Abaddon
The Font of Avernus is the source of a family's strength, a crack in primal stones from which vapors of prophetic power have issued for generations. Each newborn of the cavernous House Avernus is bathed in the black mist, and by this baptism they are given an innate connection to the mystic energies of the land. They grow up believing themselves fierce protectors of their lineal traditions, the customs of the realm--but what they really are protecting is the Font itself. And the motives of the mist are unclear. <br><br>When the infant Abaddon was bathed in the Font, they say something went awry. In the child's eyes there flared a light of comprehension that startled all present and set the sacerdotes to whispering. He was raised with every expectation of following the path all scions of Avernus took--to train in war, that in times of need he might lead the family's army in defense of the ancestral lands. But Abaddon was always one apart. Where others trained with weapons, he bent himself to meditation in the presence of the mist. He drank deep from the vapors that welled from the Font, learning to blend his spirit with the potency that flowed from far beneath the House; he became a creature of the black mist. <br><br>There was bitterness within the House Avernus--elders and young alike accusing him of neglecting his responsibilities. But all such accusations stopped when Abaddon rode into battle, and they saw how the powers of the mist had given him mastery over life and death beyond those of any lord the House had ever known.
Base STR
21 +2.6
Base AGI
22 +1.5
Base INT
18 +2
Move Speed
325
Attack Range
150
Base Armor
-1
Attack DMG
22–32
Projectile
900
Innate Abilities
Withering Mist
Damaging enemies applies the Withering Mist debuff for 5s. Affected enemies have their Health Restoration reduced by 24.5%% if they are below 40% HP.
HEALTH RESTORATION REDUCTION:
24.5%
Abilities
Mist Coil
Cooldown
8 / 7 / 6 / 5s
Mana
50 / 55 / 60 / 65
Abaddon releases a coil of deathly mist that can damage an enemy unit or heal a friendly unit at the cost of some of Abaddon's health.
SELF DAMAGE:
40%
DAMAGE/HEAL:
95 / 170 / 245 / 320
- Abaddon can not kill himself with this skill.
A mysterious vapor from the Font of Avernus now infuses the breath of Abaddon, who releases it at will.
Aphotic Shield
Cooldown
12 / 10 / 8 / 6s
Mana
110 / 120 / 130 / 140
Summons dark energies around an ally unit, dispelling them and creating an all damage barrier that absorbs a set amount of damage before expiring. When the barrier is destroyed it will burst and deal damage equal to the amount it could absorb to an area around it. DISPEL TYPE: Strong Dispel
DURATION:
12
BURST RADIUS:
675
DAMAGE BARRIER:
120 / 150 / 180 / 210
RETURN DAMAGE RADIUS:
0
- The max damage is always dealt whether the barrier is destroyed by expiring or absorbing damage.
- The explosion does not damage units hidden by the fog of war.
The powers of the black mist rise to absorb attacks like the black mist absorbs light.
Curse of Avernus
Abaddon strikes an enemy, affecting them by a chilling curse, slowing them, causing them to take damage over time, and all attacks against them gain an attack speed boost. Damage over time component to buildings is reduced by 100%.
DURATION:
2
SLOW:
10 / 15 / 20 / 25%
ATTACK SPEED:
10 / 20 / 30 / 40
DPS:
15 / 25 / 35 / 45
While the baptized draw strength from the Font, the gifts of Avernus are debilitating to the uninitiated.
Borrowed Time
Cooldown
85 / 75 / 65s
When activated, dispels you and all damage dealt to you will heal instead of harm. If the ability is not on cooldown, it will automatically activate if your health falls below 400. DISPEL TYPE: Strong Dispel
HEALTH THRESHOLD:
400
DURATION:
4 / 5 / 6
DAMAGE THRESHOLD:
0
- Borrowed Time can be manually activated while Abaddon is disabled, but not while silenced. The passive activation can still occur while silenced.
- Aphotic Shield does not block any damage to Abaddon when Borrowed Time is active, allowing him to heal.
- Break prevents Borrowed Time from automatically activating.
The most unnatural of all the gifts of the Font of Avernus, this power defies mortal understanding. What should hurt, instead heals; and what should kill gives strength anew.
Talents
Aghanim's Scepter
Borrowed Time
Increases duration. While Borrowed Time is active, anytime an ally takes more than 0 damage while within Mist Coil's cast range of Abaddon, an individual Mist Coil will automatically fire towards that ally.
Aghanim's Shard
Aphotic Shield
0% of absorbed damage is dealt to nearby enemies.
Hero Performance
Median across all public matches · OpenDotaForm
50%
Win rate in recent matches
Performance
49%
KDA ratio (kills + assists / deaths)
Laning
20%
Last hits per minute over full game
Farm
46%
Average gold per minute
Fighting
15%
Average kills + assists per match
Experience
64%
Average XP per minute
Strategy
When to Pick Abaddon?
Pick Abaddon when your team needs an unkillable glue guy who keeps the carry alive through absolute chaos. He’s disgusting in lineups with strong right-click cores (Spectre, Medusa, Sven, etc.) because Aphotic Shield + Borrowed Time turns them into immortal monsters. Great as pos 3 or pos 4 when the enemy has a lot of burst or single-target disables—he just laughs at them.
Avoid picking him into heavy silence lineups (Silencer, Skywrath, and Death Prophet) or heroes that completely shut down his ult like Ancient Apparition (Ice Blast ruins everything) and Axe (Culling Blade still deletes him). Also feels bad if your team is full of squishy backline mages who can’t frontline with you.
Tips & common mistakes
- Don’t waste Mist Coil early just to top yourself up—save the mana; the damage/heal is way better at levels 2-3.
- Always have Aphotic Shield ready for your carry the moment they get jumped—one shield can win the fight before Borrowed Time even pops.
- Level Curse of Avernus early in lane—that slow + extra attack is your best harass tool, not just a late-game luxury.
- Stop popping Borrowed Time manually every time you’re low — let it trigger automatically so you don’t waste the duration like an idiot.
- Don’t run in alone thinking you’re immortal—without your team nearby you’re just a big creep that feeds gold.
- Aphotic Shield dispels almost everything — use it instantly on Batrider Lasso, Slardar Crush, or any nasty disable on your core.
- Build items that help the team (Crimson Guard, Pipe, and Lotus) instead of going full greedy carry every game—most games you’re the savior, not the damage dealer.
- Watch out for mana burn—Diffusal Blade or mana-draining heroes make your shield spam impossible.
Summary
Abaddon is the ultimate “your carry doesn’t die” hero. He’s not flashy, but when played right, he turns good teams into unkillable death balls. Shield your cores, stay in the middle of the fight soaking damage, and use Borrowed Time to bait the enemy into wasting everything. If your team has even one decent right-clicker and you don’t feed like a potato, Abaddon makes games feel unfair.
Just don’t pick him and then play like a scared pos 5 hiding in the trees—get in there and be the tanky bastard he was meant to be.
Strong Against
Popular Items
Starting Items
Early Game
Core
Late Game
Popular Neutral Items
