Dota 2 Neutral Items Guide

Neutral items are another layer of mechanics that make Dota 2 one of the most complex games to play. These items are separate from the ones you purchase with gold, and can be found from neutral camps and crafted using specific enchantments. 

Most lower-ranked players ignore the impact these little items have, so understanding and using them effectively is one easy way to get an upper hand in your Dota 2 matches. Here is everything you need to know about neutral items. 

What Are Neutral Items in Dota 2?

Neutral items, sometimes referred to as “jungle items,” are special items that do not cost gold and cannot be purchased from the shop. Instead, they’re essentially obtainable for free by killing neutral creeps.

Each neutral item comes with its own active or passive ability. On top of that, you can also “craft” these items by adding enchantments, allowing you to choose bonuses that better suit your hero. Typically, these enchantments give you stat boosts such as movement speed, spell damage, health, attack speed, etc. 

There are five tiers of neutral items. Higher tiers are unlocked as the game clock progresses, with Tier 5 being the highest. 

Additionally, every player is given a dedicated neutral item slot, meaning these items do not take up your typical six slots. You can assign a hotkey and use the item, too. Think of them as your 7th item. 

How Neutral Items Work – Drop and Craft

Getting your neutral item will require you to complete two steps. Let’s go over the entire process and dumb it down:

Drop Mechanics

Neutral creeps in Dota 2 have a chance to drop a Madstone when they are killed. You’ll have to rack up Madstones in order to receive the item. You accumulate Madstones faster if you’re the one killing the neutral camps. 

Each tier of neutral items requires a specific number of Madstones before you can unlock the item. The number required increases with each tier. So, once you’ve reached the required Madstones, you’ll be able to select your neutral item. 

Here is how Madstone caps work throughout the game:

Once a hero has reached the Madstone cap, any additional ones they receive will be distributed to the rest of the team that hasn’t reached the cap. 

This means that, if your carry has already unlocked the neutral item, the next Madstones they farm will be sent out to other heroes, like supports. So, you don’t necessarily need to farm neutral camps to unlock these items, especially if you’re a support. 

Selecting and Crafting Neutral Items

If you’ve collected enough Madstones, you’ll get an audio cue, notifying that you’ve gathered the required amount. Then, your Madstone counter on your HUD will begin flashing. You can click this button and select your neutral item and the enchantment to boot. 

Now, you can begin crafting your neutral item. You will have 4 random artifacts (the neutral items themselves) and 4 random enchantments to choose from. First, you select the neutral item, then pick how you’d like to enhance your artifact. Once you’ve clicked both options, your neutral item will be crafted and will immediately be added into your neutral item slot. 

For every tier, you’ll get another set of artifact and enchantment options. For the artifact, you’ll get the previously chosen artifact + 3 new random ones of the current tier. So, you have the option to reuse your previously selected item if you’d like. However, enchantments are completely random, so you may not get the previous one. 

List of All Neutral Items by Tier

Let’s check out all of the selections for every neutral item, divided by their respective tiers. 

Tier 1 Neutral Items 

Here is what you’ll find in the first tier:

Neutral Items

• Ash Legion Shield – Grants a physical damage barrier at the cost of movement speed temporarily
• Chipped Vest – Acts as a miniature Blade Mail
• Dormant Curio – Doesn’t do anything except amplify the stats of the next artifact
• Duelist Gloves – Grants additional attack speed
• Kobold Cup – Increases movement speed for all allies temporarily
• Occult Bracelet – Grants mana regen every time the wearer takes damage
• Pollywog Charm – Increases health regeneration for a target ally temporarily
• Weighted Dice – Randomly computes base damage or creep bounty

Tier 2 Neutral Items 

Here is what you’ll find in the second tier:

Neutral Items

• Defiant Shell – Allows the wearer to counter-attack after taking damage
• Essence Ring – Increases current and max health temporarily
• Mana Draught – Replenishes mana temporarily
• Poor Man’s Shield – Grants damage block from incoming attacks
• Searing Signet – Adds burn damage to spells temporarily
• Tumbler’s Toy – Provides heroes with a miniature initiation tool

Tier 3 Neutral Items 

Here is what you’ll find in the third tier:

Neutral Items

• Gunpowder Gauntlet – The next attack deals additional magic damage
• Jidi Pollen Bag – Spreads pollen that reduces enemy health restoration 
• Psychic Headband – Allows the wearer to push enemy heroes away from them
• Serrated Shiv – Attacks get additional damage and occasional True Strike
• Unrelenting Eye – Increases slow resistance
• Whisper of the Dread – Increases spell damage at the cost of daytime vision

Tier 4 Neutral Items 

Here is what you’ll find in the fourth tier:

Neutral Items

• Crippling Crossbow – Slows enemies and reduces their health regeneration
• Flayer’s Bota – Gain additional base damage and attack speed temporarily
• Giant’s Maul – Empowers the next attack to be a critical hit
• Idol of Scree’Auk – Provides temporary slow resistance and evasion
• Metamorphic Mandible – Enter into an insect form and gain magic resistance and movement speed temporarily
• Rattlecage – Allows the wearer to fire projectiles after taking damage

Tier 5 Neutral Items 

Here is what you’ll find in the highest tier:

• Book of the Dead – Summons two demonic warriors and two demonic archers
• Dezun Bloodrite – Spells have a larger Area of Effect, but deals damage to the wearer
• Divine Regalia – Increases outgoing damage, but the item is disabled if the wearer dies
• Fallen Sky – Acts as a Blink Dagger and Meteor Hammer combined
• Minotaur Horn – Receive a basic dispel and temporary magic immunity temporarily upon casting
• Riftshadow Prism – Spend health to create an illusion
• Spider Legs – Grants bonus movement speed and free pathing temporarily
• Stygian Desolator – Attacks reduce the target’s armor

List of All Enchantments by Tier

We’ll go over all available enchantments and what they do. You’ll see the same type of enchantments featured across multiple tiers – however, their provided stats increase as they go.

Tier 1-4 Enchantments

• Alert – Attack Speed / Night Vision 
• Brawny – Health / Health Regeneration
• Mystical – Mana Regeneration / Magic Resistance 
• Quickened – Movement Speed / Mana 
• Tough – Damage / Armor 

Tier 2-3 Enchantments

• Greedy – GPM Bonus / Mana / At the cost of reduced Attack Damage
• Keen-Eyed – Cast Range / Mana Regen / At the cost of reduced Max Mana
• Vast – Attack Range for Melee and Ranged heroes

Tier 2-4 Enchantments

• Vampiric – Lifesteal / Spell Lifesteal

Tier 4-5 Enchantments

• Crude – Health Restoration / Base Attack Time / At the cost of Intelligence
• Timeless – Debuff Duration / Spell Amplification
• Titanic – Base Attack Damage / Status Resistance

Tier 5 Enchantments

• Audacious – Attack Speed / Magic Attack Damage / At the cost of taking more Incoming Damage
• Boundless – Attack Range / Cast Range
• Evolved – Primary Attribute
• Feverish – Cooldown Reduction / At the cost of increased Mana Cost and Mana Loss
• Fleetfooted – Movement Speed
• Wise – XPM / Max Mana Bonus

Choosing Neutral Items and Crafts Based on Roles

Now that we’ve gone over the available options, here are the best Dota 2 neutral items to choose from based on your role. Of course, the best options vary from hero to hero. 

Best Neutral Items and Enchantments for Carry

As a carry hero, you’re mainly looking for additional damage, attack speed, lifesteal, and survivability. In the early game, you’ll look for items that can amplify your farming speed.

In the late game, you want to maximize your damage as much as possible, but in some games, you want items that help you close distances and give you better mobility, too. 

The best neutral items include:

• Tier 1 – Chipped Vest / Duelist Gloves / Occult Bracelet
• Tier 2 – Poor Man’s Shield / Defiant Shell 
• Tier 3 – Serrated Shiv / Unrelenting Eye
• Tier 4 – Crippling Crossbow / Giant’s Maul / Flayer’s Bota
• Tier 5 – Divine Regalia / Stygian Desolator / Minotaur Horn / Riftshadow Prism

The best enchantments to go for are:

• Early Game – Alert / Tough / Quickened 
• Mid-to-Late Game – Vampiric / Crude / Titanic
• Ultra Late Game – Audacious / Evolved / Fleetfooted

Best Neutral Items and Enchantments for Mid

Mid-laners are also responsible for dealing damage. However, there are many heroes that rely on magic damage or casting spells, so having items that provide mana in the early-to-mid game are nice to work with. 

In the later stages, you’re mainly looking for more damage, cooldown reduction, or survivability. 

The best neutral items for Mid include:

• Tier 1 – Duelist Gloves / Occult Bracelet / Kobold Cup
• Tier 2 – Essence Ring / Mana Draught / Searing Signet
• Tier 3 – Unrelenting Eye / Whisper of the Dread / Gunpowder Gauntlet
• Tier 4 – Idol of Scree’Auk / Rattlecage / Metamorphic Mandible
• Tier 5 – Dezun Bloodrite / Minotaur Horn / Spider Legs / Divine Regalia

The best enchantments to go for are:

• Early Game – Mystical / Quickened / Tough
• Mid-to-Late Game – Keen-Eyed / Vampiric / Quickened / Tough
• Ultra Late Game – Audacious / Boundless / Evolved / Feverish

Best Neutral Items for and Enchantments for Offlane

Offlaners aim to be tanky in all stages of the game. However, in the early game, they could appreciate some sort of mana regeneration due to their naturally low mana pools.

In the mid-to-late game, you’re mainly looking for items that help you become tankier (such as items that provide you with armor) or give you additional tools to initiate. 

The best neutral items for Offlane include:

• Tier 1 – Ash Legion Shield / Chipped Vest / Occult Bracelet
• Tier 2 – Defiant Shell / Essence Ring / Poor Man’s Shield
• Tier 3 – Unrelenting Eye / Whisper of the Dread / Gunpowder Gauntlet
• Tier 4 – Crippling Crossbow / Idol of Scree’Auk / Rattlecage
• Tier 5 – Dezun Bloodrite / Minotaur Horn / Fallen Sky 

The best enchantments to go for are:

• Early Game – Mystical / Brawny / Tough
• Mid-to-Late Game – Crude / Tough / Brawny
• Ultra Late Game – Evolved / Fleetfooted / Titanic / Crude

Best Neutral Items for and Enchantments for Support

Supports appreciate items that provide them with mana or spell damage. However, it’s important for them to stay survivable – this can be achieved with additional health and movement speed. 

In the later stages, you’re mainly looking for survivability or cast range to ensure you can last longer in fights and position accordingly. 

The best neutral items for Support include:

• Tier 1 – Ash Legion Shield / Kobold Cup / Pollywog Charm
• Tier 2 – Essence Ring / Mana Draught / Tumbler’s Toy / Searing Signet
• Tier 3 – Psychic Headband / Whisper of the Dread / Jidi Pollen Bag
• Tier 4 – Idol of Scree’Auk / Metamorphic Mandible / Crippling Crossbow
• Tier 5 – Book of the Dead / Dezun Bloodrite / Minotaur Horn / Spider Legs

The best enchantments to go for are:

• Early Game – Quickened / Mystical / Brawny
• Mid-to-Late Game – Greedy / Keen-Eyed / Quickened / Mystical / Timeless
• Ultra Late Game – Boundless / Feverish / Wise