Maelstrom vs. Battle Fury: Farming Items in Dota 2

In Dota 2, picking the right items can be the difference between carrying your team to victory or spending 40 minutes roleplaying as a jungle creep. Two of the most popular farming items for carry heroes are Maelstrom and Battle Fury. They both help you farm faster, hit harder, and get rich quicker—kind of like choosing between winning the lottery or getting a high-paying job.

But which one is better? As with all things Dota, the answer is: it depends.

Maelstrom: Lightning-Fast Farming & Fighting

Maelstrom is the flashy, hyperactive younger sibling of the two. It zaps multiple enemies with its Chain Lightning effect, making it great for clearing waves, stacking up damage, and generally making your auto-attacks more electrifying.

Pros of Maelstrom

✅ Fast wave clear & farming – Chain Lightning bounces around, melting creep waves faster than a Pudge rage-quitting after a missed hook.
✅ Cheaper & earlier power spike – At 2,700 gold, you get decent attack speed and farming potential without waiting forever.
✅ Great for fighting early – Unlike Battle Fury, Maelstrom lets you join fights while still farming effectively.
✅ Can be upgraded later – Turns into Mjollnir for attack speed & counterplay, or Gleipnir for crowd control.

Cons of Maelstrom

❌ Not the best for late-game scaling – While useful, it doesn’t snowball as hard into the late game.
❌ RNG-dependent – Chain Lightning doesn’t always proc when you want it to, which can feel like missing a crucial last hit on a ranged creep.
❌ Less sustain – No built-in HP or mana regen like Battle Fury.

Best Maelstrom Heroes

• Juggernaut – Works with his crit and attack speed.
• Sniper – More pew-pew, more damage.
• Ember Spirit – Instant wave clear with Sleight of Fist.
• Nature’s Prophet – Zap trees, zap creeps, zap heroes.

Battle Fury: The Big Farming Machine

Battle Fury is the “I’m going to farm for 25 minutes and then 1v5” kind of item. It gives cleave damage, meaning you slice through enemies like a hot knife through butter—assuming the butter is an entire creep wave or stacked neutral camp.

Pros of Battle Fury

✅ Best long-term farming item – The cleave lets you mow down waves and jungle camps at the same time.
✅ Big scaling into late game – If you want to AFK farm for 20 minutes and come out as a six-slotted monster, this is the way.
✅ Sustain – Comes with HP and mana regen, letting you stay on the map longer.
✅ Synergizes well with crits – Cleaving with high damage & crit turns fights into highlight reels.

Cons of Battle Fury

❌ Expensive – 4,100 gold means you’ll be farming forever before you even start dealing real damage.
❌ No early fighting potential – You’re useless in early team fights unless your opponents decide to stand perfectly still while you hit them.
❌ Only benefits melee heroes – Sorry, Sniper and Drow Ranger, no cleaving for you.

Best Battle Fury Heroes

• Anti-Mage – Blink, farm, blink, farm, blink, farm… win.
• Phantom Assassin – Cleave + crits = free Rampages.
• Juggernaut – If he skips Maelstrom, he can go full greedy with BF.
• Ember Spirit – Sleight of Fist + Cleave = farming multiple lanes at once.

Maelstrom vs. Battle Fury: Which One to Choose?

The Final Verdict

If you want to farm fast and fight early, go for Maelstrom. If you’re willing to play the long game and scale hard into late, Battle Fury is your best bet.

At the end of the day, it comes down to your hero, playstyle, and whether your team needs you to fight early or AFK farm for 30 minutes. Just don’t be that guy who buys Battle Fury on Drow Ranger—your teammates will never forgive you.