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Item
 
 
?
Maelstrom
Maelstrom icon
A hammer forged for the gods themselves, Maelstrom allows its user to harness the power of lightning.
Cost 2500 Gold
Sell Value Full price refunded within 10s. 1250 Gold
Passive ? Chain Lightning
Bonus ?
Shareable No
Disassemble No
Usage Alert ? No
Recipe
Mjollnir (5500)
UsedIn1
Maelstrom (2500)
Components2
Mithril Hammer (1600)
Javelin (900)

The Maelstrom is an item purchasable at the Main Shop, under Artifacts.

Ability

Chain Lightning
Ability
Passive
Affects
Enemies
Damage
Magical
Grants a 25% chance on attack to release a bolt of electricity that leaps between 4 targets within a 650 radius, dealing 140 magical damage to each. Lightning proc pierces evasion.
Proc Chance: 25%
Bounce Distance: 650
Number of Bounces: 4
Bounce Interval: 0.25
Damage: 140
Cooldown symbol
 0.2
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
Maelstrom Chain
Undispellable

  • Does not stack with the Chain Lightning of Mjollnir icon Mjollnir or other Maelstroms.
  • When obtaining multiple items with the Chain Lightning ability, only the one that has been continuously the longest in the inventory works.
  • The lightning bounces in 0.25 second intervals, so hitting max targets takes 0.75 seconds.
  • Can proc on fogged or invisible units, but will not bounce toward fogged or invisible units.
  • Can never hit the same unit more than once per proc.
  • Chain Lightning can proc while a previous chain lightning is still bouncing.
  • Chain Lightning will not proc if the attacker is dead.
    • However, it can proc if the target is dead.
  • Attacks which proc Chain Lightning cannot miss.
  • The Maelstrom Chain buff is a hidden buff required for the lightning to jump.
  • Chain Lightning does not use a regular cooldown. It is neither displayed on the item icon when proccing, nor is it affected by cooldown manipulating effects.


Recommended heroes

Sniper icon
  • Chain Lightning increases Sniper's farm speed, allowing Sniper to get more items quickly as a carry.
  • Sniper's long range from Take Aim icon Take Aim allows him to safely clear waves. This makes it an essential item in base defense situations.
Alchemist icon
  • Alchemist's increased attack speed while in effect of Chemical Rage icon Chemical Rage increases the chances of Chain Lightning proc, increasing the item effectiveness even more.
Windranger icon
Pangolier icon
  • Works well with Swashbuckle icon Swashbuckle, greatly increasing Pangolier's damage output and farming speed.

Tips

  • Maelstrom is a very good item for speeding up farming. If the extra experience is not needed, it is a good alternative to Hand of Midas icon Hand of Midas.
  • It is also great to deal with illusions or mass-summons like Broodmother minimap icon Broodmother's spiders, Nature's Prophet minimap icon Nature's Prophet's treants, etc. Especially useful for ranged heroes that lack area damage, since they cannot make use of cleave.
  • The Chain Lightning deals magical damage which ignores armor and Damage Block, making it good against heroes that get a Vanguard, or Tidehunter with his Kraken Shell, and against heroes with high armor like Dragon Knight minimap icon Dragon Knight or Terrorblade minimap icon Terrorblade.
  • Maelstrom is a useful pickup against mega creeps in order to help clear waves.

Gallery


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