As we know, whenever the hero meta changes, the go-to items also change. Let’s take a look at some of the worst items to get in patch 7.21d right now.

Octarine Core

Octarine is a fascinating item in Dota 2. It got introduced to the game in patch 6.84, and in the beginning, there was some severe backlash. The reason behind it was the fact that there was no CD reduction item before in Dota. Many people saw this item addition as a copy from League of Legends.

Octarine Core used to be one of the go-to items for various heroes. However, nowadays it seems like spending 5900 gold on it is just not worth it anymore. There are way better end-game items that you can get, which provide much better value.

On top of that, the entire purpose of Octarine is to reduce your CD’s and gain some life-steal from spells. What does that mean? It means that you can basically spam your spells more frequently. However, the team-fight meta that has been going around since TI 8 is all about that one giant team fight that pretty much determines the course of the games. An Octarine Core is simply not that useful in the late game. Also, it is way too expensive to be obtained early on.

Holy Locket

The Holy Locket was added in patch 7.20. It is supposed to provide some sustain and make you more tanky overall. However, the effect given from the item is not worth it when you take into account the gold that you need to spend.

One of the main issues of Holy Locket is the prize. For 2700 gold you can buy other items which provide way better value for the money. In addition, the +325 Mana that the item provides is just something which is not that impressive. As we know, mana regen is way more important compared to the mana pool nowadays.

On the contrary, the +15% Magic resistance is good, especially in the spellcaster meta. This could justify the item, but then again, you can get a Hood for 1k less gold.

Echo Sabre

The reason why Echo Sabre is here is the fact that this item is only good on a handful of heroes. When it first got introduced, it was one of the most popular items in the game. Nearly every melee carry went for it. However, as time went on, people realized that it is not that efficient for most of the heroes.

Nowadays you can see Sven, Lifestealer (rarely) and some other heroes getting this item. 2650 gold seems just a little bit too steep for an item that tends to fall behind later on in the game. It is suitable for the first 30 minutes or so, but as the game goes on, it is just a waste of a slot.

The stats that the Echo Sabre provides is decent. The mana regen is probably one of the most important because the heroes that go for a Sabre usually have mana issues.

Blade Mail

This is the item that can change the course of a team fight whenever it is used properly. Despite that, it tends to be nearly useless in higher-level pubs because it can get easily kited.

BM is a useful item in certain scenarios and on certain heroes. However, the general value that it provides is not something spectacular. Usually, offlaners are buying the item. For the same amount of gold, you can get a Hood, which you can upgrade to a Pipe.

Blade Mail is useful for securing solo kills, but the current meta relies more on team fights. Despite that, if you are stuck in the 0-2.5k bracket, getting a Blade Mail might be a good idea. After all, not everyone knows how to deal with it.

Bloodstone

This used to be one of the most important items for nearly every intelligence core hero back in the day. The current situation is very different because pretty much the only hero that rushes to buy a BS is Storm Spirit. In fact, the item is so bad that most SS players buy either two or three of them in order to get maximum mana regen.

There were a lot of changes to this item, most notably in 7.20. The dying charge reduction was reduced to 3 from 33%, which is great. However, the mana and HP regen per change were also reduced. On top of that, the so-called “Pocket Deny” was also removed. Instead, whenever you use your BS, it converts a percentage of the user’s current mana pool to HP regen.

Beside Storm, heroes such as Leshrac and Timbersaw tend to buy it. This item needs changes in order to be relevant again.

Conclusion

The items included here are based entirely on observations and statistics. It is important to know that this article is relevant to the current time period. Once the meta changes, some of the above-mentioned items might become top-tier again. Until then, try to avoid them if you want to improve your MMR.

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