Demon Fighter who charges up cooldown reduction off enemy dashes.
Phoveus is an EXP lane Fighter built around Demonic Force — any enemy blink, dash, or displacement within 8 units cuts his cooldowns, letting him chain Demonic Impact and Dark Wave faster the more mobile the enemy team is. His ultimate marks enemies through those skills, then slams down with Judgement to heal off lost HP and finish the kill.
Phoveus rewards reading enemy dash patterns to trigger Demonic Force and timing Judgement's leap onto a Sinner's Mark target rather than a raw combo sequence.
Level Demonic Impact first for the slow and mark setup, max Dark Wave second for the airborne drag, and take Infernal Pursuit at 4, 8, and 12.
Phoveus' next Basic Attack allows him to charge at the enemy, knocking them back, dealing extra Magic Damage equal to 4% of the enemy's Max HP, and gaining a Shield equal to 8% of his Max HP. This effect has a 26-14 seconds cooldown (based on Infernal Pursuit level).
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
Always active — no cooldown
Phoveus slams his monolith into the ground, dealing 200–500 (+120% Total Physical Attack) Physical Damage to enemies in the area and slowing them by 70% for 0.5 second. If this skills hits an enemy, Phoveus' next Demonic Impact will leave behind an Astaros Eye. Astaros Eye: Implodes after a short delay, dealing 100–250 (+60% Total Physical Attack) Magic Damage to the enemies.
Phoveus drops the stone and releases his demonic power in the target direction, knocking enemies airborne, dragging them along, and dealing 250–500 (+100% Extra Physical Attack) Magic Damage.
Sinner: Demonic Force, Astaros Eye, and Dark Wave can apply Sinner's Mark to the enemy hero hit. Judgement: Phoveus leaps into the air and smashes down with his monolith at the enemy hero with Sinner's Mark, dealing 250–500 (+100% Total Physical Attack) plus extra Physical Damage equal to 5% of the target's Max HP to enemies in the area while Phoveus recovers 50 plus 6% of his Lost HP. The HP recovered is reduced by 80% when hitting multiple enemies.
Cooldown not recorded
Signature combo
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
6,990g total
Default pick for extended fights where Judgement's healing needs to matter over time.
Battle spell
Flicker120s CDThe 'Flicker combo' — blinking in right as a hook or stun lands, or blinking out the instant an enemy ultimate is cast — is the single most common high-elo outplay moment in the game.
Swap in when needed
Immortality — Insurance against burst combos that try to kill him before Judgement's heal kicks in.
Wind of Nature — A window of physical damage immunity against the physical divers Demonic Force punishes.
Dominance Ice — Lifebane's anti-heal and 40/40 Hybrid Defense against the attack-speed lifesteal carries his slower kit can't chase.
6,600g total
Into a dash-heavy enemy comp where Demonic Force will be triggering constantly.
Battle spell
Vengeance75s CDVengeance rewards being attacked, so it's weakest against burst-and-retreat assassins who land one hit and disengage before the reflect matters.
Swap in when needed
Queen's Wings — Extra effective HP and low-HP damage reduction to survive the opening trade before cooldowns reset.
Antique Cuirass — Against skill-combo-reliant Fighters and Assassins diving him repeatedly.
Radiant Armor — Against sustained magic damage in extended fights.
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
MinsittharFighterHardSpear of Glory stuns Phoveus on the tip and drags him in, and King's Calling's field bars movement skills outright — none of it a dash, so Demonic Force never comes off cooldown for him.
X.BorgFighterHardX.Borg has no blink or dash to feed Demonic Force, Fire Missiles chip Phoveus from outside his reach, and Firaga Armor absorbs everything Judgement lands.
GordMageHardGord's long-range poke chips Phoveus down before he can close distance, since none of his skills reliably gap-close until an enemy dashes near him first.
BaratsTank · FighterHardDetona's Welcome devours and suppresses Phoveus for 1.2 seconds, and Big Guy's stacking Hybrid Defense blunts his physical damage while he is locked out of Judgement.
AlphaFighterSoftSpear of Alpha stuns, then knocks Phoveus airborne and carries him into Alpha's team, chaining enough forced movement that he never gets the Judgement leap off.
BaxiaTankSoftBaxia Mark shaves a flat amount off every hit and halves the Shield and HP Regen of anyone his skills touch, gutting Demonic Force's shield and Judgement's healing at once.
EsmeraldaTank · MageSoftFrostmoon Shield siphons the shield Demonic Force gives him into her own pool, and Starmoon Casket makes her damage ignore shields entirely, so nothing he stacks survives the trade.
TerizlaFighter · TankSoftPenalty Zone knocks Phoveus up and its Scaffold hooks him back three more times, and Body of Smith's damage reduction grows the lower Terizla's own HP falls.Antique CuirassStacks damage reduction against Demonic Impact and Judgement's repeated skill hits.Radiant ArmorReduces the magic-damage portion of Dark Wave and Astaros Eye over sustained fights.
Tough BootsCuts the slow duration from Demonic Impact, preserving an escape route before he can follow up.Heroes whose own counter list names Phoveus — the same matchup, read from the other side.
AlucardFighter · AssassinHardHis ultimate charges directly off enemy dashes, and Pursuit triggering on every skill cast feeds it every single fight.
ArlottFighter · AssassinHardHis ultimate charges directly off enemy dashes, and Vengeance's repeated dashing feeds it stacks every single fight.
BadangFighterHardPhoveus's ultimate charges off enemy dashes, and Badang's Fist Break dash and Fist Crack advance feed it every time he tries to engage.
BenedettaAssassin · FighterHardPhoveus's ultimate triggers and strengthens off enemy dashes, and Benedetta's entire kit is dash-chains — every engage she makes feeds his stacks and empowers his counter-burst.
ChouFighterHardPhoveus stamps Sinner's Mark on Chou with Demonic Force, Astaros Eye or Dark Wave, and Infernal Pursuit's Judgement leaps onto whoever carries it — Shunpo can't outrun a skill that comes to him.
FreyaFighterHardPhoveus stamps Sinner's Mark on Freya with Demonic Force, Astaros Eye or Dark Wave, and Infernal Pursuit's Judgement leaps onto whoever carries it — Leap of Faith takes her into range for exactly that.Duo partners whose kit completes this one.
SunFighterSun's clones bait enemy dashes near Phoveus, triggering Demonic Force's cooldown reduction for free.BadangFighterFist Break walls a target in and Fist Wind knocks them into it for a stun, holding them still for Dark Wave and the Judgement follow-up on the mark.
DiggieSupportDiggie's Time Journey strips the CC that would otherwise interrupt Phoveus's Judgement leap mid-animation.
LukasFighterLukas's dash-heavy engage kit triggers Demonic Force's cooldown refresh every time he dashes near Phoveus, letting Phoveus chain skills faster.
AngelaSupportAngela's shield and heal keep Phoveus alive through the extended trades his Judgement healing is built around.
ValentinaMageValentina can copy an enemy ultimate to add a second CC chain right as Phoveus's Judgement lands.
NatanMarksmanInterference! drags enemies along its path and knocks them back at the end, lining a target up for Phoveus's Dark Wave-into-Judgement combo.
LunoxMageChaos Assault's percent-Max-HP burst finishes off the targets Phoveus has already marked and dragged in with Dark Wave.Bait an enemy dash near you before engaging to trigger Demonic Force's cooldown reduction for free
Land Demonic Impact on a single target first so the follow-up Astaros Eye implosion doesn't go to waste
Save Judgement for a target already carrying Sinner's Mark from Dark Wave or Demonic Force
Don't overextend chasing marks — Phoveus wins by making enemies come to him, not by chasing them down
Phoveus is moderate difficulty — his core loop of triggering Demonic Force and landing Judgement is intuitive, but reading when enemies will dash near him takes match experience.
An HP-scaling bruiser build with Blade of the Heptaseas, Queen's Wings, and Brute Force Breastplate covers most games, keeping his healing and physical damage relevant into the late game.
Minsitthar and X.Borg counter him hardest — King's Calling bars movement skills without ever counting as a dash, and X.Borg neither dashes nor lets Firaga Armor break to Judgement's burst.
Phoveus is an EXP lane Fighter who solos the top lane, punishing dash-heavy junglers and roamers who trigger his Demonic Force cooldown reduction when they engage.
