Area of Effect

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Overview

Area of Effect (or AoE) is a term used in many role-playing games to describe attacks or spells which affect multiple targets within a pre-determined radius set by the game mechanics. These effects range from Healing over Time spells to Direct Damage spells and cover all points in between.

Definition in Dota

Most spells that deal AoE damage, like Scorched Earth and Light Strike Array have a circular AOE. Numerical values for the AoE refer to the radius of this circle. This radius is applicable even for spells that do not have the shape of a circle; the cone shape of Carrion Swarm, for example, can be modeled by a series of increasingly larger circles starting from the caster. In general, all units that overlap with the spell's AoE are affected, i.e. they need not be completely inside the AoE.

Physical AoE damage also exists: Cleave for melee heroes, and Splash and Medusa's Split Shot among ranged heroes. The former can be obtained through skills (Magnataur's Mighty Swing and Sven's Great Cleave) or the purchase of a Battle Fury. Splash damage, on the other hand, exists only on Levels 2 and 3 of Elder Dragon Form and in Rhasta's Serpent Wards.

In short, everything which deals damage within an area and affects multiple targets is considered AoE.

Use of Area of Effect skills

AoE skills are valued for their ability to quickly damage multiple enemy heroes; when used in close succession with allies, they have the potential to kill an entire enemy team in a matter of seconds. The main difficulty is simply timing and targeting the spell to hit as many enemies as possible. Several AoE Stuns (Light Strike Array, Split Earth) even have an extra Casting Delay that requires players to predict the location of an enemy hero a moment later. For this reason, skills that forcefully move or immobilize multiple enemies are highly favored for their synergy with AoE skills. The best examples of these are Ultimate abilities, e.g. Reverse Polarity, Black Hole, Lightning Grapple, and Overgrowth, although basic skills that serve this purpose certainly exist as well, particularly Vacuum.

AoE is also essential in Pushing and Farming, both of which involve the rapid clearing of Creep waves. Compared to attacking every single enemy unit manually, simply using a combination of AoE skills is both safer and much faster.