Arena of Valor (AoV) - Which Level 3 Arcana Should You Buy?

Which Level 3 Arcana Should You Buy?

Gold is a limited resource in Arena of Valor, meaning players have to be careful with how they use it, particularly when it comes to Arcana – the only goods that can only be bought with gold. Level 3 Arcana are especially game-changing, potentially providing heroes with over 2000 in-game gold worth of stats from the start. At 2000 (out-of-game) gold a piece, however, compiling even a single page of Level 3 Arcana can be incredibly time-consuming, let alone multiple pages geared toward several heroes.

Buying specific level 3 Arcana for specific heroes (we’re looking at you, Wukong) can leave you without a reasonable Arcana page for other heroes, so we’ve put together three Arcana pages – plus some substitution suggestions – that work for a wide swath of characters. They may not be perfect for every hero, but they’ll get the job done – and be more than enough for you to make it into Master rank.

(A note on substitutions: they’re provided as an alternative to the type of Arcana displayed, but a lack of substitutes doesn’t mean you can’t build your page differently. For example, there’s no defensive-minded red Arcana other than Indomitable, but you’re more than welcome to apply damage-focused Arcana to your tank.)

Tank-Focused (Useful for Every Hero)

Tank-Focused Arcana Page (Useful for Every Hero)
Arcana	Indomitable	Benevolence	Valiance
Stats	Attack Speed: +1% Max HP: +33.7 Armor: +2.3	Max HP: +45 HP: +5.2 / 5 sec Movement Speed: +0.4%	Max HP: +37.5 Cooldown Speed: +0.6%
Total Stats (10 of each)	Attack Speed +10%, Max HP +1162, Armor +23, HP +5.2 / 5 sec, Movement Speed +4%, Cooldown Speed +6%
Substitutions	none	Colossus, Undying	Bastion, Focus

This should be your first level 3 Arcana page, unless you really specialize in a specific role. The combination of stats provided by Indomitable, Benevolence, and Valiance is useful for any hero, providing you with tons of HP along with a bit of attack speed, armor, movement speed, and cooldown reduction.

Colossus or Undying are tempting Arcana to replace Benevolence, but movement speed is invaluable in chasing, retreating, and rotating between lanes. In addition, movement speed can be hard to come by when buying items in-game, as not every hero has a use for Slikk’s Sting or Zweihander.

If you’re a tank and your item build already has the maximum 40% CDR in it, Bastion can be a reasonable replacement for Valiance. Every opposing team composition will have physical damage, and armor actually has more value than additional HP at high HP counts. On the other side of the spectrum, equipping Focus takes pressure off you to buy otherwise-inefficient items just for the CDR they provide.

Attack Damage-Focused

Attack Damage-Focused Arcana Page
Arcana	Onslaught	Assassinate	Skewer
Stats	Attack Damage: +2 Armor Pierce: +3.6	Attack Damage: +1.6 Movement Speed: +1%	Attack Damage: +0.9 Armor Pierce: +6.4
Total Stats (10 of each)	Attack Damage +45, Armor Pierce +100, Movement Speed +10%
Substitutions	Rampage, Blitz	Guerilla	Focus

Here we have your standard page for marksmen, assassins, and bruising warriors. Heck, use it on tanks as well if that’s how you roll.

There are a lot of offensive red Arcana, so let’s go through them:

• Obliterate just does less damage than all of the other choices a couple minutes into the game, so it’s out (there is the possibility of equipping it to heroes who deal magic damage while scaling attack damage, but that’s way too specific)
• Bloodlust trades useful stats for life steal, which is more or less useless unless your build relies specifically on that extra 5%
• If you love Kil’groth or other heroes that rely on attack speed, then go ahead and invest in Blitz
• We compared Rampage and Atrocity, and found that Rampage deals more damage on average than Atrocity once you purchase one tier 3 crit-based item. Therefore, getting Atrocity will only be worth it if you score an extra critical hit in the early game when your critical chance is still below 20%. Of course, if you feel more secure with the increased percentage, then by all means purchase Atrocity.
• Onslaught is overall the safest pick, providing a significant damage boost no matter the hero class or item build

For the purple Arcana, Assassinate covers the largest range of heroes, but again, Guerilla is fine if you typically play heroes reliant on attack speed. Also, there are builds that use 5x Reave and 5x Guerilla, but these are pretty specific (not to mention liable to change when a new patch hits).

Skewer is the only attack damage-based Arcana, but boy is it a good Arcana. 10x Onslaught and Skewer will have you doing true damage at the beginning of the game against most heroes. Focus is an okay alternative if your favorite heroes are reliant on CDR.

Magic Damage-Focused

Magic Damage-Focused Arcana Page
Arcana	Violate	Devour	Flurry
Stats	Ability Power: +4.2 Magic Pierce: +2.4	Ability Power: +2.4 Magic Life Steal: +1%	Attack Speed: +0.6% Magic Pierce: +6.4
Total Stats (10 of each)	Ability Power +66, Magic Pierce +88, Magic Life Steal +10%, Attack Speed +6%
Substitutions	Enlightened, Conjure	Sap, Assassinate, Guerilla	Hex, Focus

This Arcana page focuses on dealing as much magic damage as possible. Yes, the magic pierce is a bit overkill, but consider: 1) Gilded Greaves is a must-buy for many heroes, 2) Some players will equip magic defense Arcana, and 3) There’s nothing wrong with dealing true damage until level 5 for the rest.

That said, heroes like Veera and Raz have magic pierce built into their kits, so you can opt for Enlightened or Hex if you play them a lot. Conjure is meant for mage-assassins who rely on quickly auto-attacking, though Violate should be perfectly fine, especially if you’ve already purchased Flurry.

Sap is an Arcana for aggressive mages, so purchase it if you find yourself auto-locking Lauriel or Tulen every game. Assassinate and Guerilla are for mages like Aleister who desperately need the movement speed to be effective.

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