Sven
   23 + 2.7
21 + 2
14 + 1.3
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Sven the Rogue Knight is a versatile melee strength Hero with superior physical power yet is coupled with various abilities that provide various utility. He can fulfill various roles, but is often played as a support or a semi-carry due to his high utility even without items. He possesses a versatile arsenal, from shouts that grant armor both for escaping and pushing to throwable gauntlets that disorient enemies around the target unit. With enough items, Sven has the potential to be a strong late-game carry due to his ultimate which increases his damage and his passive which allows him to hit multiple targets at once. He is a formidable foe and his versatility makes the Rogue Knight a great asset to any team.
Bio
Sven, the Rogue Knight▶️ "May my enemies share the fate of the Shattered Helm."
Lore:
Sven is the bastard son of a Vigil Knight, born of a Pallid Meranth, raised in the Shadeshore Ruins. With his father executed for violating the Vigil Codex, and his mother shunned by her wild race, Sven believes that honor is to be found in no social order, but only in himself. After tending his mother through a lingering death, he offered himself as a novice to the Vigil Knights, never revealing his identity. For thirteen years he studied in his father's school, mastering the rigid code that declared his existence an abomination. Then, on the day that should have been his In-Swearing, he seized the Outcast Blade, shattered the Sacred Helm, and burned the Codex in the Vigil's Holy Flame. He strode from Vigil Keep, forever solitary, following his private code to the last strict rune. Still a knight, yes...but a Rogue Knight. He answers only to himself.
Voice:
[[Voice actors#|]] (Responses)
Abilities
Sven unleashes his magical gauntlet that deals damage and stuns enemy units.
Cast Range: 600
Effect Radius: 255
Damage: 100/175/250/325
Stun Duration: 2
13
140
The Rogue Knight's iron gauntlet, taken from the school of his father, strikes his foes to their core.
- Storm Hammer travels at a speed of 1000 and can be disjointed.
- The targeting reticule must be centered over an enemy unit.
- Disjointing it, or becoming invulnerable upon impact will completely nullify the effects, including the AoE stun and damage.
- Sven's sword emits some particles during the cast time, visible to everyone.
Great Cleave
WC
WCSven strikes with great force, cleaving all nearby enemy units with his attack.
Cleave Radius: 300
Cleave Damage: 20%/35%/50%/65%
The Vigil Knights still seek to reclaim the stolen Outcast Blade from Sven, a weapon capable of cutting wide swaths through lesser warriors.
- Cleave damage is reduced by armor type but not by armor value.
- The cleave damages a circular area in front of Sven.
- As with all cleave, Great Cleave stacks with Battle Fury and Empower.
- Despite the visual effect, damage is applied instantly in the whole area.
Ability
N/A
N/A
Affects
Allies
Allies
Sven's Warcry heartens his allies for battle, increasing their movement speed and armor. Lasts 7 seconds.
Effect Radius: 900
Move Speed Bonus: 12%
Armor Bonus: 4/8/12/16
Buff Duration: 7
32/
25
Calling a few lines from the Vigil Codex fortifies Sven's obedience to his rogue code. So poetic!
- Has an instant cast time, but interrupts channeling.
- Fully stacks with other armor and movement speed granting abilities and items.
God's Strength
Ability
N/A
N/A
Affects
Self
Self
Sven channels his rogue strength, granting bonus damage for 25 seconds.
Self Damage Bonus: 100%/150%/200%
Allies Bonus Radius: 0 (900*)
Allies Damage Bonus: 0 (40%/60%/80%*)
Buff Duration: 25
80
100/
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
God's Strength grants bonus damage to allies in a 900 radius.
With the strength that shattered the Sacred Helm, the Rogue Knight stands unopposed in melee combat.
- Only increases base damage and that given by the primary attribute of Sven. Raw bonus damage is not increased.
- Aghanim's Scepter's aura bonus damage of 40%/60%/80% based on base damage and primary attribute of those affected.
- Sven's and the affected allies' current main damage is periodically checked, and the bonuses adapted instantly.
- The buff from the aura for allies lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- Aura only active while God's Strength is active.
Recommended items
Template:Recommendeditems
Equipment
Sven/equipment
Tips
- Early on, Sven has very low mana, so building mana boosting items may be a good idea.
- Sven's good strength gain and base health pool make Soul Ring an effective item in situations where you plan on skirmishing early and often.
- Drum of Endurance is a great item as it meshes well with Sven's role and play style, all while providing a strong aura to other members of your team.
- Take Attribute Bonus over the two other abilities instead if you want more mana, attack speed and strength to increase the bonus of God's Strength early on and to help sustain your mana for using skills. However, this is only useful very early on, as Warcry is amazing for teamfights and Great Cleave helps Sven's farming speed.
- If you prefer to initiate, get a Blink Dagger. Blink to your target and stun them with your Storm Hammer, make sure you activate God's Strength immediately or beforehand, which is more preferable as you can save more time on the casting animation and transformation time.
- Avoid leveling Great Cleave early on, as it will greatly push the lane towards the enemy tower making farming more difficult.
- As a melee carry without a blink, Sven is especially susceptible to being kited and having crowd control effects placed on him, negating his damage output. Don't skip Black King Bar to buy more damaging items, as it may result in doing no damage at all.
- Sven's unique position of being a Support and Carry at the same time can make him a decent babysitter for a ranged carry like Weaver, Luna, or Sniper.
- Consider support items such as arcane boots to give you and your lane partner more mana for your spells.
- Without taking anything away from your lane partner, always try to find gold whenever and wherever possible (through pulling jungle creeps, roaming to help allies across the map, etc).
- Sven's unique kit allows him to transition into a strong late game hero. Although transitioning a dedicated support into a carry is not often ideal and difficult to execute, this can give your team an edge in long games; use this strategy carefully.
- Due to his Great Cleave and God's Strength a carry Sven benefits especially well from Heroes who can pull the enemy team together. This holds especially true with Magnus who can not only pull heroes together and stun them but also give Sven an additional cleave and damage bonus through Empower.
- Later on in the game, Assault Cuirass could be considered as well, as the negative armour debuff, attack speed and massive armour gain allows for Sven to truly become a tank.
Trivia
- Sven's name is a reference to Sven-Ole Thorsen, a Danish bodybuilder and actor.
- In an earlier version of DotA, Sven had a fun name called Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- The phrases "▶️ Twas only a flesh wound" and "▶️ It was but a scratch" are references to the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- The phrases "▶️ Blame the host" and "▶️ Bad host" are references to the original Warcraft III DotA gameplay when game stability depended on quality of internet connection on the host player.
Update history
Template:Update History
Balance changelog
Template:Update History
Replaced Abilities
Storm Bolt QT
QTA magical hammer is thrown at an enemy unit, causing damage and stunning the target.
Range: 600
Stun Duration: 2
Damage: 100/150/200/250
8
140
The Rogue Knight's iron gauntlet, taken from the school of his father, strikes his foes to their core.
Toughness Aura
E
Ability
N/A
N/A
Affects
Allies
Allies
Sven is here to pump you up! Increases armor of nearby allied units.
Bonus Armor: 1/2/4/5
Radius: 900
- Fully stacks with other bonus armor auras from items.
See also
- Sven responses
- Sven sounds
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