Arc Warden is a carry that can effectively be played in the mid lane or safe lane. He is an incredibly strong split-pusher, can turtle against ranged damage dealers and also deal tremendous damage to enemies that are out of position or alone.
Arc Warden is considerably weaker against illusion or creep heroes. He is also vulnerable to melee heroes because he has no mobility spells and quite low movement speed.
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[/column]Arc Warden Skill Build Order
- Spark Wraith
- Flux
- Flux
- Spark Wraith
- Flux
- Tempest Double
- Flux
- Spark Wraith
- Spark Wraith
- Talent
- Magnetic Field
- Tempest Double
- Magnetic Field
- Magnetic Field
- Talent
- Magnetic Field
- –
- Tempest Double
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Arc Warden slows the target and deals damage over time. This effect is muted as long as the target is near another enemy unit. Flux fully stacks with itself when cast from both the original Arc Warden and the Tempest Double. This spell is usually maxed first because it allows for most kill potential of all of his spells. You can take this at level 1 if you’re in the safe lane as you will likely have supports who may be able to help you get an early kill.
It can be prioritized less if you are playing against heroes that can deal with the slow from it. Any hero that can spawn units/illusions or that has a good mobility spell like Blink is very good at escaping from Flux. When this is the case, you should leave Flux at level 2 and put points into Magnetic Field instead, still prioritizing Spark Wraith. This is done because the damage is doubled between levels 1 and 2 of Flux.
Arc Warden places a bubble that evades all attacks that come from outside of it. This is preferably maxed lastly because Flux and Spark Wraith give you a lot of kill potential. If you are facing a heavy push lineup, especially one which is mostly ranged damage then you may benefit from prioritizing Magnetic Field After getting 2 levels of Flux. In every other situation however, you will want to max the other 2 spells and perhaps get a single value point in the Field to defend against pushes.
Place the Magnetic Field right on the edge of the tower as it will still count as being inside of it and the enemies will have to push right up to the tower from where you may have a positional advantage. In the late game, you should split-push with your Tempest Double and use Magnetic Field to defend him against tower attacks.
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Arc Warden places a spirit at a target point which, after 2 seconds, will seek the nearest enemy within its range, slowing and dealing damage upon impact. You should always take this at level 1 if you’re mid because you can use it to secure the last hit on the range creep and to zone the enemy hero away. You can also use it to zone enemies away, or to force them into running in a certain direction. It will affect invisible enemies and also give you some vision of where it is cast without having to buy Dota 2 wards. You can use this to scout for incoming ganks, provide vision of the enemy when you are ganking and prevent enemies from hiding in trees.
Arc Warden creates a double of himself that is able to use all of his spells and items with the exception of consumables and items that are dropped upon death. When you hit level 6 you should look to be aggressive with this spell immediately if possible. You can kill most heroes without help by using Flux and Spark Wraith on both you and your Tempest Double. You can use your Tempest Double to split-push and farm neutral camps while you farm a lane for example. It has a separate cooldown for its spells, which means that you can use Hand of Midas twice to increase your GPM. This is also the basis for why Arc Warden usually buys active items.
The attack speed is almost always a better talent choice. The attack speed helps Arc Warden to farm faster, split-push better and deal more damage in team-fights. On the other hand, Arc Warden is a hero who buys active items because he and his clone can use them. He also has 4 active spells, which makes the cooldown reduction very much worth it.
The extra Cast Range can be good if you are playing against heroes that are very hard to lockdown or they have very high movement speed, as you’ll be able to reach them more easily. The extra health can be nice, especially if you are taking a lot of damage or dying lots on fights. Arc Warden is one of those heroes that tends to die if initiated upon unless you your Hurricane Pike to save your life, so although it may not save you every fight it might just save you a couple of times.
The increased attack range is almost always the preferable talent. The cooldown reduction can be strong if you need to burst down enemy heroes more easily. However, it’s ineffective against heroes that spawn creeps or illusions. In almost every case, the extra attack range is a better alternative however, as it allows you to attack from a much safer distance at all times.
In most situations you’ll want the lifesteal. It gives you and your Tempest Double much more sustainability. This is especially helpful in the late game when your illusion will be split-pushing and tanking towers and creep-waves. Sometimes the extra spark damage can be a good option as well. If you have gone for more utility based items than raw damage options and the enemy team has no illusion/creep heroes then the spark wraith damage can be a great option as it’s an extra 700 damage every 4 seconds when you have your Double up.
Arc Warden has very low base damage which makes a Wraith band necessary in almost all situations in Dota 2 esports. AW doesn’t benefit very much from having a bottle, so you’ll need lots of a Healing Salve and Tangos, either from your supports or a full set. You can also get a Faerie Fire if you’re going mid lane. If you will need both a full set of Tangos and a Healing salve, you should get some Iron Branches and parts of a Ring of Aquila.
A Bottle isn’t very good on AW either because your spells cost relatively mana and aren’t spammable in a way that guarantees damage. Ring of Aquila is a better pickup because it helps with your low damage, gives you mana regen for your spells and makes you a bit better at pushing which Arc Warden does very well.
You should get basic brown boots on Arc Warden and leave them at that until you get Boots of Travel later. The reason for this is that they offer you unparalleled map control and an ability to much more easily split-push. You also don’t benefit very much from having Power Treads, as you don’t need to tank up very much, and Phase Boots aren’t great either because you don’t really do much early fighting.
Hand of Midas is a really important item on Arc Warden. His stats are pretty lousy, but his stat gain is quite good. He also relies on Hand of Midas because his Double can use it as well, which effectively doubles the gold and XP output from it. It also helps him to farm up big items to have a bigger impact on the game. Arc Warden also really benefits from having levels in his ultimate as it reduces the downtime of his Double.
A Magic Wand can be worthwhile in games that have aggressive early game heroes. Arc Warden doesn’t really do much early game fighting, so it’s usually not worth it, but if it’s unavoidable then it can be a worthwhile pickup.
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Maelstrom is a core item on Arc Warden because it massively increases his farm rate and ability to push. He is a relatively slow farming hero, because he doesn’t have any spell that nukes creep-waves or jungle camps, which makes Maelstrom a perfect fit for him.
Boots of Travel give Arc Warden lots of movement speed which is good because he has below average movement speed. They also let him split-push and farm the map much more easily, especially with a Maelstrom – he can push out creep-waves very quickly.
A Hurricane Pike is necessary in most games because Arc Warden has no mobility spell. If an enemy manages to get on top of, or close enough to Arc Warden to threaten him, you’ll only have Magnetic Field to save you. This is only helpful against ranged right-clickers. If you face a hero like Ursa, or any other melee hero or ranged which can silence you for example, you’ll need a Hurricane Pike. Buy the Force Staff component part first if you need the mobility to survive against these heroes as soon as possible, otherwise get the Dragon Lance for the stats and attack range. Against certain heroes, you’ll need to prioritize a Hurricane Pike before Boots of Travel.
Mjollnir is a great item to split-push lanes even harder and to defend from pushes more easily. You can activate it on your Tempest Double and by tanking creep-waves, clear them much more quickly. You may need to prioritize Mjollnir against pushing heroes like Nature’s Prophet or Broodmother so as to clear their creeps much more easily and defend from pushes.
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A Hex is a great addition to your arsenal, as you can effectively use it twice when defending high-ground. It also massively increases the kill potential of your Tempest Double. You can teleport out to a creep-wave and gank a hero that’s farming it and probably kill them with your combo. Needless to say, double Hex is very powerful at all stages in the game. It also makes up for any mana issues you may be having thanks to the mana regeneration. The Hex also makes it much easier to land your Spark Wraiths and prevent them from escaping from Flux. An incredibly powerful item that turns Arc Warden into one of the hardest Dota 2 heroes to deal with.
Butterfly is a great late-game pickup because it makes you and your Double deal much more damage and tanks you up a little bit through the evasion it provides. Flutter is also a nice active to have on Arc Warden because of his relatively low movement speed and poor mobility.
MKB may be needed against heroes with evasion or spells like Tinker’s Laser. It provides a lot of damage as well, which you benefit from a lot.
If you need evasion as well as a silence, a Bloodthorn is a really great choice on Arc Warden. It’s an active item, which means it can be used twice on you, and is very effective against casters.
If you’re 6 slotted, you should get a Moon Shard to increase your attack speed. It’ll just make you deal more DPS which is always helpful.
If you’re really really farmed and you don’t have a carry that can benefit from a Moon Shard or already has one, you can get a Refresher Orb. This won’t let you have another Double active, but it will reduce the downtime of Tempest Double even further which can be very helpful if it dies early somehow.
If you’re against heroes with strong magical damage burst damage or stuns, you can get a BKB. It will prevent enemies from stunning your Double when you are taking their towers and also increase your own survivability whenever you have to fight. The Double’s BKB cooldown is independent of the original Arc Warden.
Silver Edge can be a good item on Arc Warden if you are facing heroes with strong passives. Your Double can apply the Break as well, which makes it a great item if you’re against several heroes with strong passives. Silver Edge and Shadow Blade make your Double a very strong ganker in the mid game against heroes that can easily be picked off. It also gives Arc Warden some survivability in that he can go invisible with increased movement speed when caught out, although this is quite easily countered.
A Nullifier can be good against heroes like Omniknight and Necrophos, as the purge will remove the buffs provided by their strong spells. You are also able to use it twice, which allows you to Mute and slow two enemies at once.
A Manta Style can be a good tower pushing item and team-fighting item if you have Diffusal Blade as well. It’s also a very good pickup against heroes with strong debuffs.
Shiva’s Guard can be a good item against illusion or creep heroes as it can be used twice. This also means it will give lots of control in team-fights. It’s a great choice against lineups with lots of physical damage dealers, especially because Arc Warden has quite low armor.
Assault Cuirass is another option for more armor. An AC will make the Double even stronger at split-pushing and taking towers as well.
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A Pipe is a very strong pickup against magical damage based lineups. It can be used twice, one after another to increase the amount of magic damage absorbed. It also makes your Double tankier when pushing and fighting.
An Eye of Skadi is a good pickup against lineups with high mobility or lots of physical damage dealers. It makes it easier for you to chase down enemies, tanks you up a lot and also reduces their attack speed which is strong against carries. This is a great option if you need to tank up and control your enemies at the same time.
Against heroes like Batrider and LC, you may need a Linken’s Sphere to protect yourself. Your Tempest Double can cast his Linken’s onto you in case it gets triggered on you, so you effectively have 2 Linken’s Spheres. It will also tank your Double up against single-target disables when pushing.
If you’re facing lots of single-target disables, you can use Lotus Orb twice on either yourself or your Double. This means that they will be able to fight for longer, reflect more spells and be purged of any spells that affect either of you. It will also give you lots of armor, which is great for AW.
Heroes like Invoker, Chaos Knight and Phantom Lancer are great at handling Flux and avoiding damage from Spark Wraith. There isn’t really much you can do about these heroes.
Heroes like Ursa, Anti-Mage and Ember Spirit are great at disabling Arc Warden at close range and dealing lots of damage that is unavoidable through Magnetic Field. You may need to prioritize a Hurricane Pike against them.
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