Maelstrom

The Maelstrom is an Item purchasable at the Main Shop, under Artifacts.

Tips

 * Maelstrom is the most cost effective damage item for heroes with a low Base Attack Time.
 * Maelstrom is a very good item for speeding up farming. If the extra experience is not needed, it is good alternative to the Hand of Midas. Since the lightning has a huge bounce range, it can be used to damage multiple camps at once when farming in the woods, if vision over the camps is present.
 * It is also great to deal with illusions or mass-summons like Broodmother's spiders, Nature's Prophet's treants, etc, especially useful for ranged heroes that lack area damage, since they cannot make use of cleave.
 * The Chain Lightning deals magical, so it ignores armor and Damage Block, making it good against heroes that get a Vanguard, or Tidehunter with his Kraken Shell, and against heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight or Terrorblade.
 * To counter someone with a Maelstrom you can buy an, it will completely block Chain Lightnings. With a it will allow to reduce the incoming damages a lot.