14 Tips to plays Abaddon

 

Abaddon Support role

If you are playing the team's support hero it is usually wise to max Mist Coil and Aphotic Shield first before getting any points in Curse of Avernus as your first two abilities provide a lot of utility early game ranging from healing, to debuff removal, protection and even denying yourself if needed.

Aphotic Shield can remove stuns

Remember that Aphotic Shield can remove stuns and slows from its target, you can use this to save your allies from many certain death situations.

Abaddon is a very durable hero due to his unique ultimate

However do not let this fool you into diving enemies where retreating is the better option.

Casting Aphotic Shield upon the same target

Casting Aphotic Shield upon the same target before its duration has ended will automatically detonate the shield before reapplying another. Combining this tactic with its massive radius can help to increase your DPS in a teamfight or finish off enemies during a chase.

During the early game you can use Aphotic Shield on creeps

During the early game you can use Aphotic Shield on creeps that are soon to die causing any heroes who move in for the last hit to take damage. With itemization geared toward mana regeneration this can be maintained as harassment in an Abaddon's lane support tactic. Even if the target hero realizes your tactic you can still burst your Aphotic Shield by attacking the creep yourself.

Due to his ultimate Abaddon is one of the few heroes

Due to his ultimate Abaddon is one of the few heroes that can dive towers even in early stages of the game, to add with his ability to chase down heroes you may also want to purchase a Mask of Madness as the extra damage Abaddon takes from activating it will not matter because of Borrowed Time.

Most veteran players will pay attention to when Abaddon's ultimate activates

Most veteran players will pay attention to when Abaddon's ultimate activates and will not attack until its duration has expired, you can however heal yourself using Mist Coil during this time, or by putting yourself among enemy creeps or damage-over-time abilities that have already been cast such as Jakiro's Macropyre. Pay attention however that your Borrowed Time has a relatively short duration.

Sometimes the best way to deal with Rupture is simply to run

Though Rupture will always outlast a manually triggered Borrowed Time, you still have total control of how much distance you can cover, as well as how much health you stand to lose or gain during Bloodseeker's Rupture.

Since Culling Blade can kill Abaddon even through Borrowed Time

You might be able to bait out the ability from an enemy Axe by manually activating your ultimate just before you hit the threshold.

Abaddon Carry Role

If you are planning on playing the team carry early points in Curse of Avernus will give you much needed chasing power and increased damage output and will also apply the same to your allies. In this case it might be a good choice to max Aphotic Shield before Mist Coil because you are likely to be diving the enemy a lot which will assure that your shield will burst quickly, allowing you to repeatedly cast it on yourself. Though trying to be the carry for the team is not recommended as Abaddon has much more utility as one of the most durable support heroes in the game.

Curse of Avernus can have defensive uses as well

Such as hitting an enemy that is chasing your ally to slow them down. You can also use this to save yourself as well under certain circumstances as hitting your target will reduce their movement speed by 20% while give you a 15% movement speed buff. That short boost of movement speed can sometimes save you or your allies.

Buff and debuff of Curse of Avernus

The on-hit buff and debuff of Curse of Avernus applies to any target that Abaddon may hit, including your own creeps. This means that enemy creeps will gain a speed boost after attacking one of your creeps with you. If you took an early point in  Curse of Avernus, use this to Tinker with lane equilibrium during the laning phase.

Note that Curse of Avernus's debuff fully stacks with unique attack modifiers

Considering this you may sometimes want to buy an Orb of Venom or Eye of Skadi which gives a combined movement speed change of 22% for Orb of Venom at level 1 Curse of Avernus and 75% for a Eye of Skadi with max  Curse of Avernus. When playing a carry Abaddon this aids you greatly with chasing down heroes. The same can be said with a Sange and a completed Sange and Yasha that gives you both a movement speed boost and an additional slow.

Initiate a team fight with Abaddon

Against less experienced players it may be possible to initiate a team fight with Abaddon by diving into the enemy and absorbing most of their spells and disables since in most cases Abaddon cannot be focused down before his  Borrowed Time. This will allow your teammates to enter the fray without the fear of being disabled themselves. This strategy is very unlikely to fool more veteran players.