Aghanim’s Scepter belongs to the most powerful wizard in the DotA 2 universe. His powers reached those of a demi-god. With his influence, he is able to maximize the potential of every single hero in the DotA 2 universe. With upgrades to heroes’ abilities or even new ones to utilize. Whatever the upgrade, Aghanim’s Scepter is sure to turn the tides of battle. Let’s talk about the best 15 Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades in DotA 2!
15. Puck
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Puck is a ranged, intelligence hero in the mid lane who excels in laning and team fighting. With abilities that have a talent for executing mischief, Puck is a slippery and dangerous threat to its enemies. With Aghanim’s Scepter, Puck becomes an even more annoying opponent to deal with. As if its Dream Coil is not powerful enough, the item gives it more offensive power that allows Puck to scale up into the late game.
Before Upgrade:
- Dream Coil latches onto enemy heroes for 6 seconds, applying a damaging mini-stun at first contact.
- Dream Coil deals damage and stuns enemy heroes who escape the latch.
After Upgrade:
- All aforementioned details are present.
- All enemies affected by Dream Coil are attacked by it based on Puck’s attack rate. Attacks continue while the targets are stunned by the Dream Coil.
Why Puck’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Puck’s upgraded Dream Coil is able to mow down enemies caught in it. They are automatically attacked even if Puck doesn’t do it manually. This gives Puck a reliable form of damage while being safe from harm.
- The item’s stat boost gives Puck more attack damage and rate which allows the upgraded Dream Coil to deal more damage to enemies.
- While Dream Coil is an effective early to mid game tool, an upgraded version would allow Puck to scale well into the late game, being a useful initiator.
14. Spectre
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Spectre is a safe lane carry who excels in the late game once she gets enough experience and items. Her tough exterior and mobility allow her to become a monster in fights as enemies scramble to get away from her. With an Aghanim’s Scepter, Spectre becomes the monster she was meant to be, but two-fold. The increase in mobility, offensive power, and toughness greatly enables her to finish team fights.
Before Upgrade:
- Spectre has 3 basic abilities and 1 ultimate ability. Spectral Dagger, Desolate, Dispersion, and Shadow Step are the tools she uses to wreak havoc.
After Upgrade:
- Spectre gains a new ability, Haunt. Haunt enables Spectre to spawn a spectral nemesis to attack each enemy hero regardless of where they are on the map. These phantoms pack a punch and allow Spectre to switch places with any of them.
Why Spectre’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Spectre’s added ability, Haunt, can be a source of information for the team looking to find pick-offs or objectives. By knowing where everyone is on the map, the team can make better decisions and take more calculated engagements.
- Haunt adds more offensive power and mobility for Spectre as she can easily catch anyone off-guard with this ability. She can farm on the farthest places on the map and still be able to easily join fights in a flash. This saves time and resources while making sure she gets more of them.
- Haunt allows Spectre to swap with any of her phantoms whenever she is in crucial danger. She can easily take the place of a phantom who was a less threatening enemy and get away from danger.
13. Skywrath Mage
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Skywrath Mage is an intelligence-based hero who resides in the mid lane but can also be used as a support. He can quickly overwhelm his foes with a barrage of magic, even before they know what hit them. With an Aghanim’s Scepter, he can do so much more with his upgraded spells.
Before Upgrade:
- Arcane Bolt, Concussive Shot, and Ancient Seal only hit one opponent.
- Mystic Flare will be cast only in one area.
After Upgrade:
- Arcane Bolt casts create 3 bolts that hit multiple enemies within 700 range.
- Concussive Shot casts hit two different enemies.
- Ancient Seal targets two enemies to silence when cast.
- Two instances of Mystic Flare will be unleashed upon cast.
Why Skywrath Mage’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Being the nuker that he already is, added power would greatly increase his offensive output. This would allow him to scale more efficiently into the late game as more enemies grow stronger.
- The increase in ability output would allow him to create space and zone for his teammates. It would be harder to go front-to-back with Skywrath Mage continuously outputting magic.
- The item would greatly increase his stats, giving him more survivability and room to cast spells.
12. Treant Protector
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Treant Protector is a strength-based support who excels in giving his teammates support from anywhere, whether from behind or from the front. This tanky and massive support deals enough crowd control and regeneration for his team to allow them to freely deal damage. Since the game has an emphasis on vision control, Treant Protector’s Aghanim’s Scepter would allow him to gain a new ability to control more of the map.
Before Upgrade:
- All abilities of Treant Protector (Nature’s Grasp, Leech Seed, Living Armor, Nature’s Guise, and Overgrowth) operate normally.
After Upgrade:
- Treant Protector gains a new ability, Eyes of the Forest. This ability allows Treant Protector to enchant trees to give him unobstructed vision around them.
- Eyes of the Forest casts Overgrowth around the area affected.
Why Treant Protector’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Eyes of the Forest is great for giving his team unobstructed vision, which allows them to make better decisions and more calculated objective-taking.
- The new ability gives Overgrowth more areas to be cast upon. The increase of the area of Overgrowth effectivity allows for more easy pick-offs and team fight win conditions.
- This ability also allows trees to spawn faster, boosting Eyes of the Forest and Nature’s Guise.
11. Necrophos
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Necrophos is an intelligence-based mid laner who slowly but surely drains the life out of his enemies. In the late game, he turns into an unkillable prophet of destruction. With the help of an Aghanim’s Scepter, Necrophos unleashes a more devastating aura of decay.
Before Upgrade:
- Heartstopper Aura drains the life of his enemies based on a percentage of their max HP.
After Upgrade:
- Heartstopper Aura’s health decay is increased to 55% of Necrophos’ current health regeneration.
Why Necrophos’ Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Heartstopper Aura is devastating when taking long and extended team fights. An upgraded version of this would allow Necrophos to deal more damage to opponents, slowly but surely winning the fight.
- Necrophos can still inflict damage despite not building it. Building more regeneration allows him to survive and peel for his teammates while also getting a burst of damage in his Heartstopper Aura.
- The stats given by Aghanim’s Scepter allow Necrophos to survive and deal more damage.
10. Dragon Knight
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Dragon Knight is a tough mid laner who can lead the charge solely from his tanky nature. He is able to create space for his team, while also dealing some damage of his own. With an upgraded ultimate ability from Aghanim’s Scepter, he takes his charge to a whole nother level.
Before Upgrade:
- Elder Dragon Form only reaches up to level 3, the Blue Dragon. This dragon has corrosive breath, an attack and movement speed slow, and splash damage.
After Upgrade:
- Elder Dragon form reaches up to level 4, the Black Dragon. The Black Dragon has everything the Blue Dragon has but has increased magic resistance and free pathing.
Why Dragon Knight’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Dragon Knight’s upgraded Aghanim’s Scepter allows him to deal more damage to enemies, while still being tanky enough to peel for his team.
- The added free pathing ability allows him to traverse the map without getting hindered from obstacles. This can greatly give him more mobility and vision since he towers over everything.
- The added stats from the item greatly boost his capabilities in tanking, attacking, and ability usage.
9. Invoker
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Invoker is a versatile hero based on the universal attribute. This mid laner can have different play styles depending on the type of hero he wants to be. He can be an initiator, main damage dealer, support, and so much more. With an Aghanim’s Scepter, this versatility is increased.
Before Upgrade:
- Quas, Wex, and Exort are all capped at 7 levels.
After Upgrade:
- Quas, Wex, and Exort are all increased to 8 levels.
- A new ability, Cataclysm, is available to Invoker.
Why Invoker’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- The added levels to Quas, Wex, and Exort give Invoker more spell lifesteal, movement speed, cooldown reduction, spell amplification, strength, agility, and intelligence. This gives him a more balanced upgrade which adds to his versatility.
- The new ability, Cataclysm, deals immense damage based on the level of his Sun Strike. This ability is perfect for team fights as the number of Sun Strikes increases per enemy present.
- The added stats from the item give Invoker more room to work with. Being a universal hero, he can directly benefit from all the stats the item gives.
8. Bane
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Bane is a universal-based support who excels in catching enemies and disabling them, rendering them useless in engagements and fights. With an Aghanim’s Scepter, Bane takes his disabling ability to the next step.
Before Upgrade:
- Fiend’s Grip has a 120/110/100-second cooldown and makes Bane cast a channeling skill.
After Upgrade:
- Fiend’s Grip’s cooldown is decreased by 45 seconds and spawns two illusions that can do the bidding for him.
Why Bane’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Bane is known for disabling heroes which leads to them getting easily picked off. With an upgraded ultimate, Fiend’s Grip is cast by two illusions and 1 real Bane. When enemies try to cancel Bane, the channeling won’t stop unless all 3 of them are stopped. This gives the enemy a harder time in stopping Bane’s most crucial ability.
- The decrease in cooldown makes the ability more accessible in every fight. This allows him to use it more frequently instead of being reserved with it.
- The bonus stats from Aghanim’s Scepter directly benefit Bane due to his universal status, making him stronger from each bonus attribute.
7. Wraith King
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Wraith King is one of the most durable safe lane carry’s in the game. His strong crowd control and high burst damage make him a great addition to the team. Coupled with his Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade, the king makes sure his loyal subjects don’t go down without a fight.
Before Upgrade:
- Wraith King resurrects himself in battle once slain. Upon death, enemies will be slowed and skeletons will be spawned.
After Upgrade:
- Reduces Reincarnation by 30 seconds.
- If nearby ally heroes are slain, they will be transformed into wraiths and will have their deaths delayed by 7 seconds. They are then given bonus attack and movement speed, and 10% reduced respawn time.
Why Wraith King’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Wraith King benefits from this directly from the reduced cooldown trait of this upgrade. This allows him to go into fights with a backup plan, one that is almost always available at every fight.
- When allies die near him, they are given a second life for 7 seconds to fight, making a losing fight a winning one. This can greatly turn the tides of battle as the wraiths cannot die until the 7 seconds are up, and they can still use their abilities.
- The boost from the stats given from the scepter can greatly enable Wraith King to survive, deal more damage, and cast more spells for farming and fighting.
6. Kunkka
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Kunkka is a mid lane beast who not only thrives in the early game, but also dominates in the late. This powerful initiator can easily out damage anyone at any stage in the game. With his Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade, Kunkka increases his offensive power to greatly turn fights in his team’s favor.
Before Upgrade:
- All of Kunkka’s abilities (Torrent, Tidebringer, X Marks the Spot, and Ghostship) act normally.
After Upgrade:
- Kunkka is given a new ability, Torrent Storm. Torrent Storm releases several torrents within 1100 range of him.
Why Kunkka’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Kunkka is already a team fighting beast. With another added firepower, the admiral sets up fights beautifully for his team. Torrent Storm acts just like his Torrent skill, but in the dozens. These spawn every 0.3 seconds for 4 seconds, stunning, slowing, and damaging any enemies in the vicinity.
- Torrent Storm is great for securing objectives mainly through zoning. Enemies are displaced and are forced to reposition in order to not get caught by the storm. Through this, they lose an insanely huge amount of DPS and can be easily placed in a bad spot.
- The bonus stats from the item give Kunkka more avenues to fight with. The items make him tankier, stronger, and have more mana to cast his spells.
5. Luna
image via cybersport
Luna, the dreaded Moon Rider of the Dark Moon, is a ranged safe lane carry who excels in farming and overwhelming her foes with her glaives and the power of the moon. Armed with an Aghanim’s Scepter, Luna takes the power of the Dark Moon to the next level.
Before Upgrade:
- Eclipse showers the area around Luna with Lucent Beams, with 12 being the maximum.
- The ability also turns day into night.
- Maximum number of beams per unit is 5.
After Upgrade:
- Eclipse can be cast on an ally and makes it follow them.
- Increases the total number of Lucent Beams to 18 and makes them appear twice as fast.
- Removes the maximum number of Lucent Beans an enemy unit can get hit by.
Why Luna’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Eclipse is already a great team fighting tool. When it gets an upgrade, it becomes an even more massive advantage for the team. This tool is great for dealing quick and instant damage to enemies to go along with Luna’s auto attacks.
- The added number of Lucent Beams, removed maximum restriction, and increase of beam speed all increase Luna’s DPS and allows her to quickly burst her opponents without having to go for extended team fights.
- Being able to cast Eclipse on an ally makes sure that Luna can still dish out damage even when she is far from the fight, providing support from far away.
4. Bristleback
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Bristleback is a tanky off lane hero who thrives in team fights where everyone is all out to get him. He can peel for his team and create space for them to deal damage. Even by himself, he can generate a ton of DPS that allows him to easily burst out any enemy with zero repercussions on his part. With an Aghanim’s Scepter, his DPS scales to a whole nother level.
Before Upgrade:
- Bristleback is a passive ability that reduces any damage taken from the back and the side. If the damage threshold is reached, he releases a Quill Spray.
After Upgrade:
- Bristleback is given an active ability. Bristleback is able to dish out 6 quick Quill Sprays in a cone on a target location. He is slowed and disarmed in this state.
Why Bristleback’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Bristleback thrives in extended team fights since it takes time to scale up his passive, Warpath. With an upgraded Bristleback, he can immediately gain 6 stacks of his ultimate, increasing his attack damage and movement speed.
- The AOE from the Quill Spray from Bristleback can easily hit a huge area on the target location and quickly stack the Quill Spray on the enemies hit. This gives him a headstart on the stacking process, making his Quill Spray hit harder.
- The added stats from the items greatly increase his durability and ability to cast more skills.
3. Witch Doctor
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Witch Doctor is an intelligence-based support hero who is great in disabling, poking, and damaging enemies in skirmishes and team fights. But what makes him one of the most OP Aghanim’s Scepter users is the upgrade it gives to his ultimate ability, Death Ward.
Before Upgrade:
- Death Ward has 50% bonus accuracy and continues to hit opponents within its range for 8 seconds.
After Upgrade:
- Death Ward attacks obtain true strike and bounce between enemies.
Why Witch Doctor’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Death Ward is an already powerful skill that is capable of bursting enemies and turning around team fights. With true strike from its upgrade, its attacks will never miss and always meet its targets. This ensures no DPS is lost.
- Death Ward’s attacks bounce between enemies, greatly increasing the damage it outputs. This is perfect when enemies are grouped together in team fights as the bouncing attacks increase overall DPS. This can potentially turn around any fight toward your team’s favor.
- With an Aghanim’s Scepter, Witch Doctor becomes more potent and gains more avenues to cast his spells, which go very well with his Death Ward.
2. Alchemist
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Alchemist is a strength-based carry who can easily scale well into the late game just by farming a few resources. His ability to quickly synthesize extra resources per kill elevates his farming capabilities and propels him into fights with rage and riches. His Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade is more focused on his team rather than on him, but he still receives the benefits.
Before Upgrade:
- All of Alchemist’s abilities (Acid Spray, Unstable Concoction, Corrosive Weaponry, Greevil’s Greed, Chemical Rage) act normally.
After Upgrade:
- Alchemist is able to give an Aghanim’s Scepter to allies, upgrading their kit.
Why Alchemist’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Alchemist not only carries the game through his own items, but also through giving his allies what they need. Because he can farm quickly and gain more gold per kill, he can give Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades to allies. This elevates the playing field and gives his allies an advantage over their counterparts.
- Alchemist gains 25 bonus damage and 5% spell amp per gifted Aghanim’s Scepter. This basically gives him more stats for giving away the scepter to his team.
- The bonus stats from the item itself help Alchemist become tankier, stronger, and have more resources to cast his spells.
1. Rubick
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Rubick is the alleged son of Aghanim, the wielder of the legendary scepter. This support is one of the most versatile and exciting heroes to play due to his capability to completely outplay the enemy. By wielding his father’s scepter, he becomes an even greater Grand Magus.
Before Upgrade:
- Rubick steals the most recent spell an enemy has cast. This can be held for up to 5 minutes. Stolen spells last longer on enemies.
After Upgrade:
- Increases the number of skills Rubick can steal to 2.
- Stolen skills are given their Aghanim’s Scepter upgraded versions.
Why Rubick’s Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade is OP:
- Being able to use any skill that the opponent offers is an insane advantage. With an upgraded Spell Steal, Rubick can store 2 stolen spells at a time for 5 minutes. This increases his spell output and his capability to turn around dire situations.
- By having enemy spells that have been upgraded by Aghanim’s Scepter, the advantage that enemies would have is thwarted by a simple Spell Steal. This can greatly aid your team in getting on equal or even greater terms with the enemy.
- The upgrade goes well with Rubick’s versatility, which is improved by the stats the item provides. Aghanim’s Scepter provides Rubick with more capabilities to cast more spells and survive while casting them.
