Arena of Valor (AoV) - Xeniel Hero Guide

A guide to Arena of Valor's Xeniel, the Immaculate. Sweeping down from the heavens, Xeniel wields his mighty mace and formidable abilities to assist his team in vanquishing their opposition.


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AoV WarriorWarrior AoV TankTank AoV AssassinAssassin
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Arena of Valor Xeniel

Xeniel Overview

Xeniel is a Tank/Support hero who is able to leap to team fights no matter where they are on the map. His Divine Protection shields him from incoming damage before exploding in a wave of energy. Xeniel is very adept at team fights and can protect any ally that needs his help when needed.

Strengths

  • Global Presence – Xeniel’s Ultimate, Angelic Splendor, gives him the ability to teleport to any one of his teammates. This provides a strong global presence and the ability to quickly turn a skirmish in his team’s favor. When not clashing or looking for team fights, he can push lanes and take down towers, easily able to heal his allies and join fights wherever they might spring up.
  • Good Burst Damage and Utility – Xeniel has a good amount of burst damage in his basic abilities. Divine Protection grants a shield that he can detonate after a few seconds and Malleus is a nice engaging ability that stuns opponents hit. Angelic Splendor is a great way to help out the team as well, especially low health allies. It grants the targeted ally 40% damage reduction until Xeniel leaps down and heals them, allowing his target to get back to safety or rally and finish the fight.
  • Capable Secondary Initiator – Xeniel provides a good follow up for his team during team fights, thanks to Angelic Splendor. Once his team’s primary initiator engages the opposing team, Xeniel can target the initiator to provide additional damage and heal the teammate before continuing to dish out burst damage with his own abilities.

Weaknesses

  • Requires High Awareness – As a tank, Xeniel will need to build items based on the enemy team’s composition. Failing to do so will leave him a poor front liner for his team. This means that Xeniel players should be constantly aware of the opposing team’s lineup and what items they are building. Furthermore, Xeniel will need to keep an eye on the map and his own team’s lineup to know when to use Angelic Splendor.
  • Relies on Teammates – Xeniel relies on his team’s ability to take advantage of his support. He is unable to carry games solo, needing teammates who are effective in clashes and have a good sense of when to fight and when to run.

Hero Basic Strategy

Laning Strategy

  • It is best to lane alone in order to get your Angelic Splendor as quickly as possible. Xeniel’s shield makes laning alone easy, absorbing harassment and pushing down minion waves. Conversely, you can lane with an ally who has a good control ability. This way, you can dish out burst damage by hitting the opponent with Malleus, Divine Protection, and your ally’s other damaging abilities.
  • When you’re running a solo lane, farm as much as you can. If you’re with a lane partner, zone out the opposition by getting between them and the minion wave. However, if the enemies are predominantly ranged heroes, it is best to keep your distance and pick good times to engage.

Leveling Progression

  • Level and max Divine Protection first. This is your main damaging ability whenever you find yourself in the midst of a team fight or when zoning out your opponents in lane.
  • Next, level up Malleus. This is a secondary engaging ability that also offers decent utility with its ability to stun multiple enemies.
  • Finally, level up Angelic Splendor as often as you can. Your ultimate is your go-to engagement and support ability, especially during clashes.

Battle Strategy

  • Solo Battle: Start the fight by casting Divine Protection, casting it again later for the explosion of damage. Once your shield is ready, lead into the fight with Malleus. Detonate Divine Protection if it is close to breaking to take a good chunk of HP from your enemy. Continue the fight with normal attacks to further damage them with Holy Brand.
  • Team Battles: Cast Angelic Splendor on either your team’s initiator after their initiate or on whomever the enemy team focused on. Follow up with Divine Protection before jumping on the enemies’ damage dealers with Malleus.
  • Escaping Battle: Cast Angelic Splendor on an ally who is far away from the fight. This will let you escape without much trouble. However, be careful not to cast it too soon, as the opposing team can stop you with a hard control ability like a stun or silence to nullify Angelic Splendor. You can also use Malleus to get away from unwanted team fights. Cast it on a safe location to jump towards it. That said, Malleus can also get stopped by hard control abilities, so be careful.

Abilities

Arena of Valor Holy Brand Holy Brand – Every third normal attack. Xeniel deals 4%-8% of his own maximum HP as magic damage (+1% at level 4/7/10/13).
  • Holy Brand makes Xeniel a surprisingly capable damage dealer. The amount of damage this ability provides can easily surprise opponents who don’t expect much from tanks.
  • It’s important to know what part of the attack cycle Xeniel is in, so that you can take advantage of the extra damage (can be in the 1000s late game) to secure objectives and kills. Xeniel yells louder on this third attack, which should help you know which attack he’s on.
Arena of Valor Divine Protection Divine Protection – Xeniel forms an enveloping barrier that absorbs 400/520/640/760/880/1000 (+0.4 AP)ˀ (+4/5/6/7/8/9% of his own maximum HP) damage. Xeniel can detonate the barrier after 2.5 seconds by pressing the ability button again, dealing 400/520/640/760/880/1000 (+0.4 AP)ˀ (+4/5/6/7/8/9% of his own maximum HP) magic damage to enemies nearby and reduces their movement speed for 1 second. If the barrier is destroyed by an enemy, then no damage nor movement impairing effects will be dealt.
  • Divine Protection is your main source of damage. Remember to cast this before you enter skirmishes or team fights so that you’ll be able to detonate it as soon as possible.
  • The damage Divine Protection offers is the same no matter how much of the shield has been used. Wait until right before it runs out of health to get the most out of the survivability it offers.
Arena of Valor Malleus Malleus – Xeniel leaps towards the target area, dealing 280/340/400/460/520/580 (+0.54 AP) magic damage to enemies in the area, while also stunning them for 1.25 second.
  • Use Malleus to strengthen your team’s initiate at the start of a team fight.
  • Malleus + Divine Protection is Xeniel’s main damaging combo. Good timing is required to maximize its potential.
  • Malleus is also a decent escape tool, since it can be used to jump over terrain and obstacles.
Arena of Valor Angelic Splendor Angelic Splendor – Xeniel selects an ally hero to bless with 40% damage reduction for 2 seconds as he soars into the air towards the ally hero’s location at the time of casting. After 2.2 seconds, Xeniel crashes down in the target area dealing 300/450/600 (+0.8 AP) magic damage to nearby enemies, while also healing the ally hero for 15% of their maximum HP and increasing Xeniel’s movement speed by 40% for 3 seconds.
  • Take note of which ally needs help by using the ally portraits next to the minimap.
  • Your allies’ position on the “wheel” will remain the same throughout the match, so memorizing their position will help immensely if you need to panic-ult to someone in need
  • Don’t feel limited to only using Angelic Splendor from a long distance. The damage, healing, and damage reduction can be a huge help in fights that Xeniel has already entered as well.
  • This can be used as an escape, targetting an ally far away from the losing fight.

How to Counter Xeniel

  • When Xeniel activates Divine Protection, do your best to disengage unless you can deal enough damage to destroy the shield. Otherwise, prepare to get a good chunk of your health bursted down.
  • Be alert when Xeniel is using his Ultimate. There will be a marker on the ally he casts his Ultimate on, as well as a decent-sized area that will illuminate around his ally before he lands. You can either do your best to burst down said ally or disengage altogether to avoid being damaged by Xeniel’s arrival.
  • Fafnir’s Talon, Muramasa, Berith’s Agony, and Staff of Nuul are good counter items against Xeniel since he often stacks HP and Armor / Magic Defense to improve his tankiness.

Hero Item Build

SG Recommended Build
Arena of Valor LeviathanLeviathan Arena of Valor Gilded GreavesGilded Greaves Arena of Valor Frost CapeFrost Cape
Arena of Valor Gaia's StandardGaia’s Standard Arena of Valor Crimson BannerCrimson Banner Arena of Valor Amulet of LongevityAmulet of Longevity
SG Recommended Build
Arena of Valor LeviathanLeviathan Arena of Valor Gilded GreavesGilded Greaves Arena of Valor Frost CapeFrost Cape Arena of Valor Gaia's StandardGaia’s Standard Arena of Valor Crimson BannerCrimson Banner Arena of Valor Amulet of LongevityAmulet of Longevity

More Xeniel Item Builds

Hero Arcana

  • Xeniel benefits from a tanky arcana set that consists of Indomitable, Colossus, and Valiance. This greatly empowers his overall survivability and damage by raising his HP cap.
  • He can also run an AP-HP Arcana set which uses Violate, Benevolence, and Hex. This allows him to cast his abilities more consistently.

Hero Counters

Arena of Valor Tank Tank

Xeniel does decently against tanks. His burst damage can take out large chunks of their HP, especially during the early game. Xeniel’s ability to damage them will fall off as the game progresses, however, most tanks building up their defenses.

Arena of Valor Warrior Warrior

Similar to with tanks, Xeniel can do well against Warriors. This is especially true against more offensive minded heroes like Zanis. Xeniel will need to build up his HP so that his shield can take the initial damage from warriors and retain enough to detonate.

Arena of Valor Assassin Assassin

Xeniel’s success rate against assassins will rely on whether Divine Protection can soak up their damage and still allow Xeniel to detonate it. Malleus does acceptable damage and stuns its target, but Xeniel will lose most of his burst damage if the assassin can carve through his shield. It is better for Xeniel to take an assassin’s damage than his allies, though, so he should try and grab assassins’ attention in team fights.

Arena of Valor Mage Mage

Mages can prove to be troublesome for Xeniel, they able to burst through his shield and cripple him. That said, Xeniel can easily fly next to them to destroy their range advantage before soaking up any damage that they can dish out. This will be enough in team fights, as taking the damage from their abilities will help your allies out.

Arena of Valor Marksman Marksman

Xeniel has trouble dealing with marksmen, their range and harassing ability hard for him to manage. Try to get near marksmen and take them out before they can harass down your shield. It going off early will cripple your contribution to the match until it is off cooldown once again.

Arena of Valor Support Support

Supports can be a mixed bag. Xeniel is especially weak to support heroes who have stuns and silence as they can prevent him from casting his abilities.

▼ Hero Class Guides
List of Item Builds
AoV WarriorWarrior AoV TankTank AoV AssassinAssassin
AoV MageMage AoV MarksmanMarksman AoV SupportSupport

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