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Introduction
This guide is aimed at helping players at any level improve their game play with Chronos.
Before we get started it is important that you know and fully understand that Chronos is a Hard-Carry hero and is totally item dependant - meaning that you must have extremely good farming and last hitting skills to do well with him.
Is Chronos the hero for you?
-Can you last hit well?
-Can you avoid your enemies whilst keeping a steady income?
-Do you generally win your lane?
-Can you time your entry into a battle well so you can maximize your damage?
-Can you pull a solid 300gpm?
-Do you realize Chronos is not a tank?
-Do you realize Chronos is a mid to late game hero?
If you answered yes to all of the questions, then Chronos will be a solid choice for you.
Skills
Time Leap
Target ground
Magic damage
Radius: 300
Range: 700/900/1100/1300
Mana cost: 135
Cooldown: 13 seconds
Teleports self to target position, dealing 25/75/125/175 Magic damage and applying Time Sap to enemies in radius for 3 seconds. This ability does disjoint the incoming projectiles.
Time Sap 10/20/30/40% Movement Slow
Time Sap is magical and will not affect magic immune enemies. Chronos will walk in the direction cast until he can make the range of the jump exactly
Rewind
Passive, on damaged
10/15/20/25% chance to heal damage taken. Heal occurs at a rate of 25% of maximum health per second.
Rewind does not negate the damage, what it does is quickly recovers the damage that is taken. This means you can be killed by Pyromancer's ultimate even if Rewind were to proc.
Rewind stacks with Wingbows 30% evasion. Can heal ANY damage but only the damage. You will still be affected by the effects of the abilities. Each DOT tick must be rewound individually. There is a 2 second cooldown on the VISUAL, the ability can still proc during this time
Curse of Ages
This ability contains Bashing properties. Items and abilities with Bashing properties contain a shared cooldown time.
Passive, on attack impact
Cooldown: 1 second
Starts with 8/7/6/5 charges. Each hit will remove one charge. When reaching zero, the target is stunned for 1 second and takes 15/30/45/60 Physical damage.
The charges do not have to be on the same target. For example you can hit a creep 7 times with level 1 Curse of Ages and then hit a hero for the 8th attack and it will proc. Curse of Ages will damage and stun magic immune enemies since it is physical. Whilst someone is stunned by Curse of Ages, Chronos cannot remove new charges. Curse of Ages does not propogate to illusions.
Chronofield
Mana cost: 150/175/200
Cooldown: 120/110/100
Applies Chronofield to all units who enter the target radius. Lasts for 3/4/5 seconds. Chronofield effects - Stunned, Silenced, Perplexed, Disarmed, Immobilized. This ability can be boosted by Staff of the Master.
Staff Effect: Increases duration from 3/4/5 seconds to 4/5/6 seconds, cooldown lowered to 75 seconds at all levels and allies are slowed by 80% instead of being frozen.
Pay attention to the cast time of Chronofield, after jumping into a crowd of enemy heroes there is time for them to disable you.
Skill Build
Level 1. Timeleap
Level 2. Curse of Ages/Rewind
Level 3. Timeleap
Level 4. Curse of Ages/Rewind
Level 5. Timeleap
Level 6. Chronofield
Level 7. Timeleap
Level 8. Rewind
Level 9. Rewind
Level 10. Rewind/Curse of Ages
Level 11. Chronofield
Level 12. Curse of Ages
Level 13. Curse of Ages
Level 14. Curse of Ages
Level 15. Stats
Level 16. Chronofield
Level 17-25. Stats
Build Summary
Curse of Ages is worth putting one point into since it has a 1 second stun at all levels. You have to decide whether or not to invest one point in at level 2, 4 or to save it for later, but know it will greatly reduce your survivability and only to get it if youre playing offensively in your lane. You want Timeleap picked and maxed first for the extra damage, slow and leap range. You also want Rewind maxed as soon as you can afterwords as Chronos has a small strength stat gain making his health pool very small. Picking up Chronofield every chance you get (6/11/16).
Items
Initial Items
3x Runes of the Blight - 90
1x Logger's Hatchet - 225
1x Iron Buckler - 250
Total - 560.
This build is when laning with a strong babysitter
1x Health Potion - 100
3x Runes of the Blight - 90
1x Crushing Claws - 150
1x Iron Buckler - 250
Total - 590
This build is when laning with a weak or no babysitter and you need to maximize time in the lane.
Core
Elder Parasite - 1900
Blood Chalice - 650
Steamboots - 1450
Logger's Hatchet - 225
Iron Buckler - 250
Total - 4475
Luxuries
Item Build Order
Strategy
General Idea
As the metagame has drastically changed from "Kills heroes around your farm" to "Farm around killing heroes" and is no longer a carry race. This means for Chronos to be a worth while pick, in the current game he needs early game presence.
Item Explanation
There is no debate. Elder Parasite is now 100% a core pickup for every game.
My reasons: Like I said, Chronos needs early game presence for his team to be successful. This means looking at cheap items that have multiple uses.
- EP gives you the life steal you need to jungle. Which will reduce trips back to the well(losing gold/xp each time)
- Allows farming of Ancients early on
- Vital for a 'Ninja' on Kongor if an eary Savage Mace is picked up.
- EP at level 6 allows you to be a strong threat to many heroes if you can catch them offguard in a 1v1 situation.
- EP will be extremely useful for almost the entire game with its +100 Attack Speed and 20% Movement Speed allowing you to do your job - kill in your Chronofield changing the fight to a 4v5.
- With the buff to EP a while back decreasing the damage from 30% to 20% I think it becomes and easy choice when one is confident with placing a Chronofield.
Why not?!??!
Farming:
If you take Alchemist's Bones, you will have no life steal unles a whispering helm is picked up, which I am strongly against on Chronos. This means you will be making trips back to the well pretty often (losing a lot of gpm/xpm in the process). You will lose early access to the ancients and you will lose lane presence. Honestly I think the two would balance out in most games for GPM.
PVP:
+30 Attack Speed on Alchemist's Bones vs +100 Attack Speed and 20% Movement Speed from Elder Parasite. Easy choice, 3x more Attack Speed, movement speed to chase and makes you a lot more deadly in your Chronofield.
What about Runed Axe?
As I said earlier, getting early game presence is vital, so a rush for a 20 minute Runed Axe is no longer a help to the team, it is a hinderence and not to do it UNLESS you are in a trilane and you are specifically running that as your strat.
I have been doing a lot of experimenting to find a cheaper alternative to Runed Axe. First thing I thought about was what made Runed Axe so important? My answer was the Cleave and Mana Regen for farming and the Health Regen for lane control.
Runed Axe - $4350
- +6 HP Regen
- +65 Damage
- +150% Mana Regen
- +40% Cleave
Can be turned into:
Steamboots + Elder Parasite + Blood Chalice - $4000
- +25 Attack Speed (125 with Elder Parasite active)
- HP or +Damage and more Attack Speed (Steamboots)
- +17% Lifesteal
- +2 HP Regen
- +3 Strength
- +3 Intelligence
- +60 Movement Speed (+72 with Elder Parasite active)
- +3.3 Mana per second (or 100 Mana burst with Blood Chalice)
Now I do realize you do lose 40% Cleave which certainly hurts Chronos, but you will be MUCH more valuable to your team.
Wow, Blood Chalice? That came out of nowhere!
Blood Chalice is actually quite a good item on Chronos, even better then a Mana Battery. You get the HP + Mana boost and you will always have the mana for that panic leap or have the mana to Time Leap + Chronofield for your team. It must be used wisely but I found it SO useful in aggressive and defensive siuations.
What's with the Symbol of Rage at the bottom?
I think out of all the games I've played, I have only reached this twice. It is there to replace Elder Parasite and should mean you can take down any opposing carry (along with the rest of their team).
Conclusion
This is the most appropriate change in my opinion and I'm certainly open to the HoN communities thoughts. When Chronos receieved the nerf to Curse of the Ages, making it one of the most useless skills in the game, he lost a lot of his carry presence and his role edges more towards team utility. This being said a Chronos players job has changed, and he must now play with the team and not AFK farm. I am not saying he is not a carry, he definately is, but he is not as extreme as he use to be. And with the current metagame the community needs to accept and adapt to Chronos being a team hero.
Role
Chronos is a "Hard Carry", meaning his primary role is to carry through the game and come out towards the end extremely powerful.
Farm
Unlike the old days where it was your job to maximise your farm and manage killing heroes around this, now you have to farm around killing heroes. Todays metagame requires you to be ready for team fights as soon as you can manage. So this means you need a powerful lane so you are ready to join as soon as possible.
Stay Alive
Whilst dead you are wasting precious farming time (a possible 200g per 30 seconds dead from a creep wave or neutral camp). You will lose gold on death and you will be wasting time (and a possible 135g on a Homecoming Stone to get back to your farm). So you're looking at around 300g per death.
Team Fights
In a team fight your Chronofield placement is crucial. Make sure you disable as many opposing heroes as possible or disable the possing teams threats.
Inside the Chronofield your job is to get at least 1 kill changing the fight to a 4v5. Make sure you take their teams biggest threats, whether they are stunners or a carry.
See Chronofield Combos on which heroes to make sure you disable.
Solo Fights
If you see a stray heroe that you can kill... Do it!
However before you jump in make sure...
- You know you can kill him
- Check your minimap to see if you're being baited
- That if you need to use your Chronofield that you're not going to need it again before your cooldown is over. (Early game you will most likely have to use it)
Other Heroes & Chronos
Babysitters
These are heroes I would recommend you partner with Chronos. Best to last.
Voodoo Jester - An under rated babysitter. Voodoo Jester and Chronos actually combo quite well, especially at level 6, it's a guaranteed kill with an ulti combo.
Demented Shaman - Excellent harasser, will be able to keep you alive with heals. Also may be able to get you an early kill.
Plague Rider - Another great harasser and offers you great control of your lane. The only downside to plague is he comes with no heals, however he is a great option.
Witch Slayer - His two disabled should be able to stop almost any attempted gank on you, his manadrain can keep opponents low making your time alot easier.
Nymphora - Will be able to steadily top you back up on HP/MP.
Nasty Lane Opponents
These heroes will strongly affect your early game, whether it is from stopping your last hits or killing you. Don't forget you have the option of moving lanes if your farm is miserable.
Plague Rider - An excellent harasser with infinite mana to nuke you with. Because his skills can deny creeps he reduces your gpm/xpm and pulls the lane towards him allowing you to be ganked easier. This is the worst hero to lane against.
File:Hero-Pollywog-Priest.png
Pollywog Priest - Pollys constant nuking and sheep/hold combined with another hero can be quite good at supressing your farm.
Witch Slayer -With his stun, sheep and mana-drain to remove your jump, he is a real pain.
Nymphora - Will allow any ally to keep harassing you without a problem.
Puppet Master - An amazing harasser and last hitter. This guy will really make you struggle in a lane without constant heals.
Armadon - When Armadon is put in a lane with a solid partner he can force you away from a lot of farm. It is crucial you pick up a Mana Battery if you are against him.
Legionnaire - If he is pulling creeps out of the lane before they reach the tower you will be powerless to stop him. Call your teammates in for a gank and it should be fine. You will only ever see this in lowbie games, however still is very effective if you do not get assistance from allies.
?? Double Stun/Nuke Lanes - Can be a pain to deal with a sudden burst from two heroes, you just need to watch where you stand and play extremely defensive. If they suddenly turn aggressive, check to see if middle lane is missing, else you're dead.
Direct Chronos Counters
Plague Rider - His armour buff will reduce Chronos' damage by a huge amount and his ultimate can tear you and your team apart if you're not careful with Chronofield.
Succubus - A real pain for three reasons. 1) Smitten will nerf your damage ALOT. 2) Mezmersize will remove you from a fight for a long time. 3) Succubus's hold can be a guaranteed death.
Valkyrie - A pain for two reasons. 1) If her ultimate is used to initiate, you can be targeted and removed from the fight. 2) If Valkyrie stands back she can land a clear javelin on you inside your Chronosfield sometimes.
File:Hero-Puppet-Master.png
Puppet Master - Annoying for two reasons. 1) Main reason being if he casts puppet show on you, you will tear apart an ally. 2) You cannot leap during his hold.
Demented Shaman - A well used ultimate by Demented Shaman will make you hit like a fly. Just get Demented Shaman on your side instead!
Barbed Armor - Faily obvious, this hurts Chronos A LOT when you attack someone with it activated.
Chronofield Combos
Magmus - Eruption: When blinked into the center of the Chronofield does insane damage.
Plague Rider - Plague Carrier: When bouncing around inside the Chronofield with enemies unable to move can do insane damage.
Forsaken Archer - Piercing Arrows: Enemies held in place with Chronofield allows for her ulti to hit everyone for a long period of time destroying everyone.
Defiler - Unholy Expansion: Can do some crazy single target damage to a person trapped inside.
Behemoth - Shockwave: Allows a perfectly placed Shockwave, Fissure and Enrage stun combo right after the Chronofield ends.
Zephyr - Typhoon: Allows a perfectly placed Typhoon to add extra DPS and slow heroes the moment Chronofield ends.
Glacius - Glacial Downpour: If a Glacius can sit on the side of your Chronofield or port in, it can do some insane damage.
The Chipper - Sawblade Showdown: This combined with any kind of hold in place with cause devastating damage. A great combo!
Tempest - Meteor: Placed inside the Chronofield does a lot of damage, and when the field ends, allows for a perfect ultimate placement.
Laning
- Try and stay as close to the tower as possible. This usually involves manipulating the lane by pulling creeps or using Plague Rider's ability to deny creeps. Doing this will discourage harassment a lot.
- Don't stand around closely behind the creeps to last hit, you want to play hit and run style. Run in, last hit, go back towards your tower. Timing this takes alot of practice but it will drop a constant stream of attacks on you to just one or two.
- Defensive Ward of Sight and miss calls are dire! However do not rely on your team for this, glance at the minimap everytime your hero takes his swing for a last hit.
- It's not the end of the world if you lose the tower, bottom for Legion or top for Hellbourne are your least important towers. Any opponents pushing aroun d that area will leave themselves open to a nice gank. It also allows you more creeping room. But avoid it if possible of course, making sure to call in assistance if needed.
- Laning bottom with Legion and top with Hellbourne gives you an easy neutral creep access. If there are 34 enemies in your lane, do the smart hting and stay right back and wait for assistance.
- Don't forget the walkways in the trees beneath your tower(Legion) and above your tower(Hellbourne). These can be invaluable when you're getting ganked.
- Trilaning can be extremely effective when used against an unsuspecting team. I Would highly recommend not doing this with total randoms and to only do this with people you know are experienced support players.
Farming
This section will address some strategies and shortcuts when farming.
Runed Axe
The best tool for farming on Chronos is Runed Axe, so rushing this item use to be extremely popular. However I advice against getting it unless:
1)It is a strategy your team is running (Generally trilane).
2)You are versing bads and have been handed a bunch of free gold in your lane from creeps and hero kills.
3)You pick it up after your core by approximately 25 minutes.
No Runed Axe
I advice staying in a lane for as long as you can early. The lane will offer more GPM and XPM. When your core is finished, you will be able to work your way around the jungle quite fast and you will have no trouble with the ancients.
Rushing A Lane
Rushing a lane involves auto attacking the creeps (obviously waiting for that last hit on them) and rushing the lane forward, then when the opposing team come to kill you, Time Leap away into the jungle or port to another lane. Aside from farming stacked camps this is the best way to farm a solid GPM. (Note: This is much more effective with a Runed Axe however it is doable without). However it is dangerous and you have to be extremely careful. It is really dangerous when you head past the river so make sure you are constantly watching the minimap so you can time your escape perfectly. Also make sure you make the most of your Elder Parasite doing this.
What Time Is It
Always pay attention to the ingame time when farming, always stack a camp if you are going to be there during the next minute or you will come back to it very soon.
You Have An Axe...USE IT!
Whether this be for juking, farming or cutting down Keeper of the Forest's eyes. It has the ability to cut trees for a reason. Every second you save whilst walking around the jungle will add to your GPM.
Time Leaping & Chronofielding
Time Leaping
One of my absolute favourite abilities in the game. Time Leap allows you to travel an enormous distance, over or onto obstacles, it has a 40% slow on landing and deals a nice 175 Magic AOE damage when you land. What more could you ask for?
When chasing or engaging make sure you leap slightly in-front of where the target would flee to and animation cancel whilst blocking him, this can add 2 or more hits on the target. Don't be afraid to use this to finish a hero or get a kill steal. You're the Carry!
Below is a basic image for you so you can calculate how far your jumps will be. (Note the comparison to the neutral camp above).
Below are two extremely useful examples of using Time Leap. to get a terrain advantage whether that be in escaping or ganking. On the left we see Chronos on high-ground near the bottom rune. When getting chased, leaping onto here will completely remove your enemies vision of you and they will be unable to attack or target you. (Unless they use AOE skills). A great spot to jump onto an port from if needed. On the other hand this is a great ambush point as you can just walk down the cliff and start hacking away on the unsuspecting opponent saving your Time Leap for chasing or escaping. This is not the only useful high-ground spot, so keep your eyes peeled.
On the right we see Chronos in a low-ground spot. This is nowhere near as useful as high-ground, as you lose vision of your enemies and they can still see you. But it can be extremely useful if you are being attack by a melee hero. You can jump inside and they wont be able to touch you. Then you're free to port out.
There is no -unstick like there is in DotA, instead you can freely walk up/down the cliff. Remember to hit (H) when you land so Chronos doesn't auto walk off.
Chronofielding
Now your Chronofield's can literally 'make or break' a fight. Make sure you take your time to find the exact moment when playing your Chronofield. Be careful when Time Leaping then Chronofielding into a groupd of enemies, because if their reaction time is fast enough, they can disable you before you use it.
Below is, so to speak a "Perfect Chronofield" because both opponents are stuck inside the Chronofield with my ally outside. Because Pestilence is right on the edge, Accursed can help kill him. The fight then turns into a 2v1. Dropping Chronofields becomes A LOT more difficult in a 5v5 environment and takes patience and timing. You will almost never get the entire team so make sure you get the important people. Spells cast from outside still work inside your Chronofield.
Chronos Premium Guide, by Blue Aura[1].