Artillery Mage Celeste by Stirling

Artillery Mage Celeste

By: Stirling
Last Updated: Mar 5, 2015
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Build 1 of 1

Celeste

Build: Main Build

Ability Path

Julia's Light
Heroic Perk
Heliogenesis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Core Collapse
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Solar Storm
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Threat Meter

Threat
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Threat Hero Notes
1
Krul Avoid his ult and use a well-placed Core Collapse to take care of Krul.
2
Celeste As of yet, I haven't had any problems with an enemy Celeste. Rush to Level 8 first and you'll be able to bully her out of the lane with your increased range in Heliogenesis. Be wary of taking the brunt of her Solar Storm, but if you keep your teammates in front of you, you'll be fine.
3
Adagio Adagio isn't much of a threat if you keep your distance. Placing a stun around him as he's channeling Verse of Judgement can cripple him and save you from his lengthy stun.
3
Ardan Keep out of his cage. Also, he can make enemies tougher to kill with Vanguard, but he doesn't pose a threat if you keep away from him.
4
SAW CP SAW is more of a threat than WP, but his slow movement speed while spun up makes him an easy target for Heliogenesis. Stay away from Suppressing Fire and you'll be just fine.
4
Joule While her perk gives her high shielding, her limited range makes it easy to kite her. Avoid her jump stun and Big Red Button and she won't be a problem.
5
Petal Her range is comparable to your maxed-out Heliogenesis range, especially with munions. Placing two stars on her munions can make quick work of them, forcing her to retreat. Stun her munions when you have to get away.
6
Catherine Catherine's stun and silence abilities can hamper your abilities greatly. Her stun can prevent you from escaping enemies, making you an easy target. Blast Tremor silences you and prevents ability use for a few seconds, making you almost useless for that amount of time. Her shield also blocks and reflects Heliogenesis. Keep an eye on the bushes around you with Heliogenesis, and whatever you do, DO NOT use Solar Storm on her while her shield is up.
7
Ringo Ringo's speed, Achilies Shot, and hellfire brew combine for a deadly combo. Stay away from him and use a potion if he launches his ult.
8
Skaarf Skaarf's Fan the Flames perk can wear down Celeste if she's not careful. While his basic attack range isn't great, his Spitfire can horse an early retreat if it lands. Avoid Dragonbreath at all costs!
9
Koshka Her assassin skills make her almost unstoppable. Burst damage can eat through a squishy Celeste, but at least she can't hide from Heliogenesis like Taka. Poke the bushes with stars and stay at the furthest edge of battle to decrease any attacks from her.
9
Glaive Glaive's afterburn can bring you from the edge of battle to the middle, or wherever he wants to punt you. Fortunately, that's his only "ranged" attack he can use on you. Keep your distance and pay attention to his afterburn ability. Poke the bushes with stars to keep an eye out for him.
10
Taka Taka's stealth and immense burst damage make a very lethal combo on a squishy Celeste. Poking bushes with Heliogenesis can prevent some surprise attacks, but be wary of attacks initiated with his stealth. Great teammates can mitigate his threat, but he is Celeste's greatest threat.

An Intro to Celeste Top

(This is my first guide; feedback appreciated!)

Celeste commands the stars, drawing upon their power to overwhelm opponents. Her star formations help keep enemies at a distance as well as finish them off as they flee. Start Celeste in the lane and fight from the furthest edges of battle.

Think of Celeste's role as an artillery gunner. She stands at the edge of the fight, using Heliogenesis to rain down damage upon enemies. While very squishy, she can get away from pursuing enemies with Core Collapse and Journey Boots. Finally, Solar Storm will melt through anyone still standing after a team battle.

She benefits greatly from crystal items. Her basic attack scales up with crystal damage, and her abilities can be devastating with the right crystal build. However, she is very squishy and needs a protector or a tank to keep the pressure off her.

Julia's Gift
Heroic Perk
Celeste's basic attacks are spells, dealing 65-115 (level 1-12) crystal damage with a 50% crystal ratio. Celeste's basic attacks also reveal enemy heros for 1.5 seconds - even after the target leaves vision range.

This makes any weapon builds ineffective with Celeste. ONLY crystal items are effective. While her spells are slow, her basic attack will follow enemies forever and grant vision of them just like a flare does. Her basic attack range is one of the lowest of ranged heroes, making it hard to auto-attack in the lane.
Heliogenesis
Ability Slot A
Celeste forms a small star at a target location, dealing crystal damage to nearby enemies. The star will briefly linger on the field. If Celeste uses this ability on an existing star, the star will go supernova, dealing more crystal damage in a larger area.

This ability is Celeste's bread and butter. The first star you lay down is the bread. The second star you place on top of the first is like adding butter to the bread: alone, the two ingredients are okay, but together, you can feed yourself. The same goes for these stars. Maxing this ability will let you spam stars all over the map and essentially create a minefield you can trigger yourself. These stars also grant vision around them. It's important to use stars to check bushes around you before you go into them. Get into this habit early on.
Core Colapse
Ability Slot B
After a brief delay, the target location collapses and nearby enemies are stunned and take crystal damage.

This is a great defensive ability. Use it to stop pursuing enemies in their tracks, or stun an enemy and drop a star at them or demolish them with Solar Storm. The range is significantly less than Heliogenesis, so this ability doesn't have much offensive use.
Solar Storm
Ability Slot C
Celeste launches a storm of stars that travel across the world. The lead star passes through all enemies it hits, dealing crystal damage. Trailing stars collide with the first enemy they hit, dealing crystal damage in an area. The number of trailing stars increases each time Solar Storm is upgraded. Deals reduced damage to non-heroes and does not damage structures.

Want to learn a secret about this ability? You can use the minimap to aim it! Press on Solar Storm and scroll with the minimap to find the area you want to target. Then tap the area and watch it get lit up with 7 stars! Of course, you have to keep in mind any minions, turrets, jungle creeps, or krakens that are in between you and your target. The trailing stars will impact with them and not reach the target. You can use it to initiate team battles, pick off enemies too far for heliogenesis, and possibly steal a kraken from home base! (If anyone is able to do this, please send me a link to the video!). If you build enough crystal, you can one-shot some enemy heroes.

Each trailing star deals AoE damage upon collision. You'll get the most out of this ability when using it on enemies grouped closely together. In combination with Ardan's Gauntlet and/or Adagio's area stun, you can ace an enemy team easily with her ult. It is by far the most powerful ability in the game when properly used.

Game Strategy Top

A Word About Potions

Halcyon Potions are Celeste's best friend. Not only do they keep her alive, but they regenerate energy as well. Use them as often as you need to stay alive and keep your energy up. Whenever you shop, restock on potions so that you leave with FIVE of them. The health regeneration can keep her out longer without recalling back to base, increasing her farming time and sustaining her in short skirmishes.

Staying Alive


It is imperative that you stay out of the middle of battles. Celeste does best at the edge of fights raining down stars. There will never be a situation where being in the middle of a battle is advantageous. Use Heliogenesis to check bushes for waiting enemies. As you saw when looking over the threats, most of them are a huge threat when up close. KEEP. YOUR. DISTANCE. This alone will keep you alive longer than anything else. You may be tempted to buy health items. DON'T. Rely on your support teammate to buy defensively. Your gold would be much better spend on crystal items. This will horse you to keep your distance from enemies.

Celeste also needs a good protector on her team, such as Ardan, Catherine, or a tanky Glaive. They protect her from pursuing enemies and absorb most of the damage and aggro from enemies. They can also carry flares during the late game, allowing you to fill all six slots with Tier 3 items. For this reason, I strongly suggest you team up with friends that can fill that role well. Otherwise, it's hit-or-miss with being matched up with supportive teammates in solo queue, especially at lower tiers.

During the Match


Early Game


Grab an Energy Battery and two potions and head to the lane. The battery will help you farm with Heliogenesis a little bit longer. If a jungle invade is happening, keep your distance from the enemy. She can help an invade if the other two teammates are helping out. Use her basic attack to keep enemies in sight.

Her short range basic attack makes it difficult to farm while an enemy is harassing you with ranged attacks. Use heliogenesis to land last hits on minions. If you're finding it especially difficult to farm against the enemy, do your best to land any damage on them. This will cause enemy minions to attack you and move towards you. This will help you stay out of range of the enemy.

Occasionally place a star in the bushes next to you to prevent any surprise attacks from the enemy. Continue to farm until you reach level 4. By this time, you should have AT LEAST 1500 gold. Recall back to base and replenish potions and energy. Buy Sprint Boots and either work towards Eve of Harvest or Frostburn, depending on how the other team is playing. The Gold Mine can be taken very easily by a full-health, fully energized Celeste, so if a couple enemies are dead, go ahead and take it if it's more than half-full.

Eve of Harvest VS. Frostburn


You're going to get them both anyways, but whichever one you get first can be important. Frostburn can be both an offensive tool and a defensive measure. If there have been a lot of skirmishes with the other team, I would build towards Frostburn first. You can use it to chase dying enemies or slow your pursuers down. The increased crystal damage can make it easier to take down enemy heroes. If not many team battles have taken place, I would build towards Eve of Harvest to help sustain in the lane. The lifesteal and increased energy can help you stay in the lane longer.

Midgame


Buy Travel Boots after your first Tier 3 item. Work towards the other Tier 3 item you didn't buy and continue to farm. Once you hit level 8, Celeste's Heliogenesis starts to shine brighter than any other ability in the fold. Her range can place stars at enemies' feet without placing you in any immediate danger. You can use this to bully enemies out of the lane and horse them to retreat, making laning easier.

Once you've bought both Eve of Harvest and Frostburn, immediately start building towards Shatterglass. This will greatly increase your damage output and melt through vulnerable enemies. By this point you should be near level 9 or 10. Team skirmishes are going to be more common, so it is VERY important you pay attention to the minimap and help defend from any invades. Stay in the habit of checking bushes with stars. More often than not, you'll damage an enemy or three that thinks they're being sneaky while you catch them with their pants down.

Finish Shatterglass and start working towards your fifth item. By this point, you should be fully leveled with Solar Storm maxed out. The enemy team might be building shield defense now. If they are, work towards Broken Myth. This will counter their shield and make it easier to kill them in team fights. If not, get another shatterglass to melt through enemies. Remember to keep your sixth slot stocked with potions for now.

End Game


If your game is 20+ minutes, you might have enough gold to replace your potions with a sixth Tier 3 item. At this point, farming the lane is a very low priority, whereas staying with your team and ganking the enemy is. For this reason, you won't need the sustain that comes from potions. Journey Boots grant 200 health, making it the only "defensive item" you'll buy. Get these before your sixth item. The sixth item solely depends on how the enemy team is fighting. If they haven't built up any shield, buy another Shatterglass to melt through their health. If an enemy has high health, such as Ardan or Glaive, you might want to consider getting Aftershock to eat through their large health. However, this requires hitting them with your basic attacks, making this a risky move in team battles. Clockwork will help a lot with cooldowns, allowing you to use Solar Storm more often. Eve of Harvest will add to your lifesteal, sustaining you in a battle and even letting you solo the Kraken (seriously, try it out in practice mode). Get a Flare Gun if you're in solo queue and need to know where enemies are.

Have Fun! Top

Celeste is my new favorite hero! Her high output of damage make her unstoppable in the right hands. I hope you guys enjoy this build! Feel free to add me in-game for North America at "Stirling"

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