Arc Warden/Guide

Carry
Arc Warden is mostly played as a carry, going either safe lane or mid and farming for a. If mid, use a combo of and  to quickly nuke foes down, and with  you can double the nuking power to dominate in lane. If safe lane, focus more on trying to get Midas up as soon as you can, as his abilities aren't suited well vs 2 enemies. After Midas, helps you farm incredibly fast, and  lets you be almost anywhere on the map for farming, fighting, and split pushing.

Support
While not as common as Carry Warden, Arc Warden can still be played as an effective, if greedy, support if he needs to be. While rushing is still essential, he can now focus on more supportive item pick ups such as  and. He can then transition into a semi carry, using his decent farming speed with midas to get items that help the team while making him a significant threat to enemy towers.

General

 * Arc Warden is squishy early on with no escape tools. Pair him with a support if Safe Lane, or if heading mid make sure to keep wards up so you can see incoming ganks and know when it's time to fall back
 * Warden's abilities are strongest in a 1v1 situation. As such, placing him mid can see him easily dominate most other heroes there and gain a gold advantage.
 * Never skip . Warden needs it to farm as he has no way to farm in his abilities, but he absolutely needs items. He also gains the hugest benefit out of it because his Tempest Double can use Midas with the gold and XP going to the main Warden.
 * Consumables like, , and  can be used by the Tempest Double. Early game, it can be beneficial to keep at least one such item in the inventory and then use the double's consumables on the main hero after creating it.
 * The same applies to items with charges such as and . Arc Warden can have potentially unlimited uses of these items if at least 1 charge is kept on the main Arc Warden, then only used it on the Tempest Double. It can also preserve higher duration  by not using it on the main hero, so Tempest Double is always created with a higher duration.
 * Items that place buffs or debuffs can have their duration doubled if timed right, as well as perhaps correcting any mistakes the main Arc Warden has made (such as targeting the wrong unit).
 * Items that place buffs on allies, such as and, can be used on the main Arc Warden for increased protection and then using the main one's own to their allies, or vice versa.
 * The Double can use teleport items such as or . This means while the main Arc Warden is somewhere else, farming, pushing or defending, the Double can be on the opposite side of the map contributing to a gank or farm the enemy jungle easily.
 * Using with the Double grants the player the gold and 2.5x experience. The Double maintains the cooldown while it is unsummoned. This means that the double will not be able to use the item with every summon and Arc Warden must time the Double's summon to get the full benefits of the extra Midas.
 * One on the hero results in (190/100*60=)114 gold per minute if used whenever it is off cooldown. For the Tempest Double, the gold per minute is (190/100*60=) 114 gold per minute, resulting in 228 gold per minute for the player when both are always used when off cooldown, 2 times more than other heroes with one purchased Midas.
 * It is wise to use the Double to farm or stack neutral camps if it has nothing else to do with its remaining duration for more efficiency and to gain more gold and experience.
 * It is very important to not allow an enemy to steal Tempest Double, since the ability fully works for Rubick. As Tempest Double is the only ability which the doubles have already on cooldown when summoned, this means  is completely available to use for a Rubick Double, fully able to steal and cast a spell as the same way the original Rubick. Wisely managed and well timed, Rubick and its doubles can steal and cast important ultimates such as  or  with ease.


 * The ability only slows and damages if there's no enemy heroes, creeps, or jungle creeps within 225 range. However, if casted on an enemy near a tower or ward, they are still slowed and damaged.
 * Upon casting, the enemy always takes one damage instance, no matter if they're near another hero.
 * It deals damage every 0.5 seconds, resulting in 13 total damage ticks overall.
 * The slow goes through, and if BKB ends before the duration of Flux ends the hero will receive damage from Flux until Flux's duration ends.
 * Applying Flux on an enemy first before summoning a Spark Wraith can make hitting the enemy with it easier.


 * Magnetic Field fully affects buildings, so it can and should be used to deter a push.
 * Keep in mind that True Strike does not work against buildings, so even if the enemy obtains a, towers would still be fully protected with this spell.
 * If enemies enter the Field, you lose evasion vs them but keep the attack speed.
 * The attack speed does not work on illusions, but the evasion does.


 * Spark Wraith gives 300 vision at it's area. Thus, it can be used as a pseudo ward for scouting for possible ganks.
 * Enemies can see the Spark Wraith, so try to place it in elevated areas or within the trees so enemies can't see it until it's already jumping on them.
 * The Wraith can only hit one enemy at a time. It always hits the closet enemy to the Wraith itself within the radius, including creeps.
 * Spark Wraith's incredible range means it can be used for many different purposes. For one, it can be used to scout areas that may be too dangerous to just breach with the main hero, or stack multiple creep camps from a distance if timed right. Its cast range is even higher than most blink distances, making it possible to still catch enemies with escape abilities.
 * Since the Wraith has a delay upon cast before being able to attack, it should be placed into the enemy's path when chasing an enemy. This either forces the target to choose another, probably more dangerous path, or causes it to take damage and be slowed. Thanks to the spell's low cooldown, this can be repeated often. This can also be done to escape when being chased, by placing the wraith in front of oneself.
 * Stacking Spark Wraiths in an area can be a good ambush technique, very akin to and their . Since enemies can see Spark Wraiths, hiding them behind trees or in cliffs may be necessary. Since they are not considered actual units, they can be placed literally anywhere on the map.


 * The Tempest Double essentially acts like an advanced version of an illusion. The main differences are:
 * Tempest Double uses the current stats of Arc Warden, benefits from both stats and things like that just add flat amounts. Only takes 100% damage as well.
 * Deals 100% of Arc Warden's current damage including damage from items such as, and gains the attack speed from items like . It also gains the passive attack speed from
 * The Double can use s,, and on the main Arc Warden. If giving a , the main Arc Warden receives a  instead.
 * Can use abilities and items. They have their own, separate cooldowns on the Double.
 * A few items, however, are not 100% usable by the Double. These include:
 * is always on cooldown for the Double
 * does not apply the heal when the Double dies.
 * are not placeable by the Double.
 * isn't copied to the Double at all.
 * is usable by the Double. However, any units dominated by the Double are lost when it's resummoned.
 * It benefits from both buffs from Magnetic Field.
 * Use when you have the Double selected to split push. When you move the Double into a lane, force attack (default button: A) the end of the lane and the Double will auto attack every creep, hero, and tower that comes its way.
 * The Tempest Double is not an illusion, therefore it does not take bonus damage from, nor are they killed by or Roshan.

Items

 * and a give the stats Arc Warden needs early on and can later be built into a.
 * gives Arc Warden sustain in lane and a slight damage buff to make last hitting easier.

Early Game:
 * improves Arc Warden's mediocre movement speed and gives him some form of escape from enemies.
 * gives stats and a source of pushing at a cheap price. Remember to keep the aura turned off when you're not trying to push the lane.
 * can give Arc Warden a constant source of cheap mana if you don't consume it and instead let the Tempest Double use it on you whenever you need the mana.

Core Items:
 * is essential on Warden as otherwise he could not farm at all. Keep track of it's CD on Tempest Double to know when optimal times to call it are.
 * gives Warden map wide presence for fighting, pushing, and farming.
 * is a good way to heal back up some health and some mana. It also makes use of the circlet and branches bought earlier and frees up inventory space.
 * is a great pick up on Arc Warden. Not only does it help with sustaining and manage runes, it also gets its effectiveness almost doubled when used by his Tempest Double.
 * are an alternative to Travels if you need to fight early on. These can later be sold for Travels anyway.
 * helps Arc Warden sustain the mana cost of his spells. Spark Wraith being very spammable can quickly deplete his mana pool. Compared to other boots, Arcane boots are also the most effective boots for the Tempest Double (besides Boots of Travel), doubling the amount of mana restored to the team.
 * is very effective on Arc Warden as well, again, thanks to his ultimate. He can have 2 sets of Necronomicon units up at the same time, since the units summoned by the double are independent and do not replace the units summoned by the main Zet. Necronomicon is an essential item for a pushing Arc Warden.

Situational Items:
 * is a great disable and immensely boosts Arc Warden's mana and mana regeneration, eliminating mana problems which may occur. The Hex duration can also be effectively doubled with the help of a Double.
 * buffs both yours and your Tempest Double's attack speed as well as punishing enemies who attack either.
 * gives a purge, and it improves Warden's dreadful agility gain.
 * helps with both pushing towers and tearing down foes, all at an efficient price Warden can easily reach.
 * helps against disables or nukers if such are problems. It can also be used to send in the double in fights and staying back in safety with the main Arc Warden. The Double can use Avatar, but its duration is the same as the one of the main Zet's Black King Bar.
 * improves Warden's farming and pushing and can later build into.
 * is an alternative to for a more offensive Warden. It lets him stay in the back with the increased range from it, and gives him an escape that, if used by Tempest Double as well, can effectively double the distance traveled.
 * is a luxury item on Warden that gives him all the stats he needs and another piercing slow. It does not, however, stack with.
 * is another luxury item that can be considered. It improves his rather frail nature and stacks fully with, but it does not stack with either.
 * into gives Warden more utility and a huge dps increase with Bloodthorn's crit that works with anyone on the team, including the double. It gives true strike as well for those pesky heroes with evasion.
 * is great when focusing on picking off heroes. Dagon itself already does a lot of burst damage. Doubling that with a Tempest Double, combined with the rather high damage of Arc Warden's other spells, this item can help to deal with even very tanky foes. Throwing in an can turn Arc Warden into one of the strongest nukers.
 * makes Arc Warden attack extremely fast when combined with Magnetic Field. When consumed, the Tempest Double also gains the permanent buff.
 * can be good on Arc Warden for the same reason why Butterfly can be: it turns him into a strong hitter in the later phases of the game. Although Daedalus is chance based, Zet can still constantly deliver crits thanks to the enormous attack speed boost provided by Magnetic Field. Butterfly should be acquired before a Daedalus, to first get some attack damage and more speed first, to make critical strikes more effective.
 * is a great alternative to Daedalus when dealing with evasive enemies. Also thanks to its already high chance to interrupt an enemy with its mini-bash, it can even slow down an enemy heavily when attacking it with the Double as well, due to the amount of mini-bashes from 2 heroes attacking it with Monkey King Bar. The chances to quickly interrupt an enemy's channeling spells is very high.
 * is a great item for pushes, as Arc Warden can have 4 illusions thanks to the Double. Just like with Necronomicon, the double's and the original's Manta Style are independent from and do not replace each other. The illusions also benefit from Magnetic Field's evasion, making them more resistance against physical attacks. They do not get the attack speed bonus, though.* should be the go to boots for a Support Warden. With Tempest Double, you can replenish 270 mana to heroes nearby, which can be enough to have them use a team fight changing ult.
 * can give tons of healing if it's mainly Tempest Double using it, or even heal multiple allies at once.
 * should be considered over on a support Warden, as you can apply the spell block twice in a fight, while you can only heal with Mek once every 35 seconds, rendering the second usage useless.
 * can turn Arc Warden into a heavy hitter. His main attribute is still agility, so he benefits a lot from its stats. The Tempest Double has no attack damage penalties like most illusions do, since it is not an illusion, so it can greatly increase Arc Warden's overall damage output. Arc Warden's 2 damaging spells deal both magical damage and do not scale. A Butterfly helps him keep on doing damage to the enemy in the late game. The attack damage he gets from the item is also great for pushing and synergises very well with Magnetic Field.
 * can effectively have infinite charges if usage of the charges is restricted to the Double only, or give a charge twice as long with both the Double and main hero using it after the current charge duration ends.
 * is a cheap utilty item for a support Warden that can keep a foe slowed for twice as long, or even slow 2 people down so they can't escape as quickly.
 * provides some protection against carries as it increases armor and slows their attacks passively. The active ability is also great for pushes. Although the aura does not stack when creating a Double, two Arctic Blasts also deal a decent amount of damage in fights.