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- Phoveus was unpopular because of his limited usefulness.
- Other factors such as uncertain itemization and slow animation times also added to his unpopularity.
- His revamp solved some of the issues but took away his identity as an anti-dash hero.
Mobile Legends has no shortage of heroes with unique and engaging mechanics. From selfish one-shot carries that can snowball early to marksmen that need to be babied for clutches late game, everyone has their pick.
However, there exists a class of heroes that are only played in certain matchups: counter heroes. Even among these rarely-picked heroes, there exists an outlier who’s so forgettable people don’t pick him even when he’s the perfect counter.
With all that said, here’s how Moonton revamped Phoveus to be even worse than before!
What Are Counter Heroes?
Counter heroes are a subclass of heroes that work best against certain kinds of team compositions. Belerick is a tank that deals damage back to enemies when hit, increasing the frequency if an enemy hits multiple times, while Baxia has a passive that reduces the heal and shield effects of enemies hit by skills.
Other examples like Khufra and Minsittihar also exist, but the point should be clear by now; counter heroes are perfectly viable. Even if you don’t directly counter the enemy team, however, these heroes can still hold their own.
Phoveus, The Shadow Of Dread
Phoveus came to the Land of Dawn in 2021 with the 515 party event. His design immediately caught the eye of many, being different from all heroes released prior. He looked more like a Greek God than a Mobile Legends hero. The Shadow of Dread was a title that made people very hyped.
As for his kit, the passive reduced his skill cooldowns when an enemy dashed or was displaced near him. The first skill dealt damage and gave him a shield. His second skill was a CC that pulled in enemies.
The core of his kit, his ultimate, could only be activated on enemies that have dashed or been displaced. You could then cast your ultimate to teleport to the marked enemy to deal damage. You’re immune while teleporting, and you gain a fat shield at the end.
The cool thing about this was that he could spam the ultimate again and again, so long as an enemy kept dashing, such as a Wanwan.
The Problem With Phoveus
The kit doesn’t sound too bad on paper. He has clear strengths and weaknesses. He has a cool design, and his skills don’t seem boring. However, for one reason or another, he got forgotten very quickly. Here are some of the reasons people stopped using Phoveus.
- Useless except as a counter: Heroes like Minsittihar and Khufra, while the most effective when countering specific enemies, still worked against other teams. Phoveus’s entire kit was based around the enemies dashing, so he was completely useless against any team that didn’t have a hero with dashes.
- Confusing build paths: Phoveus’s shields and in-your-face playstyle made him out to be a frontline fighter who needed survivability. However, his scalings weren’t so good that you could have a hybrid build. He also dealt magic damage, and most damage items that provided survivability were physical.
- Kinda useless even as a counter: Even if an enemy had a lot of dashes, you could simply time your dashes to escape before Phoveus’s long animation finished and dealt damage. You could even temporarily retreat to your team, making the Phoveus either teleport to 1v5 you and your team, or waste his ultimate.
The Shadow Of The Dreaded Revamp
The first thing you notice is the complete shift in design philosophy. The former Greek God is now emo and seems like a completely different character. Putting aside the design, the kit is changed as well.
He’s shifted from magic to physical, solving one of the problems I mentioned earlier. The removal of a cooldown on his ultimate solved another. However, that’s where the good things end.
Phoveus no longer counters high-mobility heroes. His ultimate, the core of his kit, can no longer work on dashing heroes. It can only be activated on heroes that are displaced by your skills. They did give him better CC capabilities to make up for it, but this just erases the biggest aspect of what Phoveus as a hero was.
His immune and shield on the ultimate were removed as well, which makes it a lot riskier for him to jump into the enemy team. Honestly, he’ll just be a worse Arlott.
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Heya, I’m Asad (Irre) Kashif! I’ve been writing about anything and everything since as far back as I can remember. Professionally, I started writing five years ago, working both as a ghostwriter and writing under my own name. As a published author and a council member in Orpheus, my journey in the world of writing has been fulfilling and dynamic.
I still cherish the essays I wrote about my favorite PS2 games, and I’m thrilled to have transformed my passion for game journalism into a career. I’m a theory crafter for Genshin Impact (and now Wuthering Waves) and have a deep love for roguelites and roguelikes. While I prefer indie games for their distinct aesthetic and vibes, I do enjoy triple-A games occasionally. I’ve also been playing League since season 6, and I main Akali! I have a keen interest in discovering and playing more obscure games, as well as researching forgotten titles. Additionally, I am a front-end programmer who dabbles a bit in gamedev occasionally.
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