Blade Mail

Blade Mail is an item purchasable at the Main Shop, under Armor. It can also be completed solely with items from the Side Lane Shop.

Recommended heroes

 * If taking damage was not enough of a punishment for attacking the Axe, then Blade Mail will make sane people cry. Few heroes can stomach taking damage from both abilities early on, and Blade Mail continues to be lethal in the late game, unlike Counter Helix which scales off.
 * As a side note, Blade Mail gives Axe much needed points in Intelligence early on, allowing him to cast a bit more before running out of juice.


 * forces enemies to engage Legion Commander head-on and attack her without pause, maximizing Blade Mail's efficiency if she is using it.


 * Similar to and, Clockwerk can stop heroes from running away from him and forces out engagements while continuously barraging the enemy with . Having Blade Mail makes it so much worse for them as Clockwerk's high health pool makes it very unlikely that he will die first
 * Clockwerk also benefits from all the stats Blade Mail provides.
 * The extra armor is very vital as Clockwerk is otherwise short in armor
 * The extra attack damage let him hit harder with his right-click
 * Clockwerk suffers badly from a miniature mana pool, so the extra Intelligence points are very needed.


 * Pairs really well with.
 * Elder Titan loves to be in the middle of the fight.

Tips

 * It is a powerful counter against and  to prevent enemies from attacking you while under the debuff. Just note that players who buy them will usually come with a, effectively shutting you down.
 * Enemies with copious amounts of damage resistance or high health could very easily ignore Blade Mail's ability. Heroes like, , and are good examples of said resistant heroes, as are items such as  or.
 * It can be useful to get Blade Mail if you get outcarried, to counter the DPS and turn the enemy's damage against them.
 * Buy it as a counter if the opposing team has high damage (crits, nukes or attack speed) and have low health. If timed properly, some heroes can get killed just from their own damage. And even if you cannot do that, it could make the enemy hesitant to attack you for seconds.
 * A good situation to use Blade Mail is if you're inflicted with a heavy damage over time ability. For example, you can kill (or severely damage) by walking around with, or  by staying under his . However, do make sure that you yourself can take the damage you'll be receiving, else you'll just be helping the enemy instead.
 * The return damage is only dealt to the unit who attacks. Therefore, ' mines, 's and 's  won't affect their main hero as they are considered separate units.
 * Since the Blade Mail returns damage on the unit that attacks the owner, you can use units to attack and the melee Necronomicon Warrior will die quicker to return 800 damage.
 * This is a commonly bought item for initiator heroes that can soak up some damage (commonly Strength heroes), such as or.
 * Blade Mail is less effective with evasion because it reduces the hits you receive, and thus the damage you can return.
 * It also loses effectiveness against enemies who can turn themselves or their allies invulnerable with abilities like or, or with , as Blade Mail cannot damage invulnerable units.
 * It is an ultimate counter against heroes who rely on critical strikes such as, , , etc. Also against or its upgrades  and.

Items Synergy

 * , and : these are good ganking and initiation items.
 * : will protect you from being attacked while under the debuff of the Mask of Madness.
 * : gives a lot of attack damage especially on intelligence heroes and the soul burn deals 30% of the damage returned by Blade Mail as magic damage. It is more effective against enemy carries.
 * : gives you more armor and damage block, allowing to return more physical damage than you take, since it gets reflected before reductions.
 * The same applies to magic resistance or any other source of damage reduction. For example, even if incoming damage is fully blocked by spells like, Blade Mail still reflects the full damage.

Counter items

 * : the mute takes out the enemy's ability to use his items for 5 seconds.
 * : with the active gives 7 armor and blocks 60-70 reflected damage. Less effective if you do critical strikes on the enemy.
 * : disables an enemy while the return damage is active.
 * : the active Unholy Rage gives a total of 200% lifesteal. So it heals more than the damage returned by Blade Mail.
 * : will disable your enemy from using the damage return.

Gallery
Cota de Lâminas Blade Mail 刃甲