New hero Mars: is that balanced?

Dota 2
March 15, 2019
Radu Muresan

As I’m sure you’ve felt it on your own MMR, Dota 2 has a new hero. His name is Mars, being obviously inspired by the Roman god with the same name. You know, the one that the Roman legions used to worship. But this hero is so good, you might as well call him Snickers. That and all the other Elon Musk memes aside, Mars is one of those heroes you don’t want to see in your pubs. Or at least, not on the enemy team.

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© Valve Corporation

Mars’ Abilities

Like most heroes, Mars has 4 abilities and all of them are incredibly strong.

Spear of Mars

This is very similar to Windranger’s Shackleshot. Except it also deals heavy damage: up

to 325 or 525 (with the level 20 talent). Basically, the way in which this ability works is this: you throw a spear that travels at a high speed of 1400 for a distance of 1325 (with the range of the spear included). If it hits a hero, it pushes them back and deals damage. If the hero hits an object such as a tree, building or cliff while being pushed back, they also get stunned for up to 2.8 seconds (4.3 with the level 20 talent).

God’s Rebuke

This is a cleave attack that deals up to 280% damage (360% with the level 25 talent). Its radius is 500 and the circle sector angle it hits targets within is 140 degrees. This ability also provides +25 bonus damage against heroes and knocks back every affected target. The only thing that makes this ability a bit weaker than it would normally be is the cooldown: 10 seconds at level 4.

Bulwark

This is an absolutely annoying ability to deal with if you’re fighting against the hero. Practically, Bulwark works like Bristleback but in reverse. At level 4, it gives Mars 70% protection against physical damage when hit from the front and 35% protection against this type of damage when hit from the side. So the only way to kill him with basic attacks is from the back. Which means you can’t really fight this beast 1v1 as a right-clicker, because he’ll just absorb most of your damage and probably kill you before you kill him.

Arena of Blood

This is Mars’ ultimate ability and it is similar to Disruptor’s Kinetic Field. Except it has a much greater radius (550) and lasts for 5/6/7 seconds. It’s also similar to Clockwerk’s Power Cogs, except it works in reverse: heroes get damaged when they hit the inside of the “cogs”. While trapped inside this arena, you can’t run towards the walls and you are forced to face Mars in battle. The more you try to run, the faster you die.

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© Valve Corporation

Mars’ Talents

Aside from the 4 abilities I’ve just listed, Mars also has 4 talents.

  • Level 10: +20 Movement Speed / + 8 Strength
  • Level 15: +8 Armor / +35 Damage
  • Level 20: +1.5s Spear of Mars Duration / +200 Spear of Mars Damage
  • Level 25: + HP/s Arena of Blood Ally Healing / +80% God’s Rebuke Crit