Shard Chen is the hot new Dota 2 build, here's how to do it

William Davis Published 30/09/2021

Chen’s Aghanim’s Shard is stampeding over patch 7.30. Here’s how to kill your enemies with a portable ancient stack.

Warm up your micro skills, because Chen is making plays in Dota 2 matchmaking.

Chen’s win rate has surged in patch 7.30d. The micro-intensive missionary’s win rate has jumped to a whopping 49.4% in Ancient matchmaking. That doesn’t seem strong, but it’s an extremely high win rate for such a micro-intensive hero. Here’s how to take advantage of his imbalanced Aghanim’s Shard and take over the game.

The new Chen focuses almost entirely on his Aghanim’s Shard ability. The 1,400 gold item allows Chen to take control of ancient creeps, the most powerful neutrals in the game besides Roshan. The creeps don’t get the same bonuses as Helm of the Overlord, but Chen can recruit up to three of them at level 18. It’s tough to lose with three Ancient Black Dragons backing you up.

How to play Chen in patch 7.30d

If you feel like adding Chen to your support repertoire, it’s a good idea to try him out in demo mode first. His abilities are somewhat complex and he requires an understanding of micro control. To learn how to spawn creeps in demo mode, check out our Dota 2 chat command guide.

Chen is pretty mediocre without creeps, but a point in Divine Favor can help you trade with the enemy laners. Start maxing Divine Persuasion with a value point in Penitence at level four. Take Hand of God whenever you can and don’t be afraid to use it liberally.

For items, Chen’s normal progression is Mekansm into Guardian Greaves, but try to have 1,400 gold saved up as soon as Aghanim’s Shard becomes available. Chen gets a sizable power spike at levels 12 and 18 since he can grab more ancients. Look for potential pushes and try to take enemy tier ones as fast as possible. Access to more jungle camps means better creeps, especially in the enemy triangle.

Chen’s mid and late-game responsibilities are much easier with ancient creeps. Persuade some Black Dragons and use their active ability to push all three lanes at once. Turn down the enemy’s damage with a Golem. If your carry needs a boost, use the Thunderhide’s buff to give them 75 attack speed. Throwing them at towers is a good way to slow siege, just watch the boosted kill bounty.

Read Also

Dota 2

Yandex to repeat?: BLAST SLAM VIII preview, predictions, and more Michael Hassall If you can believe it, we’re already on the eighth edition of BLAST SLAM, as BLAST SLAM VIII kicks off tomorrow (Sep. 29) pitting 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams against each other in what promises to be the first big challenge of this young season. Let’s face it: At PGL Wallachia, we were missing a lot of the heavy hitters. No TI15 champs, no PARIVISION, not BetBoom, ...

Dota 2

Unstoppable Yandex crush NAVI in one-sided PGL Wallachia finals Michael Hassall Team Yandex has swept the grand finals of the PGL Wallachia Season 9 Dota 2 tournament, defeating Natus Vincere (NAVI) in a 3-0 drubbing this past weekend (Sep. 27). As predicted, the revitalized Yandex, hot off the signing of former Team Falcons star Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, crushed their youthful opponents in a three-game sweep in the best-of-five finals. Here’s how it happened: After upsetting the star-studded LGD Gaming roster (albeit ...

Dota 2

Team Yandex to win it all? PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals preview and predictions Michael Hassall The first big event after TI15, PGL Wallachia Season 9, wraps up this Sunday, Sep. 27, and it’s set to be a hell of a show. After a solid week of action, with some surprise eliminations along the way, we’re down to just three teams from the original 16. Team Yandex, LGD Gaming, and Natus Vincere (NAVI) remain, having battled through some big upsets to get there. Yandex are hot ...

Dota 2

MidOne to Play for Team Liquid at BLAST Slam 8, Replacing Nisha: Permanent or Stand-in? Owen Harsono Like most other Dota 2 teams, Team Liquid have also undergone roster changes after The International 2026, replacing Ace for Wisper. However, a swap in offlaners wasn’t the end, as veteran mid-laner MidOne has been registered under the team ahead of BLAST Slam 8, taking Nisha’s spot. Is MidOne only acting as a stand-in, or is this going to be a permanent move? Here’s what we know. On September 25, ...

Dota 2

PGL Wallachia Season 9 Playoffs preview and predictions Michael Hassall PGL Wallachia Season 9 is the first major tournament since the 2025/2026 Dota 2 season came to its conclusion at TI15, and with the roster shuffle still, well, shuffling, and top teams skipping the event while they get things finalized, it’s been an unusual tournament so far. With some surprising names in the playoffs (especially if you’ve been following the scene for the rest of the year) and the absence ...

Dota 2

ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel Michael Hassall South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...

News

Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter Hannan Mundia After the community-made mod found success within the community, developer and publisher Robin Entertainment has decided to turn Polystrike into a proper standalone game. Community-made mods of games finding success within the respective game’s community is nothing new. However, only a handful of those mods are able to go on and become a standalone game. One of the more recent examples is The Forgotten City, which started as a mod ...