Dark Willow

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Animations

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Dark Willow #114 20 + 2 18 + 1.3 21 + 2.6
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 20 460 1076 1780 2044 +0.75 +2.75 +5.55 +8.75 +9.95 Mana 80 332 764 1220 1400 +0 +1.05 +2.87 +4.77 +5.52 Armor 0 3 6.03 10.2 11.62 Magic Resist 25% 27.1% 30.74% 34.54% 36.04% Damage Block - Damage 5 13 46 54 104 112 170 178 195 203 Attack Rate 0.77/s 0.89/s 1.01/s 1.17/s 1.23/s Attack Range 475 (750) Attack Speed ▶️ 115 (1.5s BAT) Attack Animation 0.3 + 1 Projectile Speed 1200 Move Speed ▶️ 290 ( 320) Turn Rate 0.7 Collision Size 27 Bound Radius 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 ( 800) Gib Type Default Internal npc_dota_hero_dark_willow

Has an arsenal of disables at her disposal.
A slight flutter from the shadows may be all an enemy sees of Dark Willow, as she eludes pursuit and controls her foe's movements with devious and cunning fae tricks. Her heritage lets her slip into the Shadow Realm, avoiding attacks while entrapping victims in thorny Brambles. She lays a Cursed Crown on her foes, stunning them no matter they run. The Dark Willow's companion wisp is no less to fear. Jex circles its mistress, creating sheer Bedlam before tapping into primal fears, Terrorizing enemies into submission.
Roles:	Support Nuker Disabler Escape
Complexity:
Adjectives:	Cute, Female, Flying, Green, Wings, Nose Legs ( 2 )

Bio

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.

Aliases:

DW, Mireska

Voice:

Ashly Burch (Responses)

Abilities

Bramble Maze

▶️▶️QB

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

Dark Willow creates a maze of brambles that grow in the target area after 0.3 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: 0.3

Bramble Spawn Interval: 0.075

Bramble Activation Delay: 0.1

Number of Brambles: 8

Damage per Tick: 50/55/60/65

Root Duration: 1/1.5/2/2.5

Bramble Duration: 15

 22 ( 15)

 100/120/140/160

Modifiers [?]

modifier_dark_willow_bramble_maze_creation_thinker

Undispellable

modifier_dark_willow_bramble_maze_thinker

Undispellable

modifier_dark_willow_bramble_maze

Any

The fae realm exists all around you, merely waiting to draw you in…

The brambles' formation.

Bramble Maze's custom targeting indicator.

• The visual effects and the sound during the 0.3-second bramble spawn delay is 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 northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.
  • The brambles spawn in 0.075-second intervals, starting 0.3 seconds after cast, so it takes 0.825 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 northeast bramble.

• Brambles have to go through a 0.1-second activation delay 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.
  • Provides True Sight over rooted enemies.

• Deals 50/55/60/65 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 100/165/240/325 damage to the target (before reductions).

• The brambles' duration starts after the initial creation delay. This means the last bramble disappears 15.825 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.

Shadow Realm

▶️▶️▶️WR

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self / Enemies

Damage
Physical

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 seconds.

Cast Animation:  0+0

Effect Delay: 0.3

Attack Range Bonus: 600

Max Damage: 120/200/280/360

Max Damage Duration: 3

Duration: 5 ( 6.5)

 22/20/18/16 ( 20/18/16/14)

 70/80/90/100

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

Attacking no longer takes you out of Shadow Realm. Each attack still has bonus damage based on the duration of the buff.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_dark_willow_shadow_realm_fade_time

Death

modifier_dark_willow_shadow_realm_buff

Unknown

modifier_dark_willow_shadow_realm_buff_attack_logic

Death

What you can't see will most definitely hurt you.

• Does not interrupt Dark Willow's channeling abilities upon cast.

• Shadow Realm's effect delay does not work like the fade time of invisibility.
  • The ability's buff is placed after the 0.3-second delay, so that all of the ability's effects are delayed.
  • Successive casts do not remove the buff from a previous cast but refresh its duration after the effect delay.
  • Disjoint projectiles after the effect delay.

• Increases Dark Willow's total attack range to .
  • The attack range bonus works for ranged heroes only.

• During Shadow Realm, Dark Willow is phased, attack immune and untargetable by her enemies.
  • For enemies, any attacks or abilities targeting Dark Willow, which are already in its attack or cast animation get canceled.
  • Does not prevent Spell Reflection from reflecting abilities back at her.
  • Certain abilities can bypass unselectability conditionally, while almost every other ability treats the affected target as if it were invisible.

• 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. Therefore, if the projectile flies for more than 3 seconds before reaching its target, the spell damage is not applied.
  • The buff only works for the attack that created it. Any other projectiles launched afterward do not apply the spell damage bonus.
  • SCEPTER
    Attacking now no longer ends Shadow Realm, and each attack launched applies the Shadow Realm spell damage bonus based on its accumulated time.

• The damage increases by 2/3.33/4.67/6 per server tick, reaching its maximum in 3 seconds.

• The damage stops accumulating as soon as the attack is launched and does not continue to increase while flying toward the target.

• Shadow Realm first applies the spell damage, then the attack damage.
  • The bonus damage is applied as spell damage in a separate damage instance, it is affected by spell damage amplification and works with spell lifesteal.
  • The bonus damage does not work against buildings and wards, but works on allies.

Cursed Crown

▶️▶️▶️EC

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
 Physical

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)

Effect Delay: 4 ( 3)

Stun Duration: 1.2/1.6/2/2.4 ( 1.7/2.1/2.5/2.9)

 Bramble Spawn Radius: 175

 Number of Brambles: 4

 18/16/14/12

 80/90/100/110

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Cursed Crown creates 4 brambles in a 175 radius around the target after the counter ends. Triggers even upon dispel. Reduces stun delay by 1 second.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_dark_willow_cursed_crown

Any

modifier_stunned

Strong

Ability Draft Notes:

Bramble Maze must be drafted as well for them to be created.

Didn't anyone ever tell you? Never strike a deal with a fairy…

• 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 each second.

• Turning invulnerable or hidden does not prevent the debuff from affecting the area around the target.

• SHARD
  Losing the initial debuff in any way now 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.

Bedlam

▶️▶️DD

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Allies / Enemies

Damage
Physical

Dark Willow sends her pet wisp to roam around an ally for the duration, rapidly attacking nearby enemies. Bedlam cannot be used while Terrorize is active.

Cast Animation:  0+0

Cast Range: 900

Max Wisp per Ally: 1

Roam Radius: 200

Search Radius: 300

Max Enemy Targets: 1 ( 3)

Strike Interval: 0.25

Damage per Strike: 70/120/170 ( 100/150/200)

Seconds per Revolution: 1.5

Duration: 5.5

 30

 100/150/200

Modifiers [?]

modifier_dark_willow_bedlam

Death

modifier_dark_willow_creature_invulnerable

Death

You'll have to excuse my friend Jex. He's really into murder.

Jex
Ward
Health 100 +0 This unit has no mana. Level 1 Armor 0 Magic Resistance 0% Status Resistance 0 Move Speed 0 Collision Size 18 Bound Radius 8 Vision Range (G) 600 Bounty 150 Experience 0 Notes Uncontrollable.

• Interrupts Dark Willow's channeling abilities upon cast.

• Bedlam can be cast without having to face toward the targeted unit, as long as the targeted unit is within the cast range, regardless of Dark Willow's animations.

• 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.

• Upon cast, Jex travels at a speed of 1800 from Dark Willow to the west side of the targeted ally and rotates clockwise.
  • ↓↓ Double-tapping automatically targets self.
  • When cast on self, Jex does not travel and appears on the west side and rotates clockwise around Dark Willow.

• While traveling to the target, Jex can attack valid enemy units.

• Jex rotates around the affected ally at a speed of 837.76, taking 1.5 seconds to finish a revolution.
  • This results in 3.67 revolutions over the whole duration.

• On each strike, Jex chooses a visible random enemy target within range. There are no priorities. Does not strike buildings or wards.
  • The strike radius is centered on Jex. A light pink glow surrounds it, indicating the strike area.
  • Jex continues striking even when the affected ally target or Dark Willow is disabled. It stops only when the affected ally or when she dies, or upon the ability duration expiring.
  • The projectiles travel at a speed of 1400, are applied as spell damage, and do not interact with any on-attack effects, it is affected by spell damage amplification and works with spell lifesteal.
  • Although visually Jex is striking its target, the damage is still sourced to Dark Willow.

• With its 0.25-second strike interval, it can deal up to 22 damage instances.
  • Can deal up to 1540/2640/3740 ( 2200/3300/4400) damage to a single unit (before reductions).

• Successive casts on the same targeted ally do not resummon Jex but refresh its duration independently.

• The ability itself provides no vision, but Jex has 600 ground vision which it provides for the duration.

• TALENT
  Both the damage increasing and max targets increasing talents immediately update the current active instance.
• SPELL STEAL
  Does not grant Terrorize upon acquiring Bedlam, and vice versa. Bedlam can be cast right away even when Jex has not returned from the previous Terrorize cast. However, when both abilities are acquired via Spell Steal, they get turned inactive as normal.

Terrorize

▶️▶️RF

Ability
Target Area

Affects
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

 100/90/80

 150

Debuff Immunity Notes:

Exposure pierces debuff immunity.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_dark_willow_terrorize_thinker

Death

modifier_dark_willow_creature_invulnerable

Death

modifier_dark_willow_debuff_fear

Any

Ability Draft Notes:

Terrorize is granted to the player that drafted Bedlam.

You think you know the first thing about fear? Jex'll show you what that word truly means…

• 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 returns from a previous cast.

• During the cast time, Jex appears 300 range above Dark Willow and then travels to the target point at a speed of 2000, and returns 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, making them run towards their fountain and preventing them from acting.
  • When hitting neutral creeps, they retreat to their camps instead.

• Exposes all affected targets, but does not provide True Sight over them.

• The ability itself provides no vision, but Jex has 600 ground vision which it provides during the duration.
• SPELL STEAL
  This ability's cast point is not modified when acquired. Terrorize can still be cast while Bedlam is active. However, when both abilities are acquired via Spell Steal, they get turned inactive as normal.

Talents

Hero Talents
2 Bedlam Attack Targets	25	+100 Attack Speed
-7s Bramble Maze CD	20	+1.5s Shadow Realm Duration
+160 Cursed Crown AoE	15	+30 Bedlam Damage
-2s Shadow Realm Cooldown	10	+0.5s Cursed Crown Stun Duration

Recent Changes

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore

<div> <div class="updatetablehead"> <div id="version">Version</div><div id="description">Description</div> </div> <div class="updatetablebody">

7.35d

• Increased Bedlam Roaming Duration from 5s to 5.5s

7.35b

• Increased base armor from -1 to 0.

7.35

• Reduced Shadow Realm max damage duration from 3.5 to 3.

• Talents:
• LVL 10

   

  +0.4s Cursed Crown stun duration increased to +0.5s.

  LVL 20

   

  +2s Shadow Realm duration reduced to +1.5s.

</div> </div>

Recommended Items

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.
• File:Aghanim Sceptre icon.png Aghanim Sceptre provides massive attack damage and compiled with a moon shard transitions dark willow in to a late game carry.

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.

• 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.

Dota Plus Progress

Main Article: Hero Challenges

Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.

Relics	Voice Lines
Bramble Maze Duration Cursed Crown Triple Stuns Bedlam Damage Three Hero Terrorizes Eul's Leading To Kills Stuns Leading To Kills Roots Leading To Kills Veils Leading To Kills Triple Kills Mega Kill Streaks Dusts Leading To Kills Wards Placed Kill Assists Kills	Bronze	▶️ Hahahaha ah hahahaha ahh hahahaha! ▶️ Just what I was waiting for.
	Silver	▶️ I won't lie. That was unexpected. ▶️ No. Just... no.
	Gold	▶️ Never had a chance. ▶️ Oh-ho. Don't mind me. Just a wee fairy going about her business.
	Platinum	▶️ I don't know what I was expecting.
	Master	▶️ This makes absolutely no sense.
	Grandmaster	▶️ Are you ready to have some fun?

Equipment

Dark Willow Equipment (expand sets) Sets Allure of the Faeshade Flower   Curse of the Winter Rose   Mischief of the Fae Forager   Rain Forest Refugee   Saccharine Saboteur   The Duskbloom Trickster   Twilight Hex Off-Hand Gloombob Head Crimson Hearts of Misrule   Hearts of Misrule Belt The Sunbreeze Birthright Taunt Taunt: Thorns and All

Trivia

• 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

• 

  In-game model

• 

  In-game model

External links

• Official Trailer
• Blog post
• Dueling Fates - The 7.07 Update