Ancient Apparition

Hero

Strategy

Equipment

Gear

Talents

Relics

Responses

Sounds

Animations

Lore

Unreleased Content

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Known Bugs

"AA" redirects here. For the professional player, see ARS-ART.

 Roles:

## Bio

Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition
▶️ *"One day, ice will cover these lands, and it will be as if this war never happened."*

Lore:
Kaldr, the Ancient Apparition, is an image projected from outside time. He springs from the cold, infinite void that both predates the universe and awaits its end. Kaldr is, Kaldr was, Kaldr shall be… and what we perceive, powerful as it appears to us, is but the faintest faded echo of the true, eternal Kaldr. Some believe that as the cosmos ages and approaches its final moments, the brightness and power of Kaldr will also intensify—that the Ancient Apparition will grow younger and stronger as eternity's end draws nigh. His grip of ice will bring all matter to a stop, his image will cast a light too terrible to behold. An Apparition no longer!

Alias:
AA

Voice:
John Patrick Lowrie (Responses)

## Abilities

Cold Feet  ▶️

**Ability**
Target Unit
( Target Area)
**Affects**
Enemies
**Damage**
Magical

Places a frozen hex on an enemy unit that deals damage over time, but can be dispelled by moving away from the initial cast point. If the enemy unit doesn't move out of the given range, it will be stunned and frozen in place after 4 seconds.

**Cast Animation:** +**Cast Range:**  700/800/900/1000**Break Distance:**  715 ( 1015)**Damage per Second:** 30/50/70/90 ( 70/90/110/130)**Damage Duration:** 4**Stun Duration:** 1.6/2/2.4/2.8 Radius:  450

 15/13/11/9
 125Spell Block / Reflection Notes:Blocked as a single-target ability,Not blocked as an area-targeted ability.Modifiers []
Any
Strong*Kaldr's presence draws those around him into a frozen void, threatening to lock them in an icy prison for eternity.*

NOTES 5345
`ancient_apparition_cold_feet`

* Cold Feet places an initial debuff on the affected target and places an icy marker at its current position upon cast.

* As long as the target stays within 715 ( 1015) radius of the mark, it takes damage from the debuff and after 4 seconds it is stunned.

* If the target moves 715 ( 1015) range away from the mark at any point during the initial debuff, the ability completely stops, removing the debuff and the marker.
	+ This means even when the target moves back within range, it is not frozen or damaged further.
	+ Also considers the target's vertical position, getting moved far up enough can stop Cold Feet as well.

* Successive casts on units that already have the Cold Feet modifier do not stack and do nothing.

* Deals 15/25/35/45 ( 35/45/55/65) damage in 0.5-second intervals, starting immediately upon cast, resulting in 8 instances.

* The stun is then applied 1 second after the last instance.

* Can deal up to 120/200/280/360 ( 280/360/440/520) damage to the target (before reductions).

* TALENT NOTES Both damage per second increasing and break distance increasing  talents does not update the current instance of already placed Cold Feet debuffs.

* The area of effect  talent turns Cold Feet into an area-targeted ability with 450 radius, so that it cannot directly target units anymore.
	+ The break distances are different for each hit enemy. They do not share it.
	+ Fully affects invisible enemies and enemies inside the Fog of War.

Ice Vortex ▶️

**Ability**
Target Area / Aura
**Affects**
Enemies
**Damage**
Magical

Creates a vortex of icy energy that slows movement speed and increases magic damage done to enemies in its range.

**Cast Animation:** +**Cast Range:**  1500**Effect Radius:**  300**Vision Radius:**  200/220/240/260**Damage per Second:** 12/18/24/30**Move Speed Slow:** 16%/19%/22%/25%**Magic Resistance Reduction:** 16%/19%/22%/25%**Duration:** 6/8/10/12**Aura Linger Duration:** 0.5

 10/8/6/4 ( 8/6/4/2)
 40/50/60/70Modifiers []

*Frozen, caustic winds are at the whim of Kaldr, chilling the field of battle.*

NOTES 5346
`ancient_apparition_ice_vortex`

* All effects are provided by an aura, its  lingers for 0.5 seconds.
	+ Provides 200/220/240/260 flying vision at the targeted point for its duration.

* Deals damage in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second after receiving the debuff, resulting in up to 6/8/10/12 possible instances.
	+ Can deal up to 72/144/240/360 damage (before reductions) to a single unit within the area for the entire duration.

* Stacks multiplicatively with other  magic resistance sources.
	+ Reduces most heroes' magic resistance to 13%/10.75%/8.5%/6.25%.
	+ With the magic resistance reduction from this source, every 10 points of  intelligence further increases the total magic resistance by 1.16%/1.19%/1.22%/1.25%. []

* Successive casts of Ice Vortex do not stack. A unit can only be affected by one of them even when multiple of them are overlapping.

Chilling Touch   ▶️▶️

**Ability**
Active Attack Modifier
**Affects**
Enemies
**Damage**
Magical

Enhances Ancient Apparition's attack with increased range, heavy magic damage, and movement slow.

**Attack Range Bonus:** 60/120/180/240 ( 360/420/480/540)**Damage:** 40/80/120/160 ( 120/160/200/240)**Move Speed Slow:** 100%**Slow Duration:** 0.7/0.8/0.9/1

 12/9/6/3 ( 0)
 30/40/50/60 ( 15/20/25/30)
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
Removes cooldown and reduces mana cost by 50%.

Modifiers []

Any*The Ancient Apparition's eternal knowledge brings a frigid enchantment to his attacks.*

NOTES 5347
`ancient_apparition_chilling_touch`

* The cast range equals the caster's attack range and the bonus attack range from the ability.
	+ It can only be further increased by attack range bonuses of the same range type as the caster. However, it is not affected by cast range bonuses.
	+ For Ancient Apparition, the total range for this ability is 735/795/855/915 ( 1035/1095/1155/1215).

* The bonus damage is applied as spell damage in a separate damage instance, it is affected by spell damage amplification and works with spell lifesteal.

* Debuffs from successive casts fully stack, with each instance creating its own debuff.

* The attacks first apply the debuff, the spell damage, then the attack damage.

* Does not work against allied units, buildings, or wards.

Ice Blast ▶️

**Ability**
Target Point
**Affects**
Enemies
**Damage**
Magical /  Instant Kill

Launches a tracer towards any location of the battlefield, which must be triggered again to mark the area to be blasted by a damaging explosion of hail. The further the tracer travels, the larger the explosion will be. Enemies caught in the explosion, or who touched the icy ball of hail as it travels, are frostbitten, taking damage and prevented from regenerating or healing. If a frostbitten unit's health drops below a certain percentage, they will instantly shatter.

**Cast Animation:** +**Cast Range:** Global**Projectile Radius:**  275**Min Explosion Radius:**  275**Max Explosion Radius:**  1000**Explosion Damage:** 250/325/400**Damage per Second:** 12.5/20/32**Current Health Kill Threshold:** 12%/13%/14% ( 16%/17%/18%)**Duration:** 10 ( 15) Cold Feet Stun Duration Percentage: 60%

 60/50/40
 175
Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Freezes enemies hit with the current level of Cold Feet for 60% of the duration.

Modifiers []

*Ice storms from ages past flow through Kaldr's frosty limbs, crashing into the world and turning its inhabitants into monuments to his eternal power.*

NOTES 5348
`ancient_apparition_ice_blast`

* Upon cast, Ice Blast is replaced by the  Release sub-ability.
	+ The tracer projectile travels at a speed of 1500 until Release is cast, Ancient Apparition dies, or it reaches the map boundaries.
	+ The tracer projectile itself is harmless. It neither deals damage nor places the debuff.
	+ The tracer is visible to allies only. The initial cast sound is also only audible to allies.

* The explosion radius starts at 275 and increases by 50 for every second the tracer has traveled, capped at 1000 radius.
	+ Thus, it takes at least 15 seconds to reach the maximum radius, equaling 22500 units traveled.

* The tracer provides 500 radius flying vision around itself as it travels. This vision does not last.

* The debuff is only placed on heroes.
	+ Treats clones and creep-heroes as heroes, and illusions as creeps.

* The debuff can also be placed on spell immune or invulnerable units, but not on hidden units.

* Unlike the debuff, the explosion damage hits all enemy units, including creeps, excluding buildings and wards.

* The debuff freezes health and prevents the following  health increasing effects:
	+ Flat current health sources.
	+ Percentage-based current health sources.
	+ Current health increase from  strength items and/or from health bonus items.
	+ Granite Aura

* However, the debuff does not prevent the following sources from increasing health:
	+ Setting health sources.
	+ health increasing sources.
	+ From losing the  Whirling Death debuff.
	+ From gaining/losing the  Decay buff/debuff.

* Units affected by the debuff die instantly when their  health drops below the threshold.
	+ The debuff checks the unit's health upon taking damage, excluding damage flagged by HP removal.
	+ The kill is credited to the source of the damage which brought them below the threshold.
	+ However, if it was caused by self-inflicted damage, Ancient Apparition is credited instead.
	+ Has a lower priority than  Winter's Curse, so if affected by both, Winter's Curse takes priority.
	+ Has a higher priority than  Reaper's Scythe, so if affected by both, Ice Blast takes priority.

* The following sources prevent affected units from dying while below the kill threshold:
	+ Min health (e.g.  Shallow Grave).
	+ Invulnerability

* The debuff deals damage in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second after the debuff is applied, resulting in 10 instances.

* The debuff itself can deal up to **Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 59: bad argument #2 to 'gsub' (string/function/table expected).** damage (before reductions).
	+ Together with the explosion, Ice Blast can deal up to **Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 59: bad argument #2 to 'gsub' (string/function/table expected).** damage.

* SHARD NOTES Now applies the  Cold Feet debuff based on its current level on all hit heroes, with a reduced stun duration of 0.96/1.2/1.44/1.68 seconds.
	+ Cold Feet applied by Ice Blast do not cost any mana, and are applied even if the ability itself is not castable.
	+ Cold Feet notes fully apply. If it is not leveled, no debuffs are applied.
	+ TALENT NOTES The area of effect  talent does not upgrade these passively applied Cold Feets.

Release ▶️▶️▶️

**Ability**
No Target

Releases the ice blast to explode at the tracer's current location.

**Cast Animation:** +**Min Projectile Speed:** 750**Max Travel Time:** 1.75

 1
 0
Sub-ability of Ice Blast.

NOTES 5349
`ancient_apparition_ice_blast_release`

* Replaces  Ice Blast until the sub-ability is used or the tracer disappears.

* Upon cast, the tracer stops traveling and marks the total area hit by the explosion once the main projectile reaches its position.
	+ The tracer then provides a 4-second 650 radius flying vision at that position.

* The Ice Blast projectile travels at a speed of 750, or reaches the targeted point 1.75 seconds after launch, whichever is faster.

* The projectile is only released when the sub-ability is cast, or when Ancient Apparition dies while the tracer is still traveling.

* It is not released when the tracer reaches the map boundary. In this case, the ability is wasted.

* Every enemy unit that comes within 275 radius of the projectile as it travels, or is hit by the explosion, gets the .
	+ The debuff starts expiring only once outside of the range of the projectile. Getting within range again immediately refreshes the duration.

* The projectile is fully visible to enemies and provides a 3-second 500-radius flying vision as it travels.
	+ However unlike the tracer, it is not visible on the minimap.

* Ancient Apparition is unable to level Ice Blast up while this sub-ability is active.
* SPELL STEAL Grants  Ice Blast if this sub-ability is the last cast ability.

## Recent Changes

Main Articles: Changelogs, Old Abilities and Hero Lore

VersionDescription

7.35
* Talents:
+ LVL 20 +4s  Ice Vortex duration ➜ +5s  Ice Blast duration.

7.34e

* Reduced  Ice Vortex damage per second from 12/20/28/36 to 12/18/24/30.
* Reduced  Ice Blast duration from 10/11/12 to 10 on each level.

7.34

* Ice Vortex
	+ Increased flying vision radius from 200 on each level to 200/220/240/260.
	+ Reduced duration from 6/9/12/15 to 6/8/10/12.

* Talents:
+ LVL 20 +5%  Ice Vortex movement speed slow/magic resistance reduction ➜ +4s  Ice Vortex duration.

## Recommended Items

**Starting items:**

* Iron Branch gives cheap bonus attributes which is helpful for laning and can be built into  Magic Wand.

* Clarity is needed because Ancient Apparition is very mana-dependent in the early game. These potions will make spamming Cold Feet possible.

* Tango grants health restoration, which is very important for a fragile hero.

* Healing Salve also restores health to you and allies.

**Early game:**

* Urn of Shadows gives some overall attributes and good mana regeneration. Its ability will make ganking easier, while it can also be used to heal allies.

* Magic Wand helps with sustaining both your health and mana.

* Boots of Speed are needed for the movement speed bonus.

**Mid game:**

* Arcane Boots provide Ancient Apparition and his allies with much-needed mana sustain, as well as increase Ancient Apparition's own mana pool.

* Eul's Scepter of Divinity gives plenty of mana regeneration, some mana, and some movement speed. You can activate its ability on an enemy after casting Cold Feet and the opposing hero will be stunned and frozen most of the time.

**Late game:**

* Force Staff is an extremely useful item which can be picked up as an escape mechanism or a chasing item. It can be used to help teammates as well.

* Glimmer Cape grants magic resistance and invisibility to help Ancient Apparition and allies escape or initiate without being seen.

**Situational items:**

* Hand of Midas can be a good item choice when Ancient Apparition has an above-average early game, sustaining him with a steady gold and experience gain.

* Tranquil Boots can be chosen over Arcane Boots to sustain Ancient Apparition's health, as his high Intelligence growth and low mana costs make mana less of an issue.

* Ghost Scepter makes Ancient Apparition immune to physical attacks, allowing him to survive when enemy carries are coming for him.

* Kaya boosts Ancient Apparition's damage output, making Ice Blast in particular more dangerous, at a cheap cost. It can be upgraded into  Kaya and Sange for a much needed boost to durability.

* Rod of Atos grants a decent amount of overall stats, padding out Ancient Apparition's anemic health pool and bolstering his mana. Its root combines very well with Cold Feet, Ice Vortex, and Ice Blast.

* Spirit Vessel is a natural upgrade to Urn of Shadows, and the percentage-based damage synergizes nicely with Ice Blast.

* Scythe of Vyse is a very strong late-game item that gives a great attribute increase, all the mana regeneration you'll ever need, and an amazing disable. Its only downside is its hefty price.

* Octarine Core is good on most spell-casters and Ancient Apparition is no exception. But it's extremely expensive and should never be considered as the first major item on Ancient Apparition.

* Refresher Orb could theoretically prevent any kind of healing for 20 seconds with a double Ice Blast, an ultimate late game item.

## Dota Plus Progress

Main Article: Hero Challenges
Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.

 Cold Feet Freezes Ice Vortex Magic Damage Ice Blast Kills Ice Blast Damage

Slows Leading To Kills Cyclone Leading to KillsLong Range Kills

Stuns Leading To KillsTriple KillsDominating Kill StreaksEnemy  Ward Kills

 Wards PlacedKill AssistsKills
 **Silver** | * ▶️ A cold wind blows.
 **Gold** | * ▶️ I'm too old for this!
 **Grandmaster** | * ▶️ No shard feelings. Hm hm hm hm hm hm hm.

## Trivia

* Kaldr's lore suggests that he is the embodiment of the Heat Death, a theoretical fate of the universe. According to this theory, the universe will achieve thermodynamic equilibrium and will no longer transfer energy. This would result in a universal temperature growing colder and a cessation of processes that require energy consumption, such as life.

* "Kaldr" is old norse and translates to "cold" in English.

* In DotA, Ancient Apparition is one of several heroes with custom models. It utilizes a custom model called "IcyGhost", created in 2006 by the pseudonymous content creator PrMosquito, from the Hive Workshop community. The Dota 2 counterpart is modeled after the original design.

## Gallery

* Model before the November 01, 2017 Patch
* Low Violence model before the November 01, 2017 Patch