After the rework of items in Patch 7.00, Helm of the Dominator is one of the best early game items for many carries. It provides 120 health, 8 health regeneration, ~1 armor, 26 attack speed, 72 mana, and 6 damage. That is insane value for an item that only costs 1800 gold! It no longer provides lifesteal to the carrier but the 8 HP regen aura for yourself and your team is a great trade off. That’s 480 HP regen/minute for your team. Moreover, the item can get even better with proper use of creep domination. Let’s take a look at which creeps are the best to dominate. And remember, it’s not about how big the creep is. It’s how you use it that matters the most.
Purge Creep and Alpha Wolf
These 2 neutrals creeps are by far the most popular to dominate and for good reason. The Satyr Banisher lets the user purge debuffs or buffs every 3 seconds and slow enemies. The alpha wolf provides a strong damage boost for you and your team. Chances are that these 2 creeps are the ones you go for first. Here are a few others that you may not have considered but still have tremendous value.
Ogre Frostmage
This ogre is the best neutral creep to dominate for taking down Roshan early in the game. It can cast Ice Armor, which gives the user 8 bonus armor and a 5 second move speed and attack speed slow when hit by enemies. It’s very similar to Lich’s ice armor. The Ogre Frostmage’s spell has a whopping 45 second duration. The bonus armor coupled with the attack speed slow does wonders against Roshan.
Kobold Foreman Speed Aura
The Foreman can be found in the small neutral creep camps. Dominating the Kobold will provide you with a Speed Aura, which provides a 12% move speed bonus. This creep is great when going for a move speed build. Luna is a great choice for selecting the Kobold Foreman, since she is already super fast. She starts with 335 base movement speed. With the addition of Power Treads and Manta Style, Luna gets 418 movement speed. Couple that with the Speed Aura, and she ends up with 463 movement speed. Similarly, Juggernaut is interested in movement speed to chase opponents with Bladefury, so he is also a good candidate for dominating the Kobold Foreman.
Satyr Tormenter
The Satyr Tormenter is well-known for being an early game nuisance in the hands of good Chen and Enchantress players. The creep throws out a powerful Shockwave that deals 160 damage in a direction. But not only that, it provides 6 HP regen. When combined with the Helm of the Dominator regen aura, you and your team will receive a bonus 14 HP regeneration per second!
Hill Troll Priest
The Hill Troll Priest can bestow the owner with powerful regeneration abilities. Its Heal active ability can provide a target with 15 health on a 0.5 second cool down. But more importantly, the Priest has a 3 Mana Regen Aura. Combine this with Crystal Maiden’s Aura, you are free to spam spells to your heart’s delight.
Dark Troll Summoner
The Dark Troll Summoner has a very strong ability that Roots the target for 1.75 seconds. The creep can do this from 550 range, and the Ensnare ability pierces BKB and interrupts channeling like teleporting with a TP Scroll. The ability can be very strong for ganks. Here is a famous example of this scenario in the pro Dota 2 Scene. Navi.Dendi Pudge vs EG.
Some honorable mentions for neutral creeps are the Centaur for the AOE stun, the Hell Bear Smasher, providing decent attack speed, and the Harpy Stormcrafter, which provides decent chain-lightning damage burst. Keep in mind that you can also dominate enemy siege creeps to help push down a tower.
