The folks at Super Evil Megacorp recently released an anticipated update to its hit mobile MOBA Vainglory (Free), unlocking the latest character to battle in the Halcyon Fold, Ardan. After having a weekend to fight with him, Ardan is certainly one of the more unique heroes and has the potential to really make or break your team. Learning a new hero is always a tough gig so we thought we’d impart a beginner’s guide to how Ardan plays and how he should be used.
Ardan is a melee Protector and plays similarly to Catherine. In essence, this means that he gains lots of health, armor and shields and should be a damage soaker. However, unlike Catherine’s abilities which focus on stunning enemies and protecting herself, Ardan focuses on team protection as well as crowd control in a pretty cool way.
This is pretty apparent in his first ability, Vanguard. Target an ally and Ardan dashes to him and creates a small explosion,w which damages and slows nearby enemies. Ardan’s Vanguard also provides the target with a 3-second barrier and a boost in move speed, allowing the teammate to soak up some additional damage while escaping (or catching) the opposition. This is a pure Crystal ability so Weapon upgrades won’t offer anything here. The dash and simultaneous buff/damage effect is pretty unique in Vainglory, giving would-be Ardan players some options as to how they want to use Vanguard.
The second ability, Blood for Blood, is pretty standard attack which has Ardan leaping and punching his target. Blood for Blood requires a full vengeance meter, which is a Ardan-unique ability that I’ll get to in a moment. Both Crystal and Weapon offer upgrades to the ability, meaning that the possibility exists for Ardan to significantly upgrade his damage output (although he’ll never get anywhere near the output of a Sniper or Mage).
Ardan’s Ult, Gauntlet, is probably the coolest Ult that I’ve seen in Vainglory and truly can literally “change the battlefield.” Target an area and Ardan literally throws down a gauntlet and creates a perimeter around the targeted area. Any enemies that cross the perimeter are stunned and take significant damage boosted by Crystal. Ardan also gains full vengeance immediately and can earn even more vengeance if an enemy gets stunned by the Gauntlet. This is an awesome, multifaceted ultimate that can prevent enemies from escaping or prevent others from getting into a fight without taking some serious damage.
So let’s talk about a vengeance for a moment. Ardan’s Heroic Perk, which is called Julia’s Gift, offers a few perks for the hero. First, he heals for 1% of his missing health every time he takes damage. Second, it allows for vengeance, which replaces mana and is used for launching Blood for Blood. Vengeance builds over time and can also be gained with basic attacks, crits, and by using the other two abilities. This modifies the way some stat items impact Ardan, as bonus energy and energy regeneration are just converted into raw Crystal power.
Since vengeance directly relates to how fast you can launch Blood for Blood, Ardan should be active in battles via basic attacks and using abilities. In addition, his natural abilities as a Protector means he should be soaking up damage. However, Vanguard means that he shouldn’t necessarily be the first in a battle, as you lose a lot of that ability’s utility if you aren’t shielding and guarding someone. Thus, as the game recommends, it’s best if Ardan plays as a roamer, going between lane and jungle to defend and assist in taking out would-be gankers. During the late game when your team is roaming 3v3. Use the Gauntlet to confuse and hopefully stun/damage enemies that can’t the heat of a full-on attack. Meanwhile, Blood for Blood should be launched whenever it’s ready as you’re wasting vengeance recovery if it’s just sitting there ready to go.
As far as items are concerned, the current recommended build path in Vainglory is incorrect as the developers have said they accidentally put in Koshka’s. Ardan players should go for the Ironguard Contract and then move towards crystal items (such as Clockwork) as well as Boots for speed and health and finish with the Fountain of Renewal. Crystal and Health are Ardan’s big stats, so regardless of your build path it’s important to emphasize those as well as speed so he can get to his allies quickly.
Having played with Ardan all weekend I have to say I really enjoy his style. I like having an active approach to supporting allies unlike Catherine who seems to focus more on being an annoyance and then soaking up damage herself. Being able to shield others is a great ability while the Gauntlet is just awesome. I’m really just impressed as to how important Ardan can be to a team even if his abilities don’t emphasize raw damage dealing power. I’ve not been disappointed with Vainglory’s heroes and I think Ardan is a welcomed addition to the growing cast. If you’re looking to check him out he probably won’t be on a free rotation for awhile, but folks can cash in on their glory or ICE if they want to unlock him now.
Ardan wasn’t the only addition in the latest update. In fact, their significant optimization of the network code is probably just as important as it’s reduced the amount of data transfer by as much as 70%. Improvements to matchmaking, AFKers, and allowing players to listen to their own music were also made. If you’re interested in checking out the full release notes you can find them here. If you haven’t played Vainglory, you’re really missing out as we loved it.
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