What if your hero could adapt not just their items, but their means of engagement? What if you could be the melee assassin you need one match and the backline mage you need another? Idris has the unique ability to choose distinct paths and specialize his abilities. By building either 125 Weapon Power or 125 Crystal Power, he can become an elusive melee fighter or a backline mage. He’s two heroes in one, and as such, we’ll be discussing his crystal and weapon paths separately since each requires different strategies to master.

Read on for Idris’ abilities…

HERO ABILITIES

DIVERGENT PATHS (HEROIC PERK)

Idris unlocks unique powers for either his melee or ranged paths upon attaining a certain amount of weapon or crystal power.

Melee (Weapon): Idris’s Shroudstep becomes an instantaneous blink. Passively, his melee attacks restore stamina and reduce the cooldowns of his Shroudstep and Shimmer Strike abilities.

Ranged (Crystal): Idris gains ranged basic attacks, dealing crystal and weapon damage and applying on-hit effects.

Instead of energy, Idris uses stamina to activate his abilities. Purchasing items with energy and energy regeneration increases his stamina and stamina regeneration.

SHROUDSTEP (A)

Idris dashes in the target direction, dealing amplified damage to the next target he attacks within seconds. If Idris has not taken damage within the last few seconds, Shroudstep grants a barrier. The availability of the barrier is displayed beneath his stamina meter.

CHAKRAM (B)

Idris throws a chakram that returns to him, damaging enemies each time it passes over them. Hitting enemy heroes, miners, or kraken recovers stamina. Idris can use his Shroudstep and Shimmer Strike abilities to avoid catching returning chakrams, giving him additional opportunities to strike enemies.

SHIMMER STRIKE (ULTIMATE)

Idris latches onto the target hero, becoming invulnerable, then leaps off in the chosen direction, damaging surrounding enemies. The distance Idris leaps is increased in his crystal path.

WEAPON PATH

Dueling

Idris is best when he initiates combat. The benefit provided by triggering his barrier is critical for him to stay alive long enough to destroy his foe. If he takes damage before activating his dasH, he’s in trouble. Instead, an Idris player should initiate when they get their barrier from the Shroudstep, which only activates if Idris hasn’t taken damage in the last four seconds. When in combat, use his weapon path basic attack (a spear) and throw out his Chakram. Keep using his basic attacks until the Chakram is about to return to you, then Shroudstep through the enemy. This will make the Chakram pass through your enemy again. If an Idris player finds themselves in a match they can’t win, then use the Shimmer Strike to jump onto an enemy and reposition. If there are allies nearby, then Idris can Shimmer Strike onto them: the invulnerability lasts longer if he attaches to an allied hero and if they flee, he will move with them.

Teamfighting

Similar to his dueling style, Idris is opportunistic in teamfights. He should wait for his allies to initiate combat or wait for an opportunity to Shroudstep towards their squishy carry. Then, he should use his basic attack and Chakram to keep hitting the enemy until they die. Idris’ ultimate is useful to track down fleeing enemy heroes. Let’s say an enemy Celeste is fleeing the fight after Idris has taken her to ⅓ health. Idris should chase after her and use his Shimmer Strike to attach himself to her. In all likelihood, the enemy team will be one side of her, likely chasing after the Idris player. But when the Idris player disengages the Shimmer Strike, they should reposition themselves away from the enemies. In basic terms: reposition yourself strategically to finish off an enemy while avoiding their allies.

On the other hand, finding a group of closely bunched enemies can be another opportunity to throw both the Chakram and utilize the Shimmer Strike — the Chakram will damage all of the enemies on both its outgoing and returning flights and the Shimmer Strike does AOE damage.

WEAPON BUILD

Sorrowblade: In order to unlock his weapon path, he needs to get 125 weapon power as quickly as possible. Sorrowblade is a great way to get there quickly.

Breaking Point: Breaking Point is provides amplified damage on his Shroudstep ability.

Poison Shiv: Inflicts mortal wounds and hinders Fountain of Renewal’s ability to save an enemy. As a weapon carry, you’re more built for burst damage than a Crystal build. Poison Shiv helps you kill people faster.

CRYSTAL PATH

Dueling

In his crystal path, Idris becomes a ranged carry. As a ranged hero, Idris relies on his Chakram to do most of his damage. His Shroudstep or Shimmer Strike are used to extend how long the Chakram is in the air. The longer in the air, the more opportunities it has to damage enemies. To succeed in this role, Idris must stay at long range and alternate between his Chakram and his new mage-like ranged basic attack.

Idris’ playstyle in a Crystal path is very different. In fact, you’ll find it has more in common with traditional poke mages like Celeste and Skaarf than with his weapon path. As a Crystal carry, Idris should stick to the backline and keep his enemies at maximum range — not only because he is fragile, but because when his Chakram reaches its vertex, it will do double damage to an enemy if it hits. While Idris can use his Shroudstep and Shimmer Strike to dodge enemy attacks, the abilities are actually better used for repositioning purposes to keep him in the fight. If you find an enemy low on health, you can use the dueling technique to finish them off, but only if you’re sure that it will finish the fight. He’s a hero who is better served by playing it safe.

Teamfighting

Regardless of the path you take, as an Idris player your behavior in situational combat is similar. In 2v1 situations, Idris should use his mobility to drive the enemy towards his allies or to cut off escape routes. If an enemy is fleeing, you can use the Chakram to drive them one direction and then utilize your Shroudstep to where you think they’ll go. Alternatively, you can Shimmer Strike onto them and then release onto the opposite side of your allies — ensuring the enemy has nowhere to run.

If Idris is on the receiving end of a 2v1, then he should use his Shroudstep if he hasn’t been damaged yet. If he has, and escape is unlikely, then using Shimmer Strike onto an enemy will help kill time until your Shroudstep is ready again, hopefully allowing you to reposition yourself to a quick pivoted escape.

CRYSTAL BUILD

Broken Myth: Idris is not built to burst down his foes, but he is a sustained damage dealer. So he easily builds Broken Myth stacks. His Chakram, for example, gives him a stack when it comes or goes.

Frostburn: Frostburn is a great item to slow enemies and keep them at his maximum range. It’s great for kiting.

Alternating Current: While Idris prefers staying at longer range, if you can afford to be closer, Alternating Current is great because it will do lots of damage.

Clockwork: Clockwork refreshes his abilities and regenerates his stamina faster.

STRONG VERSUS

Celeste: On his weapon path, Idris is a great anti-ranged hero. Since he is very mobile, he can blink to a backline mage and dispatch them.

SAW: On his crystal path, on the other hand, he can outrange several other ranged carries like SAW. Stay outside SAW’s range and keep throwing your Chakram.

Krul: Due to his Shroudstep and Shimmer Strike abilities, in either path, he is very good against melee heroes who are easily kited.

WEAK VERSUS

SAW: While Crystal Idris bests SAW, Idris’ weapon path loses to SAW because he has to get close to saw and SAW is faster and deals more damage.

Catherine: Catherine has reliable targeted abilities. His main source of evading damage is dodging, which he can’t do against a silence.

Taka: On his crystal path, Idris is really squishy so anyone that can stick to him will be able to dispatch him quickly.

HYBRID PATH

Idris players can also try out a hybrid path by purchasing both weapon and crystal items. This hybrid path has the strengths of both, unlocking his ranged attack as well as the instantaneous dash on his Shroudstep. In teamfights, a Hybrid Idris would play similarly to Crystal Idris. You would stay on the outside of the fight and try to attack safely until a target’s health is low, where you can dash into the fight and finish them off. In general, the Hybrid Idris build has a decent ability to poke enemies and some significant finishing power. The weakness with this approach is that his damage output tends to be lower than specializing in any one particular path.

If you want to lean towards a weapon build, then build a Shatterglass and standard weapon items like Sorrowblade and Breaking Point. The Shatterglass fulfills the 125 requirement Crystal requirement to unlock his ranged attacks while the weapon items increase his basic attack damage. The inverse is also true: You can build a Sorrowblade first to hit the 125 minimum and then build Crystal as normal.

PRO TIPS

Use his ultimate to dodge all kinds of moves. Once he’s attached to someone, he’s invulnerable. Joule’s Big Red Button, Adagio’s Verse of Judgment and Celeste’s Solar Storm can all be dodged by Idris’ Shimmer Strike. If you see an enemy about to line up the shot, think fast!

If you’re on the weapon path, you should initiate the fights. Pick the fights you think you can win and if you can’t, kite away.

If you time all of your abilities correctly, with a single Chakram you can hit someone five times or more! If you can do that, please put on Youtube so I can learn. Thanks!

Keep an eye on the in-game News section for more Idris info and guides.