Vanguard

[e][h]Vanguard

 

1925

A powerful shield that defends its wielder from even the most vicious of attacks.

Attributes

Health

+ 250

Health Regen

+ 7

Ability

Passive

Damage Block

Availability

Category

Armor

Bought From

Home Shop
Secret Shop

Recipe

General

Vanguard is an Armor item bought from the Home Shop. It is built for increased durability in the mid game.

Ability

Damage Block

Targeting
Passive

Affects
Self

Blocks damage. The amount blocked depends on whether the user is a melee or ranged hero.

Melee Damage Block	70

Ranged Damage Block	35

Block Chance	50%

	Illusions gain this ability.

Strategy

Vanguard is either built on Durable heroes or on weak cores. In the latter case Vanguard is used as a "gateway" item. Once a hero has farmed a Vanguard, it provides enough durability to safely farm late game items.

Defensive use

Vanguard is farmed in the early game to provide a boost of durability into the mid game. The later a Vanguard is farmed, the less effective it will be due to the increased amount of damage that enemy heroes will output in the later stages of the game.

Notable heroes

• Anti-Mage: Anti-Mage is a strong carry hero that, like other carry heroes, lacks good durability in the early and mid game. In situations where Anti-Mage is going to be forced to fight with his team early (such as when the enemy is pushing towers early or has a large early game advantage), Vanguard is a good item that allows him to survive and be effective in team fights.
• Axe: Axe is a hero that excels at taking focus fire and is meant to be in middle of the action. The damage block from Vanguard is essential to allowing him to survive and excel in these environments.
• Bristleback: An early Vanguard can make Bristleback incredibly durable, allowing him to fight 2 or even 3 heroes at once.
• Dark Seer: Dark Seer's ion shell means that he has to be adjacent to enemy heroes and able to take damage, mitigated by Vanguard.
• Slardar: Slardar is an aggressive chaser hero, vanguard offers him protection while diving past creeps and towers.
• Spectre: Vanguard is often picked up on Spectre to provide the durability required to safely farm Radiance.

Recommended Heroes

Version History

Version	Balance Changes
7.25
	No longer has a 200 gold recipe
7.23
	Now requires a 200 gold recipe
7.20
	HP regen changed from 5.5 to 7
7.07
	HP regen changed from 8 to 5.5
7.00
	Passive block chance reduced from 100% to 50% Passive block amount increased from 32/16 (melee/ranged) to 70/35
6.87
	HP regeneration increased from 6 to 8
6.86
	Vanguard chance from 75% to block 40/20 to 100% to block 32/16
6.84
	Damage Block chance increased from 67% to 75%
6.83
	Tooltip changed to show actual block chance (no balance change)
6.79
	Damage Block chance increased from 70% to 80%
6.73
	HP Bonus decreased from 275 to 250
6.68
	HP bonus from 300 to 275
6.65
	Damage block reduced from 40 to 20 when equipped on ranged heroes (50% less block like stout and Poor Man's Shield)
6.60
	Improved block chances (65%➜70%) Improved health regeneration (5➜6 hp)
6.55
	Increased Vanguard hitpoints by 50
6.50
	Improved Vanguard a little