Why Krul? TOP

Krul is a jungler that has one of the best kits as a mitigator. His heroic perk allows him to slow an enemy by 40% for 3 seconds. His first skill gives him a barrier that allows him to absorb damage and tank objectives. His second skill reduces the attack damage of his enemies, while providing sustain through its lifesteal. His third is an extremely powerful lockdown skill, stunning a single target then slowing them for a period of time. His kit, combined with a variety of items, giveshim the potential to be a powerful roamer.

Skills and how to use them as a Roamer TOP

Dead Man’s Rush

“Krul dashes to the target, deals damage and applies basic-attack effects. Activating Dead Man's Rush grants Krul a health barrier for 2.5 seconds.”

This barrier allows Krul to block a large amount of incoming damage. Overdriven, it provides up to a 350 health barrier, useful for negating large chunks of damage dealt by enemies. In my build path, I do not choose to overdrive, providing only a 250 health barrier. An example of how to use this is to activate Dead Man’s Rush when being targeted by Ringo’s Hellfire Brew to reduce the damage taken from it to save the Crucible for a teammate. This skill is really useful as it allows Krul to close the gap, similar to Ardan’s Blood for Blood, to Atlas or Shiversteel an enemy. A lesser known way to use this ability is to flare a minion on the other side of a wall and activating this skill, allowing you to wall-jump efficiently.

Spectral Smite

“Basic attacks & abilities apply Weakness for 4 seconds (up to 8 stacks). Each stack reduces the target's damage by 6.2% and increases Krul's lifesteal against the weakened target.”

This is my favourite skill on a roam Krul. Each stack allows him to heal and reduce damage dealt by the enemy. Overdriven, this skill deals 350 damage when detonated, 95 additional damage per stack, heals 140 health when detonated, heals 40 health per stack, and reduces the enemy’s attack by 6.2% per stack. To put things in perspective, a full 8 stacks on an enemy allows Krul to reduce their damage by around 40% and detonating it will heal up to 460 health for himself and dish out 1110 damage. This is a hefty amount, even if the enemy buys CP defense. This ability can be used to heal yourself while saving fountain for your teammates, mitigate the enemy’s main carry or as an executioner while they are trying to escape.

From Hell’s Heart.

“Krul pulls Hellrazor from his chest and hurls it in the targeted direction. The sword will boomerang back to Krul after reaching max range. If the sword hits an enemy hero, it deals damage and stuns, then slows the target. Damage and stun duration scales with the distance the sword traveled before hitting the target. (50% at point blank range, 100% at max range and up to 150% at 'boomerang' range).”

This skill is what makes Krul a deadly initiator. Landing this ability on a carry will deal a large chunk of damage, stunning and slowing them for a period of time. I overdrive this ability because, when landing it at “boomerang range”, it becomes the most powerful stun in game, dealing 975 damage, stunning for a solid 3.3 seconds and leaving the enemy slowed for 4 seconds. Although landing it at boomerang range is hard, it is very rewarding. A tip for using this ability is to throw it perpendicular against the enemy’s direction of movement, before proceeding to boot directly next to him so that the sword will hit. Initiating from the bush would be better, as it will be harder for the enemy to anticipate the movement as well as giving you that run speed from the heroic perk.

Item Breakdown TOP

Fountain of Renewal: Typical Roam Item. Always prioritize this item, no matter what character you roam as.

Crucible/War Treads: ***es your situation before picking between one of these two items. Are your teammates constantly getting chunked by ultimates or having trouble surviving? Then crucible is the item for you. Just because there is no ultimate being used to attack your teammates doesn’t mean it is useless. The barrier provided by the crucible can save your teammate’s life by mitigating damage from, for example, a cleave from Glaive or a Glimmershot from Kestrel. Are your teammates having trouble escaping or keeping up with the enemy team? Then prioritize War Treads.

Stormcrown: Your main offensive item as a Roam, it allows you to deal some damage towards enemy heroes as well as farm and take down objectives like a boss. The cooldown reduction is also very useful for From Hell’s Heart.

Contraption: Although a core item, I suggest going for this item last, as flares are sufficient for vision if spent wisely.

Atlas Pauldron: Buy this as a fifth item if the enemy team has a weapon carry to slow his basic attacks. Prioritize this as a second item if the enemy weapon carry specifically relies on or buys additional attack speed, like a SAW or a Tornado Trigger Glaive.

Shiversteel: If your teammates are all still so pathetically slow, even after your heroic perk slows, stuns and war treads, get this.

Bonesaw: Especially useful is your teammates are going weapon, allowing you to shred the enemy’s armour to allow your teammates to dish out more damage. Attack speed also allows you to apply stacks faster.

Tornado Trigger/Breaking Point: This allows you to deal out additional damage and apply more stacks faster, but as you are playing as a roamer in this guide, get this last. By this point, the fights would probably last longer and longer, and therefore a Breaking Point will be stronger in my opinion.