Hero
Winter Wyvern
    24 + 2.6
16 + 1.7
26 + 3.6
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Auroth, the Winter Wyvern, is a ranged intelligence hero whose arsenal of spells gives her powerful nuking capabilities. Usually played as a lane support, Winter Wyvern's spells allow her to fulfill a myriad of roles depending on what her team needs. Arctic Burn grants her temporarily flying movement, increased attack range as well as night vision while causing her attacks to slow enemies and burn their health over time, allowing her to gank and harass with ease. Splinter Blast is a low-cooldown nuke that, while leaving its target unaffected, slows and deals tremendous damage to all other nearby enemies. Cold Embrace allows Winter Wyvern to encase a target ally within a protective layer of ice, disabling them for the duration of the spell but also rendering them immune to physical damage while healing them for a percentage of their maximum health. Her ultimate, Winter's Curse, turns the enemies' own weapons against them by stunning the target enemy while forcing all of their nearby allies to attack them. A fearsome ganker and powerful nuker, Winter Wyvern can chill her foes to the bone and wreak havoc on their ranks.
Contents
Bio[]
Auroth, the Winter Wyvern▶️ "Some breathe fire. I breathe ice."
Lore:
Like many great poets, Auroth just wants time to write, but the Winter Wyvern's life is full of interruptions. The epics of the Eldwurms have a long and colorful history, but some fear that the remaining dragon scholars are not as prolific as they once were, with few lines added to the Eldwurm Eddas since the last age of greatness. Auroth laments: "We forget that there is more to life than triumph and dominion over enemies. We must also live our lives in the pursuit of creative expression." She embarks on research expeditions, collecting books for inspiration. But all this research can be terribly distracting, and she spends less time writing than she should. Although she knows she should be lurking in her lair, adding to the Eddas, she finds herself engaged in epic battles against powerful enemies. She loots castles, raids ancient libraries... and if she happens to heap glory on herself in the process, she tells herself that it's merely a side effect of her research. The fact is, while her skill and power on the battlefield are legendary, her scholarly travails have thus far hardly been the stuff of literary acclaim. But she is not content to stand as a protagonist of heroic lore. She wishes also to create it.
Voice:
Abilities[]
Winter Wyvern soars upon an arctic wind, granting her unobstructed movement and allowing her to exhale a blistering chill into each attack. While soaring, her attacks travel further and faster, and slow enemies with a burning freeze that strips them of 6%/7%/8%/9% of their current health each second. Her sight is also hardened against night's chill, granting her 400 additional vision range at night while soaring.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Attack Range Bonus: 350/400/450/500
Attack Projectile Speed Bonus: 500
Night Vision Bonus: 400
Current Health as Damage per Second: 6%/7%/8%/9%
Enemy Move Speed Slow: 16%/24%/32%/40% (
28%/36%/44%/52%)
28%/36%/44%/52%)Debuff Duration: 5 ( 7)
7)Arctic Burn Duration: 8 ( Indefinite)
Indefinite) Self Move Speed Bonus: 25% Mana Cost per Second: 20
42/ 0)
100
Causes Arctic Burn to be a toggle ability, draining mana every second when active. Removes limit on number of attacks per target. Increases Winter Wyvern's movement speed.
Slow persists and attempts to damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.
Stops proccing on-cast effects when upgraded.Modifiers
modifier_winter_wyvern_frost_attack: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_winter_wyvern_arctic_burn_flight: Dispellable with death only.
modifier_winter_wyvern_arctic_burn_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.The same organ where some dragons stoke their inner flame is, in Auroth, a crucible of unimaginable cold. From deep within her frosty gullet, an exhalation sends enemies into burning agony.
Notes:
- Interrupts Winter Wyvern's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Turns Winter Wyvern into a flying unit, allowing her to fly over impassable terrain, trees, units and buildings for its duration.
- However, it does not grant her flying vision.
- Increases Winter Wyvern's attack range to 775/825/875/925, projectile speed to 1200, night vision range to 1200 and reduces attack point to 0.1.
- Each enemy can only receive the debuff once per cast. Successive attacks on the same target neither stack, nor reapply, nor refresh the duration.
- The attacks first apply the debuff, then their own attack damage.
- Deals damage in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second after the debuff is placed, resulting in 8 instances.
- Can deal up to 27%/30%/34%/38% ( 35%/40%/44%/48%) of the target's current health as damage (before reductions), assuming nothing else affects the target's health.
- Can deal up to 27%/30%/34%/38% (
- Since the damage per second is based on a percentage of the target's current health, it can never kill an enemy by itself.
- Destroys trees within a 175 radius at the end of the duration.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Arctic Burn turns into a toggle ability.
- No longer interrupts Winter Wyvern's channeling abilities upon toggling On / Off.
- Removes the 1 attack per target limit, allowing her to reapply, refresh the debuff with successive attacks on the same target.
- Activating the ability costs 100 mana.
- Drains Winter Wyvern's mana in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second after toggling.
- If toggled On, Arctic Burn continues working even when silenced, disabled, or hidden.
Launches a ball of brittle ice towards an enemy. The ice shatters on impact, leaving the primary target completely unaffected, while hurling damaging splinters into nearby enemies in a 500 radius. Enemies struck by these splinters are slowed by 30%.
Cast Animation: 0.3+1.17
Cast Range: 1200
Splinter Search Radius: 500 ( 900)
900)Damage: 100/180/260/340 ( 200/280/360/440)
200/280/360/440)Move Speed Slow: 30%
Slow Duration: 4
Stun Duration: 1.5 7 105/
Cannot be cast on spell immune enemies. Secondary projectiles are launched towards spell immune enemies. Does not slow or attempt to damage spell immune enemies. Slow persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.
Blocked fully only when primary target. Blocked upon impact.
Initial projectile cannot be disjointed. Secondary projectiles can be disjointed with any disjoint, except invisibility.Modifiers
modifier_winter_wyvern_splinter_blast_slow: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.Produced slowly by specialized vesicles in her frozen gullet, Winter Wyvern blast shards of ice at her enemies.
Notes:
- The initial projectile travels at a speed between 650 – 4000. It adapts so that it reaches the target in 1 second.
- This means when the target gets more than 4000 range away on cast, it takes more than 1 second to reach it.
- Vice versa, if the target gets closer than 650 range on cast, it takes less than 1 second to reach it.
- However, the secondary projectiles travel at a speed of 600.
- Fully affects invisible and units in the Fog of War.
- The splinters first apply the damage, then the stun, then the debuff.
- The Splinter Blast stun talent only affects the secondary targets, like the damage and slow.
- The stun does not replace the slow. The slow is still applied, effectively slowing hit units for 2.5 seconds.
Ability
Target Unit
Target Unit
Affects
Allies
Allies
Encases an ally in an icy cocoon, freezing them solid while healing a base amount as well as a percentage of their maximum health each second. The cocoon blocks all physical damage.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.63
Cast Range: 1000
Base Heal Per Second: 30/35/40/45 ( 55/60/65/70)
55/60/65/70)Max Health as Heal Per Second: 1.75%/2.5%/3.25%/4%
Duration: 4
Splinter Blast Radius: 1200 24/ 20/17/14/11) 50/
When Cold Embrace ends, a Splinter Blast goes off that location, hitting enemies within 1200 range. Reduces cooldown by 4 seconds.Modifiers
modifier_winter_wyvern_cold_embrace: Dispellable with death only.
Ability Draft Notes:
Splinter Blast must be drafted as well for it to get applied.
From winter's heart comes a cold, healing embrace. The ice slows the blood and allows the spell to better work its curative magic.
Notes:
- Cannot be cast on allies who have ☐ Disabled Help from Winter Wyvern.
- ↓↓ Double-tapping automatically targets self.
- Stuns the allied target and turns it immune to physical damage. The target can still be attacked and affected by other damage types.
- Heals for 7.5/8.75/10/11.25 ( 13.75/15/16.25/17.5) + 0.44%/0.63%/0.81%/1% health in 0.25-second intervals, starting 0.25 seconds after the buff is placed, resulting in 16 instances.
- Can heal up to 120/140/160/180 ( 220/240/260/280) + 7%/10%/13%/16% of a unit's max health over its full duration.
- Can heal up to 120/140/160/180 (
- With Aghanim's Shard, losing the buff in any way causes Splinter Blast secondary projectiles to be released based on its current level.
- Splinter Blast notes fully apply. If it is not learned, no projectiles are released.
- Splinters released this way do not require vision, and can target invisible units and units inside the Fog of War.
- However, unlike the projectiles of a regular cast, these projectiles are disjointed by invisibility.
Winter's Curse
Ability
Target Unit
Target Unit
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Winter Wyvern freezes an enemy in place while striking those nearby with a maddening curse which causes them to attack their frozen ally with increased attack speed. The frozen ally and those cursed to attack their ally are immune to all damage from their enemies with the exception of Winter Wyvern or her controlled units.
Cast Animation: 0.3+1.37
Cast Range: 700
Radius: 525
Curse Damage Reduction: 100%
Curse Attack Speed Bonus: 65
Duration: 4.5/5/5.5 ( 6/6.5/7)
6/6.5/7)Nearby Allies Check Timer: 2.5
90/ 250
Can target spell immune enemies. Cannot taunt spell immune enemies. Taunt persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity. Blocked fully only when primary target.Modifiers
winter_wyvern_winters_curse_kill_credit: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_winter_wyvern_winters_curse_aura: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_winter_wyvern_winters_curse: Dispellable with death only.The oldest of the bookwurm's spells, this curse lends truth to the old saw: sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my enemy still.
Notes:
- Stuns the enemy target, while its allies within the radius get taunted, forcing them to attack the primary target.
- Enemies that enter the radius after cast is also taunted for its remaining duration.
- If no valid enemies are within 525 radius for a total of 2.5 seconds, the debuff gets removed.
- Does not affect or check for spell immune, invulnerable, or hidden enemies, wards or buildings within the radius.
- Only affects units allied to the target. This means when cast on an enemy, neutral creeps are not taunted, and vice versa.
- Despite not getting taunted when targeting an enemy, neutral creeps still prevent the curse debuff from being removed prematurely.
- The taunt is based on an aura, with an infinite linger duration. The debuff gets cleared when the debuff on the primary target expires, or when the target dies.
- This means the taunt sticks on the affected units, and getting moved outside the radius does not free the unit from the taunt.
- This also means the taunt sticks even if the debuff got removed on the primary target due to no enemies being within the area.
- The taunt area is centered on the primary target and follows them if they get forcibly moved.
- Applies generic incoming damage reduction on the targets. Stacks additively with other sources of generic incoming damage manipulation.
- This means that sources of generic incoming damage amplification can be used to counter the effect.
- The reduction affects all damage that is not flagged as HP removal the targets take from any source except for Winter Wyvern.
- If the target gets killed during the curse, Winter Wyvern gets credit for the kill.
- Has a lower priority than Reaper's Scythe, so if affected by both, Reaper's Scythe takes priority.
- Has a higher priority than Ice Blast, so if affected by both, Winter's Curse takes priority.
- Does not disable any abilities. However, most passive abilities do not affect allied units.
- When the primary target dies, the taunt effect ends immediately.
Talents[]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Splinter Blast 1.5s Stun | 25 | +1.5s Winter's Curse Duration |
| +100 Splinter Blast Damage | 20 | +12% Arctic Burn Slow |
| +400 Splinter Blast Shatter Radius | 15 | +2s Arctic Burn Burn Debuff Duration |
| +35 Damage | 10 | +25HP/s Cold Embrace Heal |
Notes:
- This attack damage talent is added as raw attack damage.
- Does not benefit illusions and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.
Recent Changes[]
Main Article: Winter Wyvern/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Reduced agility gain from 1.9 to 1.7.
- Increased health regeneration from 0 to 0.25.
- Arctic Burn
- Reduced attack range bonus from 350/425/500/575 to 350/400/450/500.
- Reduced movement speed slow from 22%/28%/34%/40% to 16%/24%/32%/40%.
- Reduced Cold Embrace max health as heal per second from 2%/3%/4%/5% to 1.75%/2.5%/3.25%/4%.
- Reduced Winter's Curse cast range from 800 to 700.
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Reduced Cold Embrace cooldown reduction from 5 to 4.
- Talents:
- Level 10 left talent: +50 attack damage reduced to +35.
- Level 10 right talent changed: +1.5% Cold Embrace max health as heal per second ➜ +25 Cold Embrace base heal per second.
- Level 15 left talent changed: +400 night vision ➜ +400 Splinter Blast radius.
- Level 15 right talent changed: +275 health ➜ +2s Arctic Burn debuff duration.
- Increased Arctic Burn mana cost from 90 to 100.
- Increased Winter's Curse cooldown from 80 on each level to 90/85/80.
- Increased armor from -1 to 0.
- Increased turn rate from 0.5 to 0.6.
- Reduced Arctic Burn cooldown from 50/40/30/20 to 42/36/28/20.
- Winter's Curse
- Now ends prematurely if there are no enemies within the area for 2.5 seconds.
- Increased radius from 500 to 525.
- Increased enemy attack speed bonus from 55 to 65.
- Increased duration from 4/4.75/5.5 to 4.5/5/5.5.
- Reduced cooldown from 90 to 80.
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- No longer increases Splinter Blast damage by 80.
- Now also reduces Cold Embrace cooldown by 5.
- Talents:
- Level 10 right talent: +1% Cold Embrace max health as heal per second increased to +1.5%.
- Level 20 left talent changed: -4s Cold Embrace cooldown ➜ +100 Splinter Blast damage.
Recommended Items[]
Starting items:
- Tango sustains health in the laning stage to deal with harassment.
- Clarity replenishes mana early, important since Winter Wyvern's abilities are expensive in the early game.
- Iron Branch is cheap and gives a small amount of attributes, can build into a Magic Wand or Mekansm, and use with Tango for more healing.
Early game:
- Magic Stick gives Winter Wyvern burst health and mana, which can allow her to survive just long enough to cast one more important spell in a teamfight.
- Boots of Speed will help improve Winter Wyvern's lackluster movement speed, particularly useful in order to get in position or chase/escape with Arctic Burn.
- Wind Lace also provides cheap movement speed, great for poor and slow supports.
- Urn of Shadows gives Winter Wyvern additional attributes, armor, and mana regeneration. The active can be used alongside Cold Embrace to heal teammates, or adds yet more damage to her arsenal of nukes.
Mid game:
- Magic Wand gives Winter Wyvern additional attributes and increased charge storage for a cheap price. Can be upgraded to Holy Locket later.
- Arcane Boots increases mana pool and gives a way to replenish mana. Can be disassembled to build into Holy Locket.
- Glimmer Cape is a cheap but powerful utility support item in Winter Wyvern's hands. It can be cast on herself to allow her to invisibly approach the enemy during initiations, or can be targeted on an ally under the effects of Cold Embrace to fortify their magic resistance on top of nullifying physical damage.
- Spirit Vessel is natural upgrade of Urn of Shadows and gives her additional single-target damage.
Late game:
- Holy Locket increases the healing from Cold Embrace and can be easily built from upgrade of Magic Wand and disassembled {{I|Arcane Boots|30px}.
- Mekansm gives Winter Wyvern more attributes and armor, and the active gives her another method with which to heal teammates on top of Cold Embrace.
- Guardian Greaves restores massive amount of health and mana to Winter Wyvern and her allies. Mend also removes negative debuffs that may hinder her from using abilities.
- Force Staff is a cheap multipurpose item that greatly increases Winter Wyvern's utility. The intelligence and health regeneration give her more mana and better roaming capability, and the active can help her to position herself more easily for casting spells, particularly to get Winter's Curse off on an important target. It can also move allies to safer place during Cold Embrace.
Situational items:
- Aether Lens gives mana and mana regeneration, as well as increased cast range to allow usage of abilities further away from dangerous enemies.
- Meteor Hammer provides area stun and damage to follow Winter's Curse, and supplements Winter Wyvern's pushing power with some building damage.
- Solar Crest gives Winter Wyvern may powerful bonuses for a comparatively cheap price. The armor and attributes make her much tankier, while the mana regeneration helps keep her mana pool topped up. The active can be cast on a Winter's Curse target, weakening their armor and increasing the odds of killing them.
- Blink Dagger is a great way to increase Winter Wyvern's mobility and allows her to more easily initiate with Winter's Curse.
- Lotus Orb applies basic dispel on target to remove some debuffs and gives them a shield to reflect single target spells, which may deter enemies from using abilities on the target.
- Aghanim's Scepter allows toggling of Arctic Burn and refreshing the debuff with following attacks, a great item to control enemy heroes from long distance; the movement speed bonus makes positioning really easy before and during fights; however, the massive mana drain means it should never be purchased early.
- Scythe of Vyse greatly improves Winter Wyvern's intelligence and provides all-around attributes as well as plenty of mana regeneration to fuel her costly spells. The hex is a powerful hard-disable that greatly increases her ability to contribute to ganks and teamfights.
Gameplay[]
| Roles: | Support Disabler Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★★☆ |
| Playstyle: | Frustrated with writer's block, Auroth, the Eldwurm scholar takes flight from her lair to forge a new, heroic narrative—with herself as protagonist. Where most dragons originate fire, the Winter Wyvern stores unfathomable cold. Soaring over the treeline, she breathes a blistering chill, causing painful Arctic Burns. Frozen crystals form inside her gullet, shattering upon impact to Splinter Blast hordes of closely packed foes. Gentle with her companions, she holds them in a Cold Embrace, wrapping them in healing ice. Auroth has no time for would-be dragonslayers. Compelling her attackers to turn against one another, her Winter's Curse resolves the problem before any intruder ever sets foot in her lair. |
Audio[]
History[]
Equipment[]
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Trivia[]
- Winter Wyvern made her first official Dota 2 appearance in the New Bloom trailer "The Coming of the Year Beast" which was showcased the first time after the finals of the Dota 2 Asia Championship 2015 on the 9th of February 2015. The trailer video was later posted on the official Dota 2 blog as part 1 of the New Bloom event.
- Her next official appearance was in the comic "The new neighbors", which was posted on the 10th of February 2015 on the official Dota 2 blog. In the comic, she is depicted as an "artistic" dragon with interests in books who does not follow the traditional behavior of dragons razing cities to the ground.
- Much like Legion Commander, who is also voiced by Merle Dandridge, the gender of Winter Wyvern was changed from male to female with the transition from DotA to Dota 2.[1]
- In DotA, Winter Wyvern makes use the model of the Warcraft 3 version of a frost wyrm, a well known undead dragon type from the Warcraft universe.[2]
- Winter Wyvern's response when meeting Axe as an ally, ▶️ "In this world, nothing is certain but ice and axes" is a nod to a quote by Benjamin Franklin, which states: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."[3]
- Winter Wyvern's response, ▶️ "Winter is coming. Winter Wyvern that is." is a reference to Game of Thrones, specifically the motto of the House of Stark: "Winter is coming."[4]
- Winter Wyvern's rivalry line towards Dragon Knight ▶️"I knew Slyrak, Dragon Knight. You're no Slyrak." is a reference to Lloyd Bentsen's political quip "... I knew Jack Kennedy... Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy".[5]
- When the hero's abilities were showcased in The International 2016, Winter's Curse was cast on a Naga Siren, which caused her team mates, Gyrocopter, Ancient Apparition, Earthshaker and Storm Spirit, to kill her. This is in reference to how Aui_2000, who played Naga during Game 4 in the finals of the previous International against CDEC, was subsequently kicked out of the team.
Gallery[]
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