The Best Strength Aghanim's Shard Upgrades in Dota 2

One of the most delightful changes introduced in Dota 2 in recent years is the addition of Aghanim's Shard to the game. After 15 minutes have elapsed in a game, players can buy a Shard which upgrades one of their spells or grants them a new one until the match concludes.

Not all Shards are created equal. Some upgrades can completely change how a hero is played, while others are negligible. In this article, we will list the best Strength Aghanim's Shard upgrades in Dota 2

The five best Aghanim's Shard upgrades for Strength heroes

Centaur Warrunner

Defense and offense all in one package (Credit: Valve).

Causes Double Edge to slow enemy heroes and increase Centaur's strength per hero hit for a short time. Duration refreshes per stack, up to a max of 5 stacks.

There's a lot to like in upgrading Double Edge. The spell slows enemies by 25% for two seconds, which is nice but not the reason players should get it.

The real upgrade is getting an extra 15% strength for each enemy hit by the spell. The buff lasts for 15 seconds and gets fully refreshed each time a hero is hit. Hitting the same hero multiple times counts, so players don't need to aim for different targets to get more Double Edge stacks.

Centaur Warrunner can increase his strength by an astounding 75% with his Aghanim's Shard. A level 20 Centaur with no items at all gains more than 16 strength each time he uses Double Edge.

Not only does this grant the hero a huge amount of extra durability, but all those points of strength also translate to more damaging hits from Double Edge and Retaliate.

Hurting enemies while getting stronger, what more can you ask for? If you're playing Centaur, getting his Shard as early as possible is well worth it.

Treant Protector

Yeah, good luck escaping this guy. (Credit: Valve)

Causes Treant to move faster and become invisible with Nature's Guise and root enemies upon attacking. Deals damage over time and roots for longer if the attack was near a tree.

Treant has a lot of things going on for him. He is a lane bully, provides global healing to allies and towers, comes with a great teamfight ultimate, and on top of all that, he might have the best strength Aghanim's Shard upgrade for supports.

Firstly the hero gains an extra 15% movement speed in trees, which adds up to 27% total. Trees are amazingly good with motion if you ask me. He also becomes invisible, making it a challenge to find and kill Treant Protector.

Players also get another disable for the hero, a one-to-two-second root depending on his location. This is incredibly powerful because as thanks to his invisibility, Treant becomes amazing at finding split-pushing enemies and pinning them down for his allies to get kills.

Oh and just for fun, the spell also deals 200 damage. It's not exactly game-breaking but it can make the difference in enemies dying or escaping with a sliver of health.

Tidehunter

Dead in the Water is pretty bonkers. (Credit: Valve).

Dead in the water: Tidehunter attaches a heavy anchor to an enemy hero. The hero is leashed while attached to the anchor. Attempting to move more than 350.0 units away from the anchor forces the hero to 100.0 move speed, dragging the anchor behind them. The anchor can be destroyed with 5.0 hero attacks.

One thing that is important to note about Dead in the Water is that it reveals invisible enemies, making it a counter to them.

Another thing that makes this such an amazing Strength Aghanim's Shard upgrade is that the slow ignores the enemy's movement speed. This means they will only move at 100 speed regardless of whether they have buffs such as Shukuchi or Surge used.

Tidehunter's Shard upgrade is one of the longest disables in Dota 2, lasting for 10 seconds. Unlike some other slows that players can choose to withstand for a couple of seconds, Dead in the Water lasts forever. You have got to hit it to remove it, cause ignoring it is not an option.

Oh, and it also deals 200 damage, cause why the hell not?

Kunkka

Let's give the pirate yet another ability to move enemies. (Credit: Valve)

Tidal Wave: Releases a Tidal Wave that spawns behind Kunkka. Deals damage and drags enemies along it for the duration. Enemies cannot attack while being dragged.

It's wild to see Kunkka moving around the map with four(!) disables. I mean kudos to the guy but some heroes don't even have slows and this guy has four.

Tidal Wave is a pretty awesome ability. It allows Kunkka to separate his enemies and force some of them closer to kill or further away to escape. Similar to a lot of the hero's kit, it's a versatile ability. Players can combine it with X Marks the Spot for easy set-up.

The spell deals 180 damage, which is a nice bonus. It only has a 12-second cooldown, which is absurdly low for such a powerful ability. You can spam this spell and not worry about missing it due to its fast recharge time.

It takes a bit of practice to perfect, but once players nail down the combo, Tidal Wave claims its place as one of the best Strength Aghanim's Shard upgrades in Dota 2.

Slardar

Slardar's greatest strength is his versatility. (Credit: Valve)

Increases Slithereen Crush radius, and causes it to apply Corrosive Haze for a short time to units affected.

One of the most annoying parts of playing Slardar is using Corrosive Haze in fights. Players blink in, stun, and then waste their time using Corrosive Hase due to its long cast animation.

If only there was a way to solve that problem for the low price of just 1,400 gold.

Being able to jump into a fight, stun multiple enemies, and reduce all their armor at once is very powerful. This not only greatly boosts Slardar's damage but it also helps his allies as well.

Corrosive Haze only lasts five seconds when applied this way but that's long enough to bring down even the tankiest opponents (unless they are Centaur with five stacks of Double Edge).

Slitheren Crush also gets bigger when upgraded, going from 350 to 425 Radius. That might not seem like a big increase but it's pretty huge in practice.

I need to work on my photo editing skills but the bonus is obvious.... right?

Since Slitheren Crush has a seven-second cooldown, that means enemies only have two seconds with their armor intact. Even those two seconds evaporate once Slardar takes his level-25 talent.

Another benefit of the Shard is it allows Slardar to track invisible enemies. If you suspect someone is nearby, use Slithere Crush and it will automatically reveal that pesky Riki. This can't be done without the Shard, as Slardar would need to manually cast his ultimate on enemies.

These are our picks for the best Strength Aghanim's Shards in Dota 2 patch 7.34e. Let us know if you agree with this list or if you have a replacement for one of the choices mentioned above.

READ MORE: Five Reasons You Should Pick Slardar in Dota 2

Featured Image Source: Valve