Sven
From Dota 2 Wiki
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Sven, the Rogue Knight, is a versatile melee strength hero with superior physical power coupled with powerful utility abilities. He can fulfill various roles, but is often played as a semi-carry due to his high utility even without items. He possesses a versatile arsenal, from Warcry, which grants armor that can be used for escaping as well as pushing, to the throwable Storm Hammer that stuns enemies around the targeted unit. With enough items, Sven has the potential to be a strong late-game carry due to his ultimate, which increases his damage, making him hit up to three times as hard, which can then be used in conjunction with his Great Cleave to secure multiple kills with just a few swings of his sword. This immense power granted to him solely by his ultimate makes him one of strongest late-game carries in the game, and arguably the strongest semi-carry of all, as his killing presence remains even if he decides to build more supportive and tanky utility items. A truly frightening enemy to go up against if farmed, strong and versatile, Sven is a solid addition to almost every team composition.
Contents
Bio[edit]
 Sven, the Rogue Knight
| |
| Play "May my enemies share the fate of the Shattered Helm." | |
| Role: |  Carry /  Disabler /  Initiator /  Durable /  Nuker
|
| 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: | David Scully (Responses) |
Abilities[edit]
Storm Hammer
Sven unleashes his magical gauntlet that deals damage and stuns enemy units.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0
Cast Range: 600
Effect Radius: 255
Damage: 100/175/250/325
Stun Duration: 1.7/1.8/1.9/2
13 (
5)
140
Cannot target spell immune units. When the projectile connects with a spell immune unit, it still affects other units within the radius.
Blocked fully only when primary target. Blocked upon impact.Modifiers
Stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.The Rogue Knight's iron gauntlet, taken from the school of his father, strikes his foes to their core.
Notes:
- The targeting reticule must be centered over an enemy unit.
- Storm Hammer travels at a speed of 1000 and can be disjointed.
- Disjointing it completely nullifies the effects, including the area stun and damage.
- Turning invulnerable or hidden does not prevent it from affecting the area around the target.
- The projectile has 225 radius flying vision. This vision does not last.
- The projectile blocks neutral creep camps.
- Sven's sword emits some particles during the cast time, visible to everyone.
Great Cleave
Starting Radius: 150
Distance: 570
End Radius: 300
Cleave Damage: 30%/42%/54%/66%
The Vigil Knights still seek to reclaim the stolen Outcast Blade from Sven, a weapon capable of cutting wide swaths through lesser warriors.
Notes:
- Cleave damage is reduced by armor type but not by armor value.
- Cleave damage cannot be amplified with spell damage amplification and cannot spell lifesteal.
- Cleave damage is reduced by Damage Block.
- The complete area is shaped like an isosceles trapezoid in front of Sven.
- Fully stacks with other sources of cleaves. Each source of cleave works completely independent.
- Does not cleave upon attacking wards, buildings or allied units. Wards and buildings are unaffected by cleave.
- Despite the visual effect, cleave damage is applied instantly in the whole area.
Warcry
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
Allies
Allies
Sven's Warcry heartens his allies for battle, increasing their movement speed and armor. Lasts 8 seconds.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Effect Radius: 900
Move Speed Bonus: 12%
Armor Bonus: 5/10/15/20
Buff Duration: 8
35/ 25
Modifiers
Warcry: Dispellable with any dispel.Calling a few lines from the Vigil Codex fortifies Sven's obedience to his rogue code. So poetic!
Notes:
- Interrupts Sven's channeling spells upon cast.
- Fully stacks with other armor and movement speed granting abilities and items.
God's Strength
Sven channels his rogue strength, granting bonus damage for 25 seconds.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0
Allies Bonus Radius: 0 (
900)
900)Self Attack Damage Bonus: 80%/120%/160%
Self Strength Bonus: 12/24/36
Allies Attack Damage Bonus: 0 ( 75%/100%/125%)
75%/100%/125%)Duration: 25
80 100/
God's Strength grants bonus damage to allies in a 900 radius.Modifiers
Gods Strength: Undispellable. Gods Strength Child: Undispellable.With the strength that shattered the Sacred Helm, the Rogue Knight stands unopposed in melee combat.
Notes:
- Only increases base damage and that given by the primary attribute of Sven. Raw bonus damage is not increased.
- Checks Sven's main attack damage periodically and adapts the attack damage bonus instantly.
- The strength bonus effectively grants Sven 240/480/720 health, 0.72/1.44/2.16 health regeneration and 12/24/36 attack damage.
- The damage from the strength gets further increased to 21.6/52.8/93.6 by the God's Strength damage bonus, since it is attributes-based damage.
- The effect added by
Aghanim's Scepter is an aura, which is only active while God's Strength is active.
- The aura places the Gods Strength Child buff on allied heroes, which lingers for 0.5 seconds.
- The bonus attack damage is based on the main attack damage of the affected allies, and not on Sven's own attack damage.
- Just like for Sven, the affected allies' current main attack damage is periodically checked, and the bonuses adapted instantly.
- The aura treats creep-heroes as heroes, thus it fully affects them.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
-8s  Storm Hammer Cooldown
|
25 | +65 Damage |
| 20% Evasion | 20 | +30 Attack Speed |
| +8 All Stats | 15 | +20 Movement Speed |
| +225 Mana | 10 | +6  Strength
|
Notes:
- Upgrading mana increases maximum mana capacity and keeps the current mana percentage.
- The evasion stacks multiplicatively with other sources of evasion.
- The attack damage is added as bonus attack damage, and therefore does not benefit illusions.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
-
Iron Branch gives Sven much needed stats, also additional regeneration combined with 
Tango. -
Tango is needed for early health regeneration. -
Healing Salve gives rapid health regeneration, at a higher cost. -
Stout Shield helps Sven deal with harassment in lane. -
Enchanted Mango helps Sven stay in lane, and allows for an additional Storm Hammer in a pinch.
Early game:
-
Boots of Speed is needed on all heroes. -
Magic Stick provides burst health and mana, useful to keep Sven alive and using abilities.
Core items:
-
Magic Wand is a good choice to consolidate 
Magic Stick's functionality and the minor attribute boosts when starting with 
Iron Branches. -
Power Treads synergize well with Sven's build due to the bonuses in attack speed and its requirement of 
Belt of Strength. -
Mask of Madness compensates for Sven's low attack and move speed and allows to farm faster. -
Blink Dagger greatly improves Sven's mobility, allowing him to initiate teamfights as well as gank unsuspecting enemies, which can make a big difference in game outcomes. -
Daedalus is the attack damage item Sven needs, as it gives Sven the critical chance that allows him to destroy enemies in just a few hits. -
Black King Bar is the most important core item for Sven. It is his only defense against disables, and provides a good boost to damage and strength.
Situational items
-
Armlet of Mordiggian is a good early teamfight item as it provides overall growth in damage and attack speed as well as additional health and armor while active. -
Assault Cuirass can be considered in the late game, as the negative armor debuff, attack speed and massive armor gain allow for Sven to truly become a tank. -
Boots of Travel is a natural pickup in late game. -
Moon Shard grants a huge boost in attack speed. It is a powerful luxury item that ensures Sven's continued dominance in a winning game. -
Monkey King Bar is often necessary to counter heroes who purchase evasion items against Sven. -
Satanic provides Sven with a good amount of survivability and damage. The active synergizes well with Sven's high damage, ensuring that he will be able to get back into full health in just a few hits. -
Silver Edge can be an alternative to Blink Dagger, and its break helps Sven against passive defenses. -
Sange and Yasha is an easy item to build if Sven is struggling to build up gold. Its extra movement speed and slow makes it harder for enemies to kite Sven. -
Echo Sabre essentially acts as a crit, allowing Sven's burst to increase significantly for a cheap price. With 
Daedalus, Echo Sabre gives Sven twice the chance to crit. -
Drum of Endurance enables Sven to quickly get into combat and survive teamfights. It can be bought if Sven's early game does not go well enough to afford bigger items. -
Heart of Tarrasque not only provides Sven with much better survivability, it also gives a lot strength bonus, which greatly increases the damage from God's Strength. -
Quelling Blade can be picked up to help Sven last hit more efficiently in early game.
Gameplay[edit]
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- 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 "Play Twas only a flesh wound" and "Play It was but a scratch" are references to the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- The phrases "Play Blame the host" and "Play Bad host" are references to the original Warcraft III DotA gameplay when game stability depended on the quality of internet connection on the host player.
- Storm Hammer was named Storm Bolt in the early beta phases and was renamed into Storm Hammer at one point. It is also its original name in DotA1 and reflected in one of Sven's cast responses in Dota2, where he's referring to it as Play "Storm Bolt".
Gallery[edit]
Concept art
Sven's default weapon, the Outcast Blade
Early model of the Outcast Blade
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
