Krul strengths:

1 vs. 1
Long fights
Fights where he can stick on a target
No enemy crowd control (Stuns, silences and roots)

Note: All the opposites are Krul's weaknesses.

BE STICKY!! This is the number one thing to remember when playing Krul. Get lots basic attacks in and use your abilities the right way (as explained in the next chapters). If you aren't doing damage then you aren't getting health back and you WILL go down quickly.

IMPORTANT! There are basically two different schools of thought on Krul.
1. "Tank Krul" - Build tanky and sticky and let the fights go as long as possible so Spectral Smite does most of your damage.
2. "Glass Cannon Krul" - Build lots of attack speed and damage so that your barrier lets you get basic attacks off and the life steal from those attacks keep you going then drop Spectral Smite to either just survive or finish the kill.

I prefer "Tank Krul" much more and have much more experience with it so most of this info is based on the "Tank Krul" build. "Glass Cannon Krul" and "Tank Krul" are NOT interchangeable builds with the same instructions. This If you build "Glass Cannon Krul" basically do the opposite of everything explained in this guide when it comes to being sticky. "Glass Cannon Krul" is all about diving, bursting down one target and sprinting back out. Spam your abilities as fast as you can and fly away before you die.
Times you might use "Glass Cannon Krul"

• If the enemy team is compose of high threats against "Tank Krul" ie: Gwen, Skye and Lance.
• If you die very quickly every single fight.
• If you are playing Blitz or Battle Royale.
• If you are just trying to have a good time and winning is secondary. ("Glass Cannon Krul" is very fun to play).

Don't rush (pun intended) your Dead Man's Rush. It is best used as a gap closer on fleeing enemies or, if timed well, you can use it for the barrier to block incoming bursts. Try to not use Dead Man's Rush to initiate fights. If you can, use your heroic perk Shadows Empower Me instead.

Pro Tip: Make sure you have scout traps around jungle minions so you can use Dead Man's Rush to jump a wall and escape a sticky situation.

DO NOT use Spectral Smite as soon as you have full stacks. There are only certain times that are good uses:

• When you can finish an enemy
• To prevent yourself from dying*
• If an enemy is getting away and you can't catch up*
• If you are about to lose your stacks

* = You might not want to use it so that the weakness stacks stay applied to help your teammates.

Pro Tip: You can use Spectral Smite on a target even if you have no weakness stacks applied to that target so it basically is a strong ranged attack. Try to be sneaky and steal that Elder Treant from inside a bush or aggro a treant so he can root a chasing enemy.

This one is pretty basic. Throw a sword; stun a person. The longer distance the sword travels the longer it stuns, so experiment with a backwards throw and catching someone on the back swing.

Pro Tip: Throw your sword immediately after Taka, Kestrel or Flicker disappears to find them again.

Early Game
Grab a Swift Shooter because you need some attack speed and then an Oakheart to build into a Stormguard Banner later. Get Sprint Boots next so you can stick on enemies and then rush the Stormcrown. This item is stronger the earlier in the game that you get it because people have less health and it deals true damage. Stormcrown synergizes well with Krul because it offers health and cool down so Dead Man's Rush gives a better barrier and you can use it more often. It also makes basic attacks decently strong for not building much damage. Next grab some Travel Boots for extra stickiness.

• Boots: Always try to keep your boots a tier ahead of your enemies' so that you can chase them down without having to activate your boots or use abilities. Almost always get Journey Boots. The activation cool down is reset to twelve seconds with every basic attack so they are constantly active and you might even be able to use them twice in one fight. Most carries (especially crystal ones) get Halcyon Chargers for the extra battery which you don't need. This gives you a leg up on them with faster passive movement speed. You should only pick up War Treads if you need the extra health and your Captain doesn't pick them up.

Mid Game
Build your Swift Shooter into a Blazing Salvo and this will be enough attack speed for you to finish up your defensive and utility items. Build up to Shiversteel to get the added health and the slow with your basic attacks. The combination of Journey Boots and Shiversteel makes it very difficult of enemies to get away. Your three utility items give you more health than Crucible and Fountain of Renewal combined and they are relatively inexpensive for tier three items. You will usually need to buy a Reflex Block around this time to deal with your opponents crowd control such as Yummy Catnip Frenzy and Aces High or heavy hitting ultimates like Hellfire Brew and Verse of Judgement. But if you don't need a Reflex Block then grab either tier two armor or shield and tier 1 of the other if you need it. If you don't, then decide which tier three attack speed item you want.

• Tier 3 Attack Speed Picking your tier three attack speed item is all about counter building.
  Breaking Point: Pick this item if team fights are extended and you can get a lot of basic attacks in.
  Poisoned Shiv: Pick this item if they have healers ( Lyra or Adagio) or you want more attack speed than a Breaking Point can give.
  Bonesaw: Pick this item if the opponents are building heavy armor and/or you are running a double weapon composition.
  Tornado Trigger: Pick this item if fights end quickly or you die quickly. This has the most attack speed and couples well with tyrants Monacle if you build two weapon items.
  

Late Game
Pick up that tier 3 defense and finish your tier three attack speed item. You should be picking up an infusion now whenever you can. Now you can pick your last item. This can be whatever you want it to be. Usually it is the other defensive item you didn't get earlier but it can also be a Crucible for extra tankiness. If you are fine on defense then you can grab a weapon item. You can't go wrong with a Sorrowblade, but a Serpent Mask can sometimes make you unkillable. Also feel free to grab a fun item like Echo so you can double stun that carry with From Hell's Heart. Nobody ever expects it and it looks really epic. You can also grab a Frostburn. It makes your Spectral Smite really strong and offers a slow if Shiversteel is on cool down. You can try an Aftershock so that Dead Man's Rush really packs a punch. Also, if you have a full build and realize you need something else you may want to sell your Stormcrown because people tend to have a lot more health late game so it becomes less effective. Just know that you will lose a decent amount of cool down.

Early
Krul is weakest in the early game despite the patch making his early game a little stronger. Try to avoid early team fights and fights against other junglers, but do gank whenever possible as long as it doesn't lead to a team fight. In the beginning don't try and take on the elder treant unless it is wide open. Instead, take your two front jungle monsters and see if you can dive in and steal the elder with Spectral Smite then retreat back to your jungle and finish clearing. Port home after you finish the jungle rotation so you can get the early Stormguard Banner to get a leg up on everyone else who hasn't shopped yet and so you can clear jungle more easily. Shop as often as you can early game so you can stay ahead of the others in items. Try to avoid spending time in lane so you can keep jungle farming.

General Strategy
If the enemy team is pushing the lane with all three then try and let your Carry and Captain deal with it while you keep jungling. Soon you will be one or two levels above the enemies and you can snow ball easily. Krul can take a lot of heat so it's a good thing if the enemy team focuses you. This will give your carry time to deal a lot of his damage. Running away is often not a good option for Krul because if he isn't using his abilities or landing basic attacks then he dies quickly. If your entire team is running away and you guys all won't escape then you are the ideal sacrifice. Dive in with Dead Man's Rush and then drop Spectral Smite to keep yourself alive for as long as possible. This combo can do a respectable amount of burst damage and make a carry take a step back. The whole enemy team will need to stop chasing because you will probably win a 1 vs. 1 if they give you free reign on their carry.

Pro Tip: If you are being chased you can activate Shiversteel (or Shadows Empower Me if you have time) and get a slow on your pursuers then run away.

Look back at the threats chart and "Krul Basics" to find basic information.

• The Number one worst thing for Krul is trying to fight against strong poke and/or heroes that can kite very well. Examples are Skye, Petal and Gwen.
• Slows work wonders against Krul. Pick up a Frostburn.
• Any crowd control makes it hard for Krul to be sticky and use abilities.
• If Krul has been basic attacking you for a while and is about to drop his Spectral Smite then boots away really quickly and he will be stranded with low health and no way to get it back.
• Try to keep him switching targets so he wont be able to get a big burst of health back by using Spectral Smite.
• Atlas Pauldron is very effective.

Captains:

• Fortress does well with Krul because he can help him initiate and stick on targets. Fortress is also kind of squishy for a Captain so Krul helps with front lining.
• Phinn can keep enemies close so they don't get away from you which also helps you stick on targets.
• Ardan has Gauntlet which is very helpful when dealing with mobile targets like Skye and Gwen.
• Lyra can use Bright Bulwark to stop assassins like Koshka or Taka from bullying you early game. Her heal is also effective since you build so much health.
• Lance keep enemies locked down so you can build up a lot of stacks.

Carries:

• Skye is one of the better early game crystal carries. This will help you while Krul is still weak early on.
• Petal has Munions that can block things like Forward Barrage if you are facing Skye and can make heroes like Ringo accidentally hit the Munions instead of you while kiting.
• Samuel is very helpful if the enemy team starts chasing you after you disengage from a fight. His Malice & Verdict can dissuade them from the chase.