Hero Discussion of the Day: Anti-Mage (February 23, 2012)
Anti-Mage was last discussed on November 6. In case you missed the much celebrated 6.73 changes to AM, here they are:
- Reverted the 6.72 Base Attack Time improvement, BAT from 1.35 to 1.45
- Armor reduced by 1
Anti-Mage
Anti-Mage is a very fast melee hero with high magic resistance who can tear through enemy casters. However he has a small health pool, which means he must avoid damage at all costs; his Blink ability goes a long way towards achieving this. Because he's very dependent on farming to keep up his potential, Anti-Mage requires smart moves and good planning in order to succeed. Like most carry heroes, he reaches his full potential in the late game. Anti-Mage is recommended for intermediate players.
Lore:
The monks of Turstarkuri watched the rugged valleys below their mountain monastery as wave after wave of invaders swept through the lower kingdoms. Ascetic and pragmatic, in their remote monastic eyrie they remained aloof from mundane strife, wrapped in meditation that knew no gods or elements of magic. Then came the Legion of the Dead God, crusaders with a sinister mandate to replace all local worship with their Unliving Lord's poisonous nihilosophy. From a landscape that had known nothing but blood and battle for a thousand years, they tore the souls and bones of countless fallen legions and pitched them against Turstarkuri. The monastery stood scarcely a fortnight against the assault, and the few monks who bothered to surface from their meditations believed the invaders were but demonic visions sent to distract them from meditation. They died where they sat on their silken cushions. Only one youth survived--a pilgrim who had come as an acolyte, seeking wisdom, but had yet to be admitted to the monastery. He watched in horror as the monks to whom he had served tea and nettles were first slaughtered, then raised to join the ranks of the Dead God's priesthood. With nothing but a few of Turstarkuri's prized dogmatic scrolls, he crept away to the comparative safety of other lands, swearing to obliterate not only the Dead God's magic users--but to put an end to magic altogether.
"They who live by the wand, shall die by my blade."
| Strength | Agility | Intelligence |
|---|---|---|
| 20 + 1.2 | 22 + 2.8 | 15 + 1.8 |
| Damage | Armor | Movespeed |
| 49 - 53 | 2.08 | 320 |
| Attack Range | Base Attack Time | Missile Speed |
| 128 | 1.45 | N/A |
| Soundset | Icon | Fan Art via SpoonBasim |
Mana Break
Burns an opponent's mana on each attack. Mana Break deals 60% of the mana burned as damage to the target.
| Level | Mana Cost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Burns 28 mana per hit |
| 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Burns 40 mana per hit |
| 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Burns 52 mana per hit |
| 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Burns 64 mana per hit |
- Damage type: physical
- Deals 0.6 damage per point of mana burnt.
- Mana Burn is blocked by magic immunity.
- This skill is a unique attack modifier.
- You can lifeleech the damage dealt by this skill with a Lifesteal aura.
Blink
Short distance teleportation that allows Anti-Mage to move in and out of combat.
| Level | Mana Cost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 | 12 | 200 - 1000 | N/A | N/A | Instantly teleports to target location |
| 2 | 60 | 09 | 200 - 1075 | N/A | N/A | Instantly teleports to target location |
| 3 | 60 | 07 | 200 - 1150 | N/A | N/A | Instantly teleports to target location |
| 4 | 60 | 05 | 200 - 1150 | N/A | N/A | Instantly teleports to target location |
- If you used Blink to teleport to a distance over the maximum range, you'll be teleported 4/5 of the maximum range instead. (I thought I heard this is only the case for blink dagger, not AM's or QOP's blinks in dota 2. Anyone care to clarify?)
- You can use Blink to dodge incoming projectiles.
- Blink has a 0.33 seconds teleportation delay.
- Blink has a minimum range of 200.
Spell Shield
Increases Anti-Mage's resistance to magic damage.
| Level | Mana Cost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Reduces magic damage by 26% |
| 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Reduces magic damage by 34% |
| 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Reduces magic damage by 42% |
| 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Reduces magic damage by 50% |
- Stacks with spell resistance items.
Mana Void
For each point of mana missing by the target unit, damage is dealt to it and surrounding enemies.
| Level | Mana Cost | Cooldown | Casting Range | Area | Duration | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 125 | 70 | 600 | 300 | 0.1 seconds | Deals 0.6 damage per mana point missing |
| 2 | 200 | 70 | 600 | 300 | 0.2 seconds | Deals 0.85 damage per mana point missing |
| 3 | 275 | 70 | 600 | 300 | 0.3 seconds | Deals 1.1 damage per mana point missing |
- Damage type: magical
- Stuns target for a short while.
- Has a casting delay of 0.3 seconds.
- Damage is calculated based on the primary target's mana, but applied to all enemies within the AoE.
- Stun works on magic immune units.
TheGizmoh has created text tones for every Antimage sound. Check out those text tones here. And take a look at his complete archives as well right here.
Wilco- has posted one of his awesome daily tl;dr discussions on AM.
Everyone should be interested in this tactical analysis discussing how to defeat this blinking bastard.
Be sure to take a look at Dota Cinema's video overview of AM, it is remastered for your enjoyment.
As always, check out yesterday's discussion of Spectre or the complete HDotD archives.
Posted Feb 23, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC · edited