Ward

Ward is one of the Character Stats which is a temporary magical shield that protects your health pool, as in Combat Calculations it takes damage before health. There is no maximum to how much ward you can have. Ward also disappears over time. It disappears faster the more you have.

Gaining Ward and Ward Decay
By default a player has no Ward. There are several Skills and effects which give or generate Ward for a character. Ward Retention slows the rate of decay.

Any ward a player has will decay according to the decay formula: $$\frac{0.4 * Current Ward}{1 + 0.5 * Ward Retention}$$

UI
The current amount of ward for the active player is displayed in a semi-circle next to the Health Orb in the lower left of the screen. The amount of fill displayed in the semi-circle represents the amount of ward you have, the fill level is relative to your maximum health and becomes more compressed with larger amounts of Ward. Additionally the numeric amount is displayed above the health orb.