Arena of Valor (AoV) - Choosing the Best Arcana

Choosing the Best Arcana

Putting together one or more useful Arcana pages is important: the bonuses they provide are the equivalent of a few items at the start of a game. Lacking them when your opponents have them will put you at a disadvantage right off the bat. Arcana are only available for purchase with gold, so it is generally best to save up for level 3 Arcana since these are the strongest available. That said, we’ll help you out even if all you have are level 1 and 2 Arcana.

For each Arcana, we’ve counted the number of heroes that it is “good,” “fair,” or “poor,” on (with the occasional “excellent”), to give you a better idea of how universally each Arcana can be used. Keep in mind that an Arcana can be rated poorly in relation to other Arcana in the same category, but still be useful for many heroes.

You can either opt to run ten identical Arcana in each color or go for a mixed set. Which you choose depends on your play style and/or how well you’ve mastered your hero.

Level 1 Arcana

Level 1 Arcana are cheap enough that buying a few here and there to provide specific advantages won’t set you back. That said, you might as well equip the best of the ones you already own rather than going out and buying any.

Strength	Strength offers you attack damage. This benefits marksmen and other heroes that rely on their normal attacks or physical abilities.
AD: +0.9	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 22 15
Shock	Shock gives your normal attacks additional chance to critically strike. Marksmen are prime users of this Arcana, with some assassins and warriors also able to benefit from a high critical rate.
Crit: +0.5%	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 22 15
Talisman	Talisman offers you with some additional ability power which can be useful for mages.
AP: +1.5	GOOD FAIR POOR 20 3 38
Gale	Heroes who benefit from attack speed via CDR or other effects (such as Valhein‘s Pocket Glaive) can make good use of Gale.
AS: +0.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 22 10 29
Life	Life gives you bonus HP to make your heroes more durable. This is not only viable for tanks but can also be used by squishy heroes to give them a bit more durability.
Max HP: +21	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 37 0
Rebirth	Rebirth offers some sustain to heroes that have trouble keeping their health bars full while laning. This can help you survive heroes that have a lot of poke, allowing you to withstand their harassment during the laning phase.
HP: +4.2 / 5 sec	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 37 0
Leech	Leech gives life steal and, as such, can be used to sustain an attacker’s health during skirmishes and team fights. This is best suited to heroes that have a lot of attack damage or attack speed.
LS: +0.4	GOOD FAIR POOR 9 (Marksman) 15 37
Absorption	As Leech gives life steal to normal attacks, absorption gives magic life steal to abilities. This can be a useful way for mages to keep their HP healthy and their pressure constant.
Magic LS: +0.4%	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 (Mage) 4 41
Guard	Guard grants additional armor which is useful for reducing damage taken from physical damage-dealing opponents. Taking this Arcana will help you survive against most marksmen, warriors, and assassins.
Armor: +2.5	GOOD FAIR POOR 29 32 0
Willpower	Willpower offers protection against magical abilities. This Arcana can be useful when matched against teams heavy with magic heroes but is exceptionally situational. Note: we suspect that most players using level 1 Arcana will not be in Diamond or Master rank, where there is a draft (and players can thus choose different Arcana pages after knowing their opponents’ heroes). While there will usually be a hero that deals magic damage on the opposing team, there is the occasional match where magic defense will be completely useless, so we do not recommend going out of your way to buy this Arcana – though equipping it if you have nothing else is fine.
Magic D: +2.5	GOOD FAIR POOR 29 32 0
Stab	Stab is useful for physical damage-dealing heroes, as every opposing hero has armor to pierce through.
Pierce: +2.2	GOOD FAIR POOR 15 22 24
Disruption	Similar to Stab, every opposing hero has magic defense (except, curiously, for Airi), so Disruption is useful on magic damage-dealing heroes.
M Pierce: +2.2	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 4 41

Level 2 Arcana

Comparing the price and value of level 2 and level 3 Arcana may make it tempting to purchase a couple level 2s; after all, they’re 10x cheaper! It’s a bit of a trap, though, as your end-goal is to create an entire page of level 3 Arcana, and 200 gold a pop still isn’t cheap. We recommend choosing between the ones you’ve received naturally.

Gale	Gale grants pure attack speed, which is great for some marksmen and assassin heroes. Get this for heroes who rely on their attack speed for damage like Yorn, Omen, and Kil’Groth.
AS: +1.2	GOOD FAIR POOR 14 1 (The Joker) 46
Pummel	A great Arcana for warriors and tanks that want to bolster their bruising potential. Taking Pummel will raise both their offensive and defensive capabilities.
AD: +1.5 Max HP: +13.5	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 17 20
Batter	Marksmen heroes benefit the most from Batter, it giving its wielder both attack speed and damage. This can be considered a standard level 2 Arcana for most marksmen.
AD: +1.5 AS: +0.4	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 9 (Marksman) 21 0 31
Cyclone	Cyclone’s stats benefit all auto attackers, though the combination is best for heroes that benefit most from both attack speed and critting, like Yorn.
AS: +0.6% Crit: +0.3% Crit Dmg: +1.1%	GOOD FAIR POOR 10 20 31
Surge	As you won’t be purchasing 10 level 2 Arcana, the critical chance on Surge seems pretty useless, even on auto attack-focused mages. Corruption is generally much better.
AP: +2.5 Crit: +0.3%	GOOD FAIR POOR 17 4 40
Corruption	This is the standard level 2 pickup for mages, giving them the ability power and pierce they so desire.
AP: +2.5 M Pierce: +1.4	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 16 7 0 38
Ambush	Can give a small boost to the attack of marksmen and assassins, but underperforms when compared to other red Arcana. Saying it’s “good” on some heroes is a bit of a relative term, as you’re banking hitting an important 1/10 crit in the early game to get your money’s worth. Still, if you have no other level 2 Arcana then it’s decent.
Crit: +1%	GOOD FAIR POOR 10 20 31
Backstab	We compared the level 3 version of Ambush vs Backstab here: basically, Ambush is better in the very early game, then Backstab begins to outperform it after just a couple purchases. Again, since you’re relying on a 1/10 chance in the early game in order for Ambush to have been worth it, you’re better off with Backstab, which will be more useful in a higher percentage of games.
Crit: +0.5% Crit Dmg: +2%	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (Wukong) 9 (Marksman) 5 45
Vigor	HP is always nice, so getting Vigor in a chest is a welcome sight. If you’re insistent on building a level 2 Arcana page, then five Vigor pairs well with five Vitality.
Max HP: +45	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 2 (Xeniel, Superman) 22 37 0
Alacrity	A strong Arcana for tankier heroes who have a decent ability to gank like Mina and Taara. The extra movement speed and health will allow the hero to get close to enemies without dying quickly.
Max HP: +13.5 MS: +0.7%	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 2 (Mina and Taara) 13 46 0
Vitality	Vitality actually provides more HP regeneration than any level 3 Arcana. Just don’t get any ideas that it’s better – HP regen only helps if you have HP to begin with.
HP: +9 / 5 sec	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 37 0
Revelation	Revelation may be viable whenever you need the extra magic life steal and ability power. It also provides magic defense, which can be useful in the early game when facing off with mages. Get this for a bit of survivability in the early game when playing as a mage.
AP: +1.4 Magic LS: +0.8% Magic D: +1.6	GOOD FAIR POOR 20 0 41
Vamp	Marksmen benefit the most from Vamp. That said, it is not a good pick up as life steal is not that strong in the early phase of the game. It can give you a slight advantage when it comes to survivability but doesn’t stand up to other Arcana.
AS: +0.4% LS: +0.8%	GOOD FAIR POOR 9 (Marksman) 0 52
Passion	A great Arcana for bruisers like Lu Bu and Maloch. This Arcana gives a mix of offensive and defensive attributes which can help these heroes deal damage and stay alive in team fights.
AD: +0.6 Max HP: +36	GOOD FAIR POOR 14 47 0
Reinforce	This Arcana is a good option for pure tank heroes. Toro and Thane in particular benefit a great deal from Reinforce’s stats.
Max HP: +36 Armor: +1.6	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 37 0
Fury	Fury is a strong Arcana for physical assassins and marksmen. Valhein in particular takes the spot as best suited for this Arcana. The attack speed, critical chance, and movement speed all fit in with his kit and help him successfully kite enemies in battle.
AS: +0.4% Crit: +0.3 MS: +0.5	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (Valhein) 28 1 (The Joker) 31
Fortify	Armor is always useful, so this is nice to receive.
Armor: +5.4	GOOD FAIR POOR 30 31 0
Enchant	Magic defense is not quite as useful as armor, so stick Enchant on a separate page in case it’s necessary.
Magic D: +5.4	GOOD FAIR POOR 30 31 0
Assault	A staple Arcana that provides both cooldown speed and attack speed. Great for attack speed-dependent heroes and marksmen who casts a lot of abilities.
AS: +0.4% CDR: +0.5%	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (Yorn) 15 1 (Zill) 44
Endurance	This is a great Arcana for tankier heroes, giving them HP and armor. An all around good defensive choice.
HP: +4.5 / 5 sec Armor: +3.2	GOOD FAIR POOR 30 31 0
Spellbound	See Consume below. Only use Spellbound if its competition are level 1 Arcana.
Magic LS: +0.5% Magic D: +3.2	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 4 41
Corrosion	The best level 2 Arcana for mages, Corrosion is a welcome gift for most players.
AP: +0.9 M Pierce: +3.8	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 8 37
Serenity	Serenity is in the running for best all-around level 2 Arcana, as it’s useful for any hero.
Max HP: +15.7 HP: +3.1 / 5 sec CDR: +0.3%	GOOD FAIR POOR 24 37 0
Ravage	A great Arcana for bruiser heroes. Ravage provides both HP and armor pierce, improving the hero’s ability to trade damage from early to mid game.
Max HP: +13.5 Pierce: +3.8	GOOD FAIR POOR 25 14 21

Level 3 Arcana

Now time for the real discussion to begin. Level 3 Arcana cost 2000 gold apiece, which means you have to think long and hard before making each purchase, let alone deciding what to use in a match. If you play a wide range of heroes, going for universally useful stats like HP and armor to fill out your first page is a good choice. If you enjoy playing specific heroes or you’re hardcore and want multiple pages for differing scenarios, then choose the Arcana that suit those heroes best.

Enlightened	Enlightened gives flat ability power, but some simple math shows that there are better options for mages to choose from. The only heroes for whom you’d choose Enlightened are those with built-in magic pierce in their abilities (like Raz or Veera) or those who can deal true damage (like Lauriel).
AP: +5.3	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 4 41
Obliterate	Obliterate gives flat attack damage that can be useful for warriors, assassins, and marksmen. Similar to Enlightened, heroes who deal magic or true damage while scaling AD will benefit the most from Obliterate. Otherwise, Onslaught will almost certainly be the better pick.
AD: +3.2	GOOD FAIR POOR 15 23 23
Onslaught	Onslaught’s combination of attack damage and armor pierce make it the strongest red level 3 Arcana for most heroes whose job it is to deal physical damage.
AD: +2 Pierce: +3.6	GOOD FAIR POOR 37 0 24
Bloodlust	The life steal that Bloodlust offers is too insignificant to make a difference in the early game, while items will provide enough of that in the late game. Unless you have a specific item build for a specific hero that relies on a very specific amount of life steal, Bloodlust is not worth purchasing.
AD: +2.5 LS: +0.5%	GOOD FAIR POOR 0 9 52
Rampage	The critical damage from Rampage is only useful if you’re planning on purchasing items with critical chance. We compared Rampage and Atrocity when we looked at Arcana gold values, and found that Rampage begins to outshine Atrocity after a couple of critical chance-enhancing items are purchased. Side note: this Arcana was seemingly made for Wukong, as he starts with 15% crit chance AND the extra crit damage multiplies with the damage from God of War.
Crit: +0.7% Crit Dmg: +3.6%	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (Wukong) 9 (Marksman) 0 51
Indomitable	As the only red level 3 Arcana with defensive stats, Indomitable is easily your go-to for tanks as well as heroes who are best built tanky. Actually, since its stats are useful on all heroes, and there’s no real competition among red Arcana for the stats it provides, Indomitable is probably the safest (as in, you won’t regret buying it) level 3 Arcana to purchase.
AS: +1% Max HP: +33.7 Armor: +2.3	GOOD FAIR POOR 25 36 0
Violate	A great red Arcana for mages, Violate grants both ability power and magic pierce. This helps push through enemy magic defense more than Enlightened, which focuses on raw damage.
AP: +4.2 M Pierce: +2.4	GOOD FAIR POOR 20 3 34
Conjure	Conjure gives ability power and attack speed, a rather unusual combination. It is, however, perfect for Zill who relies both on his auto attacks and ability power-focused abilities for damage.
AP: +4.2 AS: +0.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 2 (Zill, Mganga) 18 41
Atrocity	Atrocity offers a large increase in critical chance per Arcana and will greatly benefit marksmen.
Crit: +1.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 9 (Marksman) 1 51
Blitz	Blitz is a pick for heroes who rely on attack speed more than anything else. Aside from your standard marksmen, heroes like Nakroth and Murad fit the bill. To make use of the excess critical chance, you can mix Blitz with Atrocity.
AS: +1.6% Crit: +0.5%	GOOD FAIR POOR 15 16 30
Colossus	HP is useful for every hero in the game, making Colossus a somewhat safe all-around choice for your first level 3 Arcana page. Unlike Indomitable, however, there is competition among the purple Arcana for Colossus, so don’t go using all your gold on it just yet. In particular, Benevolence outshines Colossus for many heroes because of how important movement speed is for chasing, escaping, and rotating. Heroes whose abilities scale with max HP are the ones who will prefer Colossus over anything else.
Max HP: +75	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 2 (Xeniel, Superman) 23 36 0
Sap	Sap is a decent Arcana choice for offensive-minded mages (think Tulen, Raz, or Zill) who need the extra sustain when they lay down the hurt.
Magic LS: +1.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 3 18 40
Reave	The life steal that Reave provides is an alright resource for marksmen. However, it is best paired with other purple Arcana like Guerrilla or Assassinate.
LS: +1.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 0 9 (Marksman) 52
Tyrant	Compared to Colossus, 10x Tyrant provides 5% critical chance in exchange for 150 max HP. It sounds like a good trade-off, except not many bruisers are looking to buy more crit-based items to make their critical chances more consistent (and thus worth the effort). That said, this is the only purple Arcana that provides critical chance, and the extra HP is useful for anyone, even marksmen. Tyrant is yet another arcana that seems like it was made specifically for Wukong.
Crit: +0.5% Max HP: +60	GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (Wukong) 23 37
Undying	In a vacuum, Undying would be an amazing Arcana. Unfortunately, it competes with Colossus and Benevolence, and most heroes will prefer one or the other over Undying.
Max HP: +60 HP: +4.5 / 5 sec	GOOD FAIR POOR 11 50 0
Feast	Feast is a very niche Arcana which can be used by a few heroes to counter mages. Players are generally better off bolstering their stats in different ways, though.
LS: +1% Magic D: +4.1	GOOD FAIR POOR 0 30 31
Devour	Devour is the standard level 3 purple Arcana for immobile or burst mages, as they’ll take as much ability power as they can get. It also is generally a good Arcana for heroes who scale off of magic damage.
AP: +2.4 Magic LS: +1%	GOOD FAIR POOR 20 10 31
Benevolence	Benevolence offers a great mix of survivability and mobility, great for tanky heroes and useful for all heroes. The 4% movement speed from 10x Benevolence provides between 13.6 and 18.4 extra movement speed, depending on the hero and boots situation.
Max HP: +45 HP: +5.2 / 5 sec MS: +0.4%	GOOD FAIR POOR 25 36 0
Assassinate	As the name implies, Assassinate is great for assassins (or any other heroes that rely on movement speed and quick bursts of damage). The Joker is the perfect candidate for 10x Assassinate, as his kit thrives off of attack damage and movement speed. Particularly immobile mages can make use of Assassinate as well.
AD: +1.6 MS: +1%	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (The Joker) 14 36 11
Guerrilla	Whereas Assassinate is for heroes who deal physical damage with abilities, Guerilla works best with heroes who prefer using auto attacks. Again, slow mages (who prefer attack speed over damage) will want to take Guerilla if their effectiveness is contingent upon having sufficient movement speed.
AS: +1% MS: +1%	GOOD FAIR POOR 15 36 10
Bastion	Armor will always be useful, unless you run into a 5-mage team in Abyssal Clash or something. Armor is also more useful the more HP you have, making it a reasonable choice to pair with some of the massive HP boosts available among the purple Arcana. Bastion is a safe choice for an all-around Arcana, though usually not the best one for any particular class.
Armor: +9	GOOD FAIR POOR 11 50 0
Mythril	At first glance, Mythril seems superior to Bastion because it provides 10 total resistance as opposed to 9. However, you’ll just be doing a favor to mages who “overkill” on magic pierce with Violate and Flurry (because those are the best available to those heroes) in the early game. You’re better off just picking up extra items that provide magic defense in the situations that call for them.
Armor: +5 Magic D: +5	GOOD FAIR POOR 11 50 0
Valiance	Valiance is the level 3 green all-around choice. It is particularly good for heroes who wind up at 35% CDR by virtue of purchasing Spear of Longinus. On the flip side, if you have a set build that reaches the maximum CDR of 40%, you’re better off with something else.
Max HP: +37.5 CDR: +0.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 29 32 0
Prowess	Prowess is extremely situational: the only situation we can think of where it would be useful is against a 3-mage composition. We’d recommend not preparing for that unlikely scenario unless you’ve already purchased every other level 3 Arcana.
Magic D: +9	GOOD FAIR POOR 0 0 61
Hex	Hex would be decent if not for the existence of the amazing Flurry. The CDR number is also a bit awkward, especially because all the magic items have round CDR numbers, making it impossible to get to exactly 40%. Hex is best for heroes who have built-in magic pierce (Raz, Veera) and/or the intended build caps at 30% CDR. Mages with true damage (Lauriel, Ignis, Aleister) are also a possibility, though the true damage for each of them is only on one ability.
AP: +2.4 CDR: +0.7%	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 4 41
Skewer	Skewer is one of the most impactful Arcana in Arena of Valor and a no-brainer for any hero that deals heavy physical damage.
AD: +0.9 Pierce: +6.4	EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR 1 (The Joker) 29 10 21
Flurry	The go-to for most mages and some other magic damage-dealing heroes. 10x Flurry by itself will allow mages to deal true damage with their abilities in the early game. The attack speed is…interesting. Perhaps Valheins can make use of it.
AS: +0.6 Magic P: +6.4	GOOD FAIR POOR 16 10 35
Focus	Focus gives players more flexibility with their item builds by providing CDR without all the extras that they didn’t want to pay for. Oftentimes, a hero will want that sweet 40% CDR (or some other optimal benchmark), but the item build that provides 30% CDR is the most efficient based on the stats that hero wants. In a way, Focus allows players to gain advantages through their build by not chaining them to the items that provide CDR.
CDR: +1%	GOOD FAIR POOR 20 41 0
Consume	Consume doesn’t make all that much sense. Magic life steal and armor are anti-synergistic: investing resources in armor will leave you with less ability power to steal life with, and trying to restore life via magic life steal is inefficient compared to just getting more armor.
Magic LS: +0.7% Armor: +5.9	GOOD FAIR POOR 0 5 56
Crusader	The same argument against Mythril applies here. Valiance is just overall more useful.
Armor: +2.7 Magic D: +2.7 CDR: +0.6%	GOOD FAIR POOR 11 50 0

Check out our Arcana List and Hero Arcana Builds for each hero to help you as you build your ideal Arcana set. You can also take a look at our Arcana Gold Value to determine which Arcana is the best investment of your hard-earned gold.

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