Dota 2 Death Prophet Guide

Unleash the dead upon the living and harness the undead power of the ghostly Death Prophet with our detailed Dota 2 Death Prophet Guide 

The Death Prophet does not escape death; rather, death escapes her, denying her the comfort of a peaceful end. With utmost frustration, she wields her curse as a deadly weapon, bringing death to the world of the living. 

Death Prophet is a ranged Intelligence Hero with an average Health Pool of 582 HP and a great Mana pool of 363. Her attack damage of 52 is decent, and her base armor of 3.7 is impressive, but she lacks in movement speed, which is only 285. 

Death Prophet (Krobelus) is relatively easy to play, as her high Area of Effect (AoE) abilities help her farm, nuke and push lanes with. While mainly played as a pusher, her experience-based playstyle lets her also be played as a tanking support Hero. But, regardless of everything, with enough farm and experience, Krobelus has the ability to wreak havoc in teamfights, nuking, silencing and draining enemies while her spirits chip away at their life force. 

Abilities

Let’s get out our Ouija board and candles, and learn how to control the ghostly powers of the Death Prophet’s ability kit. 

• Crypt Swarm – Death Prophet sends forth a wave of bats for 810 distance in an arc of 300 end radius towards a target location. It deals up to 325 damage to all enemy units in the path. It has a short cooldown, a lowest of 6 seconds (4 with level 15 talent). Upgrading level 20 talent also slows the movement speed of enemies hit by Crypt Swarm by 50% for 1 second. 
• Silence – With ancient magic, Krobelus silences all enemies in a 450 radius, rendering them unable to cast any spells for up to 6 seconds. 
• Spirit Siphon – Death Prophet connects her spirit link with enemies, draining their health, dealing up to 100 (130 with level 20 talent) damage per second and healing herself for the same amount. The link lasts for up to 6 seconds but breaks when the target moves further than 750 distance from Krobelus. She can have a maximum charge of 4, replenishing every 80 seconds. This ability can be upgraded by Aghanim’s Shard.
  • Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade – Grants one more charge of Spirit Siphon and inflicts 1.2 seconds of fear on any target drained for 3 seconds consecutively. 
• Exorcism – Death Prophet releases fragments of her shattered soul; up to 24 spirits (32 with level 25 talent) that drain the life of enemy units and buildings in a 1200 radius. This ability passively grants her up to 20% movement speed and up to 16% more when activated. The spirits fly around and deal between 62-67 damage to units and half to buildings, and after 40 seconds, return to Krobelus to heal her for 100% of the damage dealt to units and 25% dealt to buildings. This ability can be upgraded by Aghanim’s Scepter.
  • Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade – Enemies affected by spells or attacks from Death Prophet will also be attacked by one spirit, which will deal 1.5 times its normal damage. The spirit will also slow the target by 100% for up to 0.3. The spirit will chase a target for a maximum of 20 seconds per instance. 

Talents

• Level 10 – +12% Magic Resistance or +30 Damage
• Level 15 – -2s Crypt Swarm Cooldown or +300 Health
• Level 20 – +30 Spirit Siphon Damage/Crypt Swarm applies 50% slow for 1s
• Level 25 – +8 Exorcism Spirits or -22s Spirit Siphon Replenish Time

Dota 2 Death Prophet Guide – Tips  

Spell-casting is Death Prophet’s specialty and helps her become a powerful nuker and pusher as the game progresses. With her Crypt Swarm, she is able to nuke down enemy Heroes as creepwaves with ease as long as she has the Mana pool to support her spams. Any Hero getting too close will surely get Silenced and drained of life with Spirit Siphon. Furthermore, her Exorcism is excellent at chasing down and dealing damage to enemies as it attacks even when Krobelus is moving. It's perfect for teamfights, chasing and melting buildings with focused fire. Once her Exorcism ends, she is usually back to full HP, which can quickly turn the tides of battle. 

Death Prophet is usually played in the midlane, as her Crypt Swarm can be smartly used to harass and farm from a safe distance. Pushing too early might open her up to ganks, but with proper positioning and Spirit Siphon, a good Krobelus player can easily escape and survive tricky situations. Focusing on last-hitting and denying in the early stages of the game is a good idea, as once you get your ultimate, you can easily take a fight or a tower. With a bit of farm, you can dominate the mid-game, especially because you can silence the spell-casters, who are most effective during this stage of the game. 

Besides early levels, farm is also quite beneficial to Death Prophet to help ensure she scales effectively into the late-game. With a few movement speed and Mana pool boosting items, she can start pushing waves and forcing teamfights. She benefits greatly from movement speed items, as it allows her to move around during fights to deal maximum damage and disable, effectively chasing or kiting enemies with Spirit Siphon. She does not need damage-based items, so getting utility, extra disables, and other items that benefit her already spammable ability set really helps her become a monstrous force to reckon with. 

Dota 2 Death Prophet – Pros and Cons

Here are some of Krobelus’ strengths and weaknesses that you need to remember and play around with for maximum effectiveness. 

Pros:

• Can quickly push lanes and destroy towers with ease
• Tanky and hard to kill with her Exorcism
• She has a really high movement speed 
• Capable of high levels of burst damage
• She can be played in versatile roles

Cons:

• Does not have proper escape abilities
• Her cast animations are long (besides Spirit Siphon)
• Slightly dependent on items and levels
• Dependent on Exorcism for pushing effectively
• Long cooldown on Exorcism

How to play Death Prophet 

Realize success as your inevitable fate by mastering Death Prophet with our short guide. 

Starting Items

Head into your lane with some essential regen items, including Tango and Healing Salve to restore your health and a few Clarities to help you use Crypt Swarm. 

Getting a few Iron Branches will also help you with some cheap attributes, including Intelligence to help with your Mana pool and damage. Furthermore, you may even pick up a Bottle early on for some mid-lane rune regenerations. 

Early Game

Focus your early game on farming and harassing your lane opponent with Crypt Swarm and Spirit Siphon. Pick up a Boots of Speed when you can for some much-need movement speed. If you are having difficulties against a spell-spamming opponent like Zues, then get a Magic Stick asap. 

Getting a Magic Wand or a Null Talisman will also give you basic stats to help increase your Mana pool and damage further. Pick up your level 6 as soon as possible, and start pushing lanes whenever your Exorcism is off cooldown. 

Mid Game

Follow up your Boots of Speed with a Phase Boots as its phase ability strongly synergizes with your movement speed bonuses. Getting a Eul’s Scepter of Divinity is a great choice, as it gives you more movement speed and lets you Cyclone yourself out of harm's way while your Exorcism does damage.

You may even pick up an Aghanim’s Scepter early on, as the passive spirit attack can really take your damage potential to the next level. If you are feeling cheeky, you can even get a Shadow Blade and invisibly haunt your enemies with Exorcism. 

Late Game 

As late-game arrives, you may find yourself in a tough spot when fighting physical damage-based enemies, so getting an Octarine core for lowered cooldown, a Hurricane Pike for creating distance, or a Wind Walker for extra mobility can help you immensely. Furthermore, Black King Bar and Eternal Shroud will also help you survive spells and disables. 

Picking up an Aghanim’s Shard is also a good choice, as it lets you fear your opponents. You can also be an aura carrier, picking up Pipe of Insight and Shiva’s Guard, or you can get more disables like Scythe of Vyse and Gleipnir. 

Dota 2 Death Prophet Counters

Here are some Heroes that excel at exorcising Krobelus no matter how powerful she might grow to become. 

• Ancient Apparition– His Ice Blast prevents Death Prophet from gaining Health from her Spirit Siphon and Exorcism. 
• Doom – His ultimate Doom can prevent Krobelus from using her spells, making her useless in teamfights. His Scorched Earth can also help chase and bring her down with ease. 
• Anti-Mage – He can quickly Blink in and out from Krobelus’ Spirit Siphon (unless silenced) and, with Spellcounter, has bonus magic resistance. Due to Death Prophet’s large Mana pool, she is good-picking for a Mana Void. 
• Omniknight – He is a great overall healer, and his Guardian Angel nullifies Exorcism’s physical damage. With Aghanim’s Scepter, it can stop Death Prophet from pushing towers. Furthermore, his Heavenly Grace is adept at dispelling Silence. 

Conclusion

We regularly upload guides for your favorite Heroes, so watch for more to come.