How Nullifier Actually Works: Explained in 17 Minutes

[@beneaththeveil]

Corrections/Updates: As of 7.35b the Nullify active now lasts 4s instead of 5s so has a 40% uptime instead of 50%. Units under the Nullify active are now also slowed by 10% for the duration. As of 7.37d the Nullify active now also purges the invisibility associated with Windranger's Scepter effected Windrun. 3:55 - Nullifier does not prevent an ally from cycloning an enemy as that is considered a debuff, where Nullifier only removes buffs. That's on us for not realising the same spell can be considered a buff or debuff depending on who it is cast on. Thank you to users mikawesseling320 and shortcircuited5069 for the correction. 13:45 - despite saying that Repel is dispellable: it isn't actually dispelled by Nullifier. Spells which pierce Debuff Immunity and also dispel the target such as Doom's Doom, Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse and Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge will all dispel Repel. Thank you to user A H for this one that slipped us by. Game continues to be hard. Please do check the description for all item and hero ability interactions with Nullifier. Shout out to zzadrianzz who popularised this style of DOTA 2 content. You can find our full playlist of DOTA videos from various creators that explain how items and mechanics of DOTA actually work from Adrian and other creators like ZQuixotix, PainDota and BalloonDota as well as links to their channels by looking in the description as well. Good luck and Happy Gaming!

[@synnnavamananda8859]

Shud also tell how shadow blade counters it

[@beneaththeveil]

While you can disjoint the projectile if you go invisible before it collides with you and you aren't detected in some way already: we'd never suggest Shadow Blade as a viable counterplay to Nullifier. The players that we've seen in pubs don't need more reasons to buy a Shadow Blade. In fact, we think there's an unhealthy reliance on Shadow Blade in the pub scene and people would actually gain MMR if they broke their reliance on it and learned better fundamentals of positioning.

[@AH-vc3hb]

Repel DOES get dispelled by shadow demons ulti though

[@beneaththeveil]

@@AH-vc3hb Incredible catch! Realised already that Demonic Purge dispels all skills and items through BKB but hadn't even considered it pierces the Debuff Immunity of Repel to ultimately dispel it outright. Well done. God damn, game is hard.

[@iutubsacs]

Much respect for calling out people that inspired this type of video. Chivalry is super rare on social media.

[@supreetmavintop1829]

you dont know how hard i was trying to find information on this item... thank you bro.

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad we could help!

[@kentwithaperiod]

literally. "applies a debuff" tf does that mean.

[@Ari-ek1dx]

​@@kentwithaperiodif you can read u will understand it crazy

[@supreetmavintop1829]

@@kentwithaperiod exactly

[@cynicsoul6451]

Ever had a game with raidboss built bloodseeker (aghs scepter + bloodstone) where he just can't seem to have his hp get lower than full? Chances are, he's probably had a huge stack of hp barrier from his aghs scepter effect and will keep stacking up barrier from his ability overheals up to 50% of his max hp. This makes Bloodseeker so tanky while continuously dealing lots of dmg. With nullifier, you can immediately bring that barrier to zero and keep him from stacking up hp barrier for the duration of nullifier. From there, use every hp regen reducing spells or items you have to keep him from regaining hp from his thirst and bloodstone.

[@beneaththeveil]

Damn, we thought we'd gotten all of them once we realised we missed the Jingu Mastery buff. We got the Bloodrage being dispellable but didn't catch the Bloodseeker Scepter, mainly because we haven't seen Bloodseeker at all ourselves lately. Great pickup! Appreciate you sharing!

[@danielrojaszea3952]

bro i just lost a game to an undying bloodseeker with insane amounts of shields we were able to bring down everyone but him. i didnt know or think about this, thank you this information will certainly benefit my gameplay.

[@beneaththeveil]

@@danielrojaszea3952 that's what we love to hear! Improving in Dota is all about learning all these niche opportunities for counterplay with items when an enemy invests way too deeply into a certain archetype

[@cynicsoul6451]

How I discovered this was actually kind of accidental. You see, I was playing support Veno and I took up on the role of providing as much enemy regen reducing items as I can. Having already built Vessel, I then look up to see which item I can build that will also reduce enemy regen. So there was Skadi and Shiva's Guard to pick. Obviously, Shiva's was the more reasonable choice as a support so I immediately bought the Helm of Iron Will as it's one of the components for Veil. It was my mistake as I didn't noticed that my Offlaner already has built his Veil and on his way to build Shiva's. So instead of going Shiva's Guard, I now have to find another item that I can make out of this Helm of Iron Will. At first, it looked like Crimson Guard was a good choice as it does offer some defensive aura but it just feels underwhelming for a low str support hero like Veno. That's when I decided to just go with Nullifier as it would at least make a lot of the enemies' defensive item buffs nullified. To my surprise, it works so well against the enemy Bloodseeker that just hit his Bloodstone + Aghanim's Scepter timing just around the same as my Nullifier timing. Bloodseeker with such build ia obviously still very hard to deal with all his spell lifesteal and fast Movement speed. But without the benefit of having his stacks of hp barrier from his Scepter, he is at least manageable and much easier to burst.

[@beneaththeveil]

@@cynicsoul6451 It's hilarious to me that you stumbled across an item counter simply because you didn't want to waste gold on a component item you'd already purchased. That's a shrewd dota player right there

[@AltdRP]

As a 14 years veteran immortal of this game, i would like to thank you for explaining it to everybody so that more people would buy this, hopefully my teamates will buy more of this item because it’s also one of my favorites

[@beneaththeveil]

It's one of ours too!

[@olgagaming5544]

One my fav item is boots of bearing so my team can run faster when chasing someone xd

[@xIcarus227]

One thing I don't see often but works in my Legend bracket is buying nullifier early-ish when you need damage. The best example is PA, if I see that the enemy team has good physical damage and no undispellable saves I don't even think about getting Deso but get Nulli instead. That way I solve the following problems: 1. enemy supports can't save themselves, I can genuinely feed on them 25 min into the game and they can't do anything about it as long as BKB is on 2. I get good damage, definitely not as much as a fully upgraded Deso but it's comparable early when not upgraded 3. I get good protection against physical damage, meaning PA is even less likely to die from physical damage 4. I can put the brakes on certain enemy core heroes such as MK, because his Jingu mastery buff is dispelled by Nullifier which makes him super sad in the midgame And the best yet, you force enemy supports into awkward itemization choices. Imagine their pos5 has their first defensive item half-done and they see you with a Nulli. Do they finish the item? Do they get baited into getting Linken which you can pop very easily? Super underrated in my opinion.

[@beneaththeveil]

Exactly! Nullifier can and should be purchased as soon as you know you can kill heroes within the 5s window it gives you. For every hero, regardless of attribute group: Nullifier is in the top 5 highest raw damage gains in the whole game. Only 5 less damage than a Deso once you've gotten 30 charges on it. It's insanely good for damage and then it's tied for 4th highest source of armour gain only behind Shiva's, AC and Helm of the Overlord. It so, so good.

[@xIcarus227]

@@beneaththeveil totally agree, thanks for completing! Such a good and slept upon item.

[@hewhoisnotentirelysure4000]

Damn! Jingu is actually dispellable?!

[@beneaththeveil]

@@hewhoisnotentirelysure4000 yeah, can't dispel the debuff counter on yourself but you can dispel the buff he gets which gives him bonus damage and lifesteal. Very big

[@Gustangela]

Yes. Nullifies and WD are broken.

[@KapitanMeyour]

I need more of this item breakdown video. Nice one!

[@beneaththeveil]

More to come for sure! Make sure to stick around :)

[@robindegu7294]

At the risk of my current spam hero being nerfed/banned… wanted to share that shadow demon ult is essentially a better/more flexible/upgradable version of nullifier

[@beneaththeveil]

That it is! It also purges Debuff Immunity which a commenter pointed out solved our issue of why we couldn't understand why Nullifier didn't dispel Repel. Demonic Cleanse pierces the Debuff Immunity, therefore purging Omniknight's Repel. We already knew that it pierces BKB, but hadn't put it together that Demonic Cleanse is the only way to dispel Repel due to the debuff immunity that's part of the spell.

[@divinehatred6021]

i dont think shadow demon wins enough to be nerfed

[@beneaththeveil]

@@divinehatred6021 He's seeing much more play (and winning) in the pro scene than he has the last few years. I think if anything is going to change with him it will be to Disruption.

[@Doflaminguard]

​@@divinehatred6021SD was played as a save hero instead of a damage hero.

[@kexle8768]

This is a great video! The hardest part of getting back into the game imo is figuring out item sense again and all the interactions between reworked items, I def want to see more videos like this!

[@beneaththeveil]

Couldn't agree more! As the years go by, the game seems to get more and more complicated. It's what makes the game beautiful, but we can fully understand why it makes it a nightmare for less active players

[@Undead94100]

There are a bunch of additional dispellable buffs that can be removed by Nullifier, although the impact from doing so varies a lot. These are: Alchemist's Berserk Potion (Shard) Ogre Magi's Fire Shield (Shard) Primal Beast's Uproar (the buff itself, not the stack counter) Slardar's Guardian Sprint Bloodseeker's Blood Mist barrier (Scepter) Clinkz' Strafe Drow Ranger's Gust movement speed bonus Gyrocopter's Rocket Barrage Phantom Lancer's Phantom Rush Sniper's Concussive Grenade self-knockback (Shard) Spectre's Dispersion active (Shard) Keeper of the Light's Recall (Shard) Lina's Laguna Blade supercharge (removes buff that provides 10/15 Fiery Soul stacks upon cast, but 7 regular stacks will still remain) Shadow Demon's Disseminate (when applied as a buff) Warlock's Upheaval attack speed bonus (talent, only when lingering outside of Upheaval's radius) Beastmaster's Primal Roar movement speed bonus Chen's Penitence (removes Chen's bonus attack range buff and attackers' attack speed buff, but attack speed buff will be reapplied when a unit with Penitence is being attacked after Nullifier's duration is over) Lone Druid's Savage Roar buff (Shard) Snapfire's Lil' Shredder Vengeful Spirit's stolen armor and damage buff (talent) Mjollnir's Static Charge

[@CleopatraRizalda]

Now you can add falcon rush of Kez.

[@SuperMaxxxey]

this is very informative i used to think this item became useless after they removed the mute. thanks now i know how to deal with soo many buffs when i play carry.

[@beneaththeveil]

Yeah! It's a great item! I had a game as Juggernaut last night where we were being wrecked by a mid Timbersaw. He went Wind Waker and Aghs so I was forced to go Nullifier. He wasn't too pleased when he realised I knew the counterplay and ended up going Linken's, which was a mistake because the Swift Slashes from Jugg's Scepter purge the Linkens and he stays on top of the target. We eventually won but it was a hell of a slog to get there.

[@Majician]

As someone who’s been playing for a long time, THANK YOU for making a such an awesome vid to explain what the item does. Usually always bought it late game because ‘damage’ with something else…..But now I have a greater idea of what that is. Thanks again.

[@beneaththeveil]

You're welcome! It's always good to go back to the basics and learn more about the game. We get caught out by things all the time. The burden of knowledge is ever growing ;)

[@VenomRaven]

I've been waiting for a video just like this for the last couple of years. Thank you so much!

[@beneaththeveil]

You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it

[@lalazao]

the best video ever! very freaking good! please do more break downs like this!! you are amazing

[@beneaththeveil]

Thank you for the kind words

[@samueljames8654]

I think for windrunner you should mention that at 25 windrunner gets windrun can not be dispelled as an option. as you are viewing this more from the perspective of a late game item the fact that a talent nullifies the effect is not ideal

[@beneaththeveil]

There is text at the top of the screen that mentions there is a 25 talent that makes Windrun undispellable alongside the fact that the invisibility from Aghanims Scepter is not dispelled by Nullifier, only the base effect is. To be clear, Nullifier isn't an item that can only be purchased in the late game. It can be purchased at any point in the game where you already have the items and skills to kill a hero during the 5 second window the enemy is being constantly dispelled. A hero like Slardar for instance might choose to purchase a Nullifier immediately after Blink Dagger if they're confident the only thing stopping them from killing enemies after a Blink - Crush initiation is some item or spell protecting a hero that has a dispellable effect

[@iutubsacs]

Great observation. But bear in mind that level 25 is *not* lategame for medium MMR and above. It is more like ultra late game. Its just us low MMR plebs that get 80 percent of our games go into min 50+

[@beneaththeveil]

​@@iutubsacs Yeah, lexicon around early/mid/late/ultra late game is super fluid in dota and entirely depends on the rank you're at. We try to avoid it as much as we can and refer to either in game timings or levels as much as we can. It's unavoidable at times though.

[@TheMrRgon]

KZbin brought me here so I'll leave some hopefully helpful feedback. 0. Firstly the video is good, the production and visuals are high quality and it shows that you have a good understanding of the game. 1. The title & video length. As someone who believes he understands how nullifier works its hard to see why an explanation would take 17 minutes which made me think I must be missing something, this is an ok expectation to create for a viewer but I don't believe the video delivered. I feel one of the reasons for this is because this video involves a lot of specific hero counter ideas that also go far beyond nullifier which is fine but not what I was expecting. 2. Padding, a lot of time is used up to create long formed full sentences for every point which are not really required for the viewer to understand the idea, for example at 4:27 it takes almost 20 seconds to say that it works on crimson guard. I understand the idea that you want to tell the viewer that there are other items but a simple mention would do. 3. Presentation, this connects to the last point in that some things can be showed to the viewer or simply mentioned and when accompanied by a good visualization it can do a good enough job to convey the message without a full description. For example incorporating a tier-list (or similar tool) for heroes and items makes it easy for the viewer to understand which of those are important, which are nice to have and which are not affected. It also it makes it easy for the viewer to check back without needing to guess the timestamp for each item/hero. The image used for the heroes does not accomplish this goal because I don't know why I should care if I'm debuffing a movement ability or a right click buff I just want to know if its a good purchase. 4. Nullifier, this should have been the focus of the video but it feels that the tips and actual unique behaviors (such as bkb) are barely mentioned. After watching the video I can tell you which items and heroes the works well against, but, I have no clue of: a. When to buy nullifier as far as build order. b. Which heroes/positioned are best suited to buy the item. c. How do I use the item in a team fight. 5. Mechanics, I really like the bit at 6:28 showing the projectile and giving the simple suggestion that you can buy a blink and use it at melee, this is a very practical suggestion that might be obvious when said out loud but the average player could have easily missed it. I would have loved to see more stuff like this, for example talking about how Nullifier applies a debuff continuously so should I always use it at the start or wait? Does the hero/items change that choice? 6. Counters, understanding how enemy heroes can counter Nullifier can help me as a player to look out for these counters and recounter them. This point is never really addressed in the video properly. Overall this is a good video but if I'm being honest I would have stopped watching at about 7:00 if I didn't end up watching as a critique so I'm hoping this can help you moving forward.

[@beneaththeveil]

Wow, this is a really well thought out comment. Thank you for taking the time to provide a critique. It's appreciated. We're sorry you didn't feel the video delivered on the expectation you had coming in. We design these videos for new players to the game so aim to be as in-depth as possible while also trying to keep videos as brief as practical in order to respect peoples time. We had to make some concessions in this video due to length so chose to utilise the description for the full breakdown of all hero interactions and focussed on highlighting the most important use cases. In hindsight: we could have done the same with items and realistically cut the overall video length down to ten minutes. We appreciate your other suggestions regarding tier lists etc. When scripting things out, we try to keep in mind that some people can hear something and understand it immediately, while others won't understand until they see it. Especially so if English isn't their first language. Due to this, we try to keep in mind when we can say something and immediately move on and when it's relevant to pad the script out a little so there isn't dead air while a supporting video plays out. I can understand why that's a pain point for you though. As far as structure: we try to design each video so that we explain the item in isolation up front and then in the back end we go into the details about what it works against and what counterplay there is. This is because some viewers will click on the video wanting to understand the item in isolation and then leave, while others will want both how it works in isolation as well as in context. We try to satisfy everyone by structuring our videos in this manner to serve both audiences. We mention up front that due to the prohibitive cost of Nullifier it should generally be purchased by core heroes but in late game scenarios there are times where support heroes can end up purchasing it too. As mentioned up front as well it should be purchased when you can feasibly kill an enemy within the 5 second continuous dispel window where they would otherwise use a spell or item to prevent you from killing them. We thought this succinct explanation answered when in a build order you should buy it and how to use it in a teamfight, but perhaps we should have belaboured this point more and explained you should purchase it once you have the items or abilities that enable you to kill a hero within the 5 second window of the continuous dispel. Or perhaps we should have again repeated these ideas at the end of the video to remind everyone who watched until the end. The reason counters aren't really mentioned is that there aren't that many counters. It's literally just BKB which supresses the effect, Linkens which absorbs it, a disjoint through items and spells that Blink or Hide the hero (Banishments, Tusk Snowball etc.) and Anti-Mage who can reflect the projectile (despite the fact Nullifier also purges his Counterspell if he activates it after he's nullified which is a weird and fun interaction). Lotus Orb doesn't stop it but reflects it back at you too so for a hero who has purgeable effects themselves playing with a Nullifier into a Lotus Orb we felt it was important to briefly highlight too. Again, we appreciate your critique and hope you appreciate that we felt we had addressed the majority of your questions, but perhaps just didn't present it in a way you understood - which is on us. We hope you stick around and continue to provide feedback. It's always helpful to have an outside perspective and outline where we didn't deliver on the things we set out to.

[@IceKangChang]

This level of explanation and analysis truly deserves some love

[@beneaththeveil]

Much appreciated! More to come for sure!

[@rayyanzaidi3323]

Dude you are amazing, I was looking for this information for so long and You helped me. Thankyou

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad we could help!

[@linkin-70]

@@beneaththeveil helped me tools a new player I am

[@doublehelim]

Loved your video. Very detailed and exactly what i was looking for. Subscribed :) Keep it up!!

[@beneaththeveil]

Awesome, thank you!

[@RotiHK]

As a relatively new dota player that started last October, I wanted to say thank you for this video. My MMR is around high crusader/low archon and it's crazy how almost nobody buys nullifer at this elo. I learned a lot from this!

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to hear we helped :)

[@Stannis452]

I never used Nullifier, I've been playing DotA 2 for 3 years, and I'm still learning, but this video was extremely helpful and I'll give the item a go when facing one of the heroes you guys mentioned

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to hear we've opened your mind to the item :) Hope it provides some wins for you

[@lucasng4203]

Amazing video, really enjoying these types of videos, great info

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad you like them!

[@frances2191]

more or less new to dota. this is great, super informational and understandable :^) if you have time, a quick conclusion/summary/rehash of the entire video at the end would be really helpful just to repeat the main points. Thanks again! earned a sub for sure

[@beneaththeveil]

Will consider it in future. Thank you! Always hard with longer videos to justify adding more time at the end with a recap, but appreciate it

[@frances2191]

makes sense! Thanks for the reply :)

[@joffrey13]

love this kind of content. Hope you can make more Item and Hero detailed guides.

[@beneaththeveil]

More to come for sure! Got a list of videos that we're working away on. Always taking community suggestions for sure. We make sure to read every comment :)

[@carlookamura6395]

Thanks bro! Been trying to get full info on this item.

[@beneaththeveil]

No problem 👍

[@lardoram]

Thank you fir the helpful info! I never see this item bought in my games and i think its in part to people not quite understanding the item

[@beneaththeveil]

Exactly! Glad we could help

[@Skrill_72]

Earned a sub, please more high MMR content like this

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to hear! Certainly have a few things in the pipeline already

[@siratmohaiminulislam8677]

instantly subbed. your explanation is just amazing.

[@beneaththeveil]

Thanks and welcome

[@theflame9]

2:15 Omni 2nd skill “Repel” does protect all positive buff from being removed from itself or if cast on ally. E.g Omni repel plus guardian angel plus ghost scepter (3buffs) if nullifier is cast on this target it retains all 3 buffs.

[@theflame9]

also 13:52 repel is undispellable by nullifie, is only dispellable if its strong dispel which nullifier isnt

[@beneaththeveil]

Partially correct! Repel does protect from Nullifier due to the Debuff Immunity which is part of the spell, which we had overlooked in testing due to the huge amount of testing we were doing in researching for the video. Strong Dispels however, can only currently be applied to allied heroes. We added the note about no buffs requiring a Strong Dispel to remove at the start of the video in order to future proof this video just in case Valve does to us what they did in 7.33 and drastically change a core mechanic like they did altering Magic Immunity into Debuff Immunity. What you need in order to remove Repel is a skill which pierces debuff immunity AND dispels. Three examples of this are Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge, Doom's Doom and Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse.

[@jonocana8925]

The amount of information in this video deserves a sub and a like! Thank you, dude. this is very informative for a herald like me. LOL!

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad it helped! You're very welcome

[@Corbeauxx]

Just a note, Windrunner's windrun ability has a talent that makes it so that it can't be dispelled.

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes this is true. At 14:19 the note left at the top of the screen does inform viewers of this

[@ixaac6547]

Very Informative, more of this plsss!!

[@beneaththeveil]

Thank you! Will do!

[@asyfer729]

What the best timing to buy nullifier my brother? after having 1 core farming item? or after getting 1 defensive item like manta/bkb?

[@beneaththeveil]

Great question! It totally depends on what your hero needs to function and what utility your team already provides through their abilities. In very rare cases, you can get it first item after boots if you're an offlaner for example and you have two supports with setup skills and you just need nullifier to stop a potential Force Staff or Glimmer save. In most cases though you will want at least a BKB first to stop the enemy from disrupting you by using their spells to shut you down. For carries they always want farming item + BKB before Nullifier at the earliest, mid can do one or the other depending if it's a good game for them to scale through farming or not. Nullifier as a fourth/fifth/sixth item totally varies depending on hero lineup and what items are coming out. It is often not a good Nullifier game until Aeon Disks and the like start being purchased, so monitoring enemy itemisation is key in order to understand how to optimise your Nullifier purchase window.

[@ranamoeni6595]

tnx for ur high quality content, learned a lot 🙏

[@beneaththeveil]

Happy to hear that! Be sure to stick around :)

[@s.o.s4509]

Gargle for clear voice though. Content top notch. Ty.

[@beneaththeveil]

@@s.o.s4509 Phil just has a naturally husky voice. It is what it is. Appreciate the intent behind the advice though

[@ashwyn93]

Thank you so much for this video! i learned so much as a veteran dota player

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad we helped :)

[@jvanrood]

10:15, nullifier significantly reduces sniper's own shard knockback (similarly to force staff), but your own knowback is unchanged since it's a debuff on you

[@beneaththeveil]

Good to know! As someone who never plays Sniper but plays against him plenty I've never really become that well acquainted with the nuances of the grenade. Appreciate you letting everyone know

[@zo9fg]

ur channel is underrated and im glad youtube algo picked this vid up

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad you think so! We've been pleasantly surprised at the reception for sure. Thank you for your kind words :)

[@meiliu6231]

Hi, great video. What about nyx? Can nullify work against any of the hero's abilities?

[@beneaththeveil]

Hey there! No, Nyx Assassin's abilities can not be dispelled in any way.

[@someoneinthesky9784]

everybody gangsta until that 0 death support shadow demon casts 12s of demonic purge at you for not ending the game earlier.

[@beneaththeveil]

Exactly!

[@takdre5546]

Wow I didn't realize Nullifier could this be powerful in this meta. Truly underutilized!

[@Kashiwa-no-ha]

The comparisons are well made, thank u for the effort.

[@beneaththeveil]

Thanks for watching!

[@mamamiomima1408]

Another important interaction - Nullifier doesnt disspell Shadow Blade. Problemm with Grimmstroke - if he have a shard and target is stunned/silenced or controled in any other way and Grim himself cant trigger use. Nullifier bassically disspells everything from that hero, which is counter intuetive and can lead to lost fight

[@beneaththeveil]

Nullifier doesn't dispel Shadow Blade, correct. The invisibility on Shadow Amulet, Shadow Blade and Silver Edge is only dispelled on death (Shadow Amulet invis dispelled by moving too). If Grimstroke has shard and applies Ink Swell to a target who has the Nullify active on them: the Ink Swell instantly detonates and the target still receives a Strong Dispel. Unsure if this is what you were explaining or not :)

[@makkar7]

Very informative clip. Good job sire!!!

[@beneaththeveil]

Thank you!

[@recnelizgaming]

new subscriber here. very nice content. even i play dota 2 since 2013, some items ng mechanics of the game i cant even understand cuz no time to try it now.

[@beneaththeveil]

DOTA 2 is a complicated game. We aren't surprised that those who don't nerd out about the game like we do don't know all these things. We're constantly forgetting and relearning things as the years go by. There's just so many interactions and exceptions.

[@lull9075]

did not see if anyone commented about it, but Snapfire's Shredder is dispellable too! Works good when facing late-game physical Snapfire

[@beneaththeveil]

Good catch! Sneaky spells not being listed as dispellable strike again. Well done! Will add it to the description with credit :)

[@2peterpunz139]

Question though in some effects....does the nullifier application works even after the buff activate it? Does it dispel it? Or you should null the hero before he buff themselves so that the debuff will work?

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes, any dispellable effect that is active when the Nullify active is applied will instantly dispel the buff. Similarly, any dispellable buff that is activated during the Nullify active duration will also be instantly dispelled :) The only way to avoid having your buffs dispelled is by having Debuff Immunity active, absorbing the projectile with Linken's Sphere or disjointing the projectile through Blink Daggers or going invisible with Shadow Amulet, Shadow Blade and Silver Edge provided the enemy don't have True Sight applied in the area at the time

[@allaroundyou1058]

nice series, can you also create a video for armlet?

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes Armlet is on the agenda. Life got in the way for a bit but we'll be back with another video before Armlet

[@fairy6818]

2:05 Not quite. Defensive dispels or dispelling negative effects on allies have basic and strong dispels. Basic Dispel for silence, DoT, Slow and the likes. Strong Dispel for stun and hex. Offensive dispel, or dispelling positive effects on enemies only comes in Basic Dispel, or Dispel by Death. Positive buffs like Ghost Sceptre, Glimmer Capes, friendly Force Staff can be dispelled by Nullifier or offensive Eul. Positive buffs like BKB, Shadow Blade are only dispelled by death. And positive buffs like Lina's Fiery Soul stacks are never dispellable, not even by death. So technically, there is no strong dispel regarding offensive dispels. There really isn't any reason for Dota devs to specify "basic dispel" for nullifier as that's the only offensive dispel.

[@beneaththeveil]

You've essentially said exactly what was already explained, just in a different manner while also bringing the concept of buffs being dispelled by death into the conversation. We presented it in this way and intentionally simplified it in order to make it easier for newer players to comprehend how Nullifier functions specifically, rather than how dispels work in general. While also future proofing the content of this video should mechanics change or be introduced in future, as they have changed in the past. Fully appreciate your desire for us to be technically correct in the matter though, so thank you for the comment.

[@paomendoza8744]

How to reach that FPS? So smooth! What is your machine’s specs?

[@beneaththeveil]

I9/RTX 4070

[@kylestone7714]

Why does nullifier work for glimmer cape but not for shadow blade/silver edge?

[@beneaththeveil]

Great question! Shadow Blade and Silver Edge aren't technically designed to be used as protection/defensive tools. They're actually designed to be an offensive tool to leverage an advantage and sneak up on the enemy - but poorly skilled players try to use it as a crutch for their poor positioning and utilise it as a means of escape which just means they're praying their enemies aren't competent and able to carry a gem, dust or sentry wards. When used as designed, Shadow Blade enables a hero to sneak up on the backlines and quickly deal to critical backline damage dealers or saving/healing heroes: while Silver Edge enables you to do not only that, but also sneak up on a usually tanky hero, open a fight by Breaking them to disable their passive abilities which make them absorb or heal through a lot of damage and quickly nuke down their HP. Since these two items are designed to open fights: they have a much longer duration of invisibility and are not dispellable. Glimmer Cape on the other hand: is designed to be used in a reactionary way. Valve wants players to use this item to provide a massive buff of magic resistance as well as a magic damage barrier and then also apply a short duration invisibility so that hero can break line of sight with heroes who might be trying to kill them. Since it's designed to be used as a defensive buff, it's designed to be dispelled.

[@nunyabusiness8000]

Great video. Looking to get back into dota so this is an easy sub

[@beneaththeveil]

Delighted to hear. Welcome back to the beautiful game ☺️

[@naxoif951]

Great video! Hope more item will be feature! thank you

[@beneaththeveil]

More to come for sure! Thank you :)

[@lazylonewolf]

My issue with it is when to get it on heroes that don't usually build Radiance, or have high damage but lack attack speed, like Slark my main Pos 1 for example (yeah yeah he might not count for the 2nd point).

[@beneaththeveil]

It's understandable, but really depends more on the enemy team than it does your hero. As a carry: your non-negotiables are essentially a farming item and BKB. Then from there all you have to figure out is when to get Nullifier, which is solely based on "Can I kill these heroes with just Nullifier and BKB either on my own or with 1/2 allies?" If the answer is yes then Nullifier is your first worthwhile pickup and you cajole your supports into smoke ganking with you once it's finished to speed up both your and their GPM. If Nullifier isn't the immediate answer, then you need to figure out what item you need to get first before Nullifier, such as Blink on Ursa to be able to close the gap and actually hit a hero, or Mjollnir on Bloodseeker to give you additional attack speed alongside your first skill to make use of the damage. For example, had a PA yesterday go BF, BKB and then try go Deso into a mid Pugna. By the time Deso was finished the game was over shortly after. Decrepify constantly stopped PA from feeding on heroes because she couldn't dispel it. Thus, even once Deso came online it barely built up any charges and subsequent damage, leaving her with less damage than if she had just bought Nullifier. Once you have an item to increase your GPM and an item to defend yourself somewhat, that's when you immediately start considering if Nullifier is worthwhile or not.

[@Котейка-к1ы]

Idk if someone mentioned it, but PA's Deadly Focus state (from her Coup De Grace ulti), which is a buff that makes her next attack critical, can be dispelled with any dispel. Nullifier too :)

[@beneaththeveil]

In our testing, the Deadly Focus buff wasn't being dispelled. We know the bonus attack speed from Phantom Strike is purgeable though, as listed in the video description.

[@cjcolon507]

@@beneaththeveilit did dispel PA Ult crit, but they fixed that 2-3 patches ago so you cant dispel PA ult unless break is active on pa

[@BlueRice]

I never knew whqts nullified items do. Wow thanks. This items is actually amazing

[@beneaththeveil]

It is!

[@thecowcanon]

Great video!

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[@MGMultiverseGaming]

Thanks for the awesome video.

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad you liked it!

[@MGMultiverseGaming]

@@beneaththeveil I loved it. Keep up the good work!

[@shinoa8994]

thank you so much man for this information, I'm new to this game and i find it annoying to fight supports that has any items that can prevent them from dying in the last second and escaping. gonna sub to this one

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to hear we helped! Welcome aboard

[@jarmago7750]

Bruh, you deserve more subs!

[@beneaththeveil]

Thank you! We're sure they'll come with time

[@Tirishhai]

Just a side note, i think the tooltip for deathseeker has the dispellable tag cuz it used to make the target ethereal, they often forget to remove these things rightaway

[@beneaththeveil]

That explains it! Thought it might have been a carry over that wasn't edited out

[@valour549]

Why does the alt-description of nullifier say it pierces magic immunity (or more correct debuff immunity), yet it doesn't affect BKB'ed targets?

[@beneaththeveil]

Magic Immunity was removed from the game in the 7.33 New Frontiers update and Black King Bar was reworked to provide Debuff Immunity instead, however the tooltip was not altered. It's fairly common for Valve to not update tooltips for ages and then with each major gameplay patch they go through and correct various ones. Nullifier has probably just slipped through the cracks in that regard.

[@yomama8327]

when i learned you can nullify an active eul tornado i was mind blown

[@tanerbaubec]

thanks for the video! would have loved to dive more into all the abilities the nullifier dispels but maybe it be a very long video. Does Nullifier dispel Sven's ult?

[@beneaththeveil]

You're welcome! We would have too but the video was already too long. Nullifier does not dispel his ult, only Warcry.

[@Doflaminguard]

Usually, ultimate transformation type ultimates arent dispellable.

[@Ben_diez]

What weather do you use in this video, looks so beautiful, nice info btw

[@beneaththeveil]

It's the DOTA+ Spring terrain :)

[@daedaluxe]

This item is mental, some PA used it on me and it cancelled my ghost scepter and self euls and got shrekked

[@beneaththeveil]

Yeah, the constant dispel is insanely strong. Especially against players who aren't aware of it's full potential and unknowingly itemise themselves into being perfectly countered

[@screechza]

If there is a salesman of the year for this product called nullifier: U will surely ended up getting such an ENORMOUS bonus, since u convinced me to buy this for almost every game

[@beneaththeveil]

glad to hear

[@mezonei]

if u ever see nechro in the enemy team always build nulifier i usually play pa and my build is usually bkb deso nulifier khanda basher and phase boots sceptre aswell ur crit will reach above 2k and u can one shot dagger supports if u have deadly focus as u have khanda

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes, we agree that Nullifier is a must buy item against Necrophos. Regardless of whether it's a good Nullifier game against any of the other heroes or their items

[@grenadedFalafel]

I love you, i needed this!

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to be of service

[@StupidDanimations]

The fact that a player needs to find a 17 minute video to explain how to use ONE of hundreds of items in Dota2 explains one of the game's big problems. Imagine being a new player.

[@beneaththeveil]

While we can appreciate the sentiment: the complexity of the game is what we believe to be one of it's points of appeal and the reason so many people love it

[@imoL_]

I see no problem here,lol.Dota is ALWAYS about learning.U cant know everything and its fun!

[@fullmil3]

also the reason the game is good tho

[@SecretWebiste]

Back to LoL for you...

[@Gundamkun]

Watching a 17-minute video, searching for guides, and forming your strategy is part of the fun of this game.

[@johanngodinezquezada8140]

Does it removes the stacks from bristleback?

[@beneaththeveil]

Stacks of Warpath are not dispellable, no

[@denzelvanegas4251]

Can you share the ID of the game you show at the introduction of the video pls

[@beneaththeveil]

We have considered this but the issue becomes depending on when the video is posted and how long since the game was played: the replays become unavailable at a certain point. We always grab replays from immortal level pubs found through dota2protracker though wherever possible

[@JovanKK]

Awesome content man Instant subs, thanks

[@beneaththeveil]

Thanks for the sub! Welcome! Glad you're enjoying

[@JovanKK]

@@beneaththeveil Can u make a video about drafting on ranked? Some tips maybe about how to learn about hero counter etc? Thanks in advance

[@beneaththeveil]

@@JovanKK It's something we'll consider, but it's a very nuanced subject since the only players who typically get any sort of counter drafting in pubs is cores against the support picks and the last pick against 4 out of 5 heroes. If the drafting order changes and goes towards captain's mode it's something we'll consider, otherwise we'll probably talk about it more when we make hero specific videos and what heroes they don't want to draft into.

[@JovanKK]

@@beneaththeveil Awesome, waiting for more content man, thanks!

[@imfinishedgrinding638]

This is the stuff right here! Can't wait for more!

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to hear! Hope to see you around more in the future!

[@imfinishedgrinding638]

@@beneaththeveil Can't promise you that I'll comment every vid from now on but I know for sure I now have another informative dota channel to look forward to 👍 Edit: Your old stuff are solid ngl

[@beneaththeveil]

@@imfinishedgrinding638 All good! We have plenty of people who happily watch each video from the shadows so you're in good company. Glad to hear you're enjoying all the information we have to offer.

[@marksilao6145]

Does Nullifier also affect continuous passives like Huskar and Spectre?

[@beneaththeveil]

It does not, no. In order to disable those passive abilities you need a source of Break. Currently, the only item that provides that is Silver Edge, which provides a single target Break when you attack an enemy from the provided invisibility. We'll do a video about the Break debuff at some point soon!

[@marksilao6145]

Would be glad to have a video about Break effect. And also would that additionally affect after Nullifier effects if you use both?

[@beneaththeveil]

@@marksilao6145 Can certainly make a video on Break! They will not have any interaction with each other. Nullifier continuously dispel any active buffs, while Break disables all passive abilities for the duration. They do two different things completely :)

[@marksilao6145]

Last question: Does Nullifier also negate if the enemy receives buffs from ally? Example enemy gets Empower buff from Magnus or Ogre Magi. If it did (Nullifier effect), would it work pre-Nullifier or during the effects of Nullifier?

[@beneaththeveil]

@@marksilao6145 All good! As the spell effect states: targets under the effect are CONTINUOUSLY DISPELLED for the full duration. That means if any dispellable buff was already active on the unit BEFORE the active was applied or is applied to the unit WHILE UNDER the effect, those buffs are immediately dispelled. So yes, both the Empower and Bloodlust buffs would be immediately removed. Nullifier is a continuous dispel whereas the Cyclone effect from Eul's Scepter and Wind Waker is a single-instance dispel. When using Eul's and Wind Waker you have to wait until a dispellable effect is used to be able to remove it whereas with Nullifier you can cast it before the fact to stop it from ever coming out and being effective.

[@dominiqueherman9291]

Are death prophets ultimate and drain dispelled by nullifier?

[@beneaththeveil]

Neither are dispellable effects I'm afraid.

[@King_Bitcoin]

FUN TIPS: if just 1hero have ghost scepter or ghost scepter skill buy nulliffier but if the 1 player have euls, forcestaff, glimmer, aeon disk and ghospter/ skills buy BOTH nullifer and revenant

[@beneaththeveil]

Revenant's Brooch is another way to pierce through the Ethereal state for sure! But if you can kill a hero in the 5 second window of the Nullify active then there's no need to get Revenant's Brooch as well.

[@slick8098]

You are doing gods work, please continue

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad you think so! And doubly glad to know you enjoyed the video

[@SSC604]

I thought that the strong dispel on aeon disk dispelled the nullifier active effect. I guess I was wrong because I always waited until aeon disk activated before I used nullifier.

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes once you realise the Nullify effect is undispellable it massively adjusts the way you play with it

[@TheFiith]

very well done video!

[@beneaththeveil]

Thank you very much!

[@voodoo192]

Must buy items for carries like weaver pa void for players like pugna necro etc

[@rahulpillai1271]

I think its worth mentioning Muerta ult and OD with a scepter hp buff is non dispellable with Nullifer. I got baited into countering an OD scepter with a nullifer but clearly didnt work

[@beneaththeveil]

We debated if we should talk about things that aren't dispelled but then decided it was too long even while not covering everything that is dispelled. We opted to make a comprehensive list of everything that is dispellable in the description in hopes that players would realise if it wasn't on the list that was because it wasn't dispellable.

[@NorwegianQvirr]

Went weaver mid yesterday against a pugna. Struggled to keep him off the tower and it eventually fell as i rotated. I did win the lane relatively speaking (landing a kill on him at lvl 4/5) but went a relatively early nullifier to counter his self banish. Pleasantly surprised when I saw his next item purchased immediately fail him as my nullifier instantly removed his eul’s and later messed him up badly when his wind waker didn’t allow him to relocate across a ledge and thus his positioning cost them the fight 🎉

[@beneaththeveil]

Well done! Always satisfying when you see enemies keep investing money into items you already deal with through your itemisation. It's just free MMR they're donating at that point

[@NorwegianQvirr]

@@beneaththeveil best part? He was a true gent about in post game, both calling me out for being annoying af and saying wp haha :)

[@beneaththeveil]

@@NorwegianQvirr aw, so wholesome. Got to treasure the positive interactions with strangers in this game hahaha

[@NorwegianQvirr]

@@beneaththeveil they’re definitely not more prevalent than their counterpart 😅

[@hassaanz]

Thanks. It helped me decide that I should buy nullifier on my Mid Lich to get out of Guardian bracket

[@beneaththeveil]

Best of luck out there, soldier!

[@Dionini]

You earned a sub

[@beneaththeveil]

Welcome!

[@лікуючийпротектор]

finally i'm going to learn about that item, i've never really understood how it works and never bought it since i started game and since my 500 mmr (i'm 6k now), but i play only sup roles so its not that bad, i guess...

[@beneaththeveil]

Sometimes as a support this item can still be just what you need!

[@affanhasby822]

The might rush linken so always be aware you should prepare another single target spell to break linken. And also wait their bkb timing window. Everything could happen in 5 seconds in a late game.

[@beneaththeveil]

Exactly :) Need to be mindful of the few counterplay options

[@salad3955]

I just tried something if omni has repel and then casts ulti you cant nullify him

[@beneaththeveil]

Correct. The only way to dispel Repel are through effects that pierce Debuff Immunity and dispel the target. Shadow Demons Demonic Purge, Winter's Curse and Doom all pierced Debuff Immunity and dispel the target, removing Repel. We learned all these from the commenters, helpful community to have :)

[@Jlewis0201]

Amazing explanation

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad it was helpful!

[@47joynel47]

Please tell about Dark Willow's Shadow Realm

[@beneaththeveil]

We'll probably cover the mechanic of Invulnerability as a whole video itself and mention how Dark Willow's Shadow Realm differs as part of that video

[@hirotohayato4309]

This item was so OP when it still has the effect to mute hero, you can't use any item so combo with orchid and the one got debuff will surely dead, it even pierce linken back then too

[@beneaththeveil]

Yeah it was pretty nuts hahahaha. Have seen people claim the item became useless once the mute was removed and it's like... "Do you even know what it does? The mute was just a bonus" Dota is much more interesting when heroes aren't buying the same 6 items every game because those items are hideously overpowered. Much more interesting when there's completely different builds depending on your allies and enemies

[@bragot]

Nice video! Can you do one on Armlet next? 😎

[@beneaththeveil]

Will put it on the list!

[@salad3955]

wait so if you nullify a target that has oracles ulti cast on him and oracle spams purifying flames isnt oracle just killing his teammate? because you lose some hp at first and then get hp regen but if you are being dispelled you will only get damaged and not healed right? edit:ok you can just kill your team i tested it lol

[@beneaththeveil]

Indeed you can. Realistically he can't outright kill them due to cooldown cycles not allowing enough casts, but he can significantly harm them

[@pickin7654]

The worst part for Nullifier is that, it should have able to dispel or disable Wraith King ultimate as it mention the passive is dispellable. However we did tried using it against Wraith King, he still get reincarnated.

[@beneaththeveil]

There's a misunderstanding of how Reincarnation works at play. There are actually several effects going on simultaneously. When Reincarnation triggers, Skeletons are spawned, there is also a slow applied to all enemies and then Wraith King reappears. The slow applied to enemies is dispellable, which is what the tooltip alludes to.

[@Ilovefriesnosaltpls]

The passive is not dispellable because its not a buff. Its a passive. Youre supposed to use BREAK to disable passives. But WK ult is made to not be breakable.

[@Slamion]

You can dispel repel by shadow demon ultimate

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes, we had viewers point out that dispels which pierce debuff immunity will remove Repel. Winter's Curse and Doom will both remove it as well :)

[@ThangLe-ws4ns]

What can Nec do to counter Nullifier? Thanks!!!

[@beneaththeveil]

Great question! His only real options unfortunately are BKB to temporarily suppress the constantly applied dispels, or get a Linken's Sphere if the enemy don't have a single target spell or item which can easily remove the spell block. Otherwise, it's kind of a case of you need to end the game before the Nullifier comes online. Typically, most core heroes don't want to get a Nullifier until at least their third major item (not including boots) so Necro has a decent time to run the map before a Nullifier might come out - but you always have to check enemy itemisation in case they might be greedy and rush a quick Nullifier (extremely rare, but it can happen) which a BKB pickup would counteract.

[@ThangLe-ws4ns]

@@beneaththeveil Thanks! I have many Nec games where I was dominating until Null comes in

[@lukeatillo6954]

Thanks!

[@beneaththeveil]

Welcome!

[@MrWeissenHerz]

Im also confused and shock they rework how item after know in some of sort patch lately. Well i know in the first as purge/muted enemy but well they change it.

[@beneaththeveil]

Yes they removed the mute effect a long time ago now. They actually slightly changed the numbers on this item since we released this video. We have noted the recent changes in our pinned comment :)

[@cryoneir4296]

im going to add some points you missed in the video. Every kind of shield is dispellable. Including ember's flame guard (active proc) and shield rune.

[@beneaththeveil]

Correct! We alluded to this in the section where we show dispellable shields and have Pango/Ember etc. Ember's interaction changed in 7.36 with the slight rework to Flame Guard. Since this was made before 7.36, things got a touch more complicated for the item since then, as well as the duration getting reduced by a second and a slow being added :)

[@theaccountingmentor]

Does it dispel Muerta's ethereal ult?

[@beneaththeveil]

Pierce The Veil can not be dispelled, no

[@theaccountingmentor]

@@beneaththeveil Ok good to know.

[@gutsglory3625]

I always buy it and pair with skadi whenever dealing against razor and bb.

[@beneaththeveil]

Glad to hear :)

[@normalguyishere]

nice tutorial! THanks!

[@beneaththeveil]

You're welcome! Glad it was helpful :)