Passive
Star Trail
Buff
Astral Spheres summoned by Novaria will continuously slow nearby enemies by 20% and grant vision of them for 2 seconds.
Always active — no cooldown
Novaria
BTierPoke mage who slows and reveals from range, and can walk straight through walls
MageMid LaneDeals magic
Novaria is a mid-lane mage who wins fights from range before they start, dropping Astral Meteor's slowing sphere to poke and zone. Astral Recall lets her pass through terrain to reposition or launch a bursting sphere at range, and Astral Echo's enlarged hitbox debuff turns even evasive targets into easy follow-up damage for her team.
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Specialities
- BurstPoke
Landing Astral Meteor and Astral Recall's sphere from max range while using Astral Recall's wall-crossing to reposition safely takes real map awareness and timing.
- Beaten by
- 105 hard
- Strong into
- 8
- Best duos
- 10
- Builds
- 2
At a glance
When Novaria is strong
Attributes
- Damage
- 8
- Durability
- 3
- Crowd Control
- 6
- Mobility
- 7
- Utility
- 6
Strengths
- Astral Meteor pokes and slows from long range, then explodes into burst damage that scales with the enemy's max HP
- Astral Recall lets her pass through walls to reposition, escape, or set up an unexpected angle of attack
- Astral Echo's enlarged hitbox and reveal debuff make it far easier for her team to land follow-up skillshots
- Star Trail grants vision on anyone caught near an Astral Sphere, denying enemy positioning information
Weaknesses
- Very low HP and no shield, dying quickly to any assassin or fighter who closes the distance
- Astral Meteor and Astral Recall's sphere both take time to land, giving mobile targets a window to dodge
- Astral Echo has a long 45-second cooldown and doesn't deal significant damage on its own
- Wall-crossing mobility from Astral Recall only grants a movement speed bonus, not a hard escape from CC
Skills
Max Astral Meteor first for the poke and burst damage, level Astral Recall whenever available for the mobility and secondary burst, and take Astral Echo at levels 4, 8 and 12.
Skill 1
Astral Meteor
SlowAOE
Novaria summons an Astral Sphere at the target location. continuously dealing 75–150 (+25% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to nearby enemies. After 2 seconds, the sphere will explode, dealing 260–385 (+50% Total Magic Power) (+enemy's 4%–6% Total HP) Magic Damage to nearby enemies, and increasing Astral Sphere's slow effect to 2.5 times the original slow effect (50% slow).
- Cooldown
- 8s
- Mana
- 60 → 110
Skill 2
Astral Recall
BurstBuff
Novaria summons an Astral Sphere at a distance and draws it towards her. At the same time, Novaria gains 20% Movement Speed and can pass through terrain. Passing through a wall will increase the Movement bonus to 60%. When the Astral Sphere reaches Novaria, she can launch it in a target direction within 5 seconds. The sphere will explode when hitting an enemy hero, dealing 260–385 (+50% Total Magic Power) (+enemy's 4%–6% Total HP) Magic Damage.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
- Cooldown
- 8s
- Mana
- 120 → 270
Ultimate
Astral Echo
Buff
Novaria scatters Astral Echo in the target direction, briefly slowing enemy heroes hit by 50% (for approximately 0.8 seconds) while applying Astral Ring on them, increasing their hitbox by 2.5 times and revealing their surrounding area. This effect lasts 5 seconds.
- Cooldown
- 45s
- Mana
- 150 → 0
What the terms mean(1)
- Hitbox
- The contact area of a unit that can be hit by non-lock-on attacks.
Signature combo
Astral Meteor onto a target's position to slow and poke → Astral Recall's sphere thrown for the burst hit → Astral Echo to enlarge their hitbox and lock in the follow-up before finishing with basic attacks.
Novaria builds
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
Standard Poke Burst
8,000g total
Default mid-lane pick for zoning lanes and poking fights from range.
Battle spell
Flicker120s CDThe 'Flicker combo' — blinking in right as a hook or stun lands, or blinking out the instant an enemy ultimate is cast — is the single most common high-elo outplay moment in the game.
Swap in when needed
Ice Queen Wand — Against dash-heavy assassins or marksmen closing distance through your slow zones.
Winter Crown — As burst insurance since dive comps can reach you before Astral Recall's escape is up.
Divine Glaive — Against a stacked magic-defense tank line absorbing your poke damage.
Full Burst
7,690g total
When you want to threaten a one-rotation kill on priority targets rather than sustain poke over a longer fight.
Battle spell
Sprint100s CDUnlike Purify, Sprint does nothing against stuns or roots already applied — it only prevents future slows and outruns melee threats, so it's best on heroes who aren't the primary CC target.
Swap in when needed
Ice Queen Wand — Against dash-heavy assassins or marksmen closing distance through your slow zones.
Winter Crown — As burst insurance since dive comps can reach you before Astral Recall's escape is up.
Queen's Wings — Against dive comps once you're the priority kill target.
Who counters Novaria
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
NataliaAssassinHardNatalia's stealth lets her close the distance completely undetected and burst Novaria down before Astral Recall's mobility can be used to escape.
HanzoAssassinHardKinjutsu: Pinnacle Ninja turns Hanzo into Hanekage, which charges straight through terrain at her while his real body sits somewhere else invincible, so Novaria's zone-based kiting has nothing to punish and Forbidden Ninjutsu: Soul Snatch bursts her before Astral Meteor's ticks matter.
AldousFighterHardAldous's Contract: Chase Fate dash closes huge distances and reveals her even through Astral Recall's wall-crossing, and a single stacked Soul Steal hit can outright kill her.
HayabusaAssassinHardNinjutsu: Quad Shadow dashes him out of a skillshot and scatters four phantoms in separate directions, so Astral Meteor and Astral Recall's sphere both miss, and Ougi: Shadow Kill bursts her from the shadows.
ValentinaMageHardI Am You lets Valentina cast Astral Echo straight back at her and take her form, and Arcane Shade's recastable dash crosses Astral Meteor's slow zone without losing tempo.
ZilongFighter · AssassinSoftSpear Strike lunges straight onto her, and Supreme Warrior strips his slows and grants outright Slow Immunity, so Astral Meteor's zone does nothing to stop the chase.
HildaFighter · TankSoftBlessing of Wilderness hands Hilda a shield worth 15% of her max HP every time she leaves a bush plus constant regen inside one, so she soaks Astral Meteor's poke on the approach and the sphere's burst alone rarely finishes her.
MoskovMarksmanSoftSpear of Destruction pierces through everything in a line and matches or exceeds Novaria's range, letting Moskov win a straight poke war and punish her whenever she's out of position.
LunoxMageSoftChaos Assault tears a slice of Novaria's max HP off from range, and the Spell Vamp Dreamland Twist grants heals Lunox back through Astral Meteor's poke faster than the sphere chips her.
KhaleedFighterSoftRaging Sandstorm charges the whole gap while Khaleed is immune to control, and Quicksand Guard restores a chunk of his lost HP every half-second, sustaining him through Astral Meteor's poke on the way in.
Items to build against Novaria
Tough BootsCuts the slow duration from Astral Meteor and Astral Echo, making it easier to walk out of her zones.- Winter CrownNegates a full Astral Meteor-into-Astral Recall burst combo outright.
Athena's ShieldThe magic damage reduction blunts her burst combo in a short trade.
Radiant ArmorStacking magic damage reduction wins the extended poke war against her sustained Astral Meteor ticks.
Novaria is strong into
Heroes whose own counter list names Novaria — the same matchup, read from the other side.
BaneFighter · MageSoftNovaria's long-range poke and slow zone chip Bane down before he can close in with Movement Speed steroids alone.
CarmillaSupport · TankSoftAstral Echo's 50% slow and enlarged hitbox let her chip Carmilla down from far outside Bloodbath's range, and Astral Recall walks her through terrain away from Curse of Blood entirely.
CecilionMageSoftHer Astral Spheres slow everything near them and Astral Echo enlarges his hitbox while revealing him, poking Cecilion down and forcing him off position before he can safely channel his ultimate.
LeomordFighterSoftNovaria's ultimate enlarges enemy hitboxes, making Leomord an easier target for her ranged burst to land from a safe distance.
LukasFighterSoftAstral Meteor pokes from well outside Basic Attack range and Astral Recall walks her through terrain the moment he closes, denying Lukas the sustained attacks Flash Combo depends on.
Luo YiMageSoftNovaria fights from well outside sigil range and slips through terrain with Astral Recall, so Luo Yi never gets two opposite sigils onto her at all.
Who to pair Novaria with
Duo partners whose kit completes this one.
NatanMarksmanNovaria's Astral Echo enlarges a target's hitbox and reveals them, making it far easier for Natan's Superposition and his Reverse-Clone's mirrored volley to land.
HarleyAssassin · MageAstral Echo's enlarged hitbox and reveal make Harley's Poker Trick waves far more reliable against an otherwise evasive target, and Novaria's slow keeps them in range for him to keep hitting the Deadly Magic ring.
AamonAssassinNovaria's slow zones deny a target's ability to kite away from Aamon's shards, letting him land his full burst and slip back into the Camouflage state Invisible Armor grants him.
HarithMageNovaria's slow zones and vision reveal let Harith safely dash in for poke, and Astral Echo's enlarged hitbox helps his own skillshots land on a kiting target.
GlooTankStick, Stick stacks bleed a target's Movement Speed and cut the damage they can do back, keeping them inside Astral Meteor's zone for its full duration instead of letting them walk out.
GusionAssassinAstral Echo's enlarged hitbox makes Gusion's dagger throws far easier to land, and Novaria's slow field keeps a target close enough for his teleport-to-dagger combo to chain fully.- HayabusaAssassinOugi: Shadow Kill prioritises enemies carrying Shadow Mark, and Astral Echo's reveal and enlarged hitbox make it far easier for Hayabusa to land the hits that apply those marks in the first place.
BaxiaTankBaxia's frontline tankiness and shield let him hold the front row while Novaria pokes safely from range behind him with Astral Meteor.
GrockTank · FighterEarthen Rampart drops a stone wall that boxes enemies inside Novaria's Astral Meteor zone, denying their escape from the slow and burst while Bastion of Stone keeps Grock shielded at the front.
SaberAssassinSaber's Triple Sweep knocks a target airborne for 1.2 seconds, giving Novaria a guaranteed window to land Astral Recall's sphere and Astral Echo without them moving out of range.
Playing Novaria well
- 1
Place Astral Meteor on a choke point or objective fight before enemies arrive, so the explosion lands the moment they group up
- 2
Use Astral Recall's wall-crossing to rotate between lanes or dodge an ultimate mid-cast, not just to poke
- 3
Save Astral Echo for a target trying to kite out of your other skills — the enlarged hitbox makes your own follow-up skillshots land
- 4
Bait a dash or blink with Astral Meteor's visible sphere before committing your own combo, since the slow punishes anyone who walks through it
Novaria — common questions
Is Novaria good for beginners?
She's moderately difficult — her damage numbers are strong, but landing Astral Meteor and Astral Recall's sphere from max range while using the wall-crossing mobility well takes practice.
What is the best build for Novaria?
Arcane Boots into Clock of Destiny, Lightning Truncheon, and Holy Crystal covers scaling poke damage. Switch to Genius Wand and Divine Glaive when you need a faster burst rotation instead.
Which heroes counter Novaria?
Hanzo's Hanekage form charges through terrain to reach her while his real body stays invincible, Natalia's stealth lets her close in undetected, and Aldous's dash closes distance even through her wall-crossing escape.
What emblem should Novaria use?
Mage emblem with Inspire for cooldown reduction, Tenacity for survivability, and Lethal Ignition for extra burst on the opening combo.
