Dark Willow
Hero
Dark Willow
    20 + 2
18 + 1.6
21 + 3.5
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Mireska Sunbreeze, the Dark Willow, is a ranged intelligence hero with a powerful array of disables and nukes. She can summon a tangle of thorns to root enemies in her Bramble Maze, or curse an enemy to stun them after a delay with Cursed Crown. Slipping into the Shadow Realm to avoid attacks, she re-emerges with a powerful magical burst. Calling upon her companion Jex, Dark Willow dishes out a flurry of heavy magic damage with Bedlam, or sends her enemies fleeing in fear with Terrorize. This wide arsenal of disables and nukes allows her to gank, roam, and support with equal efficiency, making her indispensable in teamfights.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Mireska Sunbreeze, the Dark Willow▶️ "Let's have some fun, shall we?"
Lore:
Children love telling stories about the whimsical adventures of fairies... That's because children don't know that most fairies are spiteful jerks. And in the world of spiteful fairies there are few names spoken of with more contempt than Mireska Sunbreeze.
Born to a fae merchant king, Mireska grew up in Revtel; a cutthroat nation where manipulation and murder were the norm. But while she was quite adept at navigating the etiquette, unspoken laws, and social rituals that permeated every element of her life, she found the whole thing rather boring.
So, Mireska did what most rebellious children do: burn down her family estate and set off with her pet wisp Jex to live the life of a wandering grifter.
Born to a fae merchant king, Mireska grew up in Revtel; a cutthroat nation where manipulation and murder were the norm. But while she was quite adept at navigating the etiquette, unspoken laws, and social rituals that permeated every element of her life, she found the whole thing rather boring.
So, Mireska did what most rebellious children do: burn down her family estate and set off with her pet wisp Jex to live the life of a wandering grifter.
Voice:
Abilities[edit]
Dark Willow creates a maze of brambles that grow in the target area after 0.5 seconds. Enemies that walk into a bramble are rooted and take damage over time.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.8
Cast Range: 1000/1100/1200/1300
Bramble Spawn Radius: 500
Root Search Radius: 90
Bramble Spawn Delay: 0.5
Bramble Spawn Interval: 0.075
Bramble Activation Delay: 0.1
Number of Brambles: 8
Total Damage: 120/160/200/240
Root Duration: 1/1.5/2/2.5
Bramble Duration: 15
20 (
12)
100/Modifiers
modifier_dark_willow_bramble_maze_creation_thinker: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_dark_willow_bramble_maze_thinker: Undispellable. Persists death.
modifier_dark_willow_bramble_maze: Dispellable with any dispel.The fae realm exists all around you, merely waiting to draw you in…
Notes:
- The visual effects and the sound during the 0.5-second bramble spawn delay are only visible and audible to allies.
- The projectile launched upon cast has only cosmetic purposes, and does not affect the delay.
- The brambles are always placed in the same formation.
- 4 brambles are placed 200 range away from the center of the target area, towards north, east, south, and west.
- 4 brambles are placed 500 range away from the center of the target area, towards north-east, south-east, south-west, and north-west.
- The brambles spawn in 0.075-second intervals, starting 0.5 seconds after cast, so it takes 1.025 seconds for all brambles to spawn.
- The inner circle spawns first, starting with the east bramble, going counter-clockwise. The outer circle starts with the north-east bramble.
- Each bramble is inactive for 0.1 seconds after spawning.
- A bramble roots the first enemy unit which comes within 90 range of it, after which it then disappears.
- The brambles require no vision and can hit invisible enemies, or enemies in the Fog of War.
- Does not provide True Sight over rooted enemies.
- Deals 60/53.33/50/48 damage in 0.5-second intervals, starting 0.5 seconds after the buff is applied, resulting in 2/3/4/5 instances.
- Can deal a total of 120/160/200/240 damage to the target (before reductions).
- The brambles' duration starts after the initial creation delay. This means the last bramble disappears 16.025 seconds after cast.
- Multiple instances of the debuff fully stack. Each bramble places its own independent debuff.
- Leveling the ability up while there are other active brambles does not update the root duration.
Dark Willow recedes into the shadows, becoming untargetable. Her next attack has increased attack range and deals bonus magic damage, and will end Shadow Realm. Damage scales based on how long she remains under the effects of Shadow Realm, the maximum being reached after 3.5 seconds.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Attack Range Bonus: 600
Max Damage: 90/180/270/360
Max Damage Duration: 3.5
Duration: 5
26/ 24/20/16/12) 70/
Attacking no longer takes you out of Shadow Realm. Each attack still has bonus damage based on the duration of the buff.
Does not attempt to damage spell immune enemies.Modifiers
modifier_dark_willow_shadow_realm_buff: Dispellable with death only. modifier_dark_willow_shadow_realm_buff_attack_logic: Dispellable with death only.What you can't see will most definitely hurt you.
Notes:
- Does not interrupt channeling abilities upon cast.
- Shadow Realm disjoints projectiles upon cast.
- During Shadow Realm, Dark Willow is phased, attack immune and unselectable.
- Any attack or ability targeting Dark Willow which is already in its attack or cast animation gets canceled.
- Due to this, Dark Willow (or ↓↓ Double-tapping) cannot target herself with most of her own items either, with the following exceptions: Glimmer Cape, Healing Salve, Moon Shard and Shadow Amulet.
- Does not prevent Spell Reflection from reflecting abilities back at her.
- Due to the unselectability, almost every ability treats Dark Willow as if she were invisible. Abilities which do not treat her as invisible are:
- Heat-Seeking Missile, Concussive Shot, Wrath of Nature, Omnislash, Mana Drain, Exorcism, and Thundergod's Wrath.
- Unlike with invisibility, Beetles, Phantoms and Undying Zombies do not instanly die when Shadow Realm is cast.
- When cast while attacking an enemy, Dark Willow is ordered to stop, so that the attack out of Shadow Realm is not wasted.
- However, when she is given an attack order (A) while outside attack range, casting Shadow Realm while she moves does not stop her from attacking immediately.
- Casting abilities or items during Shadow Realm does not end it, only attacking does.
- The Shadow Realm buff is lost upon launching an attack. Upon launch, Dark Willow gets the attack logic buff, which is responsible for the damage.
- This buff disappears upon hitting the target, or within 3 seconds, whichever is shorter.
- This means if the projectile flies for more than 3 seconds, the damage is not applied.
- The buff responsible for the damage is lost on death, so when dying before projectile hit negates the damage.
- The buff only works for the attack that created it. Any other projectiles launched afterwards do not apply the bonus damage.
- The damage increases by 0.77/1.54/2.31/3.09 on each server tick (0.03 seconds), reaching its maximum in 3.5 seconds.
- The damage stops growing as soon as the attack is launched. It does not continue to grow while flying towards the target.
- The damage is dealt in a separate instance and is not added to Dark Willow's attack damage.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, attacking no longer ends Shadow Realm.
- The damage continues to grow until it reaches the 3.5 max damage duration, and Shadow Realm ends after the 5 second ability duration.
Ability
Target Unit
Target Unit
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Dark Willow casts an ancient fae curse on the target. After a delay, the target and nearby enemies are stunned.
Cast Animation: 0.2+0.83
Cast Range: 600/625/650/675
Stun Radius: 360 ( 520)
520)Delay: 4 (
3)
3)Stun Duration: 1.75/2.25/2.75/3.25 ( 2.35/2.85/3.35/3.85)
2.35/2.85/3.35/3.85) Bramble Spawn Radius: 175 18/ 15/13/11/9) 80/
Cursed Crown creates four brambles around the target after the counter ends. Triggers even upon dispel. Reduces cooldown by 3 seconds and stun delay by 1 second.
Blocked upon cast.Modifiers
modifier_dark_willow_cursed_crown: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.Didn't anyone ever tell you? Never strike a deal with a fairy…
Notes:
- The sound and visual effect during the delay on the target is audible and visible to everyone.
- The visual effect indicates the area to be affected on each second.
- Turning invulnerable or hidden does not prevent the debuff from affecting the area around the target.
- With Aghanim's Shard, losing the initial debuff in any way causes 4 Brambles based on the current level to spawn around the target.
- Bramble Maze's notes fully apply. If it is not leveled, no brambles spawn.
- The brambles are always placed 175 range away from the target, towards north, east, south, and west.
- Unlike the brambles from a regular cast, these brambles spawn simultaneously.
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Cast Animation: 0+0
Roam Radius: 200
Attack Radius: 300
Attack Interval: 0.25
Damage per Attack: 75/125/175 ( 107/157/207)
107/157/207)Seconds per Revolution: 1.8
Duration: 5
30 100/Modifiers
modifier_dark_willow_bedlam: Dispellable with death only. modifier_dark_willow_creature_invulnerable: Dispellable with death only.You'll have to excuse my friend Jex. He's really into murder.
Notes:
- Leveling this ability automatically levels Terrorize as well.
- This applies to Ability Draft as well.
- Interrupts Dark Willow's channeling abilities upon cast.
- While active, Terrorize is inactive and cannot be cast.
- Bedlam is inactive during Terrorize's cast time, and stays inactive until Jex fully returns to Dark Willow after terrorizing enemies.
- On cast, Jex always appears on the west side and rotates clockwise around Dark Willow.
- Jex rotates around Dark Willow at a speed of 698.13, taking 1.8 seconds to finish a revolution.
- This results in 2.78 revolutions over the whole duration.
- On each attack, Jex chooses a visible random target within range. There are no priorities. Does not attack buildings or wards.
- The attack radius is centered on Jex. A light pink glow surrounds it, indicating the attack area.
- Jex continues attacking even when Dark Willow is disabled. It stops only when she dies, or when expiring.
- Jex' attacks are not regular attacks. They are treated like an ability, and thus do not interact with any on attack effects.
- This means that both spell damage amplification and spell lifesteal does work with it. Dark Willow is the damage source.
- The attack projectiles traveling at a speed of 1400.
- With its 0.25-second attack rate, it can attack up to 20 times.
- With the current attack rate and damage, it can deal up to 300/500/700 ( 428/628/828) damage per second to a single unit.
- Can deal up to 1500/2500/3500 ( 2140/3140/4140) damage to a single unit (before reductions).
- Recasting Bedlam before the previous cast finishes refreshes the duration.
- The ability itself provides no vision, but Jex has 600 ground vision which he provides for the duration.
Ability
Target Area
Target Area
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Dark Willow releases her pet wisp to terrorize her enemies. After a short delay, all enemies in the target area become fearful and run toward their home fountain. Terrorize cannot be used while Bedlam is active.
Cast Animation: 1+2.57
Cast Range: 1200
Radius: 400
Duration: 3.5/3.75/4 ( 5/5.25/5.5)
5/5.25/5.5) 100/ 150
Modifiers
modifier_dark_willow_terrorize_thinker: Dispellable with death only. modifier_dark_willow_creature_invulnerable: Dispellable with death only. modifier_dark_willow_debuff_fear: Dispellable with any dispel.You think you know the first thing about fear? Jex'll show you what that word truly means…
Notes:
- Leveling this ability automatically levels Bedlam as well. This applies to Ability Draft as well.
- In Ability Draft, Terrorize can be unlocked with Aghanim's Scepter by the player that drafted Bedlam.
- Terrorize is inactive during Bedlam.
- Terrorize is also inactive during its cast time, and stays inactive until Jex fully returns to Dark Willow after terrorizing enemies.
- This means Terrorize cannot be cast again until Jex returned from a previous cast.
- Jex travels to the target point at a speed of 2000, and returns to Dark Willow at a speed of 600.
- The visual effect at the target area during the cast time/effect delay is visible to allies only. The sound is audible to everyone.
- Applies fear on all hit enemies within the radius, forcing them to run towards their team's fountain, while preventing them from acting.
- When hitting neutral creeps, they retreat to their camps instead.
- Provides shared vision over all hit enemies for its duration. Affects invisible units, but does not provide True Sight.
- The ability itself provides no vision, but Jex has 600 ground vision which he provides during the duration.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
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| +1.5 Terrorize Duration | 25 | +110 Attack Speed |
| -8s Bramble Maze CD | 20 | +50 Damage |
| +160 Cursed Crown AoE | 15 | +32 Bedlam Damage |
| -2s Shadow Realm Cooldown | 10 | +0.6s Cursed Crown Stun Duration |
Notes:
- This attack damage talent is added as raw attack damage, so it does not benefit illusions, and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.
Recent Changes[edit]
Main Article: Dark Willow/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Increased health regeneration from 0 to 0.5.
- Bramble Maze
- Reduced cast range from 1100/1200/1300/1400 to 1000/1100/1200/1300.
- Rescaled total damage from 125/150/175/200 to 120/160/200/240.
- Reduced Shadow Realm cooldown from 32/26/20/14 to 26/22/18/14.
- Reduced Terrorize cast range from 1300 to 1200.
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Now also reduces Cursed Crown delay by 1 second.
- Talents:
- Level 15 left talent changed: +125 cast range ➜ +160 Cursed Crown radius.
- Increased base intelligence from 18 to 21.
- Increased Bramble Maze cast range from 1200 on each level to 1100/1200/1300/1400.
- Increased Cursed Crown cast range from 600 on each level to 600/625/650/675.
- Reduced Terrorize cast range from 1500 to 1300.
- Added Aghanim's Shard upgrade for Dark Willow:
- Causes Cursed Crown to create 4 Brambles around the target upon losing the initial debuff in any way, based on its current level, and reduces its cooldown by 3 seconds.
- Talents:
- Level 10 left talent changed: +100 cast range ➜ -2s Shadow Realm cooldown.
- Level 10 right talent: +0.4s Cursed Crown stun duration increased to +0.6s.
- Level 15 left talent changed: -2s Shadow Realm cooldown ➜ +125 cast range.
- Level 20 left talent: -10s Bramble Maze cooldown reduced to -8s.
- Level 25 left talent: +1.3s Terrorize duration increased to +1.5s.
- Increased Cursed Crown radius from 325 to 360.
- Increased Terrorize Jex return speed from 500 to 600.
- Talents:
- Level 10 right talent changed: +10 intelligence ➜ +0.4s Cursed Crown stun duration.
- Level 15 left talent changed: +30 movement speed ➜ -2s Shadow Realm cooldown.
Recommended Items[edit]
Starting items:
- Clarity helps Dark Willow play more aggressively in the early game with supply of mana.
- Tango supplements Dark Willow's low natural health with regeneration.
- Healing Salve restores health to keep Dark Willow alive.
- Iron Branch combines with Tango to heal more, or builds into Magic Wand.
- Enchanted Mango restores mana for Dark Willow to use abilities in the early game.
- Observer Ward provides vision on the enemies so Dark Willow and allies can gank.
Early game:
- Boots of Speed increase movement speed to chase or escape.
- Wind Lace helps Dark Willow keep up with enemies during ganks, and builds into Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
- Magic Stick can save Dark Willow in an emergency by restoring health and mana.
Mid game:
- Magic Wand gives Dark Willow a quick mana and health restoration.
- Arcane Boots help Dark Willow use her magical nukes more often, as she has five active abilities with high mana costs.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity works well with any of Dark Willow's abilities: setting up Bramble Maze's root and Terrorize's fear, buying time for Cursed Crown to stun and Shadow Realm to peak in damage, removing an enemy for Bedlam to concentrate on others, and combining with Shadow Realm for longer period of untargetability. It also provides intelligence and mana regeneration for her to use said abilities.
- Blink Dagger helps Dark Willow get close to enemies to land as many Bedlam hits as possible, and allows her to get behind enemies for Terrorize. If trying to escape from enemies, Shadow Realm may help Dark Willow survive the 3 second cooldown and blink to safety.
- Glimmer Cape grants Dark Willow a layer of protection with invisibility and magic resistance, so she can stay on top of the enemies when using Bedlam.
Late game:
- Scythe of Vyse provides a large damage boost and a strong single-target hex to complement her natural AoE disables.
- Guardian Greaves protects Dark Willow with dispel and heal when she is ganking with Bedlam.
Situational items:
- Phase Boots allow Dark Willow to keep up with enemies while using Bedlam.
- Bottle facilitates rune control, offsetting the high mana cost of Dark Willow's abilities.
- Veil of Discord gives a core Dark Willow high damage and kill potential with her own nukes. It also provides additional attributes, which the hero lacks.
- Kaya increases Dark Willow's burst damage, and reduces some of her high mana costs.
- Force Staff helps Dark Willow escape, stay next to enemies during Bedlam, or push a fleeing enemy with Cursed Crown into their team.
- Spirit Vessel sustains Dark Willow and teammates with heal, and it can also help in ganks by countering enemy healing and dealing some damage.
- Rod of Atos applies root to keep the target within range of Bedlam.
- Linken's Sphere protects Dark Willow from single target disables, which can kill her in the late game.
- Aeon Disk protects Dark Willow from high damage nukes and initiations with strong dispel and damage reduction, giving her 2.5 seconds to use all of her abilities to help in teamfights or to disengage.
- Aghanim's Scepter increases lots of damage output and works well with the attack speed talent for a core Dark Willow.
- Boots of Travel, along with Shadow Realm, help Dark Willow teleport and split push.
Gameplay[edit]
| Roles: | Support Nuker Disabler Escape |
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| Complexity: | ★★☆ |
| Playstyle: | Mireska Sunbreeze is a devious rebel for whom deceit and backstabbing are but business norms. Her Fae heritage lets her to slip into the Shadow Realm, avoiding attacks while entrapping victims in a thorny Bramble Maze. She lays a Cursed Crown on her foes, stunning them no matter where they run. The Dark Willow's companion wisp is no less to fear. Jex circles its mistress, creating total Bedlam before tapping into primal fears to Terrorize enemies into submission. |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Dark Willow is sometimes labeled in the game files as Sylph and Fairy, her early working names.
- Dark Willow's accent is heavily based on those found in Celtic and Gaelic countries, mostly Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
Gallery[edit]
In-game model
In-game model
External links[edit]
