Items play a key role in each and every DotA 2 match. I n order to successfully defeat your opponents and destroy their ancient you will need to acquire both experience (in order to level up your character) and gold (in order to purchase items).
Gold is acquired in a number of ways - by killing basic creeps, by killing so-called 'neutral' creeps, by killing Roshan, by killing enemy heroes, by killing the enemy courier, and finally by destroying enemy buildings, such as towers.
Not all items can be bought, however. Some items in the game spawn, others are acquired by killing certain enemies, and others still are a part of only certain game modes.
Most Heroes can use most items in the game,however there are some exceptions. Characters with the ability to abuse the teleportation ability granted by the Blink Dagger, such as Pudge or Vengeful Spirit, cannot buy that item. Similarly, heroes whose skill set includes a built-in bash ability (such as Spirit Breaker) cannot purchase Skull Basher because this would potentially make them unbalanced.
There are well over 100 items in total, with new additions being added to the line-up occasionally.
The following pages will list all of the items in the game at the time of writing, divided according to where and when they can be bought or otherwise acquired.
