There were map changes, item changes and hero changes.
Here, we rate the new Aghanims Scepter upgrades for core heroes on a scale of 0 to 10.
Muerta (4/10)
Parting Shot: New ability granted by Aghanim’s Scepter.
The soul is pushed 150 units on separation and is untargetable, muted, disarmed, and invulnerable.
The body is stunned for the duration and has 50% damage reduction.
The soul survives until the end of the effect even if the body dies.
Does not deal damage to allies and Muerta can’t target herself.
Mana Cost: 250.
In the 29 times she was picked at the Berlin Major, Aghanims Scepter was purchased 0 times.
That sheds some light on how good her Scepter is (rather bad).
Night Stalker (4/10)
Void: Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade reworked.
Also creates a void zone in the chosen area for 5s.
That also gives you flying vision and bonus damage.
Hypothermia Bonus Damage per stack increased from 5 to 15.
Max Stacks increased from 7 to 9.
Regen Reduction per stack increased from 8% to 10%.
But 4200 gold just for the effect that was previously available for 1400 gold is a nerf for Drow.
She cant prioritize Scepter because survivability and damage items take precedence.
The Hypothermia effect isnt bad at all, but it has to be a fifth or sixth item.
Thats a bit too late in the game for it to have the desired impact.
Magnus (6/10)
Horn Toss: Now granted by Aghanim’s Scepter.
Now stuns for 0.75s instead of slowing.
Damage increased from 200 to 275.
Magnus new Scepter upgrade is a bit tricky to evaluate.
The damage increase is not that much of a buff.
The stun instead of slow is an improvement.
However, the stun only comes into effect once the unit lands.
So it isnt really a significant improvement on the Aghanims Shard upgrade from before.
But it does have a 30 second cooldown, which is a thing Horn Toss has going for itself.
So it isnt to say that the ability is bad.
For an offlane Magnus, it definitely adds a strong weapon to his arsenal.
Puck (6/10)
Dream Coil: Now upgradable by Aghanim’s Scepter.
All enemies affected by Dream Coil are attacked by Puck every 0.6s.
Attacks originate from the Dream Coil center and do not require Puck to be nearby.
But that was a late game purchase with a Rapier in hand.
So in the right setting, it can be useful.
But in most cases, not so much.
Outworld Destroyer (7/10)
Essence Flux: Now upgradable by Aghanim’s Scepter.
Damage that brings Outworld Destroyer below 20% health triggers a strong dispel.
Cannot be refreshed.
Effect is disabled by Break.
Thanks to Essence Flux, Outworld Destroyer (does anyone even say the full name?)
pretty much always has full mana.
Timbersaw (7/10)
Reactive Armor: Now upgradable by Aghanim’s Scepter.
Can be activated to gain max stacks and 200 HP barrier.
Doesn’t count illusions.
Timbersaw has a maximum of 40 stacks (46 with the level 15 talent).
But as before, he can turn into a debilitated tank when affected by the Break mechanic.
Also, the buff from the active component of Reactive Armor is dispellable.
Meepo (8/10)
Megameepo: New ability granted by Aghanim’s Scepter.
Primary Meepo mounts all other Meepos in a 600 radius around him on top of his shoulders.
Casting Dig cancels MegaMeepo.
Has no Mana Cost.
Fling Cooldown: 0.5s.
Why is it so good?
This would be fun to see in a high stakes professional game!
MegaMeepo does not get a clone caught in Chronosphere or Black Hole out of trouble.
A Meepo dueled by Legion Commander also cannot be mounted onto the MegaMeepo stack.
But all Meepos caught in Berserkers Call or Winters Curse can be saved by activating MegaMeepo!
You just need the main hero to stay out of trouble.
Phantom Lancer (9/10)
Spirit Lance: Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade moved to Aghanim’s Scepter.
Spirit Lance now bounces twice on enemies, prioritizing Heroes (can bounce back to the original target).
Also increases slow amount by 10% and Spirit Lance illusion damage by 40%.
When moving the previous Aghanims Shard upgrade to an Aghanims Scepter upgrade, significant improvements were made to it.
The question is, are the improvements worth the 2800 gold?
In Phantom Lancers case, they are!
Thats 560 magic damage to be followed up with the illusion damage.
In addition to that, Aghanims Scepter adds attributes, and illusions get stronger with those.
Back then, the Lance would bounce up to five times.
But in that case, the bounce radius was only 400.
With the new Scepter, it is 750 and increases illusion damage.
It definitely makes a case for being better than the old Scepter upgrade!
That says a lot.
Sand King (9/10)
Sand Storm: Now upgradable by Aghanim’s Scepter.
Every 0.2s creates two 65 radius Burrowstrike spines at random locations.
Each one stuns enemies and deals damage equal to the current level of Burrowstrike.
The 2022-2023 DPC Summer Tour is just around the corner.
