The Kraken may be a strength hero but he is not a true tank; instead, he excels at starting battles on his own terms and chasing down survivors afterwards.
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Abilities:
Drench
Kraken Drenches a target in water, damaging them and reducing their armor and movement speed for a short duration.
Target: Enemies
Damage type: Magic
Range: 700
Mana cost: 120
Cooldown: 12 seconds
Deals 110/160/210/260 Magic Damage and applies Drench to target for 4 seconds.
Drench Effects:
40% Movement Slow
-2/-3/-4/-5 Armor
This is your bread and butter spell, so you'll level it up first. Use it on anything you want to kill. However, it is generally best saved for when a victim starts to run as the slow will allow you to get a few hits in while the target is fleeing. That being said, if you have gobs of mana or the target is clearly going to stay, throw a Drench out there; the damage and (especially later on) the armor reduction will be a great aid in a brawl.
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Tsunami Charge
Kraken charges toward a target location with great strength and speed, damaging and knocking aside enemies in his path.
Target: Ground
Damage type: Magic
Range: 700/900/1100/1300
Mana cost: 105/120/135/150
Cooldown: 14/13/12/11 seconds
Charges to target location, pushing aside and dealing 75/125/175/225 Magic damage to enemies in radius of self.
What that all breaks down to is that the Kraken moves in a straight line (or as straight as possible, depending on obstacles) and anything he runs into gets damage and pushed a bit to the side.
The application is simple: use this to get close to your targets (and add some damage in besides) or to put some distance between your pursuers. When ganking, if unseen, you should generally start out by Charging right next to the target and then Drenching; this will allow you to get 2-3 hits in before the slow wears off, depending on how fast the target reacts. If they can see you coming, aim it a little bit past the target in the direction that he's going to run (Charge isn't instantaneous). Don't go overboard using this spell, though: Drench costs less mana, does more damage, slows and reduces armor, so it should be your go-to spell.
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Splash
When attacking, Kraken has a chance to unleash a mighty attack that damages nearby enemies.
Passive
On Attack Impact:
20% chance to deal 30/50/70/90 bonus Magic damage to targets in a 325 radius and deal an additional 30/50/70/90 Magic damage to targets in a 200 radius.
This just means that 1 out of every 5 attacks (statistically; luck may or may not be on your side) deals some extra damage to nearby units. To be perfectly clear, the bonus damages stack, so targets in a 200 radius take 60/100/140/180 damage and targets in a 325 radius take 30/50/70/90 damage.
This skill makes you a noticeable damage dealer later on but isn't as important as your other spells for midgame ganking. It sounds like a lot of damage, but on average you'll have to get 5 attacks off to inflict a Splash which deals less damage than a Drench or Charge, so invest in this skill last.
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Whirlpool
Kraken forms two connected whirlpools, one at a target location and one around himself. After a short time, the whirlpool near Kraken sucks everyone in and spits them out at the targeted location. Enemies are damaged in the process.
Target: Ground
Range: 750/1000/1250
Radius: 350
Mana cost: 200/250/300
Cooldown: 120 seconds
Creates a whirlpool at target location. Teleports all units around Kraken 6/5/4 seconds after activation to whirlpool's location and deals 150/225/300 Magic damage to enemy units.
How this works: you click somewhere near to you on the ground and a whirlpool appears. 6/5/4 seconds after this, anything around where you happen to be will teleport to the whirlpool and any enemies that get teleported take some damage. The virtue of this skill isn't its damage (half the intelligence heroes have 6-8 second cooldown spells that do this much damage), but its ability to disrupt your enemies; you can use it to drag them into the middle of your allies where a bit of focus fire will quickly dispatch them. The easiest way to accomplish this is to cast whirlpool near your allies (preferably near one of your towers), wait a couple seconds, then charge next to whoever you want to die. This is a great way to start a battle, since your enemies will be separated and likely quickly cut down.
A couple things to be wary of: Kraken's Tsunami Charge isn't instantaneous, so you'll have to be aware of how long it takes to get yourself next to your victim. People who see you activate this skill are going to run, so try not to be seen before it's too late for the targets to escape. Also, this skill has a large mana cost and you're a strength hero, so make sure you have enough mana to Charge after you use it. And don't expect Whirlpool to get you out of a bad spot. Even putting aside how it takes a long time to move you, it'll drag anyone chasing you along with you, so you don't really get any benefit (also, anyone who's actually a threat to you will know to just wait at the exit Whirlpool). Lastly, if there are any allies nearby, let them know you're using Whirlpool (say something, ping, etc.); they'll help you out a lot more if they're prepared.
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Skill build order:
- Drench
- Tsunami Charge
- Drench
- Tsunami Charge
- Drench
- Tsunami Charge
- Drench
- Tsunami Charge
- Whirlpool
- Splash
- Whirlpool
- Splash
- Splash
- Splash
- Stats
- Whirlpool
- - 25. Stats
What you should do:
1. Early game
Items:
Trinket of Restoration
Scarab
Fortified Bracelet x2
These particular items are really personal preference; the important things is that you want health and mana regen as well as some extra intelligence. I like this set of items because it's cheap and makes you extra beefy, making it all the more difficult for your targets to stand toe to toe with you.
Early on you'll just be farming like everyone else: denying, creep exploding, all that jazz. The main difference is that you'll be better suited to jump on opportunities than other heroes because you'll have higher hp, good burst spell damage, and a slow to boot. Make sure to try to pick off weak targets. The goal here is to get a gold/level advantage early; the stronger you are early, the more kills you'll be able to get and the stronger you'll get and the more kills you'll get and on and on it goes.
At this point, you'll be using mostly Drench. This is because you don't have much mana and Drench is the most efficient spell you have.
2. Midgame
New items:
Steam boots or Enhanced Marchers (I prefer Steam boots, but either one works)
Hack and Slash (a good item for any ganker or to make a tank a threat)
Abyssal Skull (this gives you and your allies a lot of benefits for how cheap it is)
Scarab (I really like having a lot of mana regen)
This is a build for ganking; it will give you some damage, some health regen, a lot of mana regen, and, most importantly, a speed boost and another slow effect. Hack and Slash will make you difficult to escape and help you zoom around the map so you can be where you need to be, and the regen will keep your fountain trips (which take precious time) to a minimum.
This is when the Kraken is at his prime, so take advantage of it. You'll have good speed, a lot of hp, good burst damage, and two slow effects; use them to end lives. Your primary focus will be killing, but you'll be beefy enough to take towers or a side if you get the opportunity. Mana will still be a concern, but you should have enough to chase people down using Drench and Charge in tandem and enough to pull off the Whirlpool -> Tsunami Charge combo. Save this for group battles, because it costs too much mana to be worth it for solo ganks.
3. Late game
New Items:
Behemoth's Heart
Whispering Helm
Late game isn't when the Kraken is at his prime; your burst damage becomes less noticeable and Splash isn't a good enough passive to win you a direct fight against the agility heroes. If they have any serious late game threats (Madman, Chronos, etc.), you'll want to make sure the game is over before they can outfight you. Your team will probably expect some tanking from you, but since you have no damage absorption skills you'll have to tank smart. Keep their attention by attacking vulnerable targets and use your speed and Charge to stay out of real danger. Use Drench on whoever your team is targetting; the reduced armor will be a great aid. Still, you'll play pretty much the same way you did at midgame, but probably won't be as successful at it. The big difference is that you'll have mana to spare, so throw your spells around more freely, and keep in mind that a well placed Whirlpool will win battles.
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Other notes:
- Resist using Tsunami Charge unless you have mana to spare, you need it to escape, or you're doing something particularly useful with it. Drench does more damage and has other useful effects, and you need to have the mana ready for Whirlpool or you may miss valuable opportunities.
- Focusing on ganking doesn't mean obsessing with it; you can fall behind in gold and experience if you are unsuccesful or even moderately succesful. Finding the right balance between ganking and farming takes some experience, but a good rule of thumb is that you shouldn't force ganks: if you don't see any good opportunities, farm for a bit until something presents itself.
- No one likes a kill stealer. If you come upon an opportunity to ks, you can probably help your ally get his rightful kill just by slowing the enemy with Drench or simply by blocking the victim. This will net you friends and, more importantly, your allies may help you with ganks when you ask and (most importantly) encourage them to not leave you to die when things turn bad.
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