• Introduction;

• Guide Logic;

• About the Hero;

• Playstyle & Mechanics;

• Item Explanations;

• Early, Mid & Late Game;

• Conclusion;

• End.

Hello, my name is XapocaliptusX(IGN), I've played Vainglory on European server for about 2 years - started playing in August, 2016.
My Skill Tier has been quite unstable ever since I reached Tier VI - Credible Threat, but the best I could do was VIII - Simply Amazing, because the solo queue was getting harder and harder. Plus, I wasn't playing Vainglory in Summer of 2017 and 2018.
Anyway, my primary Role has always been the Captain. Helping/Protecting people is my kind of thing... My main Hero used to be Phinn, but later, I realized, that Ardan is more viable, so he easily became my most picked and therefore, my favorite Hero.
I have made guides on other Captain heroes as well. See for yourself if you want to:

• Churwalker Guide
• Lorelai Guide
• Grumpjaw Guide

(Note: I made these gudies a long time ago, so they're outdated.)

This guide covers the information about Ardan and the play style, that I have developed by playing for a long time. I thought it would be useful to share this information with other players to help them understand this hero better. Especially the new ones.
Now, there are a lot of different Ardan guides on this website, but the thing is, that most of them are outdated and many players can't understand them. This one however, is a fit for Update 3.7, so you don't have to worry about that.
Oh, and one more thing to note: Keep in mind, that every match is different and this guide doesn't contain ALL the information necessary to help you understand EVERY match-up. But the more you play, the more you'll learn. In the end, you'll be able to understand what to do and when. But for this time, I hope you enjoy reading this guide as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions, be sure to ask me in the comment section. I'll try my best to answer them all.

VIGILANT
/ˈvɪdʒɪl(ə)nt/
Adjective
keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties.
Just in case you were wondering what this word meant...

Ardan General

Ardan is basically a highly durable Protector, who excels at Defense and Utility. Being able to grant Allies Health barriers, and trap Enemies inside his Game-changing Gauntlet, Ardan is definitely the most viable Captain of all time. His kit brings balanced amount of Offense and Defense, that allows Ardan to be easily adaptable.
Ardan doesn't require a lot of practice and skill to play well, but his Abilities need good timing and positioning to suit the situation the most.


Health - 838(+163.63)
Health Regen - 3.39(+0.35)

Energy - N/A
Energy Regen - N/A

Attack Damage - 80(+5.45)
Attack Speed - 100%(+3.3%)

Armor - 20(+4.55)
Shield - 20(+4.55)

Attack Range - 1.8
Move Speed - 3.3

Ardan's Kit

(To see Ability details, hover on their icons.)

Julia's Gift Slot: Heroic Perk

Ardan's perk is focused on increased durability and sustain throughout the game. Since he heals for certain amount, whenever the Damage is taken, Ardan will basically never receive full Damage from any source. Building Health items is also critical for you, to increase the durability even further(We'll take a look at items later...).
Since Ardan uses Vengeance instead of regular Energy, he'll never run into an Energy problem, which other Captains do. The thing is, if you're lacking Energy as a Captain, you will most likely have to build certain items, that aren't beneficial for your Team in any way... So, Ardan wouldn't have to worry about that.
Instead, 5% of bonus Energy and 50% of bonus Energy Recharge are converted to Crystal power. This means, that instead of Energy you basically get bonus Crystal power.

Vanguard Slot: A

Vanguard is a single most versatile targeted Ability, that has ever been implemented in Vainglory. It also plays a big part in Ardan's viability. It's very effective, easy to use and has many features:

• The Health barrier, which scales with your bonus Health is very effective at absorbing Enemy Damage;
• The speed boost is also very significant;
• The Shockwave, that it emits upon casting slows Enemies nearby.

All these features can be used in different situations, which is exactly what makes Vanguard very versatile. When it comes to using it, I can't really help, because you really need to get creative with it and use it's versatility to your advantage... But one thing for sure: Don't be "selfish". Use Vanguard to help Allies most of the time, there's really no use if you just cast it on yourself time to time, regardless of the fact, that the amount of Barrier and speed boost is halved...
Upgrade Vanguard first, and take it's overdrive when you're playing Defensively, or when you're following the non-aggressive Captain build. If not, avoid taking it's overdrive and focus on more Damage.

Blood for Blood Slot: B

This is your primary gap-closing tool, or at least that's what you'll be using it for most of the times. The Damage is decent in the Early Game, but becomes useless afterwards, while the leap distance is actually pretty good at all times, which allows you to keep up with your Enemies.
once you learn Blood for Blood, a yellow meter called 'Vengeance' will appear below your Health meter, which indicates how much time remains until the Ability can be used again. It works like a Cooldown, except everyone can see it. Speaking of which, Blood for Blood has over 20 seconds of Cooldown time. Casting Vanguard on one of your Allies, landing Basic Attacks, and/or Critical Strikes will reduce the Cooldown time by 3 seconds, which basically means, that you need to keep attacking Enemies at all times, in order to use Blood for Blood more frequently and peel for your team.
If you want to take the full advantage of Blood for Blood, you should either use it aggressively in the Early Game, or follow an aggressive build path in general.
Upgrade Blood for Blood last and skip it's overdrive when playing non-aggressively, but consider getting it in case you need to be in range at all times.

Skill Skipping: This is a commonly used trick, which is often used by a player FlashX, who plays in Team SoloMid. The trick involves not upgrading your secondary Ability, or the one you're not overdriving( Blood for Blood in this case) when reaching Level 5, because after you reach Level 6, your primary Ability will be Lvl.4. Plus, you'll have an Ultimate unlocked. Skill skipping is never considered a disadvantage, in which many people believe, because there's no big difference between Lvl.1 and Lvl.2, especially when it comes to the secondary Abilities, while it is important for your primary Ability to be stronger at the time.

Gauntlet Slot: C

This is simply the most powerful Ability in Ardan's entire kit. It requires a lot of practice and patience to use it in the right time. There are too many combinations with this Ability in the game, which many people still use to this day. The terrain changing features of the Gauntlet truly proves it an extraordinarily powerful Ability to have in a composition.
When activated, it will form a perimeter around Ardan, that stuns and damages Enemy Heroes, if they attempt to cross it.
When it comes to using it, there are a lot of ways to do so, but the wisest option is to use it to suit the situation the most. In order for you to understand this better, I'll give you few examples:

• Offensive Use: Trapping Enemies inside the perimeter, that the Gauntlet forms often proves to be effective, since if Enemies try to escape, they'll eventually get stunned, while if they stay inside for too long, they'll end up taking too many unnecessary hits. Meanwhile, your teammates will have no problem dealing damage. Watch out for Crucible though, because if enemies are prepared with it, they could escape or completely turn the fight around.
  
• Utility Use: Drop the Gauntlet in such a way, that the perimeter separates the Enemy Heroes from each other. This way, you'll get an easy numbers advantage in a Team Fight, which basically speaks for itself: 3v1 or 3v2 is an easy win. But again, if Enemies are prepared with Crucible, they'll easily get out of it.
  
• Defensive Use: When your Team is fleeing from a fight, your best choice is to drop a Gauntlet in a position, from where your Teammates could retreat back to safety. Always make sure the Enemies are outside the perimeter, so they can't reach you in any way.

Besides all the good features, the Gauntlet has downsides as well. The Cooldown time(110s at max Rank) is the most common example. It is a big responsibility for you, to land the Gauntlet in such moment and place, that your Team will benefit from - that is one of your top priorities when using Gauntlet. Otherwise, you'll end up waiting 110 seconds for nothing.
Also, watch out for stuns: If you get stunned when you're about to drop the Gauntlet, it will eventually get canceled and will leave you with the Cooldown time again.
I recommend getting the third Rank of Gauntlet over Blood for Blood's overdrive to reduce the cooldown time and increase the duration.

In this chapter, I'll tell you about tips and tricks when playing as Ardan, which will help you understand your position in the Game better, and how to react in certain situations, or emergencies. Also, I'll give you examples of synergies between Ardan and other heroes, so you know who you need on your team in order to perform well.

Role: Captain

Captain role is arguably the most important role in VainGlory. Captain heroes are known for high Defensive, or Utility stats, which allows them to help Teammates throughout the Game. Only certain heroes can be played as Captains, since not all of them fit into the requirements. Ardan, however - is one of the best Captain heroes known in VainGlory. He excels at defending and helping Allies, just like a regular Captain should do.
When it comes to the playstyle, your top and only priority is to HELP Allies at anything they do, especially during the Fights between Teams. You sacrifice all the Offensive stats and focus only on the Utility items to do so.

Mechanics

Map Rotations:
Ardan usually feels very comfortable in the Jungle. It's a wide open area, located in the middle of the map, which gives you a lot of space to maneuver.
In the early Game, there should be nothing to be afraid of. Freely rotate around the map whenever you need to. Engage the Enemy positions with your Jungler, or go up on the Lane and "babysit" your Laner, as he/she farms Gold.
In the Mid game, however, everyone becomes more powerful, so be careful not to overextend into Enemy Jungle sides, especially when you're alone. Make strategic decisions based on the recent events. Basically, don't just wander around. Keep helping your team.
Finally, in the Late Game, where everyone reaches their maximum potential, things will start to get serious. You'll no longer be able to fool around the map. Group up with your Allies and prepare for Team Fights instead.

team Fights:
Every teamfight is different in every match. By learning these basic mechanics, you should be able to understand your position and what to do during them.
Ardan has the potential of turning any fight around, but only with perfect timing and positioning.
Use your Abilities very patiently during teamfights, because all of them have really long cooldowns. Stand in front of your teammates to absorb as much damage as possible. Your perk - Julia's Gift should keep you healthy long enough for them to deal as much damage as possible without putting themselves to danger. Always save Vanguard for emergency. Cast it on the most wounded teammate if they get focused down to block as much damage as possible.
Remember to use Blood for Blood as often as possible to stay longer on the frontline, while dealing a bit more damage and sticking closer to the enemies.
When it comes to Gauntlet however, you might wanna think before using it. For example, if your team is ready to follow your engage, consider dropping it right after the start to trap enemies inside it. If they're not, save it instead. It'll either help you escape from a losing fight, or catch enemies, while they're trying to escape.
Just like Vanguard, you should save your Fountain of Renewal for an emergency as well. Remember, it's the only source of healing you have, so don't use it unless your team is severely wounded. Don't forget the Crucible either, be confident as long as it's available and use it to block team wide CC, or high bursts of damage.


Playing Aggressively:
Whenever enemies are behind in gold, or XP, consider playing aggressively with your team. This means, that you'll have to poke and harass them as hard as you can and take every good opportunity of killing them, or destroying their Crystal Miners and Turrets by all means necessary. This will boost your team's total gold income and keep enemies away from catching up on you at all times.

Playing Passively:
Play passively/defensively whenever enemies are ahead of you. If they have better items, they'd have more damage of course. And in that case, you'd have no chance of winning a single teamfight. So instead, make careful rotations around the map. You don't want to be caught off-guard at this point, nor you want your objectives taken, because if they do, there's pretty much no coming back. So, the best strategy is to stay up on the lane with your Carry and protect them, while they farm. Help your jungler if needed and choose your fights very carefully.

Powerspikes:
Powerspike is a point in the game, where your Hero is strong, which is usually when you learn, overdrive one of your Abilities, or purchase Tier III items.

• Level 6 - When you unlock Gauntlet for the first time.
• Level 8 - When you overdrive Vanguard or Blood for Blood, depending on your strategy.
• First Tier III item - If you purchase Fountain of Renewal before the enemy captain does.

When you have one of these powerspikes, be sure to play to it, in order to make them most use out of it. For example: When you unlock Gauntlet, use it aggressively, because enemies won't be prepared with Crucible at this point, so you can either get a kill or two, or force your enemies to retreat and secure objectives with ease. It all depends on how you use it.

Synergies

Ardan synergises well with heroes, who need Captain's help and peel to provide their team with damage, or the ones, that are durable enough to sustain themselves on the frontline. These sort of heroes can benefit from Ardan's Abilites and together, they can make the most out of their efforts.

Samuel Synergy Level: High

Samuel and Ardan make a very dangerous team composition together. You can be an effective frontline for Samuel, while he deals damage and forces enemies back with his Drifting Dark. And if Samuel gets too low, just Vanguard him and retreat if necessary. If that's not all, Samuel and Ardan together can do a crazy Ultimate combo with Gauntlet and Oblivion. Simply drop the Gauntlet on enemies and follow up with Oblivion immediately to ensure the guaranteed damage and CC, while your team finds enough time to group up and prepare to punish enemies. If enemies have Crucible, don't waste both of these Abilities at the same time, because if you do, they're just gonna block it.

Skaarf Synergy Level: Medium

Skaarf also relies on the peel, that his Captain provides, so he makes quite a team with Ardan. Be sure to stand on the frontline and defend him at all costs, because he'll be the main source of damage in your team. Combine Skaarf's high DPS and zoning ability with your peel to deny enemies from pushing further into your backline. In teamfights, you can initiate the deadly Ultimate combo with your Gauntlet and Skaarf's Dragon Breath to inflict high amount of guaranteed damage.

Baron Synergy Level: High

Baron is a very aggressive, snowballing carry. Weather is he WP or CP. He doesn't need as much peel as other carries, but he sure needs some defense. Luckily, that's no problem for you. Protect Baron at all costs in the early game and wait until he farms enough gold to afford effective items. In teamfights, play around Baron until you see a perfect moment to drop your Gauntlet and land a guaranteed Ion Cannon for massive damage.

Rona Synergy Level: High

Rona is a very durable fighter, who's not afraid of going into the fight and focusing on multiple targets at once. You can boost her movement speed, slow enemies around and make her almost unkillable. All this comes from your Vanguard alone. Play aggressively alongside her in the early game to secure objectives easily and ultimately snowball the enemy team. In teamfights, use your Gauntlet to trap all enemies, while Rona unleashes Red Mist to continuously damage enemies and sustain herself with life steal. Meanwhile, your carry can sit in the backline and deal damage safely to help you even more.

Grumpjaw Synergy Level: Medium

Grumpjaw is super tanky at all stages of the game and needs no sort of defense to stay alive in fights. He can also be aggressive early on if necessary. The main purpose of Grumpjaw and Ardan's synergy is to protect the carry and apply as much peel as possible to enemies in teamfights. All this comes from their tankiness. Also, if a carry finds itself focused by one particular target, Grumpjaw can devour that target to ensure the safety of your carry. But it can be used in an offensive way as well. For example: Devour an enemy target, spit them into the turret range and drop Gauntlet if needed to guarantee a kill.

Koshka Synergy Level: Medium

Koshka is a snowballing assassin, who's strongest in the early game with her high burst damage capabilities. However, she's quite squishy and needs follow-up from her team to be the most effective. With Koshka you can spend your early game aggressively rotating through jungle, carefully securing kills and objectives to gain as big of an advantage as possible. As the game progresses, Koshka's damage falls off quickly and it gets progressively harder for you to protect both of your teammates. But I'll tell you this: If enemies made it into the late game safely, you're doing something wrong...

As you already know, items are very important for all Captain heroes, because they can help them make up for what they miss and dramatically boost team defense and utility.
The introduction of new items made every Captain's build path more versatile as well, so in this Chapter, I'm gonna explain purpose of each item, that's included in the build and teach you how to use them.
(To see item details, hover on their icons.)

Core Items

These are core items for every Captain. Core means, that they're absolutely necessary to build no matter what.

Fountain of renewal

Fountain is the most important item in your build. It offers very high defense and survivability for you and your team with unique ability to Heal all your allies. It's very useful in every stage of the game, but you must use it cautiously in teamfights, since Ardan can't heal teammates like Lyra or Adagio, you must save it for emergency.

Crucible

Crucible is also a very important item. Mainly because it provides you with a lot of Health and an active ability to block AOE spells such as Oblivion or Verse of Judgement for your whole team. Try not to rush Crucible immediately after building Fountain of Renewal though, because you might need War Treads more if your team finds an advantage over them and you choose to play more aggressively, or if you're getting kited by enemies and need to catch up on them easily.

War Treads

War Treads allow your whole team to sprint when used, so as you can already tell, it's just as useful as Crucible and Fountain of Renewal. You can use it to escape danger or chase fleeing enemies along with your team. It also grants you +500 health, which can make you more tanky when paired with other defensive items.

Defensive Items

These items provide your team with more defense and they're especially useful when you fall behind. They should help you survive a little longer and buy you enough time to escape from losing fights.

Rook's Decree

Great, but very situational. Only purchase this item when you feel like your teammates are dying too quickly in teamfights, or if you're against enemies with high burst damage potential. Get onto the frontline and start basic attacking right after you drop the Gauntlet to absorb as much damage as possible. Be confident with the barrier and you've got a perfectly safe engage tactic.

Capacitor Plate

Capacitor Plate is a fantastic item for any Captain, that can provide it's team with barriers and healing. Ardan is no exception. It synergizes very well with Vanguard, since it increases the barrier strength and movement speed significantly when cast.
Passive stats of Capacitor plate are good too. It grants +30 Armor, +30 Shield and +450 Health.
Don't forget, that it also affects Rook's Decree's passive as well, so consider purchasing both of these items if you'd like to boost your team's defense even more.

Pulseweave

This is rather a semi-offensive item, which is most useful for maximizing your overall damage in teamfights.
As soon as you get hit by an ability, cast Vanguard on yourself, run into the enemy team to slow them for your allies and deal continuous damage. This way it should help you out in initiating teamfights.
Take note of it's passive stats as well: It grants +700 Health, +10% Movement speed and Lifespring.
Overall, Pulseweave is a very strong item, but it requires risky positioning in order to make the most use out of it. So, be cautious.

Metal Jacket

Metal Jacket is a very "Selfish" item to get, because it doesn't benefit your team in any way. But you can still purchase it if there's no attack speed reliant carry in the enemy team and you still need to get more armor in order to reduce their damage. Otherwise, it's not an effective item.

Atlas Pauldron

Atlas Pauldron is a very useful item, but it's a bit tricky to use. Generally, it's a strong choice against any team composition, where's a hero, who has high attack speed. Such as Krul or Ringo. The reason Atlas is hard to use, is because it activates after a short delay from the moment you use it. Players with good reflexes can avoid, or block Atlas Pauldron, so watch out for that.

Offensive items

Usually not a great choice for Ardan, but you can always get a bit more offense in order to increase your team's overall damage and increase your aggression.

Stormcrown

Stormcrown is an item, which you buy only when you're confident in your team's snowballing potential. Bonus true damage will allow you to steal enemy jungle camps more quickly and safely secure objectives. It deals only 10% damage to heroes, but that could still be somewhat useful in teamfights.
Overall, Stormcrown is a good choice for aggressive play style, but very risky at the same time, because if you somehow fall behind, there's no coming back.

Aftershock

If you're playing aggressively, go with the Aftershock. It's absolutely necessary to boost your damage and focus down targets more easily. Get it soon after you build Fountain of Renewal and start rotating aggressively around the map. If a teamfight breaks out, try to use Blood for Blood as often as possible in order to maximize your damage output. Aftershock's bonus cooldown should also help you use other abilities more frequently.

Tention Bow

Almost same as Aftershock. Only this time, it's Weapon power instead of Crystal power. Tension Bow is a very good early item for aggressive use. Your main priority in this case is to snowball the enemy team as hard as possible, because in the late game, Tension Bow becomes almost useless, since it loses a big portion of it's damage. Also, unlike Aftershock, it doesn't grant bonus cooldown speed, so it won't be beneficial. But keep in mid, that Tension Bow is much cheaper than Aftershock, so go for it if you want to save gold for other items, while being able to deal more damage.

Bonesaw

Bonesaw is a great choice against tanky heroes such as Phinn or Lance. It boosts your peel and allows you to shred some of enemy armor, so it's most effective if your teammates are already dealing a lot of Weapon damage and you don't want enemies to reduce it.
However, like other offensive items, Bonesaw also requires risky positioning, so be careful not to overextend during teamfights.

Clockwork

Clockwork benefits Ardan in many ways, but the biggest reason to purchase it is cooldown speed. On every ability cast, you reduce the cooldown of your other abilities significantly. This will allow you to use Vanguard much more frequently and effectively, since Ardan also converts bonus energy and energy recharge into Crystal power.

Utility Items

These are somewhat situational items, that can only be effective when purchased at the right time. Otherwise, they're useless.

Contraption

Contraption is your main source of vision. Usually, I'd recommend building it in later stages of the game, but if you're playing against a composition, where enemies have stealth heroes, get it a bit sooner to avoid getting ambushed. But before you build Contraption, be sure to buy Scout Traps at times and place them near choke points and objectives. Remember, that vision is very important for the captain. Without it, your team is basically blind and vulnerable to ambushes and ganks.

Nullwave Gauntlet

Very effective at shutting down aggressive team compositions. Usually, I'd suggest silencing an enemy Captain, so they can't use their items. This way, they won't be able to block your CC, so it would be much safer for you to engage them with AOE abilities. Including your Gauntlet.

Shiversteel

Shiversteel is a great item to buy if your teammates have trouble getting in range. When focusing a target, simply activate Shiversteel and attack them to apply your slow. Vanguard your teammate, so that they could chase them down more easily with the speed boost and barrier.

In this Chapter, I'l tell you more about Ardan's scaling with each stage of the game. It's very important to learn about strengths and weaknesses, that ramp up and down as the game progresses and how to use them.

Early Game(0:00-8:00)

Generally, this is your weakest point in the game, because usually you don't have enough Health to increase Vanguard's barrier and therefore, you can't protect your teammates as effectively as you should. So, my advice would be to play passively and try not to go for risky plays, as you wouldn't be able to save your team if it's an emergency. But if you find an advantage, be sure to be more aggressive with your Blood for Blood, as it packs quite a punch early on, unlike Vanguard.
Start your build with Oakheart and Ironguard Contract. This item set should help you sustain yourself through both jungle and lane, while being more tanky.
Now, if a teamfight breaks out in the jungle, try to stick with your teammates and coordinate with them. Stand in front of your team and absorb as much damage as possible. You can either save Vanguard for emergency, or use it on yourself right at the beginning of a fight to slow enemies and absorb more damage at the same time. However, it all depends on your team and how you perform.
You can now go to the lane, and protect your Carry, while he/she farms gold. If enemy Captain is out of sight, you can harass their Laner instead to deny them from last-hitting minions. This way, your Carry should gain a CS advantage over them, which is very important.
After 4:00 minute mark, go to the jungle shop immediately and build Lifespring, Sprint Boots, Dragonheart and as many Scout Traps, or Flares as you can afford.
Dragonheart should increase your Vanguard's barrier and your Health significantly, while Lifespring will help you stay healthy in between fights, so you won't have to always go back to base.
If you suspect, that enemies are packing a lot of punch, be sure to grab yourself a Light Shield as well. Only if you can afford it. This way, you should be more tanky with Armor and Shield all stacked up. However, keep in mind, that this might slow down the time, at which you build Fountain of Renewal. But still, choice is yours.
Buying Scout Traps and Flares is a great way to maintain vision across the map early on. Place them near choke points and beware of enemy rotations.
As soon as you reach Level 6 and unlock Gauntlet go and look for a good opportunity to use it. Remember, that your opponents will not be prepared with Crucible at this point, so they'll be extremely vulnerable. With careful timing and planning, you might as well get a kill or two, and secure some objectives with ease.

Middle Game(8:00-15:00)

Your mid game is a lot stronger than your early game, because this is where your overall defense starts to ramp up. Vanguard becomes much more effective, especially when you overdrive it at level 8 and you become more tanky with all the items you've purchased.
Now that the laning phase is over, you might wanna look for early fights. Usually, you want to fight on lane, because Turrets can sometimes save you from losing a fight completely. Getting a few kills through mid game is great, but securing objectives is much more important. If you manage to kill at least 2 out of 3 enemies, go for the gold mine, or the turret, depending on which you can take faster. But let's say your Carry can destroy the Turret alone. In that case, you'll need to rotate down in Gold Mine with your jungler and secure both of these objectives simultaneously, while enemies are respawning. This way, you should be able to get way ahead of them and prevent them from coming back.
Mid game is also important for Carry heroes. They need to keep their damage at consistent amount, which comes primarily from items. Pay attention to what enemies build and respond to it accordingly. For example, if you see a lot of Weapon power, go for Armor. You'll need it eventually to either purchase Atlas Pauldron or Metal Jacket(although Metal Jacket is only for slow attack speed heroes). However, if enemies have a lot of Crystal Power, get more Health instead of Shield. It's gonna scale well into Vanguard and make you more tanky at the same time, while Shield items on the other hand are useless and selfish, because they won't benefit your team in any way. Also, Fountain of Renewal's Shield is enough.
Now for the Core items, you should either get Crucible or War Treads. War Treads are effective when enemies don't have a lot of CC, or if you feel like your team is getting kited a lot, while Crucible is a much more defensive choice. Prioritize it over War Treads if you need to block large amounts of CC in teamfights.
Also, try to keep one or two slots free for Scout Traps and Flares. Vision is super important. Especially near objectives and lane bushes, as you need to avoid getting caught off-guard at all costs.

Late Game(15:00-End)

Now's the time for you to shine! The late game becomes a lot more serious stage, when both teams reach their potential and start to look for teamfights, that could end the game ultimately. However, you never know when the final fight will occur. And that's exactly why you be should prepared. Get yourself some items to finish your build. As I said before, build items, that suit the situation most. Wait until your whole team is ready and go all-in. This means, that you have to fight with everything you've got. I'm gonna explain teamfighting one last time here, since this is the single most important thing in the late game.
Drop your Gauntlet and focus down vulnerable targets, while they're stunned, but if they have Crucible ready, save it instead. It might come in handy later. Carefully position yourself with your team and pay very close attention to your teammates' HP. If they get too low, simply Vanguard them to block the damage. Also, don't forget to use Blood for Blood as much as possible. It's very effective at closing the gap with the enemy Carry as well. This makes it easier for your teammates to focus them. Time your active items as well as you can to maximize their potential during the fight. Do not back off from a fight as long as your Crucible is still available. And only dare to use it when you have to block CC.
Now, let's say you won the fight and decided to capture Kraken. First of all, you need it done as quickly as possible. And second - when captured, you have to use it to your advantage by any means necessary. The Kraken gives 500 Gold to each player on the team when killed, while a singe Turret gives 300.
So, what I suggest, is to try and take as many enemy Turrets as possible with the single Kraken, but no less than two, because if you don't, enemies will end up earning more gold at the cost of one of their Turrets, which is not the trade you want to take.
Overall, your late game is extremely important and you should take that to account. Play cautiously with your teammates, avoid getting ambushed and try your hardest in every single fight, since that is what matters.

So, in conclusion, Ardan is a very durable, damage absorbing, versatile Captain, that no one should underestimate. He provides balanced combination of Defense and Offense, is compatible with almost any hero and most importantly, he excels at teamfights, where he can completely re-shape the battlefield and turn the fight around.

PROS

• Very durable/tanky
• Great versatility(Defense/Offense)
• Huge teamfight potential
• Doesn't use Energy
• Very high peel

CONS

• Weak early Game
• Relies on team too much
• Vulnerable to getting snowballed
• Very long cooldowns

That's about it for the guide. Thank you very much for reading. I spent a good few days writing it, so your time is much appreciated. Also, be sure to give it a vote, if you will.
If you have any questions, or if you want to point out an inaccurate aspect to this guide, feel free to let me know in the comment section. I'll do my best to answer them.
This was XapocaliptusX. Thanks again for your time. Take care and have a nice day.

Last updated: 15/09/2018