Neutral items in Dota 2 were added with Patch 7.23. Ever since then, Dota 2 has been quite different. But how much are they affecting the game’s balance?
The initial concerns
As soon as Dota 2 Patch 7.23 introduced neutral items, players expressed concerns about how this would change the gameplay. Would it be for the better or for the worse? There’s no denying that the game is a lot more dynamic now, but that’s not only thanks to the neutrals. Hero changes, map changes, item changes, outposts and couriers all contributed to the increased pace we see today.
Over a couple of updates, neutral items were slowly toned down, reducing the numbers per team, the time when different tiers drop or straight up removing some of them. The core problem remained, though.
Unbalanced items
While one can argue that Dota 2’s neutral items can decide the outcome of a game, that’s true only in certain cases. Ironically, the last tier of neutral items seems to be the most balanced. This is mostly due to games rarely going past the 75-minute mark. And when they do, it’s usually not the neutral item winning it for you. The problems come in the early and mid game. Patch 7.23 was released at the end of November 2019, a period with few upcoming tournaments, so we couldn’t see people abuse it properly. That changed with 2020 and the Dota 2 Bukovel Minor.
An example that truly shined in there was Io in combination with Essence Ring – a Tier 2 item, dropping after 15 minutes. The ring heals you for 425 and increases max health by another 425, costing 200 mana and on a 20-second cooldown. In addition, it gives 6 intelligence and 2.5 mana regeneration. Essence Ring is basically a free Mechanism, an item that usually costs around 2000 gold.
Needless to say, any hero at minute 15 who’s able to heal for 850 is borderline unkillable unless out of position. Io, though, really likes that item for the synergy with its Tether. This is a specific case of a broken interaction that comes way too early into the game to be countered. On the plus side, the item may never drop, but the problem remains.
Power spikes
One of the pros Dota 2’s neutral items provide is that they give the losing team a chance to make a comeback into the game. On the opposite end, they can also secure the match for whoever’s ahead. Let’s say a hero peaks at around 25 minutes. Then, let’s say that hero gets a couple of extra items that make them even stronger.
For Phantom Assassin, that’d be Orb of Destruction, for Huskar it’d be a Paladin Sword, Mindbreaker is a match for almost anyone and so on. Getting surprised by one of those items can be very impactful but the RNG isn’t the worst of it.
The era of supports
If I had to name a Dota 2 patch where supports had it good, it would be the current one. With observer wards being free now and owning your own courier, could it be any better? Well yes, neutral items exist and supports want them more than any other position. Core players would usually farm up a better item, while supports can gather two, three or even more neutral items.
The issue is that supports become really hard to kill by the enemy but the reward remains the same. Essentially, you have a position that naturally builds escape items and you combine it with randomized bulk, whether it’d be 13 extra armor, healing for 850 or something else. Meanwhile, carry players are stuck farming in a meta of constant teamfights. This is the main reason classic late-game carries are seldom picked nowadays.
Possible solutions
Neutral items complicated Dota 2 in many ways and balancing them won’t be easy. Here’s a couple of solutions and frankly, they’re all quite obvious but none of them feels like the correct one:
- Remove neutral items as a whole – this is the most unlikely one to happen. As mentioned above, supports are already having a good time in the current state of the game. Neutrals are a random element that will probably hurt the competitive scene in the long run.
- Remove some items – we’ve already seen this happen and chances are, we’ll be losing more items soon. But hey, others might get added!
- Rework neutrals and some heroes – since balancing heroes around a completely random element is not a good idea, it would probably be the items switching tier or their effects changing.
In any case, the next update will come after the Dota 2 Leipzig Major. The event should give us an even better idea if things are terribly out of control.
