Armor

Armor

 

Changelogs

 

“

▶️ Armored to the teeth! — Clockwerk

”

Armor is a stat that reduces (or increases, if negative) physical damage a unit takes from spells and attacks. Every unit is capable of gaining or losing armor, and most units start with a small amount of base armor, some even starting with negative armor. A hero's armor can be passively increased with agility, talents, certain items, and some abilities. Armor of any unit can also be temporarily increased or reduced with some abilities.

Each point of agility increases a hero's armor by 0.167 (1/6).

Base armor

Base armor is the part of the main armor that never changes throughout a game. It consists of one fixed value set for each unit individually. The base armor of a unit can be a negative number. Since only heroes have agility, the HUD of all non-hero units shows their base armor.

Heroes

Heroes	Armor
Puck	-3
Lone Druid, Morphling, Pudge, Skywrath Mage, Viper, Visage	-2
Abaddon, Alchemist, Ancient Apparition, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Axe, Beastmaster, Brewmaster, Chen, Crystal Maiden, Dark Willow, Dazzle, Ember Spirit, Huskar, Keeper of the Light, Lich, Lycan, Mars, Medusa, Mirana, Phoenix, Razor, Sand King, Silencer, Sniper, Timbersaw, Treant Protector, Troll Warlord, Void Spirit, Windranger, Winter Wyvern, Wraith King	-1
Batrider, Broodmother, Centaur Warrunner, Clinkz, Clockwerk, Disruptor, Doom, Dragon Knight, Drow Ranger, Earth Spirit, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Grimstroke, Invoker, Juggernaut, Legion Commander, Leshrac, Lion, Nature's Prophet, Oracle, Phantom Lancer, Pugna, Queen of Pain, Rubick, Shadow Demon, Shadow Fiend, Slark, Snapfire, Spectre, Tidehunter, Tiny, Vengeful Spirit, Venomancer, Weaver, Witch Doctor	0
Bane, Bristleback, Death Prophet, Enchantress, Io, Jakiro, Kunkka, Lifestealer, Lina, Magnus, Monkey King, Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Omniknight, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Sven, Templar Assassin, Tusk, Undying, Ursa, Warlock, Zeus	1
Outworld Devourer	1.5
Bloodseeker, Chaos Knight, Dark Seer, Earthshaker, Enigma, Gyrocopter, Luna, Night Stalker, Shadow Shaman, Spirit Breaker, Storm Spirit, Tinker	2
Meepo, Naga Siren, Riki, Slardar, Underlord	3
Bounty Hunter	4
Ogre Magi, Techies	5
Terrorblade	7

Creeps

Units	Armor
Ancient Black Drake	-1
Hill Troll, Hill Troll Priest, Kobold, Mud Golem, Ogre Frostmage, Ranged Creep, Satyr Banisher, Satyr Tormenter, Shard Golem, Siege Creep, Super Siege Creep	0
Centaur Courser, Dark Troll Summoner, Fell Spirit, Ghost, Giant Wolf, Harpy Scout, Hill Troll Berserker, Kobold Foreman, Kobold Soldier, Mega Ranged Creep, Ogre Bruiser, Satyr Mindstealer, Super Ranged Creep, Vhoul Assassin	1
Ancient Prowler Acolyte	10
Ancient Prowler Shaman	11
Ancient Rumblehide, Ancient Thunderhide, Harpy Stormcrafter, Melee Creep, Wildwing	2
Roshan	20
Alpha Wolf, Ancient Black Dragon, Hellbear, Mega Melee Creep, Super Melee Creep	3
Ancient Rock Golem, Centaur Conqueror, Hellbear Smasher, Wildwing Ripper	4
Ancient Granite Golem	8

Summons

Summons	Armor
Astral Spirit, Boar, Greater Treant, Lycan Wolf, Spiderite, Spiderling, Treant, Undying Zombie	0
Familiar	0/1/2
Forged Spirit	0/1/2/3/4/5/6
Fire	0/3/6
Skeleton Warrior, Wraith King Skeleton	1
Storm	2
Eidolon	2/3/4/5
Earth	3
Spirit Bear	3/4/5/6
Necronomicon Archer, Necronomicon Warrior	4
Hawk	5
Warlock Golem	6/9/12

Main armor

Main armor is the armor value shown in white numbers near the shield icon in the HUD, consisting of base armor and the armor granted by a hero's agility. The only way to improve a hero's main armor is to increase its agility, which is gained by leveling up, acquiring certain items, or with the help of certain abilities.

The formula to calculate a hero's main armor is:

main armor = base armor + agility * 0.16666666666667

Hero Armor

Hero Base Armor Starting Armor Max Main Armor Abaddon -1 2.83 8.83 Alchemist -1 2.67 8.67 Ancient Apparition -1 2.33 11.13 Anti-Mage -1 3 14.2 Arc Warden -1 1.67 11.67 Axe -1 2.33 11.13 Bane 1 4.67 15.07 Batrider 0 2.5 9.7 Beastmaster -1 2 8.4 Bloodseeker 2 5.67 19.27 Bounty Hunter 4 7.5 17.9 Brewmaster -1 2.67 10.67 Bristleback 1 3.83 11.03 Broodmother 0 2.5 15.3 Centaur Warrunner 0 2.5 6.5 Chaos Knight 2 5 10.6 Chen -1 1.5 9.9 Clinkz 0 3.67 14.47 Clockwerk 0 2.17 11.37 Crystal Maiden -1 1.67 8.07 Dark Seer 2 5 12.2 Dark Willow -1 2 8.4 Dazzle -1 2.5 9.3 Death Prophet 1 3.33 8.93 Disruptor 0 2.5 8.1 Doom 0 1.83 5.43 Dragon Knight 0 3.17 11.17 Drow Ranger 0 3.33 14.93 Earth Spirit 0 2.83 12.43 Earthshaker 2 4 9.6 Elder Titan 0 2.33 9.53 Ember Spirit -1 2.67 13.07 Enchantress 1 4.17 11.37 Enigma 2 4.33 8.33 Faceless Void 0 3.83 15.83 Grimstroke 0 3 10.6 Gyrocopter 2 5.17 19.57 Huskar -1 1.5 8.7 Invoker 0 2.33 9.93 Io 1 3.33 9.73 Jakiro 1 2.67 7.47 Juggernaut 0 5.67 16.87 Keeper of the Light -1 1.5 7.9 Kunkka 1 3.33 8.53 Legion Commander 0 3 9.8 Leshrac 0 3.83 15.03 Lich -1 1.5 9.5 Lifestealer 1 4 13.6 Lina 1 4.83 12.03 Lion 0 2.5 8.5 Lone Druid -2 1.33 12.53 Luna 2 5 18.6 Lycan -1 1.67 5.67 Magnus 1 3.5 13.5 Mars -1 2.33 9.93 Medusa -1 2.67 17.07 Meepo 3 5.83 13.03 Mirana -1 2 16.8 Monkey King 1 4.67 19.47 Morphling -2 2 19.2 Naga Siren 3 6.5 20.5 Nature's Prophet 0 3.67 18.07 Necrophos 1 3 8.2 Night Stalker 2 5 14.2 Nyx Assassin 1 4.17 14.17 Ogre Magi 5 7.33 13.33 Omniknight 1 3.5 10.7 Oracle 0 2.5 9.3 Outworld Devourer 1.5 5.5 13.5 Pangolier 1 4 16.8 Phantom Assassin 1 4.83 18.43 Phantom Lancer 0 4.33 17.13 Phoenix -1 1 6.2 Puck -3 0.67 9.47 Pudge -2 0.33 6.33 Pugna 0 4 9.2 Queen of Pain 0 3.67 13.67 Razor -1 2.67 13.07 Riki 3 6 11.6 Rubick 0 3.83 13.83 Sand King -1 2.17 9.37 Shadow Demon 0 3 11.8 Shadow Fiend 0 3.33 17.33 Shadow Shaman 2 4.67 11.07 Silencer -1 2.67 12.27 Skywrath Mage -2 0.17 3.37 Slardar 3 5.83 15.43 Slark 0 3.5 10.3 Snapfire 0 2.67 10.27 Sniper -1 2.5 16.1 Spectre 0 3.83 12.23 Spirit Breaker 2 4.83 11.63 Storm Spirit 2 5.67 12.47 Sven 1 4.5 12.5 Techies 5 7.33 12.53 Templar Assassin 1 4.83 17.63 Terrorblade 7 10.67 29.87 Tidehunter 0 2.5 8.5 Timbersaw -1 1.67 8.07 Tinker 2 4.17 8.97 Tiny 0 0 0 Treant Protector -1 1.5 9.5 Troll Warlord -1 2.5 15.7 Tusk 1 4.83 13.23 Underlord 3 5 11.4 Undying 1 2.67 5.87 Ursa 1 4 13.6 Vengeful Spirit 0 3.33 18.53 Venomancer 0 4.33 17.13 Viper -2 1.5 11.5 Visage -2 -0.17 5.03 Void Spirit -1 2.17 10.97 Warlock 1 2.67 6.67 Weaver 0 2.33 14.73 Windranger -1 1.83 7.43 Winter Wyvern -1 1.67 9.27 Witch Doctor 0 2.17 7.77 Wraith King -1 2 8.8 Zeus 1 2.83 7.63

Bonus armor

Bonus armor is the armor value shown in green numbers with a plus on the left, right below the white armor number on a unit's statistics. Whenever an item or skill shows a +armor value, e.g. Blade Mail (+6 Armor), it increases the bonus armor of the affected unit. Probably the most important difference between main and bonus armor is that illusions only benefit from main armor, although their HUD still shows the bonus armor just like on other heroes, to make them less obvious to the enemy. Some spells like Natural Order also only affect main armor.

Damage multiplier

All units, including buildings, have an inherent base armor value and armor type. Any physical damage dealt to a unit is multiplied by the damage multiplier, resulting in either damage reduction or increase depending on the target's armor value.

For any real-valued armor, the damage multiplier is defined as

damage multiplier = 1 - ((0.06 × armor) ÷ (1 + 0.06 × |armor|)).

The damage multiplier limits are 2 and 0, for infinitely negative and positive armor, respectively.

Examples

Armor (+)	Multiplier	Armor (-)	Multiplier
1	94%	-1	106%
2	89%	-2	111%
3	85%	-3	115%
4	81%	-4	119%
5	77%	-5	123%
6	74%	-6	126%
7	70%	-7	130%
8	68%	-8	132%
9	65%	-9	135%
10	63%	-10	138%
11	60%	-11	140%
12	58%	-12	142%
13	56%	-13	144%
14	54%	-14	146%
15	53%	-15	147%
16	51%	-16	149%
17	50%	-17	150%
18	48%	-18	152%
19	47%	-19	153%
20	45%	-20	155%
21	44%	-21	156%
22	43%	-22	157%
23	42%	-23	158%
24	41%	-24	159%
25	40%	-25	160%
26	39%	-26	161%
27	38%	-27	162%
28	37%	-28	163%
29	36%	-29	164%
30	36%	-30	164%
31	35%	-31	165%
32	34%	-32	166%
33	34%	-33	166%
34	33%	-34	167%
35	32%	-35	168%
36	32%	-36	168%
37	31%	-37	169%
38	30%	-38	170%
39	30%	-39	170%
40	29%	-40	171%
41	29%	-41	171%
42	28%	-42	172%
43	28%	-43	172%
44	27%	-44	173%
45	27%	-45	173%

Effective HP

Relationships between effective HP%, damage multiplier and armor

The total damage a unit can take due to armor is known as its effective HP (or EHP) for physical damage. 16.66 armor adds 100% to EHP. This means a unit with 1000 health and 16.66 armor can take 2000 physical damage. With the new armor formula, each point of armor adds 6% EHP regardless of the previous armor value. However, value is of a diminished benefit as a player gaining 1 armor from 0 would go to from 100% EHP to 106% EHP, while a player gaining 1 armor from 50 would go from 400% EHP to 406% EHP.

On the other hand, the effectiveness of armor is much lower at negative values (see graph). Total effective HP trends downwards towards 50%, meaning a unit with 1000 health and infinitely low armor would still be able to take 500 physical damage. At this point, losing or gaining 1 armor has essentially no effect.

Armor	-40	-30	-20	-10	0	10	20	30	40
Effective HP	586.21	608.7	647.06	727.27	1000	1600	2200	2800	3400

This definition of effective HP assumes all damage taken is physical. In Dota 2, magical damage (such as Lina's or Lion's ultimate) is modified by magic resistance.

Calculating effective HP

effective HP = current HP ÷ damage multiplier

Example 1

A level 25 Sven has a total HP of 2176 and 12.5 points of armor. What is his effective HP vs physical damage?

EHP = 2176 ÷ ( 1 - (12.5 × 0.06) ÷ (1 + 12.5 × 0.06) ) = 2176 ÷ 0.571429 = 3808

Sven can tank 3808 physical damage.

Example 2

The same Sven from previous example is hit by a maxed Corrosive Haze. His armor is now -7.5. What is his effective HP vs physical damage?

EHP = 2176 ÷ ( 1 - (-7.5 × 0.06) ÷ (1 + 7.5 × 0.06) ) = 2176 ÷ 1.31034 = 1660.63

Sven can tank 1660.63 physical damage.

Armor types

There are several different types of armor, which determine how much damage a unit takes against certain attack damage types. Each of the 3 different armor types either reduces, increases or does not affect the damage from each of the damage types, on top of armor values manipulating them.

Example:
A hero with 100 attack damage attacking a siege unit which has 0 armor deals 50 damage to it, because the attack type "hero" deals 50% less damage against the armor type "structure", which is the siege creeps' and all buildings' armor type. If the siege creep would gain 5 armor, the 100 damage attack would deal (100 * 0.76923076923077 * 0.5) = 38.461538461538 damage. The same attack would deal 76.923076923077 damage to a unit with any other armor type, since attack type hero deals full damage to them.

This table shows how much damage each armor type reduces against each attack damage type and which unit uses which armor type (units which take a set amount of damage per attack are excluded).

Armor Type	Used by	Attack Damage Type
		Hero	Basic	Pierce	Siege
Hero	Death Ward, Earth, Familiar, Fire, Roshan, Spirit Bear, Storm, Tempest Double, Warlock Golem	100%	75%	50%	100%
Basic	Alpha Wolf, Ancient Black Dragon, Ancient Black Drake, Ancient Granite Golem, Ancient Prowler Acolyte, Ancient Prowler Shaman, Ancient Rock Golem, Ancient Rumblehide, Ancient Thunderhide, Animal Courier, Astral Spirit, Beetle, Boar, Centaur Conqueror, Centaur Courser, Courier, Dark Troll Summoner, Eidolon, Fell Spirit, Flying Courier, Forged Spirit, Ghost, Giant Wolf, Greater Treant, Harpy Scout, Harpy Stormcrafter, Hawk, Healing Ward, Hellbear Smasher, Hellbear, Hill Troll Berserker, Hill Troll Priest, Hill Troll, Homing Missile, Ignis Fatuus, Kobold Foreman, Kobold Soldier, Kobold, Lycan Wolf, Mega Melee Creep, Mega Ranged Creep, Melee Creep, Mud Golem, Necronomicon Archer, Necronomicon Warrior, Nether Ward, Nimbus, Observer Ward, Ogre Bruiser, Ogre Frostmage, Phantom, Phoenix Sun, Plague Ward, Power Cog, Proximity Mine, Psionic Trap, Ranged Creep, Remote Mine, Satyr Banisher, Satyr Mindstealer, Satyr Tormenter, Sentry Ward, Serpent Ward, Shard Golem, Skeleton Archer, Skeleton Warrior, Spiderite, Spiderling, Spin Web, Stasis Trap, Super Melee Creep, Super Ranged Creep, Tombstone, Tornado, Treant, Undying Zombie, Vhoul Assassin, Wildwing Ripper, Wildwing, Wraith King Skeleton	100%	100%	150%	100%
Structure	Ancient, Effigy Building, Fountain, Melee Barracks, Outpost, Ranged Barracks, Siege Creep, Super Siege Creep, Tier 1 Tower, Tier 2 Tower, Tier 3 Tower, Tier 4 Tower	50%	70%	35%	250%

Modifying armor

A lot of abilites and items have abilities that grant or reduce armor. These changes are always Bonus armor, and never added to the main armor.

Armor increasing abilities

The following abilities increase armor:

Armor increasing abilities

• Ancient Black Dragon - Dragonhide Aura
  
  Armor bonus: 3
  Aura, affects nearby allies. Multiple instances fully stack. The buff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
• Axe - Berserker's Call
  
  Armor bonus: 30
  Duration: 2/2.4/2.8/3.2
  Affects the caster.
• Crystal Maiden - Freezing Field
  
  Armor bonus: 20
  Duration: 10
  Affects the caster. Lasts until the channeling stops.
• Dragon Knight - Dragon Blood
  
  Armor bonus: 3/6/9/12 ( 5.4/10.8/16.2/21.6)
  Passive.
• Elder Titan - Astral Spirit
  
  Armor bonus per hero: 1.5/3/4.5/6
  Armor bonus per creep: 0.5
  Duration: 10
  Affects the caster. Bonuses are granted once the spirit rejoins with the caster. Bonuses are based on how many enemies the spirit touched while out.
• Lone Druid - True Form
  
  Armor bonus: 8/10/12
  Duration: 40
  Affects the caster.
• Luna - Lunar Blessing
  
  Armor bonus: 200/400/600/800
  Aura, affects nearby allies. The buff lingers for seconds.
• Monkey King - Wukong's Command
  
  Armor bonus: 12/18/24 ( 112/118/124)
  Max Duration: 13
  Affects the caster.
• Ogre Frostmage - Ice Armor
  
  Armor bonus: 5
  Duration: 45
  Affects the target ally.
• Roshan - Strength of the Immortal
  
  Armor bonus per minute: 0.325
  Passive.
• Slardar - Guardian Sprint
  
  River Armor bonus: 0 ( 12)
  Requires Aghanim's Scepter. Affects the caster. Passively provided while standing in the river or in a Slithereen Crush puddle.
• Sven - Warcry
  
  Armor bonus: 8
  Duration:
  Affects all nearby allied heroes.
• Timbersaw - Reactive Armor
  
  Armor bonus per stack: 0.9/1/1.1/1.2
  Max stacks: 6/12/18/24 ( 14/20/26/32)
  Stack duration: 10/13/16/19
  Passive. Gains a stack whenever an attack lands on the hero. The stacks have independent durations.
• Tiny - Grow
  
  Armor bonus: 10/16/22
  Passive.
• Treant Protector - Living Armor
  
  Armor bonus: 5/6/7/8
  Duration: 12
  Affects the target ally ( all allies within the targeted area).
• Towers - Tower Protection
  
  Armor bonus (tier 1 towers): 3
  Armor bonus (tier 2/3/4 towers): 5
  Aura, affects nearby allies. The buff lingers for 1 seconds.
• Troll Warlord - Berserker's Rage
  
  Armor bonus: 6
  Affects the caster. Lasts until toggled off.
• Wildwing Ripper - Toughness Aura
  
  Armor bonus: 3
  Aura, affects nearby allies. The buff lingers for 0.5 seconds.

Armor increasing items

• Armlet of Mordiggian - Unholy Strength
  
  Armor bonus: 4
  Affects the caster. Armor is granted after the delay. Lasts until toggled off.
• Assault Cuirass - Assault Aura
  
  Armor bonus: 5
  Aura, affects nearby allies. The buff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
• Buckler - Buckler Aura
  
  Armor bonus: 2
  Aura, affects nearby allies. The buff lingers for 0.5 seconds. Can be toggled to only affect heroes.
• Guardian Greaves - Guardian Aura
  
  Boosted armor bonus: 10
  Aura, affects nearby allied heroes that are below 3 health. The buff lingers for 10 seconds.
• Medallion of Courage - Valor
  
  Armor bonus: 5
  Duration: 7
  Affects the target ally.
• Repair Kit - Building Repair
  
  Armor bonus: 10
  Duration:
  Affects the target allied building.
• Ring of Aquila - Aquila Aura
  
  Armor bonus: 2
  Aura, affects nearby allies. The buff lingers for 0.5 seconds. Can be toggled to only affect heroes.
• Solar Crest - Shine
  
  Armor bonus: 8
  Duration: 7
  Affects the target ally.

Armor reducing abilities

The following heroes have a talent that causes their attacks to reduce armor of the attacked target. This is also known as Armor Corruption.

The reduction lasts 10 seconds. Multiple sources of Armor Corruption do not stack.

Bonus	Level 10		Level 15		Level 20		Level 25
	Left	Right	Left	Right	Left	Right	Left	Right
Armor Corruption				-3		-3

The following abilities reduce armor:

Armor reducing abilities

• Alchemist - Acid Spray
  
  Armor reduction: 4/5/6/7
  Duration: 16
  Aura, affects enemies within the target area. The debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
• Bristleback - Viscous Nasal Goo
  
  Base armor reduction: 2
  Armor reduction per stack: 1.4/1.9/2.4/2.9
  Max stacks: 4 ( 9)
  Hero Duration: 5
  Creep Duration: 10
  Affects the target enemy. Multiple casts increase the stack count, and refresh the duration of existing stacks.
• Chaos Knight - Reality Rift
  
  Armor reduction: 3/4/5/6
  Duration: 6
  Affects the target enemy.
• Clinkz - Death Pact
  
  Armor reduction: 65
  Duration:
  Affects the attacked enemy. Only present while having the Death Pact buff.
• Dazzle - Bad Juju
  
  Armor reduction per cast: 0 ( )
  Duration: 2/2.25/2.5
  Affects nearby enemies whenever casting a spell. Multiple casts increase the stack count, and refresh the duration of existing stacks.
• Forged Spirit - Melting Strike
  
  Armor reduction per stack: 1 ( 3)
  Max stacks: 10 ( 30)
  Duration: 5
  Passive. Affects the attacked enemy. Multiple attacks increase the stack count, and refresh the duration of existing stacks.
• Lycan - Howl
  
  Armor reduction: 5/6/7/8
  Duration: 5/6/7/8
  Affects nearby enemies, and all enemies around each Lycan Wolf that is alive.
• Naga Siren - Rip Tide
  
  Armor reduction: 2/4/6/8 ( 7/9/11/13)
  Duration: 4
  Passive, has a chance to trigger on attacks. Affects nearby enemies.
• Pangolier - Lucky Shot
  
  Armor reduction: 3/4/5/6
  Duration: 2/3/4/5
  Has a chance to proc on attack, affecting the attacked enemy.
• Razor - Eye of the Storm
  
  Armor reduction per strike:
  Max duration:
  Strikes the lowest health enemy within range. Does not reduce armor of hit buildings. The armor duration of each strike is based on the storm's remaining duration.
• Shadow Fiend - Presence of the Dark Lord
  
  Armor reduction: 4/5/6/7 ( 8/9/10/11)
  Aura, affects nearby enemies. The debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
• Slardar - Corrosive Haze
  
  Armor reduction: 10/15/20
  Duration: 18
  Affects the target enemy.
• Templar Assassin - Meld
  
  Armor reduction: 5/6/7/8 ( 8/9/10/11)
  Duration: 12
  Affects the attacked enemy.
• Tidehunter - Gush
  
  Armor reduction: 4/5/6/7 ( 8/9/10/11)
  Duration: 4
  Affects the target enemy ( affects all hit enemies).
• Vengeful Spirit - Wave of Terror
  
  Armor reduction: 3/4/5/6 ( 4/5/6/7)
  Duration: 8
  Affects all hit enemies.
• Weaver - The Swarm
  
  Armor reduction per interval: 1 ( 1.4)
  Duration: 16
  Affects all hit enemies. The beetles reduce armor in 1.15/1.0/0.85/0.7 second intervals. The reduction lasts as long as the beetles do.

Armor reducing items

• Assault Cuirass - Assault Aura
  
  Armor reduction: 5
  Aura, affects nearby enemies. The debuff lingers for 0.5 seconds.
• Blight Stone - Lesser Corruption
  
  Armor reduction: 2
  Duration: 8
  Affects the attacked enemy.
• Desolator - Corruption
  
  Armor reduction: 6
  Duration: 7
  Affects the attacked enemy.
• Mask of Madness - Berserk
  
  Armor reduction: 8
  Duration: 6
  Affects the caster.
• Medallion of Courage - Valor
  
  Caster armor reduction: 5
  Target armor reduction: 5
  Duration: 7
  Affects the caster and the target enemy.
• Orb of Destruction - Impeding Corruption
  
  Armor reduction: 4
  Duration: 4
  Affects the attacked enemy.
• Solar Crest - Shine
  
  Caster armor reduction: 8
  Target armor reduction: 8
  Duration: 7
  Affects the caster and the target enemy.
• Stygian Desolator - Greater Corruption
  
  Armor reduction: 10
  Duration: 7
  Affects the attacked enemy.

Armor negating abilities

Some abilities negate a unit's armor by reducing or increasing armor based on the unit's armor, effectively removing a percentage of the armor on the target. This Armor negation only affects the armor value of units, their armor type is unaffected and still reduces damage normally.

The following abilities negate armor:

Armor negating abilities

• Drow Ranger - Marksmanship
  
  Main armor negation: 100%
  Has a chance to completely ignore the target's main armor value on attack, dealing damage as if they had 0 main armor.
• Elder Titan - Natural Order
  
  Main armor negation: 40%/60%/80%/100%
  Aura, affects nearby enemies. The reduction is based on the enemies' main armor. The debuff lingers for 1 second.

Armor granting talents

The following heroes have a talent that grants them bonus armor.

Bonus	Level 10		Level 15		Level 20		Level 25
	Left	Right	Left	Right	Left	Right	Left	Right
Armor	+4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6	+4 +4 +4 +4 +5 +6	+6 +6 +6	+6 +6 +6 +8		+8 +8 +8 +8 +8

Besides these, the following heroes have talents which increase the armor of the units they summon

Specific summons armor bonus

• Lone Druid - Talent by Level 15 Left
  
  +8 Spirit Bear Armor:
  
• Warlock - Talent by Level 25 Right
  
  +20 Chaotic Offering Golems Armor:
  

Armor granting items

These items grant bonus armor to the hero who has them equipped.

Armor granting items

Item	Value	Item cost	Cost per value point
Arcane Ring	2	N/A	N/A
Armlet of Mordiggian	5	2475	495
Assault Cuirass	10	5075	507.5
Blade Mail	6	2050	341.67
Broom Handle	3	N/A	N/A
Chainmail	4	550	137.5
Craggy Coat	12	N/A	N/A
Crimson Guard	6	3800	633.33
Dragon Scale	5	N/A	N/A
Ex Machina	20	N/A	N/A
Guardian Greaves	4	4975	1243.75
Helm of Iron Will	5	925	185
Helm of the Dominator	6	2350	391.67
Iron Talon	2	N/A	N/A
Lotus Orb	10	3950	395
Medallion of Courage	5	1025	205
Mekansm	4	1975	493.75
Nullifier	8	4725	590.63
Phase Boots	4	1500	375
Platemail	10	1400	140
Ring of Protection	2	175	87.5
Shiva's Guard	15	4850	323.33
Solar Crest	8	3725	465.63
Soul Ring	2	740	370
Spirit Vessel	2	2940	1470
Urn of Shadows	2	840	420
Wraith Band	1.5	510	340

Trivia

Negative armor damage multiplier for DotA and Dota 2

This graph shows how much more additional damage a target takes when armor debuffs are applied, using the WC3 DotA armor formula.

• In DotA the base magic resistance was bound to the assigned armor. In case of Hero Armor only 75% of the magic damage was applied. Some heroes possessed hidden passive skills to alter their base magic susceptibility albeit Hero Armor to 90% ( Visage) or 65% ( Meepo). Nowdays in Dota 2 magic resistance works independently from armor.
• The Basic armor type was referred to as Medium armor in DotA.
• The deprecated Light damage type used to be called Chaos damage in DotA.
• The deprecated Weak armor type used be called Light armor, Soft was referred to as Unarmored, and Strong was known as Heavy armor type.

Negative armor disparity

Amplified damage from negative armor is calculated differently in WC3 DotA than in Dota 2.

Negative armor in WC3 DotA has a cap of -20 armor (71% damage increase). Further reducing the armor does not change the damage increase. Also, the more aggressive damage amplify formula is used resulting in a max damage increase of 71%. The amplified damage is calculated from this formula:

Damage increase = 1 - 0.94^(-armor)

Comparison table

Armor	WC3 DotA Damage amplification	Dota 2 Damage amplification	Relative difference
0	0.0%	0.0%	N/A
-5	26.6%	23.1%	3.5%
-10	46.1%	37.5%	8.6%
-20	71.0%	54.5%	16.5%
-40	71.0%	70.6%	0.40000000000001%
-60	71.0%	78.3%	-7.3%

Update history

Main Article: Armor/Changelogs

References

Mechanics Stats Armor Attributes (Strength / Agility / Intelligence) Collision size Health (Health regeneration) Magic resistance Mana (Mana regeneration) Movement speed Status resistance Turn rate Vision Attack Attack animation Attack damage Attack modifier (Bash / Cleave & Splash / Critical strike / Lifesteal / Mana break) Attack range Attack speed Cast animation Cast range Damage types Motion buffer range Projectile speed Spell damage Spell lifesteal Abilities Abilities Aura Channeling Damage block Damage manipulation Damage over time Evasion Talents Teleport Status effects Attack immunity Break Cyclone Disable Disarm Ethereal Fear Forced movement Hex Hide Hypnosis Invisibility Invulnerability Leash Root Silence Sleep Slow Spell immunity Stun Taunt World Experience Gold Glyph of Fortification Map (Minimap) River Scan Runes Time of day Trees Gameplay Creep control techniques Denying Disjoint Dispel Ganking Harassment Hero complexity Initiating Item passive stacking Item sharing Jungling Lane Pushing Random distribution Roles Trap Units Ancient creeps Buildings Couriers Creep-heroes Heroes Illusions Lane creeps Neutral creeps Roshan Summons & Wards