Tencent and Garena gave Arena of Valor (AoV) players the best present during the Lunar New Year — a brand new hero!

Aoi is the latest assassin to drop into the AoV hero roster. What makes her stand out from previous releases is her ability to swing around an obstacle. She is expected to stir the whole meta in the near future with her formidable skill.


Abilities

Aoi is an assassin jungler with high mobility and great damage.

Passive – Dragon’s Blessing

  • After casting an ability, Aoi will accumulate a stack of Dragon’s Mark (up to four stacks), strengthening her next basic attack, giving her increased attack range and attack speed, and dealing physical damage (bonus physical damage not critical) on target.
  • Her fourth basic attack will critically strike and will also reduce all ability cooldowns.

Skill 1 – Dragon Slash

  • Aoi dashes forward and deals physical damage to enemies within range. Hitting an enemy restores a bit of her own HP.

Skill 2 – Dragon Claw

  • Aoi firmly hooks herself onto the terrain ahead and uses the movement button to enter either of two states:
    • Charge state (when the command moves near the direction of the swing): Aoi directly rushes to the position of the dragon claw (free of charge). You can rollover upon arriving.
    • Flight state (when the movement command and swing direction are more than 45 degrees apart): Aoi circles around the position of the Dragon Claw in the direction indicated by the move button (free of control) and enhances the Dragon Claw. Circle for one round or cancel the movement which will end the flight and make Aoi tumble forward.
    • While in Flight state, Aoi can perform a combo with the Dragon Slash and then dive to the ground and knock the target.
    • This skill can be accumulated up to two times (reused while in Flight). During Charge and Flight, Aoi herself is immune to control. Dragging and tumbling into enemies will cause them to take double physical damage and repel them.

Skill 3 – Dragon’s Wrath

  • Aoi flies into the sky and, using her claws, hurls at an enemy, dealing physical damage and slowing them. Then Aoi dashes backwards momentarily, retracting her claws and dealing devastating physical damage to a large area.


Building Aoi

Arena of Valor, Aoi, Runes
Screenshot by Kristine Tuting/ ONE Esports

Lokheim has always been the most suitable Rune path for Assassin class in Arena of Valor. For a champion with high mobility like Aoi, Move Speed will be a very useful Rune with the ability to deal extra damage when using dash attacks. Damage will help Aoi increase the amount of physical damage in the match.

Finally, Burst Damage will be the most suitable supplement for champions that rely heavily on hand attacks and use continuous skills like Aoi. After gaining all three marks from Humans, Aoi can activate the mark and deal additional magic damage against the opponent.

Two extra Rune points can be used on Enhanced Restore and Defense, which will give Aoi a little more defensive ability and help her recover from situations where she is involved in fighting with her Dragon Slash.

Arena of Valor, Aoi, Equipment
Screenshot by Kristine Tuting/ ONE Esports

When it comes to item build, Aoi will still have the same path to the map as the current jungle assassins with Soulreaver and Rankbreaker. You can choose to add a Claves Sancti to supplement the critical damage dealt with Aoi.

Arena of Valor, Aoi, Arcana
Screenshot by Kristine Tuting/ ONE Esports

Skewer 3 is indispensable for Aoi as she has the ability to inflict a huge amount of critical damage from her passive, Dragon’s Blessing. In addition, Arcanas that increase the rate of lifesteal, armor penetration or attack speed is also essential for assassins like Aoi.


Playstyle

Aoi is an assassin-jungle hero with extremely high mobility thanks to her second skill, Dragon Claw. This girl will be very strong in the early ganks and you can combine the Dragon Claw in Charge form with the first skill Dragon Slash to knock enemies in a large area.

Utilizing her passive ability, Dragon’s Blessing is also a way for Aoi to gain an edge in team fights. Before each gank phase, try to accumulate two stacks of Dragon’s Blessing, then use the first skill with the second skill against the enemy to maximize the stacks and deal a large amount of damage in combat.

When using Dragon Claw and her ultimate Dragon’s Wrath, Aoi will be immune to any control effects and cannot be selected as a target. You can use these two moves to escape or drag and wait for teammates to appear and support you.

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