In Dota, you can’t always rely on offensive play to get kills in the game. Along with abilities, items also play a huge part in shaping the trajectory of the game. More kills get you more gold, which results in more items. With six slots allotted to every hero, there must be a balance of both offensive and defensive items. You can never go wrong with a few defensive items, they save your life! Defensive items can help you turn the game around if you use them right, essentially shielding you and making you use the most of your time with your spells.

To ensure you don’t end up feeding to the enemies, we bring you this list of the 10 best Defensive items that make you hard to kill, essentially wasting your enemies’ time and allowing your team to follow up to save you. 

10. Medallion of Courage (1025 Gold)

Armor is an important aspect when it comes to defense in Dota. With increased armor, you can make it through the toughest battles in the game with just minor scratches on your armory. Medallion of Courage provides you with 5 armor and 1.5 Mana regeneration which can help you get through the early game.

  This is not it! Medallion’s active allows you to target enemy heroes to reduce both your and their armor by 6 while increasing the armor by the same amount if applied on allies but removing it from you at the same time. It may feel like a double-edged sword but it pays off in most situations if you are playing a utility hero. 

Medallion is great for:

• Saving yourself and allies in a fight due to the increased armor
• Crippling enemy armor with its active

9. Pavise (1400 Gold)

Dota may have a plethora of items, but for the longest time, it lacked an early-game defensive item that saved you from enemy onslaught while also saving your pockets from the onslaught! Pavise fills the gap and breathes fresh air in the current meta due to its massive perks and stats right from the early game. Pavise saves you from a multitude of spells and items used by enemies.

Upon usage on allies, Pavise grants them a barrier that blocks 300 physical damage. It is a highly suitable item for utility offlaners or support heroes who can use it to save their squishy cores in the early game. Along with the barrier, it also provides 3 armor, 175 Health, and 2.5 increased mana regeneration.

Pavise is great for:

• Saving your squishy allies in a teamfight by providing them with a damage barrier
• Increasing your armor, HP, and mana regeneration 
• Making you push through the early game quite effortlessly

8.  Wind Waker (6825 Gold)

When we talk about the ultra-late stages of the game (60+ mins), we are often left with fewer choices to itemize. Wind Waker is an item that is always seen picked up by at least one player on each team. The saving and escape potential on this item is quite a deal! It sets up your ally or yourself in a cyclone, making your or your ally invulnerable and moving along in a direction that you can control. 

Wind Waker is great for: 

• Escaping and also saving your allies in situations where they can’t control themselves 
• Disrupting enemies spell

7. Glimmer Cape (2150 Gold)

This magical cape turns you and your allies invisible for 5 seconds. This is great but at the same time, the targetted unit also gets 25% magic resistance under its effect which makes it a great defensive item. Costing only 2150 gold, the Cape is great on support heroes trying to save their teammates or themselves from ferocious enemies!

Glimmer Cape is good for:

• Turning yourself or the allied hero invisible
• Providing 50% magic resistance to targetted hero

6. Crimson Guard (3725 Gold)

If the enemy team consists of heavy physical hitters, then you need some physical resistance to them! Crimson Guard fills the gap by offering you an insane damage block that protects you from the menacing swords and other weapons wielded by your foes. Along with providing you immense armor, the guard blocks 75 damage from each attack on activation, this safeguards the buildings as well as your allies! You may essentially save the game if you purchase this item against physical damage heroes.

Crimson Guard is good for:

• Providing armor to both the hero and the team
• Also providing a barrier to allied towers and buildings 

5. Solar Crest (2425 Gold)

This mysterious talisman has saved millions of lives by blessing the targeted unit with armor. Solar Crest has been a life save ever since its addition to the game. It provides the caster and the targetted friendly unit with 6 bonus armor for 12 seconds along with increased movement and attack speed. In the case of an enemy, the bonuses are reversed.

Solar Crest is good for:

• Increasing armor for you and your allies
• Providing armor and movement reduction for enemies 

4. Aeon Disk (3000 Gold)

Ever since the addition of this item to the game, the support players have gained more confidence as Aeon Disk provides them with a safety net that causes them to stop taking damage after a certain % of the HP and it purges off any enemy spells. Smart players disassemble the items on the Disk and quickly assemble them if they think they threaten their life. 

Aeon Disk is good for: 

• Saving you from sudden death in case you are getting burst
• Support heroes who lack any survivability 

3. Lotus Orb (3850 Gold)

Heroes with lethal single targetted abilities hate this item! Lotus Orb reflects single targetted abilities cast back to the caster, along with the debuffs they also get the damage dealt back to them. This item is quite underrated and is rarely seen in pub games due to its difficulty, as you have to press it on yourself as the enemy is going to cast a spell on you! But with enough practice and dedication, you can become a pro at dodging spells efficiently. 

Lotus Orb is good for:

• Reflecting all single targetted spells on usage
• Purging off any debuffs

2. Guardian Greaves (4950 Gold)

Most games are a vicious tug of war and bloodshed. All you may need is one single heal to turn the fight around! Guardian Greaves provides you with just that, not only does it heal you and your allies in a certain AoE, but it also purges off any enemy debuffs that you may have on you. The best part about this item is that it doesn’t even cost any mana, you read it right! You may cast it while getting chased down by an AM or even by the Invoker! 

Guardian Greaves is good for:

• Healing yourself and your allies in a busy teamfight
• Purging off any debuff to the caster, helping you survive a fight

1. Black King Bar (4050 Gold)

This may be a controversial choice for the number one item on this list of the best defensive items but hear me out guys, Black King Bar saves lives! You may be on a roll, killing enemies and gaining net worth left and right, but in the case of a 5 man gank, you can lose control and die pretty quickly. A Black King Bar can prevent that and make you last longer or scare your enemies away. We can never stress the importance of this item much, no matter your MMR bracket or matchup, this item will always be a crucial component of the game.

Black King Bar is good for: 

• Providing magic Immunity for 9 to 6 seconds, depending on use.
• Even if the spell pierces magic immunity, it won’t deal any damage but the effect will go through.

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