* Infernal Blade deals scaling damage and is useful against high HP targets such as Tidehunter.
* Doom prevents Tidehunter from casting his Gush, Anchor Smash and Ravage, making him useless in team fights.
* If Doom chooses the Level 25 talent {ValueColor:1|Doom applies Break|25tal} {Symbol:Talent}, he can also disable Kraken Shell, reducing his survivability.
* Arc Warden relies on items and abilities, as well as his Tempest Double, to deal damage to enemies. Doom effectively denies that and makes Arc Warden useless in fights.
* Dark Pact dispels debuffs from Gush, Anchor Smash and even Ravage if timed correctly.
* Kraken Shell cannot restore attributes stolen by Essence Shift or dispel the leash if he gets Pounced.
* Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as Slark, Riki, Earthshaker with Aghanim's Scepter, Sven with Aghanim's Scepter etc.
Additional:
* Flux is dispelled by Dark Pact.
* Pounce allows Slark to avoid Spark Wraiths.
* Tempest Double allows Slark to build up Essence Shift stacks, especially when it is being used for split pushing.
* Fury Swipes will keep stacking on Tidehunter since it cannot be dispelled by Kraken Shell and its bonus damage cannot be reduced by Anchor Smash.
* Enrage dispels the slow from Gush, and if upgraded with Aghanim's Scepter, can even dispel Ravage's stun.
* Because of his weak laning phase, Lone Druid absolutely overpowers him in the early to mid game. Lone Druid also directly counters most of his abilities.
* Flux is nullified when the Spirit Bear is nearby.
* Spark Wraith can get soaked by the bear.
* Lone Druid can easily go inside Magnetic Field and punish Zet.
* Chain Frost can deliver high amounts of damage to Arc Warden and his double if they do not separate fast from each other.
* Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore mana lost through Astral Imprisonment, and the stolen mana can really hurt Tidehunter's ability to initiate
* Arcane Orb high pure damage ignores Tidehunter's Armor, and is barely affected by his Kraken Shell's damage block
* It is also completely unaffected by Anchor Smash, due to it relying on Outworlds Mana pool
* Sanity's Eclipse is effective on Tidehunter's poor mana pool, While it is reduced by Kraken Shell, the damage reduction is negligible.
* Arc Warden cannot take Centaur Warrunner very easily, and his nukes are not strong enough to deal with Centaur Warrunner.
* Centaur Warrunner deals huge AoE damage and applies an AoE disable through Hoof Stomp, affecting the double as well the main Arc Warden.
* Magnetic Field is not very effective against melee heroes. And to make things worse, Magnetic Field also increases Arc Warden and his allies's attack speed, meaning Retaliate will deal more damage.
* Stampede catches Arc Warden easily due to his lack of escape mechanisms. However, Arc Warden can counter this problem with Gleipnir, which is a common item on Arc Warden.
* Kraken Shell neither dispels nor provides damage reduction against Spirit Siphon. This ability also drains health based on percentage damage, making Tidehunter's large healthpool a very appealing target. Furthermore, the health gained from the Siphon is independent from the amount of damage dealt, so Death Prophet will always heal a large amount of from Tidehunter's pool even if Tidehunter has magic reduction items or abilities on him, which makes her an untargetable enemy for you as this easily outweights any damage output you can provide.
* Exorcism is yet another ability from which Kraken Shell provides no useful protection, as the spirits completely ignore the damage block and are unaffected by the dispel. This ability also creates an unfriendly area where your blink will be constantly cancelled, reducing your ability to land a good Ravage.
* Ravage does not stop neither Spirit Siphon nor Exorcism, making the ability mostly ineffective against her. Additionally, Death Prophet usually builds Eul's Scepter of Divinity, which can be used to dodge the stun entirely.
* Kraken Shell provides no protection against Omnislash or Swiftslash.
* If timed correctly, Omnislash, Swiftslash and Blade Fury are all capable of dodging Ravage, giving Juggernaut several tools to render your strongest ability moot.
* Blade Fury is an effective way to harass Tidehunter in the laning stage as Tidehunter has no means of getting Juggernaut away from him. Healing Ward also greatly minimizes Tidehunter's ability to harass Juggernaut.
* Blade Dance minimizes the effectiveness of Anchor Smash's damage reduction.
* In the mid-game, Tidehunter relies on Kraken Shell to stay alive and get his Ravage off. Apart from Thunder Strike, none of Disruptor's abilities can be dispelled, so it's rather easy to trap him inside Kinetic Field and Static Storm.
* Be mindful, however, that Kraken Shell still makes Tidehunter very tanky, so be sure that you can kill him with your combo or your partners while he is silenced and trapped.
* Ravage's travel time allows Nyx Assassin to easily stun Tidehunter with Spiked Carapace.
* Vendetta can instantly deplete Tidehunter's low mana pool, especially in the early game, potentially preventing Tidehunter from casting Ravage.
* Arc Warden can't use Magnetic Field to stall the damage of Nether Blast on towers, but he can buy Aghanim's Shard to diminish its damage.
* Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Life Drain and Decrepify
* The short cooldown of both Life Drain and Decrepify also means Pugna can deal with Arc Warden and Arc Warden's clone simultaneously most of the time
* A good Pugna looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.
* No matter how Tidehunter builds tanky items such as (Guardian Greaves, Crimson Guard or Pipe of Insight), all it needs is for him to fall below a certain percentage of health for him to fall to Reaper's Scythe.
* Storm Spirit can hunt down Arc Warden with his Ball Lightning and kill him quickly due to his lack of escape abilities.
* None of his abilities are effective against Storm Spirit, as they can be evaded with Ball Lightning.
* Invoker's Forge Spirit can negate Flux.
* Provided he does a right combo with Chaos Meteor, Invoker can easily burst down Arc Warden (plus his clone if he spawns it.)
* An early Orchid Malevolence can shut down Arc Warden pretty hard, especially when Invoker has a good lane against him if he kills him early on.
* Deafening Blast and Ice Wall limit's Arc Wardens mobility and damage, crippling him greatly.
* Arc Warden has relatively lower armor and mobility, which makes him an easy target to apply Quill Spray and Viscous Nasal Goo stacks.
* Arc Warden also does not like to build a Silver Edge as it takes a long time to build up and may slow down the timings for other important items needed in the game like Gleipnir.
* However, do note that in a game where Arc Warden's team has many jumping capabilities or good passives, like a Tidehunter or Spectre, a Silver Edge becomes incredibly valuable on Arc Warden as not only can he run away from the jumps, he effectively gets 2 breaks, and Bristleback may not be the best pick.
* Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image can depush the lanes pushed by the Tempest Double, relieving the pressure.
* Mirror Image can dispel Flux, and the illusions can stop Flux from working to it's full power.
Additional:
* Song of the Siren stops Arc Warden from acting and allows Naga Siren's team to close in on him, past his Magnetic Field.
* Mirror Image dispels Flux. The illusions created from it also disable the slow from Flux if Arc Warden casts it after Mirror Image.
* Arc Warden's playstyle heavily favors split-pushing, which Naga Siren can compete against with her illusions.
* Luna often builds Black King Bar, and none of Tidehunter's spells can bypass spell immunity.
* Though Anchor Smash can weaken Luna's physical damage, it does not weaken her magical damage, which means that Lucent Beam and Eclipse deal a lot of magic damage in the early and mid-game, which can bypass Tidehunter's Kraken Shell.
Additional:
* Luna often builds Black King Bar, and none of Tidehunter's spells can bypass spell immunity.
* Though Anchor Smash can weaken Luna's physical damage, it does not weaken her magical damage, which means that Lucent Beam and Eclipse deal a lot of magic damage in the early and mid-game, which can bypass Tidehunter's Kraken Shell.
* Luna's Moon Glaives allow her to clear Arc Warden's Tempest Double.
* Luna's short range and fast movement speed allow her to fight Arc Warden inside his Magnetic Field.
Additional:
* Luna's Moon Glaives allow her to clear Arc Warden's Tempest Double.
* Luna's short range and fast movement speed allow her to fight Arc Warden inside his Magnetic Field.
* Heroes that rely on base damage: Luna, Phantom Lancer are easily countered with Anchor Smash.
* Heroes that create illusions: Spectre, Shadow Demon, Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Chaos Knight, Terrorblade) or bring other units into the fight (such as Nature's Prophet, Lone Druid, Chen, Enchantress, Meepo and Arc Warden) can cause Eclipse to strike the illusions/summons unintentionally. However, in many cases Moon Glaives can resolve this issue and eliminate them before activating Eclipse, but that will require lots of farming for right-click items.
* Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as Slark, Riki, Earthshaker with Aghanim's Scepter, Sven with Aghanim's Scepter etc.
* Heroes with good escape mechanisms are a nuisance to deal with in the early phase of the game: Slark, Lifestealer, Morphling
* Melee carries who usually buy an early Black King Bar, and have gap closing abilities can be good against the Arc Warden, such as Slark, Riki, Earthshaker with Aghanim's Scepter, Sven with Aghanim's Scepter etc.
* Positioning-reliant heroes (Windranger, Tidehunter, Ursa...), since Earth Spirit can disrupt positioning with his Boulder Smash.
* A well-timed use of The Swarm provides vision over heroes with high mobility: Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Dark Seer.
* Heroes who relies on high armor such as Dragon Knight, Tidehunter, and Pudge can be melted by Eye of the Storm.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell's dispel does not restore damage stolen by Static Link, and the stolen damage easily offsets Anchor Smash's damage reduction. Razor can keep attacking Tidehunter from afar, denying his chance to use Anchor Smash.
* Eye of the Storm melts Tidehunter's armor and makes him much less tanky.
* Razor can chase Tidehunter by himself without relying on actual crowd control ability, so the strong dispel from Kraken Shell is less useful.
* Heroes with strong team-fight abilities (especially ultimates) like Tidehunter, Brewmaster, Death Prophet, etc.
Additional:
* Fade Bolt reduces damage output of Anchor Smash.
* Ravage is an easy target to Spell Steal, so always be sure to use Anchor Smash immediately after Ravage when playing against a Rubick.
* Spells stolen by Rubick are potentially stronger due to the lack of cast animations, his talents, and his passive, Arcane Supremacy.
* Heroes with large physical resistance do not counter Muerta's Pierce the Veil such as Omniknight or Tidehunter.
* Heroes that have doubles or clones such as Arc Warden, Meepo or Lone Druid are vulnerable to Muerta's Gunslinger.
* Heroes with high physical and magical damage alike are a huge hazard for Muerta, as they can deal serious damage to her even if she has Pierce the Veil active: Luna, Lina, Tusk, Broodmother, Shadow Fiend, Ember Spirit, Gyrocopter, Vengeful Spirit, Arc Warden, Medusa, Shadow Shaman.
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
Additional:
* Chen in the early game is a faster pusher than Arc Warden until Arc Warden buys Maelstrom.
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
* Magnetic Field doesn't provide a protection against Berserker's Call and Counter Helix and his high attack speed together with Tempest Double will often trigger Counter Helix.
* The threat of a blink and Berserker's Call may make the real Arc Warden stay further back, thus effectively halving the team's damage output for a while.
* Heroes who can stop Axe from getting close will severely inhibit his presence in fights: Bristleback, Crystal Maiden, Batrider, Arc Warden, Winter Wyvern, Clockwerk
* Flux is severely impaired against Meepo because of Divided We Stand.
* Meepo's farming speed and early powerspikes allows him to pressure Arc Warden before he is capable of fighting effectively.
* Without Black King Bar, Earthbind and Poof can finish Arc Warden quickly before he has time to do much.
* Heroes who can stun multiple units at once: Dark Willow, Spirit Breaker, Slardar, Invoker, and Tidehunter.
* Viper STrike cancels out Kraken Shell and stops the hard dispel from passively activating, preventing Tidehunter from functioning as a frontline tank.
* Anchor Smash is mostly irrelevant against a ranged hero like Viper.
* Tidehunter relies on the threat of Ravage, which has an obscenely long cooldown. Viper can exploit the downtime with his short cooldowns.
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer, Viper.
* Smoke Screen combined with Diffusal Blade leaves Arc Warden effectively useless for a while as he struggles to escape the silence with low mobility.
* With Arc Warden's low mobility, Tricks of the Trade often deal decent damage to him before he moves out of it.
* Riki doesn't deal burst damage.Durable heroes (Axe, Tidehunter etc.) will usually survive a jump from him,move out of Smoke Screen and potentially retaliate.
* Rolling Thunder hits Arc Warden, his Tempest Double and any allies through Magnetic Field.
* Rolling Thunder also causes Pangolier to take no damage from existing stacks of Flux as well as clear all Spark Wraiths on the way.
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Templar Assassin, Arc Warden
* Kraken Shell dispels the stun from Paralyzing Cask. However, it does not dispel the damage from Maledict.
* Once Witch Doctor first uses his Death Ward in team fights, Tidehunter can simply cancel it with Ravage, turning the tables against him, especially if Witch Doctor does not have a Black King Bar.
* As a precaution, Witch Doctor should let Tidehunter use Ravage first before channeling Death Ward to turn a team fight in his favor.
* Arc Warden's Magnetic Field dodges all damage from Death Ward.
* Other heroes who has armor and slow debuffs won't allow Medusa to disengage from combat: Tidehunter, Bristleback, Slardar.
* He can use either his own or his double's Flux to bypass the spellblock from Linken's Sphere, using the leftover Flux + Spark Wraith to slow Medusa's already low move speed to a crawl.
* Arc Warden has a farming advantage with double Hand of Midas, and can generally bully Medusa with other items that benefit from duplication.
* Durable heroes: Axe, Dawnbreaker, Bristleback, Mars, Omniknight, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Primal Beast, Underlord.
* Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden, Lion, Huskar, Shadow Shaman, Visage, Undying, Jakiro.
* Arc Warden’s Magnetic Field allows him to defend against Terrorblade if he used Metamorphosis.
* Arc also buys a Bloodthorn or a Scythe of Vyse, which can prevent Terrorblade from using his abilities.
* Magnetic Field makes Impetus miss; if Enchantress decides to enter the field, she is giving up bonus damage since Impetus deals greater damage at higher distance away from targets.
* Arc Warden can use his summons to prevent Sacred Arrow from hitting himself or his allies.
* Mirana doesn't build items that give armor often, so she usually can't fight against a late game Arc Warden.
Additional:
* Flux will slow and damage Mirana even after she Leaps, since she will likely not be near allies.
* Arc Warden can place Magnetic Field on an ally who has been hit by Sacred Arrow to protect them.
* Flux removes Refraction charges very quickly, and Arc Warden can hit her freely with his better attack animation, speed and range. If she tries to mute in her creep wave, Spark Wraith can quickly kill the ranged creep, forcing her to stay near the melee creeps, again, allowing for easy right clicks.
* With Tempest Double, Arc Warden can easily output 1000 damage (with the stacking of Flux and Spark Wraith and kill Templar Assassin within seconds. She cannot avoid this combo as Spark Wraith will still hit her in Meld.
* A good Arc Warden can destroy the item timings of a Templar Assassin, and mitigate her impact during the mid-game, when she is the strongest.
* In the late game, if Templar Assassin tries to split push with Aghanim's Scepter, Arc Warden's double can always threaten to kill her if equipped with a Bloodthorn and a Blink Dagger , or a Hurricane Pike, forcing her to have to use Black King Bar to survive.
* Quick reactions can also protect Arc Warden and his allies from Meld strike with Magnetic Field, and if equipped with a Hurricane Pike, Arc Warden can double force himself away from the attacking Templar Assassin to safety, where after her Black King Bar ends, she can die to Arc Warden's right clicks.
* Magnetic Field evades most of Gyrocopter's attacks.
* Phase Shift is not an advantage against Arc Warden at all because Arc Warden can turn Puck's Phase Shift ability against him by using Spark Wraith, ensuring it to hit. To make this worse, Arc Warden can do it twice with his Tempest Double.
* Flux is also an instant spell (and therefore unavoidable) with a heavy slow and damage over time, which disables Blink Dagger for a certain period of time.
* Tidehunter is a core builder of Pipe of Insight. Along with natural high health pool, it's tough to burst the Leviathan down.
* Kraken Shell thwarts long disables attempts if Tidehunter receives enough damage.
* Gush and Ravage long cast and reach ranges will effortlessly hit Lion, either bursting him down or making him extremely vulnerable and worn in matter of seconds.
* Gush can make Crystal Maiden's already weak armor even weaker.
* Kraken Shell can dispel Frostbite, preventing him from getting stuck inside Freezing Field.
* Ravage is very useful for interrupting Freezing Field, even while Crystal Maiden is under the effects of Glimmer Cape. Crystal Maiden must purchase a Black King Bar, which is far more costly.
* Kraken Shell dispels both Shadowraze's damage amplification stacks and Requiem of Soul's damage reduction (provided Tidehunter has taken enough damage).
* Ravage cancels Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend isn't protected by Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell dispels the damage amplification stacks of Shadowraze as well as the damage reduction from Requiem of Souls (provided he has taken enough damage).
* Anchor Smash reduces Shadow Fiend's large attack damage, Kraken Shell makes Tidehunter the last target Shadow Fiend wants to attack.
* Ravage can easily cancel Requiem of Souls if Shadow Fiend isn't protected by Black King Bar.
* Kraken Shell can dispel Dismember after reaching a certain threshold of damage.
* Tidehunter's naturally high health, strength gain, and common itemization for survivability through magic resistance makes Tidehunter a poor target.
* Sonic Wave is a bad choice in abilities if he and the Tempest Double both use Blade Mail to reflect the damage to Queen of Pain, potentially killing her outright if her health is low enough.
* Magnetic Field protects himself or his ally from Queen of Pain's attacks unless she has Monkey King Bar.
* One more advantage of Tempest Double is that he can deny himself if he is close to death with Shadow Strike's debuff.
* Magnetic Field protects Arc Warden and allies from Drow Ranger's ranged attacks. She most likely will not enter the field since she will lose Marksmanship's bonus agility.
* Beware however, as Marksmanship procs will still hit since they have True Strike, so the most damaging arrows will still hit you inside Magnetic Field.
Additional:
* Flux along with Spark Wraith allows Arc Warden to quickly burst down Drow Ranger due to her low health.
* However, Drow Ranger can bypass Magnetic Field's evasion bonus thanks to Marksmanship.
* Kraken Shell dispels Dual Breath, Ice Path, Liquid Frost, Liquid Fire and even Macropyre's Burn.
* It also completely negates the damage from Liquid Fire and Ice path, while heavily reducing the damage from all of his other abilities
* Jakiro is a naturally slow hero, Gush will allow you to easily catch him, while also reducing his Armor
* Tempest Double, Magnetic Field's attack speed bonus, and Arc Warden's high attack range will easily destroy a Phoenix using Supernova much faster than usual.
* Phoenix is very weak against pushers, especially those like Arc Warden who can kill him easily, as his skillset works best in teamfights.
Additional:
* His Tempest Double is not an illusion, but rather a full hero unit, which effectively reduces half of the Supernova's health. His Magnetic Field can tremendously boost his attack speed, allowing him to destroy Supernova in no time even when he's affected by Fire Spirits.
* Magnetic Field lets Arc Warden or allies evade Dark Willow's shadow realm attacks. The duration of the evasion can be extended with the clone.
* Spark Wraith also exploits Dark Willow's low mobility.
* Kraken Shell easily dispels the lengthy stun from Shackleshot.
* Kraken Shell (and possibly Anchor Smash) blocks huge amount of damage from Focus Fire.
* Anchor Smash is one of the few sources of True Strike, which means Tidehunter can deal significant damage through Windrun, while also reducing Windranger's damage output.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell can easily dispel Shackleshot after he has taken a certain threshold of damage.
* Ravage provides excellent lockdown against Windranger, allowing his teammates to kite her throughout the game.
* When Tidehunter has Aghanim's Shard, he will gain access to Dead in the Water, allowing him to lock down Windranger at any time. When Windranger tries to move away from the anchor with Windrun, she will be effectively slowed, preventing her from escaping.
* Kraken Shell dispels Fiend's Grip, wasting it easily. Additionally, in late game, it secures premature dispell of a level 4 Nightmare, in case of continuous Bane's rightclicks.
* Enfeeble only reduces distance of Gush, but not of Anchor Smash or Ravage, and thanks again to Kraken Shell, is easily dispellable for him in team fights.
* Ravage affects large area, effectively reaching Bane's spot for applying Fiend's Grip, even with Glimmer Cape, Aether Lens and/or Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell dispels Fiend's Grip, wasting it easily.
* Ravage, being an AoE disable, cancels Epicenter's channeling from a long range, limiting his potential to counter-initiate.
* This can be remedied, however, by first using a Black King Bar, then channel Epicenter, then finally initiate with Blink Dagger.
* Tidehunter's Anchor Smash will cripple all of Enigma's Eidolons, and at a higher level, Tidehunter will be capable to instantly kill the whole group of them for a boost of gold.
* Kraken Shell negates Eidolons's damage and Enigma's auto attacks, making laning against Tidehunter nearly impossible for Enigma.
* Ravage has an insane radius, and considering that Enigma is prone to waiting around for a Blink Dagger and Black King Bar combo, Ravage's stun may catch Enigma off guard and put Blink Dagger on cooldown, limiting him a crucial teamfight time.
* Tidehunter takes close to no damage from Undying's zombies once he maxes out his Kraken Shell, especially if he gets the level 20 Kraken Shell upgrading talent. This might allow him to blink away to safety.
* Vengeful Spirit should carefully consider whether to use her Nether Swap on Tidehunter, as it can easily position him for a Ravage on Vengeful Spirit and her allies.
* Due to Magic Missile's high damage, Kraken Shell will often proc and clear Tidehunter's debuffs.
* Visage's Familiars cannot penetrate Kraken Shell and will do almost no damage to Tidehunter even with Medallion of Courage or Solar Crest.
* Anchor Smash's bonus damage has the potential to kill Familiars.
* Any hero that can outrange Plague Ward can neutralize them without putting themselves at risk of receiving Poison Sting: Arc Warden, Chen, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Lina, Mirana, Nature's Prophet, Pugna and Sniper.
* Special mention to heroes that outrange Plague Ward after obtaining talents that increase attack range.
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven, Omniknight, Enigma, Luna, Naga Siren, Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, Spectre, Alchemist, Treant Protector, Lina, Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, Phoenix, Razor, Huskar, Batrider, Kunkka, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Sand King, Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
* Most summons and illusions can barely hurt Tidehunter at all, after their attacks get reduced by Anchor Smash and blocked by Kraken Shell: Nature's Prophet, Enigma
* Also Ravage's large area of effect and damage can easily damage all those units at once, or just straight up clear them.
* Heroes with illusions can overwhelm Huskar: Phantom Lancer, Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Chaos Knight.
* Tidehunter's Kraken Shell dispels Corrosive Haze and Bash of the Deep's stun if enough damage is taken. Anchor Smash and Kraken Shell's damage block also reduces Slardar's damage.
* Heroes such as Lone Druid, Tidehunter and Viper can be very problematic for Phantom Assassin because they give her very little time to farm and become scary.
* Arc Warden's Tempest Double is helpful for killing Ogre Magi who lacks AoE damage and disables.
* Heroes that excel at grouping up with their team very early will be able to take advantage of a Clinkz that tries to pick off heroes that are alone: Brewmaster, Dazzle, Tidehunter.
* Heroes with illusion and clone abilities may confuse Bloodseeker, causing him to waste time in fights: Phantom Lancer, Chaos Knight, Arc Warden
* Tidehunter with Kraken Shell when damage received reaches the threshold.
* Heroes that can remove the Track debuff with their skills:
* Abaddon with Aphotic Shield and Borrowed Time
* Huskar with Life Break
* Juggernaut with Blade Fury
* Legion Commander with Press the Attack
* Lifestealer with Rage and Infest
* Naga Siren with Mirror Image
* Omniknight with Heavenly Grace
* Oracle with Fortune's End and False Promise
* Phantom Lancer with Doppelganger
* Slark with Dark Pact
* Ursa with Enrage
* Weaver with Time Lapse
* Tidehunter with Kraken Shell when damage received reaches the threshold.
* Arc Warden with his Magnetic Field will protect allies from Mass Serpent Ward.
* Heroes with good escape mechanisms are a nuisance to deal with in the early phase of the game: Slark, Lifestealer, Morphling
* Arc Warden can counter Morphling's strong pushing capabilities by using Magnetic Field to protect buildings.
* Arc Warden also often builds an Orchid Malevolence or Bloodthorn, which can prove dangerous for Morphling.
* Arc Warden can easily break Linken's Sphere with Flux and then slow him with Spark Wraith, making Arc Warden's Tempest Double a legitimate threat as well.
* Melee heroes who may struggle to get close to Sniper: Wraith King, Kunkka, Doom, Tidehunter, Underlord, Troll Warlord, and etc.
* Magnetic Field's evasion completely negates Sniper's attacks unless he has True Strike.
* Sniper always positions himself far away from battles, which makes him especially vulnerable for Flux and Spark Wraith.
* Heroes who rely on summons will see them destroyed easily by Overwhelming Odds: Lycan, Arc Warden, Warlock, Chen
* Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from getting wins with Duel.
Additional:
* Magnetic Field prevents Legion Commander from easily gaining wins with Duel.
* Batrider can harass Arc Warden more easily with Sticky Napalm thanks to it's low cooldown and mana cost and because of Arc Warden's lower durability and mobility.
* Batrider can use Flamebreak to push Arc Warden and Tempest Double out of the Magnetic Field.
* With Firefly combined with Blink Dagger, Batrider can move faster while dealing damage to both Arc Warden and Tempest Double.
* Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to separate Arc Warden from both Magnetic Field and Tempest Double and pull him towards Batrider's team. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso also allows Batrider to disable both, real Arc Warden and his Tempest Double and pull them towards Batrider's team. And since Arc Warden is not used to buy Linken's Sphere, this can be a great problem to him.
* Since Arc Warden is not used to buy Black King Bar very ofthen In most of the stages of the game, he will be vulnerable to Batrider's magical damage-over-time output in most of the stages of the game.
* However, Batrider needs to approach Arc Warden carefully as Arc Warden can scout Batrider's location with Spark Wraith. Also, Arc Warden tends to buy Gleipnir which combined with Flux's damage over time can be used to prevent Batrider from even using Blink Dagger.
Additional:
* Batrider can harass Arc Warden more easily with Sticky Napalm thanks to it's low cooldown and mana cost and because of Arc Warden's lower durability and mobility.
* Batrider can use Flamebreak to push Arc Warden and Tempest Double out of the Magnetic Field.
* With Firefly combined with Blink Dagger, Batrider can move faster while dealing damage to both Arc Warden and Tempest Double.
* Flaming Lasso allows Batrider to separate Arc Warden from both Magnetic Field and Tempest Double and pull him towards Batrider's team. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso also allows Batrider to disable both, real Arc Warden and his Tempest Double and pull them towards Batrider's team. And since Arc Warden is not used to buy Linken's Sphere, this can be a great problem to him.
* Since Arc Warden is not used to buy Black King Bar very ofthen In most of the stages of the game, he will be vulnerable to Batrider's magical damage-over-time output in most of the stages of the game.
* However, Batrider needs to approach Arc Warden carefully as Arc Warden can scout Batrider's location with Spark Wraith. Also, Arc Warden tends to buy Gleipnir which combined with Flux's damage over time can be used to prevent Batrider from even using Blink Dagger.
* Kraken Shell can dispel Flaming Lasso.
* If Batrider drags Tidehunter back towards his team, it can be setup for a well placed Ravage.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell is very useful against Sticky Napalm and Flamebreak, easily dispelling them regularly.
* Tidehunter is probably the worst hero to target with Flaming Lasso, as Kraken Shell will remove it and Tidehunter often survives long enough to cast Ravage in the middle of Batrider's team. At the same time, if Batrider initiates on his teammate, Tidehunter will have the perfect opportunity to counter-initiate.
* Doppelganger dispels Flux.
* Phantom Rush closes the distance between Phantom Lancer and Arc Warden.
* Juxtapose can overwhelm Arc Warden and nullify his kit which is only effective against isolated enemies.
Additional:
* One of Arc Warden's hardest counters, Arc Warden, who has primarily single target damage, will struggle tremendously against Phantom Lancer:
* Flux is paused if even one illusion remains near Phantom Lancer. It can also be dispelled with Doppelganger.
* Phantom Lancer can also easily dodge an activated Spark Wraith, or use his illusions to trigger it safely.
* Phantom Rush allows Lancer to quickly close gap to get inside of Arc Warden's Magnetic Field.
* Phantom Lancer and his clones are able to quickly drain Arc Warden of his mana with a Diffusal Blade. This means Warden's Tempest Double will also be summoned without mana.
* Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash makes it very difficult for Phantom Lancer's illusions to deal damage to Tidehunter.
* Ravage will stun the real Phantom Lancer while clearing most of his illusions.
* Anchor Smash reduces base damage, which is the majority of Phantom Lancer's auto-attack damage.
* An Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Gush slows down and reduces all of Phantom Lancer's illusions.
Additional:
* A dozen of Phantom Lancer's illusions with all their might can barely hurt Tidehunter at all thanks to Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash. The only way Phantom Lancer can hurt Tidehunter is through the mana burn provided by Diffusal Blade.
* Even with high chasing power from Spirit Lance and Phantom Rush (and even Diffusal Blade), Tide Hunter can shrug it all off with Kraken Shell and escape by using a Town Portal Scroll or just moving away.
* The AoE nukes from Ravage, Anchor Smash, and an Aghanim's Scepter-upgraded Gush can clear Phantom Lancer's illusions easily.
* Chaos Knight can dispel Flux with Phantasm.
* Chaos Knight can use Reality Rift to pull Arc Warden out of Magnetic Field.
* Once Chaos Knight jumps on Arc Warden with Reality Rift, Arc Warden will struggle to escape due to low mobility and lack of stun.
* Ravage damages and disables Chaos Knight and his illusions.
* Anchor Smash deals respectable area damage, especially to Phantasms and lowers Chaos Knight's damage output.
* Kraken Shell dispels Chaos Bolt and Reality Rift while providing protection from damage.
* Magnetic Field is useless against melee heroes, so Lycan can attack Arc Warden without missing.
* Flux doesn't affect Lycan that much, because Shapeshift grants immunity to slows and because he is never alone.
* If their Tempest Double has been called, Lycan can still kill Arc Warden before the double expires.
* Kraken Shell grants him massive physical attack protection
* Anchor Smash will wipe the area, clearing Lycan's wolves.
* Heroes with low mana pools (eg.Doom andTidehunter) will feel the effects of Silencer's Intelligence Steal far more than others.
* Ranged heroes will have a hard time hitting enemies inside Magnetic Field: Silencer, Viper.
* Heroes with summons or illusions can counter Flux, such as Beastmaster , Chen, or Shadow Demon.
* Chaos Knight, Lone Druid, Meepo and Arc Warden can be hard targets since Shadow Demon's spells are ill-suited to fight many enemies at once.
* None of Arc Warden's abilities are very effective against Broodmother and her spiderlings.
* A good Broodmother looks to end the match early while Arc Warden, a very item reliant hero, thrives in longer matches.
* Arc Warden has no innate disables to stop Broodmother from lifestealing with Insatiable Hunger and shredding through his relatively lower armor.
* Kraken Shell makes Tidehunter take nearly no damage from Spiderlings.
* Anchor Smash kills Spiderlings in one or two casts, should Broodmother try to swarm Tidehunter with them.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
Latest changes first
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
Dota 2 is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. This site is not affiliated with Valve Corporation. All game images and names are property of Valve Corporation.
Tidehunter
* Both Gush and Ravage do little damage against Counterspell.
* Blink helps Anti-Mage escape through Anchor Smash.
* Tidehunter's small mana pool can be eated by Mana Break, preventing to spam his abilities and ignores the protection from Kraken Shell.
Additional:
* Mana Break quickly burns Tidehunter's mana pool, preventing him from spamming his abilities, and Kraken Shell does not mitigate the bonus damage component.
* Blink allows Anti-Mage to enter combat quickly and safely after Ravage.
* A well-timed Counterspell can reflect Gush back at Tidehunter.
Arc Warden
* Anti-Mage Blinks directly into Magnetic Field, bypassing its protection.
* Anti-Mage's high mobility allows him to deal with Tempest Double while it is split-pushing.
Additional:
* Arc Warden's high reliance on casting abilities leads him to be dependent on mana, which Anti-Mage can quickly burn with Mana Break.
* Blink mitigates the threat of Flux slow and allows Anti-Mage to close the distance between himself and Arc Warden.
* Anti-Mage's ability to farm quickly allows him keep up with Arc Warden's farm while also de-pushing the lanes Arc Warden shoves in with his Tempest Double.
* Anti-Mage also frequently buys Manta Style, and can use it so dispel Arc Warden's items that can threaten an Anti-Mage like Bloodthorn.
* Counterspell significantly reduces the effectiveness of Arc Warden's magical damage.
* However, do keep in mind that when Arc Warden has a Black King Bar, jumping on him alone may not be the best idea for Anti mage as it could put him in a bad position, while Arc Warden summons his doubles and rain damage into him.