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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...
- None of Arc Warden's abilities are very effective against Broodmother and her spiderlings.
- A good Broodmother looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.
- Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Broodmother from lifestealing with Insatiable Hunger and shredding through his relatively lower armor.
- Invoker's Forge Spirit can negate Flux.
- Provided he does a right combo with Chaos Meteor, Invoker can easily burst down Arc Warden (plus his clone if he spawns it.)
- An early Orchid Malevolence can shut down Arc Warden pretty hard, especially when Invoker has a good lane against him if he kills him early on.
- Deafening Blast and Ice Wall limit's Arc Wardens mobility and damage, crippling him greatly.
- Arc Warden's high reliance on casting abilities leads him to be dependent on mana, which Anti-Mage can quickly burn with Mana Break.
- Blink mitigates the threat of Flux slow and allows Anti-Mage to close the distance between himself and Arc Warden.
- Anti-Mage's ability to farm quickly allows him keep up with Arc Warden's farm while also de-pushing the lanes Arc Warden shoves in with his Tempest Double.
- Anti-Mage also frequently buys Manta Style, and can use it so dispel Arc Warden's items that can threaten an Anti-Mage like Bloodthorn.
- Counterspell significantly reduces the effectiveness of Arc Warden's magical damage.
- However, do keep in mind that when Arc Warden has a Black King Bar, jumping on him alone may not be the best idea for Anti mage as it could put him in a bad position, while Arc Warden summons his doubles and rain damage into him.
- Magnetic Field doesn't provide a protection against Berserker's Call and Counter Helix and his high attack speed together with Tempest Double will often trigger Counter Helix.
- The threat of a blink and Berserker's Call may make the real Arc Warden stay further back, thus effectively halving the team's damage output for a while.
- Batrider can harass Arc Warden more easily with Sticky Napalm thanks to it's low cooldown and mana cost and because of Arc Warden's lower durability and mobility.
- Batrider can use Flamebreak to push Arc Warden and Tempest Double out of the Magnetic Field.
- With Firefly combined with Blink Dagger, Batrider can move faster while dealing damage to both Arc Warden and Tempest Double.
- Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to separate Arc Warden from both Magnetic Field and Tempest Double and pull him towards Batrider's team. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso also allows Batrider to disable both, real Arc Warden and his Tempest Double and pull them towards Batrider's team. And since Arc Warden is not used to buy Linken's Sphere, this can be a great problem to him.
- Since Arc Warden is not used to buy Black King Bar very ofthen In most of the stages of the game, he will be vulnerable to Batrider's magical damage-over-time output in most of the stages of the game.
- However, Batrider needs to approach Arc Warden carefully as Arc Warden can scout Batrider's location with Spark Wraith. Also, Arc Warden tends to buy Gleipnir which combined with Flux's damage over time can be used to prevent Batrider from even using Blink Dagger.
- Arc Warden has relatively lower armor and mobility, which makes him an easy target to apply Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo stacks.
- Arc Warden also does not like to build a Silver Edge as it takes a long time to build up and may slow down the timings for other important items needed in the game like Gleipnir.
- However, do note that in a game where Arc Warden's team has many jumping capabilities or good passives, like a Tidehunter or Spectre, a Silver Edge becomes incredibly valuable on Arc Warden as not only can he run away from the jumps, he effectively gets 2 breaks, and Bristleback may not be the best pick.
- Chaos Knight can dispel Flux with Phantasm.
- Chaos Knight can use Reality Rift to pull Arc Warden out of Magnetic Field.
- Once Chaos Knight jumps on Arc Warden with Reality Rift, Arc Warden will struggle to escape due to low mobility and lack of stun.
- Flux is severely impaired against Meepo because of Divided We Stand.
- Meepo's farming speed and early powerspikes allows him to pressure Arc Warden before he is capable of fighting effectively.
- Without Black King Bar, Earthbind and Poof can finish Arc Warden quickly before he has time to do much.
- Luna's Moon Glaives allow her to clear Arc Warden's Tempest Double.
- Luna's short range and fast movement speed allow her to fight Arc Warden inside his Magnetic Field.
- Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image can depush the lanes pushed by the Tempest Double, relieving the pressure.
- Mirror Image can dispel Flux, and the illusions can stop Flux from working to it's full power.
- Smoke Screen combined with Diffusal Blade leaves Arc Warden effectively useless for a while as he struggles to escape the silence with low mobility.
- With Arc Warden's low mobility, Tricks of the Trade often deal decent damage to him before he moves out of it.
- Doppelganger dispels Flux.
- Phantom Rush closes the distance between Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden.
- Juxtapose can overwhelm Arc Warden and nullify his kit which is only effective against isolated enemies.
- Arc Warden can't use Magnetic Field to stall the damage of Nether Blast on towers, but he can buy Aghanim's Shard to diminish its damage.
- Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Life Drain and Decrepify
- The short cooldown of both Life Drain and Decrepify also means Pugna can deal with Arc Warden and Arc Warden's clone simultaneously most of the time
- A good Pugna looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.
Others
- Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
- Heroes with good escape mechanisms are a nuisance to deal with in the early phase of the game: Slark, Lifestealer, Morphling
- Heroes that have strong powerspikes early into the game can shut down the Arc Warden before he can fight, such as Broodmother or Bristleback.
- Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as Slark, Riki, Earthshaker with Aghanim's Scepter, Sven with Aghanim's Scepter etc.
Items
- Black King Bar negates Arc Warden's mostly magical damage and it also prevents him from using items on it's owners.
- Lotus Orb can reflect Flux back at Arc Warden and will usually reflect most of Arc Warden's frequently built items back onto him.
- Monkey King Bar, Witch Blade and Revenant's Brooch allow enemies to attack Arc Warden through Magnetic Field.
- Manta Style can dispel Flux, frequently bought Gleipnir and makes Spark Wraith much less effective.
Good against...
- Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from getting wins with Duel.
- Flux removes Refraction charges very quickly, and Arc Warden can hit her freely with his better attack animation, speed and range. If she tries to mute in her creep wave, Spark Wraith can quickly kill the ranged creep, forcing her to stay near the melee creeps, again, allowing for easy right clicks.
- With Tempest Double, Arc Warden can easily output 1000 damage (with the stacking of Flux and Spark Wraith and kill Templar Assassin within seconds. She cannot avoid this combo as Spark Wraith will still hit her in Meld.
- A good Arc Warden can destroy the item timings of a Templar Assassin, and mitigate her impact during the mid-game, when she is the strongest.
- In the late game, if Templar Assassin tries to split push with Aghanim's Scepter, Arc Warden's double can always threaten to kill her if equipped with a Bloodthorn and a Blink Dagger , or a Hurricane Pike, forcing her to have to use Black King Bar to survive.
- Quick reactions can also protect Arc Warden and his allies from Meld strike with Magnetic Field, and if equipped with a Hurricane Pike, Arc Warden can double force himself away from the attacking Templar Assassin to safety, where after her Black King Bar ends, she can die to Arc Warden's right clicks.
- Arc Warden can use his summons to prevent Sacred Arrow from hitting himself or his allies.
- Mirana doesn't build items that give armor often, so she usually can't fight against a late game Arc Warden.
- Arc Warden’s Magnetic Field allows him to defend against Terrorblade if he used Metamorphosis.
- Arc also buys a Bloodthorn or a Scythe of Vyse, which can prevent Terrorblade from using his abilities.
- Tempest Double, Magnetic Field's attack speed bonus, and Arc Warden's high attack range will easily destroy a Phoenix using Supernova much faster than usual.
- Phoenix is very weak against pushers, especially those like Arc Warden who can kill him easily, as his skillset works best in teamfights.
- Magnetic Field's evasion completely negates Sniper's attacks unless he has True Strike.
- Sniper always positions himself far away from battles, which makes him especially vulnerable for Flux and Spark Wraith.
- Magnetic Field protects Arc Warden and allies from Drow Ranger's ranged attacks. She most likely will not enter the field since she will lose Marksmanship's bonus agility.
- Beware however, as Marksmanship procs will still hit since they have True Strike, so the most damaging arrows will still hit you inside Magnetic Field.
- Magnetic Field makes Impetus miss; if Enchantress decides to enter the field, she is giving up bonus damage since Impetus deals greater damage at higher distance away from targets.
Others
Works well with...
- Flux and Cold Feet also have some synergy. Spark Wraith also applies a 100% slow, in case Flux is muted by allies or neutrals.
- Ice Vortex does somewhat buff the heavy magic damage coming from Spark Wraiths and Flux. Two Fluxes cast by both clones do stack, increasing the damage.
- A global Ice Blast can certainly help any hero with pick-off potential, like Arc Warden.
Others
- Ranged heroes who will benefit greatly from the attack speed given by Magnetic Field, such as Sniper or Shadow Fiend
