Arena of Valor Closed Nintendo Switch Beta Beginner's Guide

So you were lucky enough to receive one of the Closed Beta keys for Arena of Valor on the Nintendo Switch. You’re fired up for some cool MOBA action, but you don’t know where to start. Luckily for you we have you covered right here, just follow these quick steps and you’re on your way.

First, the email with the code just threw a bunch of random letters and numbers at you and you might not know where they go. That’s easy: boot up the Switch, head over to the eShop (the shopping bag logo on the bottom row), scroll all the way down the menu to “Redeem Code”, and BOOM. Enter the code, download the game, and you’re on your way to MOBA madness.

For those who knew that already and just want to throw down, the first thing you’ll see when you boot the game up and get past the menu prompts is the Tutorial, where you’ll learn the basics of not just Arena of Valor, but MOBAs in general. It’s a two-part tutorial that gets really in-depth about what AoV is all about, something new players will appreciate, but MOBA veterans will be able to fly through.

Stage 1 of the tutorial is as basic as it gets, as You’ll learn the basics like moving and attacking, you’ll learn about minions both friendly and enemy and how to effectively manage them in battle. You’ll meet (and take down) your first enemy hero. Finally, you’ll see your first Tower - learning that you shouldn’t ever attack one directly - and your first Core, the main objective of the game. Destroy the Core to complete the stage and move on to Stage 2.

Stage 2 introduces the entire battlefield, introducing the lanes and jungle areas of the standard map. It explains how you must destroy all of the towers in a single lane before reaching the core. Right before the match kicks off, though, this stage shows one of the most important parts of Arena of Valor: the item shop. Your hero will earn Gold during the match used to buy items and upgrades called Equipment on the fly via D-Pad Left. This is essential to winning the game; trying to win without making this a regular action means certain failure. One quick note: the Equipment loadout can be customized before every battle, so make sure you bring what you want. After buying the only item available - the Attack-boosting Short Sword - just charge up the center lane with your minions and AI heroes and take out the Core.  

After victory you unlock a second hero we believe at random (on mobile we got Arthur after Stage 2 and on Switch we got Zanis) and it’s finally time to play a real match. Ranked isn’t unlocked yet, but you can head into Standard Match and get your first taste of Arena of Valor in action. There are four match types: the standard 5v5 Grand Battle, a 3v3 Valley Skirmish, a 5v5 “Abyssal Clash” which unlocks at Level 5, and 1v1 Solo battles.

Picking a hero may be intimidating, as the game gives you about a dozen to choose from, but we have found that finding the best hero type for you requires trial and error. Like charging into battle and absorbing as much damage as possible? Take a Tank like Thane or Ormarr and get swinging. Long distance attacks more your thing? Lock and load with Valhein or Violet and shoot to win. There’s also Mages, Assassins, and Support to consider too, so experiment with different heroes and find your niche.

There’s two other aspects of AoV to consider, but both are pretty easy to wrap your head around. The first is Talents, an extra ability that can be equipped to a hero before battle. The first you’ll unlock is Sprint, which increases movement speed for a brief period, but there’s also Execute which quickly takes a huge chunk of damage, Punish which deals heavy damage to non-heroes, and Roar which buffs attack speed and damage for five seconds. These are simply for adding a small bit of extra strategy to your loadout, but make sure the Talent fits the Hero or else the effect will be lessened.

The second is Arcana, which unlocks at Level 4, and these are persistent buffs that can be equipped a la Talents before a battle. There are three levels of Arcana, each adding extra buffs as they are equipped, and there are many different Arcana to choose from. Level 1 Arcana focus on one stat, but the higher levels start to get crazy. Take Benevolence, a Level 3 Arcana that buffs Max HP 45 points, adds health regeneration at 5.2 points every five seconds, and increases movement speed by 0.4%. That’s a solid amount of buffs for one equip, and hopefully that shows how useful Arcana can be.

With this primer you’ll be ready for anything Arena of Valor dishes out. The Arena of Valor Closed Beta on Switch only runs for a brief time, from June 28 to July 12, but the game is currently available on mobile if you decide you want in and you can’t wait for the full Switch launch. Happy battling, and may the odds be ever in your favor...or something like that.