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Arthas
Arthas

"Frostmourne hungers."

Basic Info
Title The Lich King
Role Tank Tank
Difficulty Medium
Franchise Warcraft Warcraft
Price Gem625 / Money7,000
Release Date March 13, 2014
Base Stats
Attack Type Melee
Health 2860
Health Regen 5.957
Resource 500 Mana
Unit Radius 0.8125
Attack Speed 1
Attack Range 2
Attack Damage 95
Data Page

Arthas Menethil, the Lich King, is a melee Tank Hero from the Warcraft universe.[1] Once the crown prince of Lordaeron, and protégé of Uther the Lightbringer, Arthas was corrupted by the cursed blade Frostmourne in a bid to save his people. Now he rules over the damned as the Lich King and all shall know his wrath.

Arthas is a Tank who is proficient against melee Physical Attackers, Slowing them.

History[ | ]

Warcraft This section concerns content exclusive to the Warcraft universe.

Arthas Menethil, the crown prince of Lordaeron, was the son of King Terenas Menethil II, and Queen Lianne Menethil and younger brother of Princess Calia Menethil. He joined the Order of the Silver Hand led by Uther the Lightbringer, and was trained as a paladin. Arthas was a promising knight, though he eventually spiraled down a path of vengeance.

Arthas's downfall began at Stratholme, one of the first cities to be struck by the plague. Upon discovering that the grain stores in the city had been infected, Arthas ordered Uther and a Kirin Tor mage named Jaina Proudmoore to help him purge the city in order to prevent the plague from spreading further. Uther and Jaina refused to follow his demands, however, and Arthas went on to purge the city without them. In Stratholme, Arthas encountered and fought a dreadlord by the name of Mal'Ganis. Before Mal'Ganis fled, he told Arthas to meet him in the arctic land of Northrend.

Arthas gathered an army and set sail for Northrend. Upon his arrival, he encountered an old friend by the name of Muradin Bronzebeard. After Muradin told Arthas of an ancient and powerful runeblade and mourneblade called Frostmourne, which had the potential to slay Mal'Ganis, the two friends set out to look for the weapon. Upon finding Frostmourne, however, Muradin realized it was cursed and said they should leave it be. Arthas, willing to pay any price to save his people, did not heed Muradin's warning. He claimed the blade and seemingly killed his old friend in the process.

With Frostmourne in hand, Arthas set out to find Mal'Ganis. He fought through hordes of undead before reaching the dreadlord. Mal'Ganis revealed to Arthas that the whispers he was hearing from Frostmourne were actually the voice of the Lich King, and asked him what the Lich King's next instructions were. Arthas replied that the voice was telling him to enact his vengeance. Striking the astonished dreadlord down, Arthas abandoned his men and began wandering through the frozen wastes, where he lost what remained of his sanity. When Arthas returned to Lordaeron, he killed his father in cold blood and conquered the kingdom in the name of the Scourge.

Some time later, following the destruction he had wrought on the continent, the Lich King ordered Arthas to return to Northrend. Illidan Stormrage, who had been instructed by the Burning Legion to destroy the Lich King, raced Arthas to the immobile Lich King's seat of power in Icecrown. Ultimately, the two fought and Arthas emerged victorious. Arthas shattered the Frozen Throne and placed the helm of the Lich King upon his head, allowing the two to become one single being.

Gameplay[ | ]

HeroIcon arthas Arthas is an aggressive Tank who can be played both as a Bruiser and as a Tank. Arthas excels at slowing and rooting several opponents at the same time, which allows him to either chase down retreating enemies or to peel for threatened allies. The ability to reduce the Attack Speed of nearby opponents with Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest, makes him an excellent choice against Melee Assassins who are dependent on Basic Attacks. Another major strength Arthas inherits is his prominent ability dealing powerful burst damage with the help of trait, Frostmourne Feeds Icon Frostmourne Hungers and his versatile ability, Death Coil Icon Death Coil. The third edge Arthas has over most Bruisers or Tanks, is his ability to both reduce the duration of standard crowd control effects, such as stun, silence, root and slow with his level 7 talent; Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude. The fourth and final benefit Arthas is his unconditional survivability through his Heroic ability; Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead, as he can use the added ability Sacrifice Icon Sacrifice while it's active to kill his summoned Ghouls in order to replenish his own health. Arthas is under many circumstances very strong in teamfights as his powerful crowd control abilities makes is much easier for Healers and Assassins to play correspondingly by following up their own crowd control or damage output, mainly through the works of reliance on skillshots. Arthas is a very solid frontliner, who can absorb lots of sustained damage in fight and zone heroes that like to dive his backline.

Strengths[ | ]

Arthas' Weaknesses[ | ]

  • No gap-closers
  • Mana dependent
  • Struggles against mages who deal a large amount of burst damage
  • Reliant on his survivability to contribute in teamfights

Abilities[ | ]

See Data Page for a table of scaled values at key levels.
Frostmourne Hungers Active Icon
D
Frostmourne Hungers
Cooldown: 10 seconds

Activate to make Arthas's next Basic Attack strike immediately and deal 99 increased damage. Dealing damage restores 30 Mana.


Type: Bonus damage, Mana restoration
Scaling: 4.00% (damage) / - (mana)
Affects: Enemies
Targeting: No target
Properties: Attack Modifier, Primed
Cast time: Instant

  • The damage is added to Arthas's Basic Attack damage and dealt in a single instance.
  • Cooldown starts once the Ability is triggered by attacking an enemy.
Death Coil Icon
Q
Death Coil
50 Mana Cooldown: 9 seconds

Deals 164 damage to target enemy.

Can be self-cast to heal for 262 Health.


Type: Spell Damage / Healing
Scaling: 4.00% (both)
Affects: Enemies / Self
Targeting: Unit target
Cast time: 0.15 + 0 seconds
Range: 6.0
Missile speed: 18
Howling Blast Icon
W
Howling Blast
70 Mana Cooldown: 12 seconds

Root enemies within the target area for 1.25 seconds and deals 68 damage.


Type: Spell Damage, Crowd control
Scaling: 4.00%
Affects: Enemies
Targeting: Point Target
Properties: Area of Effect, Root, Clamping, Self-castable
Cast time: 0.15 + 0 seconds
Range: 9.0
Radius: 2.0
Missile speed: 17
Frozen Tempest Icon
E
Frozen Tempest
Cooldown: 1 seconds

13 Mana per second
Deal 40 damage per second to nearby enemies and Slow their Movement Speed by 10% per second, stacking up to 40%. Heroes hit also have their Attack Speed Slowed by 10% per second, stacking up to 40%. Frozen Tempest's effects last for 1.5 seconds.


Type: Spell Damage, Crowd control / Status effect
Scaling: 4.00%
Affects: Enemies / Enemy Heroes
Targeting: No target (toggle)
Cast time: Instant
Radius: 3.5
Tickrate: 2.0 per second
Damage per tick: 20
Slow per tick: 5%

  • Debuff can be fully removed with Invulnerable and friendly Stasis effects. Unstoppable and CC removal effects only remove the Slow and not the Attack Slow debuff.
  • Slow stacks with itself, but not with other sources of Slows.
  • Attack Slow stacks additively with itself and other effects that affect the target's Attack Speed.
Army of the Dead Icon
R
Army of the Dead
80 Mana Cooldown: 80 seconds

Summons Ghouls that last 15 seconds and attack for 20 damage. Sacrifice Ghouls to heal for 267 Health.


Type: Summon
Targeting: No target
Cast time: 0.15 + 0 seconds
Summoned Ghouls: 6

  • The cooldown starts immediately when the Ability is activated.
  • While active, the ability is replaced by Sacrifice.

Ghoul
Type: Active
Scaling: 4.00% (damage & Health)
Targeting: Automatic
Health: 1060
Basic Attack damage: 20
Attack speed: 1.0
Attack range: 1.0
Movement Speed: 5.0
Unit radius: 0.6875
Sight radius: 7.0
Leash radius: 10

  • Ghouls are unable to move for the first 1.3 seconds after being summoned.
  • Ghouls are summoned at random positions within 5 radius around Arthas, but will reorganize around Arthas at 2.5 range at 60 degree intervals once they are able to move.
  • Ghouls will follow Arthas in this formation until he issues an attack move on an enemy. Each of the Ghouls will then attack this target until they or the target dies or the Ghoul is leashed and returns to the formation.
  • Ghouls persist even after Arthas's death.
Sacrifice Icon
R
Army of the Dead - Sacrifice
Cooldown: 2 seconds

Sacrifice a Ghoul to heal for 267 Health.


Type: Healing
Scaling: 4.00%
Affects: Self
Targeting: No target
Properties: Area of Effect
Cast time: 0 + 0.15 seconds

  • Replaces Arthas's Heroic Ability slot while Army of the Dead is active.
  • Sacrifice starts on a 1.5 second cooldown when Army of the Dead is activated.
  • Arthas cannot activate the Ability to sacrifice a Ghoul if he is at full Health.
  • The Ghoul with the lowest Health will be sacrificed first.
Summon Sindragosa Icon
R
Summon Sindragosa
100 Mana Cooldown: 100 seconds

Deals 230 damage and Slows enemies by 60% for 4 seconds. Also disables Minions, Mercenaries, Monsters and Structures for 20 seconds.


Type: Spell Damage, Crowd control
Scaling: 4.00%
Affects: Enemies
Properties: Clamping, Piercing Skillshot, Slow (vs. Heroes and Summons), Stun (vs. non-Heroic)
Cast time: 0.6 + 0.15 seconds
Range: 38
Hitbox: 8.0 x 4.0
Missile speed:
- Initial: 6.0
- Maximum: 15
- Acceleration: 56
Initial delay: 0.75 seconds

Talents[ | ]

1
Frost Presence Icon
Frost Presence

❢ Quest: Root enemy Heroes with Howling Blast.

❢ Reward: After Rooting 5 Heroes, Howling Blast's cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.

❢ Reward: After Rooting 10 Heroes, Howling Blast's range is increased by 20%.

❢ Reward: After Rooting 20 Heroes, Howling Blast also Roots enemies in its path.


Type: Crowd control
Affects: Enemies
Hitbox: 1.5 x 1.25
Bonus range: 1.8
Bonus missile speed: 5.1015

  • Actually gains a stack per Hero hit even if they are not Rooted (due to Unstoppable).
  • Howling Blast's projectile speed is increased if it is cast beyond 8 range.
Eternal Hunger Icon
Eternal Hunger

❢ Quest: Use Frostmourne Hungers on an enemy Hero.

❢ Reward: Increases the Mana it restores by 4, to a maximum of 40, and its damage by 4.


Type: Bonus damage
Scaling: -
Affects: Ability
Maximum bonus damage: 5000 (x1250)
Block Icon
Rime

Every 5 seconds, gain 75 Physical Armor against the next enemy Hero Basic Attack, reducing the damage taken by 75%. Stores up to 3 charges.


Type: Defensive damage modifier
Affects: Self
Properties: Block, Physical Armor

  • Does not stack with itself or other positive Physical Armor effects. Other defensive damage modifiers may stack.
4
Deathlord Icon
Deathlord

Increase the range of Death Coil by 30%, reduce its cooldown by 3 seconds, and if Death Coil is used on an enemy Hero its Mana cost is refunded.


Bonus cast range: 1.8
Frozen Wastes Icon
Frozen Wastes

Frozen Tempest Mana cost reduced by 2 per second.

❢ Quest: Damage enemy Heroes with Frozen Tempest.

❢ Reward: After damaging enemy Heroes 150 times with Frozen Tempest, the Movement and Attack Speed Slows of Frozen Tempest last an extra 1.5 seconds against enemy Heroes.


Bonus duration: 1.5 seconds

  • Every Hero hit counts toward quest progress.
Biting Cold Icon
Icy Talons

Gain 3% Attack Speed for 1.5 seconds every time a Hero is damaged by Frozen Tempest, to a maximum of 60%.


Type: Status effect
Affects: Self
Properties: Attack Speed

  • Attack speed stacks additively with itself and other effects that can affect Arthas's Attack Speed.
7
Immortal Coil Icon
Immortal Coil

Gain the healing effect of Death Coil even when used on enemies. If Death Coil is used on Arthas, it heals for an additional 50%.


Type: Healing dealt modifier
Affects: Ability

  • Healing on enemy cast is applied when the missile returns to Arthas.
  • Bonus healing stacks additively with other healing dealt modifiers that can affect Death Coil's healing.
Rune Tap Icon
Rune Tap

Every 3rd Basic Attack heals Arthas for 5% of his max Health.


Type: Healing
Scaling: -
Affects: Self
Properties: Attack Modifier
Icebound Fortitude Icon
Icebound Fortitude

Cooldown: 35 seconds
Active: Activate to gain 25 Armor, reducing damage taken by 25%, and reduce the duration of Stuns, Slows, and Roots against Arthas by 75% for 3 seconds.


Type: Defensive damage modifier
Affects: Self
Properties: Armor

  • Does not stack with other positive Armor effects. Other defensive damage modifiers may stack.
10
Army of the Dead Icon
Army of the Dead

Summons Ghouls that last 15 seconds and attack for 20 damage. Sacrifice Ghouls to heal for 267 Health.

Summon Sindragosa Icon
Summon Sindragosa

Deals 230 damage and Slows enemies by 60% for 4 seconds. Also disables Minions, Mercenaries, Monsters and Structures for 20 seconds.

13
Trail of Frost Icon
Shattered Armor

Enemy Heroes hit by Howling Blast have their Armor reduced by 15 for 4 seconds.


Type: Defensive damage modifier
Affects: Enemy Heroes
Properties: Armor reduction

  • Does not stack with other negative Armor effects. Other defensive damage modifiers may stack.
Frigid Winds Icon
Biting Cold

Each second an enemy is damaged by Frozen Tempest, it deals 12.5% bonus damage, up to a 50% bonus.


Type: Offensive damage modifier
Affects: Ability

  • Damage bonus is tracked independently for every affected unit.
  • Damage bonus stacks additively with itself and multiplicatively with other offensive damage modifiers that can affect Frozen Tempest's damage.
Frost Strike Icon
Frost Strike

Reduces Frostmourne Hungers's cooldown by 2 seconds. Frostmourne Hungers also Slows the enemy by 50% for 1.5 seconds.


Type: Crowd control
Affects: Enemies
Properties: Attack Modifier, Slow
16
Embrace Death Icon
Embrace Death

Death Coil deals more damage and heals more the lower Arthas's current Health is, to a maximum of 100% bonus damage and healing.


Type: Healing dealt modifier, Offensive damage modifier
Affects: Ability

  • Bonus damage and healing percentage equates to the percentage of Health Arthas is missing.
  • Bonus damage stacks mutiplicatively with other offensive damage modifiers that can affect Death Coil's damage.
  • Bonus healing stacks additively with other healing dealt modifiers that can affect Death Coil's healing.
Remorseless Winter Icon
Remorseless Winter

Enemy Heroes that remain within Frozen Tempest for 3 seconds are Rooted for 1.25 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 10 seconds.


Type: Crowd control
Affects: Enemy Heroes
Properties: Root

  • Cooldown is per enemy Hero.
Frostmourne Feeds Icon
Frostmourne Feeds

Increases the amount of Basic Attacks empowered by Frostmourne Hungers to 2.

20
Legion of Northrend Icon
Legion of Northrend

3 additional Ghouls are created. Ghouls deal 50% more damage, heal for an additional 50% and last 5 seconds longer.


Type: Offensive damage modifier / Bonus healing
Scaling: 4.00%
Affects: Ghouls / Ability

  • Damage bonus stacks additively with other offensive damage modifiers that can affect Ghouls' Basic Attack damage.
  • Healing bonus increases the base healing of Sacrifice to 400.5, causing the given percentage to stack multiplicatively with healing dealt modifiers that can affect Sacrifice's healing.
Absolute Zero Icon
Absolute Zero

Sindragosa flies twice as far. Enemy Heroes are Rooted for 2.5 seconds, and then Slowed by 60% for 4 seconds.


Type: Crowd control
Affects: Enemy Heroes & Summons
Properties: Root
Bonus range: 38
Death's Advance Icon
Death's Advance

Increases Movement Speed by 10%. Frozen Tempest's maximum Movement Speed Slow and Attack Speed Slow are increased from 40% to 60%.


Type: Status effect
Affects: Self

  • Also increases the Slow's amount per tick from 5% to 7.5%.
Anti-Magic Shield Icon
Anti-Magic Shell

Cooldown: 60 seconds
Active: Activate to make Arthas Immune to Spell Damage for 4 seconds and heal Arthas for 25% of the damage prevented.


Type: Status effect, Healing
Affects: Self

  • Anti-Magic Shell absorbs all incoming Spell Damage, similar to Protected status.
  • The amount of damage absorbed, and thus also healing done, is calculated after damage modifiers, such as Armor.
  • Healing does not benefit from Arthas's Spell Power or other healing dealt modifiers.
  • Note that Percent damage in all its forms is a type of Spell Damage, therefore Arthas fully benefits from this Talent when applied to it.

Builds and guides[ | ]

Icy Veins Arthas Guide

Arthas Community Build Guides @ HeroesFire

Arthas Community Build Guides @ Heroes Hearth

Thegreat610's Arthas Guide (2021-09-29)
Builds and Roles
Offlane-Standard

Block IconFrozen Tempest IconIcebound Fortitude IconArmy of the Dead IconHowling Blast Icon Frozen Tempest IconArmy of the Dead Icon [T3231121,Arthas]

This build is played much more passively then the offlane builds that will be covered, as it is more dependent on casting Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast in teamfights in order to set up for your mage(s) to deal damage. This build favors Block Icon Rime at level 1, because it lets him tank a bit more damage against Heroes such as HeroIcon hanzo Hanzo, HeroIcon greymane Greymane, HeroIcon raynor Raynor, HeroIcon fenix Fenix and HeroIcon valla Valla, be it from sustained damage or poke damage. His goal in teamfights is adaptive as it depends mainly on the enemy team's composition. Arthas could try to commit on the backline and disrupt them with Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest as much as he can. The downside to this build is that he doesn't have enough damage of his own to be a reasonable threat to most backliners. This also means that against many offlane match-ups he will lose out on Minion wave priority or lose out when trading. The build is more favored when you want to amplify your damage dealers and your supports as much as you can when playing in this position, as they may need a frontliner that can absorb much of the damage for them.
Offlane-Hybrid

Frostmourne Feeds IconDeath Coil IconDeath Coil IconArmy of the Dead IconFrostmourne Feeds IconFrostmourne Feeds IconArmy of the Dead Icon [T2111331,Arthas]

The Q + D build gives Arthas other conditions to win in teamfights, as it lets him play more in-and-out, rather than committing. The build also gives him the most amount of burst damage of his own. It is seemingly weaker against Tanks and Bruisers, as because of the lack of Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude they may use crowd control Abilities on Arthas. The build is therefore much stronger against the backliners, as he has enough damage to potentially kill them on his own, while also being able to do poke damage and also getting Health back due to Death Coil Icon Immortal Coil on level 7.


This build is favored if you don't need to win or control the lanes as much, while it has larger emphasis on forcing longer fights due to wanting to play around the map objectives. This works because there are occasions where Arthas could tank damage for his team, while backing away to heal up quickly using Death Coil Icon Death Coil, and as long as the enemy team doesn't have Heroes with dive-potential or big combos, they shouldn't be capable of engaging or killing a Hero however they want. This build can also be rather strong against Heroes such as HeroIcon johanna Johanna, HeroIcon muradin Muradin, HeroIcon fenix Fenix and HeroIcon uther Uther because they are all bad against poke damage.

Offlane-Bruiser

Frostmourne Feeds IconIcy talonsRune Tap IconArmy of the Dead IconFrozen Wastes IconFrostmourne Feeds IconFrozen Tempest Icon[T2321233,Arthas]

The bruiser build makes Arthas aggressive engage-type of playstyle much stronger in terms of his improved damage output and survivability against sustained damage. In terms of offlane match-ups, this is his strongest build, as it can let him win trades against every single melee-based hero in the game, as before level 10. This build is mostly map dependent where holding your lane, such as Braxis Holdout, can prove to be valuable, another reason is if the enemy has frontliners that is dependent on their backline, as he can punish frontliners even further, so on a map where heavy frontline comps is priority such as Infernal Shrines, this build can become favored, but still very situational. Because this build is played to empower his capability to counter melee frontliners, it becomes good if the enemy features heroes such as HeroIcon artanis Artanis, HeroIcon sonya Sonya, HeroIcon imperius Imperius, HeroIcon qhira Qhira, HeroIcon varian Varian and HeroIcon diablo Diablo. This build can flex talents, sometimes Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude on level 7 if they have strong crowd control, Howling Blast Icon Shattered Armor on level 13, Frozen Tempest Icon Remorseless Winter on level 16 and optional talents for either Legion of Northrend Icon Legion of Northrend or Anti-Magic Shield Icon Anti-Magic Shell.
Main Tank-Standard

Howling Blast IconFrozen Tempest IconIcebound Fortitude IconArmy of the Dead IconHowling Blast IconFrozen Tempest IconArmy of the Dead Icon[T1231121,Arthas]

Main Tank Arthas is usually his secondary role, because of his lacking kit compared to most other Tanks, two things are concerned here; having Gap-closing capabilities and a stun, he lacks both of those things. Arthas is still really 'tanky', though struggles against spell-/burst damage and percentage damage in-general. Main Tank Arthas provides reliable crowd control as long as he can keep Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest on the enemy heroes, and he also provides with quiet decent waveclear as well as mercenary camp clearing capabilities naturally due to the ability. Taking Frost Presence Icon Frost Presence level 1 is something that makes his Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast much more powerful and easier to land in choke points especially, all of the points of the talent makes it easier for him to play more actively in his Tank role, either by forcing an engage or by peeling. Usually because of the importance of completing his level 1 quest, it's usually not advised to play him if the enemy features heroes with strong mobility or those who have teleport (also called "blink"), heroes like HeroIcon zeratul Zeratul, HeroIcon li-ming Li-Ming, HeroIcon tracer Tracer, HeroIcon malthael Malthael and HeroIcon tyrael Tyrael all feature this capability.


Arthas as the Main Tank should feature heroes that can give him some type of lead way by making his job easier and more consistent, either by providing with the much needed gap closing capabilities for him to follow-up on or lend him extra protection. Usually offlaners that can engage by their own means, such as: HeroIcon chen Chen (Flying Kick Icon Flying Kick, Storm, Earth, Fire Icon Storm, Earth, Fire, Wandering Keg Icon Wandering Keg), HeroIcon yrel Yrel (Avenging Wrath IconAvenging Wrath) and HeroIcon sonya Sonya (Leap Icon Leap) synergises with him, while supports such as: HeroIcon zarya Zarya and HeroIcon medivh Medivh can empower him greatly by adding mobility or protection. Abilities they have: Expulsion Zone Icon Expulsion Zone which can block off paths which the enemy can flee towards, Shield Ally Icon Shield Ally (even better with Speed Barrier Icon Speed Barrier level 4) . HeroIcon medivh Medivh makes Arthas quiet reliable with just good usage of Portal IconPortal and Force of Will Medivh Icon Force of Will as it makes him a much more dangerous threat when it comes to for example invading mercenary camps or when rotating against heroes that doesn't have mobility.


A healer such as HeroIcon uther Uther can provide great synergy to Arthas playstyle with the help of his traits; Eternal Devotion Icon Devotion and Eternal Devotion Icon Eternal Vanguard give can Arthas enough health to keep on going, and as long as Arthas lives while the assassins are healthy too, he is a potential threat. Divine Shield Icon Divine Shield can also be used on Arthas in some situations, but it's usually reserved for the hyper-carries on the team.

Main Tank-Flex

Howling Blast IconDeath Coil IconDeath Coil IconArmy of the Dead IconHowling Blast IconDeath Coil IconArmy of the Dead Icon

[T1111111,Arthas]

This build is a bit more reserved, playing for longer fights, trying to get poke damage in, sustaining, and providing crowd control for assassins. Can be strong if the enemy has heroes that you want to avoid, typically ranged assassins, such as HeroIcon tychus Tychus and HeroIcon valla Valla (in the late game in particular). This build could also be played if your team feature two mages. Heroes such as HeroIcon tassadar Tassadar, HeroIcon nazeebo Nazeebo, HeroIcon orpheaOrphea, HeroIcon probius Probius, HeroIcon nova Nova and HeroIcon medivh Medivh are all viable to be played as such. Arthas is potentially then a pick, that somewhat counters the dive from the likes of HeroIcon kerrigan Kerrigan, HeroIcon chen Chen, HeroIcon artanis Artanis and HeroIcon diablo Diablo.
Main Tank-Flex [2]

Frostmourne Feeds IconFrozen Tempest IconIcebound Fortitude IconArmy of the Dead IconHowling Blast IconFrostmourne Feeds IconArmy of the Dead Icon[T2231131,Arthas]

Main Tank Basic Attack hybrid, that could be be played as the semi-offlane and if your team has enough crowd control on their own. Providing with potentially the most burst damage, it can be strong if the enemy has melee assassins heroes in the 3/4-man, such as HeroIcon ragnaros Ragnaros, HeroIcon thrall Thrall and HeroIcon maiev Maiev. Can also be quiet strong on larger maps such as Garden of Terror or Cursed Hollow, where solo-laning as the Tank could be crucial to get better mercenary camp timings for example. While on late game maps such as Tomb of the Spider Queen, the scaling and extra damage could be handy to defend the lanes or to push them even harder. Situational build overall, but not weak.
Abilities and Strategy
1. Tips & Tricks
  • Toggling Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest when initiating for a Basic Attack, makes the attack animation faster, which can ultimately yield higher damage over extended periods of time, like when you are solo-laning.
  • When clearing a minion wave, keep Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest on til it's almost dead, or use the ability go guarantee 'last hits' on minions (especially ranged minions) to save time and Mana. Don't have the bad habit to Frozen Tempest Icon use Frozen Tempest to deal more damage to towers, walls, gates and forts because the damage is usually negligible and you will waste to much mana if you spend more than 5 seconds on it.
  • Predicting movement and or following up with Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast is much more conservative while also more valuable. Spamming the ability does nothing, because your team needs to be ready for it to do anything. Using this ability too much is usually a big mistake, even with Howling Blast Icon Frost Presence, as Arthas naturally holds rather good control over minion waves in-general, which means you usually get your regeneration globe or even potentially the enemies with a good Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast. When solo-laning, you shouldn't use this ability too often, if never. Bad matchups for Arthas such as HeroIcon malthael Malthael, HeroIcon dehaka Dehaka, HeroIcon leoric Leoric, HeroIcon sonya Sonya and HeroIcon rexxar Rexxar are hard to get value from the ability.
  • When solo-laning it's better to try bully the other offlaner, so you can get the regeneration globe, in order to sustain further (sustain/regenerating health over time lets you play more aggressive, like clearing minion waves faster). You can do this by staying mounted, which lets you play more aggressive and this can get you Eternal Hunger Icon Eternal Hunger stacks for example. Arthas doesn't really want to 'lane freeze' (keeping the enemy minions under your towers) as his biggest contribution is to be in fights. Arthas can instead try to deny the enemy offlaner rotating for free, by either trading as much as possible or matching their rotation and following them. Arthas can also control laners that plays into your wave, such as HeroIcon sonya Sonya, HeroIcon leoric Leoric and HeroIcon xul Xul in particular, by trading with them for free or getting Eternal Hunger Icon Eternal Hunger stacks. As long as Arthas has mana, his current health percentage is no matter, because Death Coil Icon Death Coil heals him for approximately 12% on all levels (w/o Death Coil Icon Immortal Coil level 7 and Embrace Death Icon Embrace Death level 16). Arthas should almost never need to use healing fountains to sustain in the solo-lane, because it's better for him to have it available for the next teamfight. 1 min "pre-tap" fountain can force the enemy to take fountain sometimes and can be good to do, because you will get brief control or priority over the lane.
  • Frostmourne Feeds Icon Frostmourne Hungers resets the cooldown of your Basic Attack, so try to use it immediately after a Basic Attack goes off.
  • Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead can heal you on cooldown if you press R to cast it, then press and hold R for its duration.
  • Summon Sindragosa IconSummon Sindragosa disables enemy Structures, including the Healing Fountain, which can make it a very potent ability to use during pushes. Also it can be used to peel for you team in order to disengage. On Braxis Holdout this ultimate ability can prove to to be highly effective because of how powerful the Objective can be.
2. Death Coil
Death Coil Icon
Death Coil (Q)

Mana: 50

Cooldown: 9 seconds

Deals 164 (+4% per level) damage to target enemy.

Can be self-cast to heal for 262 (+4% per level) Health.


Death Coil Icon Death Coil is a versatile Basic Ability that can be used to either damage an enemy Hero or to heal Arthas. When you want to target yourself, you can use the Self Cast Modifier [Alt] instead of mouse-hovering your Hero.

While playing as Solo Laner, it is usually better to cast this Ability on yourself in order to restore lost Health, especially if you do not want to waste the Healing Fountain. You can use this ability offensively against heroes with low health percentages because the burst damage can be enough to contribute to a kill.

3. Howling Blast
Howling Blast Icon
Howling Blast (W)

Mana: 60

Cooldown: 10 seconds

Root enemies within the target area for 1.25 seconds and deals 68 (+4% per level) damage.


Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast is a Basic Ability that provides crowd control to Arthas, something that can be used to either engage or peel.

While the target area is big enough to hit Heroes who are clumped together, the slow-moving projectile makes this Ability hard to hit. As a consequence, a good Arthas should usually look for a flank rather than a frontal engage.

4. Frozen Tempest
Frozen Tempest Icon
Frozen Tempest (E)

Mana: 13 per second

Cooldown: 1 second

Deals 40 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Slows enemy Move Speed and Attack Speed by 10% per second, stacking up to 40%.


Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest is a toggleable Basic Ability that reduces the Movement Speed of nearby enemies (not only Heroes) and the Attack Speed of nearby Heroes. Both effects get more powerful each second a given enemy stays within range, reaching the maximum value after 4 seconds. Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast helps with that because it ensures that the enemy stays nearby for a few seconds.

The constant Slow is useful for chasing and—more importantly—for peeling away melee Heroes while the Attack Speed reduction is good against Heroes that heavily focus on Basic Attacks to deal damage. As a consequence, this Ability is particularly effective against Heroes with both those characteristics: melee Heroes who focus on Basic Attacks (such as HeroIcon kerrigan Kerrigan or HeroIcon thrall Thrall).

Mana management is important because you cannot use Abilities without it. While this Ability offers value in all scenarios, if Arthas uses it imprudently, he will find himself low on Mana very quickly. Always use it when damaging enemy Heroes or when clearing Mercenary Camps, or when clearing Minions.

Being an area of effect Ability, Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest can also be used to hit hidden Summons on the ground (such as Creep Tumor Icon Creep Tumor by HeroIcon zagara Zagara).

5. Army of the Dead
Army of the Dead Icon
Army of the Dead (R)

Mana: 80

Cooldown: 80 seconds

Summons Ghouls that last 15 seconds. Sacrifice Ghouls to heal for 267 (+4% per level) Health.

Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is a defensive Heroic Ability that lets Arthas summon several Ghouls that will fight at his side, allowing him to become an extremely durable frontline Hero, unless the enemy team has healing reduction effects and/or burst damage to drastically reduce its effectiveness. Another potential strength with Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is how powerful it is when pushing Structures because of the many Summons.

6. Summon Sindragosa
Summon Sindragosa Icon
Summon Sindragosa (R)

Mana: 100

Cooldown: 100 seconds

Deals 230 (+4% per level) damage and slows enemies by 60% for 3.5 seconds. Also disables non-Heroic enemies and Structures for 20 seconds.


Summon Sindragosa Icon Summon Sindragosa is an offensive Heroic Ability that, if aimed and timed correctly, can single-handedly decide the outcome of a team fight by Slowing multiple enemy Heroes and allow your team to easily engage them without being scared of enemy Structures nearby.

The first thing an Arthas player has to take into account is its cast time of 0.6 seconds (not mentioned in the tooltip), which requires you to think ahead before actually casting the Ability in order to increase your chance to hit enemy Heroes and/or to avoid being interrupted by them.

You do not even need to be scared about nearby enemy Structures because they will be disabled for 20 seconds, a powerful effect to further increase the advantage after winning a single-lane Objective (such as the Immortal on Battlefield of Eternity or Zerg Wave on Braxis Holdout) because disabled Structures cannot deal any damage and disabled Healing Fountains cannot be used.

7. Frostmourne Hungers
Frostmourne Feeds Icon
Frostmourne Hungers (D)
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Activate to make Arthas's next Basic Attack strike immediately, do 99 (+4% per level) increased damage, and restore 30 Mana.


Frostmourne Feeds Icon Frostmourne Hungers is a Trait that gives a decent amount of burst damage and Mana

When the chances to have a team fight within 10 seconds is low, activate it and attack a random enemy in a safe position (usually a Minion) just to get some Mana. During a team fight, use it on the focused enemy Hero.

Remember that activating it will reset your Basic Attacks cooldown, so the best way to use this Ability is to immediately activate it after a Basic Attack, a trick that will result in you landing 3 Basic Attacks in the time window of 2 Basic Attacks. Always use it off-cooldown when focusing on one thing, like pushing or clearing Mercenary Camps.

8. Army of the Dead - Sacrifice
Sacrifice Icon
Army of the Dead - Sacrifice (R)
Cooldown: 2 seconds
Sacrifice a Ghoul to heal for 267 (+4% per level) Health.

Sacrifice IconSacrifice will become the new active button as long as your Ghouls are alive. Without Legion of Northrend Icon Legion of Northrend level 20, there are 6 Ghouls that can be sacrificed, one Ghoul heal more than one Death Coil Icon Death Coil (w/o level 7 and level 16 Q talents), tactically sacrificing the Ghouls and managing your Health pool will lend you the most value of this ability.

Counters and match-ups
1. Bad against...
  • If Arthas plays as the solo-laner, Leoric can be an extremely annoying hero for your team to play against, due to the fact that Leoric's waveclear is amazing even on level 1, because of his combat trait; Undying Icon Wrath of the Bone King and his ability; Skeletal Swing Icon Skeletal Swing. Even if there are ways for Arthas to win out on trades against him by picking Block Icon Rime level 1, Leoric should always get minion wave priority over him. This take resources from your team to help Arthas clear waves, when they could do something else in order to make it easier to set-up on objectives or even invade mercenary Camps. In short, Leoric destroys the Arthas team's macro potential and if he is ahead on kills, it could be almost impossible to comeback due to level disadvantages under the wrong times, or losing control of the map.
  • In teamfights at and after level 10, Leoric can create serious disruption with the usage of Entomb Icon Entomb. A scenario that could play out may be that Arthas cannot continue his engage or retreat because of Entomb Icon Entomb. Heroes such as HeroIcon chromie Chromie, HeroIcon li-ming Li-Ming, HeroIcon jaina Jaina and many other mages can make short work of Arthas his team, especially during the late game when he has Buried Alive Icon Buried Alive available (the silence effect can disable his Sacrifice Icon Sacrifice), as he can then force kills and control areas such as Boss pits, this often leads to a win if he is successful.
  • Leoric has percentage damage through multiple sources, most commonly Drain Hope Icon Drain Hope and the level 13 attack modifier talent; Spectral Leech Icon Spectral Leech which can prove to be useful against his high health pool.
  • Leoric is a natural counter towards mages and their ability to do damage by either doing lots of damage do their frontline or by simply reducing their damage safely with Ominous Wraith Icon Ominous Wraith level 13.
  • Gazlowe can control Arthas's movement in-and-out off lane, by placing Rock-It! Turret Icon Rock-It! Turret(s) namely in 'bushes' or ahead of his minion wave he can 'demount' Arthas, while also on most maps he can have Turret placements that 'demount' him when he is trying to catch experience Globes under his rotations, slowing him, when he already has problems matching most offlaners waveclear capabilities. Arthas can never actually trade with Gazlowe in a solo lane, because if he would be Rooted by Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast, Gazlowe could then just put his counter measurements by pressing either Deth Lazor IconDeth Lazor or Xplodium Charge Icon Xplodium Charge. In theory, Arthas can never win much or anything against Gazlowe in lane, because if Arthas would walk into the wave and tank it, he would also take damage from Gazlowe's quiet powerful Basic Attacks and all of his Rock It Sock It Icon Rock-It! Turret(s). Arthas in general will waste mana and health for almost nothing.
  • In the mid game when Gazlowe has Overload Icon Overload level 7, and his Heroic abilities available, the more powerful against Arthas being Grav-O-Bomb 3000 Icon Grav-O-Bomb 3000, he can dish out serious damage to both Arthas and his Ghouls when Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is active.
  • In the late game he's even worse, because his strongest 'powerspike' in terms of damage output becomes available, which is Firin Mah Lazorz Icon Firin' Mah Lazorz level 16 he could almost one-shot Arthas with just namely three Rock It Sock It Icon Rock-It! Turret(s) (granted he uses Grav-O-Bomb 3000 Icon Grav-O-Bomb 3000 for the 30% spell power buff and he has the level 13 talent; Overcharged Capacitors Icon Overcharged Capacitors. A dead Arthas would be very useless.
  • Gazlowe is natural counter towards frontliners such as: HeroIcon arthas Arthas, HeroIcon chen Chen, HeroIcon artanis Artanis, HeroIcon johanna Johanna, HeroIcon yrel Yrel and HeroIcon mei Mei that should tank damage namely because he gains benefit from them, like extra combat healing while he also dishes out extremely high amounts of burst damage with abilities and percentage damage through Hyperfocus Coils Icon Hyperfocus Coils level 4. Gazlowe is also good on basically every map, because of his talent flexibility and his ability to control the map through sheer waveclear, push, mercenary camp clear, zoning and combat sustain. Troublesome for a hero such as Arthas who is only viable in one area, playing teamfights and actually winning them, not something he can easily do against a Gazlowe.
  • Gazlowe doesn't have a defined playstyle, he can be a Basic Attacker or a Mage, the mage build is the stronger build individually and in the meta, this means, he doesn't gain much negative effects from Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest like other melee heroes would do.
  • Dehaka is currently Arthas worst solo-lane match-up. First off, Dehaka cannot be outtraded by Arthas to a point where he needs to back is because his trait; Essence Collection Icon Essence Collection, which gives him more than enough sustain to keep on clearing minion waves and potentially 'double-soaking' and there is no way for Arthas to control the macro game because of that. Some objectives will have to be ignored and other things needs to be looked over to gain value of the Arthas pick. Most commonly if you have heroes such as HeroIcon jaina Jaina he has ways to engage on them without Arthas being able to do anything, because of his lack of any interrupts on Drag Icon Drag. Secondly Dehaka is a global-hero using Dehaka Brushstalker3 Brushstalker, those types of heroes can force macro exceptions, clears minion waves over the other offlaner without much downside and also force outnumbered fights. Arthas major problem as a solo-laner is that he has no answer to it and would need to give up on experience in order to help his team who might be in dire need, this can cause level imbalance between the two team which usually will lead to the team with Dehaka closing out the game.
  • In teamfights, Dehaka landing Drag Icon Drag or Isolation Icon Isolation on Arthas could kill him, even though Arthas has access to Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude at level 7 to counter this somewhat, note that Dehaka has effectively two health pools with maximum Essence Collection Icon Essence Collection stacks and he can do it again as soon as Drag Icon Drag is ready on cooldown. He has also a lot of kill threat on backliners that doesn't possess mobility most notably healers.
  • Dehaka is extremely resilient against spell damage, due to having Burrow Icon Burrow, Essence Collection Icon Essence Collection, while the level 1 talent; Dark Swarm Icon Enduring Swarm can make him reduce the damage by having 50 spell armor under Dark Swarm Icon Dark Swarm's whole duration.
  • Jaina is extremely strong versus heroes that are overextended, due to her amazing burst damage. A hero who is most likely overextended would be Arthas, as he is a hero that needs to be in the fray to be at his maximum potential. Jaina's trait; Frostbite IconFrostbite also makes it harder for him to stay on top of enemies with his Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest.
  • Jaina can also provide with effects late game, she can Root for 1 second with Numbing Blast Icon Numbing Blast at level 16 or lay a powerful debuff, that is 20 negative armor from Northern Exposure Icon Northern Exposure at level 16.
  • Jaina has a kit that features several AoE type abilities: Blizzard Icon Blizzard, Cone of Cold Icon Cone of Cold, Ring of Frost Icon Ring of Frost, which are all potent for zoning Arthas and his team while also killing his Ghouls easily when Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is active.
  • Can play the macro game quiet fast, due to her fast waveclear and Arthas doesn't like heroes that can.
  • Forces Arthas to play more linear compared to other assassins he might face. He needs to play more passive against her in general, because of the lack of gap-closers.
  • Chromie is extremely powerful against heroes that doesn't have any innate mobility, such as Arthas. She has a much easier time dealing damage to them and also controlling their movement. Also her long range capabilities makes it hard for Arthas to ever set-up on her, as he could almost never do it.
  • Both of Chromie's Heroic abilities; Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop and Slowing Sands Icon Slowing Sands can be very potent against Arthas, as Temporal Loop can be used on Arthas to kill him, which forces unstoppable cleanse, invulnerable or even Heroics such as HeroIcon alexstrasza Alexstrasza's Life-Binder Icon Life-Binder, HeroIcon kharazim Kharazim's Divine Palm Icon Divine Palm and HeroIcon rehgar Rehgar's Ancestral Healing Icon Ancestral Healing. While Slowing Sands Icon Slowing Sands can demolish Arthas's aggressive positioning, making almost impossible for him to be useful on some areas of most maps that feature choke points, such as the Boss pits on Cursed Hollow and Tomb of the Spider Queen.
  • Because of Arthas rather slow waveclear, he could potentially be ganked by a 2- or 3-man that feature HeroIcon chromie Chromie, when she has Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop at level 8.
  • Can ruin the game some supports that Arthas synergises with, such as HeroIcon deckard Deckard, HeroIcon tyrande Tyrande and HeroIcon lúcio Lúcio. The two first is support listed is mainly because of the lack of hard cleanse (unstoppable), though also limited burst healing, HeroIcon deckard Deckard has a hard time throwing Healing Potion Icon Healing Potion, instead he would maybe need to resort to using his Heroic abilities to try stop HeroIcon chromie Chromie from casting abilities while Temporal Loop Icon Temporal Loop is active. The problem with HeroIcon lúcio Lúcio is that he cannot play as aggressive against a HeroIcon chromie Chromie because of the control she holds over him using Time Trap Icon Time Trap on Terrain and doing damage, when he has limited save potential, due to the lack of burst healing.
  • Tracer has the capability to play aggressive around her enemies as long as they are weak early game, doesn't have reliable engage/crowd control towards her, like Polymorph Icon Polymorph, Hammer of Justice Icon Hammer of Justice and Taunt Icon Taunt. Arthas doesn't provide with anything useful against her, and is also immobile compared to her, it's also very hard for him to even land his Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast even when she doesn't have any Blink (Tracer) Icon Blink charges left, due to her small hitbox. He cannot retreat against her if he is near death.
  • Arthas has very little way to stop her *combo* (Melee Icon Melee > Pulse Bomb Icon Pulse Bomb > Recall Icon Recall).
  • In the late game she becomes particularly powerful against Arthas because of Heavy Handed Icon Heavy Handed level 16 and Get Stuffed! Icon Get Stuffed! level 20. Displacements against Arthas are very powerful in-general, both as a way to peel from him or to isolate him from the rest of him team.
  • Arthas can almost never get full effect of Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest on her, even with Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Waste level 4. So Q talents on Arthas are more advised to to play against her.
  • Mighty Gust Icon Mighty Gust is a super useful Heroic ability to disengage Arthas when he is slowing heroes with Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest
  • Is a global-hero through Flight Flight, which has naturally has good macro and split-push potential.
  • Has access to Sustained Winds Icon Sustained Winds level 13 (which is 'Giant Killer') to deal percentage damage, as well as other sources of burst through his Hammerang Icon Hammerang in particular.
  • He can use Barrel Roll Icon Barrel Roll to dodge Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast or get out of Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest.
  • Wind Tunnel Icon Wind Tunnel level 20, could potentially deny him from using Sacrifice Icon Sacrifice when Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is active, on a secondary note Hammerang Icon Hammerang is also a good ability to kill the Ghouls with.
  • Is a powerpick for many mages and hyper-carries that Arthas is weak against (assassins that are spell damage based), such as: HeroIcon jaina Jaina, HeroIcon li-ming Li-Ming, HeroIcon malthael Malthael, HeroIcon hanzo Hanzo and HeroIcon genji Genji, this is due to her Heroic ability; Nano Boost Icon Nano Boost.
  • Sleep Dart Icon Sleep Dart is a strong ability that can stop Arthas in his tracks to keeping his Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest on his enemies. Due her long range when casting abilities, she can disable him without having to worry about dying. Ana is not weak against frontal attacks, she is weak against attacks that are fast and are focused on the backline, not something Arthas provides.
  • Biotic Enhancements Icon Biotic Grenade is a strong debuff against Arthas who generally needs to live through damage, and this ability takes that away, healing reduction can be enough to get him killed, maybe because he cannot heal himself with with Sacrifice Icon Sacrifice or saves that have been listed such as Ancestral Healing Icon Ancestral Healing and Life-Binder Icon Life-Binder which will then do nothing.
Others
  • Heroes that have mobility/can give mobility or some type of escape: (HeroIcon lunara Lunara, HeroIcon zeratul Zeratul, HeroIcon lúcio Lúcio, HeroIcon genji Genji, HeroIcon junkrat Junkrat, HeroIcon medivh Medivh, HeroIcon anub'arak Anub'arak, HeroIcon tyrael Tyrael, HeroIcon brightwing Brightwing).
  • Hyper-carries that has percentage damage or have long range: (HeroIcon tychus Tychus, HeroIcon zagara Zagara, HeroIcon valla Valla, Zul'jin, HeroIcon sgt. hammer Sgt. Hammer, HeroIcon hanzo Hanzo).
  • Heroes with healing reduction can be strong vs due to being able to killing him more easily: (HeroIcon deckard Deckard, HeroIcon nazeebo Nazeebo, HeroIcon garrosh Garrosh, HeroIcon malthael Malthael, HeroIcon xul Xul, HeroIcon lúcio Lúcio).
  • Heroes with strong innate waveclear capabilities, macro game or global: (HeroIcon xul Xul, HeroIcon zagara Zagara, HeroIcon lost vikings The Lost Vikings, HeroIcon abathur Abathur, HeroIcon deathwingDeathwing, HeroIcon sonya Sonya).
  • Heroes that are weak against interrupts: (HeroIcon sonya Sonya, HeroIcon muradin Muradin, HeroIcon mal'ganis Mal'Ganis, HeroIcon mei Mei, HeroIcon li li Li Li, HeroIcon e.t.c. E.T.C).
  • Heroes that have high AoE damage, as they kill his Ghouls or use them as a source of healing : (HeroIcon kael'thas Kael'thas, HeroIcon valla Valla, HeroIcon fenix Fenix, HeroIcon malthael Malthael, HeroIcon sonya Sonya).
  • Heroes with disengage capabilities or displacement: (HeroIcon garrosh Garrosh, HeroIcon lúcio Lúcio, HeroIcon hogger Hogger, HeroIcon maiev Maiev, HeroIcon li-ming Li-Ming, HeroIcon junkrat Junkrat, HeroIcon stukov Stukov, HeroIcon auriel Auriel).
2. Good against...
  • Diablo's main strengths lie in his notorious Shadow Charge Icon Shadow Charge plus Overpower Icon Overpower combo, which can unconditionally displace and control a target of his choosing, the problem becomes that Arthas can naturally stop heroes that will be diving in for the backline and cannot get out, as his Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest makes sure of that.
  • Diablo's larger hitbox (and lack of mobility) makes it easy for Arthas to set-up with Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast on him.
  • Diablo is in-general bad versus frontline heavy compositions, that can play around the enemies frontline. As Arthas could even work in a comp that features two bruisers.
  • Apocalypse Icon Apocalypse doesn't always get maximum stun value against Arthas, due to Icebound Fortitude Icon Icebound Fortitude at level 7. Lightning Breath Icon Lightning Breath proves to be stronger against Arthas, not will not always prove to be useful enough to counter-engage.
  • Diablo is a tank that should play aggressive and play around the enemies backline instead of peeling from his own. Arthas is a hero that ruins most frontliners engage, as long as they don't have escapes or peeling from his Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest, and Diablo has nothing to stop him if he would ever get into the enemies backline. Diablo is one of the weakest tanks against Arthas because of his kit.
  • Imperius mobility is one of his greatest weaknesses, and further strays on that weakness due to being able to constantly slow him with Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest. Arthas could also occasionally root him with Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast and Frozen Tempest Icon Remorseless Winter at level 16.
  • If Arthas plays against Imperius in the solo-lane, he will win, due to him dealing more damage to him and also clearing minion waves faster because of this. Also Imperius isn't a solo-laner that clears mercenary camps quickly, or plays the macro game, something Arthas normally hates. Exclusive teamfight heroes that are especially melee are overall bad against Arthas.
  • Even though Imperius has the potential to do lots of damage to Arthas mainly through consuming Valorous Brand Icon Valorous Brand and by means of debuffing Arthas with Molten Armor Icon Melting Touch level 16. It's still hard for him unleash all of that damage, because of Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest and its ability to deny him the Basic Attacks he might need to do serious damage, because while slowed it will become way harder to successfully stutter-step. One of his Heroic abilities; Angelic Armaments IconAngelic Armaments damage becomes extremely unreliable against Arthas when Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is active, because of his Ghouls being able to tank skillshots consistently.
  • Imperius low waveclear can prove to be ineffective to kill his Ghouls when Army of the Dead Icon Army of the Dead is active.
  • Imperius is extremely weak against Arthas as the Main Tank, due to not being able to properly peel for his team enough, even with his Celestial Charge Icon Celestial Charge build.
  • Imperius is stronger in the late game, Arthas is initially strong versus late game heroes that lack macro potential alone. Arthas have much stronger early game compared to him in fights.
  • Arthas naturally takes away much of his talent flexibility and his role flexibility as both Colossus Smash Icon Colossus Smash and Twin Blades of Fury Icon Twin Blades of Fury at level 4 becomes drastically weaker due to reliably reducing attack speed and slowing him with Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest in fights, taking away much of his damage in those forms while making it extremely hard for him to pressure key targets in the backline.
  • Varian is predictable and non-macro heavy, but he is quite prominent versus assassins that are weak against crowd control, such as HeroIcon tychus Tychus, HeroIcon tracer Tracer, HeroIcon tassadar Tassadar and HeroIcon valla Valla. The problem is because he doesn't have an escape til he gets Warbringer Icon Warbringer at level 10, and the slow aspect from Frozen Tempest Icon Frozen Tempest as well as the root from Howling Blast Icon Howling Blast can prove to be strong against him, particularly if Arthas team feature a burst heavy team compostition, that way he should not pick Warbringer at level 10 but instead Shield Wall Icon Shield Wall, which is still significantly weaker when trying to kill the backline.
  • Varian is a late game hero because of getting access to his 'Banner talents' at level 16 (most commonly Banner of Dalaran Icon Banner of Dalaran) as well as talents at level 20 such as: Demoralizing Shout Icon Demoralizing Shout and Glory to the Alliance Icon Glory to the Alliance. Arthas can actually control all of Varian's power spikes all the way to the late game, and he can win before the late game even happens, due to how weak Varian is against Arthas even in the mid game.
Others
3. Works well with...
Others


Skins[ | ]

Arthas Skins
 
Rare The Lich King
Backstory: Once the crown prince of Lordaeron, and protégé of Uther the Lightbringer, Arthas was corrupted by the cursed blade Frostmourne in a bid to save his people. Now he rules over the damned as the Lich King and all shall know his wrath.
Arthas The Lich King
Gem625 / Money7,000
The Lich King
Arthas Saronite
Free
Saronite
Arthas Tundra
Free
Tundra
Arthas Tarnished
Gem120 / Shard75
Tarnished
Epic Crown Prince
Backstory: As his hands gripped the hilt of the cursed blade Frostmourne, a dimensional gateway erupted from the icy pedestal, dragging the young prince Arthas into the Nexus.
Features: Replaced voice-over, themed abilities.
Notes: This skin theme is part of a shared theme of character's pre-change skins.
Arthas Crown Prince
Gem350 / Shard400
Arthas Crown Prince Kul Tiras
Gem350 / Shard400
Kul Tiras
Arthas Crown Prince Dalaran
Gem350 / Shard400
Dalaran
Arthas Crown Prince Stromgarde
Gem350 / Shard400
Stromgarde
Rare Death God
Backstory: As Frostmourne devoured more and more souls, the Lich King's dominion over the damned grew ever stronger. It wasn't long before his armor began to manifest changes.
Arthas Death God
Gem120 / Shard75
Arthas Death God Beryl
Gem120 / Shard75
Beryl
Arthas Death God Sanguine
Gem120 / Shard75
Sanguine
Rare Frost Wyrm
Backstory: After the death of the Ashen Verdict's champions none could halt the Lich King's advance. As a reminder of his victory, he grafted the bones of his fallen servants onto his armor.
Notes: This skin theme is part of a shared theme of alternative history skins.
Arthas Frost Wyrm
Gem160 / Shard100
Arthas Frost Wyrm Flesh
Gem160 / Shard100
Flesh
Arthas Frost Wyrm Unholy
Gem160 / Shard100
Unholy
Arthas Frost Wyrm Ruby
Gem160 / Shard100
Ruby
Legendary Mystic Kingdoms
Backstory: Revered for his bravery and martial skill, General Arthas has led his king's armies to countless victories. His loyalty knows no bounds, and nothing can make him break his oath of service.
Features: Themed abilities.
Arthas Mystic Kingdoms
Gem600 / Shard1,200
Arthas Mystic Kingdoms Frozen
Gem600 / Shard1,200
Frozen
Arthas Mystic Kingdoms Shadow
Gem600 / Shard1,200
Shadow
Arthas Mystic Kingdoms Royal
Gem600 / Shard1,200
Royal
Arthas Event Skins
 
Epic Crimson Count Hallow's End
Backstory: Few of Sarah von Kerrigan's suitors are as bold or brash as Marquis Arthas du Menethíl. The Crimson Count hopes their unholy union will spell doom for Raven Court's vampire slayers.
Features: Themed mount, themed abilities.
Notes: This skin theme is part of a shared theme of Raven Court skins.
Arthas Crimson Count
Gem350 / Shard400
Arthas Crimson Count Toxic
Gem350 / Shard400
Toxic
Arthas Crimson Count Shadow
Gem350 / Shard400
Shadow
Arthas Crimson Count Consecrated
Gem350 / Shard400
Consecrated
Legendary King of Blades CraftWars
Backstory: Corrupted by the Zerg's insatiable bloodlust, Arthas turns battlefields to burial grounds as the King of Blades.
Features: Themed animations, Themed abilities
Notes: This skin theme is part of a shared theme of other universes merging into StarCraft skins.
Arthas King of Blades
Gem900 / Shard1,800
Arthas King of Blades Venomous
Gem900 / Shard1,800
Venomous
Arthas King of Blades Lavawrought
Gem900 / Shard1,800
Lavawrought
Arthas Removed Skins
 
Rare Death Knight
Backstory: As the victorious Arthas ascended the Frozen Throne the Lich King's voice echoed through his mind... Without warning, the words pulled away as he found himself in the heart of the Nexus.
Arthas Death Knight 1
Arthas Death Knight 2
Arthas Death Knight 3

Mounts[ | ]

Arthas Mounts
 
Bat Form (Crimson Count Arthas exclusive)
Backstory: Marquis Arthas was never one for intensive study. It is little wonder, then, that his mastery over the power of transformation is somewhat... incomplete. Still, it makes for a fearsome visage.
Bat Form
Free

Portraits[ | ]

Arthas Portraits
 
Arthas Hero Portrait
Arthas Hero
Arthas Mastery Portrait
Arthas Mastery
Azure Lich King Arthas Portrait
Caldeum Complex Azure Lich King Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
Carbot Arthas Portrait
Carbot Arthas
Gem120 / Shard75
Crimson Count Arthas Portrait
Hallow's End Crimson Count Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
Frozen Globe Portrait
Winter Veil Frozen Globe
Gem75 / Shard40
King of Blades Arthas Portrait
CraftWars King of Blades Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40

Marquis du Menethil Portrait
Fall of King's Crest Marquis du Menethil
Gem75 / Shard40
Swarm Coil Portrait
CraftWars Swarm Coil
Gem75 / Shard40
Warcraft III Corrupted Arthas Portrait
Warcraft III Corrupted Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
Warcraft III Death Knight Arthas Portrait
Warcraft III Death Knight Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
Warcraft III Prince Arthas Portrait
Warcraft III Prince Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
WoW Lich King Arthas Portrait
WoW Lich King Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40

Sprays[ | ]

Arthas Sprays
 
Army of my Friends Spray
Army of my Friends
Gem250 / Shard300
Arthas Pixel Spray
Arthas Pixel
Gem75 / Shard40
Carbot Arthas Spray
Carbot Arthas
Gem120 / Shard75
Crimson Count Arthas Spray
Hallow's End Crimson Count Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
El Rey Arthas Spray
Nexomania El Rey Arthas
Gem75 / Shard40
Emoji Arthas Spray
Emoji Arthas
Gem120 / Shard75
Lunar Arthas Lantern Spray
Lunar Festival Lunar Arthas Lantern
Gem120 / Shard75

Emojis[ | ]

Arthas Pack 1 Emoji Arthas Pack 1 Arthas Happy Arthas Pack 2 Emoji Arthas Pack 2 Arthas Angry
Emoji Name Shortcut Emoji Name Shortcut
Emoji Arthas Pack 1 Arthas Happy Arthas Happy :arthashappy:
:arthhappy:
Emoji Arthas Pack 2 Arthas Angry Arthas Angry :arthasangry:
:arthangry:
Emoji Arthas Pack 1 Arthas ROFL Arthas ROFL :arthaslol:
:arthasrofl:
:arthlol:
:arthrofl:
Emoji Arthas Pack 2 Arthas Cool Arthas Cool :arthascool:
:arthcool:
Emoji Arthas Pack 1 Arthas Sad Arthas Sad :arthassad:
:arthsad:
Emoji Arthas Pack 2 Arthas Oops Arthas Embarrassed :arthasoops:
:arthasembarrassed:
:arthoops:
:arthembarrassed:
Emoji Arthas Pack 1 Arthas Silly Arthas Silly :arthassilly:
:arthsilly:
Emoji Arthas Pack 2 Arthas Love Arthas in Love :arthaslove:
:arthasinlove:
:arthlove:
:arthinlove:
Emoji Arthas Pack 1 Arthas Meh Arthas Speechless :arthasmeh:
:arthasspeechless:
:arthmeh:
:arthspeechless:
Emoji Arthas Pack 2 Arthas Surprised Arthas Surprised :arthaswow:
:arthassurprised:
:arthwow:
:arthsurprised:
Hallow's End Crimson Count Arthas Pack 1 Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 1 Crimson Count Arthas Happy Hallow's End Crimson Count Arthas Pack 2 Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 2 Crimson Count Arthas Angry
Emoji Name Shortcut Emoji Name Shortcut
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 1 Crimson Count Arthas Happy Crimson Count Arthas Happy :arthascrimsoncounthappy:
:arthcchappy:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 2 Crimson Count Arthas Angry Crimson Count Arthas Angry :arthascrimsoncountangry:
:arthccangry:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 1 Crimson Count Arthas ROFL Crimson Count Arthas ROFL :arthascrimsoncountlol:
:arthascrimsoncountrofl:
:arthcclol:
:arthccrofl:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 2 Crimson Count Arthas Cool Crimson Count Arthas Cool :arthascrimsoncountcool:
:arthcccool:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 1 Crimson Count Arthas Sad Crimson Count Arthas Sad :arthascrimsoncountsad:
:arthccsad:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 2 Crimson Count Arthas Oops Crimson Count Arthas Embarrassed :arthascrimsoncountoops:
:arthascrimsoncountembarrassed:
:arthccoops:
:arthccembarrassed:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 1 Crimson Count Arthas Silly Crimson Count Arthas Silly :arthascrimsoncountsilly:
:arthccsilly:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 2 Crimson Count Arthas Love Crimson Count Arthas in Love :arthascrimsoncountlove:
:arthascrimsoncountinlove:
:arthcclove:
:arthccinlove:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 1 Crimson Count Arthas Meh Crimson Count Arthas Speechless :arthascrimsoncountmeh:
:arthascrimsoncountspeechless:
:arthccmeh:
:arthccspeechless:
Emoji Arthas Crimson Count Pack 2 Crimson Count Arthas Surprised Crimson Count Arthas Surprised :arthascrimsoncountwow:
:arthascrimsoncountsurprised:
:arthccwow:
:arthccsurprised:

Quotes[ | ]

Main article: Arthas/Quotes


Trivia[ | ]

  • Arthas first appeared in the novel Warcraft: Of Blood and Honor (January 2001). His first in-game appearance was in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (July 2002).
  • In Warcraft III, Arthas is voiced by Justin Gross. In subsequent appearances, he is voiced by Patrick Seitz (paladin/death knight Arthas) and Michael McConnohie (Lich King Arthas).
  • Arthas was one of the 18 heroes revealed at BlizzCon 2013.
  • Arthas's model was designed first and his role in the game was decided upon later.[2]
  • Blizzard considered giving Crown Prince Arthas a hammer, but that would have required additional animation work, in addition to conflicting with Uther and creating confusion. They also considered making paladin Arthas a skin for Uther, rather than Arthas, but that would have opened another can of worms. Ultimately, they decided to depict paladin Arthas immediately after he picked up Frostmourne. That meant his animations could stay the same, and since he still had his sword he was still recognizable as Arthas.[3][4]
  • NECA revealed the Heroes of the Storm Arthas action figure at SDCC 2015.[5]
  • Arthas's "hail to the king" quote references a line spoken by Ash Williams in Army of Darkness (February 1993).
  • Arthas's "looking for a few dead men" quote references a 1985 United States Marine Corps commercial.
  • Arthas's "my condition has left me cold" quote references a line spoken by Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin (June 1997).
  • Arthas's "no man can defeat me" quote references a line spoken by the Witch-king of Angmar in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (December 2003).
  • Some of Arthas's quotes reference the running joke about Darkness.

Gallery[ | ]

General[ | ]

Concept art[ | ]

Abilities[ | ]

Prerelease[ | ]

Videos[ | ]

References[ | ]

External links[ | ]


Heroes
 
Bruiser Bruisers ArtanisChenDeathwingDehakaD.VaGazloweHoggerImperiusLeoricMalthaelRagnarosRexxarSonyaThrallVarianXulYrel
Healer Healers AlexstraszaAnaAnduinAurielBrightwingDeckardKharazimLi LiLt. MoralesLúcioMalfurionRehgarStukovUtherTyrandeWhitemane
Melee Assassin Melee Assassins AlarakThe ButcherIllidanKerriganMaievMurkyQhiraSamuroValeeraZeratul
Ranged Assassin Ranged Assassins AzmodanCassiaChromieFalstadFenixGallGenjiGreymaneGul'danHanzoJainaJunkratKael'thasKel'ThuzadLi-MingLunaraMephistoNazeeboNovaOrpheaProbiusRaynorSgt. HammerSylvanasTassadarTracerTychusVallaZagaraZul'jin
Support Support AbathurThe Lost VikingsMedivhZarya
Tank Tanks Anub'arakArthasBlazeChoDiabloE.T.C.GarroshJohannaMal'GanisMeiMuradinStitchesTyrael
Unknown Mekkatorque
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