Dota Auto Chess: Item drop rate by wave
The number of items that can drop from a particular creep wave in Dota Auto Chess depends on the strength (level) of the creeps and your own luck.
Each creep unit in Auto Chess has a certain level, which goes from 1 (standard Radiant Creeps) to 9 (Year Beast and Roshan). This level influences the items you can drop and the percentage chance to find them.
Item drop rate by wave
All the drop rates have been data mined from the game code. The table below shows in detail your chance to find 0,1,2,3, or 4 items during a specific creep wave.
The table is responsive. If you are using a phone, turn it sideways for a full view. Otherwise, zoom in or click the grey area to swipe the table.
| Wave | 0 Items | 1 Item | 2 Items | 3 Items | 4 Items | 5 Items | 6 Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 64% | 32% | 4% | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | 38.4% | 44.8% | 15.2% | 1.6% | - | - | - |
| 3 | 14.7% | 34.4% | 31.7% | 14.8% | 3.74% | 0.5% | 0.0256% |
| 10 | 10% | 35% | 40% | 15% | - | - | - |
| 15 | 2.5% | 13.75% | 30% | 32.5% | 17.5% | 3.75% | - |
| 20 | 16% | 48% | 36% | - | - | - | - |
| 25 | 9% | 42% | 49% | - | - | - | - |
| 30 | 1.8% | 15.6% | 43.4% | 39.2% | - | - | - |
| 35 | - | 100% | - | - | - | - | - |
| 40 | 0.1% | 1.4% | 7.9% | 22.2% | 33.7% | 26.3% | 8.3% |
| 45 | - | 100% | - | - | - | - | - |
| 50 | - | 100% | - | - | - | - | - |
According to the data displayed in the table, this is the average number of items that drop per wave:
Wave 1: 0.4 items
Wave 2: 0.8 items
Wave 3: 1.6 items
Wave 10: 1.6 items
Wave 15: 2.6 items
Wave 20: 1.2 items
Wave 25: 1.4 items
Wave 30: 2.2 items
Waves 35, 45, and 50: 1 item (guaranteed)
Wave 40: 4 items
After the first three creep rounds, you should have 2.8 items on average.
Note that there is a huge variability due to the absolute randomness of the game. At the end of the day, there will be matches in which you will find almost no items, and others where you might build Maelstrom or Refresher Orb after the first 15-20 rounds.
“Your own luck is the biggest factor influencing the item drop rate in Auto Chess!”
There is not a method to increase your item drop chance, but defeating as many creeps as possible is mandatory if you want to find items.
I have noticed that many players do not reorganize properly their formation when facing a difficult creep wave. For example, the Ancient Black Dragon inflicts AoE damage, so you want to spread out your heroes as much as possible to deal with him.
Battle of the Year Beast loading screen - Valve
The inconsistency of the item drop rate
Many players are not happy about the unpredictability and inconsistency of the item drops as they are very RNG-based, and they asked to implement an item shop where one can buy items using gold.
I believe this is not what they devs are looking for - and I agree with them - but at the same time I think the math behind the item drop rate could be improved.
For example, a guaranteed item drop from a difficult creep wave or after defeating a certain number of creeps could make our matches more enjoyable without ruining the game balance. Let’s be honest, it is not very fun when one player receives zero items while another one gets five or more after killing the same number of creeps.
Probably, the developers will have to optimize the actual system once new items are added into the game because it will become exponentially harder to combine them if the drop rate remains the same.
More Auto Chess Articles:
Header image (Roshan’s Rage loading screen): Valve
