Guardian Greaves: Classic DotA Allstars Item Guide
Within the classic DotA Allstars custom map for Warcraft III, Guardian Greaves represents the ultimate late-game combination of team sustain, mobility, and dispel utility. By merging two essential mid-game utility items—Mekansm and Arcane Boots—into a single inventory slot, Guardian Greaves allows support and frontline tank heroes to keep their teams healthy during extended sieges and chaotic late-game engagements without sacrificing crucial slot efficiency.
Section 1 - Item Stats, Auras, and Passive Bonuses
Guardian Greaves provides strong base attributes, continuous aura effects that scale during critical health thresholds, and an upgraded active restoration ability.
- Direct Stats & Bonuses:
- +55 Movement speed (Note: Movement speed does not stack with other boots)
- +250 Mana
- +5 All Stats (Agility, Intelligence, and Strength)
- +5 Armor
- Auras and Passive Effects:
- Guardian Aura (Passive): Grants +4 HP regen and +2 armor to all allies in a 900 AoE. If an allied hero's HP falls below 20%, the bonus HP regen and armor dramatically increase to 15.
- Active Ability (Mend):
- Cooldown: 40 seconds
- Effect: Restores 300 HP and 200 MP to all allies in a 900 AoE. Applies a basic dispel on the owner upon cast. Will only heal units which were not healed by it in the past 25 seconds.
Net Carrier Bonus Summary: When equipped, Guardian Greaves directly grants the hero +5 Strength, +5 Agility, +5 Intelligence, +5 Armor, +250 Mana, and +55 Movement Speed, in addition to receiving the constant passive benefits of Guardian Aura (+4 HP regen / +2 armor, scaling to +15 HP regen / +15 armor when dropping below 20% HP).
Section 2 - Recipe and Required Components
Assembling Guardian Greaves requires uniting two fully built support items with a high-tier recipe artifact.
| Component | Gold Cost |
|---|---|
| Arcane Boots | 1300 |
| Mekansm | 2275 |
| Recipe | 1800 |
| Total Cost | 5375 gold |
Resale Note: In classic DotA Allstars, selling Guardian Greaves returns half of its total purchase price (yielding 2687 gold, as shown in the player inventory details).
Section 3 - Tactical Analysis and Strategic Impact
Guardian Greaves fundamentally elevates a team's survivability and spell-casting uptime:
- Pushing and Towers: Combining the burst healing of Mekansm and the mana replenishment of Arcane Boots into one item allows teams to launch sustained high-ground pushes without running out of resources or needing to fountain-retreat.
- Physical Amplification & Team Mitigation: The Guardian Aura acts as an automated emergency system. When allies take fatal physical burst damage and drop below 20% HP, the instant jump to +15 armor and +15 HP regen grants massive physical damage mitigation, often completely nullifying execution attempts by enemy carries.
- Dispel Utility & Mana Efficiency: The active Mend ability costs 0 mana to cast and has a reduced 40-second cooldown compared to Mekansm (65s). Furthermore, the built-in basic self-dispel cleanses silences, slows, and debuffs from the carrier upon activation, allowing utility initiators to cast their crucial spells even under pressure.
Section 4 - Recommended Heroes
Guardian Greaves is ideal for frontline utility tanks, initiators, and primary supports who need slot consolidation in late-game scenarios:
- Kunkka (Admiral Proudmoore): Frequently built as a durable frontline initiator who benefits greatly from the stats, extra armor, self-dispel, and continuous team sustain during prolonged teamfights.
- Omniknight (Purist Thunderwrath): Amplifies his defense-oriented spell kit (Repel, Purification, Guardian Angel), using the active self-dispel to ensure he can cast his abilities even when targeted with silences.
- Dazzle (Shadow Priest): Synergizes exceptionally well with allies surviving on low health via Shallow Grave, allowing the low-HP target to maximize the passive +15 armor and +15 HP regen buff from Guardian Aura.
- Chen (Holy Knight): A core buyer that consolidates inventory space while providing his tamed jungle creep army with continuous mana, health, armor, and burst survival.
Conclusion
Guardian Greaves is the ultimate late-game upgrade for support and utility champions in DotA Allstars. By solving inventory slot limitations and replacing separate mana and health items with a single 0-mana active heal, low-HP emergency aura, and self-dispel, it ensures your team retains maximum battle endurance when pushing for victory in the late game.