Troll Combos

How the ability ban system prevents broken combinations in Legends of Dota Redux.

A troll combo is a combination of abilities that is so powerful it removes meaningful gameplay — usually by enabling infinitely spammable damage, infinite survivability, or a one-shot kill with no counterplay. Redux automatically prevents picking abilities that form a troll combo together.

How the ban system works

Bans are enforced through two mechanisms:

1. ReduxBans flags

The most common mechanism. An ability’s data file can include a ReduxBans key listing ability names it cannot be picked alongside:

"my_ability_op" {
    "ReduxBans"    "my_ability_normal"
}

There are over 200 such flags across the game’s ability files. This is the primary way pairs like an OP ability and its standard counterpart are banned from coexisting.

2. bans.kv

bans.kv handles cases that cannot be expressed as a simple one-to-one pair. It contains:

Section	Purpose
BannedGroups	Groups where none of the abilities can coexist — only one per group is allowed
Categories > SpammableSpells	Abilities defined as spammable that are cross-banned with other spammable spells
Categories > ToggleSpells	Toggle abilities with zero cooldown and zero mana cost
BannedTowerCombinations	Pairs of abilities banned from being on the same tower
noMulticast	Abilities that must not trigger Multicast

Banned groups

These groups from bans.kv enforce a one-per-group rule:

Group	Abilities
One-hit combo	Enchant Totem, Walrus Punch, Boundless Strike, Culling Blade (redux), Tidebringer, Metamorphosis, Tiny Grow, Tiny Grow Redux, Overpower, Geminate Attack, Godfall, Hero One Punch, Drunken Brawler
Mega range	Dragon Knight Elder Dragon Form, Take Aim, Psi Blades, Metamorphosis, Arctic Burn
Bash	Time Lock, Slardar Bash, Greater Bash, Roshan Bash, Shodo Sai, Permabash
Unlimited stacking	All Flesh Heap variants, all Lingering Souls, all Survivor abilities, all Tomes (Angel Arena)
Cooldown reduction	Witchcraft, Bad Juju Redux, Jingtong, Jingtong OP, Chakra Magic, Rearm, Zhanhun, Zhanhun OP, Master Magic, Veera Thrill of the Hunt

Notable troll combo pairs

The following specific pairs have been banned based on player feedback and balance patches:

Ability A	Ability B	Reason
Lifebreak Redux	Dispersion	Converts reflected damage into healing for absurd sustain
Shadow Dance	Shadow Dance Redux	Same ability in two forms — effectively doubled
Grapeshot	Enchant Totem	Enchant Totem multiplies Grapeshot damage for a one-shot
Tether	Infest	Tethered hero warps to the Infest target, breaking map pathing
Tether	Arcane Symbiosis	Creates an unbreakable tether-buff loop
Lingering Souls Mana Regen	Ball Lightning	Infinite mana enables infinite Ball Lightning travel
Rapidfire	Impetus	Rapidfire procs stack Impetus hits for enormous burst
Haunt / Shadow Demon Poison	Static Field	Persistent illusions trigger Static Field on every hit
The two Tiny Grows	Each other	Stacking both Grow abilities for extreme stat inflation
Swashbuckle	Fury Swipes (all)	Every Swashbuckle hit applies stacking Fury Swipes
Swashbuckle	Arcane Orb	Arcane Orb procs on every Swashbuckle hit

Spammable and toggle spell restrictions

Abilities classed as spammable (very low cooldown, near-zero mana cost) or toggle (zero cooldown, zero mana) are subject to additional restrictions to prevent infinite-loop gameplay. Examples include:

• Toggle: Rot, Pulse Nova, Morph (all variants), Medusa Split Shot, Muerta Gunslinger, Witch Doctor Voodoo Restoration, Nyx Burrow, Ability Wards.
• Spammable: Aphotic Shield, Mana Drain, Quill Spray, Static Remnant, Earthshaker Enchant Totem, Rocket Barrage, Abaddon Death Coil.