Here we give a couple of reasons why you should be buying Bracer or Soul Ring, depending on the situation and which hero you are picking in Dota 2.
One of the frequently asked questions in Dota 2 is regarding the viability of certain items over another, and for this iteration we examine two Gauntlets-based recipes: the Bracer and the Soul Ring. Although both items are viable, you will find that only one of them is good enough in the end, especially for higher-level play.
Soul Ring is almost always better in every regard in Dota 2
While Soul Ring grants less stats than a single Bracer, the active ability, Sacrifice, more than makes up for this. In almost every regard, Soul Ring will always be the better option thanks to the incremental boost in mana every 25 seconds. Heroes that have frequent mana issues that also benefit from Strength should always be picking this up, like Alchemist, Earthshaker, Mars, and Timbersaw. Even Intelligence heroes can also make use of Soul Ring, including Zeus, Tinker, and Techies.
That said, there are also heroes that can benefit from picking up a Bracer instead, like Huskar and Kunkka, but they are in the minority.
Sometimes it’s better to stick to Gauntlets instead
There are times when it’s actually better to stick to two Gauntlets instead of upgrading into Bracers or a Soul Ring. For these instances, the small boost in Strength is enough to carry you on until you get your first big item. Strength-based core heroes like Huskar, Bristleback, Centaur Warrunner, and more that usually want to have their important items up and ready benefit more from getting Gauntlets only rather than upgrading it.
In general though, Bracer is considered the weakest of the three stat-based starter items. Consider skipping it if you don’t need a Soul Ring at all as well, and build straight into your first major item.
