Dota 2 Chaos Knight Guide

Bring apocalypse to your enemies upon your fiery steed, and master the unleasher of chaos and destruction with our Dota 2 Chaos Knight Guide

When you hear thundering hooves, know that the knight of chaos comes upon his black steed Armageddon. The bringer of destruction has but one goal, to put out The Light in every corner of the world. 

Chaos Knight is a melee Strength Hero with a massive 648 HP and a decent 291 Mana. He hits incredibly hard, dealing 68 damage, and has one of the highest armor of 5 and a movement speed of 325 in the game. 

Chaos Knight (CK) is relatively easy to play, as his abilities are pretty self-explanatory, and requires little timing or micromanagement to be used effectively. His abilities are also quite powerful, making him farm dependent to utilize fully. His ability to disable and pull in an enemy Hero, disposing of them with his heavy-hitting illusions, makes him scary to face alone. With a few damage items picked up, CK brings utter confusion and chaos amongst the enemy ranks. 

Abilities

Let’s embrace the chaos and ride into battle with the incredible set of abilities of Chaos Knight. 

Credit: Dota 2, Valve

• Chaos Bolt – CK Throws a bolt of energy at a target, dealing random damage up to between 180 to 330, and stunning for up to 2 to 3.25 (2.6 to 3.85 with level 20 talent). Aghanim’s Shard can also upgrade the ability.
  • Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade: Increases the cast range from 500 to 650, creating a Phantasm illusion to attack the target upon impact. 
• Reality Rift – Chaos Knight bends reality, teleporting himself and his images in a 1375 radius around him to a target, meeting halfway of the pull distance of up to 400 (625 with level 10 talent). This also reduces the target’s armor by up to 7 for 6 seconds. 
• Chaos Strike – The Knight and his illusion wield chaos in their every strike, having a chance of 33.33% (48.33% with level 25 talent) to deal a random critical blow between 125% to up to 245% of their attack damage. Every hit also inflicts lifesteal, healing them for up to 60% (90% with level 10 talent). Creeps hit by Chaos Strike’s crit take 1.6 more damage but have a 0.6 multiplier for lifesteal. 
• Phantasm – Chaos Knight summons chaos, creating phantasmal copies of himself which deal 100% of his damage, but take 325% amplified damage (225% with level 15 talent). He can create up to 3 illusions (4 with Aghanim’s Scepter) that last for 30 seconds (40 with level 25 talent). The ability can also be upgraded by Aghanim’s Scepter.
  • Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade: Globally creates one illusion of every allied Hero and one extra of himself. 

Talents

• Level 10 – +225 Reality Rift Pull Distance or +35% Chaos Strike Lifesteal
• Level 15 – -100% Phantasm Illusion Incoming Damage or -3s Chaos Bolt Cooldown
• Level 20 – Reality Rift Pierces Debuff Immunity or +0.6 Min/Max Chaos Bolt Duration
• Level 25 – +10s Phantasm Duration or +10% Chaos Strike Chance

Dota 2 Chaos Knight Guide – Tips  

Chaos Knight is adept at nuking down single targets with his mighty blows, as he drags them helplessly into his many illusions. Disabling and damaging them from afar with his Chaos Bolt, the hellfire knight brings chaos into the world by summoning 3 illusions of himself to confuse the enemy. Cutting open a portal through spacetime, CK drags himself and his enemies closer with Reality Rift, bringing them into the deadly embrace of his multiple images. With powerful Chaos Strikes, he tears his enemy apart with chaotic fury. None can stand the Chaos Knight and Armageddon, the bringers of doom and destruction. 

CK is usually played as a Carry in the safelane, usually paired with a lane support. Thanks to his ability kit, he can often create opportunities for a kill in the lane. Especially when Chaos Bolt and Reality Rift are maxed first, the nuke and stun can be enough to take down almost any opponent. He is also one of the few Heroes who does not need his ultimate to be leveled until later. As long as Chaos Knight is aggressive in lane but also focuses on his last-hits and denies, he will soon have enough items to have a high mid-game impact. 

Farm is essential to our Hellish Knight, especially items that give him raw Strength and damage. Furthermore, any items that increase his attack speed are also preferred. As expected, any way to gain more illusions benefits CK, as the illusions are also included in any Reality Rift engagements. Remember to focus down disabled cores or supports who stray too near, as your incredible damage from your Chaos Strike and Phantasm can quickly melt any foe. Once you have farmed your items, focus on taking teamfights and pushing lanes, and with your illusion army, you will have no difficulty doing so. 

Dota 2 Chaos Knight – Pros and Cons

Here are some of Chaos Knight’s best and worst traits to remember, which may determine his apocalypse’s success or failure. 

Pros:

• One of the highest movement speed in the game
• Can dish out great amounts of damage mid to late-game
• Is very aggressive in the early to mid-game 
• Is fairly tanky
• Can effectively use illusion runes
• Hard to escape from

Cons:

• Relies on RNG (random number generation) for Chaos Bolt and Chaos Strike
• Poor Mana pool
• Weak against AoE impact abilities 
• Vulnerable to silence
• No quick wave-clearing abilities
• Quite a slow farmer 
• Dependent on casting his spells to be effective

How to play Chaos Knight

Let’s onboard our steed and ride alongside the Chaos Knight on his mission to snuff out ‘The Light’ by learning to utilize him fully with this short guide.

Starting Items

Start your lane with a Tango and a Healing Salve for some HP regeneration. As a melee Hero, you can benefit from a Quelling Blade for better last-hitting and denies.

Carrying one or two Mangos with you would ensure you can cast needed Chaos Bolts or Reality Rifts to ensure a lane kill. 

Early Game

For some cheap attributes, picking up a Bracer and a Magic Ward is a good idea, especially with the latter giving you burst HP and Mana against tough and spell-spamming lane opponents. Picking up a Boots of Speed is also a good choice for a Hero with high movement speed, allowing you to close gaps faster or flee to safety when ganked. 

You will spend most of your early game farming and trying to pick up kills in lane, so saving the Gold to buy an Armlet of Mordiggian is the most cost-effective choice. Most CK players pick this item up, as it gives large amounts of Strength, which even transfers to Chaos Knight’s Phantasm illusions. 

Mid Game

You have low attack speed, so picking up a Power Treads and an Echo Sabre are the best choices, especially because both let you attack faster and give you bonus Strength. The Mana regeneration from Echo Sabre also helps your low Mana pool. 

If you are facing difficulties surviving spell damage or disables, getting a Black King Bar is your best bet, providing you more Strength and spell immunity. However, your illusions will be easier to tell apart. Finally, giving Aghanim’s Shard is also a powerful item on CK, as it lets you spawn a Phantasm illusion without casting the spell during small engagements. 

Late Game 

Late-game is where you reign, thanks to your Phantasm illusions. If you are looking for surprise initiations, getting a Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade/Silver Edge might ensure you catch your enemy by surprise. If you want more disables to aid you, you can get a Heaven’s Halberd, Abyssal Blade or a Bloodthorn, which will help you neutralize your target faster. 

If you have durability issues, items like Heart of Tarrasque, Satanic or Eye of Skadi will give you bonus attributes to last longer in teamfights. Getting a Manta Style can create more illusions and disjoint projectiles without casting your Phantasm. Finally, an Assault Cuirass is a good choice on CK, as the aura will benefit not only you and your team, but also your illusions. 

Dota 2 Chaos Knight Counters

Here is a list of Heroes that benefit from Chaos Knight’s army and can effectively counter him throughout the game.  

• Axe – His Berserker's Call locks down Chaos Knight and his illusions, even with BKB. Furthermore, he can clear the illusions easily with his Counter Helix and Blade Mail. 
• Earthshaker – His Echo Slam can do devastating damage to CK and his Phantasms, and can stun-lock him for a lock time with Fissure and Aftershock.  
• Enchantress – Her Untouchable ability allows her to kite Chaos Knight, as it slows any attacker’s attack animation and speed severely. Her Impetus also does double damage to illusions. 
• Winter Wyvern – Her Cold Embrace can protect any of her allies pulled in by Reality Rift, and her Splinter Blast can help her find the real CK in a cluster. Finally, her Winter’s Curse can devastate whoever sees targets, forcing Chaos Knight and his illusion to attack and kill them. 

Conclusion

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