Arena of Valor (AoV) - Arena of Valor Winter Wonderland Tier List (Ninth Edition)

July 18, 2019 Taku Bou Arena of Valor (AoV) 63

A rating list of the strength of heroes (characters) in Arena of Valor organized and separated by tier ranking with an explanation for their placement on the list

Hero Information and Guides
Suggested Level 3 Arcana	Item Builds
Hero Attributes List	Hero Skins
Hero Availability

List includes heroes (champions) from the Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Southeast Asia (Malaysia / Philippines / Singapore), and India servers.

UPDATE: 02/07/2019 – Added Wiro on the Tier List

Overview

Welcome to the ninth edition of the Samurai Gamers Arena of Valor Hero Tier List! This list is an attempt to rank heroes based on their effectiveness in all levels of ranked play. It is based off of our (Master-rank) opinion, with weight given to high-level players’ opinions and certain heroes’ ban, pick, and win rates in professional matches around the world.

Keep in mind that heroes are judged on their own merits, and not as part of very specific team compositions – though being viable in multiple situations is a big plus. Therefore, the list should be viewed based on heroes’ potential in solo-queue, without the need for heavy team cooperation or organization. That all said, we’ve affixed separate symbols to characters whose value changes dramatically when played either solo or in an organized team.

Changes From the Eighth List

Removal of Tier 4

Following the recently concluded AIC 2018 which saw professional players use Toro competitively, we felt that the good old bull needs to be brought up a tier, at least for now. Finally, Toro has been given a little bit of street cred he desperately needs to get out of Tier 4 since people are starting to get the hang of his kit and how to use him effectively. That said, we’ll be monitoring if the bull or any other hero performs badly enough to make us bring this tier back.

More Jungling Options

The Winter Wonderland patch tweaked some junglers, specifically Kriknak, Zanis, Fennik, and Zephys. The damage scaling adjustments to Kriknak was enough for us to place him down one tier, while the other junglers moved up a tier thanks to their abilities being tweaked to have more damage or additional buffs. Basically, this patch opens up more jungler options for players.

Additional Stuff on Some Heroes’ Abilities

Another interesting thing the devs did in this patch is to add more stuff in some heroes’ abilities such as additional scaling and effects. These were both quality of life choices as well as giving some love for some seemingly neglected heroes (looking at you, Omega) which are interesting to say the least. Rest assured, we’ll be on the lookout on how these additions will shape the meta.

Arena of Valor Hero Tier List

This is our tier list for the mobile version of Arena of Valor. For our tier list on the Nintendo Switch version, click here.

Visual List

Here’s a quick list in image form for you social media users out there. Scroll past for full explanations of hero placement.

Legend

Symbols

All heroes can be strong or weak given a particular situation. We’ve done our best to rank them based on their average strength, but some heroes’ levels fluctuate wildly depending on their circumstances:

“+” denotes a hero whose rating is highly dependent on the player’s skill – more so than your typical hero. For instance, a capable Murad is a maddening presence for the opposing team (and thus belongs in Tier S), whereas a Murad who doesn’t understand his cooldowns and ultimate usage will be the deciding factor in a decidedly bad way.
“^” denotes a hero who performs better in a solo queue setting than in an organized or cooperative team environment. In the typical chaos of ranked play, Tel’Annas will demolish anyone who gets caught in her attack range, while teams who play together will jump her the instant they smell an opportunity.
“#” denotes a hero who is much more effective in an organized or cooperative team setting. Though Mina can’t do much by herself, she is a terror if her team cooperates with her.
“~” denotes a hero whose value diminishes by one or more tiers if not played in their primary role. For the sake of your teammates, please don’t try to play Alice in a lane by herself.

Roles

These are different from the roles delineated in the game; instead, they are the roles (1 being their primary role) that optimize the character’s functionality throughout a game of Arena of Valor.

Jungle – You’re the jungler. Go do jungly things.
DS Lane – Dark Slayer Lane (or just solo/side lane, if you have a dedicated roaming support). You’re good at solo-laning. Sit in the corner and soak those minion waves.
Support – Characters who fare much better when travelling with a damage-dealing ally. If you’re alone, it’s because you’re scouting out the enemy or purposely allowing teammates to farm more experience and gold.
Damage – Follow up on your team’s initiation by bringing the heat. Position-wise, you are in the Abyssal lane solo or duo.
Mid – The middle lane: typically mages who can clear safely (with some exceptions).

Tier SS

Unlike our previous SS tier, these heroes are simply more effective than the heroes in the S Tier, but not necessarily impossible to deal with.

(Click on a hero for ability mechanics, attack and ability ranges, hero guides, item builds, and more)

Hero	Role	Description
Y’bneth	1. DS Lane 2. Support	Y’bneth can seem like The Immovable Object at times, pushing his enemies around and then forcing them to stay in place with Nature’s Realm.
Y’bneth’s damage output was too strong in the early game, which is why the developers opted to scale his numbers in this patch. That said, he is still an absolute beast and continues to be a monster in solo queue, making quick work of enemies who
Lindis	1. Jungle 2. Damage	A marksman who is capable of immense amounts of damage and can quickly and safely move around the jungle.
Lindis is one of the heroes to benefit from Kriknak’s tweaks. While the damage of Piercing Gaze was adjusted to scale down a bit in late game, but not too much. She is still one of the better jungle marksmen in the game.
Elsu	1. Mid 2. Jungle 3. Damage	A sniper who balances ridiculous range and damage with relatively poor mobility and attack speed.
Elsu got some bug fixes, which are more than welcomed by Elsu Mains. He is still as potent as ever (provided his snipes hit their target).
Riktor+	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A jack-of-all-trades, burst-damage warrior with good mobility, damage, and survivability.
Slight nerfs on the base numbers of Riktor’s abilities, but nothing too drastic that would result to him falling down the tier list. He is still a threat for those who figured out how to use the duelist.
Quillen+	1. Assassin 2. Jungler	Mr. Cloak-and-Dagger who shreds squishy targets with his insane AD burst damage.
Quillen is making a killing (see what we did there?) in the NA server as of late. His kit makes him an ideal hero for those who like to stalk their enemies and kill them swiftly, kinda like a Butterfly 2.0 of some sorts.

Tier S

Tier S heroes can feel unfairly strong, though they can be countered with solid micro and macro play.

(Click on a hero for ability mechanics, attack and ability ranges, hero guides, item builds, and more)

Hero	Role	Description
Cresht	1. Support 2. DS Lane	A tank who excels at babysitting allied squishy heroes and can transform into an offensive and defensive juggernaut with his ultimate.
Cresht remains unchanged in this meta. Players can opt to use him as a tanky DS laner or a babysitting support and take advantage of his excellent kit.
The Flash	1. Mid 2. Jungle	The Flash is a mobile assassin capable of rushing in and out of fights and dishing out his damage before enemies have a chance to react.
His movement speed and the cooldown of his Super Speed were buffed in this patch. He is the fastest man alive, after all – those buffs are much welcome. We’ll be monitoring whether he’ll go up the tier list after a bit more research.
Kriknak	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	A burst assassin with incredible mobility who can demolish squishies and high-health targets alike with a percentage-based ability.
Kriknak falls down to S due to his damage output being tweaked a bit in terms of base damage and scaling. This might lead to some long-time Kriknak players to feel its effects, but for the rest of us, the beetle still provides the high burst damage an assassin should. Moreover, this tweak has opened the door for other junglers to make some noise.
Max	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A bruiser tank with a game changing ultimate who dominates enemies who rely on regeneration effects.
Max’s Liftoff was buffed in terms of base damage and its scaling. It now scales with bonus AD, unlike before. This might cause differing opinions as to how one should play Max. He now has the potential to be an AD burst warrior who takes down enemy carries or a tanky bruiser who sticks to the opposing team’s carries while his team rallies for the ensuing clash). Then again, there are always room for innovation in a game such as AOV.
Zephys	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	An assassin who boasts a large amount of damage and disruption ability despite being able to withstand a significant amount of enemy fire.
Zephys was given more damage in the early game after casting Death Rift and a more consistent cooldown in Death’s Flurry. Zephys players should be happy with these buffs since Zephys could struggle in clearing the jungle during the early game.
Violet	1. Jungle 2. Damage	A high-damage marksman who is able to roll out of danger and poke enemies with an empowered, long range, high-frequency attack.
The loss of Soulreaver to her kit was a hit, but Violet can still find ways to excel. Taking Mr. Stabby as a jungling item or shifting to Scorching Wind won’t be as effective as Soulreaver, but the marksman will still be able to hit like a truck and rip enemies apart. She will have more trouble taking down epic creatures late game now, as players will need to sell off Mr. Stabby in exchange for a more directly-damaging item later in the game.
Ryoma	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A warrior who uses his long range and high damage to burst away opponents before flipping to safety.
Ryoma’s Wailing Blade got buffed in its base damage and scaling. This further solidifies his hold in the S tier as a bursty DS laner / jungler who can also throw down thanks to his sustain.
Murad+	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	While difficult to play, Murad possesses the ability to dish out dramatic amounts of damage while remaining safely hidden from the battlefield.
Murad’s passive grants him better burst early game and slowly tapers off in the late game. Experienced Murad users know that ending games early is paramount, so this is a buff. He remains a headache to deal with in solo queue, since he is still as elusive as ever.
Arum	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A tank who summons lion spirits to damage any who get close and drain the life of her enemies.
Arum’s Ravenous Beasts now cannot be seen when she is in the brush. We can hear the Arum mains shouting with glee in the distance. This is another quality of life tweak from the developers, and makes Arum that much more dangerous for those who have a habit of face-checking brushes.
Kil’Groth	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A warrior that rips towers and enemies apart with his mighty, high-speed normal attacks while safely immune to control effects.
Kil’groth packs an insane amount of lethality while able to safely slip out of enemy attacks. The Terror can tear down towers or epic monsters extremely quickly, making him very effective at split pushing. This doesn’t come at the cost of team fight potential either, as Kil’Groth’s regeneration will keep him up in fights and his splashing attack damage will allow him to beat down grouped enemies.
Liliana+	1. Mid 2. Jungle	A mage who can shift between a long range nuker and a close-range assassin, able to deal large amounts of damage as each.
With an immense amount of burst damage at her disposal, Liliana remains a very potent force in the midlane. Her incredible mobility serves the dual purpose of keeping her out of trouble and indirectly allowing her to build as burst-y as possible since she has an escape built in. Minions aren’t even a problem when it comes to striking enemies, Shining Light a point target ability rather than a line shot.
Xeniel	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A strong tank who can both take in and deal out large amounts of damage with his mighty shield and whose presence is felt all across the battlefield.
Xeniel can be the deciding factor in a number of team fights. The heal and damage reduction that he provides can greatly swing momentum into his team’s favor. In addition, he makes an excellent tank, his large health pool augmented by regular shields. What’s more, the angel has a global presence, able to sweep into any fight no matter his distance at the time. The latest meta shifts have boosted Xeniel’s influence, as Angelic Splendor is a great panic button to hit when the team’s back line is getting dived by an assassin.
Lu Bu+	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A strong warrior who can control enemies with his disruptive abilities and is able to flip flights with a large damage and survivability steroid.
The recent buffs last patch are still good on Lu Bu. He is just as oppressive with his abilities as before, but now will have some additional attack speed to help him into damage town. The warrior will give other top laners a run for their money as he fights his way up to the top of the role. He might also find a place in the jungle, seeing that Kriknak has been nerfed.
Zanis	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	A warrior who grows in power with each kill or assist that he scores, Zanis is able to rip apart even the tankiest of enemies due to his possession of true damage.
Zanis’ Tail Sweep got all kinds of buffs which allows him to clear his jungle while staying alive a bit better. However, his Dragon’s Wrath got nerfed a bit, so that he handles more like a capable assassin / duelist than an Ult-first then hope for the best jungler. Still, he is one of the junglers to benefit from the developers adding more goodies to his kit.
Superman	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A mobile, durable, and aggressive sidelaner, Superman can sweep into the battlefield to tear enemy teams apart.
While he fell out of the limelight after his nerfs, Superman is still effective and oppressive. The man of steel can push enemies around the battlefield, take quite a bit of punishment, and damage enemies in decent amounts as well. Though not as devastating as he was earlier in the year, Superman is still a very powerful weapon in the hands of those who know how to use him.
Omen#	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	Omen is a strong duelest who excels at one on one combat and has an unescapable ultimate that traps the target in its range.
Still one of the game’s premiere solo laners, Omen is a fearsome split pusher and duelist. High on both damage and durability, the warrior can be a terror to fight against. While not the greatest in team fights, Omen can take down enemy after enemy after building up a number of core items. #Note: it may seem strange that we have a solo-laner as a hero who especially benefits from good team play, but Omen is a special case where his teammates need to be able to play around his split-pushing capabilities and capitalize late-game on opportunities he creates with Death’s Embrace
Jinnar	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	A durable mage who excels at team fighting due to a number of area-of-effect abilities and a shielding ultimate.
A very powerful mage who excels getting up close to enemies rather than attacking from afar. Jinnar can withstand a lot of damage during fights, even when fully building damage. He can trap those he is chasing, condemning them to an assured death as he rushes over them.
Raz+	1. Mid 2. Jungle	A melee mage who is able to poke enemies with a power fireball before sweeping in and finishing them off with his powerful, magical punches.
Raz got a slight nerf to his Power Surge, but not enough to drop this burning pugilist from your must-have hero list, especially in the mid lane.
Marja	1. DS Lane 2. Mid	A magical brawler, Marja rejuvenates her health as she attacks and is able to safely dive under towers to finish off fleeing enemies.
Marja remains a powerful slayer lane hero, able to deal out consistent damage with little to no risk to her own life. She is able to very safely trade through her life steal and invulnerability frames. The slows that her abilities have additionally punish enemies for getting close, giving her incredible control over her lane.
Ignis	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	Dealing sustained damage rather than bursting, Ignis enjoys running around fights and trapping opponents while barraging them with fireballs.
Ignis got a slight nerf in this patch, with the base damage of Fire Crash scaling down at the latter levels. It is a necessary nerf, but shouldn’t sway people from using the old man at any level of gameplay.
Maloch	1. DS Lane 2. Support	Possessing a high-damage cleave and an exceptional initiating ultimate, Maloch can tear apart enemy teams with his high durability and damage.
AOV’s resident villain got some buffs this patch. The additional AD multiplier on his passive and Cleave are welcomed. Just play him like you usually play him.
Skud	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A brawler who is both able to dish out significant amounts of burst damage and set up ganks for his team with a number of strong control abilities.
Another character who was at risk of falling, not because of his own strength but because of the heroes around him. He can deal quite a bit of damage, able to burst down squishier foes in a single hit. Above that he is still a rather durable tank and can knock enemies around with a suite of control abilities. While he might struggle against some of the now more powerful Slayer lane heroes, Skud remains a rather strong hero who can both excel when alone in lane or with his allies in a team fight.
Rourke	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	Durable despite a large amount of burst damage at his disposal and an amazing mustache, Rourke is able to obliterate enemies one-on-one.
Rourke’s damage to turrets and structures was buffed, as was the duration of his bonus attack damage with Charged Shot. This makes him a move up in our tier list, a he is a decent option for those who want their bursty close-range marksman fix.
Wonder Woman	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A powerful warrior who can either rush into enemy teams or drag low-health targets towards her with her whip before tearing them down with a number of strong attacks.
Her Sword and Shield can now damage jungle monsters up to 1000! Not that you should strive to do above 1000 damage to jungle monsters. Full AD WW, really? Tencent just removed the damage limit because… reasons. But I guess it’s another buff somewhat that no one asked for, but no one would mind having. That said, you could try a Jungle WW, but if you want to win, stick to her DS Lane / Support role.
Zuka	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	An agile assassin who is able to quickly chase down opponents with a multitude of movement abilities and burst them away with empowered normal attacks.
Another more viable Jungler nowadays, Zuka’s stock rises thanks to Kriknak’s nerfs. He is still a potent and agile assassin who can pummel enemies out of the jungle.
Florentino	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A mobile duelist who can whiz around the battlefield and shred enemies with his trusty blade.
Florentino is the latest hero we have the chance to fiddle with. He has an interesting kit that best suits him in the DS Lane as of now. We’ll place him here in S Tier tentatively, since we’ll need more information and data on this new hero.
Sephera	1. Support 2. Mage	A multi-purpose hero who can either be played as a great support healer, or an annoying mage who pokes enemies.
Sephera has been making waves since her debut since December. This is attributed to her amazing kit that lets her poke at enemies and heal her allies without much difficulty. Suffice to say, she is one of the more safer heroes to use, and is very useful in various team compositions thanks to her versatility.

Tier 1

The best of the “balanced” heroes.

(Click on a hero for ability mechanics, attack and ability ranges, hero guides, item builds, and more)

Hero	Role	Description
Alice#~	1. Support	A nimble support who can boost along allies with speed-enhancing shields as well as trap foes in her powerful control abilities.
Alice remains one of the game’s premiere supports. While not consistently game swinging enough to be up in the S tier, the Adorable Mystic remains a very potent hero. The utility that she provides through the speed and protection of her Friendship and the control of her Sunshine and Hissy Fit can be the deciding factors of fights. That said, she requires enough careful aim, timing, and positioning that players will need to be rather practiced to succeed with her.
Lauriel	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	Able to take on several enemies at the same time due to her powerful regeneration and spammable abilities, Lauriel plays like a durable mage warrior.
The recent buff to her passive preserved Lauriel’s place in tier 1. The angel can be incredibly influential in fights, dealing out large amounts of damage while keeping her health from falling. That said, she requires more build up to get going than other mages. Players have to play rather cautiously early game in order to hit her power spike.
Wukong~	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	Able to completely devastate solo heroes, Wukong relies on critical strikes to deliver heavy amounts of burst damage to enemies.
Despite his weaknesses, the Monkey King is surging in popularity as of late. He is also another jungler who benefited from Kriknak’s nerf.
The monkey king suffers from similar problems as other mid-tier junglers. High early-game potential but a fall off late game and a reliance on snowballing. What’s worse here is that Wukong has to additionally rely on RNG for his early-game damage. If players are unlucky they won’t get the crits they need early. If they don’t get early crits, they don’t get early kills. If they don’t get early kills, they lag behind and nobody’s happy.
Mina#~	1. Support 2. DS Lane	A tank who supports allies by drawing in enemies and forcing them into attacking as she whittles away their health with her whirling scythe.
Slight nerf to her movement speed, but not enough to severly hinder her already effective kit. She is still dangerous when her team works together.
Natalya	1. Mid 2. Damage	A burst mage who can dish out dramatic amounts of damage with her combo when able to land each shot.
Natalya straight up got some buffs this patch, from her base armor to max HP growth. But her biggest buff is her ability to cancel Lethal Rays earlier. This allows her to get out of dodge a bit better.
Zill~	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	A jungling mage who is able to quicly close the distance to his targets with a powerful ultimate that renders him invincible while casting.
Having grown more popular with the return of jungle assassins, Zill has found a renewed popularity. He can deal quite a bit of damage and do so safely. He is invincible when casting his ultimate and can warp away directly afterwards. He is very similar to The Flash and Murad in the regard. That said, he cannot withdraw from fights quite as reliably as the other two and lacks The Flash’s control or the same level of damage as Murad.
Preyta	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	A long-range siege mage who can transition into a normal-attacking monster after activating his ultimate and absorbing his wyvern’s spirit.
Preyta had his abilities’ damage scaling adjusted to suit the late game more. Moreover, his Ultimate was tweaked so that he’ll fill in the role of a Mage-DPS once he uses Disciple of the Plague instead of using it to bolster his defense and bombard enemies from a safe distance.
Chaugnar	1. Support 2. DS Lane 3. Mid	A support tank who switches seamlessly between poking and harassing the back line while being able to cleanse himself and allies of control effects.
Fixed a bug where Chaugnar was unable to get free from slow abilities of some heroes. This is more of a quality-of-life kind of tweak, and his role remains in the grander scheme of things.
Grakk#~	Support	A tank who plays like a support, Grakk is capable of dragging enemies to his waiting team or suppress targets with an area of ultimate
Similar to Mina in that players have been enjoying his rather powerful support capabilities lately. With careful aim, Grakk can snatch players away from their teams and drag them to an early demise. The Glutton additionally can lock groups of heroes down with is ultimate, World Devourer. One downside of Grakk is that he is very hit-or-miss, both literally and figuratively: the outcome of the game can depend on whether or not Grakk is hitting his hooks.
Krixi	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	A nimble mage who boasts large amounts of firepower when dealing with enemies up close due to her aura-based ultimate.
Still a rather powerful mage, Krixi has maintained her popularity due to her high burst and maneuverability. Krixi doesn’t have quite the dramatic potential as an S-tier mage, still relying completely on her movement speed to get around. However, the pixie can blast enemies into oblivion after getting a few items. Additionally, the knock up she has can be a great way of starting skirmishes.
Fennik~	1. Jungle 2. Damage	Possessing dramatic amounts of burst damage early game, Fennik is a marksman both exceptionally capable at tearing down jungle monsters and enemy towers.
Fennik’s Thief’s Mark and Chain Hammer Cyclone had their cooldowns reduced. This means he’ll be more annoying when it comes to clashes and a little harder to take on one-on-one since he’ll have his abilities at the ready more frequently now.
Valhein	1. DS Lane 2. RNG 2nd stun	A marksman who is focused more on attack speed than damage, Valhein can build as either a marksman or a mage as he stun locks opponents.
One of the recipients of an indirect buff thanks to the new lifesteal mechanic in some items (looking at you, Blitz Blade.) Valhein’s dueling prowess has gotten buffed. If you’re playing him as a Crit DPS, you’ll love and should always buy a Blitz Blade.
Annette#	1. Support 2. Mid	A support with reasonable damage, Annette has a wealth of situational healing and disruptive abilities that can be devastating if used well.
Annette’s Gust Force was adjusted to scale better in the late game, while her Hurricane Wall’s duration and radius were reduced. This was in order to balance the buff it gives to Annette’s allies. She is still a good pick if your team is lacking a capable and annoying support who can save your teammates from certain scenarios.
TeeMee	1. Support 2. Damage	A strong support tank who are able to control the flow of fights with large amounts of crowd control and a powerful revival ultimate.
The string of nerfs that the Tanuki pair has received throughout the year have finally caught up with them. While still able to provide quite a bit of utility to their teams, their presence is much weaker than it had been in the past. Players will have to work much harder to protect their teammates with the brothers. Falling behind will risk them turning into a revive bot, which will fall far short of other supports.
Tulen	1. Mid 2. Jungle	An early game mage who excels at finishing off enemies and staying just out of reach of the opposition.
Despite a return of some movement speed, Tulen remains edged out by the meta. While capable of large amounts of damage and snowballing, he puts himself in considerable more danger to do so than his peers. The extra mobility is greatly appreciated though, as it will help a lot as the lightning mage moves between the lanes to gank.
The Joker	1. Mid 2. Damage 3. Support	A marksman who plays more like a mage assassin, The Joker is both able to burst away opponents and slip out of fights unharmed.
The Joker’s Canned Laughter gets a significant buff in terms of its base damage. This makes him a fun option in solo queue, but just be wary of teammates who will berate you for picking him over more traditional marksmen.
Airi	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	An extremely agile top laner who can sneak up to enemies to attack and zip away to safety with a number of dashes.
The kunoichi received a baffling nerf from the previous patch, some her durability shifted over to damage instead. While stated as a method of getting people to use her as an assassin, in reality it will probably put more of a focus on durability when building items. That said, the assassin is still rather capable of taking down enemies. This is particularly the case when it comes to dashing into the enemy’s back line.
Aleister#	1. Mid 2. Support	With a large number of control abilities, Aleister excels at zoning enemies out of fights and setting targets up for his team to pick off.
Aleister continues to show some promise both as a mid laner and support thanks to his good zoning and lock down abilities. This warranted us to move him one tier from the previous one, since players are getting the hang of his potential.
Moren	1. Jungle 2. Damage	One of, if not the most durable marksman in the game, Moren is capable of tearing apart enemies with a stream of attacks.
We debated Moren a bit for this tier list. While he is undoubtedly a very capable jungle marksman, his power spike comes much later than others. His high damage, moderate speed, and respectable durability kept us from dropping him for now. We might see a drop in the future, however, as the meta shifts away from jungle marksmen.
Slimz+	1. Jungle 2. Damage	Capable of devastating ganks and of quickly tearing down enemy tanks, Slimz uses a large spear to stun from afar before jumping in to finish his target off.
Slimz’s Savage Potion got nerfed – his bonus damage now once he pops this starts at 3% instead of 4%, and maxes out at 5% instead of 6%. His knack of stunning the opportune target still makes him a viable Tier 1 markasman despite this nerf, though.
Amily	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A durable warrior that quickly traverses the map searching for single targets to annihilate.
Amily is a very strong warrior and is just now picking up some popularity at time of writing. We debated moving Amily all the way up to Tier S after some extremely strong showings from her in the GCS. That said, many haven’t figured out the warrior’s potential and we will need some more observation before moving her so far up the list, so she will stay in tier 1 for the time being. In the meantime, we’ve switched her primary and secondary role, as she is clearly better in a solo lane.
Roxie	1. DS Lane 2. Jungle	A very flexible hero, capable of manning the Dark Slayer lane early and being a potent force in team fights into the late game.
Wild Fire’s base damage and scaling are nerfed, but its healing and damage are doubled in the first 2.5 seconds of its activation. This was done so that players would be more discerning whether to activate this ability or not. Angie’s Grasp got some slight buffs in terms of faster cooldowns and a uniform duration for every level of the pull, which is nice. These tweaks make playing her more skill-based than before.
Tel’Annas^	1. Damage 2. Jungle	A high range marksman who can tear enemies apart with her quick attacks, provided she can stay in a safe position to do so.
Tel’Annas continues to rise up the ranks as she got some sweet buffs in the Winter Wonderland patch. Eagle Eye now gives Tel’Annas’ damage output in the early game a bit more oomph. Meanwhile Penetrating Shot is more useful now as a harassing / utility ability to frustrate enemies hit.
Nakroth+~	Jungle	A capable assassin with large amounts of damage who relies on his exceptional mobility to make up for lacking defenses.
Yet another jungler who has the potential to rise up the ranks, Nakroth has been getting some headway as of late. However, he is still a notoriously hard hero to master, so a word of caution for those wanting to use him to rank up – it’s best to train, train, train, and train first before going to the solo queue gauntlet.
Wiro#~	Dark Slayer Lane	A Warrior-Tank who excels in initiating team fights and displacing enemies. Hes also decent in one-on-one situations.
After much deliberation, we decided to add Wiro in our Tier List. Since he has a relatively small sample size in terms of gameplay outside of the Valiant Server, and the high skill curve players need in order to master him, we placed him on Tier 1. While he has good initiates and decent dueling abilities, Wiro has to pick when to charge in and wreck havoc on the opposing team. He also struggles somewhat in the early game against enemies who can poke him.

Tier 2

Most Tier 2 heroes are viable picks in professional competition.

(Click on a hero for ability mechanics, attack and ability ranges, hero guides, item builds, and more)

Hero	Role	Description
Batman~	1. Jungle 2. DS Lane	One of very few heroes with stealth abilities at their disposal, Batman can absolutely destroy squishy enemies left out in the open.
The devs tweaked Batman’s ultimate to make him stealthier. He cannot be targeted once he activates his Dark Knight, is stealthed, and is about to glide-kick an unwitting target. Yup, sounds like Batman to us.
Arthur	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A warrior who can quickly traverse the map with a spammable speed boost and execute high priority targets in team fights.
Arthur falls into Tier 2 thanks to people again becoming accustomed to his tricks and other heroes get buffs. He is still the fast, bursty, and durable hero who can fill a number of holes on the team and contribute effectively in each. While he doesn’t excel quite as well in a particular role as any specialists, his versatility more than makes up for it.
Arduin	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A warrior with plenty of crowd control at his disposal along with a regular shield and the ability to regenerate lost health with his passive.
Arduin has proven himself as a solid Slayer lane hero despite not quite having the same potential as some others. While damage isn’t his strong suit, Arduin has durability and control in spades. He can get into enemy teams and continually disrupt them with Rend and Cull, protecting himself and amplifying his damage with Undying Protector. His lack of popularity can lend him some additional use as well. Many players won’t see him often and thereby won’t be as practiced in dealing with him.
Diao Chan	1. Mid 2. Support	With a large amount of crowd control and some moderate damage at her disposal, Diao Chan can greatly disrupt enemies when able to land her abilities.
Diao Chan received some reasonable buffs that may allow her to rise as players get used to her new utility. Her damage is a bit low, but she makes up for it with the amount of stuns and slows that she can offer the team in a fight. She is rather immobile and very vulnerable to assassins and other burst damage dealers as a result. The biggest downfall to the character continues to be that players will have to mute their game in order to stand playing as her.
Kahlii	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	A long range mage capable to tearing through minion waves very quickly and attacking enemies from impressively far away.
Kahlii’s base attack damage got buffed a tad. It’s an okay +10 damage, but nothing too groundbreaking. She is still a powerful zoner who can swath enemies from afar with her abilities.
Baldum	1. Support 2. DS Lane	A disruptive tank with the ability to both brawl and pick off targets who are out of position.
Baldum got some interesting buffs – Wild Charge has a shorter cooldown, which means he can displace opponents more consistenly. Wild Stomp deals double damage to jungle monsters and reduces its cooldown by 0.3 every time it hits one. They are REALLY daring players to try Jungle Baldum. The ability additional grants him even more damage reduction as well. We see the devs are pining for a jungle tank meta. Interesting.
Ormarr	1. Support 2. DS Lane	A warrior who enjoys setting up kills rather than gathering large amounts of his own, Ormarr is a crowd control machine and one of the premiere roaming supports.
Ormarr is by no means bad, but isn’t quite the shining paragon of support he was in the past. He’s not the best pick in protect-the-carry comps, which is a heavy part of the current meta’s focus. In addition, his reliance on a rather vague RNG mechanic can make the warrior less reliable than other choices. He is still great in highly aggressive teams, though, particularly those that are wanting to do a lot of diving under towers.
Astrid	1. DS Lane 2. Support	An aggressive warrior who can survive large amounts of damage as she makes her assault, going completely immune to it when using her ultimate.
Astrid remains a rather standard warrior without the ability to stand out. She has respectable amounts of damage and survivability, but lacks a certain oomph to really stand out. Part of her problem is just how packed the Slayer lane is with good to great heroes, making her average nature all the more damning. Still, players who enjoy the warrior shouldn’t avoid her. The girl still packs enough punch to keep up with the rest when in skilled hands.
Butterfly~	Jungle	An assassin who jumps from opponent to opponent to finish them off in fights, regaining her abilities and health as she does so.
Butterfly has found a nice place in the game with her new mechanics. The assassin can now effectively get into fights, chase down targets, brutally murder them, and retreat to safety. While she doesn’t have the same utility as other stand-out assassins, she remains a rather safe pick for the jungle. Further, if the search for blow-em-up style assassin junglers continues, Butterfly could actually move up.
Lumburr#~	Support	An excellent baby-sitting tank who offers both passive protection to allies and a large amount of crowd control in fights.
Lumburr got some much needed buffs with the cooldown reduction of Ramapge and Earth Splitter being shortened at early levels. The mana cost adjustments are also welcome since this walking rock formation tends to run out of mana real quick.
Wisp~	1. Damage 2. Jungle	A marksman able to rip apart clumps of enemies with both explosive ammunition and a long range artillery strike.
A decent marksman who received quite a few buffs in the most recent patch. Wisp will be enjoying a number of new toys, from a faster Barrel Bomb to a Shock and Awe that slows targets. The latter is particularly useful, as it helps prevent enemies from simply stepping out of the area. There is very little wrong with Wisp at this point (save a meh passive), but she still doesn’t have quite enough to be considered tier 1. Maybe another meta shift or creative build will pick her up in the future.
Yorn	1. Damage 2. Mid	Capable of immense amounts of damage that pierces through enemies in a line, Yorn is a powerhouse when able to position himself well.
Yorn’s passive scales more in the late game. It’s a decent buff which will make Yorn reach his damage consistently. Still, the marksman packs an incredible punch and will be a huge benefit when it comes to tearing enemies down. His reliance on positioning and damage-and-damage-only kit stand in the way of him getting much higher than tier 2.
Thane~	1. Support	An exceptionally durable tank who is capable of peeling enemies away from allies and set up fights before finishing targets off with his devastating ultimate.
While Thane received a buff last patch, most people have become accustomed to his skills, making us put him down a tier. He is still durable and has lots of utility. That said, he is rather helpless if left alone, as he relies almost completely on teammates for damage. His main combo pushes instead of pulls, as well. While he can use it to trap enemies for long periods, it requires more careful positioning than other supports.
Mganga	1. Mid 2. DS Lane	With poisons that both damage enemies and heal allies, Mganga excels in drawn out fights with his stacking damage of time effects.
Slight buffs to Mganga’s base movement speed and attack speed growth. A buff is a buff, we guess.
Peura/Payna~	1. Support	A pure support who heals and protects allies with her auras while also chain stunning enemies who have grouped together.
After taking the world by storm with buffs last patch, Tencent decided that the deer girl was out of control and sent some nerfs her way. While still capable of maintaining her team and disabling the enemies. Her heal is now more effective on enemies above 80% health than it was before, so popping Healing Light early is needed to have a similar feeling to the Peura of before.
Omega	1. DS Lane 2. Support	As all of his abilities damage towers – and two can stun them – Omega can rip down enemy structures rather quickly.
Omega was given two significant buffs in the Winter Wonderland patch. Crash Mode’s casting time was shortened, making it easier to land, while Exterminate grants him much needed utility for his team. These were enough to bring him up out of the dregs. Bye, Toro. It will be interesting where Omega will find itself in the meta – which lane will he occupy? DS or AD? Only time will tell.

Tier 3

The heroes in Tier 3 lack in mobility, damage, or utility compared to other heroes.

(Click on a hero for ability mechanics, attack and ability ranges, hero guides, item builds, and more)

Hero	Role	Description
Azzen’Ka	1. Mid 2. Support	Azzen’ka is able to lock down opponents with a number of control abilities, though they can be somewhat difficult to land. Azzen’ka also suffers from extreme lack of mobility and durability.
Azzen’ka remains a below-average mage despite his Dust Devil having a bit longer range now. Just keep on giving this sand dude buffs and eventually, he’ll reach a good spot.
Ilumia+	1. Mid 2. Support	A mage capable of locking down the entire enemy team with her ultimate, Ilumia can unleash a steady stream of controlling orbs as she spams her abilities.
A straightforward buff to her Divine Light is nice. Now if they can give her better ways to not die. But she still lacks survivability to get out of Tier 3.
Toro	1. Support 2. DS Lane	Toro has high durability and thereby can withstand large amounts of enemy fire without much worry.
Toro finally gets out of Tier 4 thanks to his appearance in the previous AIC. Players have finally figured out how to use him effectively and competitively in matches, and hopefully this trend continues onto the solo queue hell. Fingers crossed that he can see some decent play time.
Gildur	1. Support 2. Damage	A control-focused tank, Gildur can set up fights for his allies by trapping groups of enemies with his ultimate or stunning them with his Brilliance.
Gildur got one of his shields back. Woohoo! Unfortunately, the Gold Geezer still shows his age in fights. He has a bit of control in his kit that players can use well, true. However it is less reliable and more dangerous than other heroes and has nothing to make up for the difficulty. If building him tankily, he will lack the damage to be effective and if building him with AP, he will be too vulnerable to contribute in fights.
Veera	1. Mid 2. Damage	Excelling in one on one combat, Veera is a simple mage that can deal large amounts of damage to single targets.
Veera keeps getting numbers buffs when she needs some mechanical tweaking to really get ahead. She is far too situational of a hero, only really excelling at duels. As soon as another enemy steps in, she won’t be able to get that sweet instant kill. This in turn leaves her open to attack, where she’ll almost definitely die.
Taara	1. DS Lane 2. Support	A warrior tank who is able to deal out large amounts of damage when her health is low and regenerate any health she is missing with her powerful ultimate.
Taara got a nice boost thanks to her max HP growth being buffed. Her passive is also intriguing, but those more familiar with her tanky build might need some time to get used to her newfound damage potential (…but she would still get owned when enemies get Tome of the Reaper and/or Curse of Death).

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Arena of Valor (AoV) - Arena of Valor Winter Wonderland Tier List (Ninth Edition)

Overview

Changes From the Eighth List

Arena of Valor Hero Tier List

Visual List

Legend

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Roles

Tier SS

Tier S

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Past Hero Tier Lists

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Name	Effect	Unique Passive (Special Ability)
Short Sword	Attack Damage +20	None
Dagger	Attack Speed +10%	None
Gloves	Critical Chance +12%	None
Bloodied Club	Attack Damage +10 Life Steal +8%	None
Chain hammer	Attack Damage +40	None
Cleaving Claymore	Attack Damage +80	None
Arcane hammer	Attack Damage +25 Attack Speed +15%	Speed Up: Normal attacks increase movement speed by 10%.
Tempest Blades	Attack Speed +25% Movement Speed +5%	None
Astral Spear	Attack Damage +50	Armor Pierce +60
Shuriken	Attack Speed +25%	Vital Point: Normal attacks deal additional 20 physical damage (+1 per hero level) for melee heroes and 40 physical damage (+2 per hero level) for ranged heroes.
Uriel’s Brand	Attack Damage +100 Max HP +600	Magic Guardian: When hero’s HP falls below 40%, Uriel’s Brand grants +200 magic defense and summons a Shield that absorbs (500+hero’s level*100) magic damage for 5 seconds. 75-second cooldown.
Curse of Death	Attack Damage +100 Life Steal +10%	Soul Prison: On dealing damage, reduces target’s HP regeneration by 50% for 1.5 seconds. If this is triggered by normal attacks, the duration is extended to 3 seconds.
Death Sickle	Attack Damage +60 Cooldown Speed +5%	Divine Intervention: Prevents damage from a potential killing blow, then increases movement speed by 20% for 1 second. 90-second cooldown.
Spear of Longinus	Attack Damage +80 Cooldown Speed +15% Max HP +400	Shatter: Decreases target armor by 50 on hit for 5 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
Fafnir’s Talon	Attack Damage +60 Attack Speed +30% Life Steal +10%	Dragon’s Breath: Normal attacks deal additional damage equal to 8% of target’s current HP.
Claves Sancti	Attack Damage +90	Upon landing a critical attack, grants bonus (30 + Level*2) movement speed for 2 seconds (only for Ranged). Critical Chance +25% , Increase critical damage by 50%
Muramasa	Attack Damage +75 Cooldown Speed +10%	Armor Pierce +45%
The Beast	Attack Damage +100 Life Steal +25 (physical and magic)	None
Omni Arms	Attack Damage +70 Attack Speed +15% Life Steal +10% Cooldown Speed +10% Max HP +500	Pentapower: After using an ability, the next normal attack within 5 seconds deals 100% more physical damage. 2-second cooldown.
Slikk’s Sting	Attack Speed +35% Critical Chance +25% Movement Speed +7%	Blessing of the Wind: Increase own resistance by 35 for 2 seconds after a critical hit
Fenrir’s Tooth	Attack Damage +200	Fenrir’s Tooth: Increases all damage dealt with 30% when the target’s HP is below 50%.
Blitz Blade	Attack Damage +50 Attack Speed +35% Life Steal +10% Movement Speed +5%	Chain Lightning: Every 4 seconds, the next normal attack triggers a chain lightning that deals 102 (+7 per level) magic damage. Each normal attack also carries Life Steal and reduces cooldown by 1 second on hit.
Devil’s Handshake	Attack Speed +30% Critical Chance +20% Movement Speed +5%	Flame Wrath: Normal attacks increase attack speed by 10% for 2 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
Rankbreaker	Attack Damage +110 Cooldown Speed +10%	Windwalk: Increases movement speed by 10% after exiting battle. Break: Increases armor pierce by 100 (+10 per level).
Spell Tome	Ability Power +40	None
Lapis Ring	Max Mana +300	None
Pendant of Faith	Mana +10 / 5 sec	None
Ancient Scriptures	Ability Power +80	None
Magic Ring	Cooldown Speed +10%	None
Enchanted Scroll	Ability Power +120	None
Trick Blade	Ability Power +60 Cooldown Speed +10%	Elemental Power: After using an ability, the next normal attack deals additional magic damage. 3-second cooldown.
Spoopy Mask	Ability Power +100	Magic Pierce +75
Phoenix Tear	Ability Power +60	From the Ashes: When the hero gains a level, 20% of HP and mana are restored over 3 seconds.
Virtue’s Bracelet	Ability Power +60 Cooldown Speed +5% Mana +20 / 5 sec	Soaring Spirit: Restores 20% mana after earning a kill or assist.
Vlad’s Impaler	Ability Power +90	Magic Life Steal +15%
Staff of Nuul	Ability Power +180 Cooldown Speed +10%	Magic Pierce +45%
Virtue’s Necklace	Ability Power +160 Cooldown Speed +10% Max Mana +300 Mana +30 / 5 sec	Soaring Spirit: Restores 20% mana after earning a kill or assist. Magic Pierce +75
Tome of the Reaper	Ability Power +240 Max HP +500	Soul Prison: On dealing damage, reduces target’s HP regeneration by 50% for 1.5 seconds. If this is triggered by normal attacks, the duration is extended to 3 seconds.
Boomstick	Ability Power +240	Explosion: Ability hits trigger a small-area explosion that deals 50 (+50% ability power) magic damage. 5-second cooldown.
Hecate’s Diadem	Ability Power +240	Warlock: Ability Power +35%