Blade Mail is an item purchasable at the Base Shop, under Armor.

Blade Mail
A razor-sharp coat of mail, it is the choice of selfless martyrs in combat.
Armor Cost 2100 (550) Sell Value 1050 Active Damage Return Passive ? Damage Return (Passive) Bonus ? +7 Armor +18 Attack Damage Shareable Disassemble Usage Alert ? Recipe

Additional Information

• Multiple instances of Damage Return from Blade Mails do not stack.
• Fully stack with other no-reflection damage sources.

Ability

Damage Return

▶️▶️

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

For 5.5 seconds, the damage returned from all sources is increased by 85%.

Cast Animation:  0+0

Damage Returned: 85%

Duration: 5.5

 25

 25

Modifiers [?]

modifier_item_blade_mail_reflect

Death

• Does not interrupts the caster's channeling abilities upon cast.

• Upon cast, causes Blade Mail to reflect 105% of attack damage taken, plus the flat value.
  • Also causes Blade Mail to react on other instances of damage besides attack damage, returning 85% of the damage taken.
  • Returns the 3 damage types, but not self-inflicted damage and HP Removal effects (e.g. Sunder, Soul Ring etc.).

• Returns the same damage type as received.

Damage Return (Passive)

Ability
Passive

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

Everytime you are attacked, you return 20 damage plus 20% of the attack damage dealt to you.

Base Return Damage: 20

Damage Taken as Return Damage: 20%

• Only reacts on attack damage. Other sources of damage are ignored.

• Returns incoming damage before all manipulations. However, damage manipulation on the enemy still affects the damage normally.

• Reflected physical damage is affected by damage block as well.

• The returned damage is always dealt right after the incoming damage.

• Returned damage has the no-reflection flag, preventing its damage from interacting with other sources of damage with the same flag.
  • Fully procs on-damage effects, except those which have a minimum damage threshold (e.g. Gravekeeper's Cloak).

• The damage has the no-spell-lifesteal flag, preventing its damage from utilising spell lifesteal.

• The damage has the no-spell-amplification flag, preventing its damage from being amplified with spell damage amplification.

• Returns damage back to the source. This means damage done by summons is reflected back to the summons, not to their owner.

• Damage Return has a global range and affects units through the Fog of War or invisibility.

• Does not work against wards, buildings and allied units.

Recommended Heroes

• If taking Counter Helix damage was not enough of a punishment for attacking the Axe, then Blade Mail will make sane people cry. Few heroes can take damage from both abilities early on, and Blade Mail continues to be lethal in the late game, unlike Counter Helix which scales off.

• A highly durable hero, his namesake Bristleback helps him last longer in teamfights. Combined with Blade Mail, this provides him a significant increase in both offense and defense.

• Similar to Axe and Legion Commander, Clockwerk can stop heroes from running away from him and forces out engagements while continuously barraging the enemy with Battery Assault. 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

• Pairs really well with Natural Order.
• Elder Titan loves to be in the middle of the fight.

• She can heal up quickly and will slow any direct attacker thanks to her passive, forcing anyone to cast strong spells on her to deal significant damage only to get it reflected back at them.

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

• Having a natural heal ability Death Pulse, he can slip away and heal in the process easily.

• Already having a damage reflect ability Dispersion Spectre ensures no one touches her as long as blade barrier is active.

• Enduring tons of damage Wraith King can have breathing space.

Tips

• It is a powerful counter against Bloodthorn and Silver Edge to prevent enemies from attacking you while under the debuff.
• Enemies with copious amounts of damage resistance or high health could very easily ignore Blade Mail's ability. Heroes like Ursa, Spectre, and Abaddon are good examples of said resistant heroes, as are items such as Pipe of Insight or Heart of Tarrasque.
• 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 5.5 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) Bloodseeker by walking around with Rupture, or Tinker by staying under his March of the Machines. 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, Techies' mines, Witch Doctor's Death Ward and Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward 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 Book of the Dead 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 Clockwerk or Spirit Breaker.
• Blade Mail is less effective with evasion and attack slow 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 Phase Shift or Astral Imprisonment, or with Eul's Scepter of Divinity, as Blade Mail cannot damage invulnerable units.
• It is an ultimate counter against heroes who rely on critical strikes such as Phantom Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Wraith King, etc. Also against Crystalys or its upgrade Daedalus.

Items Synergy

• Shadow Blade, Blink Dagger and Force Staff: these are good ganking and initiation items.
• Mask of Madness: will protect you from being attacked while under the debuff of the Mask of Madness.
• Crimson Guard: 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 Borrowed Time, Blade Mail still reflects the full damage.

Gallery

• 
  Activating Blade Mail
• 
  Icon when Molten Claw is equipped

Recent Changes