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AoS 8 Beginner's Guide, Glossary, and FAQ


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Overview

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Game Objective

2.0 Heroes

2.1 Attributes & Roles
2.2 Talents
2.3 User Interface

3.0 Map

3.1 Lanes
3.2 Primary Creeps
3.3 Neutral Creeps
3.4 Map Bosses
3.5 Runes

3.6 Time of Day

4.0 Buildings

4.1 Towers
4.2 Imperial Sanctums
4.3 Neutral Sanctums
4.4 Base Structures
4.6 Building Bonuses

5.0 Items

5.1 Shop Interface
5.2 Item Vendors
5.3 Inventory
5.4 Selling Items
5.5 Actives & Uniques

6.0 Terms & Mechanics

6.1 Unit
6.2 Attack & Ability
6.3 States & Effects
6.4 Gameplay

7.0 Commands

7.1 Game
7.2 Test

8.0 FAQ

9.0 Quick Guide

9.1 Choose Your Hero
9.2 Research Your Build
9.3 Learn In Single Player
9.4 Rebind Your Item Keys
9.5 Laning Etiquette
9.6 Don't Die!
9.7 Don't Be Afraid of Consumables
9.8 Jungling
9.9 Map Awareness & Control


10.0 Community Guidelines

10.1 Guidelines
10.2 Gameplay Restrictions

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1.0 Overview

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Aeon of Storms (AoS) is a Starcraft 2 Mod; a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) map set in the Starcraft universe. Much like in its progenitors Defense of the Ancients and League of Legends, two opposing teams of five players must choose their heroes, and battle it out with each other in a grand arena and eventually destroy their enemy’s base. By fighting enemy heroes and killing creeps, players and their team can progressively become more powerful until they can overcome their opponents completely and win the game.

1.2 GAME OBJECTIVE

The main objective is to destroy the Enemy Core Structure inside the Enemy stronghold. 

Players 1-5 are Team 1 (Protoss), and Players 6-10 are Team 2 (Zerg).

If you are Team 1, you must destroy the Zerg Hivemind. If you are Team 2, you must destroy the Protoss Nexus Prime. Both these Core structures are clearly marked with a large team insignia on the minimap.

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2.0 Heroes

2.1 ATTRIBUTES & ROLES

All of AoS's 75+ heroes are divided into 3 Attributes. these are Strength, Agility, and Intelligence. These primary statistics typically help define a hero's possible roles, play styles, and item builds. In-game, Attributes can be gained by leveling up, purchasing certain items, and using certain abilities. Primary attributes grant bonus stats to their heroes, and grow more with experience than a hero's secondary and tertiary attribute. In-game, all 3 attributes are on display in the User Interface's Hero Panel (See 2.3), hovering your cursor over them will display the exact bonuses of each granted to your hero.

During Hero Selection, heroes are categorized by their attribute. Each hero is also classified b their ideal or preferred Roles in a team. Roles tend to compliment the hero's primary attribute, but they can also offer an alternative play style altogether depending on the needs of the team.

 

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Strength

This attribute determines durability, and because of this Strength heroes commonly fill the roles of Initiator, Bruiser, or Support. Often their ability set allows them to provoke engagements and absorb damage, but also deal damage back. Every point in Strength increases Maximum Health, Health Regeneration, and Spell Resistance. It also grants Weapon Damage to Strength heroes.

Agility

This attribute determines swiftness, and because of this Agility heroes commonly fill the roles of Carry or Ganker. Often their ability set allows them to be very mobile and greatly supplement the true source of their power, their massive Attack Damage. Every point in Agility increases Weapon Speed, Movement Speed, and Physical Resistance. It also grants Weapon Damage to Agility heroes.

Intelligence

This attribute determines wisdom, and because of this Intelligence heroes commonly fill the roles of Caster, Ganker, or Support. Often their ability set allows them to cast powerful spells that greatly aid their allies or be utterly destructive to their enemies, therefore they are very dependent on them to be effective. Every point in Intelligence increases Maximum Energy, Energy Regeneration, and Spell Damage. It also grants Weapon Damage to Intelligence heroes.


2.2 TALENTS

Talents can be found in the game by opening up the Talent Tree with the hotkey "N" at any time. During Hero Selection, you have to set up your talents before the end of the Pick Phase in order for them to applied to that specific hero. Once you've made your choice of hero, your talents will be locked for the remainder of the match.

There are 3 Talent branches in the Talent Tree (Offense, Defense, and Utility), and all Talents are divided into Active and Passive Talents. You are given 7 points to invest in any of the branches, the more points in a branch, the stronger the talents that become available in that specific branch.

 

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You have 2 default Active Talents, Return and Recover. If you've invested enough points in a Talent branch to unlock one of the three other Active Talents (Haste, Fortify, or Transport), it will replace replace the default Recover talent.

You can choose up to 7 Passive Talents, and these will be augment your Hero for the rest of the game upon selection.

Since Talents must be configured before the end of the Hero Selection period, it is recommended you set up and save your talent builds up in a solo match ahead of time.


2.3 USER INTERFACE

AoS has a unique User Interface (UI) that is designed to inform you with everything you need to know during battle. 



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To your bottom right side is the Minimap and to the bottom left side is the Hero Panel. If you wish to switch this around, click the "Flip Interface" button in the main menu. In between these two is a row of all your Abilities, your Upgrade button, and your Health and Energy pools.



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Your Abilities are listed in the following order: Heroic, 3 Primary Abilities, Ultimate Ability, Return Talent, and an Active Talent of your choosing. The default hotkey settings for these are V, Q, W, E, R, D, and F. If an ability is Passive, hitting its respective hotkey will do nothing. 

The green bar with shows your Health and Health regeneration rate. The purple bar shows Energy and Energy regeneration rate. The icon to the left of these bars is your Upgrade button (Hotkey T). The number on it is how many times you can level up an ability.

Hero Panel

In the bottom left corner by default is your Hero Panel. This section includes your Character Portrait, 6 Item Slots, Unit Stats, and the Shop, Leaderboard and Talent buttons. The numbers indicated from top to bottom are: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Armor (Physical Damage mitigation), Spell Armor (Spell Damage Mitigation), Attack Damage/Attack speed, and Movement Speed. You can hover your cursor over these at any time for more details.

 

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To the immediate default right of your Hero panel, you may find small green, red, gray, or colored icons. These mini-icons represent the current buffs and debuffs that your hero is experiencing. Hovering your cursor over them will display further details.

Target Panel

When you select an enemy, a small panel will appear in the upper left corner. This screen displays the Health, Energy, Resistances, Damage, and Movement Speed of the target. Additionally, it will show you all existing buffs and debuffs on the enemy.

 

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Score & Leaderboard

At the top center of the screen is the current team score, indicating the number of hero kills per team. 

 

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For a more detailed score screen, Click the leaderboard button in the Hero Panel or hit the tab key to bring up the Leaderboard in top left corner. The Leaderboard displays the current count of kills, deaths, assists, and creep kills for every player as well as the current items in their inventory.

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3.0 Map

3.1 LANES

There are three main routes to the enemy base called “Lanes”. These three lanes (Top, Middle, and Bottom) are named after their respective position on the mini-map. Each lane has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of their proximity to Neutrals, Shops, Runes, Sanctums, or their risk of ganking and relative safety from.

 

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Middle Lane

Commonly referred to as simply “Mid”, it is the shortest distance to each base and thus is the easiest lane to push against. Due to this quality, not any hero can hold the Mid lane, let alone excel at controlling it. Mid is also the lane closest to the Map Bosses and River Runes, so awareness of both at all times is critical for winning this lane.

Typically Mid lane is taken by a hero that needs farm priority and solo experience to reach their full potential.

Short Lane

Commonly referred to as “Safe Lane” because it is the lane where your creeps meet closest to your tower. For Protoss, this is Bottom lane, and for Zerg this is Top lane. Much like its name suggests, the Safe lane allows for ‘safer’ farming and ease of escape due to the close proximity of your tower. It also forces the enemy to extend further away from their tower, making the lane hardest to push against for your enemy and giving your team ample time to intercept and gank them if they overextend. 

Typically Short Lane is taken by 2 heroes, one that needs farm priority and another support to zone out the enemies and ensure uninterrupted farming.

Long Lane

Commonly referred to as “Hard Lane”, it the opposite of the Short Lane in that your tower is the farthest from where the creeps meet in combat. For Protoss this is Top lane, and for Zerg it is the Bottom lane. Much like it’s name suggests, the Hard lane is is the hardest to push against and the riskiest to hold due to the distance to your tower.

Typically Long Lane is taken by heroes that do not need farm priority and can manage the risks of overextending best, heroes that are highly durable or can escape easily for example.


3.2 PRIMARY CREEPS

Primary Creeps are Non-Player Controlled units that spawn in groups or waves at your base, and after a short time begin charging down their respective lanes towards the enemy base.

Each ‘creep wave’ consists of 3 Melee Creeps (Protoss Zealot, Zerg Roach) and 1 Ranged Creep (Protoss Dragoon, Zerg Locust). Every fifth wave spawns an additional Siege Creep (Protoss Carrier, Zerg Guardian).

 

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Melee Creeps deal reduced damage against other creep, while Ranged Creep deal bonus damage to other creep but are weaker against everything else. Siege Creeps deal massive bonus damage against structures, but are weaker against everything else.

Primary Creeps become stronger with each wave that spawns, increasing in health and damage as the game progresses.


3.3 NEUTRAL CREEPS

Neutral Creeps are mercenary mobs of Terran units that spawn at fixed predetermined locations in the Jungle areas of the map. Like their name suggests, Neutral Creeps belong to neither faction, and will defend themselves when attacked by anyone. 

Neutral Creeps first spawn at the 1:30 Minute mark (Game Time), and subsequently spawn simultaneously every 4 minutes after. They also receive a boost to their overall strength every 4 minutes.

Neutral Creeps are far stronger than Primary Creeps, but provide more experience and minerals upon their defeat (and some useful pickups!).  

 

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For the first few levels of the game, most heroes will need their teammates to defeat Neutral Creeps. However, they quickly become easy to solo with experience and certain items. 

There are 8 Neutral Camps per side of the map, each marked clearly on the minimap. Neutral Camps also come in 6 varying difficulties or tiers.

Tier 1 (Easy): 1 Vigilante Vulture, 2 Imperial Cyclones
Tier 2 (Easy-Moderate): 1 Devil Dog Hellion, 2 Imperial Cyclones
Tier 3 (Easy-Moderate): 1 Merc Diamondback, 2 Imperial Cyclones
Tier 4 (Moderate-Hard): 1 Siege Engine, 2 Imperial Cyclones
Tier 5 (Hard): 1 Prototype Enforcer, 2 Imperial Cyclones
Tier 6 (Very Hard): Imperial Behemoth

3.4 MAP BOSSES

After the first few minutes of the game, AoS’s Massive Neutral Bosses spawn at 2 key predetermined locations in the river, and then again every 10 minutes after they are defeated. 

These “Map Bosses” present players a side objective that they must work together as a team to complete, and in turn will be greatly rewarded as a team upon completion.  Defeating Map Bosses is a potentially critical event as it can either turn the tables on the enemy and bring back a losing team from the brink, or it can further solidify a lead and ensure victory to a team that’s already ahead.

Aeon

The iconic Aeon is the lesser of these two Map Bosses, and upon his defeat provides the entire killing team with a significant mineral and experience reward and drops the Soul Gem. 

The Soul Gem is a single-use consumable item that instantly grants all Allied buildings and towers +100% Damage Resistance and +300% Attack Speed for a duration. The Soul Gem is reclaimed by Aeon if it has not been used by the time he respawns again.

 

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Daggoth

The stronger and far more monstrous of the two, Daggoth, is harder to defeat, but provides the killing team with a rare and powerful buff that amplifies their damage and reduces their death respawn time considerably for a few minutes. 

Daggoth himself evolves throughout the game, becoming considerably stronger and more vicious with each evolution (Primal, Greater, and Ancient Daggoth). Proportionately, the buff he provides also becomes stronger with each evolution.

The Greater and Ancient forms also drop Daggoth's Heart pick-up upon death. Daggoth's Heart instantly replenishes a significant amount of the user's Health and Energy, and increases the effectiveness of Daggoth's buff on them for its duration.

 

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3.5 RUNES

Runes are “pick-ups” that are spawned at fixed locations around the map that can be collected by players from either team. 

There are 2 types of Runes in AoS:

River Critters

River Critters first spawn at the 1:30 Minute mark (Game Time), and then at regular intervals of 90 seconds. They spawn one a time and only at one of two possible locations in the river. Critters can be tamed by moving your hero over them and they benefit only the player that tames them.

Each of the 6 Critters (Mendy, Hurty, Speedy, Wizzy, Sneaky and Lucky) buff heroes in different ways for a short duration that can prove critical at the right time and place.

 

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Hydranium Crystals

The precious red Hydranium Crystals spawn at 4 fixed predetermined locations around map (that are marked on the minimap). All Hydranium spawns simultaneously at first, but then at independent regular intervals every 5 Minutes after being collected.

Unlike River Critters, collecting Hydranium benefits the entire team. Each crystal provides a mineral and experience bonus that grows with every minute of game time. The longer a Hydranium crystal remains uncollected, the more valuable it becomes. Leaving it uncollected however, risks allowing the enemy team to take them from you.

To collect a Hydranium crystal, you must move over it with your Hero.

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3.6 TIME OF DAY

The first day starts at the 0:00 Minute Mark (Game Time), and each cycle from then on lasts 10 Minutes - Divided equally between daytime and nighttime (5 Minutes of Game Time each). The arrival of each day and each night is signaled by a global audio cue (Birds Chirping/Rooster's Crow or Wolf Howl respectively), and a change in the map's lighting.

At Night, most Heroes  and all Lane Towers experience 45-50% Reduction in their Line of Sight.

 

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4.0 Buildings

4.1 TOWERS

Along each of the 3 Lanes leading up to the Enemy base are 3 Towers or Cannons (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Towers). Each tower tier is progressively slightly stronger than the one before it in its lane and is invulnerable to damage unless its predecessor has been destroyed.

Towers deal  Physical Damage with Armor Penetration that scales with target’ Maximum Health to Enemy Creeps, and deal additional Physical Damage to enemy heroes that scales with a percentage of their Maximum Health that further increases with each consecutive attack against the same target. The Damage and Penetration increase progressively with each Tower tier.
 

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Attacking enemy heroes in range of their towers will immediately attract the attention of that tower (‘Tower Aggro’) and forcing it to attack you until you are out of range, dead, or another enemy “aggros” it.

Upon their destruction, Towers grant both the killer and the entire killer's team with a significant mineral and experience reward.


4.2 IMPERIAL SANCTUMS

Imperial Sanctums are supportive structures that exist outside your stronghold in the jungle areas of the map. Each team has 2 Imperial Sanctums, one between the top and mid lane, and the other between the mid and bottom lane. 

Sanctums can be activated by by left-clicking them when your hero is nearby. Upon activation, Sanctums will regenerate a significant amount of health and energy over a very short duration. This external “Serenity” ability has a separate unique cooldown of a few minutes for each player.

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Unlike towers, Imperial Sanctums provide very little vision and no True Sight. However they can be teleported to with the Teleport and Transport Talents.

Imperial Sanctums are invulnerable until any of their team's tier 3 Gamma towers is destroyed. Upon their destruction, Sanctums grant the entire killing team with a bountiful mineral reward. 

Beyond being a team symbol of power, keeping your Sanctums safe and protected ensures a degree of map control for your team.
 

4.3 NEUTRAL SANCTUMS

The neutral Northwest and Southeast Sanctums present a bonus objective for your team after the 8 minute (game-time) mark. You can capture them by standing next to them to start channeling automatically. Neutral Sanctums can be recaptured from you by the enemy in the same way.

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Capturing a Sanctum will provide vision and detection of the immediate area as well the ability to Teleport o Transport to them.  

More importantly, for every 5 minutes your team maintains control over a Neutral Sanctum, your team will be a rewarded XP that scales with game time. If an enemy captures a Neutral Sanctum from you before this 8 minute interval, the countdown is reset for your team.

 

4.4 BASE STRUCTURES

Suppressors

Near the end of each lane, immediately adjacent to the T3 Tower are 2 structures known as Suppressors or “Rax”. You can only destroy one Suppressor at a time per lane, and destroying either enemy Suppressor supplements your team’s creep waves with a special and exceptionally strong Super Creep at its respective lane. Suppressors respawn after 9 minutes.

Melee Suppressor: Destroying this Suppressor will add a Melee Super Creep (Protoss Archon, Zerg Brooder) to your team’s Creep Waves at that lane for as long as the enemy Melee Suppressor is down. Melee Super Creep have a melee attack and massive physical resistance.

Ranged Suppressor: Destroying this Suppressor will add a Ranged Super Creep (Protoss Colossus, Zerg Ultrahost) to your team’s Creep Waves at that lane for as long as the enemy Ranged Suppressor is down. Ranged Super Creep have a ranged attack and massive spell resistance.

If 3 Suppressors are down at the same time, your team’s creep waves gain a massive movement speed boost.
 
Buffers

Buffer or Filler buildings surround each team’s Core structure and their primary purpose is to act as a buffer, slowing down the march of enemy creep waves towards the Core. There are 6 Buffers (Protoss Pylons, Zerg Eggs) per base.
 
Core

The Core structure, commonly called the “Artifact” is the single most important structure in the game. Each Core structure has the capacity to defend itself with its innate powerful attack, but it can be quickly overwhelmed by waves of enemy creep if not protected by allied heroes. The Core's weapon is disabled once its current health drops below 33%. The Core's health regenerates if it has not taken damage in the last 30 seconds.

Destroying either the Protoss Nexus Prime or the Zerg Hivemind will end the game. 


4.6 BUILDING BONUSES

Backdoor Protection

All structures with the exception of Sanctums gain massive damage resistance when no enemy creep are nearby.

Siege Master

All Towers and the Core emit the 'Siege Master’ aura in an area around them that grants Allied Heroes an Health/Energy Regen and Armor/Spell Armor bonus.

True Sight

All Towers have the ability to detect nearby cloaked and burrowed units.

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5.0 Items

5.1 SHOP INTERFACE

To open the Shop Interface, Press 'B' or Left-Click the Item Vendor. 

Every hero has a Recommended Item Build that is by no means the only way to build a hero, but it a suggestion on how to play the hero optimally in at the most straightforward way. If you are new to the game, it is HIGHLY recommended you buy these items, in their listed order (left to right). 

As you progress in your understanding of items and heroes, you can use the Shop interface to organize and save up to 8 other builds based on your own preferences of play.

Most items are made of Components, or smaller pieces that provide a fraction of the final item's stats. On the right side when selecting an item, you will see a list of its required components, and at the bottom right corner a display of items that your selection is a component of. Each time you purchase a component its price will be deducted from the total price of the item. 

To ease navigation, items are organized into main categories: 

Basics: Fundamentals that build into every other item.
Upgrades: All item upgrades excluding Side Shop items. Accessories (Early Game/Mineral Income/Jungle), Weapons (ADC/Physical Damage), Arcane (Mage/Spell Damage), Armor (Hard Durability), and Support (Team/Aura/Utility).
Advanced: Relevant categories; Actives (Items with active abilities), Jungling, Crit/Damage Amp (Items that give Crit/Amplify Damage), Lifesteal/Spellvamp, and Mobility.
Starting Items: Items recommended for purchase at start of the game.
Side Shop: Items that can only be bought from Side Shops.

To purchase an item, double-click its icon or hit the "Purchase Item" button while the item is selected in the panel.


5.2 ITEM VENDORS

There are 4 Item Vendors on the map all of which are marked with a white icon on the minimap. 

The 2 primary item vendors, Protoss and Zerg Item Vendors, are the buildings with a floating icon above them in your base's spawning area. You can purchase almost all items from the vendors in your base.

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The 2 secondary item vendors are the Neutral Item Vendors at the far ends of the map. These "Side Shops" carry some consumables, and all of the basic components for all items. More importantly, the Side Shops sell a few unique, powerful, and expensive items. You can access and view the Side Shop items via the Side Shop tab in the shop panel anytime, but you must be near either Side Shop to purchase them.  

 

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5.3 INVENTORY

Your hero can have a total of 6 items including components, potions, etc at any given time. Once you hit this limit, you will not be allowed to purchase any more items. 

Many items have active abilities that require you to click on them to activate them or to target their ability. Due to this it is highly recommended that you set the hotkeys for your inventory.

To setup the hotkeys of your inventory slots go to Options > Hotkeys > Global > Inventory > Slots 1-6. It is common in AoS to set the hotkeys for your items inventory slots to 1-6 or Z, X, and C. If you are prefer mapping item usage to 1-6, then you must map the Select Control Groups 1-3 hotkeys to Z,X,C, and unbind the Select Control Groups 4-6 hotkeys.


5.4 SELLING ITEMS

To sell an item, right-click the item and drag it over the item vendor then release. You can also Ctrl + right-click the item while near the vendor to instantly sell it. This will refund you half the original cost.


5.5 ACTIVES & UNIQUES

Some items have the label [Unique] while some have the label [Active]. 

The label [Unique] means that the specific benefit listed alongside it will not stack with itself if you buy additional versions of this item.

An [Active] label means that this item has an active ability that is gained when you activate the item by right-clicking it in the inventory. Some of these active abilities are targeted meaning that you must right-click them then select the target you want to use it on.

In addition, [Unique] or [Active] labels may have a name and a number attached such as Coat of Arms' [Unique - Rally 2]. An [Active] or [Unique] with this additional label does not stack with anything of the same label, regardless whether their effects are different. 

This also means different ranks of the same [Active] or [Unique] on different items will not stack with each other. So [Unique - Rally 1] will not stack with [Unique - Rally 2]. 

More importantly, the higher the number of the unique, the higher is its priority. So in our example, [Unique - Rally 2] will not only not stack with [Unique - Rally 1], it will override and supplant its effects every time.

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6.0 Terms & Mechanics
6.1 UNIT

Attributes: Refers to a hero's primary, secondary, and tertiary statistic (See 2.1)

Health: Also known as Life. If it reaches zero, a unit dies. Interpretations include Max Health, Current Health, and Missing Health.

Energy: Also known as Mana. Units use this mainly to cast abilities. Interpretations include Max Energy, Current Energy, and Missing Energy.

Regen: Short for regeneration; Refers to the rate at which you regenerate health and/or energy.

Experience: Refers to points of experience or XP. Needed to level up heroes (Max Level 18). A hero has to be within range of a dying enemy to acquire the XP.

Timescale: A powerful and rare variable that affects the speed of everything about a unit (movement, attack, cooldown, cast times, effect durations, etc)

Shields: Act as extra health, but unlike health, Shields take full damage.

Armor/Physical Resistance: 2 variations of the same stat that mitigate weapon and physical damage. Each point of armor is 1.15% resistance, stacking multiplicatively.

Spell Armor/Spell Resistance: 2 variations of the same stat that mitigate spell damage. Each point of armor is 1.15% resistance, stacking multiplicatively.

Movement Speed: Determines how fast a unit moves. Can be augmented linearly with flat bonuses or with percentage based bonuses.

Sight: A unit's line of sight or vision range. All heroes have a base sight range of 12u.

Truesight: Vision over burrowed or cloaked units. Can be attained through certain items (e.g. Radar Kit, Truesight Wards) or abilities.

Radar: Detection of units, even through the fog of war but does not grant vision over them (Radar displays hidden units as a circular exclamation mark).

Unit Collision: A unit's size. The larger a unit's collision, the more difficult it is for it to move between units. Some items and abilities can remove Unit Collision temporarily, granting free unhindered movement between units.

Turnrate: The time it takes for a unit to turn itself around to face another direction.


6.2 ATTACK & ABILITY

Auto-Attack: Also known as Basic attack. All basic attacks deal physical damage unless modified with an item or ability.

Cooldown: Time it takes for an ability to be available again after use. Can be modified with "Cooldown Reduction" stat or certain abilities.

Weapon Speed: Time it takes between basic attacks. 

Charges: Spells that have "Charges" will recover one charge at an interval, up to its maximum amount of charges. If you have more then one charge, you can use the spell in faster succession.

Activate: Refers to active abilities that are not targeted and are cast instantly upon clicking them.

Passive: Refers to abilities that do not require any activation for them to take effect.

Cast time: The time it takes to cast an ability. An ability will not go into effect until after its cast time has expired. Also known as casting delay.

Channel:  An ability that requires the caster to stop acting for the duration of the spell. May be ended when the caster takes another action or is interrupted by the enemy.

Critical Strike: Causes your basic attack to deal +75% damage. Items and spells that increase critical strike damage do so additively. 

Critical Chance: Increases the chances of your basic attack dealing Critical Damage. Critical strike chance stacks linearly as well. 

Evasion: Adds a chance of dodging basic attacks, mitigating any damaging completely.

Damage Types: There are 3 types of Damage; Physical Damage (mitigated only by Physical Armor/Resistance), Spell Damage (Mitigated only by Spell Armor/Resistance), and True Damage (cannot be mitigated by anything).

Damage Effects: There are 4 main types of Damaging Effects; Weapon Damage, Single Target Damage (deals Damage type to 1 unit at a time), AoE Damage (Deals Damage type in an Area of Effect at a time), and DoT Effect (deals Damage type over Time). All these damaging effects come in Physical and Spell Damage variations.

Target Types: There are 4 Target Types; Target Unit (Must target a specific unit), Target Point (Must target a point on the ground, also known as Target Area), Target Direction (Target's a specified direction), and Vector Targeting (Click and drag mouse).

Penetration: Modifies Physical or Spell Damage so that a portion of it bypasses or penetrates through any armor.

Stacks: Some abilities generate Stacks or Marks on allied or enemy units. These stacks grow in number up to a limit and can affect the efficacy of the parent ability, attack, or interact with other abilities.

Proc: A "programmed random occurrence", an event or effect that is bound to occur when certain conditions are met.

Amplification: Also known as damage amp; refers to amplifying damage by a specified amount.

Deny: Attacking low health allied non-heroic units to deny enemies a portion of their experience and all of their mineral rewards.

Dispel: Removing of an effect.

Reflect: Causes a portion of damage received to be reflected back to its source or in an area.

Lifesteal: Causes a percentage of your Physical Attack/Weapon Damage dealt (after mitigation) to heal you.

Spellvamp: Causes a percentage of Physical or Spell Damage from your Abilities dealt (after mitigation) to heal you.


6.3 STATES & EFFECTS

Buffs: Positive states or effects acquired through abilities, bonuses or items that benefit a unit. These are displayed as green mini-icons in the user interface.

Debuffs: Negative states or effects acquired through abilities, bonuses or items that are to the detriment of a unit. These are displayed as red mini-icons in the user interface.

Silence: Unit cannot cast abilities.

Disarm: Unit cannot use basic attack.

Dispel:  Removal of most positive states and effects. Ignores Debuff Immunity.

Healing: Health gained through everything but your basic regeneration. Healing can be amplified or reduced with certain items and abilities.

Stun: Unit cannot move, cannot attack, and cannot cast abilities.

Slow: Unit's Weapon and/or Movement Speed is slowed.

Bleed: Unit takes damage if they move (Currently only Khyrak's Heroic passive has this).

Root: Unit cannot move, but can attack and cast abilities. Disables Mobility Abilities (e.g. Blinks/Dashes)

Block: Blocks a basic attack completely (Similar to Evasion).

Non-lethal: Damage that cannot kill you (Health does not go below 1).

Fear: Forces a unit to run away from you, while reducing their movement severely and disabling their attack and abilities.

Taunt: Forces a unit to attack you or attack another unit.

Slow  Immunity: Immune to most slowing debuffs.

Debuff Immunity: Immune to any and all negative states and effects with the exception of those that can penetrate debuff immunity.

Spell Immunity: Immune to any and all negative states and effects and gains 100% Spell Resistance.

Physical Immunity: 100% Physical Resistance.

Disable: Temporarily stops a state or effect.

Cloak: Renders a unit invisible, but they retain a shimmering visual effect especially when they move.

True Cloak: Renders a unit invisible, without a shimmer effect, no unit collision and makes them immune to Radar detection.

Burrow: Renders a unit invisible, without a shimmer effect, and no unit collision, but may slow a unit's movement (Unix) or hinder it completely (Terminus). Ravager's burrow ability is the exception.


6.4 GAMEPLAY

Aggro: Attacking an enemy hero within range of its ally creeps or towers will cause them to focus fire you for a few seconds.

Artifact: Protoss Nexus Prime or Zerg Hivemind (See 4.3)

Backdoor: Attacking enemy structures while a player's own lane creeps have not reached the structure yet. Commonly shortened to simply 'bd' or 'bding'.

Farming: Spending time to accumulate minerals by killing enemy creep waves or neutral camps in the jungle.

Light: A category that includes lesser Heroic units (and sometimes structures) that Heroes spawn or summon. Also known as Minions.

Massive: A category for very large units such as Map Bosses, Siege Creep, and some Heroic spawns.

First Blood: First hero kill in a match. Grants bonus minerals to the kill and his assists. Shortened to "fb".

Kill Streaks: Killing enemy heroes consecutively without dying. The higher the kill streak attained by a hero, the greater the reward becomes for killing them.

Kill-steal: Stealing a hero kill from an ally, often shortened to "ks" or "ksing". 

Last-hitting: Dealing the killing blows to non-heroic enemies to gain the mineral rewards.

Juking: Escaping the enemy by using the terrain to your advantage.

Diving: When one charges into tower range in hopes of killing an enemy hero with low health.

Baiting: Luring an enemy into a trap that results in their death.

Jungling: Spending time farming Neutral Camps, especially by a "Jungler".

Item Build: The order in which you purchase items and their components.

Skill Build: The order in which you level up your hero's abilities.

Levi: Common name for Daggoth. Stems from Daggoth using the Zerg Leviathan model in previous versions of the game.

Push: Pushing against enemy creep waves actively down a lane.

Ratting: Pushing a lane while the enemy is distracted. Players who do is are known affectionately as "Rats".

Zoning: Forcing an enemy to remain at a certain distance away to deprive them XP and minerals.

Ward Spots: Higher ground spots on the map marked with a white circle that are ideal for placing wards. Some are more easily visible than others.

Deward: Actively attempt to remove enemy wards from an area.

Gank: The act of killing an enemy hero, usually in an organized, premeditated, and coordinated fashion. Short for Gang-kill.

Scan: Refers to the use of the "Boundary Scanner" consumable to scan an area for invisible enemy units. May also refer to Rancor's Satellite Scan ability.

Teleport/TP: Move to a location instantly, mainly provided by Transport Talent, Teleport Talent and Space Gem consumable. A

Game Time: Game Time runs faster than real time and is displayed above the minimap. Real time is displayed on the leaderboard (tab key).

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7.0 Commands

7.1 GAME

-alt: Toggles a hero's first Alternative Skin

-alt2: Toggles a hero's second Alternative Skin (Only available if player rating is above 800).

-mm: Calls missing middle and pings mid lane.

-mt: Calls missing top and pings top lane.

-mb: Calls missing bottom and pings bot lane.

-ma: Calls all missing and pings Map Bosses.

-exp: Displays your current exp rate (exp per minute).

-r: Displays your current ELO rating

-cs: Displays your creep kills.

-inc: Displays your current income (minerals per minute).

-dps: Displays your current Damage Per Second (Damage / Attack Speed).

-unstuck: Teleports the user back to base after a duration if they accidentally get stuck in a ward spot. Used to counteract rare bugs.

-surrender: Initiates a surrender vote. Can only be called after 25 minutes or if your team has three or less players. The vote requires a majority to succeed.

-fruit: Toggles a fruit head for the selected fruit index ranging from 1 to 7.

-lb: Toggles leaderboard hotkey functionality. Modes are hold-to-view and tap-to-toggle.

-hl: Toggles hero-lock mode. When enabled, you will be unable to deselect your hero.

-kick: Votes to kick the player. For example, "-kick 1" will initiate a vote to kick player 1. Can only be initiated if certain conditions are met (e.g. Player is AFK).

-id: Returns the player's handle. For example, "-id 1" will return the player handle for player 1.

-help:  Provides the user with a list of commands in-game.

-dm: Start Draft Mode. In Draft Mode you can use the commands -b [Hero] and -p [Hero] to ban or pick heroes, respectively. All players must type -dm in order for the mode to start. J/k, we have no draft mode! xD


7.2 TEST

The following commands can only be used if there is no opposing team or during Test Mode.

-tm: Start Test Mode. In Test Mode you can use single player commands in a multiplayer match. All players must type -tm in order for the mode to start.

-test: Spawns 3 test dummy Obelisks with 10,000 HP and EN in the Protoss base. Obelisks are heroic units. 

-lvl: Sets the current level of your hero or adds one level if a value is not specified. For example, '-lvl 5' to set your hero to level 5. 

-money: Gain 100000 minerals. 

-hero: Switches your hero to one specified. For example: '-hero MicroGravitus' will change your hero to Micro.Gravitus. The hero name is case specific and does not contain a space or period. 

-wtf: Activates WTF Mode. 

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8.0 FAQ

8.1 Who developed AoS?

AoS was first developed and launched in 2010 by EKCO. Over the years, the game has experienced different iterations helmed by groups of dedicated and talented designers and editors with the care and support of its community.

2010 - 2014: EKCO, Brax, RedHydra, L1onheart, Sidd

2014 - 2015: WhaleTits, Wrath

2015 - 2018: Adamantium, SCV

2016 - Present: MOTHER

Honorable mentions: Eclipse, Syrus, Quidditch, InspireZ, JustSAfrican Revision, Highdrater, Sphynx, AlleyV, Grasshead, Harryhoot

8.2 Is AoS dead?

No.

8.3 Game was updated, where can I see the patch notes?

Join us at our community forums at www.AeonOfStorms.com, we have a Changelogs section with a complete history of patch notes dating back years for your reference.

8.4 What are these badges next to our names on the leaderboard?

The badges correspond to your current “rating”. Everyone starts with a Gold Badge or 1500 rating. Winning increases your rating, and levels up your badges. Losing or quitting games before they are done deducts from this rating, and lowers your badge level. You can view your rating at any time in-game by typing “-r”. 

The game also keeps track of your progression, winrate, kill/death/assist count, etc. You can view these by hovering over your name/hero on the scoreboard at the end of the game.

8.5 Does my rating matter?

Other players can determine how often you play the game from your rating. Additionally, you need to have a rating of at least 800 to gain access to heroes’ second alternative skins.

8.6 I have found a bug, how do I report it?

Join us at our community forums at www.AeonOfStorms.com, we have a Bug Reports section specifically for these situations.

Alternatively, you can report it to one of our administrators (Green colored in-game names) or leave a message at our Discord chat server: QgfKb4J

8.7 Another player is ruining games for myself and others, what can I do?

Generally and due to the limitations of the SC2 game client, we do not get involved in community disputes and leave it to the players to judiciously deal with trouble makers among themselves. Muting such griefers is always a good idea.

In the rare circumstance that this player is consistently ruining games by kicking people from public lobbies, intentionally feeding, and ragequitting frequently, we ask the community to identify this player to us ingame using the “-id player number” command (e.g. ’-id 10’) and if we verify the reports (e.g. replays), we will ensure the corresponding account is autokicked from every game.

8.8 Is AoS going to become a Premium Arcade Map?

No. AoS is a free to play SC2 mod for the community and will likely remain as such. Any money we accept is done purely in the context of donations at our community forums and exclusively for the purpose of website upkeep.

8.9 What are all these AoS beta maps in Arcade published by others? Which one is the real Aeon of Storms?

Over the years, different beta maps popped up for the purpose of testing new features and changes. These were published by developers of their time. The arcade map simply known as “Aeon of Storms” published by “EKCO” is the only official live version of the game.

8.10 What are the recommended graphics settings for AoS?

The game has been designed with High/Ultra settings and the highest screen resolutions in mind to make best use of the SC2 engine. However, it is extremely playable on Medium settings. AoS on the lowest settings is still playable but it is not recommended.

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  • MOTHER changed the title to AoS 8 Beginner's Guide, Glossary, and FAQ

9.0 Quick Guide

9.1 CHOOSE YOUR HERO

The first thing you want to do is, needless to say, choose your hero. As you get to learn the game you may want to experiment with different heroes to learn the game. Once you have a decent understanding of what each hero does, it will become very beneficial to look in the upper-right of the hero selection screen to see what your team-mates are choosing and try to pick a hero that benefits them. If for example, they do not have a Strength hero, you may want to play one to help them out. 

As a general rule though. stick with one hero you enjoy until you learn all the basics. 


9.2 RESEARCH YOUR BUILD

This refers to Talent Builds and Item Builds mainly but also applies to Skill Builds. This will save you a lot of time in game and vastly improve your experience. A lot of online guides  right now are horribly out of date, so you might have to steal a build from a replay with a good player you just got matched with (Use the player view to see their menus. Pause and take a good look each time they hit tab or visit the store).

Once you find the Talent and Item Builds you prefer save them in-game using the Talent and Shop User Interface.


9.3 LEARN IN SINGLE PLAYER

Boring, but worth it. Host a game, then you have all the time in the world to mouseover and read things (such as this guide!), find items, figure out how to use spells and items, practice combos, and experiment with new heroes. You can type "-tm" to turn on test mode and "-help" in-game to discover commands that let will aid you in your experiments.
 

9.4 REBIND YOUR ITEM KEYS

Try to do this as soon as possible. They're found under Options > Hotkeys > Global > Inventory > Use Slot X. Save it to an AoS profile. Commonly used keys for Item usage are 1-6 or Z,X,C. If you are prefer mapping item usage to 1-6, then you must map the Select Control Groups 1-3 hotkeys to Z,X,C, and unbind the Select Control Groups 4-6 hotkeys.


9.5 LANING ETIQUETTE

Once the first creep wave starts until around the 15 minute mark is the laning phase. During this time, the purpose is to level up and gain as much minerals as possible. 

As a general rule therefore, no more than 2 Players should occupy a single lane, and the player/hero who gains the most advantage from minerals and experience gets Middle Lane. Avoid going to Middle Lane if you are new, and if so, also avoid laning alone at all costs.

It is highly unlikely you will kill a tower in this phase, but that doesn't mean there isn't a benefit to pushing the enemies back. Most people stay at their respective lanes during this time, as your primary concern will mostly be whoever the enemy chose to fight on your lane.

However, as this phase begins to end and even occasionally beforehand players will begin to gank. Ganking is when you switch lanes in order to catch the enemy off guard and kill their heroes. In order to help mitigate the damage caused by an enemy gank, it is important you notice if an enemy who is laning against you goes Missing In Action (hence the term "MIA"). 

If you do not see an enemy hero in your lane who was there previously, you must warn your team by calling "MIA" and inserting what lane you are in afterwards (e.g. MIA Top). More simply, you can use one of the 3 MIA commands: ‘-mt’, -‘mm’, and ‘-mb’ for Missing Top, Missing Mid, and Missing Bottom respectively. Not calling MIAs is considered one of the poorest forms of laning etiquette.

If you suspect you are in a ‘gankable’ position (aka Over-extended) during an MIA, you should back off immediately. The loss of a few creep kills is not worth your death.

If you are struggling to fight the opponents in your lane, you should call for a gank from your teammates. While it is best to stay in your lanes during this phase, it is better to temporarily bring an extra teammate from another lane to help then to die. Dying is really, really bad (More on this later).


9.6 DON'T DIE!

A fundamental rule is to avoid death, as this will potentially deprive your enemies of many opportunities against your team. Yes, you may get yelled at for being too cautious, but it's better than getting yelled at for feeding. When you're new, this (and learning) should be your only goal. A quick run-through of tips to help you achieve this most critical of goals:

Let heroes go. A lot of heroes can survive just fine with a low health bar. They are usually baiting you into a trap.

Don't fight alone. Two heroes with low health can still kill you.

Stick with your team. A bad idea done together is better than what seems like a good idea on your own. Run if they run, engage if they engage. Also you don't get yelled at (much) for dying with your teammates.

Avoid enemy towers. Towers kill you quickly and aggro (shoot at) you if you attack a hero. You'll see teammates charge into towers (aka Tower Diving) to finish weak heroes. Don't think about trying this until you're experienced! Good players with low health like to bait you into towers for easy kills.

Hug friendly towers. If you're being dominated in your lane, stay near your tower. Also stay near your tower if your lane partner goes to the store. You can get your first kills from greedy heroes charging into a tower to chase you! Late game, towers still help but aren't guaranteed safety, as plenty of heroes can tank the damage or teleport away after killing you.

If a hero charges you, run away. They probably have a plan to do something horrible to you. Often with the help of their unseen teammates. You can turn back when they turn back. Repeat. 

Beware of high grass, high ground. If you don't have vision, act like there's an ambush waiting there! Because there often is. 

Don't stand in spells. If a marking appears on the ground under you, get out of the way.

‘A Kill for a Kill’ - Don’t do this. This means that you get a kill, but in exchange die yourself giving the enemy kills. The reason this is a bad idea is that dying puts you further behind then getting a kill puts you ahead. One of the reasons for this is you are more likely to miss out on "assist" bounties, and your death may allow them to push.

'Return' Home. When things start to look hopeless and there is no help in sight, find a safe spot and press 'D' to teleport back to base. You can also use Space Gems and the Tier 3 Transport Talent to relocate to safety.


9.7 DON'T BE AFRAID OF CONSUMABLES

Consumables are a powerful and relevant class of items that can change the tides of battle in the most subtle of ways. They can help you stay in lane longer (Health and Energy Capsules, Melange), Save an Ally or a Tower (Smoke Screen, Tyde Pods), or allow you to retain or assert control over critical areas of the map (Sentry, Truesight, and Controller Wards). Late game, consumables like Radar Kit and Defibrillator can literally become the difference between winning or losing. 

If you can help it, always keep a slot in your inventory for consumables. And always carry a Space Gem for emergencies. 


9.8 JUNGLING

If you're going to jungle (See 6.4), you're gonna need the right hero, right equipment, and right plan. Jungle heroes tend to be Agility or Strength Melee AA heroes or heroes with strong AoE Damage, and the ability to move and gank effectively. There are also a number heroes that are strongly restricted to the jungle, as they are very weak in lanes such as Shadow and Leo.

Your route can vary slightly, but it tends to start with the lowest tier camps (See 3.3) and as the game progresses you move your way up. 

To best survive the jungle, make sure to use your Imperial Sanctum's active 'Serenity' ability to regenerate, and carry the right items from the start. Almost all successful jungling will require one or more of the following items: Hunter's Hatchet, Hunter's Knife, Spirit Containment Vessel, Predator Tusk, Whale Breast, Melange, and Health and Energy Capsules.

Starting out with certain talents such as Might, Fitness, Youth, Bloodthirst, and the default active talent Recover also will be greatly beneficial on your journey. 
 

9.9 MAP AWARENESS & CONTROL

Map awareness is what separates the casual players from the pros and can win you most games. While it takes a long time to learn to watch other lanes and still manage your own, doing so correctly can give you almost all the information you need to get kills and avoid being killed. By watching the Minimap you can almost always predict ganks by which heroes are missing in action and where they where last heading and can also tell which lanes on your team need the most help.

Saying that learning where to place wards (i.e. Ward Spots) and when is a game changer is an understatement, especially when it involves side objectives like the Map Bosses. Warding is essential for any successful team. At minimum, you want both sides of river warded at all times. 

A basic rule is that if you have an open item slot, extra money after buying, and aren't behind, you should buy at least 1 Sentry and/or Truesight Ward depending on how many are out on the map already. 

Another matter you have to consider is Dewarding; Using Truesight or Controller Wards to find, destroy or negate enemy wards is another critical skill to refine. It's also a very lucrative undertaking as destroying enemy wards rewards you with plenty of minerals and XP. 
 

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10.0 Community Guidelines

10.1 Guidelines

In addition to Blizzard's In-game Code of Conduct (Google it!), here are some common courtesy guidelines to follow to ensure Public AoS games remain a welcoming and enjoyable experience for all players. 

Kicking Players: Kicking players from pub lobbies without justification is poor etiquette and can be considered an offense when done repeatedly, or with ill intent. Furthermore, the game cannot be sustained without new players. If your lobby cannot accommodate inexperienced players, you must title the lobby accordingly (e.g. Experienced players preferred/only) or make it private.

Balancing Lobbies: Some lobby hosts who are familiar with the playerbase take it upon themselves to balance teams by kicking and reinviting players to get the most from the gameplay experience. This is good. Not informing others that this is what is being done either in lobby chat or the lobby title is bad. Hosts who do this should be extremely sensitive to the reality that some players have been waiting for a long time, and kicking/reinviting them may result in them losing their spot in high traffic hours.

Intentional Throwing: Feeding, abuse/misuse of abilities on allies, and throwing with the intent of ruining the game is unacceptable.

Going AFK/Abandoning/Ragequitting: Whether it is accidental, or intentional - Do your best to avoid doing this. 9 other people waited for a game, and their time is as valuable as yours. AoS is a 5v5 game, and if you cannot commit to that then don't play.

Communication: If you have nothing nice, relevant, or of value to say, you should probably keep it to yourself. Otherwise, all you will do is tilt your teammates, which reduces your chances of winning. On the receiving end, just instantly mute them and spare yourself. 
 

10.2 Guidelines

After receiving and verifying a report from players or in-game Administrators, in-game bans can and will be issued to accounts of players found to be frequently in violation of the aforementioned code of conduct and guidelines. Banned players will not be able to play Aeon of Storms and will be autokicked upon entering any game. 

The duration of the bans varies based the frequency and severity of the offense, as well as the patching schedule of the game. Repeat offenders will have their account banned permanently.

 

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