Samuel bends down and creates a circular field of darkness that damages and empowers Samuel for a brief moment in time. When empowered, Samuel deals splash damage with his Malice and Verdict and gains a reduction in cooldown. The field will also heal Samuel if he stands inside of it along with any other target. If Samuel is 16 meters away the field disappears. When maxed out, his Malice and Verdict gains 3 times its original range and moves MUCH faster. I highly recommend maxing this out ONLY if you know that you can't depend on your teammates and if you want greater range.

Usage: This ability is the what holds Samuel together. Without it he loses a chunk of damage and sustainability. It is crucial to use this ability right in order to play Samuel. A mistake that many people do is using the ability right in front of an enemy. An example would be using it in front of an enemy in lane. Although this ability empowers you and makes you hard to kill, it is no match for turret damage. If you use it too close to the enemy, you would be forced to stay inside of the field or to move out. If you stay inside then you will either be hit by the turret or be stuck in the middle of the enemy team. ALWAYS use this ability when you are far away from the target. Pan the mini map to see their location and use it when you are far enough that the field lasts the whole way through. Your Malice and Verdict shots travel farther so you can shoot in the direction they are at and then arrive to finish them off. I repeat, don't use this ability close to your enemy UNLESS you are disengaging or you are chasing a low health target/team. When using this to run away, direct it to the way you are going. When you stand inside, you have a higher chance of surviving. Remember, you don't have to be in the center of this ability to have it's benefits, you can be standing at the very edges. The ability is great because it heals you so much that Samuel is considered a mobile ranged Krul!!! The ability triggers the slowing effect of Frostburn, the stacking of Broken Myth and the healing effect of Eve. Always use it with care because it has a long cooldown. Time and position it just right and you'll be unkillable.


Ability #3: Oblivion



Samuel stands still and summons a phantasm to a target location. Enemies standing in this location are put to sleep. When asleep, they cannot move or act but dealing direct damage to them will wake them up. This ability is very useful for the duration of this effect and the ability to assassinate a target even if the rest of the team is there. Only max this ability if you think you'll need it in teamfights or if you have a well coordinated team. It is basically useless besides the damage it deals if someone on your team deals direct AoE damage to the inflicted enemy. Not only is this ability highly blockable, it roots Samuel into the ground when he casts it. Overall, this ability is only helpful if the enemy doesn't block it and if you have the right team/coordination.

Usage: There really isn't much to this ability. You tap the target location and bam, your enemies are asleep. The only part of this ability that is difficult is how to pull it off and what to do after. To land this ability, one must wait until the team uses their crucible or reflex blocks. Save this ability when that happens and then use it. The activation time of the ability is also really slow so many enemy can escape before it put them asleep. You should use it when your herioc perk is up and when you have high Broke Myth stacks(must have a Frostburn for this to work). Use Oblivion on their team and basic attack the most important target(It really depends). With high BM stacks and a Frostburn, your heroic perk will apply a strong enough slow to prevent anyone from escaping. The ability has defensive and offensive capabilities. If you Oblivion a support, then the enemy won't have a fountain or any supporting abilities the support may have. If you Oblivion a carry(s, then you can escape with not much difficulty. If you successfully land it in an engagement, you need a team smart enough and well coordinated enough to work with it. The ability is a basic 1 v 2 card if you can land it. If you have a Taka on your team then the main enemy carry is doomed. Good pairing for this combo include: Adagio, Blackfeather(Just using execute damage), Idris(Just using his Shroud Step), Flicker(Root can actually be landed, and if landed is devastating), Koshka(Uses Twirly Death beforehand), Saw(Not using his Suppressing Fire), Taka and Vox(Not using resonance). In general, any hero that does strong burst damage but lack direct AoE damage. This ability is very strong if used right but has a low success rate due to its slow activation.

Shatterglass: This item increases your damage to huge amounts and also boosts the healing you get from Drifting Dark. You can get this item first if you are sure that you can land your Malice and Verdict with ease.

Slumbering Husk: I recommend this item against high burst enemies like CP Taka. This item only works well if you can kill them faster then they can burst you down again. Gankstars actually found out that Slumbering Husk is better paired with one another offensive item rather than a Metal Jacket with an Aegis. This is true only if the Slumbering Husk is activated and if the fight isn't drawn out too much. It provides 400 health and fortified health for 1.5 secs.