Skywrath Mage

Skywrath Mage 21 + 2 13 + 0.8 25 + 4.1
Magic resistance	25%
Link▶️ Movement speed	325
Link▶️ Attack speed	100
Turn rate	0.6
Vision range	1800/800
Attack range	625
Projectile speed	1000
Attack animation	0.4+0.78
Base attack time	1.7
Damage block	0
Collision size	24
Legs	2
Gib type	Default

Hero

Strategy

Counters

Dragonus, the Skywrath Mage, is a ranged intelligence hero equipped with tremendously powerful nukes, able to enhance magical damage and thus scales well into late game. However, he is a proverbial glass cannon; while he can bring superb amounts of damage, he is dangerously vulnerable and will most likely meet a swift end if the player isn't careful. Arcane Bolt is his main spell; its damage is based on his current Intelligence level. Concussive Shot blasts the nearest enemy hero, along with nearby units around the foe, slowing them down. The Ancient Seal marks the target with magic amplification and silence, leaving the target vulnerable to magic and unable to cast spells. Skywrath Mage's ultimate Mystic Flare is one of the most dangerous nukes in the game. Enemy heroes caught in this field will suffer massive damage. Its power is split equally among enemy heroes within its radius; if it is used on a single hero, it will deal its full damage potential. His spells are most effective when targeted on a lone hero and thus suffer decreased effectiveness when used on groups.

Bio[]

Dragonus, the Skywrath Mage

▶️ "Even on this fallen field, I dedicate my powers to the lofty Skywrath."

Lore:

A highly placed mage in the court of the Ghastly Eyrie, Dragonus lives a troubled existence. Sworn by birth to protect whoever sits within the Nest of Thorns, he hates the current Skywrath queen with all his soul. As a youth, high-born, he was a friend and companion to the eldest Skywrath princess, Shendelzare, first in line for the Nest. He had loved her warmly and unshakably, but as his studies took hold, his mind turned to arcane learning and the mastery of Skywrath sorcery.

Obsessed with matters aetherial, he missed the mundane signs of courtly treachery that hinted at a plot against Shendelzare, and lost his chance to foil it. When the court was shaken by a swift and violent coup, he emerged from his studies to discover his oldest and dearest friend had been lost to him. The Nest of Thorns now belonged to Shendelzare's ruthless younger sister, and Dragonus could do nothing. The magic of the Skywrath Mage serves only the sworn protector of the Skywrath scion, so to act against the Nest would render him helpless. He clings to his post, believing it to be the best hope of one day restoring his true love to her rightful place. Meanwhile, his secret is known only to the goddess Scree'auk, whose magic it was transformed Shendelzare from a crippled physical creature into an embodiment of pure vengeful energy.

While he dreams of restoring his beloved queen to the Ghastly Eyrie, he dreams even more desperately of restoring Shendelzare herself to a fully healed physical form. The duplicity of his role at court tortures him, for he is a noble and good-hearted creature; but the worst torture of all is imagining the hatred that Vengeful Spirit must hold in her heart for him.

Voice:

TJ Ramini (Responses)

Abilities[]

Arcane Bolt

▶️

▶️QC

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Skywrath Mage launches a slow-moving bolt of arcane magic, dealing damage to an enemy unit based on Skywrath Mage's intelligence.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 875

Number of Targets: 1 (

2) (

2,

3)

Base Damage: 75/95/115/135

Bonus Damage per Intelligence: 1.4

Secondary Targets Search Radius: 700 (

700)

5/4/3/2

90

When Skywrath Mage casts Arcane Bolt, a different random target within 700 range willl be hit with the same ability. Heroes will take priority.

Does not pierce spell immunity.
Fully pierces spell immunity.

Blocked upon impact, as primary and secondary target.

Modifiers

modifier_projectile_vision: Undispellable. Persists death.

Within the Ghastly Eyrie's endless intrigue, only the clever and calm can hope to survive.

Notes:

The bolt travels at a speed of 500.
- The projectile has a 325 radius flying vision. This vision does not linger.
- Also provides the same vision at the target's location for 3.34 seconds upon successfully hitting it.

Checks Skywrath Mage's intelligence upon releasing the projectile.
- This means that the projectile's damage is set upon launch and does not adapt when losing or gaining intelligence.

This is how much damage Arcane Bolt deals with a certain amount of intelligence (before reductions):
- Level 1 (25 intelligence): 110/130/150/170 damage
- Level 5 (41 intelligence): 133/153/173/193 damage
- Level 10 (61 intelligence): 162/182/202/222 damage
- Level 15 (82 intelligence): 190/210/230/250 damage
- Level 20 (102 intelligence): 219/239/259/279 damage
- Level 25 (123 intelligence): 248/268/288/308 damage
- Level 30 (143 intelligence): 276/296/316/336 damage

With Aghanim's Scepter, whenever Arcane Bolt is cast, a different random target within the search radius is also targeted by a second Arcane Bolt.
- The search radius is centered around the primary target, not around Skywrath Mage.
- Since it uses a defined radius and is not based on the cast range, it is not affected by cast range modifying abilities (e.g. Aether Lens).
- Prioritizes heroes (including illusions and clones) over other units. Treats creep-heroes as creeps.
- If no other valid targets are found within the search radius, the second Arcane Bolt is not released.
- The level 15 talent adds a third target to this, following the same rules.

Concussive Shot

▶️

▶️WT

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemy Heroes

Damage
Magical

Skywrath Mage sets off a long range shot that hits the closest hero within a long range. Upon impact, it deals damage and slows in an area of effect.

Cast Animation: +

Search Radius: 1600 (

Global)

Damage & Slow Radius: 250

Number of Targets: 1 (

2)

Hero Damage: 100/160/220/280

Creep Damage Percentage: 75%

Move Speed Slow: 40%

Slow Duration: 4

15/14/13/12

80/85/90/95

When Skywrath Mage casts Concussive Shot, a different random target within cast range will be hit with the same ability. Heroes will take priority.

Can target spell immune enemies, but does not slow or damage them. The area effects are still applied.
Cannot target secondary spell immune units.

Disjointing the projectile causes it to completely fizzle.

Modifiers

modifier_projectile_vision: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_skywrath_mage_concussive_shot_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.

Those who serve the court of the Ghastly Eyrie are ever locked in covert war. One must always know where danger lurks nearest.

Notes:

Concussive Shot interrupts Skywrath Mage's channeling abilities upon cast.

Concussive Shot travels at a speed of 800.
- The projectile has 300 radius flying vision. This vision does not linger.
- Also provides the same vision at the target's location for 3.34 seconds upon successfully hitting it.

Concussive Shot targets the closest enemy unit that is not a ward, a building, or a creep-hero.
- Prioritizes heroes (including clones) over other units. Treats illusions as creeps.
- Does not target invisible or hidden units or units in the Fog of War.

The area damage deals 75/120/165/210 damage to creeps. Treats creep-heroes as creeps.

The shot first applies the damage, then the debuff.

With Aghanim's Scepter, whenever Concussive Shot is cast, a different random target within the search radius is also targeted by a second Concussive Shot.
- Uses the same search radius as the primary projectile, but slightly different targeting behaviors
- Targets the closest enemy unit that is not a ward or a building.
- Prioritizes heroes (including clones, illusions, and creep-heroes) over other units.
- Does not target invisible, invulnerable, hidden, or spell immune units or units in the Fog of War.
- If no other valid targets are found within the search radius, the second Concussive Shot is not released.

Ancient Seal

▶️ER

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Skywrath Mage seals the targeted unit with an ancient rune, silencing it and causing it to take additional damage from spells.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 700/750/800/850

Number of Targets: 1 (

2)

Magic Resistance Reduction: 30%/35%/40%/45% (

42%/47%/52%/57%)

Duration: 3/4/5/6

Secondary Target Search Radius: 700

14 (

6)

80/90/100/110

Anytime Skywrath Mage casts Ancient Seal, a different random target within 700 range will be affected by the same ability. Heroes will take priority.

Blocked only for the primary target. Secondary target still gets hit.

Modifiers

modifier_skywrath_mage_ancient_seal: Dispellable with any dispel.

A holy incantation, whosoever finds themselves touched by Avilliva's sigil must suffer in penitent silence.

Notes:

Reduces most heroes' total magic resistance to 2%/-1%/-5%/-9% ( -7%/-10%/-14%/-18%).
- The magic resistance reduction does not affect non-hero units.

Successive casts on the same target do not stack, but refresh the duration instead.

With Aghanim's Scepter, whenever Ancient Seal is cast, a different random target within the search radius is also targeted.
- The search radius is centered around the primary target, not around Skywrath Mage.
- Prioritizes heroes (including illusions and clones) over other units. Treats creep-heroes as creeps.
- If no other valid targets are found within the search radius, the second Ancient Seal is not applied.

Mystic Flare

▶️

▶️RE

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Skywrath Mage uses his ultimate magical ability to conjure a precise and violent mystical field that lays waste to his adversaries. Deals massive damage distributed evenly among any Heroes in the area over seconds.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 1200

Flare Radius: 170

Number of Flares: 1 (

2)

Total Damage: 750/1175/1600 (

1200/1625/2050)

Flare Duration: 2.2

Secondary Target Search Radius: 700

60/40/20

300/550/800

When Skywrath Mage casts Mystic Flare, another Mystic Flare will be created on the position of a different random target enemy within 700 range. Heroes will take priority

Modifiers

modifier_skywrath_mage_mystic_flare: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_skywrath_mystic_flare_aura_effect: Undispellable. Persists death.

Ability Draft Notes:

Hero Shard Upgrade is bound to Mystic Flare in Ability Draft.

Only the most practiced of Skywrath sorcerers could hope to shape the skies into such a storm.

Notes:

If enemy heroes are within the radius (including illusions, clones and creep-heroes), only the heroes are affected.
- Completely ignores spell immune, invulnerable and hidden units.

Deals damage in 0.1-second intervals, starting 0.1 seconds after cast, resulting in 22 damage instances.

This is how much damage Mystic Flare deals when hitting a certain amount of units for the full duration (before reductions):
- 1 Unit: 34.09/53.41/72.73 ( 54.55/73.86/93.18) per interval, and 750/1175/1600 ( 1200/1625/2050) total damage.
- 2 Units: 17.05/26.7/36.36 ( 27.27/36.93/46.59) per interval, and 375/587.5/800 ( 600/812.5/1025) total damage.
- 3 Units: 11.36/17.8/24.24 ( 18.18/24.62/31.06) per interval, and 250/391.67/533.33 ( 400/541.67/683.33) total damage.
- 4 Units: 8.52/13.35/18.18 ( 13.64/18.47/23.3) per interval, and 187.5/293.75/400 ( 300/406.25/512.5) total damage.
- 5 Units: 6.82/10.68/14.55 ( 10.91/14.77/18.64) per interval, and 150/235/320 ( 240/325/410) total damage.

A hidden debuff is responsible for the particle effects on hit enemies. It has only visual purposes.
- The debuff is placed by an aura, and lingers for 0.5 seconds.

With Aghanim's Scepter, casting Mystic Flare automatically casts another Mystic Flare centered on a random enemy within the search radius but outside the 170 effect radius.
- The search radius is centered around the targeted area, not around Skywrath Mage.
- Prioritizes heroes (including illusions and clones) over other units. Treats creep-heroes as creeps.
- Ignores spell immune or invulnerable units within the search radius.
- If no other valid targets are found within the search radius, the second Mystic Flare is not released.

Hero Shard Upgrade

Ability
Passive

Affects
Self

Everytime you cast abilities you gain +5 Intelligence and +1 Armor for 35 seconds. Stacks independently.

Intelligence Bonus per Stack: 5

Armor Bonus per Stack: 1

Duration: 35

Modifiers

modifier_skywrath_mage_shard_bonus: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_skywrath_mage_shard_bonus_counter: Dispellable with death only.

Ability Draft Notes:

This ability is bound to

Mystic Flare, instead of being innate to Skywrath Mage.

Notes:

Requires Aghanim's Shard to be unlocked.

Does not trigger on active item abilities, on abilities with 0 cooldown, or on abilities which do not trigger on-cast effects.

Each stack has its own duration, successive spell casts do not refresh the duration of previous stacks.
- The stacking modifier is not visible in the HUD. Instead, a counting modifier is visible, showing the current amount of stacks on the icon.
- Although the counting modifier is dispelled on death, the stacks themselves are not, so dying only removes the information of current number of stacks.

Each stack effectively grants 60 mana, 0.25 mana regeneration, and 5 attack damage.

Talents[]

Hero Talents
+450 Mystic Flare Damage	25	Arcane Bolt Pierces Spell Immunity
+12% Ancient Seal Magic Resistance Reduction	20	Global Concussive Shot
+1 Arcane Bolt Per Cast	15	-8s Ancient Seal Cooldown
+10 Intelligence	10	+175 Health

Notes:

The intelligence talent effectively grants Skywrath Mage 120 mana, 0.5 mana regeneration, and 10 attack damage.

The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.

Recent Changes[]

Main Article: Skywrath Mage/Changelogs

Version

Description

7.30

Increased health regeneration from 0 to 0.25.
Increased Arcane Bolt base damage from 60/85/110/135 to 75/95/115/135.
Rescaled Concussive Shot movement speed slow from 30%/35%/40%/45% to 40% on each level.
Reduced Mystic Flare duration from 2.4 to 2.2.

7.29

Increased base attack damage from 14-24 to 16-26.
Increased turn rate from 0.5 to 0.6.
Arcane Bolt
- Increased base damage from 60/80/100/120 to 60/85/110/135.
- Reduced bonus damage per intelligence from 1.6 to 1.4.
Reduced Concussive Shot cooldown from 18/16/14/12 to 15/14/13/12.
Reworked Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Old: Causes Ancient Seal to apply 50% status resistance reduction on the target, and to expose them, revealing them through the Fog of War.
- New: Every time Skywrath Mage casts an ability, he gains 5 intelligence and 1 armor for 35 seconds, stacking independently.
Talents:

Level 10 right talent changed: +15 movement speed ➜ +175 health.

Level 25 left talent: +480

Mystic Flare total damage reduced to +450.

7.28b

Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Increased Ancient Seal status resistance reduction from 40% to 50%.

Recommended Items[]

Starting items:

Tango gives health sustain to Skywrath Mage and to lane mates who are constantly getting harassed by the enemy.
Healing Salve restores health to Skywrath Mage and allies.
Clarity ensure that you do not run out of mana while laning. Due to how spammable Arcane Bolt is, having the mana to use it consistently can allow you to harass and zone out your lane opponents.
Iron Branch gives a helpful boost to all your attributes for a cheap price, and later build into a Magic Wand should you need one.

Early game:

Arcane Boots should be purchased as quickly as possible, as they expand the size of Skywrath's mana pool and allow him to replenish a portion of it occasionally (as well as that of his allies).
Magic Stick can instantly restore some of Skywrath's health and mana. The health replenishment is crucial given his very small health pool, while the mana replenishment can allow him to cast one or two more spells in an emergency.
Null Talisman gives cheap stats and magic damage for a stronger early game; purchasing multiple Null Talismans is recommended for buffing Arcane Bolt.

Mid game:

Magic Wand grants all the same benefits of Magic Stick, along with attributes and larger charge storage. If Skywrath is given low farm priority, building one of these is cheap and effective.
Rod of Atos pads out Skywrath Mage's health and mana pools with Strength and Intelligence, and can root enemies inside Mystic Flare.
Witch Blade gives him intelligence, armor and passive that synergies with Arcane Bolt and scales into the late game.
Eul's Scepter of Divinity provides much-needed movement speed, Intelligence and mana regeneration, along with a defensive tool and a disable.

Late game:

Aghanim's Scepter effectively doubles Skywrath Mage's damage output, making him much better versus multiple opponents.
Scythe of Vyse grants a large bonus to Intelligence and mana regeneration, and the hard disable is great for setting up kills for both his spells and his allies.

Situational items:

Ghost Scepter prevents Skywrath Mage from being targeted by physical attackers, and can upgrade into Ethereal Blade for a powerful nuke and damage-amplification ability with some spare gold.
Force Staff can be used to reposition and set up spells or as an escape tool for both Skywrath Mage and his allies.
Bloodstone greatly increases Skywrath Mage's health and mana pool and gives powerful mana regeneration, increasing his staying power in fights and keeping up with his high mana consumption.
Shiva's Guard gives Skywrath Mage a large amount of intelligence as well as powerful survivability against physical damage, while Freezing Blast keeps enemies in range of his spells.
Veil of Discord grants cheap stat bonuses and softens enemies up for Skywrath Mage to nuke down.
Dagon synergizes with Skywrath Mage's ability to nuke down targets by giving him even more magic damage and increasing his intelligence, though the gold and mana cost can be an issue.
Octarine Core greatly improves Skywrath Mage's survivability through Spell Lifesteal and raw HP, while letting him spam out more spells.
Aether Lens fuels Skywrath Mage's spells with mana regeneration and extends his cast range, increasing his safety radius and letting him better follow up on Concussive Shot.
Blink Dagger greatly increases Skywrath Mage's ability to position himself for casting his spells, allowing him to extend the range of his already long-reaching spells. It can allow him to get the drop on enemies and nuke them down with very little warning, or escape from pursuing enemies provided that he can activate it before taking player damage.
Kaya increases Skywrath Mage's already considerable damage output and helps mitigate his exorbitant mana consumption. Can build into Yasha and Kaya for better mobility or Kaya and Sange for more survivability.

Gameplay[]


Roles:	Support Nuker Disabler
Complexity:	★☆☆
Playstyle:	Ensconced in his studies, Dragonus hardly noticed the treachery being plotted against his lover. By the time Shendelzare had fallen from grace, it was already too late. Bound to his courtly duties, Dragonus could only dream in secret of restoring his beloved to her rightful throne. Until then, he would sharpen his skills, blasting away at targets with Arcane Bolt and slowing them with Concussive Shot. Those who stand in his way would be muted by an Ancient Seal, exposing their vulnerability before the Skywrath Mage annihilates them in the storm of Mystic Flare.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio[]

Responses

Sounds

History[]

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment[]

Trivia[]

In the start of Vengeful Spirit's lore, the Skywrath are stated as being hateful and vengeful, yet Dragonus carries none of these traits, and is instead mild-mannered and tempered.
In DotA, Dragonus's hero model was a Dragonhawk Rider, a unit of the blood elves. Skywrath Mage and Invoker were related due to them both being blood elves. Blood elves are also a playable race in World of Warcraft.^[1]
The Skywrath race did not exist in Warcraft universe; rather, it was created in the Dota 2 lore for Vengeful Spirit, and then grandfathered into DotA afterward. Skywrath Mage was one of the first heroes created in DotA following the opening of the beta for Dota 2.
A silhouette of what appears to be Skywrath Mage can be seen in Bristleback's splash artwork, seemingly still having a beta model/texture.