Arthur: The Valiant Knight

Build and Guide Arthur: The Valiant Knight

Cheat Sheet
​​​​​​Skill build:

There’s really no wrong way to start. Righteous Fervor, Holy Guard – their good great abilities to start with. Personally, I go lean more on Righteous Fervor as means of chasing down opponents. I’d then add points to Holy Guard and Deep impact; Holy Guard will probably get maxed last. 

Talents:

Sprint – Great for escaping after engaging/supporting a teammate early on.

Heal – Used to keep you and teammates in the fight.

Daze – It stuns enemies before reducing their moment speed.

Items:

Mantla of Ra – adds attack damage, armor and constant magic damage to enemies.

Sonic Boots – supplies armor and speed.

Medallion of Troy – for magic defense, max HP, cooldown and an absorption shield.

Frost Cape – for armor, max HP, cooldown and its slow debuff.

Mail of Pain – adds armor, max HP and damage reflection.

Hercules’ Madness – adds armor and magical defense, attack damage, and a shield (when HP is below 40%).

Arcana

Strength – raises attack damage

Leech – adds life steal

Willpower – adds magical defense

Introduction
​​​​​​Arthur is no ordinary knight. Rising to power during a time of upheaval – where humans were made low by fierce monsters – he was able to rally the masses to his side. His keen sense of justice and honor kept him on the battlefield. Never one to lead from afar, this Warrior/Tank is often the first to engage in team fights. Arthur’s Righteous Fervor sets the tone as he slams into enemies, slowing their movement speed. This is followed by the summoning of divine blades via his Holy Guard. Constantly striking his foes as the blades spin around him, the slow-moving targets struggle to flee. Those that survive/choose to stand and fight are met with Deep Impact, a crushing move that blasts them into the air… 

Skill Build
​​​​​​Paragon (Passive)

Arthur is blessed by the heavens and gains 28 armor (scales with hero level).

As a Warrior, Arthur is usually the first one and last one out of team fights. He’ll need as much protection he can get in order to keep the pressure on. This passive helps in that regard. 

Righteous Fervor

Mana Cost: 0

Cooldown: 10 sec.

Arthur powers up, raising his movement speed by 30%. During his next normal attack, Arthur leaps at his target, dealing 180 (+164) physical damage and slowing their movement speed by 90% for 1 second. The target damaged by this ability will be marked. Marked enemies will suffer additional damage from Arthur's normal attacks and abilities equal to 1% of their maximum HP as magic damage. This ability also raises the movement speed of nearby ally heroes for 5 seconds.

Level 1: Base Damage – 180. Cooldown – 10 sec.
Level 6: Base Damage – 305. Cooldown – 5 sec.
Level 5: Base Damage – 280. Cooldown – 6 sec.
Level 4: Base Damage – 255. Cooldown – 7 sec.
Level 3: Base Damage – 230. Cooldown – 8 sec.
Level 2: Base Damage – 205. Cooldown – 9 sec.
Righteous Fervor is great for engaging enemies. The burst of damage followed by the slow helps to disorientate the target (if caught off guard, they may hesitate to choose whether to fight or run away). The speed boost makes chasing down those that do flee easier. Plus, the low cooldown allows for frequent uses – more on that later.   

Holy Guard

Rage: 0

Cooldown: 12 sec.

Arthur summons divine blades that circle around him, dealing 100 (+57) (+0) magic damage for 5 seconds. 

Level 1: Base Damage – 100. Cooldown – 12 sec.
Level 2: Base Damage – 125. Cooldown – 11.4 sec.
Level 3: Base Damage – 150. Cooldown – 10.8 sec.
Level 4: Base Damage – 175. Cooldown – 10.2 sec.
Level 5: Base Damage – 200. Cooldown – 9.6 sec.
Level 6: Base Damage – 225. Cooldown – 9 sec.
Holy Guard is able about consistent damage. It doesn’t hit very hard on its own, but when combined with Arthurs other attacks, it’ll help to quickly whittle down an enemy’s health.   

Deep Impact

Mana Cost: 0

Cooldown: 42 sec.

Arthur jumps up high and crashes towards his target, dealing 750 (+213) physical damage and knocks surrounding enemies into the air for 0.5 seconds. Enemies caught in the blast radius suffer 100 (+57) physical damage every second for 5 seconds. 

Level 1: Base Damage – 750. Cooldown – 42 sec. Burn Damage – 100.
Level 2: Base Damage – 1000. Cooldown – 35 sec. Burn Damage – 125.
Level 3: Base Damage – 1250. Cooldown – 28 sec. Burn Damage – 150.
Deep Impact is similar to Righteous Fervor in how Arthur jumps and slams down on a target. In Deep Impact’s case though, he is able to hit multiple enemies at once. And while it doesn’t do crazy damage, it is a great finisher; enemies who have been softened up can be chased down with Righteous Fervor, slowed and then slain with Deep Impact.   

Talents
Out of all of the Talents, these are the ones I like using the most – only one is available per match, so picking the best one for the playstyle/build is important. I’ve placed them in order based on how I play and when they are unlocked.

Sprint

Cooldown – 100 sec.

Increases movement speed by 30% for 10 seconds.

Sprint is great for chasing down opponents – allowing Arthur to get within range to use Righteous Fervor – as well as to flee from danger. 

Heal

Cooldown – 120 sec.

You and nearby teammates instantly recover 15% HP and gain 15% movement speed for 2 seconds.

Heal should be used when things get hairy. It’ll allow you to flee as well as heal anyone near you.

Daze

Cooldown – 90 sec.

Stuns nearby enemies for 0.5 seconds, then reduces their movement speed for 1 second.

You want to keep enemies from running away from Arthur. Daze helps in that regard. Even though the slow doesn’t last long, it can be followed up with Righteous Fervor. That way you can do more damage with abilities like Holy Guard. 

Arcana
You’ll unlock tons of different Arcana through continued play; the pool will fill up over time. Early on, you’ll only have access to level 1 Arcana though. Here are three good ones to have when using Arthur.

Strength – Attack Damage + 0.9

Considering that you’ll be activating Holy Guard as much as possible (even when fleeing, in an attempt to dissuade pursuers), any extra damage you can get from items is a must. 

Leech – Life Steal + 0.4%

You really can replace this with any defensive Arcana. I personally like life steal; you can swap it with something with magical defense to bolster this particular build.

Willpower – Magic Defense +2.5

​​​​​​​My particular build doesn’t have a ton of magical damage...at least not early on. That changes once you grab the Medallion of Troy. It’s good to have an Arcana like Willpower to offset this early deficit.

Again, these are great for starting out. The pool holds more than just three of Arcana. Colossus (Max HP + 75) and Mythril (Armor +5, Magic Defense + 5) are good choices once unlocked/purchased.

Early Game
I start Arthur with his Righteous Fervor ability and a short sword (building towards the Mantle of Ra). This is because I like to be aggressive early on. The slow from Fervor allows for an early kill if your teammate is paying attention; surprising them from the bushes is a great move. This is especially true if you can lure them into your tower’s range first. Be mindful that you won’t have much in terms of armor though. It’s easy to overextend, thinking you’ve outplayed your opponent only to be ambushed during the chase.

Grind a bit more for the Sonic Boots. That and the Holy Guard will help in dispatching careless foes. Be sure to stay in lane as much as possible, using the Guard to quickly kill creeps. Get as much XP as you can before returning to base…

Mid Game
At this point, you should be able to rattle opponents – either scaring them out of your lane or chasing them down for a kill. Most of the time, you’ll be assisting (unless you’re by yourself, in which case I’d be careful). Hopefully, you were able to stay in lane racking up XP and gold. Medallion of Troy isn’t cheap after all. That said, once you’ve purchased it, you’ll be able to rally against physical and magical characters alike. 

It isn’t imperative that you wait to get Frost Cape before ganking/assisting in team fights. The cape will help lock down enemies during these situations though. After using an ability, preferably Righteous Fervor, the next normal attack will reduce an enemy’s movement speed. Activate Holy Guard and go to town, being mindful of your health of course. 

Late Game
Mail of Pain and Hercules’ Madness were chosen for two reasons: they both will help to keep you alive as well as increase your overall damage output. Arthur is great for keeping people slowly moving about the battlefield while consistently damaging them. With the added cooldown reduction from your previously purchased items, Holy Guard will be useable more frequently. Other melee based characters who chose to stay and fight will have to deal with your spinning blades as well as the Mail’s passive – it defects a certain amount of damage back at your attackers. That means that they’ll take damage from two sources, none of which are your other abilities and normal attack.

For those magical based characters, Hercules’ Madness comes in handy. Not only does it add magical defense, it also grants a shield when your HP is below 40%. If you remember, the Medallion of Troy also grants a shield that gets stronger as you level up (once every 18 seconds). Basically, if you time it right, you’ll have a shield at the start and end of a fight.

Arthur is always a force to be reckoned with. His threat level increases substantially once your build is complete. At this point, it’s all about the team fights. I typically let me team mates worry about the towers as I hang around them, waiting for someone to try their luck. It usually doesn’t end well for them; even if I die, I’d have done enough damage and/or slowed them enough to be dispatched by someone else.

FAQ/Tips
Arthur is an aggressive character who is normally tasked with initiating fights. So, balancing his defensive and offensive attributes is key. Thankfully, a lot of damage being dealt with come from attacks that don’t need to be aimed. Holy Guard’s constant damage (along with certain items in this build) will force enemies to flee or engage at their own risk. The only thing you’ll want to be mindful of is your health and the positioning of your teammates. The last thing you’d want to do is initiate a team fight when no one is available to help. Know when to dive in and when to run the other way. And of course, be sure to punish anyone with low life trying to flee

Matchups
Arthur works well with Marksmen and Assassins – someone who is ability to quickly kill your opponent while they’re slowed. Obiously, those with hard controls are great. Diaochan, for instance, can freeze enemies. Which could allow you to use Righteous Fervor multiple times (if you’ve gotten the cooldown low enough) during a fight.

Arthur kryptonite seems to be himself. Mirror matches are never really fun and in this case, they outright suck. It won’t always be difficult to outplay a rival Arthur. You may have to depend on your teammates more than normal though; if your rival is setting up ganks and whatnot.