In the most recent Dota 2 patch, we saw some changes coming to the game’s economy. Part of the update affected reliable and unreliable gold.
Reliable and unreliable gold, one of the less-known aspects of Dota 2. It wouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve never heard of them or you did and totally forgot. It’s not something complex, so we doubt a lot of players think about the types of gold while playing a game of Dota 2.
The first type is Reliable gold - as of the most recent Patch 7.26b it can only be acquired by passive income. That’s the gold you get every second and all heroes start with a passive income of 85 gold per minute. Previously many of the supports had gold per minute talents to modify that amount, but those are no longer in the game.
Then there’s Unreliable gold – in the current version of the game, it’s quite simple to define it. Everything that’s not passive income gold is unreliable gold. This includes hero kills, courier kills, Roshan kills, creep kills, barracks and towers.
- READ MORE: Dota 2 Patch 7.26b
How do they affect gameplay?
The main difference between reliable and unreliable gold is whether you lose it or not when you die. Reliable is never lost unless you spend it buying items, while unreliable gold will perish each time you die. That’s why it’s usually a good idea to have at least a couple of items in your Quickbuy menu. Whenever you know that death is inevitable make sure you spend as much gold as possible right before dying. This is especially true right now, as most of your gold throughout a match will be of the unreliable type. If you’re playing support buying items like sentries, smokes or portals is a good way to not lose gold. Furthermore, you always spend unreliable gold first, when buying items, so it’s easy to nullify the economic effects of dying. On the other hand, buybacks always use up reliable gold first.
We hope this reminder into the types of gold in Dota 2 was helpful. Use your gold wisely and make sure to spend it right before dying. For everything Dota 2, make sure to check out EarlyGame.
