Krul’s Recommended Items

When I started playing Krul I spent most of my time experimenting with items and builds to find one that worked. I never bothered to check the Recommended Items. I had never even looked at them. So today I did.

I’m going to review the current Recommended Items and then provide a list the worked for me in my climb as Krul to Silver PoA.

The Game:

– Tornado Trigger

– Journey Boots

– Frostburn

– Aegis

– Clockwork

– Metal Jacket

I think it would be rude to say that this is why Krul appeared underpowered before his update, but I wouldn’t be far from the truth. Almost every time I saw a Krul in queue he was wielding a Tornado Trigger and losing the game. I think I’ve bought a TT on Krul a handful of times, and it was an item that took me from winning to winning more. It provides critical strike chance and critical strike damage. This means that you have a 20% increased chance to hit for 50% bonus damage, and that 50% bonus damage is upgraded to 70% bonus damage. These are stats that Krul doesn’t need because they synergize with high weapon damage, which Krul doesn’t build. Attack speed isn’t the worst stat in the game, especially on Krul, but having this as a starting item is wrong.

Journey boots is recommended for everyone, but please don’t upgrade to Journey boots until you are out of room and have double infusions.

Frostburn is extremely inefficient as the slow scales off of Crystal Power, which is a stat you’re never going to have. It does provides 80 Crystal Power, which is the second highest of any CP items, but needs more CP to be efficient.

Aegis is a defensive item that I’ve been leaning towards more and more ever since I heard that shield helps mitigate turret damage. This item makes sense. I like this suggestion! A bit of health, a Reflex Block active, and good mitigation stats! This item is Krul’s best friend! Note: does not make you impervious to Skaarf ultimate.

Clockwork only works in cheese builds where the enemy didn’t farm efficiently enough to burst you down. It provides no CP, some energy that you shouldn’t need in the first place, and 50% cooldown acceleration. The only useful stat is the 50% cooldown acceleration, but you should be getting that stat from somewhere else, because this item is 1950 gold in the wrong direction.

Metal Jacket was an item that I started building on Krul before Skaarf, Celeste, and Vox were released. It was powerful, but didn’t stand up very well against old Breaking Point. Now Metal Jacket is a huge chunk of armor that has some insane synergy with Krul’s abilities. I would probably buy this item if Vox and Koshka weren’t in every game that I play.

The Real:

Most teams are running a balanced serving of weapon and crystal heroes and builds. However, some items work better than others for countering the current meta.

– Breaking Point

– Aegis

– Boots

– Shiversteel

– Atlas Pauldron

– Situationally either Aegis, Crucible, Heavy Jacket, Aftershock or Tornado Trigger

Breaking Point is still the way I win my Krul games. If you have Ardan, Koshka, Catherine, or Glaive on your team, then I’m getting stacks for free. This item wins games that aren’t decided in the first 10 minutes.

I really like the inclusion of Aegis against crystal heavy teams as it just provides so much mitigation and the active, which is completely overpowered right now. Not Koshka levels of overpowered, but close.

A man needs his shoes. Because Krul lacks a natural escape, sometimes the passive on boots are the only thing that gives him a “running” chance in this world.

Since the changes to Krul’s Dead Man Rush have included on-hit effects, Shiversteel is actually back. Players are being forced into holding their Reflex Blocks for either Krul’s ultimate, or the activation of Spectral Smite. If they don’t block the slow from Shiversteel then they are in a bad place. It lets Krul stick, get stacks, and survive. It’s importance cannot be put into words, so if you’re reading this, let’s just move on.

I moved to Atlas Pauldron because Breaking Point was eating my armor up anyway. However, it helps to stop the DPS from Koshka and Vox (historically CP damage dealers), so not only does it counter the weapon carries of choice, but it also provides a way to create durability through utility, which is a very neat concept.

Most of the time when I decide what the situational item is going to be very early. Do you know how efficient double Blazing Salvo is in this game? If you can get 700 gold ahead of the enemy team early on, this item is freelo. I’m walking around with boots, Blazing Salvo, Blazing Salvo, and any enemy I see loses a fight. If this gets me rolling then I’ll eventually upgrade that into Tornado Trigger as my last or second to last item. But Ady! You said Tornado Trigger was a bad option for Krul! How come you can suggest it, but SEMC can’t? Great question! Two stats that were very lost in TT were critical strike chance, and critical strike damage. However, when Krul has a Breaking Point, a TT is essentially starting Krul off at four stacks of Breaking point (as far as critical strike chance and critical strike damage are concerned) which is kind of a big deal.

However, if the enemy team is Celeste, CP SAW and CP Vox then double Aegis will make me so strong. Some games I get double Atlas if the enemy team is Ringo and Petal. You can make a wrong choice, but the option is yours, so choose wisely!

The End:

Krul is a different kind of monster now, and some people like to build him by maxing A skill and then rushing Aftershock. I still max B skill because Dead Man’s Rush now applies on-hit effects. Before the patch I would auto-attack my target and use DMR immediately afterwards to apply a second stack on my target. Now if I get an auto-attack followed by a DMR I have my target up to three stacks. With how powerful each stack is, this makes a bit of a difference for a BP Krul that maxes B skill first.

Feel free to leave any feedback you’d like. If you have suggestions for this build I’d love to hear them, but please remember that I’m right and you’re wrong.