Damage types

Attack Damage

 

Heroes' Main Attack Damage

 

Spell Damage

 

Damage Types

 

Damage is any means by which unit's current health can be reduced. The 3 main damage classifications are Physical, Magical and Pure.

Damage Sources

Main Articles: Attack Damage and Spell Damage

Damage can come from attacks, abilities and items. Attack damage is the damage dealt per attack, and is displayed on the sword icon in the HUD. Generally, damage sources are split into two big categories — Attack Damage and Spell Damage.

Attack damage ( $A$ ) is the amount of damage a unit is shown to deal with a regular attack. A unit's total attack damage is the sum of its main attack damage (white) and bonus attack damage (green). Most attack damage are physical damage, however, there are some exceptions to this.

Spell damage ( $Sp$ ) is usually damage dealt in a separate instance from attack damage, with some exceptions. This includes all abilities (including item abilities and attack modifiers) which deal the 3 damage types — magical, physical or pure damage.

Damage Classification

All forms of damage in Dota 2 are classified by damage types. There are 3 primary damage types: Physical, Magical, and Pure.

Physical Damage is reduced by Armor or Damage Block, Magical Damage is reduced by Magic Resistance and Magical Damage Barrier, while Pure Damage is not generally reduced by anything (except for damage reduction, e.g. Enrage and Defense Matrix, which affects all damage types).

All 3 damage types have some interaction with other damage-related game mechanics as noted in the table below. Some damage sources may also have the HP Removal flag, causing the damage to ignore some mechanics which would manipulate it otherwise.

Mechanic	Damage Type Interaction
	Physical Attacks	Physical Abilities	Magical Attacks	Magical Abilities	Pure Attacks	Pure Abilities
Armor	Reduced	Reduced	-	-	-	-
Damage Block	Reduced	Normal1	-	-	-	-
Magic Resistance	-	-	Reduced	Reduced	-	-
Magical Damage Barrier	-	-			-	-
Ethereal			Amplified	Amplified	-	-
Evasion	May Miss	-	May Miss	-	May Miss	-
Invulnerability	No effect on all damage types.
Damage Manipulation2	Amplifies, Reduces and Negates all damage types.
Damage Negation2

¹ Except Moon Glaives, although considered as spell damage, its damage is blocked.

² These categories only count ability effects which directly manipulate damage, reducing (e.g. Bristleback), amplifying (e.g. Bloodrage) or completely negating them (e.g. Refraction). Abilities that amplify or reduce damage by increasing/reducing magic resistance/armor of units are not included.

Spell Immunity

Default buff icon
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Main Article: Spell Immunity

Spell immunity (formerly known as magic immunity) is a modifier which prevents most spells to target the affected unit. This includes single-targeted, area of effect, passive and active abilities.

Spell immunity itself does not interact with damage at all. If an ability pierces spell immunity and has a damage component, its damage will still be applied normally, regardless of its damage type. Therefore, spell immunity only governs if an ability has any effect, not its damage types (nor its damage values).

A 0 damage instance is still registered and still may proc on-damage effect, unless it is flagged as HP Removal.

If an ability does not pierce spell immunity, it does not attempt to damage spell immune units either, regardless of the damage type. In order for an ability to damage spell immune units, it must be set to pierce spell immunity, or it must be already affecting it in case of buffs/debuffs.

Physical

Most attack damage from all units (including buildings) and certain abilities deal physical damage, unless stated otherwise. The total physical damage dealt to a unit is affected by armor (percentage reductions) and damage block (flat reductions). Units under ethereal are not affected by physical damage.

Some abilities (e.g. Guardian Angel and Cold Embrace) provides physical damage immunity, although they can still be targeted by attacks and abilities.

Physical damage from abilities (and theoretically items) is usually unaffected by defense class. Unless it directly manipulates the attack damage (i.e. attack damage increasing abilities or Exorcism). Physical damage (except for Moon Glaives) from these attack damage increasing abilities are affected by armor, but are not affected by evasion and damage block.

The following abilities deal physical damage (summoning abilities and attack damage buffs are not listed):

Abilities Dealing Physical Damage

• Abyssal Blade – Bash^{1, 2}
• Alchemist – Acid Spray
• Alchemist – Unstable Concoction
• Alchemist – Unstable Concoction Throw
• Anti-Mage – Mana Break^{1, 2}
• Axe – Battle Hunger
• Bash – Bash^{1, 2}
• Battle Fury – Cleave²
• Blade Mail – Damage Return (Passive)
• Brigand's Blade – Dark Mercy
• Bristleback – Quill Spray
• Bruiser's Maul – Bash^{1, 2}
• Centaur Warrunner – Retaliate
• Chipped Vest – Passive
• Cleave – Cleave²
• Clinkz – Searing Arrows
• Dazzle – Bad Juju
• Dazzle – Poison Touch
• Dazzle – Shadow Wave
• Death Prophet – Exorcism²
• Diffusal Blade – Manabreak^{1, 2}
• Dragon Knight – Elder Dragon Form²
• Drow Ranger – Frost Arrows
• Drow Ranger – Marksmanship^{1, 2}
• Drow Ranger – Multishot
• Elder Titan – Earth Splitter³
• Elder Titan – Echo Stomp³
• Kunkka – Tidebringer²
• Lifestealer – Feast^{1, 2}
• Luna – Moon Glaives⁴
• Magnus – Empower²
• Mirana – Mana Break^{1, 2}
• Monkey King – Wukong's Command
• Primal Beast – Trample
• Razor – Eye of the Storm
• Riki – Cloak and Dagger^{1, 2}
• Shadow Blade – Shadow Walk^{1, 2}
• Shadow Shaman – Mass Serpent Ward
• Silver Edge – Shadow Walk^{1, 2}
• Skeleton Archer – Searing Arrows
• Skull Basher – Bash^{1, 2}
• Slardar – Bash of the Deep^{1, 2}
• Slardar – Slithereen Crush
• Sniper – Headshot^{1, 2}
• Sven – Great Cleave²
• Templar Assassin – Meld
• The Leveller – Demolish
• Tiny – Tree Grab
• Ursa – Fury Swipes^{1, 2}
• Weaver – Mana Break^{1, 2}
• Weaver – The Swarm⁴

¹ Damage is directly added to the total attack damage.

² Damage from these abilities is affected by defense class as well.

³ Half of damage dealt is physical, the other half magical.

⁴ Damage dealt is blocked by damage block.

Magical

Main Articles: Magic Resistance and Ethereal

Magical Damage sources primarily come from abilities. The majority of abilities in game deal magical damage, unless stated otherwise. Magical damage is reduced by magic resistance, and its damage is amplified against ethereal units. The majority of abilities in Dota 2 deal magical damage.

Abilities Dealing Magical Damage

• Abaddon – Aphotic Shield
• Abaddon – Mist Coil
• Ancient Apparition – Chilling Touch
• Ancient Apparition – Cold Feet
• Ancient Apparition – Ice Blast
• Ancient Black Dragon – Fireball
• Ancient Ice Shaman – Icefire Bomb
• Ancient Thunderhide – Slam
• Anti-Mage – Mana Void
• Arc Warden – Flux
• Arc Warden – Spark Wraith
• Astral Spirit – Echo Stomp
• Batrider – Firefly
• Batrider – Flamebreak
• Batrider – Flaming Lasso
• Batrider – Sticky Napalm
• Beastmaster – Primal Roar
• Beastmaster – Wild Axes
• Blast Rig – Hair Trigger
• Bloodseeker – Blood Mist
• Bloodthorn – Soul Rend
• Bounty Hunter – Shuriken Toss
• Brewmaster – Thunder Clap
• Broodmother – Silken Bola
• Broodmother – Spawn Spiderlings
• Broodmother – Spinner's Snare
• Centaur Conqueror – War Stomp
• Centaur Warrunner – Double Edge
• Centaur Warrunner – Hoof Stomp
• Centaur Warrunner – Stampede
• Ceremonial Robe – Ceremonial Aura
• Chaos Knight – Chaos Bolt
• Cloak of Flames – Immolate
• Clockwerk – Battery Assault
• Clockwerk – Hookshot
• Clockwerk – Power Cogs
• Clockwerk – Rocket Flare
• Crystal Maiden – Crystal Nova
• Crystal Maiden – Freezing Field
• Crystal Maiden – Frostbite
• Dagon – Energy Burst
• Dagon 1 – Energy Burst
• Dagon 2 – Energy Burst
• Dagon 3 – Energy Burst
• Dagon 4 – Energy Burst
• Dagon 5 – Energy Burst
• Dark Seer – Ion Shell
• Dark Seer – Normal Punch
• Dark Seer – Vacuum
• Dark Willow – Bedlam
• Dark Willow – Bramble Maze
• Dark Willow – Shadow Realm
• Dawnbreaker – Celestial Hammer
• Dawnbreaker – Solar Guardian
• Death Prophet – Crypt Swarm
• Death Prophet – Spirit Siphon
• Disruptor – Static Storm
• Disruptor – Thunder Strike
• Doom – Infernal Blade
• Doom – Scorched Earth
• Dragon Knight – Breathe Fire
• Dragon Knight – Dragon Tail
• Dragon Knight – Elder Dragon Form
• Dragon Knight – Fireball
• Dragon Scale – Afterburn
• Dust of Appearance – Reveal
• Earth – Hurl Boulder
• Earth Spirit – Boulder Smash
• Earth Spirit – Enchant Remnant
• Earth Spirit – Geomagnetic Grip
• Earth Spirit – Magnetize
• Earth Spirit – Rolling Boulder
• Earthshaker – Aftershock
• Earthshaker – Echo Slam
• Earthshaker – Fissure
• Elder Titan – Astral Spirit
• Elder Titan – Earth Splitter
• Elder Titan – Echo Stomp
• Ember Spirit – Activate Fire Remnant
• Ember Spirit – Flame Guard
• Ember Spirit – Searing Chains
• Enchanted Quiver – Certain Strike
• Enigma – Malefice
• Enigma – Midnight Pulse
• Ethereal Blade – Ether Blast
• Eul's Scepter of Divinity – Cyclone
• Faceless Void – Time Dilation
• Faceless Void – Time Lock
• Fae Grenade – Shadow Brand
• Familiar – Stone Form
• Fire – Permanent Immolation
• Giant's Ring – Giant's Foot
• Gleipnir – Chain Lightning
• Gleipnir – Eternal Chains
• Grimstroke – Ink Swell
• Grimstroke – Phantom's Embrace
• Grimstroke – Stroke of Fate
• Gyrocopter – Call Down
• Gyrocopter – Homing Missile
• Gyrocopter – Rocket Barrage
• Harpy Stormcrafter – Chain Lightning
• Hawk – Dive Bomb
• Hellbear Smasher – Thunder Clap
• Hoodwink – Bushwhack
• Hoodwink – Hunter's Boomerang
• Hoodwink – Sharpshooter
• Huskar – Burning Spear
• Huskar – Inner Fire
• Huskar – Life Break
• Invoker – Chaos Meteor
• Invoker – Cold Snap
• Invoker – Deafening Blast
• Invoker – EMP
• Invoker – Ice Wall
• Invoker – Tornado
• Io – Spirits
• Jakiro – Dual Breath
• Jakiro – Ice Path
• Jakiro – Liquid Fire
• Jakiro – Liquid Frost
• Jakiro – Macropyre
• Javelin – Pierce
• Juggernaut – Blade Fury
• Keeper of the Light – Blinding Light
• Keeper of the Light – Illuminate
• Keeper of the Light – Illuminate (Spirit Form)
• Kunkka – Ghostship
• Kunkka – Tidal Wave
• Kunkka – Torrent
• Kunkka – Torrent Storm
• Legion Commander – Overwhelming Odds
• Leshrac – Lightning Storm
• Leshrac – Pulse Nova
• Leshrac – Split Earth
• Lich – Chain Frost
• Lich – Frost Blast
• Lifestealer – Consume
• Lina – Dragon Slave
• Lina – Laguna Blade
• Lina – Light Strike Array
• Lion – Earth Spike
• Lion – Finger of Death
• Lone Druid – Entangling Claws
• Luna – Eclipse
• Luna – Lucent Beam
• Lycan Lane Wolf – Cripple
• Lycan Wolf – Cripple
• Maelstrom – Chain Lightning
• Magnus – Horn Toss
• Magnus – Reverse Polarity
• Magnus – Shockwave
• Magnus – Skewer
• Marci – Dispose
• Marci – Rebound
• Marci – Unleash
• Mars – Arena Of Blood
• Mars – Spear of Mars
• Medusa – Cold Blooded
• Medusa – Mystic Snake
• Meteor Hammer – Meteor Hammer
• Mirana – Sacred Arrow
• Mirana – Starstorm
• Mjollnir – Chain Lightning
• Mjollnir – Static Charge
• Monkey King – Primal Spring
• Monkey King Bar – Pierce
• Morphling – Adaptive Strike (Agility)
• Morphling – Waveform
• Mud Golem – Hurl Boulder
• Naga Siren – Rip Tide
• Nature's Prophet – Wrath of Nature
• Necronomicon Warrior – Last Will
• Necrophos – Death Pulse
• Necrophos – Heartstopper Aura
• Necrophos – Reaper's Scythe
• Night Stalker – Void
• Nyx Assassin – Impale
• Nyx Assassin – Mana Burn
• Ogre Bruiser – Ogre Smash!
• Ogre Magi – Fire Shield
• Ogre Magi – Fireblast
• Ogre Magi – Ignite
• Ogre Magi – Unrefined Fireblast
• Oracle – Fortune's End
• Oracle – Purifying Flames
• Oracle – Rain of Destiny
• Orb of Corrosion – Corrosion
• Orb of Venom – Poison Attack
• Orchid Malevolence – Soul Burn
• Outworld Destroyer – Astral Imprisonment
• Outworld Destroyer – Sanity's Eclipse
• Overwhelming Blink – Overwhelming Blink
• Pangolier – Roll Up
• Pangolier – Rolling Thunder
• Pangolier – Shield Crash
• Phantom Lancer – Spirit Lance
• Phoenix – Fire Spirits
• Phoenix – Icarus Dive
• Phoenix – Sun Ray
• Phoenix – Supernova
• Primal Beast – Onslaught
• Primal Beast – Pulverize
• Psionic Trap – Trap
• Puck – Dream Coil
• Puck – Illusory Orb
• Puck – Waning Rift
• Pudge – Dismember
• Pudge – Rot
• Pugna – Life Drain
• Pugna – Nether Blast
• Pugna – Nether Ward
• Queen of Pain – Scream of Pain
• Queen of Pain – Shadow Strike
• Radiance – Burn
• Razor – Plasma Field
• Revenant's Brooch – Phantom Province
• Revenant's Brooch – Witch Blade
• Riki – Blink Strike
• Riki – Sleeping Dart
• Roshan – Slam
• Rubick – Fade Bolt
• Sand King – Burrowstrike
• Sand King – Caustic Finale
• Sand King – Epicenter
• Sand King – Sand Storm
• Satyr Mindstealer – Mana Burn
• Satyr Tormenter – Shockwave
• Shadow Demon – Demonic Purge
• Shadow Demon – Shadow Poison
• Shadow Fiend – Requiem of Souls
• Shadow Fiend – Shadowraze (Far)
• Shadow Fiend – Shadowraze (Medium)
• Shadow Fiend – Shadowraze (Near)
• Shadow Shaman – Ether Shock
• Shadow Shaman – Shackles
• Shard Golem – Hurl Boulder
• Shiva's Guard – Arctic Blast
• Silencer – Arcane Curse
• Silencer – Last Word
• Skywrath Mage – Arcane Bolt
• Skywrath Mage – Concussive Shot
• Skywrath Mage – Mystic Flare
• Slark – Dark Pact
• Slark – Pounce
• Snapfire – Firesnap Cookie
• Snapfire – Mortimer Kisses
• Snapfire – Scatterblast
• Snapfire – Spit Out
• Sniper – Assassinate
• Sniper – Concussive Grenade
• Sniper – Shrapnel
• Spectre – Shadow Step
• Spectre – Spectral Dagger
• Spirit Bear – Entangling Claws
• Spirit Breaker – Greater Bash
• Spirit Breaker – Nether Strike
• Spirit Vessel – Soul Release
• Storm – Dispel Magic
• Storm Spirit – Ball Lightning
• Storm Spirit – Overload
• Storm Spirit – Static Remnant
• Stormcrafter – Bottled Lightning
• Sven – Storm Hammer
• Techies – Blast Off!
• Techies – Proximity Mines
• Techies – Sticky Bomb
• Tempest Double – Flux
• Tempest Double – Spark Wraith
• Templar Assassin – Psionic Projection
• Templar Assassin – Trap
• Tidehunter – Gush
• Tidehunter – Ravage
• Timbersaw – Flamethrower
• Tinker – Heat-Seeking Missile
• Tinker – Warp Flare
• Tiny – Avalanche
• Tiny – Toss
• Tornado – Tempest
• Treant Protector – Leech Seed
• Treant Protector – Nature's Grasp
• Treant Protector – Overgrowth
• Troll Warlord – Berserker's Rage
• Troll Warlord – Whirling Axes (Melee)
• Troll Warlord – Whirling Axes (Ranged)
• Tusk – Ice Shards
• Tusk – Snowball
• Tusk – Walrus Kick
• Underlord – Firestorm
• Undying – Decay
• Undying – Soul Rip
• Urn of Shadows – Soul Release
• Ursa – Earthshock
• Vengeful Spirit – Magic Missile
• Vengeful Spirit – Nether Swap
• Vengeful Spirit – Wave of Terror
• Venomancer – Poison Nova
• Venomancer – Poison Sting
• Venomancer – Venomous Gale
• Viper – Corrosive Skin
• Viper – Nethertoxin
• Viper – Poison Attack
• Viper – Viper Strike
• Visage – Soul Assumption
• Void Spirit – Aether Remnant
• Void Spirit – Astral Step
• Void Spirit – Dissimilate
• Void Spirit – Resonant Pulse
• Warlock – Shadow Word
• Warlock Golem – Permanent Immolation
• Warpine Raider – Seed Shot
• Weaver – Shukuchi
• Wind Waker – Cyclone
• Windranger – Powershot
• Winter Wyvern – Arctic Burn
• Winter Wyvern – Splinter Blast
• Witch Blade – Witch Blade
• Witch Doctor – Maledict
• Witch Doctor – Paralyzing Cask
• Witchbane – Subjugate
• Wraith King – Wraithfire Blast
• Wraith Pact – Wraith's Reprisal
• Zeus – Arc Lightning
• Zeus – Heavenly Jump
• Zeus – Lightning Bolt
• Zeus – Nimbus
• Zeus – Static Field
• Zeus – Thundergod's Wrath

Pure

Pure Damage is a damage type that is not reduced by Armor or Magic Resistance. It is also not amplified by magical damage amplification abilities, fully ignores Armor and Damage Block. It does not affect invulnerable units.

There are a few sources that can manipulate Pure Damage, with Dispersion being one of them. This mechanic is called damage reduction. Pure damage affects units with Spell Immunity (because spell immunity does not block damage), but that does not mean that an ability that deals pure damage is able to target spell immune units.

For example, Laser deals pure damage, but cannot be cast on units with spell immunity.

Abilities Dealing Pure Damage

• Axe – Counter Helix
• Axe – Culling Blade
• Bane – Brain Sap
• Bane – Fiend's Grip
• Bane – Nightmare
• Bloodseeker – Blood Rite
• Bloodseeker – Bloodrage
• Bloodseeker – Rupture
• Bloodstone – Bloodpact
• Doom – Doom
• Enchantress – Impetus
• Enigma – Black Hole
• Invoker – Sun Strike
• Leshrac – Diabolic Edict
• Lone Druid – Summon Spirit Bear
• Meepo – Poof
• Meepo – Ransack
• Nyx Assassin – Vendetta
• Omniknight – Hammer of Purity
• Omniknight – Purification
• Oracle – False Promise
• Outworld Destroyer – Arcane Orb
• Phantom Assassin – Fan of Knives
• Pudge – Meat Hook
• Queen of Pain – Sonic Wave
• Silencer – Glaives of Wisdom
• Spectre – Desolate
• Templar Assassin – Psi Blades
• Timbersaw – Chakram
• Timbersaw – Second Chakram
• Timbersaw – Timber Chain
• Timbersaw – Whirling Death
• Tinker – Laser
• Warlock Golem – Flaming Fists

¹ Mist Coil deals pure damage to the caster, but magical damage to the target.

² Requires a talent.

³ Requires Aghanim's Scepter.

⁴ Requires Aghanim's Shard.

Flags

Several abilities have certain flags that cause them to behave differently in certain situations, all abilities can be flagged, regardless of damage types. There are two different flags used — the HP Removal and the No-reflection flag.

HP Removal

Abilities with the HP Removal flag fully ignore any form of damage manipulation (with a few exceptions listed below), damage from these abilities cannot be amplified, reduced nor negated. It also ignores and do not trigger any on-damage effects, making them unable to cancel consumables (e.g. Clarity). In some cases, it ignores invulnerability as well. Damage ignored this way is still registered as such and may be counted for statistic purposes.

However, the ability's damage values can still be affected by its damage classification as usual (i.e. Magical damage with HP Removal can still be affected by magic resistance and magical damage barriers).

Abilities using the HP Removal Flag

• Bloodstone – Bloodpact
• Kunkka – Ghostship¹
• Necrophos – Heartstopper Aura
• Oracle – False Promise¹
• Orb of Venom – Poison Attack
• Orb of Corrosion – Corrosion
• Spectre – Dispersion
• Techies – Blast Off!²
• Undying – Soul Rip
• Venomancer – Poison Sting

¹ These abilities delay damage. The delayed damage is pure and has the HP Removal flag.

² Current health as cost is considered HP Removal to the caster.

Setting Health

Main Article: Setting Health

Besides healing and damaging, a unit's health may also be directly altered by setting it to certain values. Health altered this way is neither registered as a heal, nor as damage, and therefore is ignored by anything that reacts on healing and damage. It can also never be lethal, and can never set the health beyond the unit's maximum health.

HP Removal is not the same as Setting Health. HP Removal is still damage, but flagged to bypasses several but not all on-damage effects, and can still be lethal.

On-Damage Effects

Besides all sources of damage manipulation and spell lifesteal, the following abilities do not react on damage which has the HP Removal flag:

Abilities Unaffected by HP Removal Damage

• Aegis of the Immortal – Expire Restore
• Bane – Nightmare
• Batrider – Sticky Napalm
• Blade Mail – Damage Return
• Blink Dagger – Blink
• Bloodthorn – Soul Rend
• Bottle – Regenerate
• Bristleback – Bristleback
• Broodmother – Spin Web
• Clarity – Replenish
• Elder Titan – Echo Stomp
• Healing Salve – Salve
• Invoker – Cold Snap
• Lifestealer – Open Wounds
• Mjollnir – Static Charge
• Monkey King – Tree Dance
• Monkey King – Mischief
• Nyx Assassin – Spiked Carapace
• Orchid Malevolence – Soul Burn
• Regeneration Rune – Regeneration
• Spirit Bear – Return
• Tidehunter – Kraken Shell
• Urn of Shadows – Soul Release
• Viper – Corrosive Skin
• Visage – Soul Assumption
• Visage – Gravekeeper's Cloak
• Warlock – Fatal Bonds

No-reflection

The no-reflection flag causes on-damage events not to interact with the damage of abilities which have the no-reflection flag. This is to prevent infinite damage loops in case of 2 opposing heroes with Blade Mails.

Damage Sources with No-reflection Flag

• Arcanist's Armor – Mega Shield
• Blade Mail – Damage Return
• Nyx Assassin – Spiked Carapace
• Spectre – Dispersion
• Viper – Corrosive Skin
• Warlock – Fatal Bonds

The following abilities do not react to abilities with the No-reflection flag:

Abilities that do not react to the No-reflection flag

• Arcanist's Armor – Mega Shield
• Batrider – Sticky Napalm
• Blade Mail – Damage Return
• Bristleback – Bristleback
• Nyx Assassin – Spiked Carapace
• Spectre – Dispersion
• Viper – Corrosive Skin
• Warlock – Fatal Bonds

Instant Kill

This mechanic kill units without the actual use of damage. Similar to HP Removal, the instant kill effect ignore almost all damage manipulations and can only be prevented by a few abilities.

The most prominent example that uses this mechanic is expiring summoned units and illusions, which are killed once their set duration ends. Summons and illusions that get replaced on cast are killed this way as well. Min health via damage manipulation does not prevent instant kill.

Abilities that prevents or bypass instant killing usually have its special interactions hard-coded into the abilities.

Instant Kill Sources

• Ancient Apparition - Ice Blast
  
  Instantly kills debuffed enemy heroes who drop below the threshold.
• Axe - Culling Blade
  
  Instantly kills the target if their current health is below the threshold.
• Brewmaster - Primal Split
  
  Instantly kills the caster if all brewlings die.
• Lone Druid - Summon Spirit Bear
  
  Instantly kills the Spirit Bear upon leveling up the ability, replacing it with a higher level bear.
  Instantly kills the Spirit Bear if the caster dies. This restriction is removed when acquring Aghanim's Scepter.
• Meepo - Divided We Stand
  
  Instantly kills all other Meepoes when one of the Meepoes die.
• Phoenix - Supernova
  
  Instantly kills the caster and the targeted ally if the Phoenix Sun is destroyed.

Illusions

These abilities instantly destroy illusions when used on them, unless the illusions are strong illusions.

Instant Killing Illusion Abilities

• Dagon – Energy Burst
• Dazzle – Poison Touch⁴
• Disruptor – Glimpse
• Lion – Hex
• Lion – Mana Drain
• Pugna – Life Drain⁵
• Scythe of Vyse – Hex
• Snapfire – Gobble Up^1,3
• Snapfire – Spit Out^1,3
• Shadow Shaman – Hex

¹ Instantly kills the target upon landing if it is not a hero or a clone.

² Requires a talent.

³ Requires Aghanim's Scepter.

⁴ Requires Aghanim's Shard.

⁵ Kills illusions on the first tick, not upon cast.

Creeps

Instant Killing Creeps Abilities

• Axe – Culling Blade⁵
• Chen – Holy Persuasion¹
• Doom – Devour
• Enchantress – Enchant¹
• Enigma – Demonic Conversion
• Hand of Midas – Transmute
• Helm of the Dominator – Dominate¹
• Helm of the Overlord – Dominate¹
• Lifestealer – Consume
• Mirana – Sacred Arrow
• Pudge – Meat Hook
• Snapfire – Gobble Up^3,6
• Snapfire – Spit Out^3,6

¹ Instantly kills the oldest captured unit if the max amount of units gets exceeded.

² Requires a talent.

³ Requires Aghanim's Scepter.

⁴ Requires Aghanim's Shard.

⁵ Instantly kills the target if their current health is below the threshold.

⁶ Instantly kills the target upon landing if it is not a hero or a clone.

Damage Manipulation

Main Article: Damage Manipulation

Damage manipulation is a mechanic that alters damage values, either increasing or reducing it. Damage can be manipulated on both ends, from the dealing unit (outgoing damage) and the receiving unit (incoming damage). Armor and magic resistance are the most common damage manipulators, affecting incoming physical and magical damage respectively. Besides armor and magic resistance, a general damage manipulator exists, which is used by almost all other sources of damage manipulation. This manipulator is more flexible, and can amplify or reduce any kind of damage and may affect attack damage, spell damage, or both at the same time.

Trivia

The following damage types were removed in version 6.82.

Composite

Composite damage (also known as mixed damage) was a damage type that was reduced by both armor and magic resistance. It pierced spell immunity and did not affect ethereal units. This damage type was used by Acid Spray, Wild Axes, Diabolic Edict, Summon Spirit Bear's backlash damage, Land Mines and Suicide Squad, Attack!.

All of them were changed to physical damage, except for the backlash damage from the Spirit Bear, which was changed to pure damage.

Universal

Universal damage was a damage type that pierced spell immunity and was affected by magic resistance. This damage type was previously used by Pulverize, Doom, Echo Slam's initial damage, Midnight Pulse, Laguna Blade, March of the Machines and Flaming Fists.

Doom, Midnight Pulse, Flaming Fists and Laguna Blade were changed to deal pure damage, allowing them to still pierce spell immunity, while Pulverize, Echo Slam's initial damage and March of the Machines were changed to deal magical damage, and thus no longer pierce spell immunity.

Mechanics Main Stats Armor Attributes ( Strength / Agility / Intelligence) Health & Mana (HP Regen & MP Regen) Magic Resistance Movement Speed Status Resistance Turn Rate Misc Collision Size Gib Type / Shades Legs Vision Abilities Type Active / Passive / Autocast Aura Accuracy / Evasion Channeling Damage Block / Magic Damage Barrier Damage Manipulation Damage Over Time Talents Teleport Targeting Area No Target Point Unit Vector Combinations Casting Cast Range / Motion Buffer Cast Animation (Cast Point + Backswing) Cooldown Reduction (Flat / Current Flat / Percentage) Reset Charge-based Attack Damage Attack Damage Instant Attack Heroes Attack Classes Attack Range (Acquisition Range) Attack Speed (BAT / Interval) Damage Types (Physical / Magical / Pure / Instant Kill) Flags (HP Removal / No-reflection) Projectile Speed Spell Damage (Outgoing / Incoming) Modifiers Bash Cleave / Splash Corruption Critical Strike Lifesteal / Spell Lifesteal Mana Break On-hit Effects Animation Definition Orb Walking Status Effects Disables Cyclone Disabling Orders Forced Movement (Knockback) / Upward Movement Fear (Hypnosis) Hide Hex Root Leash Stun Sleep Taunt Movement Move Speed Slow Flying Movement Phased / Tree Walk / Unobstructed Movement Other Attack Immune Attack Speed Slow Spell Immunity Invulnerability Invisibility Blind Break Disarm Ethereal Silence Mute Trap Items Mechanics Sharing / Selling Disassemble Recipes Neutral Item Drop