New Dota 2 item has game-breaking bug allowing free resurrections

Steven Rondina Published 14/01/2020

At face value, the Magic Lamp is a solid tier-four neutral item that works with any team composition. It gives 300 HP and has a passive that dispels and heals users when they fall below 15% health, somewhat similar to an Aeon Disk.

That’s useful all on its own, but a game-breaking bug has been discovered with Magic Lamp that makes it overwhelmingly powerful.

Magic Lamp can essentially be used to nullify forced death timers on non-illusion hero units that are capable of using items. Specific examples include Arc Warden’s Tempest Double, Lone Druid’s Spirit Bear, and player-controlled wraiths spawned from a Wraith King holding Aghanim’s Scepter.

By using Magic Lamp on these units, it has some incredibly powerful effects that Valve likely didn’t intend.

Magic Lamp’s permanent Lone Druid Bear, Arc Warden Tempest Double

Arc Warden is a powerful hero because of his ability to create a copy of himself that is capable of using both spells and items. The drawback to this spell is that the double can only stay on the field for between 18 and 26 seconds before they disappear. This limitation can be removed entirely using a Magic Lamp.

Simply by having the item in their inventory, Arc Warden’s Tempest Double is capable of remaining on the map and serving as a second hero until the double is killed. Instead of dying when its timer reaches zero, the Magic Lamp will activate, leaving the Tempest Double with 300 HP and no death timer. The unit can heal like a normal hero and return to the fray without issue.

Lone Druid’s Spirit Bear has a similar functionality. When Lone Druid’s Spirit Bear dies, Lone Druid takes 10% damage as a sort of penalty. However, when Lone Druid dies, his Spirit Bear will be killed regardless of his health.

But not if it has a Magic lamp. If Lone Druid’s Spirit Bear has a Magic Lamp equipped when its Druid dies, it will instead be left on the field with 300 HP.

Needless to say, this is very powerful and very broken.

By having a permanent Tempest Double, Arc Warden is able to perpetually farm and push waves with impunity. Similarly, Magic Lamp effectively gives Druid a free Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade that ensures his bear can remain in the fight even if he dies and doesn’t force him to reset the summon’s two-minute cooldown. The bear won’t be able to attack without Aghanim’s Scepter, but will still be able to use Savage Roar and any items in its inventory.

Magic Lamp gives free resurrections with Wraith King

Wraith King’s Aghanim’s Scepter ability allows him, or any allied hero within a small AOE, to return as a wraith for seven seconds. These wraiths are controlled by the defeated player and can attack or use spells and items normally.

Magic Lamp has a unique and presumably unintended interaction with this ability through which players can actually be resurrected on the spot.

In order to do this, the player will need to have the Magic Lamp in their backpack upon death. Immediately after they are brought back, they will need to move the Magic Lamp to their inventory. If the player’s health is regenerated to above 15% their maximum HP before the Magic Lamp is proccable and stays there through the end of the seven seconds, the player will be resurrected on the spot with 300 health instead of dying.

This is far more difficult to execute than the Lone Druid and Arc Warden tricks where the player only needs to have the item in their inventory. Worse, the window to heal above that 15% mark is just a few seconds long, which makes it almost impossible to pull off on bulky heroes.

This is more easily executed in games with squishy heroes that carry healing items like Mekansm, as they can shift their inventory around and heal while waiting for the Magic Lamp to get their health up above the 15% mark.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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