We take a look at how good the reworked Aghanims Shards from Dota 2 patch 7.32 are.
After what seems like an eternity, a Dota 2 patch was released that will alter the meta significantly.
It also brought with it 18 reworked Aghanims Shards.
The reworked Aghanims Shards have been rated out of 10 in ascending order.
Each cast stacks independently.
It might be viable for a mid Skywrath Mage, but even then, wouldnt be a priority.
Cast and attacks have consistent targeting rules (only visible enemies).
An 18% change to do a measly 150 magic damage (112 after reduction) for 1400 gold?
Seems like a hard pass.
Ability can be put on autocast to deactivate the trail.
The width of the trail is quite small and it is easy to sidestep.
Mana Cost: 75.
Cast Range: 600.
Cannot target buildings.
Target is not attacked by either heroes nor illusions.
This could be a very useful skill in the laning stage, especially with an aggressive lane pairing.
Could see use while defending against mega creeps, where the creeps could be sent on helpless enemy supports.
They prioritized building Wraith Pact on the hero, but Aghanims Shard was nowhere in sight.
From 22 Enigma picks in the TI11 qualifiers, only 4 have purchased an Aghanims Shard.
Mana Cost: 75.
Cast point: 0.2s.
Projectile speed: 1200.
Latent Toxicity is a single target ability, which makes it a lot less lucrative to get.
Even though it isnt a Shard worth getting, Latent Toxicity does have some interesting interactions.
It will damage and stun a hero that tries to dispel it using a BKB.
So if youre below 225 HP and use any kind of dispel, you will die.
The damage to creeps without being activated can come in handy to push out creep waves.
It isnt insignificant, especially in the initial parts of the mid game.
However, Luna drafts are fast paced drafts, which are often on a timer.
A case can be made though, that the Shard can help Luna in taking down Roshan faster.
Additionally, increases Intelligence stolen on attack and on kill by 2.
The tentacles deal 50% of Ravage damage and stun and travel 75% of Ravage radius.
Mana Cost: 80.
Treants count as trees for this purpose.
Each tree reduces movement speed by 7% and deals 15 damage per second.
Mana Cost: 80.
Is this Natures Prophet Shard as good as the old one?
But the new one isnt too bad either!
The only caveat is, Furion cant be in another lane, waiting for the fight to start.
He will have to be with his team.
Perhaps return of the position 5 Furion?
Broodmother (8/10)
Upgrades Insatiable Hunger: Increases duration by 2s.
While Insatiable Hunger is active, its bonus damage is increased by 12 every 1s.
This is an interesting Shard.
At level 4, Insatiable Hunger gives Broodmother +65 damage and 100% lifesteal.
With the Shard, the damage scales up every second and tops out at 245.
That is a good amount of damage!
It also decreases the downtime of the skill from 11 seconds to 9 seconds.
Not so much when playing against a Sven or an Ursa.
Situational Shard, but one that can be quite beneficial.
In a defensive setting, the additional range makes it easier for the hero to get away.
Does not break Bounty Hunter’s invisibility when cast on allies.
Fade time for allies is always 1s.
Charge restore time: 15/14/13/12s.
But that doesnt just apply to Bounty Hunter, it applies to allies as well!
Quite worth it for 1400 gold.
Possibly one of the best Aghanims Shard upgrades to come out of Dota 2 patch 7.32.
Teams will have to rely on silencing Morph to ensure he cant escape away even when jumped on.
Magic resistance is removed after the redirected spell has hit.
With a 20 second cooldown, there can be multiple uses of the spell in a team fight.
It will be interesting to see which of the reworked Shards make it into that list.
Cover image:YongGFX on DeviantArt
