Arena of Valor (AoV) - ‘Splainin’ Lanin’

July 9, 2018 Taku Bou Arena of Valor (AoV) 4

Overview

The battlefield of Arena of Valor’s most popular Grand Battle mode is split into three lanes and a jungle. Heroes will spend the beginning of the game in one of these four areas, their destination determined by their role. Given their geography and location, each lane is differently suited to different types of heroes. This is not plainly obvious, especially to newer players, and so players can occasionally find themselves thrust into a position not well suited to their hero. Here we will detail each position, their features, and the different heroes who can excel in each.

SG Note: In a freak twist of fate, some punk on Reddit gave a large guide that details very similar things as this article. While this was not the inspiration for this page, the guide offers some additional valuable information on the same topic.

Abyssal Dragon Lane

Named for the epic creature that makes its home near the lane, the Abyssal Dragon lane will likely see the most activity during the early stages of the game. This is largely due to the Abyssal Dragon itself, a very important source of gold and experience. Teams will generally send two heroes here rather than one in order to fight for the honor of killing the dragon. Whenever the jungler moves to take the Abyssal Dragon, both heroes can move up to assist better than any single hero ever could. A marksman and a support of some sort are best suited for this lane as a result. Marksmen need gold more than they need experience and therefore aren’t handicapped by the split experience that comes from sharing a lane. They are easy to kill, however, making back up in the form of a support or tank necessary. Tanks and Supports generally don’t require much gold and therefore can give it up to the marksman easily.

While the most common, other heroes can find some use in the Abyssal Dragon lane. Item-dependant mages can substitute the marksman should the team have opted for a no-marksman or double mage composition. The backup does not necessarily have to be one labeled as a tank or a support either. Any hero that is geared toward setting up kills or protecting teammates instead of getting their own kills is well suited to assist the carry in lane.

Examples of Good Choices

Marksmen:
Tel’annas	Wisp	Violet	Yorn

Mages:
Zill	Raz

The above heroes all can greatly benefit from the additional gold offered from laning with back up. Careful last hits will allow the carry to quickly farm up powerful weapons and reach their power spike as early as possible.

Supports
Alice	Lumburr	Chaugnar	TeeMee

Tanks
Thane	Mina	Grakk

Warriors
Ormarr	Arduin

Mages
Aleister	Azzen’ka

The above all can offer large amounts of utility and protection but are a bit lacking in damage. They are much more suited to setting up fights than to finishing opponents off. This makes them a big threat in the lane when backed by a carry as a well-placed control ability can easily spell the target’s doom. These heroes should almost never be sent to a lane alone, enemies able to ignore their attacks when without backup.

Examples of Bad Choices

Marksmen
Lindis	Fennik

Carry Mages
Tulen	The Flash	Liliana

Supports
None

Tanks
Xeniel	Max	Arum

Warriors
Lu Bu	Maloch	Ryoma

Most of the poor picks in this lane are the result of squandered potential. While it is true that Lindis and Fennik could succeed in the lane, the team is sacrificing their early game potential in doing so. Similar could be said of mage carries like Tulen or The Flash, however, instead of sacrificing an early game power, these heroes will miss out on setting up ganks for their team.

In terms of tanks and warriors, having to completely give up early game gold just to babysit the carry will limit their abilities later in the game. In addition, many will provide enough damage when using their abilities that they could inadvertently steal minions from the carry and thereby take away from their overall gold. This is not to mention the lost potential in preventing these heroes from roaming the map or ganking. There are very few heroes that shine in the Dark Slayer lane who will also shine when acting as a support to a carry.

Middle Lane

The middle lane is the only lane that can be attacked from either side, requiring heroes that are able to defend themselves in some way. In addition, its close proximity to both side lanes offers the mid lane many opportunities to gank in between minion waves. As such, a hero that can offer to ganks suit mid lane very well. These different features have led to mages being the primary choice for the middle lane. Most have a moderate range, allowing for safe harassment of their enemies as well as some form of crowd control or movement ability that make them adept at either escaping danger or ganking.

Examples of Good Choices

Mages
Tulen	Liliana	Preyta	Kahlii

Each of these mages is rather capable of taking care of themselves as well as offering quite a bit of damage or utility when ganking. Additionally, the heroes are great at clearing the minion wave as to go and gank the side lanes in a timely manner.

Examples of Bad Choices

Almost any melee hero

This has exceptions, of course-Raz coming immediately to mind, however, if a hero has to get up close to the minions to attack mid, they will be in a much more precarious position than any ranged hero. This will make it unnecessarily hard for them to farm and thereby cripple them later in the game.

Dark Slayer Lane

The Dark Slayer lane will receive the lowest amount of support early game due to the importance of the Abyssal Dragon early game. As such, the Dark Slayer lane is best manned by a single hero who is durable enough to support themselves without the safety of backup. Warriors and tanks capable of damage are the best choice for the lane, high amounts of sustainability or durability needed to outlast an opponent. Some offensive potential is important as well, however, as without it the enemy can simply ignore you as they act.

Examples of Good Choices

Warriors
Superman	Ryoma	Wonder Woman	Omen

Tanks
Arum	Taara	Max	Xeniel

These heroes are very capable at surviving enemy attacks while also possessing reliable sources of damage of their own. They should have little trouble staying up for long periods despite minimal support from allies.

Examples of Bad Choices

Warriors
Ormarr

Tanks
Mina	Thane	Cresht	Grakk

Despite being warriors and tanks, the above heroes lack much damage and thereby can be ignored by their opponent. Unable to pressure their opponent, the hero will be forced to play very defensively and almost certainly lose their lane as a result. Should the enemy jungler make their way up to the lane for a gank, the poor hero will be helpless to stop them.

Jungle

Heroes find their viability in the jungle due to a few specific traits. First is how well they can kill jungle monsters at a low level. The accelerated experience is moot if the hero takes twice as long to slay the creatures than others. Next, a good jungler must be adept at ganking, ganks their primary goal after reaching level 4. Even if a hero can get an early lead from jungle monsters, this doesn’t amount to much if they can not do anything with the lead. This is the most common take that assassins take, though a number of warriors, marksmen, and even mages on occasion are very capable at jungling as well.

Examples of Good Choices

Assassins
Murad	Butterfly	Kriknak	Wukong

Warrior
Zephys	Zuka	Lu Bu	Rourke

Marksmen
Violet	Moren	Slimz	Lindis

Mages
Zill	Tulen	The Flash

These heroes are all exceptionally good at picking off the monsters early and then using the advantage in levels provided to pick off opponents. High mobility is a common factor among most here, allowing for quick traversal of the jungle and an easier time chasing targets.

Examples of Bad Choices

Assassins
None

Warriors
Arthur	Arduin	Maloch

Marksmen
Yorn	Valhein	Wisp

Mages
Lauriel	Krixi	Veera

Clear speed is the most limiting factor when determining if a character would make a good jungler, something that most of the above lack early game. While having the potential to set up nice ganks, being completely outpaced by the enemy jungler. Another problem is if the hero doesn’t make particularly good use of the head start. Even if the clear speed is fine, the character lacking any capabilities outside of large team fights will give the enemy jungler complete control of the lanes.

Other Guides

Arena of Valor (AoV) Recommended Article List

▼ Popular Articles
Beginner's Guide	Hero Tier List
Hero Class Guide	Armory (Item List)

▼ Popular Articles
Beginner's Guide	Hero Tier List	Hero Class Guide	Armory (Item List)

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Leave a Reply Cancel reply

johnk
April 17, 2019 at 7:37 PM

wisp is bad for jungle? If someone picked wisp, she would be suggested first as the jungler

Reply
Faisal
July 7, 2018 at 9:55 AM

You forgot to put opening tag ‘<' at part jungle-good choices-warrior-zephys

Reply
- Green
  July 9, 2018 at 10:05 AM
  
  You, sir or madam, are an intellectual and an excellent dancer. I thank you for your help and would offer the heartiest of high fives were I within hand slapping distance.
  
  Reply
  - Anonymous
    August 16, 2020 at 4:02 PM
    
    Wow, I have never heard “intellectual and an excellent dancer” before; is that your version “gentleman and a scholar”?
    
    Reply

HERO

GUIDES

SG Rating

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%