Crystal Maiden
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Version Control
This article is mostly accurate for the latest version of the game (7.37d), in which this hero/item was changed.
It has no changes in the current game version — 7.37e.
Crystal Maiden
17 + 2.2
16 + 1.8
18 + 3.3
| Grants the following bonuses per attribute point: | |
|
+22HP and +0.1HP regeneration |
|
+0.17 armor and 1 attack speed |
|
+12MP and +0.05MP regeneration +0.1% base magic resistance +1 Main Attack Damage |
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900 Projectile Speed
| ||
100 (116)
(1.7 BAT) | ||
0.45 + 0
| ||
0.6
| ||
Ice
Gib Type | ||
2010-11-01
Released | ||
2004-02-03
(v0.60) | ||
Competitive Span
2010-11-01 — Present |
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| Unleashes a high damage blizzard upon her foes. | |
|---|---|
| Wherever Rylai went, the cold went with her. Fields and orchards withered in her wake, leaving her parents no choice but to pack her off to Icewrack, a realm in the frigid north. Under the tutelage of a hermit wizard, Rylai learned to imprison her enemies with a Thick Block of Ice, holding them in place as she Freezes the Ground. Magic flourishes under her, stimulating Arcane Energy Regeneration in all her companions. In the heat of battle, Rylai keeps a cool head. Channeling her Elemental Talents, the Crystal Maiden summons enormous shards of ice from the skies, obliterating all foes foolish enough to remain in her Freezing Field. | |
       | |
| Roles: |  Support  Disabler  Nuker |
| Adjectives | Blue, Cape, Cute, Female, Icy, Nose Legs ( 2 ) |
Facets[edit]
Frozen Expanse
Passively grants Crystal Maiden cast range bonus and area-of-effect bonus.
This ability component levels up with Freezing Field.
This ability component levels up with Freezing Field.
Cold Comfort
Whenever the Maiden casts an ability, the Arcane Aura replenishes mana correspondingly to the ability's mana cost to allied units within the radius.
Blueheart Floe grants a greater self mana regeneration amplification.
+25% Self Mana Regen Amp
Upgrades[edit]
Aghanim's[edit]
Grants the Stop Freezing Field ability.
Rylai commands the Freezing Field to halt as she wishes. She can now move, albeit slower, cast other abilities and attack during Freezing Field. Can still be interrupted by enemies.
Rylai commands the Freezing Field to halt as she wishes. She can now move, albeit slower, cast other abilities and attack during Freezing Field. Can still be interrupted by enemies.
Increases both the frequency and the number of icy explosions.
Applies Frostbite to enemy units that has been standing in the Freezing Field for over a certain duration.
Applies Frostbite to enemy units that has been standing in the Freezing Field for over a certain duration.
Grants the Crystal Clone ability.
Creates a Crystal Clone of Rylai in her place while sliding to the area-targeted direction and disjointing incoming projectiles.
If the Crystal Clone takes enough damage or times out, it shatters, and applies Frostbite of its corresponding level to enemies within the radius.
Creates a Crystal Clone of Rylai in her place while sliding to the area-targeted direction and disjointing incoming projectiles.
If the Crystal Clone takes enough damage or times out, it shatters, and applies Frostbite of its corresponding level to enemies within the radius.
Talents[edit]
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| +300 Crystal Nova Damage | 25 | +1s Frostbite Duration |
| +50 Freezing Field Damage | 20 | +225 Attack Speed |
| -4.5s Crystal Nova Cooldown | 15 | +100 Frostbite Cast Range |
| +100 Crystal Nova Radius | 10 | +200 Health |
| ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ +2 All / / Attributes | ||
Bio[edit]
When Hell freezes over, I'll start calling it Heaven.▶️Rylai, the Crystal Maiden
Aliases:
CM, Rylai, Wolf
Lore:
Born in a temperate realm, raised with her fiery older sister Lina, Rylai the Crystal Maiden soon found that her innate elemental affinity to ice created trouble for all those around her. Wellsprings and mountain rivers froze in moments if she stopped to rest nearby; ripening crops were bitten by frost, and fruiting orchards turned to mazes of ice and came crashing down, spoiled. When their exasperated parents packed Lina off to the equator, Rylai found herself banished to the cold northern realm of Icewrack, where she was taken in by an Ice Wizard who had carved himself a hermitage at the crown of the Blueheart Glacier. After long study, the wizard pronounced her ready for solitary practice and left her to take his place, descending into the glacier to hibernate for a thousand years. Her mastery of the Frozen Arts has only deepened since that time, and now her skills are unmatched.
Voice:
Innate[edit]
Blueheart Floe[edit]
Blueheart Floe 
Passive
Affects
Self
Grants the Maiden incoming mana regeneration amplification.
Self Mana Regen Amp: 
50%
50% Details
crystal_maiden_blueheart_floe (1204)
Cold Comfort
Blueheart Floe grants a greater self mana regeneration amplification.
Self Mana Regen Amp: 75%
75% - Affects all self-
mana regeneration sources.
Abilities[edit]
Crystal Nova[edit]
A burst of damaging frost slows enemy movement speed and attack speed in the targeted area.
Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0.6
Cast Range: 
700
700 Effect Radius: 
425 (
525)
425 ( 525) Damage: 110/160/210/260 (
410/460/510/560)
410/460/510/560) Move Speed Slow: 20%/30%/40%/50%
Attack Speed Slow: 30/45/60/75
Duration: 5
The Crystal Clone is vulnerable to all Crystal Nova sources.
11/10/9/8 (
6.5/5.5/4.5/3.5)
6.5/5.5/4.5/3.5)
115/135/155/175
The air temperature around Rylai drops rapidly, chilling all around her to the core.
crystal_maiden_crystal_nova (5126)
- Grants a 6-second 900-radius flying vision centered around the area-targeted location upon cast.
- Reapplying the debuff refreshes the duration, but neither updates the
movement speed nor the 
attack speed slow values.
- Reapplying the debuff refreshes the duration, but neither updates the
modifier_crystal_maiden_crystal_nova
Crystal Nova: Movement speed reduced by x%, attack speed reduced by x.
- The ability's sound effect is audible to everyone.
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
- The
magical 
spell damage. - The debuff.
- The
- COSMETICHas a cast backswing of 0.8 with the
Frost Avalanche equipped.
Frostbite[edit]
Encases an enemy unit in ice, prohibiting movement and attack, while dealing damage over time.
Cast Animation: 0.3 + 0.6
Damage per Second: 100
Disarm Duration: 1.5/2/2.5/3 (
2.5/3/3.5/4)
2.5/3/3.5/4) Debuff Duration: 1.5/2/2.5/3 ( 2.5/3/3.5/4)
2.5/3/3.5/4) 
All of Frostbite's ability effects are more effective on creeps.
Creep Damage Factor: 4
9/8/7/6
125/135/145/155
Rylai channels winds from the Blueheart Glacier, imprisoning attackers in thick blocks of ice.
crystal_maiden_frostbite (5127)
- All ability effects are applied immediately despite the visual effects, and cannot be disjointed.
-
- Applies the following ability effects as one debuff on the affected enemy unit at the same time:
Root
Disarm
True Sight over the affected target.
- Reapplying the debuff refreshes the duration.
- Deals 25 magical spell damage to the affected enemy unit 0.25-second intervals over the entire duration.
- Applies the following ability effects as one debuff on the affected enemy unit at the same time:
- Considers the following units as enemy heroes:
- True Sight affects
debuff immune units.
- Spell Block does not proc when passively applied by the following sources:
- Spell Block notes fully apply.
modifier_crystal_maiden_frostbiteFrostbite: Cannot move or attack. Taking x damage every x seconds.
- Deals up to the following spell damage values (before reductions):
- 150/200/250/300 ( 250/300/350/400) spell damage, over 6/8/10/12 ( 10/12/14/16) damage instances on heroes.
- 150/200/250/300 (
- COSMETICHas a different cast backswing with the following cosmetic items equipped:
- 0.8 with the Frost Avalanche equipped.
- 1 with the
Conduit of the Blueheart equipped.
- 0.8 with the
Arcane Aura[edit]
E
R
Arcane Aura Passive / Aura
Affects
Allied Units
Grants additional mana regeneration to allied units on the map.
Grants a greater bonus to allied units closer to the Maiden.
Grants a greater bonus to allied units closer to the Maiden.
Aura Radius: 
Global
Global Proximity Aura Radius: 1200
Base Mana Regen Bonus: 0.4/0.6/0.8/1
Proximity Bonus Factor: 3
Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
Cold temperatures promote the essence of magic, causing Rylai's presence to allow spell usage in abundance.
crystal_maiden_brilliance_aura (5128)
Cold Comfort
Whenever the Maiden casts an ability, the Arcane Aura replenishes mana correspondingly to the ability's mana cost to allied units within the radius.
Effect Radius: 1200
Used Mana to Mana Restore Factor:
0.1/0.15/0.2/0.25
1200 Used Mana to Mana Restore Factor:
0.1/0.15/0.2/0.25 
- Grants the following auras:
- The first Global aura.
- The second proximity aura has a 1200 radius and grants the following ability effect:
- Grants allied units 1.2/1.8/2.4/3 mana regeneration bonus.
- Does not affect the following units:
Hidden units.
Invulnerable units.
- Has a 1.8/2.7/3.6/4.5 self mana regeneration bonus with Blueheart Floe.
- Grants allied units 1.2/1.8/2.4/3
modifier_crystal_maiden_brilliance_aura
Hidden modifier
modifier_crystal_maiden_brilliance_aura_effectArcane Aura: Adds x mana regeneration and x% bonus magic resistance.
Crystal Clone[edit]
D
T
Crystal Clone
Creates a Crystal Clone of Rylai in her place while sliding to the area-targeted direction and disjointing incoming projectiles.
Cast Animation: 
0 + 0
0 + 0Split Time: 0.02
Move Distance: 275
Move Duration: 0.3
The Crystal Clone is an illusion of Rylai's and can be destroyed by her own abilities.
Damage Threshold: 150
Damage Dealt: 
100%
100% Damage Taken: 
100%
100% Magic Resist Reduction: 100%
Duration: 5
Aghanim's Shard Upgrade
If the Crystal Clone takes enough damage or times out, it shatters, and applies Frostbite of its corresponding level to enemies within the radius.
If the Crystal Clone takes enough damage or times out, it shatters, and applies Frostbite of its corresponding level to enemies within the radius.
Frostbite Radius: 450
450 10
150
crystal_maiden_crystal_clone (953)
- Acquiring
Aghanim's Shard unlocks this ability.
-
- Does not interrupt Rylai's
channeling abilities upon cast. - Grants the following bonuses upon cast:
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
- Does not interrupt Rylai's
- The created illusion has the following properties:
- Does not animate.
- Uncontrollable
Untargetable- Has no
magic resistance. - However, enemy units can still attack the illusion with a ground-targeted attack Aon the nearest unit.
- The following sources damage the created illusion regardless of faction:
- The created illusion has the following properties:
Instantly kills the illusion and applies Frostbite within the radius accordingly once it accumulates damage (before reductions and after 
damage barrier sources).
- Frostbite notes apply.
- Works independently of Frostbite's cooldown, and does not cost
mana. - Does not proc on-cast effects.
- True Sight affects debuff immune units.
- The passive Frostbite applied does not proc Spell Block.
- Spell Block notes fully apply.
- Acquiring Aghanim's Shard while drafting Crystal Nova unlocks this ability.
modifier_crystal_maiden_crystal_cloneHidden modifier
Slides in a direction at a 916.67-speed over 0.3 seconds upon cast.
-
- The created illusion additionally has the following properties:
Taunt sources indefinitely affect the illusion regardless of its debuff duration.- Certain abilities that do not affect untargetable units do not affect the illusion.
- The created illusion's
current health corresponds to Rylai's current health.
- If Rylai has
<health upon illusion creation, the Crystal Clone shatters before reaching its damage threshold, and applies all other ability effects.
- If Rylai has
- In this case, the Crystal Clone grants its illusion bounty, and is defined as:
- EXPR
2 × IllusionLVL
- The created illusion additionally has the following properties:
Freezing Field[edit]
Surrounds Crystal Maiden with random icy explosions that slow enemies and deal massive damage.
Cast Animation: 0 + 0
Max Channel Time: 10 (
0)
0) Effect Radius: 810
810 Min Explosion Spawn Radius: 195
Max Explosion Spawn Radius: 785
785 Explosion Damage Radius: 320
320 Explosion Spawn Interval: 0.1 ( 0.083)
0.083) Damage per Explosion: 105/170/250 (
155/220/300)
155/220/300) 
Both the movement speed slow and attack speed slow component applied within the radius are independent of the icy explosions.
Slow Radius: 810
810 Move Speed Slow: 40%
Attack Speed Slow: 80/120/160
Debuff Duration: 1
The Crystal Clone is vulnerable to all Freezing Field sources.
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade
Increases both the frequency and the number of icy explosions.
Increases both the frequency and the number of icy explosions.
Explosion Spawn Factor: ( 1.2)
1.2) 100/95/90
200/400/600
Once the place of her exile, Icewrack has become an anchor for Rylai's frigid onslaught.
crystal_maiden_freezing_field (5129)
Frozen Expanse
Passively grants Crystal Maiden cast range bonus and area-of-effect bonus.
Cast Range Bonus: 75/100/125
Area-of-Effect Bonus Factor: 1.06/1.08/1.1
Area-of-Effect Bonus Factor: 1.06/1.08/1.1
-
- Interrupts Rylai's channeling abilities upon cast.
- All ability effects are centered on Rylai upon cast for the entire duration.
- Interrupts Rylai's
- Applies both the movement speed slow and attack speed slow in 0.1 ( 0.083)-second intervals.
- This immediately affects enemy units within the radius.
-
- All ability effects are immediately applied to enemy units within the radius, regardless of the ability animations.
- Applies both the
- The ability has two main components:
- The icy explosions.
- The timer aura.
The icy explosions have the following properties:
- The effect radius is divided into 4 90°-sectors, the first explosion occurs northeast, and subsequent explosions proceeding counter-clockwise, in the following sequence:
- Each explosion randomly spawns within its designated sector with a 195 ‒ 785-distance from Rylai, without priorities.
- Can affect enemy units up to 1105 range away with the damage radius and max explosion radius.
- The effect radius is divided into 4 90°-sectors, the first explosion occurs northeast, and subsequent explosions proceeding counter-clockwise, in the following sequence:
- The timer aura applies a hidden countdown
freezing_field_tracker debuff on enemy units within the radius, and does nothing by default. - Does not affect the following units:
- Hidden units.
- Invulnerable units.
- Acquiring the ability upgrade immediately updates the current channeling instance, and applies Frostbite to enemy units exceeding the countdown timer within the radius.
- Stop Freezing Field notes apply.
- The timer
- Removes the channeling restriction for its ability effects and Rylai can act freely for the entire duration.
- Interrupts Rylai's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Interrupts Rylai's
- Applies Frostbite of Rylai's corresponding ability level when acquired.
modifier_crystal_maiden_freezing_field
Freezing Field: Armor increased by x.
modifier_crystal_maiden_freezing_field_slowFreezing Field Slow: Movement speed slowed by x%, attack speed reduced by x.
modifier_crystal_maiden_freezing_field_trackerHidden modifier
Freezing Field Probability Density Function
- The following values describes certain values are most likely to appear versus the less likely outcomes:
- The x-axis represents the distance between Rylai and the affected enemy unit.
- The y-axis represents the icy explosions' probability.
-
- Has the following chances to be affected by an explosion per interval within the radius:
- Has a ≈18.35% chance at point
, when Rylai and the affected enemy unit are on the same coordinates. - Has a ≈16.78% chance at 195-distance apart.
- Has a ≈5.35% chance at point
at 800-distance apart.
- Has a ≈18.35% chance at point
- Has the following chances to be affected by an explosion per interval within the radius:
- The average spell damage is roughly constant up to a radius of 485, falling off after that.
Stop Freezing Field[edit]
R
F
Stop Freezing Field
Rylai commands the Freezing Field to halt as she wishes. She can now move, albeit slower, cast other abilities and attack during Freezing Field. Can still be interrupted by enemies.
Cast Animation: 0 + 0
0 + 0Self Move Speed Slow: 75%
Max Duration: 10
Applies Frostbite to enemy units that has been standing in the Freezing Field for over a certain duration.
Aura Radius: 810
810 Frostbite Timer: 3.5
Aura Linger Duration: 0.1
1
Details
crystal_maiden_freezing_field_stop (8032)
- Replaces Freezing Field until this sub-ability is used or until the ability's max duration.
- Interrupts Rylai's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Goes into a 1-second cooldown upon Freezing Field is cast.
- Replaces Freezing Field until this
-
- The timer resets upon being reapplied to a valid enemy unit.
- The Frostbite applied this way has the following properties:
- Can only affect the same enemy units once per cast.
- Works independently of Frostbite's cooldown, and does not cost mana.
- Does not proc on-cast effects.
- Reapplying the Frostbite debuff refreshes the duration.
-
- Applies the self movement speed slow upon cast.
- Freezing Field is now interrupted by the following sources:
- Applies the self
Recent Matches[edit]
Main Article: Crystal Maiden/Matches
| Date | Tier | Tournament | Picks | Score | vs. Picks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 10, 2025 - 20:00 CET | Qualifier |   | DreamLeague S25 WEU CQ |      |  | 0 : 1 |   |      |
| Jan 10, 2025 - 12:00 CET | Qualifier | | DreamLeague S25 WEU CQ |    |  | 0 : 1 |  |   |
| Jan 10, 2025 - 12:00 CST | Qualifier | | DreamLeague S25 CN CQ |    |  | 0 : 1 | |      |
| Jan 08, 2025 - 15:00 CST | Qualifier |  | PGL Wallachia S3 CN OQ1 |   | | 1 : 0 | |  |
| Jan 05, 2025 - 22:00 UTC | Qualifier | | DreamLeague S25 SA OQ2 |   | | 1 : 0 | |    |
The International[edit]
- Crystal Maiden has won the following final matches in The International of the following years:
Recent Changes[edit]
Description
- Increased
agility gain from 1.6 to 1.8.
Talents:
- LVL 15 -4s Crystal Nova cooldown increased to -4.5s.
- Blueheart Floe
- Cold Comfort now grants an additional 25% mana regeneration amplification bonus.
- MOVED Frozen Expanse facet component from Arcane Aura to Freezing Field .
- This component now levels up with Freezing Field .
- CHANGED from affecting allied units to self .
- Rescaled cast range bonus from 50/75/100/125 to 75/100/125
- Rescaled area-of-effect bonus factor from 1.07/1.08/1.09/1 to 1.06/1.08/1.
Dota Plus Progress[edit]
Main Article: Hero Challenges
Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.
| Crystal Maiden's Relics | Voice Lines | |
|---|---|---|
 Bronze |
||
 Silver |
||
 Gold |
||
 Platinum |
| |
 Master |
| |
 Grandmaster |
| |
Equipment[edit]
| Personas | |
|---|---|
| Sets | |
| Weapon | |
| Head | |
| Shoulder | |
| Taunt | |
| Kinetic Gems | |
Trivia[edit]
- Rylai is one of the oldest heroes from the original DotA in Reign of Chaos DotA. Her title used to be Frost Maiden.
- In some earlier versions of DotA, Rylai's title was changed to "Batrider" and used Troll Batrider model as default.
- Rylai's name in Warcraft DotA was Rylai Crestfall. Her surname was removed in the transition to Dota 2 for undisclosed reasons.
- During the Crownfall event, Crystal Maiden's full name was revealed to be "Rylai Moon".
- Crystal Maiden is Lina's younger sister, with both sharing a bitter sibling-rivalry.
- Arcane Aura used to be named "Brilliance Aura".
- In early versions of DotA, Crystal Maiden and Lich used to share the same Frost Blast ability, although they were both named Frost Nova.
- In later updates, Crystal Maiden's Frost Nova was changed to Crystal Nova, turning it into a free-cast area-of-effect ability, while Lich kept the original effects.
- League of Legends features an item called Rylai's Crystal Scepter as an homage to Crystal Maiden, boosting Ability (spell) Power and adding a slowing effect to spells and abilities.
- In World of Warcraft, an Alliance NPC is named Rylai Crestfall, a homage to the original Crystal Maiden from Warcraft III's DotA.
- Her leveling-up response ▶️ "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" is a reference to the action movie Demolition Man.[1]
- Her respawning line ▶️ "You only live ice..." is a reference to the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice based on the novel of the same name.
- Crystal Maiden's line ▶️ "It's all fun and games until someone's frozen solid." is a reference to a novel written by Christopher Brookmyre entitled All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye.
- Crystal Maiden's rare response ▶️ "Can you guess my... favorite poet?" is a reference to Robert Frost due to his last name, and also an allusion to Frost's poem Fire and Ice.
- She is the ice, and her sister Lina is fire. An excerpt: "Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice ... know enough of hate, to say that for destruction ice is also great, and would suffice.".
- Her Crystal Clone spell is inspired by the Ice Klone special move of Sub-Zero from the Mortal Kombat franchise.
- Just like Sub-Zero who jumps back and leaves an ice clone in his previous spot, Crystal Maiden slides backward and leaves a crystal clone in her place.
- Its ability to freeze anyone near it by taking enough damage is similar to how Sub-Zero's ice clone freezes opponents who make contact with it.
Gallery[edit]
Crystal Maiden and Axe cartoon art
Steam profile background art
Concept art
Ability icon progress
Hero icon
Crystal Maiden on the Ability Draft splash art in the New Bloom 2014 update.
Bone Harvest sprite - alive
Bone Harvest sprite - dead
