Phoveus, the Shadow of Dread, may look like he has a hard, muscular body, but at least he’s not that hard to play and master.
With two skills and an ultimate, Mobile Legend’s latest fighter lets you focus on chasing down enemies, especially those with dashes or blinks.
Phoveus skills in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Ultimate – Demonic Force
Astaros keeps a watchful gaze over an area of 8 yards around Phoveus. If it sees an enemy hero using blink or charge skills, it will be activated and cast a Mark upon them for 3 seconds.
During this time, Phoveus can rapidly blink to their location to deliver a fierce blow, dealing Magic Damage to the target and its vicinity, gaining a shield.
Once Phoveus activates this skill, this effect can be cast repeatedly at the cost of Mana up to 12 seconds before entering cooldown, as long as the required conditions are met.
- Since Phovues’ ultimate requires conditions to be met, it will be greyed out when off cooldown, and light up only when conditions are fulfilled, that is, when an enemy uses a dash within range.
- Phoveus’ own second skill, Astaros Eye, meets his ultimate’s requirements, giving you the chance to combo.
- When more than one target blinks or dashes, you can choose which one to target Demonic Force on.
- There is an animation wind up for Demonic Force, so when Phoveus blinks to the enemy’s location, your opponents still have a window to move out of your landing AoE.
- You only have a 12 second window to recast your ultimate, so use it wisely.
- Chou and Wanwan for example, are two heroes that Phoveus will enjoy being around.
Passive – Demonic Intuition
Phoveous’ weapon, Astaros, holds mysterious powers and is exceptionally sensitive to fast-moving prey.
When an enemy hero uses Blink or Charge within 8 yards of Astaros, it reduces all of Phoveus’ skill cooldowns or charge times by one second.
- The cooldown reduction happens automatically, and you’ll be able to see the indicators clearly on your screen.
First skill – Malefic Terror
Phoveus smashes the ground and unleashes Astaros Dread, dealing Magic Damage to the target.
Upon hitting an enemy hero, Phoveus receives a shield as well as 25% Movement Speed boost for three seconds.
If an enemy hero, creep or Phoveus himself touches Astaros Dread, it will spread and deal extra damage (successfully damage dealt to the same enemy decays to 25%).
This skill gains 1 charge every 8.5 seconds, up to three charges, and deals 160% damage to minions.
- Utility wise, Phoveus gains two key attributes: a shield and movement speed to help you stick to targets.
- Remember, Phoveus himself or jungle monsters can also act as a link for Astaros Dread to spread its extra damage. However, it doesn’t work with minions.
- For an ability that stacks charges with a very low cooldown, this is your bread and butter skill, so max out Malefic Terror first after your ultimate and use it whenever it is up.
Second skill – Astaros Eye
Phoveus summons forth Astaros Eye that deals Magic Damage.
After 1 second, Astaros Eye starts shrinking and pulling all enemies on it into its center, dealing additional Magic Damage.
- This skill has a similar effect to Luo Yi’s Yin-Yang proc, where enemies are pulled to the center of its AoE.
- Use this to poke your opponents in lane, during chase downs, or when running away. This displacement is enough to buy you time to escape.
Tips and tricks for Phoveus
Here’s a quick rundown of combos, which Emblem set to use, Battle Spell choices, and which equipment build best suits Phoveus.
Combos
When it comes to combos, Phoveus is a flexible fighter, so opening with any of his skills whilst adapting to the situation on the battlefield is how you should be playing him.
That said, you can always use your ultimate, Demonic Force, to initiate, or open with Astaros Eye to trigger your ultimate. Most importantly, remember to use your first skill, Malefic Terror, in between spells and auto attacks.
Emblem set for Phoveus
Since he is a magic dealing hero, selecting Mage Emblem is your best bet. Adding to the movement speed he gets from his first skill, Malefic Terror, Agility will boost you even more.
In the second row, put in points into Observation for the added penetration, or Contract for Lifesteal, both of which work well with his kit.
Since Phoveus needs to be in the thick of the action, constantly trading and using his skills, Magic Worship is the best choice out of the three in the last row.
Battle Spell options
Depending on your playstyle, Battle Spells recommended for Phoveus are Flameshot, Execute, and Flicker.
Unlike when mages use Flameshot, in Phoveus’ case it isn’t primarily used to finish low health opponents off, for by himself, he just doesn’t deal enough damage to burst a target.
Instead, the sole purpose is to nudge enemies to use a dash or blink spell, which then allows him to use his ultimate. This is why Execute might be a better bet, for it allows you to finish off enemy heroes in the thick of battle.
Since Phoveus already has natural blink capabilities in Demonic Force, Flicker isn’t necessary. However, if you want an added mobility spell to bridge the gap or for the added safety, take it.
Phoveus best build
Whether you go for a more tanky or magic dealing build, either way, Clock of Destiny is a core item on him, for all its attributes synergize perfectly well with his role as a fighter, adding health points, Magic Power, and mana.
Not to mention its unique passive, which gives him 25 HP and four Magic Power every 20 seconds, stacking up to 12 times.
Going down the tank route means buying Oracle, Immortality, and Brute Force Breastplate. Since he already doesn’t do much damage by himself, this build is extremely team-oriented and dependent on your carries to perform while you soak up damage.
To deal more magic damage, a balanced magic bruiser build includes Lightning Truncheon as a second offensive item after Cloak of Destiny. From there, you should adapt your build according to the enemy team’s lineup.
READ MORE: 3 best heroes to counter the UBE strategy in Mobile Legends
