Phoveus is the blinker hunter of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. He was a promising soldier of the Moniyan empire who fought valiantly and had significant achievements in every battle. He was a great candidate for a captain position but it was given to the son of a high-ranking officer instead.
This made Phoveus frustrated so he challenged the appointed captain to a duel. Out of his rage, he killed him during the bout so he ended up getting imprisoned. After some time, a war broke out with the Abyss Empire. The Moniyan Empire needed more soldiers so they enlisted some criminals to join the battle.
Phoveus was one of the criminals who was enlisted to fight the demons of the Abyss. He killed one after another but the swarm of demons won’t seem to end. Before falling to the ground out of exhaustion, he saw a strange rock formation with a purplish glow from afar. Then, an unknown force lifted him up and brought him to the stones. A spirit that formed an eye gave him immense power. It was later revealed that it was from Astaros, the God of Terror.
Phoveus Overview
Phoveus is a fighter hero with a good set of defense, AoE skills and chase ability. He is practically designed to counter heroes with blinking abilities. His ultimate skill allows him to jump to the location of a dashing hero and deal a huge blow. Heroes like Wanwan, Moskov, Harith and Chou would hate to see him in the enemy team’s lineup.
This guide will be based on the current Global Top 1 Phoveus player navvv. He has an 80.9% win rate after 298 games. We will be studying his best Phoveus build and then explore his selection of spell, emblem and items to understand how they can optimize the abilities of Phoveus on the battlefield.
Skills
Passive: Demonic Intuition
Phoveus’ cooldown for all of his skills is reduced by 1 whenever a nearby enemy blinks or dashes.
First Skill: Malefic Terror
Phoveus hits the ground to unleash Astaros Dread and deal 250 + 100% Total Magic Power Damage to his enemies.
When an enemy gets hit, he will receive 60% Total Magic Power, 6% Total HP Shield and a Movement Speed boost of 25% for 3 seconds.
If an enemy or creep touches Astaros Dread, it will scatter and deal extra damage. If the same hero is hit, it will only deal 25% of the skill’s damage.
Minions will receive 160% damage.
This skill has a maximum of three charges and is recharged every 8.5 seconds.
Second Skill: Astaros Eye
Phoveus unleashes Astaros Eye in a selected area to deal 100 + 20% Total Magic Power Damage.
After 1 second, Astaros Eye will compress and pull in all enemies at its center to deal 250 + 70% Total Magic Power Damage.
Ultimate Skill: Demonic Force
Astaros sight is activated to keenly watch for blinking heroes within 8 yards. Once an enemy is caught blinking or charging, it will be marked by Astaros and will allow Phoveus to blink at his target’s location and then smash it to deal 600 + 180% Total Magic Power Damage while gaining 160 + 50% Total Magic Power + 5% Total HP Shield.
Once this skill is active, he can keep using it up to 12 times at the cost of mana.
Best Phoveus Build
Items
Warrior Boots. As a melee hero, it’s best to start with an item that will bulk up the defense of Phoveus. The warrior boots will boost his Movement Speed while increasing his Physical Defense.
Clock of Destiny. This major item is affordable but rich in features that Phoveus needs. It will boost his Magic Attack and bulk up his HP. The increase in Mana will allow him to cast his skills more—especially his ultimate skill. It doesn’t stop there because the item’s passive will continue to increase all of the three features.
Ice Queen Wand. With its slow effect feature and Movement Speed boost, this next item will allow Phoveus to chase his enemies more effectively. It will also give Phoveus a lifesteal ability to keep him sustained during fights. This item has an extra mana boost as well.
Dominance Ice. This item won’t just give Phoveus an exceptional Physical Defense increase, it will also slow down the HP regen and Attack Speed of his nearby enemies. Most marksmen and fighter heroes would be countered by this item. It even has a high mana addition and a slight Movement Speed boost.
Late Game Items
Divine Glaive. Most of the enemies at the late part of the game would have increased their Magic Defense already so they’re best countered with this armor-busting item. Aside from significantly increasing the Magic Damage that Phoveus inflicts, the high Magic Penetration of this item will ensure that every hit would be very painful.
Oracle. This final item compliments his first skill because it generates a strong shield that can be amplified further by its shield absorption enhancement feature. Beyond that, Phoveus will have greater damage resistance because of its high HP increase and Magic Defense.
Phoveus Emblem Set
The Global Top 1 player selected the Custom Mage Emblem for Phoveus. This perfectly fits this hero considering that his attacks are all magic-based. The mage emblem will amplify his magic power and will let him take advantage of the Magic Penetration and Magic lifesteal that the emblem provides.
His configuration started by maxing out Agility to boost the Movement Speed of Phoveus. As a chaser hero, this makes sense because it will give him a greater chance to secure the kill when his target tries to escape. For the second emblem feature, he selected and maxed out Observation. The Magic Penetration that it provides will make his every attack more painful and armor-busting.
For the last feature, he selected the Mystery Shop. It has the simple function of lowering the price of the items. This will give Phoveus the chance to have an item gap against his opponents and increase the probability of beating them.
Battle Spell
Flameshot. While this battle spell is mostly used on mages, Phoveus can take advantage of it because the nature of his damage is magic-based. It has a very long range and its damage increases based on the Magic Power of the user. It can also help Phoveus trigger his ultimate skill because its knockback feature is considered a dash movement.
Vengeance. This is another battle spell to consider for Phoveus because it can complement the first skill that gives him a shield. Since most blinkers tend to have a rapid basic attack with high damage, activating this battle spell will reflect the damage they deal with you.
Phoveus Gameplay
Skill Upgrade Priority
Malefic Terror. This powerful first skill should be your priority when upgrading his skills because it’s rich with several features. It doesn’t just inflict painful magic damage but it also gives Phoveus a shield while boosting his Movement Speed. Every successful hit gives him extra Magic Power and it also has an AoE because its damage spreads among nearby enemies.
Demonic Force. This ultimate skill should be upgraded as soon as it’s ready. It is his most deadly skill because of its high damage and it allows him to chase blinking heroes even if they managed to get very far.
Astaros Eye. While it’s a good skill to trigger his ultimate skill and catch escaping enemies, you don’t need to make it a priority when upgrading.
Phoveus Combo
First Combo:
First Skill + Basic Attacks + First Skill + Basic Attacks + First Skill + Basic Attacks + Second Skill + Flameshot
This will be your combo at the start of the game before reaching level 4. Make sure that the first skill will hit the target to activate your shield. The speed boost from your first skill will allow you to chase your target with your basic attacks. If it’s trying to escape, place the second skill in front of it to catch it then attack it with flameshot. Your target might get killed with this combo or escape with a very thin HP bar.
Second Combo:
First Skill + Basic Attacks + Second Skill + Ultimate Skill + Flameshot
This combo doesn’t need to be strictly followed because the skill sequence will depend on the situation and the type of enemy you’re facing. If it’s a blinker hero, you may not need to use the second skill anymore. The second skill is mostly used to trigger Phoveus’ ultimate skill or attack an escaping enemy. The knockback feature of the flameshot can trigger the ultimate skill as well.
Fighting Strategy
Harass. Take advantage of your shield to harass your enemy early in the game. Immediately use the flameshot as soon as you can since it has a short cooldown. Throw everything you got to the enemy in your lane to drive it out so you can secure the crab and level up faster.
Initiate. Since your build is tough like a tank, you can initiate an attack if you have some allies nearby to back you up.
Survive. Watch out when using your ultimate skill because your target might be within the tower’s range already. It’s quite tempting to chase an enemy even if it’s already in a dangerous zone but it’s better to let it escape than to let yourself get killed by the tower. It might be okay in the late part of the game if you’re already tough enough to survive the tower’s attacks. Make sure to properly assess when to chase or let go.
Team Fight. Since all of Phoveus’ attacks have AoE and his first skill and ultimate skill give him a shield, he clearly has a group fight advantage. Make sure to spam your ultimate skill within its 12-second limit during a team fight because there’s a good chance that 2 or more enemies will either dash or blink in that duration. Allow your enemies to attack you while your allies attack them because you have a strong damage resistance.