Arc Warden
Arc Warden Dota 2 is a mid who wins by sending one 18/21/24-second clone to a lane his main body is not in. Public 7.41f ranked games: 51.41% win rate over 926,155 games, picked in 4.80% — a positive record, not a dominant one, and banned at rank 8, more draft respect than the pick rate suggests. Pro games (n=69) run the same script: Midas first at a 6.4-minute median, Maelstrom at 12.2, and since 7.41 a 1400-gold Shard that puts rune buffs on the double. Max Spark Wraith, spend the clone on a job and never let it idle, and remember the field only dodges attacks from outside its 300 radius.
Role: mid, and only mid. Mid is 90.8% of his picks at 53.1% in dotacoach's public 7.41f sample, 59,402 games; carry is 5.6% at 45.0%, no other role reaches 2%, and 87.0% of pro games start him mid too. The 51.41% over 926,155 games headline is batru's — a different sample. Pick him when you have mid and one stun on your team; with no opener against their catch, pick another hero.
Build: Midas → Maelstrom → Mjollnir, and a Shard when the enemy cannot answer an invisible clone. In 69 pro games (direction, not a rule) Midas is the first completed item in 94.2% at a 6.4-minute median, Maelstrom 88.4% at 12.2, Mjollnir 79.7% at 19.4, Shard 49.3% at 23.7. Scepter is a 7.2% purchase; Gleipnir is not a purchase at all.
Fights: cast the double once the fight is already happening — your team engaged or theirs committed; in a pub, do not assume an ally will open for you. Creeps the clone kills give you gold but no experience, and when it dies the enemy gets 70 gold and 70 experience, plus 10 gold and 10 experience per Arc Warden level. With it down you are a creep until the 60/55/50-second cooldown finishes. Magnetic Field is 100% evasion against attacks from outside its 300 radius — anyone who walks in ignores it, and it does not protect buildings.
Is Arc Warden good in 7.41f?
Yes, as a mid — and the public data is unambiguous about the role. In 7.41f ranked games he wins 51.41% of 926,155 matches with a 4.80% pick rate (public, batru). That is a positive win rate, not a dominant one: batru puts him at tier rank 29 of 127; dotacoach puts his ban rank at 8 and his popularity rank at 82 — a hero teams respect more than they pick.
The bracket curve depends on which public source you read. OpenDota's rolling public sample (161,908 games across seven buckets) climbs from 47.88% in Herald to 52.87% in Ancient, a 4.99-point spread; batru's 7.41f sample sits flat between 50.77% and 52.23%. Different windows, different buckets, so the gap is a hint, not a law. Herald is the only bucket below even, and Immortal returns no games at all.
The pro sample is 69 games, which is not enough to set a standard. Across the whole 7.41 window he was picked 65 times and banned 541 times in 8,789 league games — 8.3 bans for every pick (pro, Explorer). Every pro number on this page is direction, not a rule. The one pro fact that agrees in direction with the public data is the lane: 87.0% mid.
What position does Arc Warden play?
He is a mid. That is not a preference, it is the data. In dotacoach's public 7.41f sample — 59,402 games, not the 51.41% batru headline — mid is 90.8% of his picks (53,929 games) at a 53.1% win rate. Carry is 5.6% at 45.0%, support 1.5% at 44.4%, hard support 1.3% at 47.7%, offlane 0.9% at 44.2%. The four other roles together are under 10% of his games.
Pro teams agree. 87.0% of 69 pro games start mid (60 of them) at a 56.67% win rate and 714 GPM — the farm the solo lane buys him. The safe-lane games number eight, which is too few to read a win rate from, so safe lane is not a second lane — it is a fill-in.
If you queue carry, you are choosing the 5.6% version. The win rate is 45.0%: those games are consistent with fill-ins, not a second build. Pick him mid or pick another hero.
What changed in 7.41?
7.41 removed facets from the whole game, and Arc Warden has none. His two old facets were folded into the kit instead: Magnetic Field pulls runes as a basic ability, Runic Infusion is an innate that gives 1.5 to all attributes for every Power Rune, and the clone's rune buff moved to a 1400-gold Shard. There is no facet to choose in 7.41f. That is the biggest change if you last played him before March 2026.
The clone's death bounty was rescaled and the hero became faster. 7.41 cut strength growth to 2.2 and agility growth to 2.7, cut damage per level to 3.4, and raised base move speed from 285 to 300. It also replaced the clone's flat death bounty of 180/240/300 with 70 gold and 70 experience plus 10 gold and 10 experience per Arc Warden level.
The Shard moved from Spark Wraith to Tempest Double, and that is the one real build change. The clone now spawns with 12 seconds of the Arcane, Invisibility and Haste rune buffs. Pro purchase went from 5.6% of 90 pro games in 7.40 to 49.3% of 69 in 7.41, at a median 23.7 minutes among the 34 buyers (pro). Correlation with the patch, not proof that the item wins games.
7.41d is his last change, not 7.41f. 7.41d set Flux cast range to 625/700/775/850 and the slow to 20/25/30/35%. 7.41e and 7.41f changed nothing about him, so this patch is not a buff. The smaller changes: 7.41b swapped the 20 and 25 talents, and 7.41c added two agility and put level-1 damage at 52–58.
What's the Arc Warden skill build?
Max Spark Wraith. It is the farming spell and the one pros max first. 73.9% of pro games max it before anything else (pro, n=69), 91.3% take it at level 1, and the median pro game casts it 87 times against 19 Flux casts. Flux is the second spell you max, Magnetic Field is third; the bar below already does that. 7.41d gave Flux range and slow, and pros still finish Spark Wraith first — the only open question is the single point at level 2.
The level-2 point is a real fork, not a consensus. Flux 42.0% versus Magnetic Field 40.6% with 69 games is noise. Take Magnetic Field when you are zoned and need the attack speed to last-hit; take Flux when a roaming teammate can hold the target still and you are trading.
The modal 1–10 upgrade entries are SW-MF-SW-Flux-SW-TD-SW-Flux-Flux-Flux, and it is only 21.7% of games. The ultimate at 6 is the one fixed point (98.5% of 67 games), and both later points are taken almost as consistently (98.4% of 64, 96.4% of 55). After the fourth Spark Wraith point, fill Flux, then Magnetic Field.
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678910111213141516182025What items does Arc Warden build in Dota 2?
Midas first when the lane holds; Maelstrom first when it does not. In pro games (n=69) 
Hand of Midas is the first completed item in 94.2% of them at a 6.4-minute median, with three out of four done by 7.9 minutes. 
Maelstrom is the first real core in 88.4% at a 12.2-minute median, and 
Mjollnir lands at 19.4 in 79.7% of games. If you are zoned and losing the lane, buy Maelstrom first only when that gets the core sooner; if the timing is the same either way, keep Midas — a late Midas is a setback only when it delays the core.
Boots of Travel and Orchid are their own decisions, not automatic follow-ups. Boots of Travel in 50.7% of pro games at a 19.5-minute median; Orchid in 59.4% at 21.1, upgraded to Bloodthorn in 29.0% at 28.3. Every one of them pays twice on him, because the clone duplicates the item and runs its own cooldowns: two Orchid silences in one fight, two Midas uses, two sets of Travel teleports for separate lanes.
The Shard is the build change of the patch. It went from 5.6% of 90 pro games in 7.40 to 49.3% of 69 in 7.41 at a median 23.7 minutes, because 7.41 moved 
Aghanim's Shard off Spark Wraith and onto Tempest Double: 12 seconds of Arcane, Invisibility and Haste on the clone. If the enemy has no answer to an invisible double, it is the cheapest power spike in the build.
Items to leave alone. 
Aghanim's Scepter is a 7.2% purchase at a 30.4-minute median (pro, n=69) — a single-target answer, not a core. Gleipnir was bought in 0 of 69 pro games in 7.41 and 0 of 90 in 7.40; it is an item that counters Arc Warden, not one he buys. Necronomicon left the game in 7.29, so treat any build that still lists it as out of date.
Black King Bar (4050) after Maelstrom and before Mjollnir — read the threat at the draft, not after the clone has died twiceDefault build:Start 
Tango
Faerie Fire
Slippers of Agility
Iron Branch ×2→Lane 
Wraith Band
Magic Wand
Boots of Speed→First item — Midas when the lane holds; Maelstrom first when zoned and that gets the core sooner Hand of Midas→First core Maelstrom→Defence (BKB before Mjollnir vs two instant disables) Black King Bar→Upgrade Mjollnir→Mobility 
Boots of Travel→Silence 
Orchid Malevolence
Bloodthorn→Utility Aghanim's Shard
Dragon Lance→Late 
Scythe of Vyse
Hurricane Pike
Which talents do you take?
Level 10 is a coin flip with no win-rate answer. Of the pro players who reached level 10, 59.7% took +200 health and 40.3% took +200 Flux cast range (n=67 level-10 talents); their win rates are 55.0% and 55.6%, a -0.56-point difference with an error bar near 24.3 points. Take health unless you are the team's only catch — the cast range is a lane and positioning talent: it is what lets you start Flux from behind your own wave, and later from fog.
Level 15 is 86.2% +25 Magnetic Field attack speed (50 of 58 level-15 talents). The field already gives 30/60/90/120 attack speed on a 20/19/18/17-second cooldown, and this raises the ceiling for your ranged core. The alternative, +20% Flux slow, was taken in 8 of 58 recorded talents — too few to compare.
Level 20 is decided and level 25 is not measured. −4 seconds of Magnetic Field cooldown took 97.6% of the level-20 votes (41 of 42); +30 seconds of Spark Wraith duration got one. At 25 the default is +1 Runic Infusion (1.5 to 2.5 per rune): it is 76.9% of 13 recorded talents and keeps scaling all game. Any win rate at 25 only describes games that were already won, so the data does not make this call — but the talent does not stop working.
How do you counter Arc Warden in Dota 2?
Counter him with multi-unit push, and with anything that can walk into the field. His five worst public ranked matchups in 7.41f are Meepo (41.43%, 13,960 games), Broodmother (42.96%, 19,809), Phantom Lancer (45.64%), Wraith King (45.87%) and Lycan (46.71%). All five put bodies on the map faster than he can clear them, and Flux stops its damage and slow when the target has any friendly unit within 225 — neutral creeps included.
The counter is to step inside the field. Magnetic Field's 100% evasion only works against attacks from outside its 300 radius; a hero standing inside attacks normally, and Monkey King Bar or Bloodthorn ignore the evasion anyway. The field also does not affect buildings, so it cannot save a tower.
Kill the clone when it is out of position. It lives 18/21/24 seconds, and when it dies the enemy gets 70 gold and 70 experience, plus 10 gold and 10 experience per Arc Warden level. Black King Bar and other debuff immunity stop Flux and Spark Wraith, since neither pierces it. And a 4200-gold Aghanim's Scepter is what turns Flux into a silence on a lone target — the window to punish is before that item arrives.
The pro matchup sample cannot arbitrate. The 7.41 window recorded 28 opponents over 69 games with a maximum of 10 games against any one hero, so there is no usable pro matchup number. Every matchup number in this section comes from public ranked games, which have the sample the pro games lack.
Lowest win rates vs these opponents
Meepo41.43% · n=13,960
Broodmother42.96% · n=19,809
Phantom Lancer45.64% · n=65,259
Wraith King45.87% · n=54,375
Lycan46.71% · n=8,639
Riki46.9% · n=25,262
Legion Commander47.07% · n=68,453
Bloodseeker47.53% · n=21,544Highest win rates vs these opponents
Shadow Fiend57.99% · n=68,086
Doom57.84% · n=22,874
Nature's Prophet57.54% · n=42,163
Templar Assassin56.69% · n=27,470
Huskar56.33% · n=24,326
Tinker55.92% · n=31,816
Storm Spirit55.87% · n=26,517
Shadow Demon55.82% · n=10,7197.41f ranked games (public, batru). Each number is Arc Warden's win rate with that hero on the opposing team; the game count is on each row. The number still includes that hero's own strength, so use it as a draft hint, not a duel verdict.
How do you lane as Arc Warden?
Level 1 Spark Wraith is the lane, not the fallback. 91.3% of pro games take it first (pro, n=69). It has 2000 cast range, a 375 search radius and 100/170/240/310 damage on a 4-second cooldown for 80 mana. Put it where the ranged creep will walk and it last-hits and harasses in the same cast.
Every Power Rune is permanent stats. Magnetic Field now pulls runes within 800/1200/1600/2000 and activates them, and Runic Infusion gives 1.5 to all attributes per Power Rune, or 2.5 with the level-25 talent. Only the seven Power Runes count for Runic Infusion — Bounty and Water Runes do not. Field-pull the rune when you are zoned off it or it is contested; spend the clone only if the rune is the fight.
Flux needs the target alone. The target's friendly units, neutral creeps or invulnerable units within 225 switch the damage and slow off while leaving the debuff on. Trade with Flux only when their support has stepped away or the wave has moved; against a grouped lane, Spark Wraith is the better spell.
Zoned and losing the lane: Magnetic Field at 2. Trading with a roaming teammate who can hold the target: Flux at 2. That is the 42.0% versus 40.6% pro split — a real fork, so take the point your lane needs. The field gives you attack speed for last-hitting and 100% evasion against attacks from outside it; Flux gives that roaming teammate a slow to hit.
How do you teamfight as Arc Warden?
The clone is a 24-second window, not a second hero — so spend it. Tempest Double lasts 18/21/24 seconds on a 60/55/50-second cooldown and brings its own item and ability cooldowns. Send it where your hero cannot go: the lane pushing into you, their jungle, a rune contest, Roshan, or a fight that is already happening — your team engaged or theirs committed. It can shove a lane or farm the unsafe half; what it must not do is idle.
It gains no experience from creeps, and it pays the enemy when it dies. Creeps the clone kills give gold to you and no experience; when the clone dies the enemy gets 70 gold and 70 experience, plus 10 gold and 10 experience per Arc Warden level. A double that dies to a hero without taking anything has funded the enemy's next item.
The field is for your team, not for a tower. Magnetic Field gives 30/60/90/120 attack speed and 100% evasion against attacks from outside its 300 radius. Anyone who steps inside ignores the evasion, and the field does not affect buildings, so place it on your ranged core rather than on the wave you are pushing. When they group and walk at your T3 you cannot hold it five-on-five — field your carry, send the clone at their T2, and make them choose.
Spam Spark Wraith for vision; cast Flux to isolate. The median pro game casts Spark Wraith 87 times and Flux 19. The ghost gives 300 radius of vision, cannot be disjointed and slows whatever it hits. Flux is the follow-up — cast it on whoever is furthest from their team.
What does the tooltip not tell you?
Which mistakes should you avoid?
Any off-meta ideas?
Support Arc Warden shows a losing record, not a proven losing role. Support is 1.5% of picks at 44.4% and hard support 1.3% at 47.7% (public, dotacoach) — 2.8% of games in total — though the data cannot separate the role from the drafts it gets picked into. The 7.38 facet that made the role cheap — Runed Replica, which put rune buffs on the clone for free — was deleted in 7.41; the same buff is now a 1400-gold Shard. If you want the clone to arrive invisible while the main hero stays out of sight, you are paying 1400 gold for it.
Carry is a fill-in, not a second plan. 5.6% of picks at 45.0%. Carry Arc Warden wants the same items but does not get the solo lane that makes the Midas timing work. Queue mid.
Manta plus Bloodthorn is the one off-meta route with a mechanic behind it. Pros bought Manta Style in 15.9% of games at 26.7 minutes and Bloodthorn in 29.0% at 28.3. The clone already has its own Orchid and Bloodthorn cooldowns, so one hero can silence twice in a fight; Manta adds a dispel and two more bodies to hit with. No purchase data supports it as a win-rate play; the case rests on the clone's independent cooldowns.
Four things to take into the game: max Spark Wraith first, Flux second, Field last. Treat 6.4 minutes for Midas and 12.2 for Maelstrom as pro medians, not deadlines. The clone is the body you are allowed to lose: send it to the half of the map your hero cannot stand in — the lane pushing into you, their jungle — and never park it beside your hero. Put Magnetic Field on your team, not on a tower: it does not affect buildings, and the evasion only covers attacks from outside. The rest is timing — DOTA Timer alerts you for Bounty Rune, Wisdom Rune, Lotus, Tormentor and Roshan, with voice reminders. All you do is play.