Arena of Valor (AoV) - Everything You Need to Know About Towers

A comprehensive guide for the towers in Arena of Valor (AoV) that details their characteristics, the differences between different types of towers, and how different abilities and items affect towers.

Update 2/13/2018: added “backdoor protection” and “additional notes”

What is a Tower?


Towers are the large structures throughout the map that protect the lanes and attack enemies who approach. There are three towers in each lane on either side of the river, and one in each base known as the Core. The towers are classified in tiers, ranging from one to three. Tier 1 towers being the furthest away from the base, while tier 3 towers, also called high ground towers, are those at the very edge of a team’s base. The main objective of a match is to destroy all of the towers in at least one lane before destroying the enemy’s core. The match ends when the Core is destroyed, so protecting it should be your first priority.

Tower Targeting

Towers will target the nearest enemy minion or hero. They prioritize minions, attacking the hero after there are no more minions in range.


However, a tower will target a hero whenever they damage an opponent, even when enemy minions are nearby.

Healing Glyph


There is a healing item behind each tier 1 tower, it appearing as a green floating cross. This healing item shows up one minute into the match and respawns 75 seconds after use. The effect is similar to a weaker Restore. This is especially useful, early game as you will be needing HP and mana to stay in lane and protect the towers. It is possible to take the enemy’s health pack behind as well, so go for it when you have the chance.

Backdoor Protection

In order to prevent tanky or high damage heroes from easily knocking down towers while absorbing its fire, towers get a large amount of damage resistance (changed from increased armor and magic defense in patch 13 – see next section) whenever minions aren’t nearby. This goes up immediately after the last minion is killed without regard to if a hero is still attacking the tower.

Arena of Valor Backdoor Protection 1
Arena of Valor Backdoor Protection 2

In addition, all damage is reduced by a flat 50 for the first 3 minutes of the game on Horizon Valley, regardless of any damage buffs, armor pierce effects, true damage, etc. For example, a Valhein with 169 damage would deal 169 x (1-200/800) – 50 = 76 damage to towers with minions, and 169 x (1-1200/1800) – 50 = 6 damage to towers without minions in the first three minutes of the game.

Furthermore, since siege minions start spawning at the 5:10 mark, it is usually not worth it to push towers early on, unless you have a 2 v 0 advantage, or the one player defending can be caught out.

Stats

The Core has different stats than the towers in lanes. It is stronger, boasts a higher health pool, and heals over time when left unattacked.

Tier 1 & 2 Towers

Arena of Valor Tier 1 and Tier 2 Towers
While difficult to destroy in the early game, these towers can be destroyed solo once you get to higher levels. When no minions are nearby, these towers gain 60% damage reduction.

Tier 3 Tower

Arena of Valor Tier 3 Tower
The tier 3 tower has higher HP and attack than other towers, but this shouldn’t be a problem by the time you reach it. In addition to the increased strength, Tier 3 towers slow enemies hit. When no minions are nearby, these towers gain 70% damage reduction.

Core

Arena of Valor Core
The Core has very high armor and magic defense, making it difficult to destroy alone. Rally with your teammates before attacking. Same as with the tier 3 tower, the Core slows enemies hit. When no minions are nearby, these towers gain 75% damage reduction.

Additional Notes

Increasing Damage

A tower’s damage increases with each shot when attacking heroes, adding 200-300 damage to each shot. In addition, to help counter the increasing amounts of health and armor players will have as the game progresses, the towers increase in strength as the match progresses. The towers raise in strength every thirty seconds by 12 or 13 points, starting at the one minute mark and ending at the ten minute mark.

In regards to damage, towers deal physical damage. As a result, buying armor will mitigate the damage they deal.

Damaging Towers

A tower’s defenses can be pierced with armor pierce, allowing a player to deal more damage to structures. In addition, most abilities that modify basic attacks will affect towers, as well as a few other abilities in the game. Also note there is a 1000 Damage Limit for one stage of damage by a hero towards a tower. Other specifics:

  • Fenrir’s Tooth’s unique passive applies to towers, but Fafnir’s Talon’s passive does not
  • Critical hits are not possible on towers
  • Though armor pierce affects towers, armor reduction from items like Spear of Longinus doesn’t
  • True Damage applies to towers, dealing the full amount listed
  • Life steal is not possible on towers, but life gain (Kil’groth‘s Enraged Spear, for example) is.

Destroying Towers

  • You can’t destroy a higher-tier tower before the lower-tier towers in the same lane are destroyed
  • Destroying all the towers in a lane spawns super minions, who have a lot of health and damage
  • Destroying all Tier 3 towers spawns two additional super minions per wave in the center lane (so 5 super minions total per minion wave – 1 in each outer lane, and 3 in the center lane)

Further Reading

Arena of Valor (AoV) Recommended Article List

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