Skill Build Explained (Quickly) Top
Okay so I know its weird to not get your ultimate, but trust me. Its worth the early Overdrives are SO good, and thats basically the point of this build. If you want to pick up an early point into Hell's Heart, I suggest taking it against really slippery ranged opponents, but other than that, its quite underwhelming - the damage isnt very impressive, and the stun is negligible because by the time you have caught up with a fleeing opponent he's out of the stun and moving away. So IGNORE Hell's Heart, Get your overdrive on Dead Man's Rush as EARLY as possible. This is your main damage source, and the barrier buff is too good. If you find that you are bringing people low but cant finish them off, or they're escaping on low HP, take a point into Hell's Heart for the projectile damage. Otherwise, leave it for late game.
some people tend to forget how strong Krul's perk is. Think of it as free Journey boots (+2 MS) with a free Shiversteel (40% slow for 3 seconds) ... Shiversteel is 40% slow for 2 seconds. So you're perk allows you to essentially have 3450 gold worth of items for a short amount of time, FOR FREE!!! so keep this in mind, and use it to your advantage.
Intro and Play-style Top
This build is based around Krul's natural Skill damage. This is exploited by taking both overdrives as early as possible prioritizing Dead Man's Rush (A). The natural synergy between A (When over-driven) and Tension Bow allows for a very large amount of damage to be dished out very quickly. The aim of this build is fast jungle farming, quick lane gank snipes, and smart team-fighting based around your cooldowns.
I start with Smite if I think the jungle wont be contested, and I wont have to fight before level 2. If their lineup looks like it has a lot of early aggression potential take Dead Man's Rush. If you have a jungle partner with an Ironguard Contract (who knows how to use a Contract) start with Rush. At level 2, your side of the jungle is cleared, you can go pick up your Sprint Boots and make your way towards the lane for a gank attempt.
This gank will most likely not kill unless the enemy laner is low, but it forces him to either back, or use his healing pot, which creates space for your laner. If you want to try an invade instead its up to you - always be aware of what you will find in their jungle and what it can do to you.
Its always a good idea to spend most of your gold whenever you get to the shop. If you have some gold left over buy some potions, some scout traps - If youre against a Taka get early Flares (Please, for the love of god). I always try to have some pots on me, and Flares - Flares are dirt cheap there's no reason to not get them. They scout out ganks, they let you know whats waiting for you in the brush. Flare's are your biggest friend.
Ganking - Early to mid game, you want to look for opportunities to rotate to lane, this is usually after you've cleared out your jungle. Landing a killing blow in lane will boost your item progression. try and stay ahead of your opponent, or at least on par.
Teamfighting - Your job in team-fights is to initiate, (unless you have a Catherine/ Glaive/ Fortress on your team). Use your flare to scout the enemy, target the squishiest hero, dish out your combo, then back to re-position and wait for your spells to be off CD. You can take a massive chunk out of a Ringo, Celeste or a Vox if you're positioned well. Just try not to get too low, and create enough space for your allies to follow up. Ignore hero's like Catherine or Arden - They are a waste of your time because you wont be able to burst them down. Try and get their main damage dealer out of the fight and go from there.
You want to get in, blow up a hero, and get out. Let your spells cool down, while you stick to another target and stack on him, then unload your combo again. Its a very satisfying way to play Krul. With the early overdrives your damage really skyrockets
Item Build Explained Top
The core of this build is relatively small. Journey boots, Tension Bow and Clockwork. I threw in a Dragon Heart because its cheap effective HP and makes a difference later on (Can also be upgraded to Shiversteel). Many Krul builds try to focus on attack speed in order to build weakness stacks quickly. This build differs in that it largely ignores this strength of sustained damage over time, in favor of fast large burst damage from his A ability. The Clockwork will allow you to have your skills available quickly which will keep you in fighting shape, the Journey Boots are important for mobility - Chasing, initiation, fleeing.
Defense - It is very important to get some type of defense early. After my first Weapon Blade, I get Sprint Boots, Second Weapon Blade, then a type of defense. If there's a lot of CP on the enemy team pick up an early Light Shield, similarly and early Light Armor against WP. It really helps to get early armor against an enemy Taka or Ringo who will most likely be rushing a Tension Bow. It is important to keep checking the Scoreboard to see what your enemy is building. Many players make the mistake of over estimating Krul's tankiness. His tankiness is solely based on his ability to dish out his spells. When your spells are on CD you are very vulnerable and can be chased down (hence Clockwork). If you see a mixture of damage types I usually get an early Light Armor then build up a Fountain of Renewal. Fountain will negate some Crystal Damage, as well as give your team better teamfight sustain.
Damage - You will notice that the only damage item in this build is Tension Bow. This is great for early-mid game. But you will find that as the game goes later your damage tends to fall off slightly. What you do then is pick up a Weapon Infusion. This will greatly boost your DPS for those crucial game turning fights. The boost you get from Weapon Infusion is quite significant. So dont worry about building another damage item. Save your money for speed and defense. Usually at late game you will have your core items up Plus one of two situational extras - At that point its advisable to get the Weapon Infusion. Crystal Infusion is also very useful as your spells scale well with CP. The Major benefit here is the buff on your Barrier.
Situation Item Choices - Warhorn, is a rather expensive buildup that occupies two item slots for much of the game, there's no real point going for this item unless you dont have one on your team and you think the utility with help out in fights. If you already have a Dragonheart its just a better decision to upgrade it to a shiversteel. Shiversteel will help you stick to targets and get your damage out. There have been times when I have gone for Crucible, but only against heroes like Koshka who have a long disable, even in that situation I rather recommend an Aegis, because Koshka will most likely go for CP, and usually builds up an Aftershock which counters the HP buff that Crucible gives you. If I'm against a Celeste I almost always go for Aegis. I start with the Shield, and see where the game is going, if there's a secondary CP hero then definitely go Aegis, if not I sometimes prefer to transition to a Fountain. Usually a Fountain will be more than enough against a Celeste because you are able to pressure her heavily from early game. Its also good against Skaarf if you are able to stay ahead of his item progression. But there have been times when you will get an enemy CP ringo, or CP Taka, or even a CP Saw... Then Aegis looks a lot better.
I hope you have fun and success with this build. Looking forward to seeing you in the Halcyon Fold
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