Arc Warden
From Liquipedia Dota 2 Wiki
Arc Warden
20 + 2.4
20 + 3
24 + 2.6
| Grants the following bonuses per level: | |
| +52.8HP and +0.24HP regeneration | |
| +0.5 armor and 3 attack speed | |
| +31.2MP and +0.13MP regeneration +0.1% base magic resistance | |
| +3.6 Main Attack Damage | |
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900 Projectile Speed
| ||
100 (120)
(1.7 BAT) | ||
0.3 + 0.7
| ||
0.7
| ||
Ethereal
Gib Type | ||
2015-12-16
Released | ||
2012-09-29
(6.75) | ||
Competitive Span
2016-12-12 — Present | ||
Version Control This article is mostly accurate for 7.38b, the last version this hero was changed in. New interactions that emerged in following patches may have not yet been accounted for. |
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| Creates a copy of himself to split push. | |
|---|---|
| A splintered fragment of the same primordial power as the Ancients themselves, Zet endeavors to end the disharmony among the warring factions through whatever means necessary. Solitary foes are thrown into a volatile state of Flux, ripping away their health over time. Distorting space to generate a Protective Field sheltering around allies, evading and attacking with greater efficiency. Zet summons Spark Fragments of its former self that circles in place, and seek out nearby foes. Is there one Arc Warden, or two? Armed with the original's items and abilities, the Self's Tempest Double duplicates each spell and every attack, bringing twice the chaos to any fight. | |
| Roles: | |
| Adjectives | Arachnophobic, Blue, Cape Legs ( 2 ) |
Facets[edit]
Runed Replica
Tempest Double gains Power Rune bonuses when created.
Power Capture
Grants the Self permanent all 
attributes bonus per Power Rune activation.
+1.5 All Attributes per Activation
Pulls in all Runes within the radius to the point-targeted location and activates them.
Upgrades[edit]
Aghanim's[edit]
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
Additionally silences the lone enemy unit.
Increases damage per second and duration.
Increases damage per second and duration.
Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:
Upon activation, the Spark Wraith splits into two, affecting a secondary closest enemy unit.
Has a lower secondary damage factor.
Increases search radius.
Has a lower secondary damage factor.
Increases search radius.
Talents[edit]
| -1s Spark Wraith Activation Delay | 25 | Tempest Double No Penalties |
|---|---|---|
| -7s Magnetic Field Cooldown | 20 | +40% Spark Wraith Damage |
| +25 Magnetic Field Attack Speed | 15 | +20% Flux Slow |
| +200 Health | 10 | +200 Flux Cast Range |
| ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ +2 All | ||
Bio[edit]
It is not to aid the Ancients that this war is joined, but to destroy them both. This disunity must end.▶️Zet, the Arc Warden
Aliases:
AW, Zet
Lore:
Before the beginning of all, there existed a presence: a primordial mind, infinite, awesome, and set to inscrutable purpose. As the universe thundered into being, this mind was fragmented and scattered. Two among its greater fragments—who would come to be named Radiant and Dire--found themselves locked in vicious opposition, and began twisting all of creation to serve their conflict.
As war and cataclysm threatened the nascent cosmos, the will of a third fragment made itself known. Naming itself Zet, this intellect sought to resolve the disharmony and return all to perfect unity. Appalled by its kin's conflicting nature, Zet gathered the sum of its power. In a sudden flash, it overwhelmed its siblings, and fused the warring aspects into a stellar sphere before hurling them into the darkness to orbit a nondescript world. Harmony was restored, though only the barest fraction of Zet's strength remained. Setting its gaze on the prison, Zet chose to use its weakened power to serve as watchful warden until time's end. For uncounted aeons, this vigil stood.
Life flourished upon the world below, oblivious to the dangers imprisoned within the softly glowing moon, or of Zet's struggles to contain them. As the captives' eternal clash reverberated within, the surface of the prison shuddered, over time beginning to crack. Ultimately, Zet's depleted power proved insufficient to contain the breach, and at last the moon was shattered. The prison's ancient inhabitants had escaped to sow their conflict anew.
Flung to the farthest reaches by the prison's explosion, Zet was transformed by the dissonant energies of its former captives. No longer of single form and thought, its presence had become split among many—some lesser, some greater—each connected by a fleeting arc of consciousness. Struggling to suppress its own disunity, Zet sped toward the burgeoning conflict of its siblings, bending its fractured wills toward a singular conclusion: the aspects of the primordial mind must be made to reunite, or all must be destroyed lest the conflict spread further…
As war and cataclysm threatened the nascent cosmos, the will of a third fragment made itself known. Naming itself Zet, this intellect sought to resolve the disharmony and return all to perfect unity. Appalled by its kin's conflicting nature, Zet gathered the sum of its power. In a sudden flash, it overwhelmed its siblings, and fused the warring aspects into a stellar sphere before hurling them into the darkness to orbit a nondescript world. Harmony was restored, though only the barest fraction of Zet's strength remained. Setting its gaze on the prison, Zet chose to use its weakened power to serve as watchful warden until time's end. For uncounted aeons, this vigil stood.
Life flourished upon the world below, oblivious to the dangers imprisoned within the softly glowing moon, or of Zet's struggles to contain them. As the captives' eternal clash reverberated within, the surface of the prison shuddered, over time beginning to crack. Ultimately, Zet's depleted power proved insufficient to contain the breach, and at last the moon was shattered. The prison's ancient inhabitants had escaped to sow their conflict anew.
Flung to the farthest reaches by the prison's explosion, Zet was transformed by the dissonant energies of its former captives. No longer of single form and thought, its presence had become split among many—some lesser, some greater—each connected by a fleeting arc of consciousness. Struggling to suppress its own disunity, Zet sped toward the burgeoning conflict of its siblings, bending its fractured wills toward a singular conclusion: the aspects of the primordial mind must be made to reunite, or all must be destroyed lest the conflict spread further…
Voice:
Innate[edit]
Runic Infusion[edit]
Runic Infusion 
Passive
Affects
Self
Grants the Self the Regeneration Rune buff briefly upon activating any Power Runes.
Activating other runes grants a shorter buff duration.
Activating other runes grants a shorter buff duration.
Grants max health and max mana regeneration upon rune activation.
Max Health to Health Regen per Second: 6%
Max Mana to Mana Regen per Second: 6%
Duration: 4
Other Rune Duration: 2.64
Player-based damage reduces the max health and max mana regeneration value for a set duration.
Damage Threshold: 0
Max Health to Health Regen per Second: 1%
Max Mana to Mana Regen per Second: 1%
Player-based damage instance regardless of factions applies the fixed buff downtime duration. Cannot be reset with cooldown reset sources.
Downtime: 3
Power Capture
Grants the Self permanent all attributes bonus per Power Rune activation.
Attribute Gain per Activation: 
1.5
- Considers the following runes as Power Runes:
- Considers the following runes as Non-power Runes:
Rune Regeneration: Regenerating x HP and x mana per second.
Hero Model[edit]
Details
Hidden Innate Abilities
Tap on the 
innate abilities for more details.
Abilities[edit]
Flux[edit]
Deals damage over time on the unit-targeted enemy unit.
The damage is not applied if another enemy unit is near the affected enemy.
The damage is not applied if another enemy unit is near the affected enemy.
Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0.77
Search Radius: 225
Damage per Second: 15/30/45/60 (
22.5/45/67.5/90)
Move Speed Slow: 14%/21%/28%/35% (
34%/41%/48%/55%)
Duration: 6 ( 8)
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade
Additionally silences the lone enemy unit.
Increases damage per second and duration.
Additionally silences the lone enemy unit.
Increases damage per second and duration.
Silence Duration: ( 8)
16
75
An infinitesimal fraction of the power which imprisoned the Ancients.
arc_warden_flux- Checks for the following enemy units in 0.5-second intervals within the search radius upon cast, and the damage and
silence component immediately activates or disables based on the checks:
The enemy's allied units.
Neutral creeps.
Invulnerable units.
- Hence, it immediately updates the ability's damage values to the corresponding level.
- Reapplying the debuff creates another independent instance.
- When the
spell damage per second component can no longer apply, certain ability effects on the target disappears, with a red glow remaining on the affected unit, indicating the debuff is still active with the damage component disabled.
- When the
- Checks for the following enemy units in 0.5-second intervals within the search radius upon cast, and the damage and
- Does not consider the following enemy units as valid allied units within the search radius:
Buildings
Ward-type units.
Hidden units.
- Deals 7.5/15/22.5/30 (
magical
Flux: Taking damage and slowed by x% when not near a friendly unit.
- Deals a max 97.5/195/292.5/390 (
Magnetic Field[edit]
Area
Affects
Units
Generates a circular distortion field of magnetic energy that grants various bonus properties to allied units.
Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0
Cast Range: 
900
Effect Radius: 
300
Evasion: 100%
Attack Speed Bonus: 30/60/90/120 (
55/85/115/145)
Aura Duration: 4/5/6/7
Aura Linger Duration: 0.1
20/19/18/17 (
13/12/11/10)
50/70/90/110
Time and space are of little consequence to one as old as Zet.
Power Capture
The created Magnetic Field pulls in all Runes within the radius towards it and automatically activates the Rune.
Rune Pull Radius: 1200/1800/2400/3000
Affected Runes accelerate
Acceleration Speed: 150
Max Speed: 600
Speed Fall-Off Distance:
Max Speed: 600
Speed Fall-Off Distance:
- Has the following ability targeting functionalities:
- Grants the following ability effects to allied heroes and creeps:
- Multiple overlapping Magnetic Field radius stack and works independently.
- Despite its visual effects, the effective area-of-effect is a
cylinder and not a sphere.
- Does not affect the following units:
- Flat bonus
attack speed.
- Multiple instances of Magnetic Field's attack speed do not stack with themselves.
- The attack speed increasing
- However, it does not update the currently applied
arc_warden_magnetic_field_attack_speed.
- However, it does not update the currently applied
- When an ally is within the intersection of both
Magnetic Fields, incoming attacks have an absolute
evasion on the affected allied unit, unless the attacking source is within the intersection.
- Flat bonus
On hidden entity
On hidden entity
Hidden modifier
Magnetic Field: Gaining bonus x attack speed and granting 100% evasion from attacks outside the field.
Spark Wraith[edit]
Summons a Spark Wraith that activates after an effect delay.
Once an enemy is within its search radius, the wraith fuses itself with the target.
Once an enemy is within its search radius, the wraith fuses itself with the target.
Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0.77
Cast Range: 2000
Search Radius: 375 (
475)
Activation Delay: 1.5 (
0.5)
Damage: 100/170/240/310 (
140/238/336/434)
Move Speed Slow: 100%
Slow Duration: 0.5/0.6/0.7/0.8
Idle Duration: 16
Aghanim's Shard Upgrade
Upon activation, the Spark Wraith splits into two, affecting a secondary closest enemy unit.
Has a lower secondary damage factor.
Increases search radius.
Upon activation, the Spark Wraith splits into two, affecting a secondary closest enemy unit.
Has a lower secondary damage factor.
Increases search radius.
Secondary Damage Factor: ( 0.8)
4
80
Lesser fragments of Zet's original self.
- Spark Wraiths created are fully visible to everyone.
- Grants a non-lingering 300-radius vision centered around the wraith for while idling.
- Has the following activation sequence:
- Activation delay duration of 1.5 seconds, 0.5 seconds with the activation delay reducing
- Checks for enemy units 0.2-second intervals within the radius.
- Launches itself toward the first valid enemy unit, flying towards it at a speed of 550.
- The
- Grants a non-lingering 300-radius vision while traveling to the enemy unit.
- The
- Activation delay duration of 1.5 seconds, 0.5 seconds with the activation delay reducing
- The activation delay component is independent of the idle duration.
- Has the following activation sequence:
- Grants a 3.34-second 300-radius vision upon projectile impact.
- Considers all other
creep-heroes as creeps, and the following unit-types as heroes:
Clones
Illusions
- The Spirit Bear.
Roshan
- The
Tormentor.
- Affects the following units:
Invisible units.
Fogged units.
- Does not affect the following units:
- Considers all other
- Acquiring the
On hidden entity
On hidden entity
Spark Wraith: Movement speed reduced by x%.
- Has a 550-
projectile speed.
- Has a 550-
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
- The
spark_wraith_purge- This debuff applies the
movement speed slow.
- Does not
dispel the affected enemy unit in any way.
- This debuff applies the
- The
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
Tempest Double[edit]
Point
Affects
The Self
The Self creates a perfect duplication of itself which is considered a hero by most abilities.
The Double can use all of The Self's current items and non-ultimate spells, except most consumables and items that would drop on death.
The Double has a separate and independent item and ability cooldowns.
The Double can use all of The Self's current items and non-ultimate spells, except most consumables and items that would drop on death.
The Double has a separate and independent item and ability cooldowns.
Cast Animation: 0.15 + 0.5
Cast Range: 700
Number of Clones: 1
Bounty Gold/XP: 180/240/300
Duration: 18/21/24
The Double loses its sense of self as it nears its expire duration.
Max Move Speed Slow: 35% (
)
Max Miss Chance: 35% ( )
60/55/50
Warped by the power of its peers, Arc Warden becomes what it despises most: disharmony.
Runed Replica
The Tempest Double gains Power Rune bonuses when created.
Level 1: Invisibility Rune.
Level 2: Invisibility and Arcane Runes.
Level 3: Invisibility, Arcane, and Haste Runes.
Level 2: Invisibility and Arcane Runes.
Level 3: Invisibility, Arcane, and Haste Runes.
- Tempest Double has the following targeting functionalities:
Doubletap spawns The Double next to The Self.
Respawns The Double at the point-targeted location with the same
facing angle as The Self.
- The Double is visually distinguishable from the Self to everyone.
- The minimap displays
a unique minimap icon and
Arc Warden's default minimap icon for allied heroes and enemy heroes respectively.
- Creates a clone with
health and current
mana upon the first cast in the game.
- Subsequent ability casts merely respawn The Double with the following ability effects applied:
- Applies a
death dispel.
- Does not disjoint incoming
projectiles.
- Neither refreshes current ability nor item
cooldowns.
- Setting the Double's current
- Applies a
- The penalty removing
- Runed Replica grants Tempest Double a 12 second Power Rune buff based on the current Tempest Double level:
- LEVEL 1Invisibility Rune.
- LEVEL 2Invisibility Rune and Arcane Rune.
- LEVEL 3Invisibility Rune, Arcane Rune, and Haste Rune.
- Creates a clone with
- The Double is not considered a valid unit for the experience gain radius.
- All experience The Double would have gained is granted to The Self.
- The following permanent consumed buffs are granted to The Double:
- Other permanent bonuses granted to The Double do not persist upon its
death.
- Abilities that grant bonus stacks per kill do not grant stacks upon killing The Double.
Creates a Rubick Double with all of his basic abilities, without other Acquired
Abilities and Spell Steal inactive.
Losing and reacquiring the Tempest Double ability allows Rubick to summon another Double from the previous ability acquisition.
Losing and reacquiring the Tempest Double ability allows Rubick to summon another Double from the previous ability acquisition.
Unavailable.
Tempest Double: A complete clone of Arc Warden that can use spells and items with the exception of Gem of True Sight and Divine Rapier.
Hidden modifier
Fracturing: Losing sense of Self. Slowed by X%. Attacks have a X% chance to miss.
- The
gold bounty is also distributed evenly among creeps and
- Ultimate abilities are always inactive on The Double.
- The
- EXPR
CasterColSize × (NumberOfClones + 2) - For The Self, The Double spawns at a random position
81-distanceaway.
- The Double is always created with The Self's current basic abilities' and updates its ability level accordingly upon cast.
- The
Clone Inventory[edit]
Clone Inventory
Innate
Affects
Self
The Double neither can pick up, nor drop items. However, it can utilize item abilities within its inventory with each item having an independent cooldown of The Self's.
Upon each cast, The Double's inventory is updated based on The Self's. This sets all items' attributes as well.
Does not copy muted items in The Self's inventory.
Upon each cast, The Double's inventory is updated based on The Self's. This sets all items' attributes as well.
Does not copy muted items in The Self's inventory.
Bash sources are passively disabled on The Double.
Black King Bar's ability duration reduces per cast and is bound independently to The Double.
Aeon Disk's ability cooldown increases per proc and is bound independently to The Double.
Everlasting items are not copied by The Double.
Most consumable items are not copied by The Double.
- Items in The Self's inventory that are still unusable due to the backpack delay will be immediately available for The Double upon summon.
- Procs Reset Cooldowns' cooldown upon summon.
- Can utilize the following mechanics:
- The following item sources grants The Self all bonuses upon cast or upon proc:
- Transmute
- Corruption stacks.
and
- Set the toggle-able item abilities based on The Self's toggle status.
Artifacts, except the following sources:
- The following item sources grants The Self all bonuses upon cast or upon proc:
- For Power Treads and Vambrace:
- Sets the item to the selected attribute based on The Self's.
- Both items' active ability functions independently.
- For both Helm of the Dominator-based items:
- If The Self is not wielding the same item, The Double's corresponding Dominate goes on cooldown upon
unit-targeting the creep, and does nothing.
- If The Self is not wielding the same item, The Double's corresponding Dominate goes on cooldown upon
- Cannot utilize the following mechanics:
- Consumable
buffs and items, except Town Portal Scroll.
Bash sources.
- Item Sharing.
- Urn of Shadows-based items.
- Neither gain nor copy The Self's charges.
- The following items are not copied:
- Consumable
- For Echo Sabre-based items:
- Grants the bonus
- Grants the bonus
Recent Matches[edit]
Main Article: Arc Warden/Matches
| Date | Tier | Tournament | Picks | Score | vs. Picks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2025 - 21:00 BRT | Showmatch | 4nalog vs. Smzinho | 1 : 0 | |||||
| Feb 19, 2025 - 16:55 CET | Tier 1 | DreamLeague S25 | 1 : 0 | |||||
| Feb 18, 2025 - 22:25 BRT | Tier 4 | Liga dos Ursitos | 1 : 0 | |||||
| Feb 10, 2025 - 22:10 MSK | Showmatch | BB Streamers Battle 9 | 0 : 1 | |||||
| Feb 05, 2025 - 21:25 EST | Qualifier | FISSURE Universe 4 NA OQ1 | 1 : 0 |
Recent Changes[edit]
Description
- Increased Tempest Double
Runed Replica rune duration from 10 to 12.
- Arc Warden no longer has
Agility as a primary attribute and is now a
- Reduced base attack damage from 33‒39 to 23‒29.
- REMOVED the following facets:
Disorder
- All abilities no longer have two different versions depending on
- Runic Infusion
- ADDED new
Power Capture facet.
- Grants
/
/
attribute bonus upon activating a Power Rune.
- Grants
- ADDED new
- Flux
- No changes to damage per second values.
- Reduced movement speed slow from 15%/22%/30%/39% to 14%/21%/28%/35%.
- Magnetic Field
- CHANGED ability targeting type from No Target to Target Point .
- READDED Once again affects allied creeps .
- ADDED
- Considers as a ground-targeted ability cast centered on the caster.
- ADDED new
- Now pulls in all runes within 1200/1800/2400/3000 radius to the cast location with a 150-acceleration speed.
- Runes within the Magnetic Field radius are automatically activated.
- Spark Wraith
- Increases projectile speed from 400 to 550.
- Reduced activation delay from 2 to 1.5.
- Reduced damage from 100/180/260/340 to 100/170/240/310.
- Reduced creep damage factor from 1.4 to 1.
- Reduced slow duration from 0.6/0.8/1/1.2 to 0.5/0.6/0.7/0.8.
- Tempest Double
- No longer has the penalty radius incoming damage amplification component.
- Now applies a max 35% self miss chance and 35% self movement speed slow as
- CHANGED set clone health from MaxHP to CurrentHP .
- CHANGED set clone health from MaxMP to CurrentMP .
- Reduced duration from 60 on each level to 18/21/24.
- Reduced cooldown from 100/90/80 to 60/55/50.
- ADDED new
- Infuses
- LEVEL 1 Invisibility Rune
- LEVEL 2 Invisibility Rune + Arcane Rune
- LEVEL 3 Invisibility Rune + Arcane Rune + Haste Rune
- Infuses
- REWORKED
- OLD Creates secondary Spark Wraith upon activation.
- Has a 2-second activation delay.
- Has a 15-second dormant duration.
- NEW Flux
- Now applies silence if the unit-targeted enemy is alone.
- Has a 1.5 damage per second factor.
- Increases duration by 2.
- OLD Creates secondary Spark Wraith upon activation.
- REWORKED
- OLD Magnetic Field
- Increases radius by 75.
- Applies a 30% enemy movement speed slow and 75% attack projectile speed slow within the radius.
- Applies a 25% ally attack projectile speed bonus within the radius.
- NEW Spark Wraith
- Increases search radius by 100.
- Now when activated, a secondary projectile will affected a secondary closest enemy unit.
- Has a 0.8 * SpellDamage secondary damage.
- OLD Magnetic Field
Talents:
- LVL 15 +16 Magnetic Field attack speed increased to +25.
- LVL 15 +2s Flux duration ➜ +20% Flux movement speed slow.
- LVL 25 Flux silences lone enemy units ➜ -1s Spark Wraith activation delay.
- LVL 25 U Removes
- Increased base attack damage from 31‒37 to 33‒39.
Dota Plus Progress[edit]
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.
| Arc Warden's Relics | Voice Lines | |
|---|---|---|
Bronze |
||
Silver |
||
Gold |
||
Platinum |
| |
Master |
| |
Grandmaster |
| |
Equipment[edit]
| Sets | |
|---|---|
| Head | |
| Shoulder | |
| Taunt | |
Trivia[edit]
- Arc Warden was first teased on day 3 of the New Bloom 2015 update page, where he is frozen within a glacier. His head, a shoulder pad and hand are partially visible.
- After being teased in the update that officially added Winter Wyvern to the game, he ended up being the next hero to be ported over from DotA.
- Arc Warden's kill response ▶️ "You will just have to accept this, and move on." is a reference to a Dota 2 based web cartoon "The Dota 2 Reporter", where it is a recurring gag for the characters to question the game's logic, only to be answered by this line.
- A lot of Arc Warden's lore and responses reference the work of the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
- Arc Warden's focal point of unification is based on the psychological concept of individuation. Put in simple terms, in Jungian Psychology, the concept of individuation is when the conscious ego combines with the unconscious shadow, creating "the Self". Arc Warden exclusively refers to itself as "The Self". Tempest Double's concept also references this, with Arc Warden representing the conscious ego, and the Tempest Double representing the unconscious shadow. As stated in the ability's lore, Arc Warden despises this ability, since it brings disharmony; Arc Warden can only be The Self if not split apart.
- Some of Jung's work is also reflected in Arc Warden's abilities, like how Flux is only harmful when the target is alone, i.e. not united with their allies, or how Magnetic Field only works against enemies outside its area of effect. Spark Wraith's ability description also states that it affects its target by "fusing" with them.
- His rare line ▶️ "From the Primordial Consciousness all came. Return to it, all must." refers to the pyschological concept of the Collective Unconscious, which refers to the unconscious mind and shared mental concepts. This was also coined by Carl Gustav Jung.
- Warcraft 3 similarities:
- Arc Warden uses the model of the Gnoll Warden, a medium neutral creep.
- His attack lines ▶️ "Doggedly." and ▶️ "Hounding." are a reference to this, as Gnolls in Warcraft are humanoid canine creatures.
- His rivalry lines towards Lycan, ▶️ "Inferior form." and ▶️ "Apex predator, you are not.", are also a nudge to this.
Gallery[edit]
Promotional art
Teaser
Concept art
Concept art
Early textures
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
Bone Harvest sprite - alive
Bone Harvest sprite - dead