Strategy Guide for Krobelus the Death Prophet

by The-Angry-Hobbit (as of v6.59)

http://planetdota.blogspot.com

Table of contents:

1. Introdution
• Why did I decide to write the guide on her?
• Hero overview
• Pros and cons
2. Skills
• Skillbuild
• Explanation
3. Items
• Starting (+explanation)
• Early (+explanation)
• Middle (+explanation)
• Late (+explanation)
• Other possibilities
4. Strategy
• Early
• Middle
• Late
5. Replays
6. FAQ
 1. Introduction
Why did I decide to write the guide on her?
In my opinion, Death Prophet is one of the most underrated heroes in DotA. According to
MyMYM.com She was used in the latest PDL only once and lost in that game. That mean people
often preffer other heroes to aid their strategy while Krobelus was competitive-oriented when
created - she has spammable AoE nuke, very strong pushing/anti-pushing tool, and what is most
important, silence! The only problems with her is her low survivability and no direct disables.
So, I try to show you the whole Krobelus power in this guide,unleashing her wonder ful pusher
and support abilities.

Hero overview

Krobelus
Death Prophet

Story

Krobelus spent her living days as a fervent member of a cult of Death Sayers. Her belief in the
ways of death and the perfect harmony it brings has given her dead spirit a chance to wreak
havoc among the chaotic living. She uses her abilities to call upon carnivorous bats and long
dead spirits to lay to rest all who still pump blood through their veins. She augments her powers
through the use of witchcraft, and she is able to make opponents gape in fear, losing the focus
needed to cast spells. She is devoted to death in all it's aspects, and would see all turned to ash.

Attributes

STR: 19 + 1.8
AGI: 14 + 1.4
INT (main): 20 + 3.0
Damage: 39 - 51
MS: 280
 HP: 501
MP: 260
Armor: 1 (5% damage reduction)
Range: 600

Skills

QUOTE

Carrion Swarm - Sends a horde of bats to damage enemies.

Level 1 - 100 damage per unit. 105 mana, 9 sec cooldown.

Level 2 - 175 damage per unit. 120 mana, 9 sec cooldown.
Level 3 - 250 damage per unit. 140 mana, 9 sec cooldown.
Level 4 - 300 damage per unit. 165 mana, 9 sec cooldown.

QUOTE
Notes: simple AoE nuke. It is her main farming and damaging tool. It has 600 units casting range
and 700 units length so it is quite easy to aim with it.

QUOTE

Silence - Stops all enemies in a target area from casting spells.

Level 1 - Lasts 3 seconds. 80 mana, 14 sec cooldown.

Level 2 - Lasts 4 seconds. 80 mana, 14 sec cooldown.
Level 3 - Lasts 5 seconds. 80 mana, 14 sec cooldown.
Level 4 - Lasts 6 seconds. 80 mana, 14 sec cooldown.

QUOTE
Notes: Very useful spell and her only disable. It is useful in both team batles and puhes and 1 vs
1 situations. Note that it doesn't silence items and won't interrupt Town Portalling.
QUOTE

Witchcraft
Increases the potency of each of Krobelus' spells:

Carrion Swarm - Decreases cooldown and mana cost.

Silence - Decreases cooldown.
Exorcism - Increases the number of Spirits summoned.

Passively increases movement speed.

Passive

QUOTE
Notes: Witchcraft tooltip is a bit vague so I post here proper description taken from the Wiki
page:

Passively increases movement speed by 3/6/9/12%.

Carrion Swarm - Decreases cooldown by 1 second and mana cost by 5.
Silence - Decreases cooldown by 1 second. Cooldown starts decreasing at level 2 Witchcraft.
Exorcism - Increases the number of Spirits summoned.
Without Witchcraft = Exorcism summons 5/10/16 ghosts.
Level 1 Witchcraft = Exorcism summons 6/11/16 ghosts.
Level 2 Witchcraft = Exorcism summons 7/13/18 ghosts.
Level 3 Witchcraft = Exorcism summons 8/14/20 ghosts.
Level 4 Witchcraft = Exorcism summons 9/16/23 ghosts.

As you can see, this spell is very useful and belongs to best passive skills in DotA. It helps
Krobelus to spam her spells, increases her MS, and improves ultimate greatly! What else do you
need?

QUOTE

Exorcism
Unleashes evil spirits to attack your enemies.
Level 1 - Summons 5 evil spirits. 200 mana, 100 sec cooldown.
Level 2 - Summons 10 evil spirits. 300 mana, 100 sec cooldown.
Level 3 - Summons 16 evil spirits. 400 mana, 100 sec cooldown.

QUOTE
Notes: This wonderfulspell enables DP to take towers down quicklier than Leshrac, Pugna or
anyone else. It also heals her for 25% of total damage dealt by spirits. It is a bit tricky to use and
forces her to tank a lot with her poor healt so she needs some HP and regen boost items.

Pros and cons

Pros
• Decent pusher
• Spammable AoE nuke
• Big AoE 6 sec. silence with 11 sec. coolsdown (!)
• Not very hard to play
• Above average MS with Witchcraft
• Good lane control
Cons
• Low health and armor
• Pathetic base MS
• Really bad attack projective
• No escape tool
• No stun/hex/other direct disable

2. Skills

Skillbuild

1. Carrion Swarm
2. Silence
3. Carrion Swarm
4. Witchcraft
5. Carrion Swarm
6. Exorcizm
7. Carrion Swarm
8. Witchcraft
9. Witchcraft
10. Witchcraft/Silence
11. Exorcizm
12. Witchcraft/Silence
13. Silence
14. Silence
15. Attribute Bonus
16. Exorcizm
17+. Attribute Bonus

Explanation

Personally I think that this is a common build for Death Prophet which can be used both in pubs
and high-level games. Carrion swarm is your main nuke and farming skill and is obviously
maxed first. I have heard about and tried alternative skill build where you take 1 point of Swarm
and max Witchcraft, just like Zeus does with Arc Lightning. The main problem here is that you
lose your lane control a lot: Zeus has another nuke - Lightning Bolt while Krobelus doesn't. I
think it is too much to lose your killing potential for better last hit. And you can master even such
terrible attack animation as she has. Practice makes perfect. Back to the skillbuild: 1 level of
Silence is a must but more of it early might be a waste because Witchcraft gives you more. + 1
sec and slight increase in AoE is insignificant before team battles start. When they do start, you
shoud max it. Exorcism is a very good ultimate so no need to skip it. When you'll push with it,
you'll find other advantage of taking all points in Carrion Swarm: you will clear creep waves in
seconds so your spirits can concentrate on attacking tower. When reaching level 10 you might be
puzzled what to take, but it all depends on the amount of mass puhes and team battles. However,
Witchcraft is better for puhing and defending (more spirits) and is worse for team battles (short
silence with low AoE). Be smart and level your skills properly. Last tip: no attributes instead of
skills - your spells are too good to skip them!

3. Items

Starting

Ring of Basilius solves 2 main problems of plaing Krobelus early: terrific base armor of 1 which
is even worse than it had to be according to her base Agility of 14, and gives you mana
regeneration. It is a bit costly so you won't have money to buy Ironwood branches. That's why
you may buy only Sobi Mask and then upgrade it to RoB or it will be also great if your team
partner buys RoB as his first item so you can srart off with Stout Shield. Getting Tangoes is
oblious and will help you to survive nearly any kind of early harassment.

Early

It may seem a bit strange but Vanguarf is a very good item on Death Prophet. It gives her ability
to tank towers - nothing is more important for her. 2 bracers give a equal amount o HP but
damage block and 5 HP/sec. is much better for her than slight increase in Agility and
intelligence. It also allows not to swallow consumables every minute. Boots of Speed is a must
for every hero in DotA, Krobelus is not an exeption. Ironwood branches are useful if you didn't
buy RoB and bought them, otherwise buying Branch after 10th minute is usually a waste. Having
a TP Scroll in your inventory will save you many times so don't be greedy and remember that
fragile hero without an escape mechanism and having low MS will not survive any gank without
Town Portal Scroll.

Middle

I consider Bloodstone as a core item For Death Prophet. It gives her practically everything she
needs. Here's a quote from Patccmoi's (not-so) Mini-Guide to Bloodstone where he states that
Krobelus is an A-Grade user:

QUOTE

Another hero that is a great Int tank. She sure has use for extra mana with a 5s cd huge AOE
nuke. She needs to tank because of her ulti and even building as a tank she tends to die a lot
because she's such a major threat in pushes destroying towers and raxes like they were nothing
that everyone wants her down, and then the heal and faster rez/less gold lost is great. Her skills
are really enough to do her job considering her job is pretty much surviving while her ulti rapes.
And she can score kills out of her ulti and carrion pretty well. It's really incredible to have a
completed Bloodstone on Krob early, it lets you be very aggressive with Carrion spam before the
other team is high level to ignore it a bit more and can allow for some heavy pushing because
they just can't hide behind a tower with you shooting carrions at them non-stop. A Bloodstone
Krob is seriously nothing comparable to a non-Bloodstone Krob midgame.

It is all stated pretty well and nothing else useful can be added. The only tip: when start making
Bloodstone, grab Perseverance first, not Soul Booster. At this stage of the game you start lacking
Mana regen due to the simple fact that RoB gives only 0.65 MP/sec. regeneration. So with
Perseverance you'll be more effective and when you complete Bloodstone, you'll forget about
any regen problems. You'll now spam Carrion Swarm really often so you farming ability will rise
significantly and you will need BoT for unstoppable pushes and decent mobility. However, you
don't need to rush BoT on Krobelus because with level 4 Witchcraft and BoS she has really nice
369 MS which is enough if you have a TP Scroll in your inventory.

Late

If you played well throughout the game, everything should be done already - megacreeps or your
team just more overleveled/overfarmed. All you need now is something to boost your
sirviveability so the whole late game turns into one unstoppable push. All of 3 items are decent
so you have to choose any you feel fits the game situation better and is the most logical. Of
course, Scadi may seem the best item because it gives you HP, Armor, and damage, but you
allready have huge mana pool and MP regeneration, so it migth be just useless. Shiva is the
cheapest item and gives you Damage and AoE slow/nuke and boosts your armor greatly, but
gives you no health at all. Heart of Tarrasque gives you insane tankability - but in fact it is all
that it gives. That's why Bloodstone On Krobelus is better than any of this items so they might be
considered as just luxueries.

Other possibilities

Possibly a viable choise if you're playing supportive Krobelus. Main problem with it is that you
simply won't have enough mana with your costly and spammable skills.
It is also an option for her even despite it won't be able to be her main mana dealer. Zeus, for
example, often takes it. There are too problems with Arcane ring: it doesn't provide enough mana
and it doesn''t give you sirviveability. Second point is way more important, you simply won't be
ablle to push at all and still won't solve your mana problems.

If there is no better wielder for this items (VS, Enigma, Lina etc.), Krobelus should take them.
However, she needs to farm so such delay may ruin the whole game.

If you like to play Death Prophet using these items in a supportive style, you should check:
Eozm's guide to Krobelus, the Death Prophet where you may find in-deapth for such playstyle.

This is quite a nice choise but still: it doesn't give you any HP or Armor and you won't be able to
survive two-people gank. All bonuses are useful but many items do their purpose better for DP.

Another decent item but I prefer Bloodstone or Shiva more. There are better Guinsoo carriers
(Lion, Silencer, Prophet etc.) and survivability it gives is not enough. You are pusher, not a hero
killer so another disable is less important compared to HP and Mana.

It sucks hard. I take Dagon for only Pugna, Witch Doctor, and Nerubian Assasin. DP doesn't
have such burst damage to kill in 2 seconds so it is just a waste.
It gives you tanking ability but it doesn;t give you Mana so you won't be able to spam your
spells. Who needs Manaless Krobelus?

It is also a great item for Krobelus. You should surely take it if enemy has WW heroes, is
winning the ward wars or will suffer greatly from mana burn. Otherwise, Bloodstone is stil better
and doesn't intend good micro.

This post has been edited by The-Angry-Hobbit: Oct 21 2008, 10:20 AM

4. Strategy

Early

Crobelus usually lanes nicely. She can both solo and dual lane. Her Carrion Swarm usually
allows her to dominate her lane no matter who is her opponent. Exeptions are Zeus and probably
Warloc, these 2 will not have many problems laning against you. In Zeus case you will, actually.
Krobelus can babysit team carries nicely as well but not as good as Dazzle or WL. Personally I
prefer soloing side lane, preferably bottom Sentinel and top Scourge so that your lane partener (if
any) can pull neutrals. In this case you usually get huge experience and gold advantage which is
always useful.
Coming to the lane, you should choose proper playstyle depending on enemies you have:
• Always play agressively against enemy late-game carries, assasins and melee heroes in
general (Void, SA, Troll Warlord)
• Play semi-agressive against ranged heroes that have poorer lane control than you (Luna,
Storm Spirit)
• Stay back if laning against heroes that have better lane control then you but don't let them
dominate you completetly (Zeus, Viper)
• Never abandon farming in favor of harassing opponent
By playing agressively I don't mean nuking them to hell because you'll just sit without mana and
enemy her will over farm you due to better attack animation and projecttive. Never ever spam
Carrion Swarm just to to damage the opponent (exept ganks of course), always kill some creeps
and hurt your opposite laner(s). Use Silence wisely. It can surely save you and your allies if gank
comes, and it can help to gank. With its low mana cost and cooldown you won't have many
problems using it correctly, but still do not silence 20 MP heroes or those who have spells in
cooldown.
Remember that Death Prophet is sub-par ganker and that she needs farming. Roaming or rune
whoring is generally bad, you will just lose experience and gold. Further on, Krobelus doesn't
benefit from any runes greatly exept Regeneration.
Don't push too early. Do not forget to turn your Ring of Basilius off before going to lane. You
will unnessesarily protect your creeps and lose chance for surprize gank/Swarm. However, you
can pull some nice tricks with RoB aura by activating it while tower defending or creep pulling.
Do not forget to turn it off again when situation like that ends!
Try to stay at the lane as long as possible while making enemy going for heal. Experience and
gold are critical for you, especially at this stage.
Never tower dive. Your EHP doesn't enable you to do so at this stage of the game. In 90% of
cases you will not get the kill and will have to go healing.

To sum early game strategy:

• Try to choose the lane where your partner can pull creeps
• Don't forget to turn RoB off
• Do not waste mana just for harrasment
• Do not go roaming
• Stay at lane as long as possible
Middle

At this stage pushes and mass team battles start. Your role in team battles is to cast Silence and 1-
2 Swarms. The best way to go is usually Carrion Swarm + immediate Silence or vice versa,
depending on surprize factor and enemy team spells. If you manage to stay alive after your
Swarm + Silence combo - excllent, you cannot wish more. If you die before pulling this combo
off - you're just crap. So, in most cases you should immediately go back a little as your benefit to
team when spells in cooldown is ~ 0. Better to stay back and to repeat combo if it is neaded some
time after.
As you can see, team battles are not the best aspects of the game Krobelus can afford, though
they are still way better than direct combat. The best for Death Prophet is pushing or defending.
It is usually the main reason why DP is picked, aside from Silence. If you have a chance to to
push lone tower or tower where the on ly opponent is no-disable and not hard nuking hero, try to
use this tactic: when enemy creep wave comes - Carrion Swarm - wait till its cooldown is nearly
over - Exorcism - immediate Carrion Swarm. Double Swarm kills any creep wave so you turn
out to be attacking tower with your creeps + your ghosts which means destroying it in most
cases. Note that this combo is quite costly, so calculate before using. This is just a version, in any
case remember - use your ultimate when there are no enemy creeps around! It is important
indeed.
If the enemy team is pushing really hard, you can use Exorcism as a defensive spell. It can wreak
havoc. Many people undestimate DP's ulti as combat spell while damage it does is magnificent
when coupled with some Swarms and nasty Silence.
Best use of this strat is while defending base towers where is less place for attackers as well as
no sight of what is going up the hill. Surprize Silence + Exorcism in the face is scary.
When not with your team, try to avoid 1 vs 1 combat, neither your hero was not designed for this
nor she has many chances to win the fight.

To sum middle game strategy:

• Help in team battles with Silence
• Push as much as possible without duying too much
• Turn your RoB on
• Use Exotcism for defending
• Avoid direct combat
Late
Not much if anything at all can be said about late game. If game carried well, you shall push
them to death. If the game carried badly, nothing can help your team. Just help your teammates
to lead the game to victory. I have run out of advices here so probably the only thing you need to
play Death Prophet successfully is skill + little portion of luck. Grab it, it might be helpful!

To sum late game strategy:

• Help your team
• Do your best

4. Replays

No yet.

4. FAQ

No yet as well.

Final note:

May the Force be with You!

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