Ancient Apparition
"AA" redirects here. For the professional player, see ARS-ART.
Hero
Ancient Apparition
    20 + 1.9
20 + 2.2
23 + 3.4
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Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition, is a ranged intelligence hero who is usually played as a support. Though frail, this icy elemental caster possesses strong semi-spammable spells and a painful global ultimate. Cold Feet harms enemies and will also stun them unless they move away from the cast area, making the spell dangerous when used in conjunction with disables from allies. Ice Vortex is a low-cooldown zoning ability, applying a heavy slow and magic damage amplification to nearby enemies. This combines effectively with Chilling Touch, which endows Kaldr with enhanced magic damage from great range. His ultimate Ice Blast is one of the game's most devastating spells, with a global range and a radius that increases the further the blast travels. All enemies struck by it endure hefty damage, are temporarily prevented from healing or regenerating, and instantly perish if their health falls too low. Ancient Apparition can be devastating in team fights, and makes an excellent counter to heroes who rely on healing and regeneration.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition▶️ "One day, ice will cover these lands, and it will be as if this war never happened."
Lore:
Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition, is an image projected from outside time. He springs from the cold, infinite void that both predates the universe and awaits its end. Kaldr is, Kaldr was, Kaldr shall be… and what we perceive, powerful as it appears to us, is but the faintest faded echo of the true, eternal Kaldr. Some believe that as the cosmos ages and approaches its final moments, the brightness and power of Kaldr will also intensify—that the Ancient Apparition will grow younger and stronger as eternity's end draws nigh. His grip of ice will bring all matter to a stop, his image will cast a light too terrible to behold. An Apparition no longer!
Voice:
Abilities[edit]
Cold Feet
Places a frozen hex on an enemy unit that deals damage over time, but can be dispelled by moving away from the initial cast point. If the enemy unit doesn't move out of the given range, it will be stunned and frozen in place after 4 seconds.
Cast Animation: 0.01+0
Cast Range: 700/800/900/1000
Effect Radius: 0 (
625)
625)Break Distance: 715
Damage per Tick: 30/50/70/90
Damage Duration: 4
Stun Duration: 2/2.5/3/3.5
10/
125
Attempts to damage, but does not stun if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.
Blocked as a single-target spell. Not blocked when turned into an AoE spell.Modifiers
Cold Feet: Dispellable with any dispel. Coldfeet Freeze: Dispellable with strong dispels.Kaldr's presence draws those around him into a frozen void, threatening to lock them in an icy prison for eternity.
Notes:
- Cold Feet places an initial debuff on the target and places an icy marker at its current position upon cast.
- As long as the target stays within 715 radius of the mark, it takes damage from the debuff and after 4 seconds it is stunned.
- If the target moves 715 range away from the mark at any point during the initial debuff, the spell completely stops, removing the debuff and the marker.
- This means even when the target moves back within range, it is not frozen or damaged further.
- Also considers the target's vertical position, so getting moved far up enough can stop Cold Feet as well.
- When cast on units which already have the Cold Feet modifier, nothing happens.
- Deals damage in 1 second intervals, starting immediately upon cast, resulting in 4 instances.
- The stun is applied 1 second after the last instance.
- Can deal up to 120/200/280/360 damage to the target (before reductions).
- The talent turns Cold Feet into an area-targeted spell, so that it cannot directly target units anymore.
- The break distances are individual for each hit enemy. They do not share it.
- Can target invisible enemies and enemies inside the fog of war.
Ice Vortex
Ability
Target Area
Target Area
Affects
Enemies / Self
Enemies / Self
Creates a vortex of icy energy that slows movement speed and increases magic damage done to enemies in its range.
Cast Animation: 0.01+0
Cast Range: 1500
Effect Radius: 275
Move Speed Slow: 15%/20%/25%/30% ( 23%/28%/33%/38%)
23%/28%/33%/38%)Magic Resistance Reduction: 15%/20%/25%/30% ( 23%/28%/33%/38%)
23%/28%/33%/38%)Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
Duration: 16
4 ( 1.5) 40/ Slow and magic resistance reduction persist if debuff was placed before spell immunity.Modifiers
Ice Vortex: Undispellable.Frozen, caustic winds are at the whim of Kaldr, chilling the field of battle.
Notes:
- All effects are provided by an aura. The modifier lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- Reduces most heroes' total magic resistance to 14%/10%/6%/2% ( 8%/4%/0%/-4%), assuming basic 25% magic resistance and no other sources of magic resistance.
- Successive casts of Ice Vortex do not stack. A unit can only be affected by one of them even when multiple of them are overlapping.
- Provides 200 radius ground vision at the targeted point for its duration.
- Choosing the slow and resistance reduction increasing talent immediately upgrades all of Ancient Apparition's currently active Ice Vortexes, including already placed debuffs.
Enhances Ancient Apparition's attack with increased range, heavy magic damage, and movement slow.
Attack Range Bonus: 60/120/180/240 ( 235/295/355/415)
235/295/355/415)Damage: 50/90/130/170 ( 130/170/210/250)
130/170/210/250)Movement Speed Slow: 100%
Slow Duration: 0.5
15/
0) 30/
Removes cooldown. Slow persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
Chilling Touch Slow: Dispellable with any dispel.The Ancient Apparition's eternal knowledge brings a frigid enchantment to his attacks.
Notes:
- The cast range equals the caster's attack range + the bonus range. For Ancient Apparition, the range is 735/795/855/915 ( 910/970/1030/1090).
- The bonus damage is dealt in a separate damage instance, and counts as spell damage.
- This means it is not affected or considered by anything that works with attack damage.
- This also means that it fully works with spell damage amplification and spell lifesteal.
- The debuffs from successive casts fully stack, with each instance creating its own debuff.
- The attacks first apply the debuff, then their own damage.
Ice Blast
Launches a tracer towards any location of the battlefield, which must be triggered again to mark the area to be blasted by a damaging explosion of hail. The further the tracer travels, the larger the explosion will be. Enemies caught in the explosion, or who touched the icy ball of hail as it travels, are frostbitten, taking damage and prevented from regenerating or healing. If a frostbitten unit's health drops below a certain percentage, they will instantly shatter.
Cast Animation: 0.01+1.07
Cast Range: Global
Projectile Radius: 275
Min Explosion Radius: 275
Max Explosion Radius: 1000
Explosion Damage: 250/350/450
Damage per Second: 12.5/20/32
Percentage Health Kill Threshold: 12%/13%/14% ( 17%/18%/19%)
17%/18%/19%)Duration: 10/11/12
40 175
Modifiers
Ice Blast: Undispellable.Ice storms from ages past flow through Kaldr's frosty limbs, crashing into the world and turning its inhabitants into monuments to his eternal power.
Notes:
- Upon cast, Ice Blast is replaced by the sub-skill Release.
- The tracer projectile travels at a speed of 1500 until Release is cast, Ancient Apparition dies, or it reaches the map boundaries.
- The tracer is visible to allies only. The initial cast sound is also only audible to allies.
- The tracer projectile itself is harmless. It neither deals damage, nor places the debuff.
- The explosion radius starts at 275 and increases by 50 for every second the tracer has traveled, capped at 1000 radius.
- Thus, it takes at least 15 seconds to reach the maximum radius, equaling 22500 units traveled.
- The tracer provides 500 radius flying vision around itself as it travels. This vision does not last.
- The debuff is only placed on heroes, clones and creep-heroes, but not on illusions.
- The debuff can also be placed on spell immune or invulnerable, but not on hidden units.
- Unlike the debuff, the explosion damage hits all enemy units, including creeps, excluding buildings and wards.
- The debuff prevents the current health of affected units to increase in any way. The only exceptions are Sunder, Decay, Time Lapse, Morph Replicate, Supernova, Soul Catcher and Whirling Death.
- Units with the debuff on die instantly when their health drops below the threshold. The kill is credited to the source of the damage which brought them below the threshold.
- The debuff checks the unit's health upon taking damage, excluding the damage flagged by HP removal.
- However, if it was caused by self-inflicted damage, Ancient Apparition is credited for the kill.
- Min health prevents affected units from dying to the shatter for its duration. Invulnerable units cannot shatter.
- The debuff deals damage in 1 second intervals, starting 1 second after the debuff is applied, resulting in 10/11/12 instances.
- The debuff itself can deal up to 125/220/384 damage (before reductions).
- Together with the explosion, Ice Blast can deal up to 375/570/834 damage (before reductions).
Notes:
- Replaces Ice Blast until the sub-spell is cast or the tracer disappears.
- Upon cast, the tracer stops travelling and marks the total area hit by the explosion once the icy ball of hail reaches its position.
- It also provides 650 radius flying vision at that position for 4 seconds.
- The icy ball of hail travels at a speed of 750, or reaches the targeted point 2 seconds after launch, whichever is faster.
- The icy ball is only released when Release is cast, or when Ancient Apparition dies while the tracer is still travelling.
- It is not released when the tracer reaches the map boundary. In this case, the spell is wasted.
- Every enemy unit which comes within 275 radius of the icy ball as it travels, or is hit by the explosion gets the Frostbitten debuff.
- The debuff starts expiring only once outside of range of the icy ball. Getting within range again immediately refreshes the duration.
- The icy ball is fully visible to enemies. But unlike the tracer, it is not visible on the minimap.
- The icy ball provides 500 radius flying vision as it travels, which lasts for 3 seconds.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| +5% Ice Blast Kill Threshold | 25 | 625 AoE Cold Feet |
| +80 Chilling Touch Damage | 20 | +8% Ice Vortex Slow/Resistance |
| +15 Health Regen | 15 | -2.5s Ice Vortex Cooldown |
| +10% Spell Amplification | 10 | 175 Chilling Touch Attack Range |
Recent Changes[edit]
Main Article: Ancient Apparition/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Increased Ice Blast kill threshold from 10%/11%/12% to 12%/13%/14%.
- Level 10 Right Talent: Replaced +90 Gold/Min with +175 Chilling Touch Attack Range.
- Ice Blast's impact damage now pierces spell immunity. [?]
- Aghanim's Scepter
- No longer increases Ice Blast duration from 10/11/12 to 17.
- Now removes Chilling Touch's cooldown.
- Reduced Cold Feet break distance from 740 to 715.
- Increased Ice Blast mana cost from 150 to 175.
- Level 15 left talent: Reduced health regeneration bonus from 20 to 15.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
- Iron Branch gives cheap bonus attributes which is helpful for laning and can be build into Magic Wand.
- Clarity is needed because Ancient Apparition is very mana dependent in the early game. These potions will make spamming Cold Feet possible.
- Tango grants health restoration, which is very important for a fragile hero.
- Healing Salve also restores health to you and allies.
- Animal Courier carries items to team.
- Observer Ward not only helps your team out by providing vision, but help you out, too, by scouting low-HP enemies to Ice Blast.
Early game:
- Urn of Shadows gives some overall attributes and good mana regeneration. Its ability will make ganking easier, while it can also be used to heal allies.
- Magic Wand helps with sustaining both your health and mana.
- Boots of Speed are needed for the movement speed bonus.
Mid game:
- Arcane Boots provide Ancient Apparition and his allies with much-needed mana sustain, as well as increase Ancient Apparition's own mana pool.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity gives plenty of mana regeneration, some mana, and some movement speed. You can activate its ability on an enemy after casting Cold Feet and the opposing hero will be stunned and frozen most of the time.
Late game:
- Force Staff is an extremely useful item which can be picked up as an escape mechanism or a chasing item. It can be used to help teammates as well.
- Glimmer Cape grants magic resistance and invisibility to help Ancient Apparition and allies escape or initiate without being seen.
- Aghanim's Scepter gives Ancient Apparition a much needed improvement to his attributes as well as increasing the duration of Ice Blast's debuff to seconds, effectively preventing all enemy support heroes with healing spells from healing for an extended period of time. This makes your ultimate ability extremely lethal to low-health heroes, and even tanky heroes that rely on their regeneration or lifesteal to be effective.
Situational items:
- Hand of Midas can be a good item choice when Ancient Apparition has an above-average early game, sustaining him with a steady gold and experience gain.
- Mekansm is a great utility item which will make you and your team much harder to kill. Use its ability to heal you and nearby friendly heroes at the cost of some mana, while buffing everyone at the same time. It can be later upgraded into Guardian Greaves.
- Tranquil Boots can be chosen over Arcane Boots to sustain Ancient Apparition's health, as his high Intelligence growth and low mana costs make mana less of an issue.
- Ghost Scepter makes Ancient Apparition immune to physical attacks, allowing him to survive when enemy carries are coming for him.
- Kaya boosts Ancient Apparition's damage output, making Ice Blast in particular more dangerous, at a cheap cost. It can be upgraded into Kaya and Sange for a much needed boost to durability.
- Rod of Atos grants a decent amount of overall stats, padding out Ancient Apparition's anemic health pool and bolstering his mana. Its root combines very well with Cold Feet, Ice Vortex, and Ice Blast.
- Spirit Vessel is a natural upgrade to Urn of Shadows, and the percentage-based damage synergizes nicely with Ice Blast.
- Scythe of Vyse is a very strong late-game item that gives a great attribute increase, all the mana regeneration you'll ever need, and an amazing disable. Its only downside is its hefty price.
- Shiva's Guard gives a lot of intelligence and armor. Its ability slows down enemies and damages them in a large radius, making it perfect in teamfights where you are the first priority target.
- Octarine Core is good on most spell-casters and Ancient Apparition is no exception. But it's extremely expensive and should never be considered as the first major item on Ancient Apparition.
- Refresher Orb could theoretically prevent any kind of healing for 20/22/24 seconds with a double Ice Blast, an ultimate late game item.
Gameplay[edit]
| Roles: | Support Disabler Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★★☆ |
| Playstyle: | Projected from the cold, infinite void, the Ancient Apparition known as Kaldr is but a faint image of his true self. Nevertheless, his Chilling Touch is enough to crack the sturdiest of armors. Caught in an Ice Vortex, heroes afflicted with Cold Feet seldom go far. A frozen sphere flies across the sky, expanding at its destination. Within seconds, an Ice Blast strikes the marked area. Flash frozen, enemies have no choice but to retreat before their brittle bodies shatter to pieces... |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Kaldr's lore suggests that he is the embodiment of the Heat Death, a theoretical fate of the universe. According to this theory, the universe will achieve thermodynamic equilibrium and will no longer transfer energy. This would result in a universal temperature growing colder and a cessation of processes that require energy consumption, such as life.
- "Kaldr" is old norse and translates to "cold" in English.
- In DotA, Ancient Apparition is one of several heroes with custom models. It utilizes a custom model called "IcyGhost", created in 2006 by the pseudonymous content creator PrMosquito, from the Hive Workshop community. The Dota 2 counterpart is modeled after the original design.
Gallery[edit]
Model before the November 01, 2017 Patch
Low Violence model before the November 01, 2017 Patch
