Valve stopped developing Dota Underlords. The last patch arrived on 8 December 2021 and its headline note extended the Season 1 end date to 2031, which in practice means no further content or balance work. Servers stay online and matchmaking still fills, with SteamDB tracking roughly 1,000 to 1,300 concurrent players in August 2026 against an all-time peak of 202,334 on 23 June 2019, so what you are playing is a frozen 2021 auto-battler rather than a supported competitive game.
Your choice of equipment defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.
Equipment Rankings
| Equipment | Tier | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aegis of the Immortal | S | Your single most important frontline body in a Warrior or Knight board | A tier five item that brings a unit back after it dies, buying an extra window of frontline time in the round that decides your health bar. |
| Vladmir's Offering | A | Hunter and Warrior boards with five or more attacking units | Tier five aura item that raises damage across your team rather than one unit. |
| Blade Mail | A | The unit the enemy Assassins are going to jump first | Defensive item that reflects 30 percent of damage taken back at the attacker. |
| Refresher Orb | B | Your highest-impact ability user in Mage or Warlock comps | Refreshes all cooldowns and restores 50 mana once per battle after an ability is cast. |
| Vitality Booster | B | Early item picks when you do not yet know which comp you are building | A flat 250 health, which is unexciting and quietly one of the most reliable picks in the early item rounds. |
S-Tier: Aegis of the Immortal
A tier five item that brings a unit back after it dies, buying an extra window of frontline time in the round that decides your health bar. Tier five items only start appearing in late item picks, so plan around it rather than for it.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | S |
| Best For | Your single most important frontline body in a Warrior or Knight board |
| Key Mechanic | 8x8 board placement |
| Recommended Build | Warrior Frontline |
How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.
Best builds using Aegis of the Immortal: Pairs naturally with Warrior Frontline thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
A-Tier: Vladmir's Offering
Tier five aura item that raises damage across your team rather than one unit. In a board built on many small attackers it outperforms any single-target damage item.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | A |
| Best For | Hunter and Warrior boards with five or more attacking units |
| Key Mechanic | three-copy hero upgrades |
| Recommended Build | Assassin Burst |
How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.
Best builds using Vladmir's Offering: Pairs naturally with Assassin Burst thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
A-Tier: Blade Mail
Defensive item that reflects 30 percent of damage taken back at the attacker. It is one of the few items that scales with how hard the enemy hits you, which makes it strongest against high-damage carries.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | A |
| Best For | The unit the enemy Assassins are going to jump first |
| Key Mechanic | alliance bonuses |
| Recommended Build | Mage Magic Damage |
How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.
Best builds using Blade Mail: Pairs naturally with Mage Magic Damage thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
B-Tier: Refresher Orb
Refreshes all cooldowns and restores 50 mana once per battle after an ability is cast. Two casts of a strong ability in one round is often the entire reason a Mage board wins.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | B |
| Best For | Your highest-impact ability user in Mage or Warlock comps |
| Key Mechanic | gold interest and streaks |
| Recommended Build | Knight Defense |
How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.
Best builds using Refresher Orb: Pairs naturally with Knight Defense thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
B-Tier: Vitality Booster
A flat 250 health, which is unexciting and quietly one of the most reliable picks in the early item rounds. Extra health on a frontline unit buys the seconds your back row needs to cast.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | B |
| Best For | Early item picks when you do not yet know which comp you are building |
| Key Mechanic | Underlord pick at round 10 |
| Recommended Build | Hunter Scaling |
How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.
Best builds using Vitality Booster: Pairs naturally with Hunter Scaling thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
Equipment Progression Path
The order you should acquire equipment as you progress:
- Starting gear → Enough to clear Standard
- Vladmir's Offering → Your first real upgrade, available early
- Blade Mail → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
- Aegis of the Immortal → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
- Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous
Equipment Tips
- Always upgrade your primary equipment before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
- Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
- Know what you are signing up for before you install. The 8 December 2021 patch pushed Season 1 to 2031 and no balance changes have followed, so every comp you read about in a 2020 guide is still exactly as strong or weak as it was then. That stability is genuinely useful for learning, but there is no meta to keep up with.
- Check our tier list for how equipment rankings affect overall build effectiveness.
More Dota Underlords Guides
- Dota Underlords Dota Underlords Overview
- Dota Underlords Best Builds
- Dota Underlords Tier List
- Dota Underlords Walkthrough
- Dota Underlords Beginner's Guide
- Dota Underlords Tips & Tricks
- Dota Underlords Combat Guide
- Dota Underlords Boss Guide
- Dota Underlords Maps & Locations
- Dota Underlords Crafting Guide
- Dota Underlords Classes & Characters
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