Why Ardan....? Top
Ardan was a hero who long suffered from a very long cooldown on the very skill that defines his role as "protector". Not anymore. With patch 1.8 Ardan's Vanguard ability went from 17/16/15/14/13, to a flat 13 at all levels. With this change we can now use his Vanguard at the beginning of a fight and quite possibly at the very end as well, even during very early level fights. Because of this I like to max his
Blood for Blood ability first so that even in the early game when carries ignore you to go for your lane or jungle carry, you can let loose with a PUNCH and really get their attention.
So, how are we playing this? Top
So it's no surprise that in solo queue every one is basically fighting over Lane or Jungle. I use Ardan as a Roaming sleeper. Rush a
Stormguard Banner to help your jungle rotations. It will also help you steal jungle farm quickly when you win a team fight as well as contribute to mine captures and not just being a no-damage tank. Early team fights are going to be tough if you have an late game hero, like Krul, so you'll have to do a little babysitting and avoid ping them to get them to calm down and just farm. The enemy will most likely invade, so keep your team healthy.
For an early to mid-game hero you'll want to be a little more aggressive and take your enemies double minions whenever possible. Reacting to your teammates takes practice. Within the first few minutes you should be able to identify if either your jungler is too aggressive and lacking power, or your laner has blinders on and doesn't rotate (sometimes both) in which case you need to make the decision who you are going to protect in team fights to have the better advantage and who'll you have to counter build so that you can do the most damage helping your team.
A fight breaks out. Now what? Top
When a fight breaks out there is a combo you'll want to learn. B, A, B. Always use your first B to initiate if possible especially if you have the drop on your enemy. Immediately afterward you have to see what their reaction is. If they go for you, awesome. That means your carry/carries are doing the most damage they can without being bothered. If they go for a carry, then immediately Vanguard them. Remember, your
Blood for Blood is reduced not only by dealing damage but even more drastically when the hero you Vanguarded is taking damage. When your B is back up use it in combination with
Shiversteel to prevent the enemy from chasing your ally and allowing them to kite or reposition. You can easily hit multiple enemies if you're quick which is why a
Blazing Salvo is part of your core items. Keep the CC going as long as possible. In late game your
Clockwork is going to make spamming your B rediculously fast and you may even not realize it's up.
If you use your
Vanguard first then you miss out on some free damage from your
Blood for Blood because of the quick cooldown. Don't miss out on a free poke, sometimes it's enough to win a team fight!
Also I haven't mentioned the
Gauntlet much, aka. "The Thunderdome" because with this build Its not the initiator. While it can be used that way to seperate an enemy from his team, with the aggressive play style this build needs I find it better used as an escape for your carries if needed or to lock down a fleeing enemy that is close to death.
Infusion on a support? Top
Yes, we're talking about solo Q here. At the first sign of a weak carry you may have to transition over to Carry Ardan. While he's squishy in the early game in the late game he can take quite a bit of punishment. An infusion at level 4 is not unheard of nowadays. Ardan does a great deal of burst damage with
Blood for Blood with just an infusion so I'll keep one in my pocket in case we need some help. Focus their highest damage dealer and slow them while punching them constantly it will help your teammates prioritize who they need to kill first. Infusions grant you attack speed so its like a mini
Clockwork for Ardan... PUNCH, PUNCH, PUNCH.
Don't forget about wision!! Top
Vision wins games. After you get your
Stormguard Banner buy a few mines every time you shop. You are a protector in the beginning and you can't react to what you can't see after all.
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