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Sven · Carry (pos. 1)

Sven Abilities and Combos

Abilities & combosData-drivenMediumPatch 7.41
4KUpdated

More Sven guides

This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.

Overview

This guide goes through Sven's kit ability by ability. The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Storm Hammer. Its ultimate is God's Strength.

Strengths

  • Reliable stun: Storm Hammer sets up kills and interrupts enemy channels.
  • Heavy magical burst: Valve lists it as a Nuker.
  • Scales into a late-game threat as the items come in.

Weaknesses

  • No escape in the kit: without good positioning and vision, Sven is easy to catch.
  • Low base armor (0): vulnerable to physical harass early on.

Build cheat sheet

Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.

Builds

Most-played build

BalancedRecommended
Open build

When to use it

The items most bought with this hero, phase by phase. Pick it when you don't have a clear reason to deviate. Built from what Sven players buy in the public matches we measured.

Where it's played

Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.

Seen from RadiantRadiant · bottom leftDire · top right
  1. Safe laneMain93% of matchesSafe lane as the farming core (pos. 1).

Starting items

Gauntlets of StrengthIron BranchMagic StickQuelling BladeTangoFaerie Fire

Early game

Morbid MaskBracer

Core items

  1. 1Echo Sabre
  2. 2Blink Dagger
  3. 3Black King Bar
  4. 4Mask of Madness

Boots

Power Treads

Late game

DaedalusSatanicSwift BlinkHarpoon

Skill order

Max order:Great Cleave›Storm Hammer›Warcry

Ability1234567891011121314151617
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Talents by level

  1. +1s Storm Hammer Stun Duration
    +50% God's Strength Damage
    25
  2. -25% Storm Hammer Cooldown and Mana Cost
    +8 Warcry Armor
    20
  3. -12s God's Strength Cooldown
    +25% Great Cleave Damage
    15
  4. +5s Warcry Duration
    +20% God's Strength Slow Resistance
    10

Abilities

  • Storm Hammer21 / 18 / 15 / 12s110 mpSven unleashes his magical gauntlet that deals damage and stuns enemy units in a small area around the target.
    Stun duration
    1·1.25·1.5·1.75
    Radius
    250·270·290·310
    Basic ability — applies a stun. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • Great CleavePassiveSven strikes with great force, cleaving all nearby enemy units with his attack.
    Cleave distance
    400·500·600·700
    Cleave damage
    60%·70%·80%·90%
    Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Warcry36 / 32 / 28 / 24s30 / 35 / 40 / 45 mpSven's Warcry heartens his allied heroes for battle, increasing their armor and movement speed. Lasts 8 seconds.
    Bonus speed
    6%·9%·12%·15%
    Bonus armor
    5·8·11·14
    Radius
    700
    Duration
    8
    Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • God's Strength110 / 105 / 100s100 / 125 / 150 mpSven channels his rogue strength, granting bonus damage and slow resistance for 30 seconds.
    Bonus damage
    110%·150%·190%
    Slow resistance
    40%
    Ultimate — slows. Plan your fights around its cooldown.
  • Wrath of GodPassiveSven gains additional attack damage from Strength.
    Damage per strength
    0.08
    Passive. It works on its own: play around it.

Most played skill order

The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.

Max order:Great Cleave›Storm Hammer›Warcry

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Strategy

1The kit

The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Storm Hammer.

  • Storm Hammer — Basic ability — applies a stun. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • Great Cleave — Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Warcry — Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • God's Strength — Ultimate — slows. Plan your fights around its cooldown.
  • Wrath of God — Passive. It works on its own: play around it.

2Skill order

Take God's Strength whenever it's available (levels 6, 12 and 18). Between basic abilities, cores usually max their damage or farming ability first and supports their disable.

3Combos

A simple sequence that follows from the kit: open with Storm Hammer, follow with Warcry and finish with God's Strength. The disable first means everything after it lands.

4Using your ultimate

God's Strength is the ability the enemy plays around. Use it where it changes the fight, and remember its cooldown: after using it, you're a smaller threat for a while.

Tips

  • Land Storm Hammer first: every ability after it is easier to hit.
  • Watch God's Strength's cooldown: fights you take without it are much harder.
  • Practise the combo in a practice game before using it in ranked.
  • Count the enemy's key cooldowns: the best moment to use yours is right after they use theirs.

Changelog

  1. Guide created for patch 7.41.

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