Urn Of Shadows

+50% mana regeneration
+6 Strength
Soul Release (active):

»»Can expend one charge to target an allied or enemy hero
»»If an ally is targeted, it is healed for 400 HP over 8 seconds (this effect ends if the hero takes damage from a source other than Sentinel or Scourge creeps)
»»If an enemy is targeted, it takes 200 damage over 8 seconds
»»Has a 10 second cooldown, and 950 cast range

Description :

Whenever an enemy hero dies within 1425 AoE, gains 2 charges if it has 0 charges, else gains 1 charge (each death can only charge one of these items, if two or more heroes in the AoE have this item, only one will be charged)

Recipe (875 Gold):

Sobi Mask (325 Gold)

2x Gauntlets of Ogre Strength (150 Gold each, 300 Gold total)

Recipe for Urn of Shadows (250 Gold)

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Explanation:

So basically this nifty little addition is obviously meant for support/gankers.  It adds a small dose of health to a hero from the +6 STR and also a small mana regen, but decent for the cost (remember, a void stone also costs 875 Gold & gives 50% mana regen).  There’s also the fact that you can heal yourself or allies, or damage an enemy hero.

Remember to get ONE per team, as a kill will only give a charge to one hero if two or more in the vicinity have an Urn

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Soul Release Mechanics:

Basically it works like bloodstone, except for a nearby kill when you have 0 charges & gain 2, you gain one charge per kill in a 1425 AOE, which is fairly decent, about a screenlength.

Now if you have a charge in your Urn of Shadows you can choose to heal an ally or yourself for 400hp over 8 seconds, which amounts to 50hp/sec.  However the kicker is that it works much like a flask but restricted to hero damage, that is if the unit being healed takes damage from an enemy hero unit, the heal will nullify.

*NOTE THAT IN V6.65 NEUTRAL CREEPS ALSO CANCEL URN OF SHADOWS HEAL, DO NOT KNOW IF INTENTIONAL*

On the opposite side of the coin, you can damage an enemy unit for 200hp over 8 seconds as well, which amounts to 25hp/sec.  This can be very very useful, to finish off a hero that would otherwise be able to escape, to disable Blink Dagger etc.  any damage is good damage.  It’s a great trade-off if you are able to kill a hero with Urn’s Soul Release, you get gold/xp and the charge that was used is obtained again assuming the unit is still in 1425 range.

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Who to get it on & Why?

Ideally it is best to get it on gankers who tend to roam early-game and amass assists/kills to create an advantage for their team in the early stages of the game.  Think about it, as a carry hero if you get a kill or an assist on an opposition thats extra gold, and if you are in the vicinity then XP as well.  On top of that the opposing hero is dead for at least one creep wave meaning you have less of a trouble for farming and they are denied XP which is vital to early game.  There’s also the fact that if you are damaged that your ally ganking with the Urn can heal you with one of the charges, and if previously had none, still has one to heal themselves or go off to gank with another piece of arsenal at their disposal.

Heroes:

Rylai Cresftall; Crystal Maiden

Low health, adds a bit of mana regen allowing for instant max of Brill Aura

Lina Inverse; Slayer

Low health again, mana regen when roaming for ganks with her two strong spells

Zeus; Lord of Olympia

Low health, massive DPS & killing capability with bolt makes charge obtaining easy

Lion; Demon Witch

Low Health, mana regen allows for dual disables early game instead of mana drain

Shendelzare Silkwood; Vengeful Spirit

Low health, often used as a roam hero, mana regen allows for more roaming earlier

Obviously there are more heroes that Urn of Shadows is good on but I’m going to leave it at that.

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Who to NOT get it on & Why?

Despite what most pubs are doing right now, getting it on support heroes is not the best idea.  Why? Most support heroes lack an ability essentially disable a hero or to cause enough damage without two or more allies to another hero, thus making it extremely frustrating and hard to gain charges to use Soul Release.

Demnok Lannik; Warlock

Has enough health, Soul Release is a weaker last word & unless solo, rarely gains enough damage to overpower enemies early.

Dazzle; Shadow Priest

As a babysit hero, you are better off getting better support items, like Mekansm & Pipe.

Ezalor; Keeper of the Light

As a support hero with a slow that is mediocre at best without the DPS to make an opponent run it’s better to go support items

Tags: Dota, item guide, Urn of Shadows

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 11:54 PM by iFlee and is filed under Guides: Dota. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.