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jeandarc
19th September 2012, 01:04 AM
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT74HshLrlBUNN0dV-1Xh-grlNViOUUfuAC3CzojEY_INf-VUY




Jean's guide to Ancient Apparition



Guide information:


This guide is 100% originally created by jeandarc with all of his heart which doesn't contain any copied shits n' stuff like that. I hope you'll enjoy reading my guide and maybe one day you'll unleash your full AA powers just like jean does ;)


Hero introduction:


Well, since my Dota times are coming closer and closer to the end, I wanted to share my knowledge with this wonderful hero.

The first time I played AA I felt this amazing power that this hero posses. AA is a hero which mostly is played as a supporter and is known of his deadly abilities.
For me, personally, AA is the coolest Dota hero that has been ever made, with awesome map control, great teamwork capabilities and a hero that you will never get bored of playing it.

AA is an intelligence hero, with 18 str, 20 agi and 25 int starting stats.



Pros and Cons


Pros



Amazing casting animation
Great attack animation
Deadly skills
An ulti that can be casted anywhere you want on the map
Unpredictable



Cons



Bad str gain
Average movespeed
Needs an ally hero to unleash his full powers
Mana burn fucks him
Enemy's magic imune fucks him




Skills


1. Cold Feet
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/128/skill-0.jpg

The Apparition curses his foes with The Frozen Mark which will freeze enemies to the ground. Unless target enemy moves at least 740 away from the mark within 4 seconds he is frozen still.

Casting Range: 700
Damage per second: 37.5 / 50 / 62.5 / 75
Stun duration if triggered: 1.25 / 2 / 2.75 / 3.5
Cooldown: 15 / 13 / 11 / 9
Manacost: 150

Use this skill wisely while your teammate(s) are ready to initiate so the enemy won't get away from the target so you'll be able to freeze him for 4 seconds.


2. Ice Vortex
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/128/skill-1.jpg
Gathers ancient frost energy into one area to create a small, immobile ice vortex at a location. Whenever enemies are near it, their movement speed and magical resistance are reduced.

Casting Range: 1500
AOE: 275
Movement Reduction: 18 / 22 / 26 / 30
Magic Resistance: -10 / -15 / -20 / -25
Duration: 12
Cooldown: 6
Manacost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110

Using Ice vortex with Cold feet at the same time is much more useful, since you'll have more chances to freeze the enemy while being slowed with ice vortex.


3. Chilling Touch
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/128/skill-2.jpg
Gathers ancient frost energy into one area to create a small, immobile ice vortex at a location. Whenever enemies are near it, their movement speed and magical resistance are reduced.

Casting Range: 1500
AOE: 275
Movement Reduction: 18 / 22 / 26 / 30
Magic Resistance: -10 / -15 / -20 / -25
Duration: 12
Cooldown: 6
Manacost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110

'Dis shit ain't jean's favorite spell, that's why jean skips it'

Okay, let's get real now, I know Chilling Touch is great in teamfights and so... but I just prefer going for attributes and making my own lovely AA stronger ;)

4. Ice Blast
http://www.playdota.com/img/hero/128/skill-3.jpg

Ancient Apparition projects his presence out to make way for a powerful ripple of hailstone and dark magic. Once cast, it can release the spell to strike targets within 200 area of where his presence was upon release. It will deal damage to enemy units and apply a frostbite curse on them for 7 seconds where their health regeneration will be frozen and will shatter if they fall close enough to death. This spell has global range depending on how long you wait for the projections to move. Frostbitten units will take minor damage over time.

Casting Range: Global (!!!)
AOE: *
Impact Damage: 250 / 350 / 450
Shatter Threshold: 10% / 11% / 12%
Cooldown: 44 / 32 / 20
Manacost: 100 / 125 / 150

Now that's what I'm talking about! Fuck yeah!

AA Ultimate is absolutely fabulous, with infinity global casting range and great aoe dmg. With this spell you can simply pew pew anyone over the map with deals damage over the time and insta kills the enemy hero with low hp.



Skill Build

Whenever I play AA, I go for this skill build:

1. Cold Feet
2. Ice Vortex
3. Cold Feet
4. Ice Vortex
5. Cold Feet
6. Ice Blast
7. Cold Feet
8. Ice Vortex
9. Ice Vortex
10. Stats
11. Ice Blast
...(get hero stats as long as you can then chilling touch)
16. Ice Blast
17-25. Stats



Items


Solo mid AA (jean's favorite role):

If you are rushing bottle then go for this: http://www.playdota.com/img/items/34/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/34/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/34/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/24/icon.jpg1x

This starting build saves you a lot of gold which gives you the opportunity to get fast bottle, even from the first minute of the game which will give you the possibilities to gank more and help your allies in killing the enemy heroes.


Core items:

http://www.playdota.com/img/items/66/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/97/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/94/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/25/icon.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/30/icon.jpg



Basically, PT are my favorite boots on AA, where you can play with them by switching them into str/agi/int, gives great attack speed for killing the enemy while being frozen etc. Arcane boots are also quite nice, gives you great mana pool, but arc boots aren't in my style of playing AA :)
Bracer gives you nice stats and you should upg it into jango later on.
Wand is just simply life saviour, help you getting out of hard situations and makes the enemy's mind with "wow's" :P
By getting bottle means that you will hunt runes and keep ganking, so go for it!
Always carry a TP with you, your team always needs you.


Mid Game items:

These are only choices, you can't always go for the same items, it depends on what heroes enemy has.

Here are some suggestions:


http://media.playdota.com/items/765/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/101/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/121/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/104/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/778/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/766/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/120/thumb.jpg http://media.playdota.com/items/103/thumb.jpg



Jango - great team item which can be finished very fast cuz you already have bracer in your inventory and it'll help you team in pushing.
Eul - I'm not a fan of this item, I rarely get this, I prefer going for force staff. Anyway, this item can be combined very well with your cold feet skill, try it.
Meka - one of the greatest supporting items in game, if no one from your team is going for this, then go for it before it's too late!
Necro - Great pushing item, gives your allies aura, burns enemy's mana etc. If your team is going to pushing then this item will do it's jib.
Rod of atos - even tho this item is quite overrated sometimes I go for this, combine it with cold feet and enemy will get frozen for sure.
Force Staff - One of the best AA items, I simply can't play w/o staff. This item gives you amazing escaping mechanism, help your enemy getting out of hard situations and many MORE!
Medalion - Cool item with very short cooldown, since you are single unit caster, this item works perfectly for you.
Pipe - Get this if the enemy hero has mass magic casters (in priv games is almost a MUST).
Dagon - Getting mad that you can't get kills? Sick of supporting? Your team is shitting on you? Then what the fuck are you waiting?! Get dagon and burn the shit out of 'em!!!



Late Game items:

http://www.playdota.com/img/items/99/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/74/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/112/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/88/icon.JPGhttp://www.playdota.com/img/items/110/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/100/icon.jpg http://www.playdota.com/img/items/71/icon.jpg



Hex - There's no question why you shouldn't get this, if you have the money for hex then go for it!
Manta - manta can be life save if you know how and when to use it. You can avoid nukes, push etc.
Sphere - Too many nukers? then say NO to them.
Skadi - well not the best choice you can get but if you want to have some fun and turning your hero into a carry, then why not.
Orchid - great attack speed, mana reg, silence etc. go for this if your enemy is depended on hero which you will have to silence him.
Buriza/mkb - you are already pew pewing the enemy? then get some more damage + crit chances and you will be good to go.



Note: All of my mentioned items (starting, core, mid, late items) are just my suggestions, you can't always go for them, everything depends on your enemy's heroes.



Gameplay:


Well, going mid is not always possible cuz sometimes your captain (in priv games) simple is a dick and won't let you go solo mid, even if you make his ass shiny.

So, if you get the chance to go mid then try to rush bottle (you should get it from min 1) and harras your enemy mid hero as much as you can so you'll get the advantage over mid. Harrasing with AA is not hard at all since your spell and attack animations are amazing and gives you the opportunity to farm easier.

Try to lvl up faster mid so you'll gank early on other lanes, with hunting runes ofc. Sometimes it's just better to stay mid and lvl up while your ulti will gank itself if you control it properly and you will basically have control over the whole map.

Since your hero needs an ally hero to unleash his full powers, then you obviously will have to go with your team. Always try to be the first who will cast cold feet so your allies will stun/slow him later so he wont get away from the target and he'll get frozen.

While game is turning from mid game into late game you must use your ultimate in maximum since your other skills will get weaker and weaker, that's why you should always be with your team.

Your biggest enemies in late game are heroes who have mana burn, like for example AM, Riki (after getting diff), NA etc. Silence is pain for you, so try to avoid being captured by them, so stay away from Bloodseeker, orchid, bala etc.



Ending:


Uhh, I can finally get a cup of coffee and rest a bit... Fuck no! I'm going to play some more Dota cuz I know i will soon retired from Warcraft 3 and PC games, but WC3 will always be in my heart as the best game I've ever played! So feel free to whisper me on server for some games before I'm dead :D

Thanks for reading my guide, it really means a lot to me. I'm sorry if I made English mistakes (I know that I did xD) cuz English is not my native language, so feel free to tell me about my mistakes ;)

I'd also like to thanks everyone who contributed for Eurobattle.net, especially SafeList league for helping me to become a better player and helping everyone for making this even a better place to play :)



Farewell my friends,

jeandarc :tiphat:

T-Pain
19th September 2012, 01:28 AM
Nice guide :thumbUP:

No0B4Ev3R
19th September 2012, 09:19 AM
Very Nice Guide :D Gj :-)

Immortal.Dani
19th September 2012, 12:40 PM
1/10 bad guide.

-Decay-
19th September 2012, 01:20 PM
want me to add supporting gameplay to it?

Fika[F]
19th September 2012, 02:28 PM
add salve instead of tango if you are going mid

add force staff to core items


those just poked my eyes

Zeussssss
19th September 2012, 02:45 PM
stats instead of vortex at start :D

-Decay-
19th September 2012, 03:03 PM
stats instead of vortex at start
vortex increases spelldmg taken so vortex all the way

jeandarc
20th September 2012, 03:00 AM
Nice guide :thumbUP:

thx


Very Nice Guide :D Gj :-)

thx


1/10 bad guide.

sugi pula emortal :D


want me to add supporting gameplay to it?

Sure Decay, why not. Post them here and I'll attach them to my guide.

Thanks for your help :)


;1540524']add salve instead of tango if you are going mid

add force staff to core items


those just poked my eyes

About "add salve instead of tango" I don't see the point of it since you'll rush bottle, you have +3 to all stats and tango just in case (you won't really use it if you go fast bottle) you will be attacked. AA solo mid is the one who will be harrasing the other hero with his amazing attack animation :P

"add force staff to core items" well, I added force staff in mid game items but somehow I deleted the image of it, but the explanation about it is still there. And yeah, I agree with you in getting force staff early but everything depends on how the things will work out.

-Decay-
20th September 2012, 03:05 AM
i agree on salve part, u take it, go 1aggresive fight so he loses his most valuable regeneration(his salve), then you have advantage

Mitix
20th September 2012, 05:50 PM
Farewell jeandarc...Farewell....I"ll remember u forever.Your the first guy that gave me a icon in 7 years of being here :))

Cen
20th September 2012, 06:14 PM
I usually go with boots and salve first item but then again.. I never played AA in my life.

MR.baby
20th September 2012, 06:16 PM
I usually go with boots and salve first item but then again.. I never played AA in my life.



Yes , Only Luna :D

T-Pain
20th September 2012, 10:52 PM
& spectre

eXtasY
20th September 2012, 11:34 PM
I rather go for stats instead vortex early game considering low hp and no survivability spells.

-Decay-
21st September 2012, 12:59 AM
I rather go for stats instead vortex early game considering low hp and no survivability spells.
as i said before, vortex gives increased spelldmg taken+the classic slow, so it's a must for a aggresive hero such as aa
you don't need survivability, there are few heroes who can exchange blows with aa

-Decay-
21st September 2012, 01:30 AM
Supporting for AA

Since aa is an inteligence hero who is not item or level dependable, he can be easily played as a support hero.
So...i guess i will get right into it

Early game:

As a support hero Ancient Apparition is usually acompanied by another disabler so he can achieve maximum efficiency. He is an aggresive, harrasing type of support, so it's very fun to play him on lane.
Your job will always be to initiate fights by using Cold feet on a target enemy hero. Also, you should use Cold feet to harras enemy heroes by dealing tons of damage and forcing them back.


Starting items:

-Healing salve(a must for any hero)
-tango(very usefull for trading blows with other supports)
-2 potions of clarity(you need that mana!)
-2branches/smoke(depending on how you wish to play your role)
-wards/chick(basic support stuff)
so as you see items are just as any other supporter's

Midgame:

always try to get as much experience as possible, you need to get level 6 fast because your ultimate can be gamebreaking. You can swap lanes with your mid ganking hero once he reaches level6(if he decides to start roaming)
once you've hit level 6 try to gank as much as possible and try to use your ultimate whenever you feel like someone may die on the map.

Midgame items:

-bracer(you need survivability, it's a very good item. I personally recommend 2of these on any supporter)
-boots(i'd say not upgraded, any kind of upgrade is just a waste of gold. You can go for tranquil boots if you feel like you need the regeneration)
-more wards/tps
If you manage to get a lot of gold you may want to make one of the following items:meka(if nobody else in your team gets it), force staff(any kind of escape mechanism is very usefull), ghost scepter(if enemy has strong phisical damage type heroes such as naix, magina etc)

Spellbuild:

this will vary depending on your allied heroes
the classical one would be
1-2-1-2-1-4-1-2-2 then just max stats
but if your allies have strong phisical damage heroes you should level up chilling touch. That +60dmg/hit is nothing to joke about

Teamfights:

In teamfights your role is pretty obvious, spam ice vortex under enemy's feet , use cold feet to stun them and try to hit as many opponents as you can with your ulti. That being said, your hero has huge casting range on any of those spells, so your main priority is to stay back and try to avoid any incoming aoe damage. In a teamfight never be eager to initiate a fight, there are other heroes who can do that and this time you don't have to worry about your opponents running away since they can't afford to lose a few seconds to just run around and deal no damage.

feel free to make any kind of modification you want and to edit it. You can use it as your own i just made this for fun

[MooN]Pain
21st September 2012, 02:27 PM
Stats > vortex all the way if you are going solo mid.

DRG-
21st September 2012, 03:01 PM
Nice guide jean, people should read some guides before playing ...

Vaikiss
21st September 2012, 03:58 PM
this guide might be usefull if it was made like 5 years ago

GoodanGeL
21st September 2012, 05:07 PM
Once a n00b, 4ever a n00b.

jean, you messed up the spoiler info from Chilling Touch and Ice Vortex.

CTPAX
23rd September 2012, 07:06 PM
Item build:

http://media.playdota.com/hero/128/thumb.jpg



http://media.playdota.com/items/92/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/25/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/102/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/771/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/21/thumb.jpg ->>> http://media.playdota.com/items/756/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/84/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/74/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/125/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/772/thumb.jpg
(Early game)--------------------------------------------------(Late game)

Fika[F]
23rd September 2012, 11:24 PM
ahahahahaha

jeandarc
23rd September 2012, 11:29 PM
omg no buriza? n00b

CoMMoN
24th September 2012, 09:00 AM
the very ideea of guides is to "guide", that means it's not to tell you how to play, just to show you a general direction (which isn't always good), because following a guide is just ... let's say not that smart, it's ok if you started playing dota 1 month ago though
there are a lot of ways to play AA, not just the standard copy-paste from the dota scene, this is one of the problems you players have in not developing your skills further, you stick to something and don't adjust, don't change, don't even CONSIDER the possibility that you can play something in some other way, you don't come up with anything new, all in all you don't understand dota yet

this goes for most of you guys in ss aswell, to give an example ... i bet for instance you never considered the possibility of let's say picking a viper and playing it as a babysitter for some melee farmer. casually harassing with 600 range, can roam nicely to other lanes; (b-but low ms) you can buy boots you know; (b-but swag, v-viper is way b-better if played as farmer/carry !!1) that's irrelevant, it works against certain lineups, also unlike other supports, viper does deal some decent dps via his damage passive, and is a target for the enemies to focus attention on because of it, which is always a good thing for your main farmer/carry; (b-b-but no utility) as i said, against certain line-ups, it works

the same goes with items, you just stick to the standard, rarely adjusting, never innovating with for instance a dps item on a support in some situations, or an aggressive disable item early on, simply for the surprise factor/giving the enemy another target to keep eyes on

same goes for strategies, just the old stuff on and on, you never try to skip some steps, you never try to keep your opponent permanently guessing what is coming next, your play is visible since the picking phase, you don't surprise with laning, etc

edit : the point of this "rant" is, you aren't original at all, copy-paste players, most of you anyway

Tito
24th September 2012, 04:36 PM
arcane boots is a MUST on a support aa, simple because u need to cast both vortrex and cold feet, which you can NOT do with 300 mana pool ;)

So, before u get any items ( except for stick ), you should stay on line pull/kill to get arcane as a first item after regular boot ( staying on a line depends of the gamestyle etc, but aa is a bad roamer if you dont have a stun hero in mid line )

EDIT, for a solo mid AA, phase boots is a best option for be, because it gives you the positioning u need in fight ( cuz u play with bonus attributes as well as cold feet ( no vortex till lvl 12+ ) you got just enough mana only with bottle, no need arcane here )

mILOSbRE
24th September 2012, 08:20 PM
item build:

http://media.playdota.com/hero/128/thumb.jpg



http://media.playdota.com/items/92/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/25/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/102/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/771/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/21/thumb.jpg ->>> http://media.playdota.com/items/756/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/84/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/74/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/125/thumb.jpg - http://media.playdota.com/items/772/thumb.jpg
(early game)--------------------------------------------------(late game)

:d

ToTa-
25th September 2012, 12:59 PM
Jean went in pros ;)
Nice guide mate-

CTPAX
28th September 2012, 02:49 AM
@milos, xD samo se ti smej.. ja sam danas rejp sa tim item build

http://lagabuse.com/stats/game/4526069/sd-1700min-1

Dobro ! umesto linken nek bude hart :D