In this segment, we will be exploring the not-so-popular heroes and/or out-of-the-box builds or playstyles.  While very effective, meta heroes or builds, can tend to become a little boring after some time. This led me to find fellow theorycrafters who are willing to share their guides to the community especially for those who want to try out different stuff and break the game’s monotony.

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DISCLAIMER:  The builds featured here are not made by AoV Academy (or SquirrelNation) unless so specified. They are either from players in the community who I contacted to have their work featured or just submitted by those who want to contribute.  All credits are to the respective owners/makers, so questions should be addressed to them for clarity.

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BACKGROUND

This build is from a reddit post.

I only knew  u/meboz67  as THE Omega main.  I stumbled upon his posts and comments in reddit some time ago and had sought his expertise when I took interest on the sentient mech.  This was even before the rework.  I can say he puts a lot of effort in his builds.  He breaks heroes down to tiny details, taking note of significant numbers which allows him to optimize his build and play according to a hero’s strengths and maximize its potential.  His focus is more on builds, mostly on not-so-popular heroes.  His Gildur tips in reddit caught my attention as he has an interesting approach with the early item build.

INTRODUCTION

Gildur as a midlaner is in an awkward spot.  His long cooldowns and high mana costs make him fall short compared to the more popular mages.  Most mages use their skills to clear waves and are encouraged to roam after doing so, and Gildur’s slower clear and need for conservative use of skill puts him behind his other counterparts.  Of course it is still possible to play him mid even with some limitations but it would require more effort to get the same results that can be easily achieved by the more popular mages.

What Gildur lacks in some aspects is compensated by his tankiness (in part due to his shield) and his array of skills with stun and knockback effects. He is practically a walking cc machine.  These along with his item reliance makes him a good candidate for DS lane where farm-centric playstyle and sustained slugfest are the norms.

Mages can work in the sidelanes. A good example of this is Marja who simply asserts control by out-sustaining her opponent.  Chaugnar and Arum have also seen some sidelane action.  Since most AD bruisers in the DS lane build Mantle of Ra which helps offensively and defensively, having to face a magic damage dealer would reduce the effectiveness of this usually go-to item.  Mages also have access to Berith’s Agony which can act as their own version of MoRa against AD warriors.  On this writeup, we will be talking about Gildur in the DS lane. After all, he is labeled as tank first, mage second.

WHY GILDUR?

Gildur counters and complements a lot of the meta choices, and can successfully fill many different roles in the late game.  With his near perma-stun kit, Gildur can play anti-dive. With good timing, he can just ult anyone who tries to all-in his carry.  The range of his S2 also makes him a good poke hero.  With these things in mind, he can function well in a protect-the-carry/poke team comp.  Gildur can provide an extremely good teamfight initiate with his built in tankiness (shields) and AoE stun, so he can also fit in a wombo-combo or pick-off comp.

His flexibility makes him great.  He can assassinate squishies, peel for his team, initiate fights, poke the enemy, and splitpush.  He can even take core without minions by spamming his passive!  At half build he can easily 1v1 the top S-tier assassins (and at full build, even 1v3), so in the right hands, he can be devastating.

If you’re not sold on Gildur’s flexibility, perhaps his novelty will.  He is rarely played and  those who will underestimate him are in for a big surprise.  I was one of those who did.  Personally, I only thought of interrupting his ult if ever I face one and he’s donezo.  I was shocked with his damage output and his tankiness.  Plus he’s not that easy to interrupt if the one playing him knows that he/she is doing.  From then on, I started to respect Gildur.

Lastly is crowd control.  Gildur’s entire kit revolves around stuns and knockbacks.  If you like disabling opponents and throwing around opponents with repulsor blasts, Gildur might be for you.

THE LOADOUTS

This build will focus on attack speed early game to abuse Repulsor Blast Midas’ Touch which triggers an enhanced attack every 4 attacks. This enhanced attack has a delay of about 80 milliseconds before hitting the target which can also be reduced by building attack speed. Neat huh?

We will be getting attack speed through arcana (26% with Indomitable setup or 22% with Conjure setup) and early Warboots (25%) which would bring early AS to 46%-51% in total.  We will also be getting Mantle of Ra against AD bruisers.  MoRa’s 80 AD might go to waste on other mages but Gildur’s passive converts 150% of AD into magic damage while Siege (S1) has 45% AD scaling so the AD from MoRa is actually handy.  The Burn passive also provides Gildur better wave clear.  To top it off, the armor bonus will help mitigate physical damage to help with survivability in addition to the shields from passive.

One of the advantages of building attack speed on Gildur early game is you will have the edge of having better autos than other heroes.  In the first minutes of the game, skills are somewhat limited so those who have auto attack enhancements have a slight edge over the others since we will be slugging more than slinging skills.

With this build/playstyle, it is important to practice proper positioning in order to maximize Midas’ Touch as this would be your bread and butter.  Also, of note is that skills should only be used on the enemy laner to manage mana efficiently.  Adequate waveclear can be provided with good use of passive and MoRa’s burn so no need to spam skills to clear the waves.

Late game, Mantle of Ra and Warboots may be replaced with The Aegis and Gilded Greaves, respectively. Gilded Greaves is necessary late game as Gildur needs to continuously be attacking and casting his skills in order to keep his shield up. As long as he isn’t cc’d, Gildur can keep his shields up to improve his survivability, so Gilded Greaves’ resistance is more important than Warboot’s attack speed bonus.  The Aegis is a perfect replacement for Mantle as the game goes on. At some point later in the game, Gildur will be facing full build ADCs and other attack speed based heroes, so the upgrade in the armor will be very helpful. The max mana bonus and massive CDR boost will also greatly complement his full AP kit.

To complete the armory are the usual magic pickups:  Boomstick provides huge burst and makes his Extravagant uhm well, more extravagant; Apocalypse adds even more burst while giving him tower takedown potential with his S1/Midas Touch/auto weaving; Hecate’s Diadem even further boosts Boomstick’s and Apocalypse’s damage while also significantly buffing S2 damage with its 1.2 AP scaling; and the last item which is Staff of Nuul gives penetration power to your magic damage.

Other items to consider are as mentioned above: Aegis and Gilded Greaves for defense. Aegis not only gives armor but provides cooldown too that would greatly help Gildur’s auto + skill weaving.  Gilded Greaves late game is really a must. If Gildur gets locked down, his survivability drops as he needs to be constantly active to keep his shields up. Then why not build it early? Early game, your focus is to farm and not to teamfight so it’s better to get an item that would speed up your clear.

Against a Mage sidelaner, start with Phoenix Tear and Lapis Ring.  This combo gives good mana sustain in exchange of reduced clear speed (slower clears due to lack of MoRA).  Proceed with the regular build of War Boots > Boomstick > Apocalypse > Hecates Diadem > Staff of Nuul.  Sell Phoenix Tear before finishing Hecates.  Lapis Ring will be finished into Aegis.  Most mage DS laners build Berith’s Agony, which would not be so efficient against you as you’re dealing magic damage.  How about Gildur? Is Berith’s good on him? Stat-wise, it is.  But its burn effect is better on heroes that deal sustained damage (unless you want to experiment a tanky, repulsorbot, but that’s another story).

ARCANA:  As mentioned above, Flurry and Indomitable or Conjure, and Guerilla will be our setup for maximum attack speed.  The choice between Indomitable and Conjure is player preference.  Indomitable only has 4% more AS than Conjure and gives defensive stats. Conjure provides a chunk of AP which can give early ooomph to your pokes.  Guerilla not only provides AS but MS as well which helps more with positioning.

TALENT:  Tiger Knee Flicker is a must and is nonnegotiable.  This gives Gildur not just an escape tool but a means to reposition his ult.

GAMEPLAY

Skill-wise, as indicated in the diagram, we will prioritize S2 over S1 as its damage is just too good to pass.  It helps a lot with chipping away opponent’s HP for an all in.  Leveling up S1 first though still has merits, providing mobility and better positioning.  You may do so IF you are able to win the first duel and get a massive gold lead.

As elaborated before, we will be investing on early attack speed to abuse Midas’ Touch.  Focus on farming up, building up stacks on minions and using the proc on the enemy hero.  Take note that Gildur gains a shield every time (a) he uses a skill and (b) with enhanced attacks (Midas’ Touch).  The next auto after using Skill 1 will proc his passive, so you can dash in with S1 behind an opponent and repulsor blast him/her to your tower.  Keep these things in mind as these can make you win trades and/or outplay your opponent.  Also, remember that flicker doesn’t interrupt ult channel  so you can use it to reposition a botched ult.  This is why flicker is nonnegotiable for Gildur.  Still, be careful when you flicker while channeling because a slight joystick movement can interrupt it.

These are just some potential combos to maximize damage during various stages of the game. Many skills are interchangeable. As the game goes on longer and you build your CDR, the necessity of auto-attacks to proc the passive dwindles.

• Early game (1v1):  Auto (on minions to stack passive) > Midas Touch (on enemy hero) > S2 to stun > S1 (dash through enemy to their back) > Midas Touch (push back towards your tower).  Rinse and repeat.
  
• Mid game (1v1, 1v2): S1 > Midas Touch > S2 > Ult > Repeat.
• Late game (1vTeam):  S2 > S1 > Midas Touch > Ult > [Flicker (to juxtaposition)] > S2 

Take note that Gildur’s passive can melt towers, and with Apocalypse finished, he can be a siege engine late game.

Late game, don’t focus too much on building attack speed for passive procs.  Smart opponents won’t let you build up stacks through  autos.  Instead, build up on CDR and use his S1 to reposition and blast away.

Gildur’s flexibility doesn’t end in playing roles in a team comp.  Even in laning phase, you can usually mitigate bad match ups by changing how you lane.

Against early game burst warriors, you can sit under tower and hit them with S2 until their health is too low to fight. That includes Riktor, Florentino, Maloch, etc.  Against attack speed heroes, you have more freedom because Midas Touch will allow you to stun them during their empowered attack window.  For example, when Omen triggers his passive, just Midas Touch and walk away.  Same goes for Kilgroth’s S2.  Dueling someone like Valhein would be more difficult. Same goes for Marja.  They will win close and ranged trades.  Regardless, Gildur’s poke is superior and he can still last hit minions from behind tower.  Still, heroes with heavy CC and burst damage are going to be difficult to duel until level 4.

All in all, Gildur’s playstyle revolves around on good positioning (with S1 or just moving) and mastery of S2 sniping.  Getting good timings on these helps a lot in setting up a good ult. 

WHEN TO PICK GILDUR

Gildur is a good addition into a mage support comp.  There’s something to be said about having three magic dealers in your team. The big thing, though, is that Gildur can initiate the team fights and lead advances in the late game. Mage support needs that sort of off-tank back up to perform effectively.  Since Gildur is heavy CC, pairing him with more heavy CC will make your team difficult to deal with.  You can basically siege towers in the late game with a three-mage archetype, especially with Gildur’s tower-chunking passive and zone-out potential with S2.

Gildur also works very well into team comps that snowball the early game.  With his pick-off potential with S2 and cc chains, he can set up plays for his teammates and boost his carry.  Don’t forget that he can get fed himself and come online by the mid game, then carry his teammates if it unfortunately goes into the late game.

Honorary mentions for teammates are Alice, Aleister and Elsu. Alice for her massive AoE CC, Aleister for the AoE magic damage and his control.  Elsu and Gildur can combo-poke squishies. Gildur acts as a spotter, snipes a squishy from afar with his S2, then Elsu takes the shot.  At late game it’s enough to kill them pretty much off screen.

Be wary though of heavy cc teams as this can hurt Gildur badly (but then almost every hero gets hurt by cc anyway).

FINAL THOUGHTS

What Gildur’s kit seemingly lacks in midlane is compensated by his sidelane potential.  He offers a lot of flexibility in a team which helps a lot in filling a role in a team comp or dealing with an enemy comp.  Some may argue that his skill delay and longer animation makes it easy to outplay him.  Yes, he has these shortcomings but mastery of his gameplay can make these almost negligible.   About the build, honestly, I was surprised when I tried it some.  For a player that hasn’t touched Gildur before, it helped me survive and even duke it out in lane.  While some might call that anti-AD early game core item build is a bridge — something that supports a supposedly weakpoint of a hero to be able to survive to reach a stronger phase, I can say that it isn’t a crutch like what most bridges do.  

Usual bridges provide sustain like how mages build Tear early game to smooth out their transition into later laning phase, just like having training wheels. In this case though, instead of just patching up Gildur’s problems like long cooldowns and high mana costs (which lead to slow clearing), we will focus on Gildur’s strengths all the while solving his waveclear speed.  The result is having the ability to go toe to toe instead of just being on the defensive. I’d say this is a smart approach especially for a lane that revolves around outfarming your opponent.  For those who like to try a different sidelane hero, I would definitely recommend playing Gildur.

This is just one interesting take on an unpopular hero. There are surely other builds out there but I would like to thank u/meboz67 for sharing his. Hopefully, there are other players who would experiment and share theirs too. Perhaps this would even allow some of the forgotten heroes to experience being on the spotlight.

As always, observe, formulate, adapt.

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For those who have some builds in mind that want to get featured, I am just lurking at SquirrelNation.  You can also reach me via my Facebook page (please leave a like while you’re at it).  If you managed to reach this part and punch through my wall of texts, thank you so much!

Big thanks to the ChaosSquirrel, Sno, Judge, and BK Gluttony (Yung Rocks) from Squirrel Nation for their detailed responses to my questions. Also, thanks and shoutout to Visioned for sharing some insights regarding the topic. As always, credits to Samurai Gamers for some of the images.

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The jungler, arguably, is the most difficult role to practice in soloQ. Unlike laners who can’t be directly denied XP and gold by their opposing laners (by last hitting their own minions ala DotA), the jungler’s “lane” is basically free for all, having neutral camps that can be taken by enemies and teammates alike. This is partly the reason why I very rarely take the jungle role (if I do, I make sure that I am taking a hero that is resilient to invades).

WHAT IS AN INVADE?

An invade is wherein one enters the enemy jungle with the purpose of taking away some neutral camps, with focus on the red or blue buff. Its main goal is to gimp the enemy jungler of XP to delay his/her level 4 powerspike. There is also the potential of having three buffs to the team. A successful invade is being able to take enemy camp/s (the buff included) without having any team casualties or your own buff getting stolen. The best case scenario is taking camps and getting some kills without a teammate dying.

Invades are better done as a team to increase chances of success. Supports can also solo invade and give the enemy jungler a traumatizing experience especially if his/her teammates won’t come to assist.  

Teammates can also “invade” their own jungler’s camps. This is rather common in soloQ and automatically sets back the jungler even without enemy effort. I strongly advise laners not to mess up their jungler’s first clear and just help protect the jungle.

In my opinion, invasion is the best gauge for determining if you are teamed up with good players in soloQ.  Whether you are doing the invade or you are the one being invaded, you can see how teammates will respond, and from this you will have some insight on how the game will pan out.

HOW TO PREVENT AN INVADE?

As a soloQ jungler, the most convenient way is to spam ping “watch the jungle!” at least 3 times. The results would vary depending on how helpful your teammates are. If you are lucky enough, teammate/s would guard the jungle entrances to discourage invades or even reset the buff monster.

Teammates stealing camps, sadly, is unpreventable if you can’t dissuade them from doing so.  I strongly advise to nonjunglers not to mess up their jungler’s first clear as doing so would gimp the entire team in the process.  Also, try to stay away from your junglers when they are clearing so as not to leech XP/gold from them.

DEALING WITH INVADES

As a jungler, the best response to an enemy team invade is to do a counter-invade. Don’t even bother to fight to defend your jungle. Just walk straight into the enemy jungle and steal their buff. Don’t waste time. Even professional teams usually respond this way in rare games with invades. Instead of trying to fight it out, they just trade buffs and part ways like gentlemen, especially if the defending team has weaker fight potential. Contesting is just too risky, while being unsure of the rewards. Yes, you might be able to get some kills but the chances are pretty slim while the enemy has better chances of stealing a camp or two and escaping unscathed. In that case, you are left with nothing and your teammates even probably missed some minions. Even worse is getting killed trying to fight for your camps. Compare that to just going to the enemy jungle and taking the buff which has lower risks and greater chances of success.

There are scenarios where you can possibly wait for the enemy to invade and then ambush them, but that requires intensive knowledge of the enemy plan. Waiting for an ambush has its own risks.  If the enemy decided to just lane and not proceed with an invade, chances are your laners will miss some farm.  You have to be able to precisely read the opponents map movement in able to properly execute a good ambush.  If it’s a competitive team game where there is good communication and you have knowledge of habits/trademark strat of the enemy team, there is always a counterplay in an invade. This makes invading even riskier than being invaded. But we’re talking about soloQ here and that greatly reduces the likelihood of properly pulling off a decent defense.

For nonjunglers, one thing that you could do is to make the enemies lose as much time as you can.  This can be done by resetting the buff.   It’s actually very impactful because you’ll make the invading laners lose on most of their first wave, which will even the trade.  To reset a buff, just hit it once to make it chase you.  You don’t even have to stay to watch the jungle.

What if you get “invaded” by a teammate?

Clear their waves.  Tax them.  Heavily.  As BK Gluttony (Yung Rocks) said, ” (if) they want communism, they’ll have communism.”

What if you were not able to counter-invade?

as a jungler:

• DEAL WITH IT.  Don’t get tilted.  You’re probably thinking of AFK’ing now (that occurred to me before), but don’t do it. Treat it as a learning experience and just play the game normally (well, as normally as possible).  Don’t blame your teammates for not protecting your jungle.  Negative thoughts won’t do you any good.  Stay positive.
• DON’T DIE.  Don’t make risky plays that can get your teammates killed. Giving away kills will even get you further behind so avoid ganking especially if the enemy laners are stronger than your team’s.
• Never force an objective if you’re not strong enough to fight for it. Take something elsewhere if the opponents are too busy taking uncontestable stuff. For example, if they are going for a dragon, go for a quick invade for the opposite jungle or a turret if possible. Chances are you’re not strong enough to contest anyway.
• Find ways to make it back to the game.  You are to avoid unnecessary fights but that does not mean you won’t be looking for opportunities.  Remember, playing defensively is different from playing passively.  It means choosing fights wisely and not just rolling over to die.  Check the map for free objectives or favorable fights. You are not just running away and avoiding the enemy.  You are avoiding the enemy but running towards a low-risk objective, be it a turret, the enemy jungle, or a major jungle camp.

As a nonjungler:

• Don’t tilt and don’t blame your jungler.  No one wants to get robbed.  Kicking someone when he/she is already down will just make things worse.
• Beware of the enemy jungler.  Don’t die.  Chances are the enemy jungler has level and item advantage over you.  Keep tabs of him/her especially if you’re a roamer, but don’t give them kills as that will further gimp you.  Knowing where the enemy jungler is will give you insight of what possible plays the opponent might be setting up.
• Watch objectives.  Keep tabs of the abyssal dragon even if you’re not able to contest.  This can help your team to make low-risk plays or take alternative objectives elsewhere in the map.
• Assist your jungler.  Especially if he/she pings for reasonable plays.  If you think his/her play is a bad idea, spam ping retreat.

INVADE RESILIENCY

Most junglers, especially assassins, are susceptible to invades.  Snowball heroes like Batman, Ryoma, and Zill require hitting early powerspikes and taking advantage of it. These heroes are bullies and rely on being stronger than the enemy heroes.  Because of this, they suffer a lot from being invaded since they need to be ahead of the enemy in order to be significant.  Late game, they also don’t do much thus making recovery even more difficult.  A successful invade on these heroes is usually enough to break their tempo and make them almost irrelevant.

While Murad and Nakroth are vulnerable to invades, their fast farming coupled with late game capabilities allow them to recover to late game if played safely.  They can just free-run/parkour around the map even through the enemy jungle camps and focus on farm until they have recovered sufficiently enough.  Butterfly can get a lucky kill/s to get her back to the game.  These heroes need to be repeatedly invaded to fully gimp them down.

Some junglers are blue buff reliant like Zephys and Violet who both need mana to speed up their clears. Both can still recover though as Zephys can stay relevant with a tank build while Violet, being a marksman can shine late game with items.

Marksmen junglers will stay relevant late game as long as they are able to get good farm. Fennik and Slimz though can have trouble doing their objective-focused playstyle as part of it revolves around hitting level 4 and getting the first dragon. Still, they can salvage the game depending on how well they can get gold. Among marksmen, Lindis can be the most resilient as she can clear fast even without blue. Her movespeed buff and traps allow her to sneak into the enemy jungle safely and take some camps.

While not popular in the jungle, Arduin and Wonderwoman are resistant to invades since they are more supportive, utility tanks than carry. I actually used to play unconventional junglers because of fear of being invaded. We even intentionally tried running a weird strat to some success, which focused on giving the blue buff to the midlaner while I played a support jungle style.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The most important thing when dealing with invades is to avoid tilting.  Having the ability to play normally even in tough situations is needed in order for you and your team to recover from an invade.  After all it is a part of the game and will surely be encountered as you rank up.    Play smart and everything may come out okay.  If not, try to learn something from it as the experience might be applied in your future games.  As always – observe, formulate, adapt.

This was just reformatted from the original post from the Arena of Valor subreddit.  Please refer to that for a full summary.  I have added my comments below each item description.  Share your thoughts about the item changes at Squirrel Nation.

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THE BEAST

Unique Passive: 25% life steal >> 25% life steal (physical and magic lifesteal)

Due to the changes made to The Beast, magic lifesteal percentage adjustments were made to some heroes and equipment:

• The life steal percentages of Valhein’s magic damage have been adjusted from 100% to 50%.
• Magic life steal percentage of Valhein’s ultimate: 50% >> 35%
• Life steal percentage of Tel’annas’ S1’s magic damage has been adjusted from 100% to 50%.
• Magic life steal percentages of Heart of Incubus, Mantle of Ra, and Leviathan have been adjusted to 25%.
• Magic life steal percentage of Blitz Blade has been adjusted to 35%.

​COMMENT:  This is probably the most anticipated item change.  People have been talking about how The Beast could be powerful on Valhein, Tel-annas, Kilgroth, and the likes.  Personally, I’m not sure how I’ll slot this in to their item builds, especially Kilgroth who values attack speed so much.  Outside of lifesteal, its only stat is AD.  If a marksman ever needs lifesteal, Bow of Slaughter would be a much better choice IMO.  Still, don’t take my word for it as I haven’t tested it yet. 

 

AMULET OF LONGEVITY

Price: 2680  >> 1980

New recipe:  Greaves of Protection + Necklace of Vitality + Talisman of Strength

• HP Regen +100/5 sec → HP Regen +50/5 sec
• HP +1700 → HP +1800

Removed:  Unique Passive: Heal +20%

Removed:  Unique Passive: Max HP +10%

Added:  Unique Passive: Restores 2% of max HP and 1% of max mana every second after exiting combat.

COMMENT:  Supports would probably pick this up as it costs cheap.  Its old users would most probably drop this though since it has no more bonus HP.

 

CRIMSON BANNER

R.I.P.  Let’s all offer a moment of silence for tankerfly.  Nah…

COMMENT:  I was never a fan of this item so I won’t miss it.  Still, I was hoping they’d turn it into a Tome of the Reaper/Curse of Death for tanks, like having a reaper effect on hit kinda like an Aegis slow proc.  It could’ve fit it thematically, giving you health at the same time denying enemy healing.

 

ODIN’S WILL

Price: 1820  >> 1900

New recipe:   Greaves of Protection + Light Armor + Light Armor

• Attack Damage +60 >> Armor +200
• HP +1000 >> HP +1200

​COMMENT:  I personally like this change as 60 AD felt awkward.  I’ve only seen  Superman purchase this.  I’d probably try it on Maloch as soon as it comes out.

 

ROCK SHIELD

• HP +800 >>HP +1000
• Shield based on max HP: 10% >> 12%

​COMMENT:  Not gonna lie, I hate this item.  I feel that the shield support item offers much more better stats.

 

SOULREAVER

Attack Damage +40 >>Attack Damage +60

COMMENT:  This would somehow mitigate some of Kriknak’s damage nerf early game.  I feel that this buff might put other assassin junglers into the map.

 

BOW OF SLAUGHTER

Price: 2400 → 2330

COMMENT:  I rarely see this item.  Still, if I’d have to choose between the Beast and this for a marksman, I’d go with this.

for full summary of changes, refer to the original post

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BUFFS

ILUMIA 

S1: Divine Light

Added a timer display for enhanced ability.

Radius of outer border of explosion: 2.8 m >> 3 m

Additional damage along the path of the enhanced Divine Light:  1 time >> 1.6 times

 

PREYTA 

S1: Plague Specter

Magic damage: 240/300/360/420/480/540 (+0.37 AP) >> 250/300/350/400/450/500 (+0.35 AP)

S2: Poison Gas Bomb

Stun time after enhancement: 1 sec >> 0.75 sec

Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10/9 >> 12/11.4/10.8/10.2/9.6/9

S3: Disciple of the Plague

Shield: 500/850/1200 (+1.2 AP) >> 500/750/1000 (+1.0 AP)

Attack speed bonus: 25% >> 24%/32%/40%

Range magic damage: 80/160/240 (+0.4 AP) >> 100/175/250 (+0.5 AP)

 

THE FLASH

Base movement speed: 380 >> 400

S1: Super Speed

Cooldown: 11/10.4/9.8/9.2/8.6/8 >> 10/9.4/8.8/8.2/7.6/7

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AZZEN’KA

S2: Dust Devil

Range: 7m >> 7.5m

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MGANGA

Base movement speed: 350 >> 360

Growth attack speed: 1% >> 2%

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NATALYA

Base armor: 83 >> 91

Growth max HP: 190.8 >> 202

Decreased the duration from casting of Natalya’s ultimate to when it can be canceled: 1 sec >> 0.5 sec

 

KAHLII 

Base attack damage: 157 >> 167

 

TEL’ANNAS

S1: Eagle Eye

Magic damage equal to physical damage: 40/48/56/64/72/80 (+0.55 AD) >> 50/58/66/74/82/90 (+0.55 AD) (can critically strike)

S2: Penetrating Shot

Physical damage: 180/210/240/270/300/330 (+1.0 AD) >> 275/335/395/455/515/575 (+0.6 AD)

Removed: The arrows lose 20% damage for each enemy hit, up to 40% damage loss.

Added:  Each enemy hero hit increases movement speed by 20% for 1 second.

S3: Arrow of Chaos

Removed:  Movement speed increased by 30% for 2 seconds.

 

YORN

Passive: Fierce Shot

Damage of each shot: 75 (+4 per level) (+0.4 AD) >> 75 (+6 per level) (+0.4 AD)

 

THE JOKER

S3: Canned Laughter

Physical damage: 440/560/680 (+2.4 AD) >> 530/715/900 (+2.4 AD)

 

RYOMA

S2: Wailing Blade

Physical damage: 320/360/400/440/480/520 (+2 AD) >> 350/395/440/485/530/575 (+2.1 AD)

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BATMAN

S3: Dark Knight

Added:  Untargetable during flight if this ability is activated again while invisible.

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ROURKE

Passive: Scattershot

Percentage of damage dealt to structures based on attack damage: 80% >> 100%

S1: Charged Shot

Storage time for enhanced normal attacks: 1.5 sec >> 4 sec

 

BALDUM

S1: Wild Charge

Cooldown: 12/11.6/11.2/10.8/10.4/10 >> 10/9.6/9.2/8.8/8.4/8 sec

S2: Wild Stomp

Added: Double damage to jungle monsters.

Added: Cooldown reduced by 0.3 seconds every time it hits a jungle monster.

Percentage damage reduction: 15/18/21/24/27/30% >> 25/30/35/40/45/50%​

 

WONDER WOMAN

S1: Sword & Shield

Maximum damage to jungle monsters: 100 >> 1000

 

ZANIS

S2: Tail Sweep

Increased attack speed: 50% >> (100/120/140/160/180/200)%

Added:  Life steal for 3 seconds: (10/12/14/16/18/20)%

Duration of increased attack speed and life steal: 5 sec >> 3.5 sec

Cooldown: 9/8.6/8.2/7.8/7.4/7 >> 8/7.7/7.4/7.1/6.8/6.5

S3: Dragon’s Wrath

Additional true damage: 80/130/180 (+0.4 AD) >> 70/110/150 (+0.35 AD)

Removed: 20% damage reduction.

Cooldown: 24/20/16 >> 24/22/20

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LUMBURR

S2: Rampage

Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11/10 >> 13/12.4/11.8/11.2/10.6/10

Mana cost: 80/90/100/110/120/130 >> 75/80/85/90/95/100

S3: Earth Splitter

Cooldown: 40/35/30 >> 36/33/30

Mana cost: 150/180/210 >> 120/140/160

 

TAARA

Growth max HP: 278.3 >> 328.3

Passive:  Fighting Spirit

Attack damage bonus for each 1% of max HP lost: 2 – 5 (increases with level) >> 3 – 6 (increases with level)

 

MALOCH 

Passive: Plunder

HP regen: 2% of lost HP >> 2% of lost HP (+0.15 additional AD bonus)

S1: Cleave

HP regen for each hero hit: 6% of lost HP >> 6% of lost HP (+0.3 additional AD bonus)

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OMEGA

S1: Guardian Mode

Duration of increased movement speed: 5 sec >> 3 sec

S2: Crash Mode

Ability animation duration decreased by 0.15 seconds.

S3: Exterminate

Added:  Each spin also deals a temporary knockback effect to enemy units (ineffective against towers.)

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MAX

S3: Liftoff

Physical damage: 600/800/1000 (+1.0 AD) >> 700/950/1200 (+2.0 bonus AD)

ARUM

Passive: Ravenous Beasts

Added:  Beasts no longer visible when Arum is hiding in a brush.

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NERFS

IGNIS

S1: Fire Crash

Magic damage: 320/380/440/500/560/620 (+0.5 AP) >> 340/380/420/460/500/540 (+0.4 AP)

 

RAZ

S2: Power Surge

Magic damage: 500/580/660/740/820/900 (+0.93 AP) >> 500/570/640/710/780/850 (+0.9 AP)

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ANNETTE

S1: Gust Force

Magic damage: 75 – 120 (+0.12 AP) >> 65 – 110 (+0.15 AP)

S3: Hurricane Wall

Removed:  Channeling.  Can move while casting.

Radius of ultimate area: 4.5m >> 3.5m

Duration of ultimate area: 3.5 sec >> 2.5 sec

Cooldown: 60/55/50 >> 70/65/60

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SLIMZ

S3: Savage Potion

Percent damage based on max HP: 4%/5%/6% >> 3%/4%/5% (fixed a bug in which this percentage will not grow)

 

KRIKNAK

Passive: Bite

Physical damage: 100 (+1.0 additional AD) → 80 (+1.0 additional AD)

S1: Terrifying Plague

Physical damage: 410/465/520/575/630/685 (+1.6 additional AD) >> 360/420/480/540/600/660 (+1.5 additional AD)

Percentage magic damage based on max HP: 10 (+0.02 additional AD)% >> 8 (+0.02 additional AD)%

 

Y’BNETH

Passive: Natural Affinity

HP recovered per second: 80 (+15 per level) >> 45 (+18 per level)

S1: Wicked Thorns/Redwood Rush

Physical damage: 270 (+40 per level) (+0.8 AD) >> 250 (+50 per level) (+0.8 AD)

Cooldown: 5/4.7/4.4/4.1/3.8/3.5 >> 6/5.5/5/4.5/4/3.5

S2: Branching Out

Physical damage: 340 (+45 per level) (+0.85 AD) >> 285 (+55 per level) (+0.95 AD)

 

MINA

Base movement speed: 390 >> 380

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​REBALANCE

 

FENNIK

S1: Thief’s Mark

Cooldown: 11/10.2/9.4/8.6/7.8/7 >> 10/9.4/8.8/8.2/7.6/7

S3: Chain Hammer Cyclone

Cooldown: 36/30/24 >> 30/25/20

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LINDIS

S1: Piercing Gaze

Physical damage: 125/210/295/380/465/550 (+0.2 AD) >> 140/210/280/350/420/490 (+0.2 AD)

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ZEPHYS

S1: Death Rift

Physical damage: 190/214/238/262/286/310 (+1.0 AD) >> 175/200/225/250/275/300 (+1.0 AD)

Additional physical damage: 85/97/109/121/133/145 (+1.5 AD) >> 175/200/225/250/275/300 (+1.3 AD)

S2: Death’s Flurry

Cooldown: 8/7.2/6.4/4.6/4.8/4 >> 5

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MURAD

Passive: Rift

Attack damage bonus: 5% >> 24 (+3 every 2 levels)

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RIKTOR

Passive: Fighting Spirit

Movement speed bonus when switching between environments: 40% for 1 sec >> 50% for 0.5 sec

S1: Jungle Strike

Slash damage: 150 – 300 (+0.8 AD) >> 125 – 275 (+0.8 AD)

Magic damage from normal attacks: 25 – 150 >> 10 – 135

S2: Retaliate

Physical damage dealt from counterattack: 200 – 450 (+1.2 AD) >> 200 – 425 (+1.0 AD)

[Added] Physical damage when on land: 200 – 450 (+1.2 AD) >> 225 – 475 (+1.5 AD)

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ROXIE

S1: Wild Fire

[Added] Damage and healing are doubled within 2.5 seconds of activation.

Magic damage: 35/45/55/65/75/85 (+0.16 AP) >> 20/26/32/38/44/50 (+0.14 AP)

S3: Agnie’s Grasp

Control time fixed at 2.5 seconds → Control time between 1.5 – 2.5 seconds. The closer it is, the longer the duration.

Cooldown: 45/40/35 >> 40/36/32

Pushing is one of the very basics of the game and is probably the most essential.  Sadly, it also seems to be the most overlooked aspect, with many players simply ignoring it which I can’t think of any explanation for.  To the uninitiated, pushing is basically defined as advancing a lane, with the main objective of taking down turrets.

With pushing, the terms wave management and minion timings are usually thrown in the discussion.  Just check the links for more detailed info about the two.  I have also talked about pushing in detail in the past. 

Minions can be utilized to slowly (and subtly) push a lane.  Oftentimes, they are just ignored thus resulting into a surprise tower takedown.  Proper minion management can increase the chances of takedowns through creep waves.  In this post, I will be sharing some tips to be a good minion commander.

THE BEST DEFENSE AND OFFENSE

Playing in soloQ as a tank/support, I often experience being “held hostage” by my own team, with our side barely advancing as the team focuses more on kills.  I’ve tried splitpushing but my team usually end up getting killed as they lack numbers advantage, especially with me, the one who should be setting up plays, decided to split.  Additionally tank/supports are usually inefficient tower breakers even though some have decent waveclear.  Because of this, I slowly developed a personal playstyle to help the team push (if no one wants to) and support in teamfights at the same time.  It’s called………… *drumroll*  uhm…

WAVE CLEARING…

Waveclearing again wut?!

Yeah, just waveclearing.  It’s as easy as that.  Check the map and whenever a wave crosses the river and enters your territory and no one else is getting it, try to clear it yourself.  You don’t even have to wait for the next wave.  Just clear one and go to whatever thing you’re supposed to do.  This not only helps your turret from being sneaky pushed by creeps but it can also help your waves advance and if lucky, do a sneak push on the enemy.  This helps with your gold income as well so it’s a win-win.  Since waves take 18 secs in mid and 27 secs in the sides to reach the center, you can even defend two lanes if you’re using a mobile hero with good waveclear like Arthur (or Superman), provided that there are no enemy heroes making a push.  Simply put, good waveclearing is the most fundamental skill of a minion commander.

GETTING THE MOST VALUE FROM YOUR MINIONS

A good general knows how to best utilize his/her troops.  Likewise, a good minion commander will not just throw away valuable military assets.  Remember that minions give gold to the enemy so simply letting them be farmed by the opponent is just basically giving them free kills.  This is why pushing and amassing minions should be properly and carefully timed or you’ll just be feeding gold to the enemy team.

For example, after securing a kill on the enemy laner, if your hero has poor tower takedown potential, you can just clear the wave (if there is any) and roam/rotate to help a teammate or get nearby objectives.  Early game, it is advisable even for known towerbreakers like Kilgroth to clear nearby monsters like the scout bird or quick invade (safely) the enemy jungle while the waves are crashing onto the enemy turrets.

Allowing the waves to just crash to the enemy turret also gives you ample time to focus on objectives (like the abyssal dragon) with numbers advantage since one from the enemy team will most probably clear the wave instead of contesting.  It’s still a win-win if they decide to contest as the possibility of tower takedown increases.

Why would this simple tactic work?

1.  Players simply ignore minion waves.  Given a choice between a kill and a wave, a lot of players would opt for a kill (or even compete with the jungler for farm).   This often results in forced fights or skirmishes around the map without any goal at all.  With this in mind, you can just go clear a wave and then join the chaos yourself if you want to.  At least, while you’re all busy fighting, your waves are doing their job.  

2.   Minion waves can break a stalemate.  This is related to #1.  There are instances when opposing teams get into a wild wild west staredown, wherein one team gauges the other team while looking for a good timing to initiate a fight (usually ends in a chaotic-shoot-em-up clown fiesta or a no-action-all-bluster clown siesta).  This happens even without a definite objective to fight on and is mostly a flamebait for anyone who won’t join in.  If you have a wave pushing towards the enemy base, stalemates like this would end in your favor as the enemy risks losing a turret in a prolonged staredown.  

3.   Players underestimate the power of minions.  This has been the most common thing that I’ve seen.  Players would come too late to defend.  It’s just ridiculous to see a marksman incredibly failing to finish off a siege minion as the turret gets reduced to rubble.  This just recently happened in my game where a Valhein was getting blue while our tier 2 top turret nearby is being sieged.

  This is just a recycled image.  As shown, minions by themselves can eventually tear down a turret as long as they can crash onto one.

4.  Most players overestimate the power of turrets.  By themselves, turrets are terrible defenders.  They are meant to lose to minions over time, so you can’t rely on them solely to stop a minion push.  However, they support to your minion line and give vision, thus providing essential map control, so keeping them intact is still a top priority.

5.  Pushing waves open up options for your team while limiting opponents’ choices.  With creeps providing vision, your team gains better map control allowing you to scout enemies moving in lanes.  At the same time, the opponent is forced to decide whether to clear waves or riskily scout dragon or slayer especially if your team is nowhere in sight.  Also, having multiple pressured decision making choices increases the chances of a team making mistakes.  The team that makes the lesser mistakes will most often win the game.

Why not just siege or splitpush?

Wars need funding.  AoV is basically a war between two teams.  Ultimately, your team will be sieging or one of your teammates will be splitpushing later in the game, but both of those require resources to be done early.  You need better items (sometimes even drake) to successfully siege, and the same goes with splitpush where you might even have to craft a play around it.  On the other hand, keeping your lane clear of waves require little to no resources unless you’re playing a hero with terrible waveclear.  In fact, it even provides you income.

A botched siege wastes team effort and time which could’ve been used instead to take valuable objectives around the map.  I’ve experienced a lot of games devolving into an “OM”,  ARAM, running it down mid, or whatever thing you call it and it usually ends with the one having the pushing lanes getting the upperhand.

A properly executed splitpush wins games, while a badly timed splitpush is just giving away gold to the enemy team, especially if you have to bail out with a large army of minions behind.  It’s just like sending your troops to be slaughtered.

Additionally, both strategies require having a decent team which does not often happen in soloQ.  On the other hand, proper wave management is something that you can practice on your own and at the same time, can patch some holes in a crappy teammate’s gameplay.  If a teammate does not clear waves, you can just run to his/her lane and do it yourself.  You earn gold and at the same time provide both defense and offense to the lane.

APPLICATION

Heroes with good clearing potential can be good minion commanders.  There are some heroes though, especially supports, that severely lack waveclear.  Whenever I play support, I pick ones that can at least clear waves decently or if I want to improve my clear, I itemize with Heart of Incubus.  I only do it though in extreme need — when teammates just won’t listen to pings.  IMO it’s a good investment especially if no one on your team is clearing waves.

As mentioned above, with the vision and map control they are providing, minions can be used as a bait to force the enemy’s hand into desperate measures.  With large waves pushing from your side, depending on their proximity to the enemy turrets, the enemy team would be baited to clear them while you can freely take objectives like dragon and slayer. 

You can even double bait the enemy — bait them with minions, dragon, and/or slayer while your team waits in their jungle for an ambush.  Another double-bait trick is to wait instead in the fog of war, behind an advancing wave that is going near the enemy turret, and do a quick “stealth“ push.  A successful execution of any these will often lead to a win.  This is how a meticulously planned minion wave push can add to your win conditions.

The Faux Splitpush

Some heroes suck at breaking towers but excels in waveclearing.  For such, I’d just apply the usual laning tactics while pushing.  Instead of staying in lane after clearing enemy wave, I’d get nearby jungle monsters or just go in a nearby brush while observing enemy map movement.  I’d even let the minion waves crash onto each other and then just follow up.  Somehow, it gives the false impression to the enemy that no one is pushing. Most of the time, enemies would respond only to heroes pushing, but not to creeps, so staying hidden as much as possible can help your minion wave reach further.

Another tactic that I use is to “leave” while the enemy wave is about to be completely cleared.  I let myself be seen “rotating” but I just stay hidden and continue to support my waves, going in and out, keeping close watch on the map and tracking enemy movements.

Staggering your push can make the enemy guess your intentions.  You can get one wave and just show yourself “leaving the push” as above.  This has the same effect of “the waves can’t push without a hero” line of though that I usually encounter in solo.

There are also times when I just stay in a nearby brush and wait for enemies to clear the waves then go out for an ambush. I’ve taken down a lot of squishies with this.  Even if you don’t get a kill, you can chunk the enemy low enough to make them insignificant and have to heal back up. I used to do this with Arthur as he is awkward in teamfights but his mobility allows him to rotate ala Superman.

These are just a few examples of application of minion commander tactics.  There are probably more.  A minion wave’s potential is only limited by the minion commander’s imagination and cunning.  In chess, good usage of pawns can influence the outcome of the game.  The same logic applies in AoV with proper management of waves.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To summarize, check the minimap for any amassing minion waves, either on your side or the opponents’.  Always keep your lanes clear beyond the river, but be wary of large waves from your team.  If there are any, look for would-be contested objectives around the map and force the enemy team into making a decision whether to clear the wave and give up numbers advantage or risk losing a turret and contest the objective.  Don’t let a minion wave on your side get cleared without getting something in return; and as always, observe, formulate, and adapt.

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For more game guides, visit the Academy.  

Also, please drop by SquirrelNation especially if you want to improve your gameplay.  The SquirrelNation is a friendly community with a some high-level coaching staff to assist.  You can record your games and send them for review to know your strong points and the things that you need to improve.

 

Humility is arguably the very first step in improvement. I can’t think of any other virtue needed for self improvement that is more important than humility.  Humility leads to acceptance.  In order to improve, one must accept the fact that he or she does mistakes that need to be corrected.

Instead of looking for someone else to blame for your loss, ask yourself what could you have done to win? Did you make any mistakes that added to the ones made by your team to cost you the game?  Games are usually won by teams that made the least mistakes.

Criticizing yourself could be difficult, especially with the fact that it’s easier to remember good plays versus bad. For this, recording and watching your games would help. Seeing your gameplay from a different perspective makes your mistakes much more visible and from there, you can take steps in correcting them.  I’ve done this before in League.  I used to think I played well until I tried to watch a replay.  I cringed on some of my plays and bad rotations.  It’s like watching a different person play.  Sadly I know that it was me, and I know for a fact that it would be a different person if I will make efforts to improve.

Once you improve, it’s normal to be proud of yourself.  After all, you deserve to be happy of your accomplishments.  Pride in small amounts is helpful.  It will give you the confidence to make plays and other decisions that you used to hesitate to make. Remember though that too much of it will result in shutting yourself off from other people’s suggestions, especially from those who we think are inferior to us.  Take time to hear every suggestion regardless of rank as there might be some merit to them.  At least, you’ll have chance to correct and teach other players on how you got to improve.  

Every game is different. You might have that one game where you carried like a pro, and by the next game you might end up having to be carried instead. Enjoy the games where you played like a god and learn from ones that you had to be lifted up by the scruff of your neck; but still, always treat each game differently as no game would be the same, even with those of exact team comps.  Your past games won’t be considered, whether you played well or not.  Stay humble.  Be open to opinions.

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I’m currently a faculty member content creator at AoV Academy, which was founded by ChaosSquirrel and managed by IzaqPlays.  Follow and Like the Academy Facebook page to get the latest updates, guides, and vids.  I am still maintaining this blog though, mostly as a “draft” page for my usually lengthy writeups and for posting quick guides and test server updates.

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