Arc Warden
Hero
Arc Warden
    23 + 2.8
16 + 2.5
24 + 2.6
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Zet, the Arc Warden, is a ranged agility hero that requires micromanagement and farm to spiral out of control. In the early stages of the game, it is a very powerful nuker. Its first ability, Flux, allows Arc Warden to cripple an enemy down and deal large amounts of damage. It and other allied heroes or buildings can be protected from physical attacks with its second ability Magnetic Field, while gaining swift attack speed. Similar to Techies' Proximity Mines, Arc Warden's third ability, Spark Wraith, allows it to place wraiths that attack when an enemy goes near them, potentially dealing large amounts of magical damage. Finally, thanks to its ultimate, Tempest Double, which allows it to make a perfect copy of itself that can use all of Arc Warden's spells and item abilities, it can spam all of its other abilities and most items twice and easily take down fragile heroes in the early game, or keep itself or its team doubly sustained through certain buffing or healing items. This makes Arc Warden very powerful in both early and late game if given enough farm, from magical nuker to physical carry, or if the time calls it, a very potent support.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Zet, the Arc Warden▶️ "It is not to aid the Ancients that this war is joined, but to destroy them both. This disunity must end."
Lore:
Before the beginning of all, there existed a presence: a primordial mind, infinite, awesome, and set to inscrutable purpose. As the universe thundered into being, this mind was fragmented and scattered. Two among its greater fragments—who would come to be named Radiant and Dire--found themselves locked in vicious opposition, and began twisting all of creation to serve their conflict.
As war and cataclysm threatened the nascent cosmos, the will of a third fragment made itself known. Naming itself Zet, this intellect sought to resolve the disharmony and return all to perfect unity. Appalled by its kin's conflicting nature, Zet gathered the sum of its power. In a sudden flash, it overwhelmed its siblings, and fused the warring aspects into a stellar sphere before hurling them into the darkness to orbit a nondescript world. Harmony was restored, though only the barest fraction of Zet's strength remained. Setting its gaze on the prison, Zet chose to use its weakened power to serve as watchful warden until time's end. For uncounted aeons, this vigil stood.
Life flourished upon the world below, oblivious to the dangers imprisoned within the softly glowing moon, or of Zet's struggles to contain them. As the captives' eternal clash reverberated within, the surface of the prison shuddered, over time beginning to crack. Ultimately, Zet's depleted power proved insufficient to contain the breach, and at last the moon was shattered. The prison's ancient inhabitants had escaped to sow their conflict anew.
Flung to the farthest reaches by the prison's explosion, Zet was transformed by the dissonant energies of its former captives. No longer of single form and thought, its presence had become split among many—some lesser, some greater—each connected by a fleeting arc of consciousness. Struggling to suppress its own disunity, Zet sped toward the burgeoning conflict of its siblings, bending its fractured wills toward a singular conclusion: the aspects of the primordial mind must be made to reunite, or all must be destroyed lest the conflict spread further…
As war and cataclysm threatened the nascent cosmos, the will of a third fragment made itself known. Naming itself Zet, this intellect sought to resolve the disharmony and return all to perfect unity. Appalled by its kin's conflicting nature, Zet gathered the sum of its power. In a sudden flash, it overwhelmed its siblings, and fused the warring aspects into a stellar sphere before hurling them into the darkness to orbit a nondescript world. Harmony was restored, though only the barest fraction of Zet's strength remained. Setting its gaze on the prison, Zet chose to use its weakened power to serve as watchful warden until time's end. For uncounted aeons, this vigil stood.
Life flourished upon the world below, oblivious to the dangers imprisoned within the softly glowing moon, or of Zet's struggles to contain them. As the captives' eternal clash reverberated within, the surface of the prison shuddered, over time beginning to crack. Ultimately, Zet's depleted power proved insufficient to contain the breach, and at last the moon was shattered. The prison's ancient inhabitants had escaped to sow their conflict anew.
Flung to the farthest reaches by the prison's explosion, Zet was transformed by the dissonant energies of its former captives. No longer of single form and thought, its presence had become split among many—some lesser, some greater—each connected by a fleeting arc of consciousness. Struggling to suppress its own disunity, Zet sped toward the burgeoning conflict of its siblings, bending its fractured wills toward a singular conclusion: the aspects of the primordial mind must be made to reunite, or all must be destroyed lest the conflict spread further…
Voice:
Abilities[edit]
Flux
Infuses a lone enemy unit with swirling, volatile energy, slowing its movement speed and dealing damage over time. The effect is muted if another enemy unit is near the target.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.77
Cast Range: 500/600/700/800 (
675/775/875/975)
675/775/875/975)Search Radius: 225
Damage per Second: 15/30/45/60
Move Speed Slow: 20%/30%/40%/50%
Duration: 6
16 ( 14.08)
75
Slow persists and attempts to deal damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
modifier_arc_warden_flux: Dispellable with any dispel.An infinitesimal fraction of the power which imprisoned the Ancients.
Notes:
- If the target has allies or neutral creeps within the 225 search radius, the ability temporarily stops slowing and damaging the target, until it is alone again.
- Checks for enemies and neutrals in 0.5-second intervals, beginning instantly upon cast. The slow updates based on the result of the checks.
- Also deals damage in the same intervals, based on the checks, dealing 7.5/15/22.5/30 damage, resulting in 13 possible instances.
- While Flux is muted, the particle effects on the target vanish, with only a red glow remaining on the unit, indicating the debuff is still there.
- Nearby buildings, wards and hidden units are ignored and do not mute the effects. Invulnerable units, however, are not ignored.
- Can deal up to 97.5/195/292.5/390 damage to the target if all instances are applied (before reductions).
- Multiple casts on the same target fully stack, with all instances working independently from each other.
Magnetic Field
Ability
Target Area
Target Area
Affects
Allies
Allies
Generates a circular distortion field of magnetic energy that protects allied heroes and buildings within it by evading attacks coming from outside the field.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0
Cast Range: 900
Effect Radius: 300
Evasion: 100%
Attack Speed Bonus: 50/60/70/80
Aura Linger Duration: 0.1
Duration: 3.5/4.5/5.5/6.5
Magic Resistance Bonus: 40% Enemy Move Speed Slow: 20% Enemy Max Knockback Distance: 350 Enemy Knockback Duration: 0.3 20 ( 17.6) 50/
Magnetic Field now pushes enemies out of the area at cast time, and provides allies in it with +40% Magic Resistance. Slows enemies inside by 20%.
Fully affects spell immune allies and self.Knockback and slow do not affect spell immune enemies.
Modifiers
modifier_arc_warden_magnetic_field_thinker_evasion: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_arc_warden_magnetic_field_thinker_attack_speed: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_arc_warden_magnetic_field_evasion: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_arc_warden_magnetic_field_attack_speed: Undispellable. Persists death.Time and space are of little consequence to one as old as Zet.
Notes:
- Applies an attack speed bonus and evasion to allies within the radius.
- The effects are provided by an aura. Its buff lingers for 0.1 seconds.
- Does not evade attacks landing on allies when the source of the attack is within the field.
- The evasion effect of fields from Arc Warden and its Tempest Double works independently.
- This means when an ally is within the intersection of two fields, attacks are evaded unless their source is also within the intersection.
- Affects heroes (including illusions and clones), creep-heroes and buildings. All other units are completely unaffected.
- Does not affect invulnerable units, so buildings are only affected when attackable.
- The attack speed bonus of multiple Magnetic Fields does not stack.
- With Aghanim's Shard, Magnetic Field pushes every enemy within its 300 radius out of it upon cast.
- The knockback is not a set distance. It pushes every enemy so that they are 350 range away from the center of the targeted area. So the minimum knockback distance is 50 and the maximum is 350.
- The knockback duration is always 0.3, so the speed varies between 1166.67 and 166.67, depending on the knockback distance.
- Enemies are not disabled during the knockback, and are, besides moving, able to act freely during it.
- Can push units over impassable terrain. Any trees the knocked back unit collides with gets destroyed.
- With Aghanim's Shard, immediately causes all already placed Magnetic Fields to apply the 40% magic resistance and 20% movement speed slow.
- Increases both heroes and buildings' magic resistance within its 300 effect radius.
- The movement speed slow of multiple fields stack additively with each and with other sources of movement speed slow.
- The magic resistance bonus of multiple fields stack multiplicatively with each and with other sources of magic resistance.
- Assuming basic 25% magic resistance for heroes or 0% magic resistance for buildings with no other sources of magic resistance:
- Increases most heroes' total magic resistance to 55% (or 73% by stacking two instances).
- Increases all buildings' total magic resistance to 40% (or 64% by stacking two instances).
Summons a Spark Wraith that slowly materializes and patrols a targeted area until an enemy comes within its range. Once a target has been found the wraith fuses with them, dealing magical damage and slowing the unit.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.77
Cast Range: 2000
Search Radius: 375
Activation Delay: 2
Move Speed Slow: 100%
Damage: 100/170/240/310 ( 225/295/365/435)
225/295/365/435)Slow Duration: 0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7
Wraith Duration: 45
Second Activation Delay: 3 4 ( 3.52) 80
Causes Spark Wraiths to spawn a new Spark Wraith after impacting an enemy, which then starts its 3 activation period. Attempts to deal damage if target turns spell immune before impact.Modifiers
modifier_arc_warden_spark_wraith_thinker: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_projectile_vision: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_arc_warden_spark_wraith_purge: Dispellable with any dispel.Lesser fragments of Zet's original self.
Notes:
- The Spark Wraith travels at a speed of 400.
- Once the activation delay is over, it checks for enemies (including neutral creeps) in 0.2-second intervals and launches towards the first registered enemy.
- If multiple enemies are within range after the delay, the closest enemy is targeted.
- Deals damage based on the level upon cast of the ability. Leveling up Spark Wraith does not update the damage of already placed Spark Wraiths.
- The wraith first applies the damage, then the debuff.
- The Spark Wraith is fully visible to the enemy.
- Fully affects invisible units. Can target units inside the Fog of War, but not invulnerable or hidden units.
- The activation delay is not included in the wraith's duration.
- Provides 300 radius ground vision for its full duration. The vision does not linger.
- The launched projectile also provides the same vision, which lingers for 3.34 seconds after reaching the target.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Spark Wraiths create a secondary wraith immediately upon hitting the enemy.
- These secondary wraiths have to go through a 3 seconds activation delay.
- This effect only occurs once per Spark Wraith. Secondary Spark Wraiths cannot spawn new wraiths.
- The damage increasing talent immediately upgrades all already placed wraiths, including ones which already seek a target.
Tempest Double
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
The Self
The Self
Briefly refocusing its fractured elements into a single form, the Arc Warden is able to create a perfect electrical duplication of itself. The duplicate can use all of Arc Warden's current items and spells, except most consumables and items that drop on death. The duplicate has separate item and ability cooldowns. The Tempest Double gives bounty gold to enemies when killed.
Cast Animation: 0.15+0.5
Number of Doubles: 1
Duration: 18/22/26 ( 30/34/38)
30/34/38)Bounty: 180/240/300
60/ 52.8/44/35.2)Modifiers
modifier_arc_warden_tempest_double: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_kill: Dispellable with death only.Warped by the power of its peers, Arc Warden becomes what it despises most: disharmony.
Notes:
- The Tempest Double always spawns with Arc Warden's current mana and health.
- On the first cast of Tempest Double, the double is actually summoned. On every following cast, it is just healed or revived.
- The double gets dispelled as if it died, removing all modifiers which are removed by death. This means most modifiers which persist through death are not removed.
- Its cooldowns are not refreshed upon getting re-summoned, so all cooldowns from the previous cast carry over.
- Resummoning the Tempest Double does not disjoint projectiles.
- Arc Warden and his clone are represented by an icon with health and mana bars for each on the top left corner of the screen.
- When a Zet is selected, its icon becomes brighter. When a Zet takes damage, its icon blinks red.
- The Tempest Double is visually distinguishable from the original Zet for enemies, just like how it is for allies, except for its
minimap icon.
- The buffs of a consumed Moon Shard, Aghanim's Blessing, Aghanim's Shard, and Royal Jelly are copied as well.
- However, other permanent buffs (e.g. Duel, Intelligence Steal) are not.
- Any Duel victory damage the double gains during its uptime is lost upon death.
- The double is a clone and therefore treated exactly like a hero by all abilities, since it is not an illusion.
- The double has a 180/240/300
and a 180/240/300XP bounty. The gold is granted to the killing player, the experience is distributed like any other experience.
- However, if the double is killed by creeps or buildings, the gold gets distributed as well, similar to how hero kills do when not killed by players.
- Ability effects, that grant bonuses when an enemy unit dies (such as Heartstopper Aura), do not grant any bonuses for killing the double.
- This non-crediting also prevents Duel from granting damage when the double loses.
- It does not grant any Track bounty either when it dies while tracked.
- The Tempest Double does not gain any experience like heroes usually do, so it does not leech experience.
- This ability is not available in Ability Draft.
Item Interactions[edit]
- The double has its own, independent inventory, carrying the same item as the original Arc Warden does.
- On each cast, the double's inventory gets updated and adapted to that of Arc Warden. This also sets all charges of charge-based abilities to match the charges on Arc Warden, no matter how many the double had left the last time it was summoned.
- The double can neither pick up, nor drop any items. It cannot be given items by allies or Arc Warden directly either.
- It can be given an Observer Ward and Sentry Ward, since their sharing mechanics (Ctrl) work different than those of other items.
- Since the double gets resummoned on each cast, all its item (and ability) cooldowns do not reset, just like how heroes do not get their cooldowns reset as they respawn.
- The double does not copy the following items: Aegis of the Immortal, Animal Courier, Bottle, Cheese, Clarity, Divine Rapier, Dust of Appearance, Enchanted Mango, Faerie Fire, Gem of True Sight, Healing Salve, Observer and Sentry Wards, Refresher Shard, Royal Jelly, Smoke of Deceit, Tango, Tango (Shared), Tome of Knowledge, or any muted item which Arc Warden has in its inventory (allied and enemy items alike).
- All other items are copied, although some have a slightly altered effect. Shareable items (e.g. Town Portal Scroll and neutral items) are copied.
- The double's Bloodstone does gain charges, but does not retain the charges when the duration ends and any kills the double gets are credited to the main hero. The double will spawn with the same amount of charges as the main hero.
- Hand of Midas can be used by the double. Using Transmute grants the gold and experience to the main hero.
- If Radiance or Ring of Aquila are toggled Off upon summoning the double, they are also toggled off on the double.
- The item's toggled On / Off status gets copied.
- The same applies to Power Treads and Vambrace. The double copies whichever attribute the main hero had selected.
- The Tempest Double's Black King Bar works completely independent from the main hero's Black King Bar. Avatar's duration is not bound to the main hero's Black King Bar.
- This means the double's Black King Bar starts off fresh and its duration decreases whenever it uses it throughout the entire match, regardless of the duration of the main hero's Black King Bar.
- When having a unit dominated with Helm of the Dominator, the unit does not die when the double expires. However, it does die as soon as the double gets re-summoned, even if the unit was dominated by the hero and not the double.
- Moon Shard's active ability cannot be used by the double itself, but it can still be copied as a standalone item or as a buff, if the main Arc Warden carries the buff.
- While Refresher Orb is always on cooldown for the double (it can still benefit from its stats), Ex Machina, an item-only refresher, is fully functional.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| +12s Tempest Double Duration | 25 | 25% Lifesteal |
| +100 Attack Range | 20 | +125 Spark Wraith Damage |
| 12% Cooldown Reduction | 15 | +40 Attack Speed |
| +225 Health | 10 | +175 Flux Cast Range |
Notes:
- Talents are fully copied by the Tempest Double.
- The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.
- The cooldown reduction talent stacks multiplicatively with other sources cooldown reduction.
- The lifesteal talent stacks additively with other sources of lifesteal.
Recent Changes[edit]
Main Article: Arc Warden/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Magnetic Field
- Now also causes it to slow enemy movement speed by 20%.
- Increased magic resistance bonus from 20% to 40%.
- Magnetic Field
- Talents:
- Reduced base strength from 25 to 23.
- Talents:
- Level 10 right talent: +250 Flux cast range reduced to +200.
- Level 20 right talent: +150 Spark Wraith damage reduced to +125.
- Reduced strength gain from 3 to 2.8.
- Reworked Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
- Old: Grants Arc Warden the Rune Forge ability.
- New: Causes Spark Wraith to spawn a new wraith after impacting the enemy, which has an activation delay of 3 seconds. Spark Wraiths created this way cannot spawn further wraiths.
- Added Aghanim's Shard upgrade for Arc Warden:
- Causes Magnetic Field to push enemies out of its area of effect upon cast, and makes it grant stacking 20% magic resistance to allies.
- Talents:
- Level 10 right talent: +300 Flux cast range reduced to +250.
- Level 15 left talent: 15% cooldown reduction reduced to 12%.
- Level 15 right talent: +50 attack speed reduced to +40.
- Level 20 right talent changed: -1.5s Spark Wraith cooldown ➜ +150 Spark Wraith damage.
- Level 25 left talent changed: +250 Spark Wraith damage ➜ +12s Tempest Double duration.
Recommended Items[edit]
Starting items:
- Tango gives Arc Warden sustain in lane.
- Faerie Fire gives a bit of damage and can be a lifesaver.
- Healing Salve restores large amount of health in the early game.
- Iron Branch provides attribute bonuses and build into Magic Wand.
- Slippers of Agility gives agility for Arc Warden to last hit early on and can later be built into a Wraith Band.
- Magic Stick can be an alternative starting item if playing against casters.
Early game:
- Boots of Speed improves Arc Warden's mediocre movement speed and gives him some form of escape from enemies.
- Magic Wand restores some health and mana, allowing Arc Warden to use his abilities and escape items like Hurricane Pike.
- Hand of Midas accelerates Arc Warden farming game. Keep track of its cooldown on Tempest Double to know when optimal times to use it are.
Mid game:
- Boots of Travel gives Arc Warden map wide presence for fighting, pushing, and farming.
- Maelstrom improves Arc Warden's farming, wave clear and fighting capabilities and later upgrades to Mjollnir or Gleipnir.
- Gleipnir gives decent stats and crowd control, a good alternative. It's ideal for early to mid game skirmishes, as well as late game teamfights. The major disadvantage of the item is being countered heavily by dispels and lack of attack speed, although the active bypasses Linken's Sphere.
- Mjollnir buffs both yours and your Tempest Double's attack speed as well as punishing enemies who attack either.
- Manta Style is a great item for mid-game fights, as it's component - Yasha - is one of the most cost-efficient items for agility heroes, giving Arc Warden much needed agility and movement speed. The active dispels some negative effects, and four illusions from Tempest Double and Zet can wreak havoc. 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, making them more resistant to physical attacks and speeding up their attack speed.
Late game:
- Hurricane Pike lets Arc Warden stay in the back with the increased attack range, and gives him an escape that, if used by Tempest Double as well, can effectively double the distance traveled.
- Monkey King Bar helps tremendously to counter evasion and highly armored heroes, while dealing less to those with high magic resistance.
- Nullifier allows Arc Warden to dispel and slow down enemies so they cannot be protected by defensive items like Glimmer Cape or Force Staff. 80 damage and 8 armor for low price can't be ignored, either. An ideal item both to kite melee rightclickers like Sven and prevent heroes like Drow Ranger or Zeus to escape.
- Scythe of Vyse boosts Arc Warden's mana and mana regeneration to use abilities liberally. The Tempest Double can use hex as well, doubling the disabling duration. Take care with chain disabling, as the enemy may use Black King Bar right after.
- Abyssal Blade a great item to buy against heroes who heavily rely on Black King Bar. like Sven, Storm Spirit, as in the late game two consecutive stuns can cover most of the duration remaining. In spite of a low proc chance, attack speed buffs will still allow Arc to proc regular bashes as well. Note, that the Double does not proc passive bashes.
Situational items:
- Blink Dagger allows offensive Arc Warden and Tempest Double to approach enemy targets and unleash their abilities and items quickly.
- Shadow Blade provides attack speed and attack damage, as well as invisibility for Arc Warden to escape or initiate on enemies. It can upgrade to Silver Edge to apply break, suppressing both offensive and defensive passives.
- Bloodthorn boosts mana regeneration as well as damage output with attack speed, attack damage, and True Strike. The silence also prevents much of retaliation or escape from enemies. Black King Bar and other dispel items can counter this effect, so take caution.
- Black King Bar counters most disables so Arc Warden can attack and use items. 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 independent of the main Arc Warden's Black King Bar.
- Butterfly turns Arc Warden into a heavy hitter. His primary attribute is agility, so he benefits a lot from its attributes. 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 two 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 synergizes very well with Magnetic Field.
- Daedalus, like Butterfly, significantly increases your damage output, as Arc Warden can constantly deliver crits thanks to the enormous attack speed boost provided by Magnetic Field. Note that this passives doesn't work against buildings.
- Ethereal Blade can be useful in the late game, especially facing attack damage. Synergizes very well with Spark Wraith talents. Also gives 40 agility, so it can be considered even when focusing on attack damage.
Gameplay[edit]
| Roles: | Carry Escape Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★★★ |
| Playstyle: | As old as the Ancients themselves, Zet endeavors to end the disharmony among the warring factions through whatever means necessary. Solitary foes are thrown into a volatile state of Flux, ripping away at their health over time. Allies find shelter under its Magnetic Field, evading and attacking with greater efficiency. Zet summons Spark Wraiths, fragments of its former self that circle in place, and seek out nearby foes. Is there one Arc Warden, or two? Armed with the original's items and abilities, Zet's Tempest Double duplicates each spell and every attack, bringing twice the chaos to any fight. |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- The line ▶️ "You will just have to accept this, and move on." is a reference to a Dota 2 based web cartoon The Dota 2 Reporter, where it is a recurring gag for the characters to question the game's logic, only to be answered by this line.
- The lines ▶️ "Doggedly." and ▶️ "Hounding." are references to Arc Warden's former appearance in DotA, where its model was that of a Gnoll, a canine-like creature from Warcraft. Its rivalry lines towards Lycan, ▶️ "Inferior form." and ▶️ "Apex predator, you are not. ", are also a nudge to this.
Gallery[edit]
Promotional art
Concept art
Concept art
Early textures
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
