps, making it possible to harass an enemy in the lane without the creeps and even towers refocusing their attacks on the harassing hero as they normally would when using regular attacks or autocast. Be that as it may, the effect still counts as an attack and not a spell cast in regards of on-cast effects. It still uses the hero`s attack speed and animations and still puts the attack on cooldown normally.

Unique Attack Modifier Stacking

Unique Attack Modifiers function on a system of priority, because Unique Attack Modifiers do not stack. For each attack only one Unique Attack Modifier will be applied.

  1. Conditional Modifiers are applied first: these are Unique Attack Modifiers that only occur on some attacks and are not controlled by the player, such as the chance based Mjollnir. If a Conditional Modifier fails to occur then an Item or Ability Modifier will be present on the attack if applicable.
  2. Ability Modifiers are applied second: these are Unique Attack Modifiers that are applied by hero abilities. Note that Conditional Modifiers will only override an Ability Modifier if the Ability Modifier is casted using autocast. If casted manually, the Ability Modifier will always take effect.
  3. Item Modifiers are applied last. The oldest item in the hero`s inventory will have priority. Priority can be changed by dropping the item with the unwanted effect out of the inventory, and then picking it up again.

Exceptions

While still following the rules above, Eye of Skadi will stack with any type of lifesteal. This is the only case of Unique Attack Modifiers stacking.

While normally illusions do not inherit attack buffs from items, illusions will get Diffusal Blade`s Manabreak passive applied to their attacks. This makes Diffusal Blade a strong option on illusion heroes.

Orb Walking

The technique known as Orb Walking is a mechanic that exploits the game`s aggro system to allow a hero to harass safely in lane without drawing creep attention. If a hero auto attacks using auto-cast, the hero will be attacked by enemy creeps and towers nearby. However when a hero casts a spell, this attention is not drawn and the creeps will not attack. Since manually casting a UAM such as Drow Ranger`s Frost Arrows counts as a "spell cast" to creeps and not an auto attack, it fools the creeps. Heroes with auto-castable attack modifiers can safely harass enemies this way, making more efficient damage trades against the enemy in lane.

Unique Attack Modifiers

The following list contains unique attack modifiers which do not stack with each other and will adhere to the rules detailed above.
Hero Abilities
Hero Ability
Anti-Mage Mana Break
Drow Ranger Frost Arrows
Outworld Devourer Arcane Orb
Sand King Caustic Finale
Item Abilities
Item Ability
Morbid Mask Lifesteal
Mask of Madness Lifesteal
Satanic Lifesteal
Unholy Rage
Blight Stone Blight
Desolator Corruption

Attack Buffs

The following list contains simple attack buffs. These can stack with Unique Attack Modifiers.

Hero Abilities
Hero Ability
Abaddon Curse of Avernus
Broodmother Incapacitating Bite
Clinkz Searing Arrows
Doom Infernal Blade
Enchantress Impetus
Huskar Burning Spear
Jakiro Liquid Fire
Kunkka Tidebringer
Legion Commander Moment of Courage
Lifestealer Feast
Meepo Geostrike
Silencer Glaives of Wisdom
Tusk Walrus PUNCH!
Ursa Fury Swipes
Venomancer Poison Sting
Viper Poison Attack
Weaver Geminate Attack
Wraith King Vampiric Aura
Item Abilities
Item Ability
Diffusal Blade Manabreak
Eye of Skadi Cold Attack
Heaven`s Halberd Lesser Maim
Maelstrom Chain Lightning
Mjollnir Chain Lightning
Orb of Venom Poison Attack
Sange Lesser Maim
Sange and Yasha Greater Maim
Silver Edge Lesser Maim
Vladmir`s Offering Vladmir`s Aura