We mentioned in our Dota Underlords Season 1 update that the full launch of the game brought some serious changes to the meta. That and the rank reset. We hope you didn’t grind too much for your former title. For the next couple of weeks or so, you should expect the Lieutenant I to feel a bit more difficult than it actually is, what with all those Lords of the White Spire trying to climb the ladder once more.

Seeing as item rounds are much more frequent, strategic item choice now plays a much bigger role in enabling your line-up and/or disrupting that of your opponents. A Refresher Orb on the right unit can help you achieve a clutch victory, whereas a Radiance on a tank might give you enough time to whittle down the opposing team’s frontline and get to their squishy damage dealers.

What’s Gone and What’s New?

Unlike with heroes, where the pools of characters rotating out and those of newly introduced ones are equal, only two items were removed from the game, while a sizeable stack of 9 were introduced. As you’ll soon see, this is a positive move on the part of the developers because it gives players more ways to enable a line-up they love, but that might not perform so well in certain instances.

In addition, more than a handful of equippables have seen their fare share of modifications. We’ll go through each of these so you can stay up-to-date with the latest shifts in the Underlords meta. But first, please welcome:

Armlet of Mordiggian

We get the Armlet, but no Wraith King? Seriously devs? The wearer gets +90 damage and 10 armor, but loses 100 HP every second. Recommended with durable units, such as Chaos Knight, Lifestealer, Legion commander, Sven, or Slardar.

Crown of Antlers

Ever wanted to be a hunter, but couldn’t? This tier 3 hat item will make any hero who equips it also part of the hunter Alliance. If you’re running Savages with Hunters, this can get you that coveted 6-hunter bonus easily.

Dragon Lance

Tier 2 offensive item only usable for ranged heroes. Aside from +20 damage, the equipped hero has unlimited range and they will be able to hit anyone on the battlefield. A great item for Shadow Fiend, Luna, and any hunter unit in your line-up.

Kaden’s Blade

This purple item changes your hero’s attack to a fixed 7% of the target’s max health. In addition, the damage of the equipped hero will neither be physical, nor magical, but pure.

Leg Breaker’s Fedora

Another hat item, tier 3 this time. With it, you can make a random unit also be part of the Brute alliance.

Mango Tree

This is actually a contraption you can place on your battlefield. At the start of the combat, it will throw juicy Mangos up to 2 cells away every 2 seconds. Any unit that walks through a Mango will get 100 health and 50 mana. Needless to say, mages greatly benefit from it.

Mantle of the Flayed Twins

This tier 2 hat item ensures that the equipped unit is also part of the Deadeye alliance. Seeing as Bloodseekers is the only one left in the alliance, it might be worth giving him a friend if he shows up in your composition.

Quelling Blade

Finally, a way to kill all those summoned units once and for all. +25 attack damage and the equipped hero will always target summoned enemies first. They’ll also crit for twice the damage against them. Pretty useful at dealing with Druids and Summoner compositions.

Ristul Circlet

If you wanted more demons, you’ve got them. This blue equippable will turn the wearer into a Demon for you. No need to tangle your tongue in complex Latin texts for summoning rituals.

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Only two existing items have changed in the full release, namely the Big Time Contract and the Barricade. The first turned into Ogre Cap, a tier 1 hat item that makes the wearer also part of the Blood-Bound crew, while the second had its tier changed from 3 to 2. As a result, the Barricade also has less health now, namely 600/600/600.

Underlords Item Tier List

So, what are the best items you should aim for in Underlords? Well, the answer is almost entirely dependent on your composition. Some, you never want to pass up on, while others are only effective on certain heroes. Take the Armlet. You wouldn’t want to put that on a Mage or low-health hero.

Tier 1:

• Kaya is a must-have for magical damage line-ups, while the Morbid Mask, Claymore, and Gloves of Haste are more useful on heroes who rely on their auto-attack more.

Tier 2:

• The goodies start pouring. Arcane Boots are fantastic on healers and magic damage dealers, while the Armlet and Vanguard go splendidly on frontliners.

• Desolator and Crystalys really enhance your damage output on ranged units, while Dragon Lance makes mid-ranged heroes (like Luna or Syllabear) more viable. Blink dagger is amazing on Tiny, Morph, and/or Tidehunter, for lack of better options.

Tier 3:

• Octarine Essence often makes Storm Spirit and Morpling god-like, while Maelstrom and Skull Basher shine on hunters and/or durable heroes. Blade Mail will render units like Bristleback really hard to beat (monsters, really, at 3-stars), while Battle Fury will give your warriors some much needed oomph.

• If you expect your game to go late, Hand of Midas is not a bad choice, but we tend to think of it as circumstantial, much like the Mango Tree. Mask of Madness is outstanding on Luna, Troll, and Traxex. Just make sure not to put it on someone with an active ability.

• Don’t forget Silver Edge. This is a pain in the underlord for overpowered heroes who rely on passives to push through. It breaks heroes like Bloodseeker, Bristleback, Luna, or Troll Warlord.

If you make it to this point in the game, your choices will be even more impactful.

Tier 4:

• Butterfly is insane on auto-attackers, while Dagon will instantly take care of a unit that reached 50% health. Refresher Orb on Tidehunter, Medusa, or Lone Druid to really annoy your opponents, while Mekansm and Skadi are deadly with Knight combinations.

• Kaden, Diffusal and Vladimir’s are not as strong, so if you don’t feel you need to burn through someone’s mana or more healing, re-roll.

Tier 5:

• Although it has just one charge, Aegis can be a game changer. Bloodthorn gives you some much needed CC and damage, while Heart of Tarrasque will turn any squishy hero into a titan. Radiance is godlike on Necrophos, while Satanic will ensure that your Terrorblade lives long enough to kill everyone else.

• Never go for Divine Rapier, because it can backfire really badly. The Vesture of the Tyrant, Tombstone, and Horn of the Alpha aren’t that great either. The latter two can be good with Summons, but that’s about it.

So far, this is what you can expect from Underlords’ Season 1 pool of items. The variety is exhilarating, to say the least and we hope you enjoy trying every single one of these out as much as we did.

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