Krul is the character with which I am most proficient and I aim to make you into a professional krul player who can make your fellow players cry on their expensive Apple devices and hurl them at the wall in frustration... Here are the basics of Krul as a hero.



Krul is a hero who will destroy anyone in a fair one vs one, but sadly in a real game above skill tier 4 that rarely happensas people use abilities to escape and block and run etc. Therefore To create those 1 vs 1 scenarios, Krul has a slow in his heroic perk. His perk, Shadows Empower Me,
grants Krul a burst of move speed after he has stood still in the brush for 1.5 seconds. Then his basic attacks (or dead mans rush) will slow his target by 40% for the ENTIRE time Krul is in the brush and for 3 seconds thereafter! This is his main tool for sticking to those slippery carries like Vox and Skye. It's not worth fighting if you do not have this perk charged as they will slip away like butter and leave you in the dust, a slow, irate zombie swinging his sword at nothing!

Krul's second gap closer is his A ability, dead mans rush. I no longer reccomend upgrading this first EVER, EVEN if the enemy carries are ranged and agile like Vox or Skye OR very slippery and can burst you then run, like Taka or Koshka. This is because while it used to be a viable ability path many updates ago to max this ability first for insane burst damage, it no longer provides ANY damage increase, plus the barrier increase is less significant, so Spectral Smite should always be maxed first for the excellent sustain from autos and ridiculous nuke when you hit level 8.

Krul's B ability is what makes him such a dominant one vs one duellist. Spectral Smite adds a weakness stack above the targets head with every normal auto attack, reducing their overall damage output by 6.25% per stack up to 8 stacks, or 50% damage reduction! Each stack also grants Krul 10% (12 when Spectral Smite is maxed) weapon lifesteal, meaning that at full stacks with maxed Spectral Smite he has 96% lifesteal from his basic attacks and has halved the damage output of his target, G-F#€King-G!
The stacks can be 'detonated' to deal massive damage and heal Krul, much more effective at high stacks. I max this ability all the time now that dea man's rush no longer increases in damage as you upgrade it AND the barrier no longer increases nearly as much. Yeah wow -__- I know I already said this but seriously wtf

Krul's ult, From Hell's Heart, is an aimed skill shot that causes Krul to chuck his sword where you tap, stunning the first hero it hits and damaging all minions in the way. If it hits no heroes on the way out it will boomerang back to you. The stun and damage are longer/ higher if the sword hoes a long way, so try throwing the sword behind you, running past somebody, then letting the sword hit somebody on the way back to you, dealing higher damage and, more importantly, a much longer stun. Never max From Hell's Heart as you want it for the stun only, so take it ASAP but only upgrade it to level 2 when Krul hits level 12.

Krul's health, armour and shield alone are really quite pitiable and his basic attack damage is fairly typical for a melee hero as well, so what makes Krul the ultimate one vs one beast? Well, essential, Krul can use his dead mans rush to absorb the entire initial burst of da,age as it grants him a 600 health barrier for 2.5 seconds when activated, that is about half the health of a level 8 krul! From there his Spectral Smite weakness stacks will be beginning to kick in, crippling any hero based on attack speed or crystal power, think a shatter glass on a joule will now be an eclipse prism when she has full stacks of weakness or an opposing krul attacking twice per second will no be attacking less than once per second! In conducting with the weakness on the target, you are getting stronger, gaining more lifesteal per stack! Think each of 2 stacks as being as good as a serpent mask! Now when you activate a fully upgraded Spectral Smite at the full 8 stacks, it will deal about
600 damage AFTER shield AND heal you for 460 However I never activate this ability unless I am confident it will land a kill or I am extremely low on health because when activated you will lose the stacks on the target, removing all of ypur life steal and granting them their damage and power back! So basically use the Shadows Empower Me perk to reach the target and slow them, dead mans rush at them to absorb the initial onslaught, then use the lifesteal stacks to stay alive before activating Spectral Smite for the killing blow, NOT BEFORE!
In the rare circumstance that you are losing this 1vs1, because they have range and can kite for instance, or because it is early in the game, use Spectral Smite to regain a rag of health, then duck in a brush, charge Shadows Empower Me and slow your opponent for a quick get away!

The weapon Krul build, Reborn, is the only one that is consistent in its performance at high elo. Anybody re-reading this may see some changes to it. I would now reccomend that you finish a Breaking Point early in the game in most scenarios. Late game Breaking Point isn't the most efficient item as armour and Atlas Pauldron prevent it from stacking. However in the early game before these counters are built a surprise Breaking Point should, if you build reasonable defence beforehand, give you unholy levels of damage and survivabilty in a prolonged jungle fight. Try to maintain your stacks in the fight when you have Breaking Point and attack anyone who is near you to maintain some lifesteal and ramp up your weapon power. The only time I would advise against the Breaking Point is when the enemy jungler AND roamer are squishy and therefore don't have enough Hp to make your BP worthwhile, for instance an Adagio roam and Kestrel jungle, in these cases build the defensive core when you just have Blazing Salvo and Heavy Steel, then build Sorrowblade.
Because Breaking Point coupled with an unfathomably huge burst from Spectral Smite will give you all the damage you need until at least level 11, you should focus on defence in the mid game. Build Journey Boots, Aegis and Atlas Pauldron (or sometimes Metal Jacket) before considering any t3 offensive items other than Breaking Point.
Stormcrown has emerged as a pretty broken strategy, some games you can get this before breaking point simply because of the speed you can take Gold miner and steal jungle camps, creating a massive net gain in team gold.
I cannot stress this ENOUGH, HENCE BIG RED LETTERS: SEMC HAS MADE KRUL A SPUD, ONCE YOU HAVE JUST GOT BREAKING POINT OR STORMCROWN THIS IS YOUR POWERSPIKE, BP OR SC WILL HIT LIKE A TRUCK AND SMITE WIL DEAL ANHORRENT AND RUDE BURST, ABUSE IT, TAKE EVERYTHING, ONE V THREE, JUST GET YOUR LANER FED AS SH*T, BY THR TIME YOU FALL OFF YOUR LANER WILL BE DOING WORK THANKS TO YOU
After this you'll start to feel your Breaking Point and Spectral Smite power fall off and will require additional damage to feel relevant, although with Krul's position in the meta he can't do a lot late game so focus on staying alive to tank distract and reduce damage: If they have a lot of armour you can build into a Piercing Spear and then shortly after a Bonesaw if Armour hasn't been build work on a Sorrowblade. However due to Krul's aforementioned role in the meta you should, these days make sure you're surviving before aiming for any carry potential. For what should be in the last item slot, read below (chapter:Which 6TH ITEM to Build)

There are several common ways in which the enemy, if they're good, will attempt to counter you as Krul, here are the general ways to COUNTER the COUNTER.

• Atlas Pauldron: this item is the bane of Krul and there are generally two things to consider: Whne you have a lot of Krul games you get used to the rhythm of this item and as soon as a flash of yellow comes out of a hero, move away or hit your Reflex Block. This debuff can be even worse than a stun for you! The other option when you don't have the block down is to make sure you have enough defence to live through the debuff and then come back with a few stacks and decimate!
• Kiting: Depending on a hero this can be barely a problem or the death of you. Skye, Petal or a good Vox or Adagio can keep there distance and stop you from obtaining stacks and stealing life from them. To minimise kiting build a Shiversteel against slippery heroes and have shadow's empower me charged whenever possible. Also a long ranged or even better boomeranged From Hell's Heart is usually a guarented kill provided you aren't a long way behind in the game.
• Stuns: block the long ones if you can, like Koshka or Adagio's ultimate, but don't block short ones like Merciless Pursuit from Catherine as there is more than likely something more important to block. Dodge skill shot stuns and engage carefully against stunners, saving Travel Boots, Dead Man's Rush and Shiversteel if you have it until after stuns or slows because otherwise they'll be used an wasted after they just shrug you off with a stun!
  

From Hell's Heart can be a massively long stun if you manage to land it on the way back. However I, like many Krul players, used to waste time trying to throw it past players then moving in to get it in line. This is unpredictable and hard. However when you are in the brush, throw it in the opposite direction to the enemy team while Shadows Empower Me is charged, then close the gap by any means possible. If it hits that squishy Ringo or Skaarf, your in, almost a guaranteed kill. However if it hits the roamer, it's still ok because the fight is effectively 2vs3 for 3.5 seconds! Win win!
note: never do this if there is an ultimate spell you must cancel with your stun such as Skaarf's Dragon Breath or Adagio's Verse of Judgement.

While I don't always do this, buying another Swift Shooter first shop instead of a Blazing Salvo or Weapon Blade gives you the best possible stack building and therefore survivability at a level 2 fight.... Do this if you plan on engaging at level 2 or f the enemy will bit don't if there isn't going to be a fight as you'll likely end up selling it later. It also allows you to purchase a light armour or Light Shield because its 100 gold cheaper than Blazing Salvo
More tips under construction...

Roam Krul works for 2 reasons:

Krul deals a lot of crystal damage with just a cheap attack speed item, hence the rise of the 'tank' Krul build.
Krul can shut down a damage dealers damage with his weakness stacks, protecting his team or allowing him to finish them on his own with ease.

Follow this guide... All the pointers above apply, but don't go chasing a Ringo around the map while your team dies. You CAN solo people even as roam, but you support the team 1st, then try and carry.
Also remember to start with Ironguard Contract, it seems basic but many a time have I bought a swift shooter and gone the whole 1st clear with 0 gold. You should get a Breaking Point late game if you are finding yourself on your own often, but a Bonesaw if you have a proficient weapon power carry on your team as you can focus who he is focusing and help them and you deal more damage.

Roam Krul is hard, you have to use the stun less selfishly, body-block things you may instinctively dodge and pop your active items for the team, but if you do he may be the best carry-roam hybrid in the game! Good luck...

For the 'Reborn'weapon build you generally want to consider your status in the game... If your team is ahead and you are a primary damage dealer, grab a Tyrant's Monocle for huge crits with your stacks of Breaking Point or a Sorrowblade/ Bonesaw, whichever one you didn't build 5th.
The same goes for the cp build, if you are winning, get a Shatterglass or Aftershock because you clearly don't need to be surviving more or sticking better, just DEAL MOAR DAMAGE

Shiversteel, in my opinion, is a core item for Cp krul. His auto attacks deal low damage so if he isn't stuck to one target dealing damage and preparing for the big Spectral Smite he is useless. However for Wp Krul you can afford to change targets and regain some stacks during a fight, making it an optional item. Purchase this when you are behind and it takes longer to kill a key target, or if you are facing Petal, Vox, Skye or Taka every time more or less!

Defence is an obvious choice for a 6th item, Fountain of Renewal is great for helping a squishy team mate or a 2nd Reflex Block when you are facing compositions with many stuns or against a team stacking Atlas Pauldron