Arena of Valor
Arena of Valor, formerly Strike of Kings, is an international adaptation of Honor of Kings, a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Level Infinite for Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch for markets outside mainland China. As of September 2018, the game has grossed over outside China. Arena of Valor was one of the esports titles featured at the 2018 Asian Games, 2019 Southeast Asian Games, 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, and 2021 SEA Games as part of the competitive sport. Arena of Valor was published in other regions by Garena, DeNA, Actoz SG, and TiMi Studio Group.
Gameplay
Arena of Valor is a multiplayer online battle arena game developed for mobile. The overall gameplay of Arena of Valor highly resembles League of Legends, a MOBA game on PC developed and published by Riot Games, which is also a subsidiary of Tencent and a sister company to TiMi.Players control characters known as heroes, each possessing a unique set of abilities. Heroes begin the game at a low level and can earn gold and experience through various means: killing non-player creatures such as minions or monsters, vanquishing other players, destroying structures, passively over time, and via special items that can be purchased in the shop. Earning experience unlocks and enhances abilities, making the hero more powerful. Items bought in the shop do not carry over to subsequent matches, ensuring that all players start each match on equal footing.
Matches give players rewards, such as gold, which can then be used to buy a variety of heroes or arcana. In addition to this, players can play a 'Ranked' match type, which allows them to be matched with players who are at their skill level and be assessed through in-game 'ranks'. Stars are earned for a victory and lost when the player loses.
Game modes
There are various game modes in Arena of Valor, with "5v5" most commonly referred to as Grand Battle or Ranked Match, played on the Antaris Battlefield and being the most popular. Players compete in these matches which on average last for around 12 – 18 minutes. Players aim to destroy the enemy's turrets on the map and secure objectives such as killing Abyssal Dragon and Dark Slayer, with the victory condition being to destroy the enemy's core.Black City Arena is a 1v1 game mode with only one lane, two brushes at the left and right side of the horizontal battlefield, an HP pot, one tower, and one core for blue and red. Shadow Duel is a 3v3 game mode on Flatland Battlefield, using a much smaller map.
Abyssal Clash is a 5v5 game mode where players are given randomly selected heroes. Players may choose to re-roll once and receive a different hero. The game map, Abyss Canyon, only has one lane, with two turrets and a core base connected at either end of the lane. There are certain restrictions which do not appear in the default 5v5 mode: Items may only be purchased before leaving the base or upon death and hero healing at the team base is disabled. There are health regeneration runes that appear next to each turret, which provide heroes with a small regeneration effect.
Hook Wars is one of the arcade game modes. The game map, Treasure Bay, is made up of two large connected vessels. Although this game mode is also 5v5, there are no minions, turrets, or bases in this mode. Each player is able to use a Hook as a special ability, which can grab an enemy on the opposite boat or from long distances. Players aim to capture the Control Zone, located at the center of the map, and hold the zone for a certain duration. The capture rate increases with the number of players standing within the zone.
Football Fever is a 3v3, arcade game mode. Death Match is a 2v2v2v2v2 arcade game mode on a game map known as Death Realm. Gladiator's Summit is a 5v5, arcade game mode. Mayhem Mode is a 10v10, arcade game mode. Duo-Race is a co-op racing mode.
Hero types
There are 123 heroes in Arena of Valor as of June 1, 2025. Arena of Valor divides the heroes into numerous categories that each play different roles. The most notable difference is the type of damage a hero deals - some heroes deal physical damage, which can be countered by the armor stat, whilst other heroes deal mainly magic damage, which is countered by the magic resistance stat. Some heroes deal both types of damage, and some deal 'true' damage, which cannot be countered by either armor or magic resistance. All heroes are classified as one of six categories, with some heroes overlapping multiple categories.- Marksman: Also known as "AD Carry/ADC", marksmen are ranged heroes that usually deal physical damage mostly through their auto attack. This hero type deals sustained damage, and therefore is useful in teamfights in order to reduce the opponent's health. They are also very efficient in taking objectives such as turrets. However, they are often fragile and vulnerable. Examples of marksmen are Violet, Valhein, and Yorn.
- Mage: Mages are sometimes known as "AP Carry/APC". These heroes deal a high amount of burst magic damage. Some mages are fragile while some mages are more durable depending on the respective itemization. Mages are a mix of ranged heroes, which deal damage from afar, or melee heroes, which deal damage from close distances. Examples of mages are Raz, Krixi, and Zata.
- Assassin: These are heroes that are designed to deal large amounts of damage quickly, and often do not have much health. Assassins often search for the enemy marksman or mage as well as any other fragile heroes to eliminate quickly. They are also responsible for shutting down enemies that are on a killing spree. They have high mobility and burst damage for focusing valuable enemy targets. Examples of assassins are Murad, Nakroth, and Wukong.
- Tank: Tanks are heroes that have large amounts of HP and usually build completely defensive to be able to soak damage for the team. As a result, they often deal little damage. However, they often have abilities known as 'crowd control' that allow them to inhibit the movement of the enemy team. In addition to this, they can use these abilities to initiate a teamfight, or to prevent the enemy team from attacking high priority targets such as an ally marksman or mage. Examples of tanks are Grakk, Thane, and Toro.
- Warrior: Heroes that blend the attributes of damage dealer and tank, combining moderate survivability with respectable damage. Warriors usually have a balanced amount of health, defense, and attack damage, which is a common designation for close-range melee duelists. Thus, they are able to survive long periods of fighting and excel in doing continuous sustained damage. Warriors are all-rounded and tend to be extremely strong in 1v1 scenarios. Examples of warriors are Florentino, Arthur, and Lu Bu.
- Support: Heroes whose abilities aid the rest of the team by providing healing, buffing allies, debuffing the enemy team, or a combination of the above. Support heroes are often paired with the marksman in the early laning phase of the game where the support doesn't kill minions but instead focuses on aiding their partner and harassing the enemy heroes. Support heroes usually aid ally marksmen as they are often weaker during the early phase of the game and need assistance in order to survive. Examples of supports are Alice, Annette, and Aya.
History
Pre-release
After Tencent fully acquired Riot Games in 2015, Tencent asked them to make a mobile version of League of Legends, as multiplayer online battle arena games were very rare on mobile at the time, with Vainglory by Super Evil Megacorp being the only notable title. Tencent wanted to seize the opportunity to dominate the mobile market because there were not any strong competitors aside from Vainglory. However, Riot Games declined due to mobile not commonly being seen as the platform for competitive games, and claimed that the gameplay of League of Legends could not be replicated on smartphones. Be that as it may, Tencent was still determined to launch a MOBA game on mobile. After receiving the refusal from Riot Games, Lightspeed & Quantum Studios and TiMi Studios raced to develop a MOBA game that fit the bill, resulting an internal competition.Lightspeed & Quantum's We MOBA and TiMi's League of Kings were launched on the same day, on August 18, 2015. A month later, We MOBA was already the third most downloaded mobile game on Apple's iOS worldwide, according to app analytics firm App Annie, while League of Kings was nowhere near We MOBA. League of Kings was then taken down for an overhaul, and was relaunched in October 2015. TiMi Studios used League of Legends as a base model to overhaul League of Kings, resulting in both games having a lot of similarities. TiMi Studios also implemented a 5v5 game mode into League of Kings due to the game previously having poor reception with the 3v3 concept. This time, League of Kings successfully overtook We MOBA and won the internal competition. Tencent relished and invested additional resources into League of Kings to ensure its success.
Nevertheless, Riot Games deemed that the design of characters and abilities in League of Kings were "blatantly ripping off the intellectual property of League of Legends" after they discovered how the game was produced, and reportedly brought these concerns to Tencent. Tencent responded that they would change its own game enough to sell as a standalone product with no relation to League of Legends. Despite this, League of Kings had already gained massive popularity in China at this point due to the game being advertised as "mobile version of League of Legends" through social media and word-of-mouth marketing. Tencent felt that it was too late to make huge changes to the game, so they renamed League of Kings to Honor of Kings on November 26, 2015, and it only went through necessary changes. The international release of Honor of Kings was canceled, and the game would have a western twin for markets outside mainland China which is rebranded and featured different contents, leading to the creation of Arena of Valor, which also served as a response to Riot Games's complaints of "potential intellectual property infringement".