- Tittle: The Arcane Witchcraft
- Author: ONEATATIME
Skywrath Mage is a ranged hero, more precisely both a support and a ganker. He’s endowed of a great slow and of an almost-autocastable skill. The ultimate is majestic, but hard to utilize. The counterpart is that he totally lacks of survivability.
Pros
- Disabler
- Good slow
- Huge ultimate’s damage
- Harasser
- High intelligence gain
- High MS
- High skills’ casting range
- Spammer
Cons
- Item dependent
- Low agility gain
- Mana problems (early game)
- Nearly no armor
- No survivability
- Non-instantaneous ultimate (deals damage over time)
- Spell dependent
Skills
Arcane Bolt
The Sky Mage fires off a bolt of Arcane energy to harm his adversaries. Deals an additional 1.6x the Sky Mage's intelligence and grants 325 vision around the projectile.
- 1. Mana 70 / Cooldown 5 / 60 + 1.6x Int damage
- 2. Mana 70 / Cooldown 4 / 80 + 1.6x Int damage
- 3. Mana 70 / Cooldown 3 / 100 + 1.6x Int damage
- 4. Mana 70 / Cooldown 2 / 120 + 1.6x Int damage
- Damage type: magical
- The projectile moves very slowly (500 ms) and you have 325 vision around it
Arcane Bolt is a skill that becomes stronger over time, based on the hero’s intelligence. This means it doesn’t deal too much during the early game, while later can be spammed effectively due to the low cooldown and the hero’s high intelligence gain. Once casted, it can hunt the enemy the whole time until it hits him. Even if it also provides vision around itself, can be easily dodged due to his very slow MS (e.g. Black King Bar, Manta Style). Lastly, as I think it’s the skill which casting animation lasts 1.08 seconds, remember to quickly move your hero once you casted it: if you don’t, you could lose precious time.
Concussive Shot
With Dragon like intuition, the Skywrath Mage releases a compact ball of magical lightning at the closest visible hero within 1600 AoE. Upon impact the ball bursts slowing enemies by 40% for 4 seconds and dealing damage around the target.
- 1. Mana 110 / Cooldown 20 / Duration 4 seconds / Deals 50 damage and slows in an AoE
- 2. Mana 110 / Cooldown 18 / Duration 4 seconds / Deals 100 damage and slows in an AoE
- 3. Mana 110 / Cooldown 16 / Duration 4 seconds / Deals 150 damage and slows in an AoE
- 4. Mana 110 / Cooldown 14 / Duration 4 seconds / Deals 200 damage and slows in an AoE
- Damage type: magical
- Does not work when no heroes are in range or heroes are in fog.
Concussive shot is a very long range disable that slows and deals some damage. You must be very accurate, as it automatically targets the nearer hero you have sight in the moment you cast it. Unlike Arcane Bolt, it fades out if the enemy hero disappears inside the fog of war. It’s mostly used for ganks and escapes, but damage is considerable just during the early game.
Ancient Seal
Dragonus draws a mystical rune on the enemy that amplifies all spell damage against them and snuffs out their ability to cast spells for a few seconds.
- 1. Mana 80 / Cooldown 11 / Duration 3 seconds / Silences, amplifies incoming magic damage by 18%
- 2. Mana 90 / Cooldown 11 / Duration 4 seconds / Silences, amplifies incoming magic damage by 24%
- 3. Mana 100 / Cooldown 11 / Duration 5 seconds / Silences, amplifies incoming magic damage by 30%
- 4. Mana 110 / Cooldown 11 / Duration 6 seconds / Silences, amplifies incoming magic damage by 36%
Another disable. Ancient Seal silences the targeted hero and, like Veil of Discord, reduces his magic resistance. It’s a typical support skill and synergizes with the entire skillset.
Mystic Flare
Dragonus uses his ultimate magical ability to conjure a precise and violent mystical field that lays waste to his adversaries. Deals massive damage distributed evenly among any heroes in the AoE over 2 seconds.
- 1. Mana 350 / Cooldown 60 / Duration 2 seconds / Deals 600 damage over 2 seconds
- 2. Mana 575 / Cooldown 40 / Duration 2 seconds / Deals 900 damage over 2 seconds
- 3. Mana 800 / Cooldown 20 / Duration 2 seconds / Deals 1200 damage over 2 seconds
- Damage type: magical
- Does not affect or count creeps. Deals damage over time in the area.
Mystic Flare is one of the hardest skills to utilize correctly (it needs your allies’ help), but it makes wonder when hits a single target, due to the huge damage it deals. It has a great cooldown of just 20 seconds at level 3, but there are also many negative elements I must underline:
- Damage is dealt over time;
- Damage is equally splitted to every hero in the area;
- It can be evaded;
- It consumes up to 800 mana;
- It has a very small AoE.
Skill Build
Standard
- Level 1: Concussive Shot
- Level 2: Arcane Bolt/Ancient Seal
- Level 3: Arcane Bolt
- Level 4: Ancient Seal/Arcane Bolt
- Level 5: Arcane Bolt
- Level 6: Mystic Flare
- Level 7: Arcane Bolt
- Level 8-9: Concussive Shot
- Level 10: Ancient Seal
- Level 11: Mystic Flare
- Level 12-13: Ancient Seal
- Level 14: Concussive Shot
- Level 15: Attribute Bonus
- Level 16: Mystic Flare
- Level 17-25: Attribute Bonus
Explanation
Concussive Shot is selected at level 1 to partially prevent ganks (even if, in many cases, it could be insufficient). Then, you’re going to maximize Arcane Bolt over Concussive Shot because of its very short cooldown. At level 4, you’ll select Ancient Seal to silence, support your allies and slightly amplify your damage. Ultimate could fail several times, but you must risk because it’s devastating, so it’s to level up whenever it’s possible. Concussive Shot is skilled two more times to further improve its cooldown and your damage potential. After that, Ancient Seal should have the priority, since a fourth level would be useless.
I found out this is the best skill build, after many mathematical calculations I’ll show briefly. They concern the damage you can deal per level in a time interval equal to 10 seconds, not considering the ultimate (that, as I said, can be evaded in many ways) and the target’s magic resistance, supposing that only three Ironwood Branches will give you extra intelligence (and a +5 from Mekansm by level 12), as well as the initial and remaining amount of mana.
Supportive
- Level 1: Concussive Shot
- Level 2: Arcane Bolt/Ancient Seal
- Level 3: Ancient Seal/Arcane Bolt
- Level 4-5: Ancient Seal
- Level 6: Mystic Flare
- Level 7: Ancient Seal
- Level 8-10: Arcane Bolt
- Level 11: Mystic Flare
- Level 12-14: Concussive Shot
- Level 15: Attribute Bonus
- Level 16: Mystic Flare
- Level 17-25: Attribute Bonus
Explanation
- This build aims to improve the team’s magic damage output during the first ganks. It also suggests you to hazard more often Mystic Flare, since its effects increase esponentially.
Item Build
Starting
Against physical attackers
- This build is suggested against physical attackers, your worst enemies. It aims to provide you some armor you lack. «Normal is the type for all attacks, and makes the damage gets reduced by armor value» (DotA Mechanics, Damage and armor).
Against spellcasters
- This one works against spellcasters and aims to provide you some early stregth, without forgetting the precious armor. «Magic is the most common ability damage type which makes the damage not reduced by armor value at all» (DotA Mechanics, Damage and armor).
Variant
- A variant with an animal courier incorporated. I guess you could make one of your mates upgrade it to a flying one. The whole team will benefit from it, and it would be easier for you to complete items that require a recipe without losing too much time.
- In each case, you can decide to swap an Ironwood Branch for a Clarity Potion if you want to play more aggressively.
Core
Against physical attackers
Magic Wand grants you 0.4 armor points and a heal is always welcome.
Ring of Basilius gives you further 3 armor points, plus the mana aura, that a spammer like you will surely benefit from. An addition of 6 damage points too, for a better harassing.
Arcane Boots is possibly the first item to buy, as it greatly increases your mana pool. Also, you’ll be always able to cast Concussive Shot (with 25 mana left, you’ll gain 85 additional points).
Mekansm is a must because Skywrath Mage is a very fragile hero, and he terribly lacks of survavibility. Note that with these last 3 items, you’ll support greatly your team.
Rod of Atos is one of the new items. It grants more survavibility due to the Vitality Booster component and synergizes very well with Concussive Shot and Mystic Flare (the targeted hero will be slowed down by the 80% for 4 seconds). Not to add that also Arcane Bolt will benefit from it (+25 intelligence).
Against spellcasters
Null Talisman gives you a lot of useful statistics (+9 damage, +39 mana, +57 HP, +0.4 armor) and it’s one of Dagon’s components.
Power Treads must be manteined in Strength Mode, as they’ll provide you 152 HP. If necessary, switch them to Intelligence if you need.
Veil of Discord is quite similar to Mekansm, but it’s mostly used for offensive purposes. It also amplifies magic damage.
Dagon synergizes with Ancient Seal and Veil of Discord, so you’ll deal up to 680 damage instead of 400. Don’t upgrade it to the second level.
Luxury
Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse is the best luxury for Skywrath Mage. Thanks to a mana regeneration bonus of 150%, you’ll be able to spam effectively Arcane Bolt. Also, it reduces the enemy’s MS to 100, making him virtually immobile. A great occasion to cast your ultimate. Unfortunately, its components are very expansive.
Shiva’s Guard provides you plenty of armor and intelligence. Moreover, it’s another slow.
Orchid Malevolence isn’t good as the above-mentioned items, but it comes in small pieces, further amplifies your damage, and adds 150% mana regeneration. Buy it only if you aren’t able to reach 2700 gold for the Mystic Staff.
Necronomicon is great against a team of spellcasters, not only for the extra strength you’ll gain, but above all thanks to the mana burner minion.
Eye of Skadi will provide you more slowing potential. Quite expensive, but worth it. Personally, I would buy it to fill the sixth inventory slot.
Situational
Ghost Scepter works very well against physical attackers. While in Ghost Form, you can still cast your skills.
Force Staff provides you a little intelligence and damage bonus, as well as a better escape mechanism. It synergizes with Concussive Shot, as you can push nearer to you the hero you want to hit (or, vice versa, push away the other one). Veil of Discord should be bought as a replacement for Mekansm if one of your allies is planning to buy it. It’s just extra intelligence and damage potential.
Eul’s Scepter of Divinity not only will provide you another bit of intelligence, but also extra MS (good for both chasing and escaping) and mana regeneration. The Cyclone ability can be used to briefly “block” an enemy during team fights or to dodge some spell.
Black King Bar works fine if you’re the target of many spells, as it gives you magic immunity for various seconds. The +10 strength addition is good, while the +24 damage not at all.
Ethereal Blade could be a viable luxury because of various things: it’s the perfect upgrade to Ghost Scepter, if you bought it; it provides many useful stats (above all, +5.7 armor and +1900 HP); its slow is damn good (-80%); it deals a significant amount of magic damage (almost like Dagon level 1); it stacks with the well-known amplified damage combo. The problem is that a component is very expensive (Eaglehorn costs 3300 gold), so I think it should replace Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse, that requests a huge amount of gold itself (for Mystic Staff, 2700) and be preceded by Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
Bloodstone can be considered as a double-edged weapon. It stacks with HP and mana and allows you to spam your spells frequently and, thanks to the huge mana regeneration, never run out of mana. On the other hand, it’s very expensive and doesn’t provide any intelligence. I’d rather spend my gold in Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse or Orchid Malevolence.
Linken’s Sphere is great against few spellcasters in the enemy team (or, more improbably, if you do many one on one clashes instead of team fights). It blocks most targeted spells once every 20 seconds.
Rejected
Empty Bottle seems a good item. After having bought it at the beginning, you solo middle and then, at level 6, start gankink. But no, it won’t work. Skywrath Mage is very fragile so he needs items that stack with armor or (and) strength.
Soul Ring. Same as above, you can’t sacrifice 150 of your low HP.
Tranquil Boots give you extra armor, regenerate both actively and passively HP, and are green fluorescent, too. However, Arcane Boots and Power Treads are still better: the former for the extra mana Skywrath Mage lacks during the early game, the latter for the extra survavibility (Tranquil Boots won’t work effectively during crucial moments).
Gameplay
Early game
You’re not supposed to solo middle, so preferably take position in the lower lane if you’re a Sentinel, or in the upper one if you’re part of the Scourge. Your aim is to harass the enemy melee hero, preventing him a good moment of farming, and of course to deny. Don’t roam around the map.
Skywrath Mage hasn’t a great mana pool during this phase of the game, so Energy Booster is the best item that will solve this problem. At level 4, without it, you have 468 mana points and you’re able to cast just a pair of combinations (an Ancient Seal + Concussive Shot + Arcane Bolt and a Concussive Shot + Arcane Bolt), so spend it wisely. Once you bought Arcane Boots at level 6, your mana points are about 809 (plus other 110 from Restore), that will allow you to cast the above-mentioned combinations as well as another Ancient Seal + Mystic Flare. Power Treads and Null Talisman will provide you less mana, but still sufficient to cast the entire skillset.
Mid game
From now on, you’re able to gank properly thanks to an appropriate mana pool. You’re supposed to do it with a stunner or disabler, who will allow you to strike with Mystic Flare. Anyway, it shouldn’t be always needed: your slow and silence are already very useful.
Participates in team fights but be careful, you’re an easy target and as such, you should take advantage of your high attack range, remaining “behind the lines”.
Late game
By now, you aren’t as useful as before, since carries get stronger and stronger. You must patrol an allied hero, because you don’t want to die, gifting free experience and gold.
Nevertheless, you can still bring havoc to enemy spellcasters, Arcane Bolt is literally autocastable and, above all, Ancient Seal will silence for 6 seconds from level 14 on (according to the suggested skill build).
The "solo mid" argument
Soloing in the middle lane... what a big dilemma. I personally don’t like this idea, but I want to point it out in an objective way. Most of the times, you’ll do it because you want to be effective in the first phase of the game, reaching level 6 as soon as possible and bringing havoc around the map with Mystic Flare. But there are many things to consider.
Proper last-hitting
Your job drastically changes compared to a dual lane. Instead of harassing the opponent, now you have to take advantage of this opportunity, gaining the highest amount of money possible. It’s hard: there’s a big difference between you and a Chaos Knight (79 maximum damage output, with Quelling Blade). In a certain sense is easier for melee heroes, and moveover, the more you walk away from the targeted creep, the more time will elapse before the projectile will hit.
Taking care of yourself
I repeated many times that Skywrath Mage is a very fragile hero, so he can’t dominate the lane. This could mean that you won’t be able to land many hits, and gain less experience due to the enemy’s last-hits. Try to take advantage of your attack range, but don’t overdo because you are cannon fudder already after a few shots.
The correct items
If you’re going to solo middle, I suggest you to start off with the “variant” starting item build. Clarity Potion is crucial to refill the whole mana: while you start the first gank of the game, at level 6, you’re supposed not to have a lot of mana, so it will fix this issue. Animal Courier is very important if no other one buys it: the first thing it will carry to you is the Ring of Protection (Skywrath Mage’s starting armor is equal to 1), but it’s also useful if you need extra regenerative items. I refuse Empty Bottle, I think its purchase slows the one of Arcane Boots. In this phase of the game, you don’t only need more mana, but also an extended mana pool.
Allies
I don’t know how much Mystic Flare will be effective withouth the right allies, it depends on the enemies’ skills too, but I’m completely sure that they are able to increase a lot chances of success. You can find below a deeper description of them all.
One shot, one kill
Mystic Flare is a double-edged sword, but many tend not to consider it. You probably already know that your mana decreases to 0 in the first gank. So, what will happen? “One shot, one kill” or “one shot... fail”? Don’t try your luck, hoping in a dumb enemy.
Well, if you’re able to accomplish all the above factors feel free to solo middle. If not, go back to “early game” and restart from there.
Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com