Skywrath Mage

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Talents

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Animations

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Skywrath Mage #100 21 + 2 13 + 0.8 23 + 4.1
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 120 582 1198 1902 2166 +0.25 +2.14 +4.66 +7.54 +8.62 Mana 75 351 1035 1671 1935 +0 +1.15 +4.02 +6.67 +7.8 Armor -2 0.17 2.03 5.37 6.37 Magic Resist 25% 27.3% 33.04% 38.34% 40.59% Damage Block - Damage 16 26 39 49 96 106 149 159 171 181 Attack Rate 0.53/s 0.61/s 0.67/s 0.79/s 0.82/s Attack Range 625 (800) Attack Speed ▶️ 90 (1.7s BAT) Attack Animation 0.4 + 0.78 Projectile Speed 1000 Move Speed ▶️ 325 ( 355) Turn Rate 0.6 Collision Size 27 Bound Radius 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 ( 800) Gib Type Default Internal npc_dota_hero_skywrath_mage

Casts high damage physical spells on a single target.
Bound to his courtly duties, Dragonus could only dream in secret of restoring his beloved to her rightful throne. Deadly and only protected by the Shield of the Scion, Skywrath Mage quickly destroys his enemies with a barrage of powerful magic. Blasting concentrated Arcane Bolts at his targets and crippling them momentarily with a long range Concussive Shot. Those who stand in his way would be muted by an Ancient Seal, exposing their vulnerability before the Skywrath Mage annihilates and vaporizes them in the storm of Mystic Flare.
Roles:	Support Nuker Disabler
Complexity:
Adjectives:	Flying, Wings, Nose Legs ( 2 )

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.

Aliases:

Dragonus, SM

Voice:

TJ Ramini (Responses)

Abilities

Arcane Bolt

▶️▶️QC

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies / Self

Damage
Physical

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

Cast Animation: 0.1+0.9

Cast Range: 875

Number of Targets: 1 ( 3)

Base Damage: 75/95/115/135

Intelligence as Damage Multiplier: 1.5

Self Spell Lifesteal Bonus: 20%/30%/40%/50% ( 45%/55%/65%/75%)

Debuff Duration: 5

 Secondary Targets Search Radius: 700 ( 700)

 5/4/3/2

 95

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

When Skywrath Mage casts Arcane Bolt, 3 bolts are created, one aimed at the original target, and the rest - at random enemies within 700 range of the original target. Heroes will take priority.

Debuff Immunity Notes:

Does not pierce debuff immunity.

Fully pierces debuff immunity.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked upon impact.

Blocked upon impact as primary or secondary target.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_projectile_vision

Undispellable

modifier_skywrath_mage_arcane_bolt_spell_lifesteal

Any

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

• 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
    (23 ): 110/130/150/170 damage
  • LEVEL 5
    (39 ): 134/154/174/194 damage
  • LEVEL 10
    (59 ): 165/185/205/225 damage
  • LEVEL 15
    (80 ): 196/216/236/256 damage
  • LEVEL 20
    (100 ): 226/246/266/286 damage
  • LEVEL 25
    (121 ): 257/277/297/317 damage
  • LEVEL 30
    (141 ): 288/308/328/348 damage

• Arcane Bolt first deals the damage, then applies the debuff.
  • The spell lifesteal value of successive casts on the same target does not stack but refreshes the duration.

• SCEPTER
  Whenever Arcane Bolt is cast, 3 different random targets within the search radius, prioritizing heroes, are also targeted by other Arcane Bolts.
  • 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).
  • Treats clones and illusions as heroes and creep-heroes as creeps.
  • The other Arcane Bolts are released only if valid targets are found within the search radius.

• TALENT
  Fully affects Couriers upon learning the Arcane Bolt pierces spell immunity talent.
• SOULBIND
  Considers the extra Arcane Bolt casts of the Ability Upgrade as being unit-targeted directly by Skywrath Mage. This means that if both bounded heroes are targeted by the first set of bolts, a total of 3 sets of bolts will be cast.

Concussive Shot

▶️▶️WT

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

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. Deals 75% damage to creeps.

Cast Animation: 0+1.03

Search Radius: 1600 ( Global)

Effect Radius: 250

Number of Targets: 1 ( 2)

Damage: 120/180/240/300

Creep Damage Multiplier: 0.75

Move Speed Slow: 40%

Slow Duration: 4

Flying Vision Radius: 300

 15/14/13/12

 80/85/90/95

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

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

Ability Disjoint Notes:

Area damage and slow are not applied when disjointed.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_projectile_vision

Undispellable

modifier_skywrath_mage_concussive_shot_slow

Any

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

• 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, prioritizing heroes.
  • Treats illusions as creeps.
  • Does not target wards, buildings or creep-heroes.
  • Does not target invisible or hidden units or units in the Fog of War.

• The area damage deals 90/135/180/225 damage to creeps.
  • The area damage treats illusions and creep-heroes as creeps.

• Concussive Shot first applies the damage, then the debuff.

• Movement speed slow of successive shots neither stack nor update its ability values but refresh the duration.

• SCEPTER
  Whenever Concussive Shot is cast, a different random target, prioritizing heroes, 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.
  • The Ability Upgrade now treats illusions and creep-heroes as heroes.
  • Still neither target wards nor buildings.
  • 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.

• TALENT
  The Global Concussive Shot talent does not consider enemy Couriers as valid targets or secondary targets.

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: 0.1+0.97

Cast Range: 700/750/800/850

Number of Targets: 1 ( 2)

Magic Resistance Reduction: 20%/25%/30%/35% ( 30%/35%/40%/45%)

Duration: 3/4/5/6

 Secondary Target Search Radius: 700

 14 ( 7)

 80/90/100/110

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

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

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked upon cast.

Not blocked by secondary targets.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_skywrath_mage_ancient_seal

Any

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

• Stacks multiplicatively with other magic resistance sources.
  • Reduces most heroes' magic resistance to 10%/6.25%/2.5%/-1.25% ( 2.5%/-1.25%/-5%/-8.75%).
  • With the magic resistance reduction from this source, every 10 points of intelligence further increases the total magic resistance by 1.2%/1.25%/1.3%/1.35% ( 1.3%/1.35%/1.4%/1.45%). [?]
  • The magic resistance reduction does not affect creeps.
  • Treats illusions and creep-heroes as creeps.

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

• SCEPTER
  Whenever Ancient Seal is cast, a different random target, prioritizing heroes, within the search radius is also targeted.
  • The search radius is centered around the primary target, not around Skywrath Mage.
  • Treats illusions and clones as heroes and creep-heroes as creeps.
  • 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 Ancient Seal is not applied.

Shield of the Scion

Ability
Passive

Affects
Self

Every time Skywrath Mage deals magic damage to an enemy hero with an ability, he gains a buff that grants bonus Intelligence and Armor. Each charge stacks independently.

Intelligence Bonus per Stack: 2

Armor Bonus per Stack: 0.5

Duration: 35

Modifiers [?]

modifier_skywrath_mage_shard

Undispellable

modifier_skywrath_mage_shard_bonus

Undispellable

modifier_skywrath_mage_shard_bonus_counter

Undispellable

Ability Draft Notes:

Gaining stacks is not limited to Skywrath Mage's abilities, however, restrictions listed in the notes still apply.

Requires drafting Mystic Flare to be unlocked.

• Requires Aghanim's Shard to be unlocked.

• Gains a stack whenever one of Skywrath Mage's abilities deals damage to enemies (before reductions).
  • Fully procs on-damage effects, abilities dealing 0 damage or negative damage to units also grant a stack.
  • Fully procs on abilities reflected as well.
  • Does not trigger on active item abilities, on abilities with 0 cooldown, or on abilities that do not trigger on-cast effects.
  • Does not trigger on HP Removal flagged damage sources.

• Shield of the Scion's first grants its bonuses before the triggering abilities are cast.

• Each stack places a new hidden modifier buff on Skywrath Mage. This means their durations are independent of each other.
  • The counter modifiers on Skywrath Mage shows how much intelligence and armor he gained.
  • The number of stacks can be seen on the status buff icon.

• Each stack effectively grants 24 mana and 0.1 mana regeneration bonus, a flat 0.1% magic resistance bonus and 2 main attack damage bonus per hero hit.

• For Arcane Bolt and Concussive Shot: The ability grants a stack per hero hit.

• For Mystic Flare:
  • The ability grants a stack per hero hit and per damage interval.
  • Can grant up to a total of 44 intelligence bonus and 11 armor bonus per hero hit.

Mystic Flare

▶️▶️RE

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Physical

Skywrath Mage uses his ultimate physical 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: 0.1+0

Cast Range: 1200

Flare Radius: 170

Number of Flares: 1 ( 2)

Damage Interval: 0.1

Total Damage: 800/1200/1600 ( 1200/1600/2000)

Flare Duration: 2.2

 Secondary Target Search Radius: 700

 60/40/20

 300/550/800

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

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.

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

New Ability

Grants the Shield of the Scion ability.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_skywrath_mage_mystic_flare

Undispellable

modifier_skywrath_mystic_flare_aura_effect

Undispellable

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

• If enemy heroes are within the radius (including illusions, clones and creep-heroes), only the heroes are affected.
  • Non-hero units only get damaged if no enemy heroes are within the area.
  • Does not affect 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):
  • 1x Unit: 36.36/54.55/72.73 ( 54.55/72.73/90.91) per interval, and 800/1200/1600 ( 1200/1600/2000) total damage.
  • 2x Unit: 18.18/27.27/36.36 ( 27.27/36.36/45.45) per interval, and 400/600/800 ( 600/800/1000) total damage.
  • 3x Unit: 12.12/18.18/24.24 ( 18.18/24.24/30.3) per interval, and 266.67/400/533.33 ( 400/533.33/666.67) total damage.
  • 4x Unit: 9.09/13.64/18.18 ( 13.64/18.18/22.73) per interval, and 200/300/400 ( 300/400/500) total damage.
  • 5x Unit: 7.27/10.91/14.55 ( 10.91/14.55/18.18) per interval, and 160/240/320 ( 240/320/400) 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.

• SCEPTER
  Casting Mystic Flare now automatically casts another instance centered on a random enemy, prioritizing heroes, within the search radius but outside the 170 effect radius.
  • The search radius is centered around the targeted area, not around Skywrath Mage.
  • Treats illusions and clones as heroes, and creep-heroes as creeps.
  • Ignores invisible, invulnerable, hidden, or spell immune units within the search radius.
  • If no other valid targets are found within the search radius, the second Mystic Flare is not released.

Talents

Hero Talents
+400 Mystic Flare Damage	25	Arcane Bolt Pierces Spell Immunity
+10% Ancient Seal Increased Magic Damage	20	Global Concussive Shot
+25% Arcane Bolt Spell Lifesteal	15	-7s Ancient Seal Cooldown
+8 Intelligence	10	+200 Health

Notes:

• The health talent increases the max health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.

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">

7.34c

• Reduced base attack speed from 100 to 90.

7.34

• Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
  • Increased Arcane Bolt number of target bonus from 1 to 2.

• Talents:
• LVL 15

   

  +1 Arcane Bolt multi-target ➜ +25% Arcane Bolt spell lifesteal.

  LVL 15

   

  -8s Ancient Seal cooldown reduced to -7s.

7.33c

• Reduced base intelligence from 25 to 23.

</div> </div>

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.
• Blood Grenade provides early damage, AOE DOT, and 15% slow alongside Skywrath's Concussive Shot that can help secure an early kill and first bounty runes.

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 Intelligence, and can root enemies to keep them inside Mystic Flare.
• Aghanim's Shard for Skywrath unlocks Shield of the Scion, a passive that grants stacks each time he deals magic damage to an enemy hero with an ability; each stack grants +2 intelligence and +0.2 armor per stack, and each charge stacks independently. If Skywrath Mage is struggling to survive, this can help him tremendously. If possible, obtain via a Tormentor.
• 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. Can build into Wind Waker for improvements to the aforementioned stats including a more effective defensive tool.

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 of Intelligence and mana regeneration to Skywrath Mage, 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 greatly improves Skywrath Mage's survivability (through raw HP and spell lifesteal) and mana pool. Its active grants higher Spell Lifesteal, further increasing his survivability in difficult fights.
• Veil of Discord grants cheap stat bonuses and softens enemies up for Skywrath Mage to nuke down more easily. It then can be built into the Shiva's Guard
• Shiva's Guard gives Skywrath Mage a small increase in his attributes, health regeneration as well as powerful survivability against physical damage, while Freezing Blast keeps enemies in range of his spells, whilst taking more damage from them.
• Phylactery gives Skywrath bonus heath and heath regen alongside mana, mana regen and magic resist. Phylactery's ability Empower Spell causes the next single target spell every 6 seconds to slow them for 50% for 1.5 seconds and apply an additional 150 spell damage. This is incredibly strong for Skywrath, helping him land spells and stay on top of the enemy.
• Dagon synergizes with Skywrath Mage's ability to nuke down targets by giving him attributes, spell lifesteal, and an additional nuke, though the gold and mana cost can be an issue (particularly when upgrading it).
• Aether Lens fuels Skywrath Mage's spells with mana, mana regeneration and extends his cast range, increasing his safety radius and letting him better follow up on Concussive Shot. It can be later upgraded into Ethereal Blade.
• Octarine Core gives him more health, mana and mana regeneration, and lets him spam out spells more frequently.
• 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. Can build into Arcane Blink, for the high intelligence.
• Kaya increases Skywrath Mage's already considerable damage output and amplifies his much-needed mana regeneration (and spell lifesteal, if he has an item such as Bloodstone). Can build into Yasha and Kaya for better mobility, Kaya and Sange for more survivability or Meteor Hammer for more offense.

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
Kills during Concussive Shot Mystic Flare kills Ancient Seal kills Rod of Atos and Mystic Flare Combo Kills Slow Duration Magic Damage Silences leading to kills Veil of Discord leading to kills Triple Kills Mega Kill Streaks Dust of Appearance leading to kills Wards Placed Kill Assists Kills	Bronze	▶️ Ha ha! ▶️ I shall not report you.
	Silver	▶️ Down you go! ▶️ Ai, me!
	Gold	▶️ That my friend was a mistake. ▶️ Twas honorably done.
	Platinum	▶️ The skies are dark with Skywrath power!
	Master	▶️ From the Ghastly Eyrie I can see to the ends of the world, and from this vantage point I declare with utter certainty that this one is in the bag!
	Grandmaster	▶️ Hayah!

Equipment

Skywrath Mage Equipment (expand sets) Sets Bastion of the Lionsguard   Beacon of Cerulean Light   Blessing of the Crested Dawn   Cloud Forged Battle Gear Set   Complete Vigilance of the Manticore   Divine Ascension   Eyriebound Imperator   Regalia of the Sol Guard   Rune Forged Set   Secrets of the Celestial   The Arms of Retribution Set   The Nightwatcher's Set   The Stars of Seraphus   Thornwatch   Vigil of the Penitent Scholar   Vigilance of the Manticore Weapon Aethereal Crescent Wand   Argent Spear   Empyrean   Eye of the Eyrie   Falcon's Rise   Golden Empyrean   Sceptre of the Throne Head Azure Shroud   Headdress of the Protector   Skywarrior's Countenance Wings Crimson Flight of Epiphany   Flight of Epiphany   Golden Flight of Epiphany   Golden Wings of the Manticore   Skywarrior's Wings   Vengeancebound Wings Taunt Taunt: Chicken! Kinetic Gems Kinetic: Empyrean

Trivia

• In the start of Vengeful Spirit's lore, the Skywrath is 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".

• 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.

Gallery

• 

  Splash artwork

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Hero icon progress