In the last article we evaluated Pit Lord – one of two unreleased Dota 2 heroes that were in the original Dota. Now it is time to have a look at the second one.
(Drumroll, please.)
Arc Warden
Description:
Arc Warden is an Agility hero, that is played mainly as a core.
During the last patches of Dota, Arc Warden was fairly unbalanced, and was considered by many to be overpowered! Therefore we will most likely see some changes, when it comes to Arc Wardens spells. Especially the ultimate spell, Tempest Double, which was the main cause of peoples dissatisfaction with the way this hero was balanced.
Spells:
#1 Flux
Engulfs an enemy unit with swirling volatile energy, slowing its movement speed and dealing damage over time if it is alone. The effect is muted if there is a nearby enemy unit.
Flux is a fairly straight forward ability, you slow the target, target get’s damaged over time (up to 360 damage when maxed), as long as the spell isn’t muted. So it’s great against solo offlane!
Extremely long slow, with decent damage, when ganking solo target, fairly useless during team fights.
The mindset behind this ability, is similar to Juggers ultimate in early game. You don’t really want to cast it when someone else is near, as that will disable the ability.
#2 Magnetic Field
Distorts space, generating a circular field that grants evasion and bonus attack speed to allied heroes and buildings within.
Not much to explain here, it’s like a reverse working Riki Smoke Screen, without the silence. Instead of making enemies in the area miss attacks, it gives friendly targets 100% dodge.
Great for getting out of ganks, turning around fights, or even defending buildings, since the spell effects buildings as well.
This spell works great with Axe’s Berserker’s Call, and Legion’s Duel!
#3 Spark Wraith
Summons a Spark Wraith that takes 3 seconds to fully materialize. It haunts the targeted area until an enemy comes within its range and then fuses itself to the player, dealing magical damage.
The idea behind this spell is similar to Techies bombs. You place them, and hope that someone might step there, or just throw them on your enemies during fights.
While Spark Wraith has higher damage than Techies bombs (150/200/250/300), and has a larger radius, they cannot be stacked in one spot and only last for 50 seconds. So don’t expect to cover your entire forest with these bad boys, and hope for easy kills.
Spark Wraith also has a tiny cool down of just 4 seconds, so you can use it to damage enemies during a fight, or prepare your fighting area, before the fight. A good example would be, placing Spark Wraiths near a tower, when you can see the lane being pushed.
#4 Tempes double
By vibrating at extreme speeds, Arc Warden is able to create a perfect electrical incarnation of himself, at the cost of his current health and mana. This incarnation can use any spells or items he has, and spawns with his health and mana after the cast.
This is the whole reason, Arc Warden was considered to be unbalanced or simply broken. While creating a perfect copy of yourself, isn’t something new, and won’t change the early game, when built with the right items, this spell becomes extremely powerful!
Get an early Dagon, and enjoy 800 damage burst with level 1 Dagon, or 1600 damage with level 5 Dagon.
Get Necronomicon and enjoy pushing down lanes with 4 little demons by your side.
Get Midas, and enjoy even more money and xp!
These are just few examples, there are many more combos! However, without at least, mediocre micro skills, no matter how great of a combo you build, you won’t be capable of doing much!
Summary
Once both Arc Warden and the Pit Lord are released, Dota 2 will have all 112 heroes of the original Dota. Which means it will be time for some completely new heroes! Which is surely more exciting than just waiting for old heroes to be rereleased!
By the way, don’t expect the cool downs, damage, spell radius, duration, to be exactly the same as in the old Dota. In fact, with previous experience, some of these spells might be completely different! This article just explains what you should expect.
Leave a comment, of which of the heroes you want to see in game first, and why!
I personally can’t wait for Abyssal Underlord, since I mostly play supports, and love setting up ganks with my team!
