Helm of the Dominator: The pros discuss item nerfs and balance

The International 2025 saw an interesting meta develop for Dota 2, and RDY GG asked the pros how to nerf Helm of the Dominator.

Helm of the Dominator was a huge talking point of The International 2025. The strength of the item was seen throughout the tournament, with heroes such as Invoker or Faceless Void rushing the Helm to obtain a powerful creep to fight alongside them. While at TI, RDY GG caught up with some of the pro-Dota 2 players and got their opinion on HotD and what can be done to nerf the item.

Helm of The International 2025: What nerfs could change the HotD meta?

With no nerf just yet, Helm of the Dominator remains a hot topic in Dota 2. With that said, some of the pros feel that they know exactly what needs to be done to make this item disappear from the meta.

Daniel "Stormstormer" Schoetzau

"I see multiple things. For example, they could give the item a mana cost. I think that would already be huge, because right now you can buy it on any hero, even heroes who usually struggle with mana. Imagine if Faceless Void needed to conserve 75 or 100 mana for it, then the item would already become less attractive. Because what you want to eliminate is that everybody buys this item right now, which is too universal, too, too good.

Another idea I could also see is to give more punishment if the creep dies. For example, you can make it so that when the creep dies, the item goes on cooldown, similar to how Arc Warden is right now. Let's say, if you give it a 45 second cool down if the creep dies, because right now, what most people do is to take another creep just before the one you have dies. And that is like one of the biggest abuses. So, you could make it that, first of all, if the creep dies, the item goes on cooldown. Or also that while the creep takes damage, you cannot take a new creep."

Cedric "Davai Lama" Deckmyn

"I think it's just two things. I think the stats are a bit too high and the troll creep is stupid because it can cut waves forever. The dragon can do it as well. You know, the ancient dragon can cut waves forever, but that one costs a lot of money. That one is okay. But the troll creep just summons too many skeletons. He should only summon two or something. If they nerf the stats a little bit, nerf the troll creep, I think it would be in a good spot."

Matheus Santos “KJ” Jungles Diniz

"I think the regen of the creep is too annoying. Because you can do what Remco "Crystallis" Arets did in the game against Team Liquid. He just sent the Troll in front of their base and kept killing creeps. The creep just has infinite health and mana, which is very annoying. But you can know what IceFrog will do or what Valve will change. They could just completely kill the item out of nowhere."

Samuel "Boxi" Svahn

"I think it should just get nerfed a little bit, maybe add some cooldown. It used to have a bigger bounty. I think also maybe they can add like 50 gold extra to kill the creep. So you have to be more careful. It's nice to have more ways to play the game, but obviously now it's too strong. You don't want to have it like this, but I think some games you should be able to buy it as a support, not only on beast master. I think that's fun."