Dota 2 Neutral Items Guide (2026): Madstone, Tiers, Enchantments

Neutral items used to fall out of jungle creeps at random. Since patch 7.38 they are crafted, and since 7.41 the stat half of the item is no longer a lottery either. Every hero has a dedicated neutral slot, fills it by clearing camps for Madstone, and builds the item from two parts: an artifact, which brings an ability, and an enchantment, which brings stats. This guide covers the system as Valve's notes and live item data describe it on patch 7.41f (8 November 2026): where Madstone comes from, when each tier opens, every enchantment with its values, and how to choose for your position.

Where Madstone comes from

Patch 7.38 (18 February 2025) removed the old system outright: “Neutral creeps no longer drop Neutral Tokens”, the neutral stash went, and “Neutral Items can no longer be dropped or moved to the hero's backpack.” In its place, “fully clearing a Neutral Creep Camp provides Madstone for the killing player's team.” The rules from those notes:

That last rule matters in fights near camps: if an enemy hero stands next to the camp you just finished, the Madstone stays on the ground and they can walk over it. Valve's 7.38 notes also capped how much Madstone a player can hold — zero at the start, then 5 at 5:00, 15 at 15:00, 25 at 25:00, 35 at 35:00 and 45 at 60:00, with no cap from 70:00. Patch 7.41 moved Tier 1 to 0:00 without publishing a new cap table, so treat those cap numbers as the 7.38 baseline and watch the counter in your client.

When each tier opens, and what it costs

Two crafting rules shape the whole game: “Players must craft a Tier 1 Neutral Item before they can craft a Tier 2 Neutral Item”, and “crafting a Neutral Item replaces the existing Neutral Item, if there is one.” You always hold exactly one neutral item, and each craft is an upgrade you commit to. After Tier 5, you can keep re-rolling: Valve's 7.38 notes let you recraft a Tier 5 item for an escalating cost — 20 Madstone, then 30, and so on.

Artifacts and enchantments

A neutral item is two halves. The artifact is the ability — a passive, an active or both — and “each Artifact belongs to a single tier.” The enchantment is the passive stat package, and enchantments span several tiers, getting stronger as the tier rises. When you craft, you choose one of each. Since 7.41 Tiers 2–5 offer five artifact choices and five enchantment choices (four each before); in 7.38 one of the artifact options was to keep your current artifact, so check the panel for that option before you swap away an artifact you like.

The 7.41 notes changed the artifact pool too: new artifacts at Tiers 1, 3, 4 and 5, several old ones returning, and Hobble moving from Tier 4 to Tier 2. Two of the new Tier 1 artifacts give a sense of the design: one lets you see trees you can forage, with the find listed as an Ironwood Nut, a Tomo'kan Ringcap, a Vital Toadstool or a Bag of Gold; the other toggles between a Pound of Feathers and a Pound of Rocks. The artifact list changes most patches, so we don't reprint it — the crafting panel always shows the current five.

Every enchantment and what it gives

7.41 made the options deterministic: “Enchantments are no longer randomized” and “options are based on your hero's primary attribute, with some enchantments available to all heroes.” The matrix below is Valve's 7.41 list; the values in the cards are Valve's live item data on 7.41f. Values are per tier, lowest tier first.

Tier 4: Valve's 7.41 list names only the all-hero additions (Quickened, Timeless); the attribute enchantments have Tier 4 values in the item data, so we show them as available there. Check the panel in game.

For every hero

By primary attribute

Notice the trade-offs Valve built in: Crude gives a Strength hero health restoration and a faster base attack time but costs 9% of their Intelligence; Keen-Eyed adds cast range and mana regeneration for 10–14% of an Intelligence hero's maximum mana; Hulking's maximum health comes with −30 attack speed; Audacious adds 10% damage taken. Greedy's gold per minute costs attack damage. The “free” options — Quickened, Brawny, Tough, Alert, Mystical — have no downside, which is why they're the safe default when you're unsure.

Which enchantment for your position

This is BoostPirate's starting point, not a rule — your lane, items and the enemy draft come first:

Greedy is the clearest example of position mattering. +65 gold per minute at Tier 2 over ten minutes is 650 gold — real money for a position 5 — while −35 attack damage would wreck a carry's farm. A core who takes Greedy is usually behind and trying to catch up, and there are better ways to do that: see the gold and XP guide.

Collecting Madstone without wasting time

1. Finish the camp.

   Only a fully cleared camp pays. Leaving one creep alive leaves the Madstone in the camp.

2. Clear ancients when you can.

   Five Madstone for the team instead of three. Stacked ancients are the fastest neutral progress in the game.

3. Pick it up before you leave.

   If an enemy hero is close when the last creep dies, the Madstone drops instead of being collected — and it expires after 20 seconds.

4. Let supports benefit.

   Every camp also gives a random teammate one Madstone, so a carry farming the jungle is quietly funding the support's Tier 1 and 2.

Our farming patterns guide covers camp routes and stacking in detail.

Turbo and the Lotus Pools

Turbo runs the same system faster. Valve's 7.38 notes halve Madstone availability times in Turbo, and change the payout to 3 for the collector and 2 for the team (4 and 3 from an ancient camp). Lotus Pools follow the neutral tiers too: since 7.38 they spawn Great Lotuses once Tier 4 neutral items are available and Greater Lotuses once Tier 5 are. If you practise item timings in Turbo, remember everything arrives earlier there — the Turbo vs ranked guide lists the other differences.

Common mistakes

• Walking away from a finished camp with an enemy nearby — the Madstone stays on the ground for anyone.
• Taking Greedy on a core who needs every point of attack damage to farm.
• Forgetting Tier 1 exists at 0:00. Since 7.41, a quick early camp can put an artifact in your slot before creeps meet.
• Swapping a strong artifact by accident. Crafting replaces what you hold — read every option before you confirm.
• Trusting a pre-7.41 neutral guide. Random enchantments and four choices are history.

Neutral items are one slot of six item decisions. If you'd like an Immortal player to look at your builds, coaching (from $14.90 an hour) goes through your replays with you. Related reading: the itemization guide, hero attributes explained (which attribute your hero is) and the talents and innates guide.