Grimstroke

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Grimstroke 21 + 2.4 18 + 1.9 25 + 3.8
Level 0 1 15 25 30 Health 200 620 1280 2000 2280 +0.25 +2.35 +5.71 +9.31 +10.71 Mana 75 375 1011 1611 1863 +0 +1.25 +3.91 +6.41 +7.46 Armor 0 3 7.43 12.6 14.52 Damage Block - Magic Resistance 25% Status Resistance 0% Damage 21‒25 46‒50 99‒103 149‒153 170‒174 Attack Rate 0.59/s 0.69/s 0.85/s 1.03/s 1.1/s Attack Range 600 (800) Attack Speed ▶️ 100 (1.7s BAT) Attack Animation 0.35+0.85 Projectile Speed 900 Movement Speed ▶️ 290 Turn Rate 0.6 Collision Size 24 Vision Range (G) 1800 • 800 Legs 0 Gib Type Default Ability Upgrades Dark Portrait Ink Swell

Disables enemies with a swipe of his brush.
The peoples of Ashkavor gave their lives for the newly Ascended, one unlike any Ascended before him. Grimstroke's lust for power had tainted the sacred ritual, and the corrupted ink consumed him — along with his kin. The defiled remnant of his former beloved remains at his side, agonizing those caught in this Phantom's Embrace. Shrouded by a shadowy Ink Swell, Grimstroke retaliates with lashing black tendrils, while a Stroke of Fate forms under his brush, darkening the land and painting a Dark Portrait of an unfortunate foe. Drawing on Ashkavorian rituals of protection, Grimstroke twists the ancient arts to Soulbind foes together, so that the sufferings and vexes of one will be felt equally by the other.
Roles:	Support Nuker Disabler Escape
Complexity:	★★☆

Bio

Grimstroke

▶️ "I'll paint this world as I see fit."

Lore:

The people of Ashkavor crowded around the temple square, eager to witness the ascension of their new guardian -- to stand near the man as he bound their souls to his own. But as his final brush strokes fell against the runestone, and the bond of a new Ascended One was forged, everyone -- even those who'd stayed in their homes -- could sense that something had gone terribly wrong.

He knew the cause instantly. The droplets of ichor he'd procured to amplify the potency of his inkpots had instead contaminated them, and the power of the binding spell he'd cast now threatened to consume him. An inky corruption snaked upward from the runestone, along the handle of his brush, soon overtaking his hands. From there it spread quickly. Once it overcame his face and his mouth, he couldn't have screamed even if he'd wanted to.

All of his life he'd calculated on how to attain ever greater powers than the limits presented by his teachers would allow--going so far as to break the sacred prohibition against augmenting the inks. Indeed, with the wellspring of the Ascended bond open to him, he felt a measure of power coursing into his soul like he'd never imagined. His greatest triumph was upon him, if he could only survive it.

He drew deep from the power of the bond, pushing back against the corrupted ink flow. A great moan filled the air -- the collective cry of his people. Some swayed on their feet. The weakest collapsed. Many tried to run. And still deeper he pulled from their bloodline reservoir. But it wasn't enough to stop the ink tide.

It was only when the breath trapped in his lungs began to fail him, and the inkpool darkness fully encased him, that he saw his way out. The bond he'd made with the Ashkavoran people -- his people -- meant to be drawn upon only in service of their protection... It flowed two ways.

With a final surge of strength -- this time directed by more than just blind repulsion -- he pushed the ink torrent into the bond itself.

Slowly, he felt the tide retreat... and heard the awful wails of his people as the corruption in turn rolled over them. When at last the ink relented, his eyes opened upon a world changed. The Ashkavoran people as he knew them were gone. Every last soul was transformed into terrifying shades of their former selves -- comprised no longer of blood and bone, only viscid, tainted ink.

Alias:

GS

Voice:

Steven Blum (Responses)

Abilities

Stroke of Fate

▶️▶️▶️QF

Ability
Target Point

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Grimstroke paints a path of ink with his brush, damaging and slowing enemies. The damage is increased with each enemy the ink hits.

Cast Animation: 0.6+0.63

Cast Range: 1400 ( 2400)

Wave Distance: 1400 ( 2400)

Start Radius: 120

End Radius: 160

Base Damage: 100/160/220/280 ( 150/240/330/420)

Damage Increment per Hit: 20/30/40/50 ( 30/45/60/75)

Move Speed Slow: 50%/60%/70%/80%

Slow Duration: 1.5

11/9/7/5

100/110/120/130

Modifiers [?]

modifier_projectile_vision

Undispellable

modifier_grimstroke_dark_artistry_slow

Any

The corruptive force of Grimstroke's ink, drawn from the reservoir of his fallen people, consumes any enemy caught in its path.

Notes:

• The ink travels at a speed of 2000.

• With the travel distance and end radius, the ink takes 0.7 ( 1.2) seconds to reach max distance and can hit units up to 1560 ( 2560) range away.

• The ink trail starts 120 range towards Grimstroke's left side and travels towards the targeted point.
  • This means the ink's travel direction is not based on the caster's facing direction, but instead on the angle between the aforementioned points.
  • Portrait-casting automatically launches Stroke of Fate to the right of Grimstroke's facing direction.

• Stroke of Fate first applies the damage, then the debuff.

• The increasing damage has no cap and counts any unit hit by the ink.

• Plays an initial sound and particles upon start casting, visible and audible to everyone.

• The projectile provides ground vision within its effect radius around it as it travels. This vision does not last.
  • Provides 160 radius ground vision at every hit enemy's location and at the end location of the projectile, which lasts for 2 seconds.

Phantom
Attached
Health 100 +0 This unit has no mana. Level 2 Duration 5 Armor 0 Magic Resistance 0% Status Resistance 0% Turn Rate 1 Collision Size 8 Vision Range (G) 200 Bounty 10 Experience 10 Model Scale 1.3 Notes Uncontrollable Phased

Phantom's Embrace

▶️▶️▶️▶️WE

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Summons a phantom that moves quickly towards the target, latching to it when she arrives. Once latched, the phantom damages and silences. If she survives the full latch duration she rends her victim for heavy damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown.

Hero attacks against the phantom count as 3 attacks each.

Cast Animation: 0+0

Cast Range: 900

Hero Attacks to Destroy: 2/2/3/3 ( 3/3/4/4)

Non-Hero Attacks to Destroy: 6/6/9/9 ( 9/9/12/12)

Damage per Second: 10/20/30/40 ( 60/70/80/90)

Rend Damage: 120/200/280/360

Latch Duration: 5

36/30/24/18

80/100/120/140

Spell Immunity Notes:

Turning spell immune instantly kills latched Phantoms, and all Phantoms that currently fly towards the target.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked upon cast.

Ability Disjoint Notes:

Cannot be disjointed by enemies.

Can be disjointed by the caster while returning, resulting in the cooldown not being reset.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_grimstroke_ink_creature_spawning

Undispellable

modifier_grimstroke_ink_creature

Death

modifier_grimstroke_ink_creature_latched

Death

modifier_provide_vision

Death

modifier_grimstroke_ink_creature_debuff

Death

Grimstroke holds no sorrow for the downfall of his people. Only for Yaovhi, she who was most dear to him, does he feel even a semblance of longing.

Notes:

• The Phantom travels at a speed of 750.

• The phantom is attackable (A or Left Click) as soon as it is launched, so it can be killed before it reaches its target.
  • Phantoms have the highest priority for auto-attack behaviors, together with Beetles.

• The phantom latches onto the target when it comes within 130 range of it. Once latched, it always stays 130 range in front of the target.

• The phantom instantly dies when its target turns invisible or spell immune, including while the phantom is still traveling towards it.
  • A latched phantom also instantly dies when its target turns invulnerable or hidden, but not while traveling.

• When the phantom enters a Chronosphere while traveling, it freezes and continues traveling once the Chronosphere ends.
  • If the phantom enters a Chronosphere while already latched on the target, it immediately starts returning to the caster as if it expired.

• The phantom returns to Grimstroke upon expiring, or when its target dies. It does not return when it gets killed.

• While attached, the phantom silences its target and deals damage to it.
  • Deals 5/10/15/20 ( 30/35/40/45) damage in 0.5-second intervals, starting immediately upon reaching the target, resulting in 10 instances.
  • Can deal up to 170/300/430/560 ( 420/550/680/810) damage to each latched enemy, including the final rend damage (before reductions).

• The phantom refreshes the cooldown of the ability upon having fully returned to the caster.
  • The cooldown also gets refreshed if the target dies at any time during Phantom's Embrace, even if it dies to the phantom itself.

• The phantom provides shared vision over the target while flying towards it, and while latched. The vision instantly stops once letting go of the target.
  • The phantom itself has 200 ground vision as well, which it provides while traveling to the target and while latched.
  • However, this vision is not applied while the phantom travels back to the caster.

• The phantom cannot be interacted with while it returns to the caster.

• Successive casts on the target fully stack, although all casts share one debuff.
  • The damage per second is increased for each stack. All casts share the same damage interval and are summed up into one instance per interval.

• When used in combination with Soulbind, only the phantom launched on the primary target can refresh the ability's cooldown.

Ink Swell

▶️▶️▶️EW

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Allies / Enemies

Damage
Magical

Grimstroke shrouds an allied unit in ink, increasing its movement speed. Enemies in range of the allied unit are damaged with inky tendrils over time. After 3 seconds it triggers, applying damage and stun in an area around the unit in proportion to how long ink tendril was near any hero.

Cast Animation: 0.15+0.73/0.86

Cast Range: 400/525/650/775

Radius: 375 ( 525)

Move Speed Bonus: 10%/12%/14%/16% ( 26%/28%/30%/32%)

Tendrils Damage per Second: 25/35/45/55 ( 35/49/63/77)

Expire Max Damage: 90/180/270/360 ( 126/252/378/504)

Max Stun Duration: 1.1/1.9/2.7/3.5

Max Damage/Stun Accumulation Time: 2.5

Buff Duration: 3

 Damage as Heal: 40%

30/26/22/18 ( 25/21/17/13)

120/130/140/150

Aghanim's Shard Upgrade:

Causes Ink Swell to deal 40% more damage and heal the target for 40% of the damage Ink Swell deals. Upon expiration, the target will receive a strong dispell.

Spell Immunity Notes:

Can be cast on spell immune allies.

Does not affect spell immune enemies.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_grimstroke_spirit_walk_buff

Any

modifier_stunned

Strong

Now that the rise of the ink tide no longer threatens to overwhelm Grimstroke, its tendrils of power are never far from his hand.

Notes:

• Has a longer cast backswing of 0.86 when cast on self, due to a different animation.
  • ↓↓ Double-tapping automatically targets self.

• Ink Swell first applies the damage, then the debuff.

• The tendrils deal 5/7/9/11 ( 7/9.8/12.6/15.4) damage in 0.2-second intervals, starting immediately as the buff is placed, resulting in up to 15 instances.
  • They can deal up to 75/105/135/165 ( 105/147/189/231) damage to a single unit (before reductions).

• The damage and stun upon losing the buff is based on the number of damage instances the tendrils applied to a single enemy hero.
  • This means to reach the maximum damage and stun, at least one enemy hero must be damaged throughout the whole duration of Ink Swell.
  • Only counts damage dealt to real heroes, which excludes illusions and creep-heroes, but includes clones.
  • The actual amount of damage dealt does not matter, only the amount of damage instances applied.
  • The stun duration increases by 0.09/0.15/0.22/0.28 seconds, and the damage by 7.2/14.4/21.6/28.8 ( 10.08/20.16/30.24/40.32) for each instance applied, reaching the maximum after 13 instances.

• When the debuff is lost prematurely, it still applies the area expire damage and stun, based on the damage instances it dealt up to that point.
  • However, if the ink swelled unit dies, the area expire damage and stun will not apply.

• The expire damage and stun only apply when there is at least one enemy hero within the area.

• Recasting Ink Swell on the same target refreshes the duration, without resetting the damage instance counter.

• With Aghanim's Shard, the targeted ally also gets healed for each instance of damage as it is dealt.
  • The heal is based on the damage values before any reductions or amplifications, so the amount of damage enemies actually take is irrelevant.
  • The tendrils heal 2.8/3.92/5.04/6.16 health for each instance of damage they deal.
  • The tendrils can heal up to 42/58.8/75.6/92.4 health for each damaged enemy over its full duration.
  • The expire damage can heal the target for up to 50.4/100.8/151.2/201.6 health for each enemy hit by it.
  • The strong dispel at the end is applied no matter how the buff is removed.

Dark Portrait illusion as they appear to allies and enemies.

Dark Portrait

▶️DD

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemy Heroes

Creates an ink illusion of a target enemy hero. Illusion is spell immune, and has bonus movement speed and attack damage.

Cast Animation: 0+0.54

Cast Range: 1200

Number of Illusions: 1

Illusion Damage Dealt: 150%

Illusion Damage Taken: 300%

Illusion Move Speed Bonus: 30%

Illusion Duration: 25

35

200

Modifiers [?]

modifier_grimstroke_scepter_buff

Death

modifier_illusion

Death

modifier_invulnerable

Death

Ability Draft Notes:

Requires drafting Soulbind to be unlocked.

No dark creation is beyond the skill of the master's hand.

Notes:

• Requires Aghanim's Scepter to be unlocked.

• The created illusions are visually distinguishable from the real hero for allies and enemies.

• The illusion spawns 108 range away randomly on the north, south, east, west from the target.

• The illusion gains its spell immunity and movement speed bonus through a buff, so it is possible for enemies to check the buff and ‼ Ping the remaining duration of the illusion.

Soulbind

▶️▶️RB

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Enemy Heroes

Binds a targeted enemy hero to its nearest allied hero within the bind radius, preventing both from moving away from each other. Any unit-targeted ability that either bound hero receives also gets cast on the other hero. If the bind is broken before the duration expires, the initial target will be bound to its nearest allied hero in the radius.

Cast Animation: 0.15+0.5

Cast Range: 700/800/900

Latch Radius: 600

Break Distance: 700

Duration: 6/7/8

100/75/50

150/200/250

Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:

New Ability

Grants the Dark Portrait ability.

Spell Block / Reflection Notes:

Blocked fully only when primary target.

Modifiers [?]

modifier_grimstroke_soul_chain_channel_check

Death

modifier_grimstroke_soul_chain

Death

The Ascended were chosen sons of Ashkavor, granted immense power by the bonds forged between their own souls and those they were charged with protecting. In the years that followed the ruination of his kin, Grimstroke discovered much more sinister applications for the binding rituals…

Notes:

• The targeting reticule must be centered over an enemy unit.

• Only binds the primary target to heroes (excluding illusions, including clones) or creep-heroes. The primary target can be an illusion though.

• Does not bind to nearby invisible or invulnerable heroes.

• The more the chain gets stretched, the slower the affected heroes can walk away from each other, eventually coming to a full stop. It directly affects their movement speed.
  • The chain is considered fully stretched at 600 range, but can be stretched up to 700 range before it breaks.
  • In order to stretch it further than 600, forced movement or abilities with teleporting effects must be used.
  • The following abilities are not able to break the chain: Skewer, Leap, Pounce, Tree Dance, Primal Spring, Toggle Movement, Force Staff and Hurricane Pike.
  • However, Force Staff and Hurricane Pike (targeting an ally) can break the chain if the target hasn't moved after being bound.
  • Every other source of forced movement (e.g. Primal Roar and Blinding Light) can break the leash.

• Leashes the target and the ally it is bound to, preventing them from casting certain mobility abilities.
  • Does not leash the target if it is not bound to an ally.

• If the enemies manage to break the link, the debuff stays active on the primary target still, and immediately links the next enemy hero within the latch radius to them.

• While linked, every single-target ability cast on one of the hero is also cast on the linked hero, following the same rules as Spell Reflection, with some exceptions.
  • The following abilities do not work exactly so: Dive Bomb, Hurl Boulder, Cyclone, Omnislash, Infest, Mana Drain (requires a 3rd target to work), Static Link, Charge of Darkness, Nether Strike, Snowball, Soul Assumption and Focus Fire.
  • The ability cast on the linked hero is sourced to the original caster, so that their stats and items are applied to the ability as well.
  • If the primary target of the single-target ability has Spell Block, it still gets cast on the secondary target.

• The following abilities and items will pierce the spell immunity of a linked hero when cast via Soulbind, despite normally not being able to do so: Brain Sap, Spirit Siphon, Lightning Storm, Finger of Death (only AoE damage around the secondary target), Laguna Blade, Wrath of Nature, Reaper's Scythe, Stifling Dagger, Decrepify, Sunder, Soul Rip, and Energy Burst.

• Abilities that do not pierce spell immunity when cast this way will still be cast on the linked spell immune targets, but will have no effect on them.
  • Relevant exceptions (abilities with potential to hit more than one target) are:
    • Adaptive Strike and Fade Bolt do not cast on the linked target if it is spell immune.

• Provides shared vision over both targets, revealing their silhouette when invisible, and seeing what they see.

• A hero may be affected by only one bond at a time. Recasting Soulbind on the same target, or on the secondary target refreshes the duration on both of them.
  • Casting Soulbind on a third target within range of the already linked two does not link the third hero to any of the other two, until their link expires.

• For a list of unique interactions with other abilities, see Grimstroke's guide page.

Talents

Hero Talents
+50% Stroke of Fate Damage	25	+150 Ink Swell Radius
+3 Hits to Kill Phantom	20	+1000 Stroke of Fate Cast Range
+16% Ink Swell Movement Speed	15	+15% Spell Amplification
-5s Ink Swell Cooldown	10	+50 Phantom's Embrace DPS

Recent Changes

Main Article: Grimstroke/Changelogs

Version

Description

7.31d

• Ink Swell
  • Reduced radius from 400 to 375.
  • Increased cooldown from 30/25/20/15 to 30/26/22/18.

7.31

• Stroke of Fate
  • Reduced cast point from 0.8 to 0.6.
  • Reduced projectile speed from 2400 to 2000.
  • Reduced base damage from 120/180/240/300 to 100/160/220/280.
  • Increased damage increment per hit from 18/27/36/45 to 20/30/40/50.

7.30e

• Reduced Ink Swell buff duration from 4 to 3.

Recommended Items

Starting items:

• Tango helps Grimstroke stay in lane.
• Healing Salve keeps Grimstroke alive in the early game.
• Enchanted Mango helps Grimstroke use his nukes more often.
• Clarity regenerates mana throughout the game to fuel Stroke of Fate.
• Iron Branch gives attributes for little cost, and can either be combined with Tango for more health regeneration or built into a Magic Wand.

Early game:

• Boots of Speed increase movement speed to get Grimstroke in position.
• Magic Stick restores health and mana for a low price.

Mid game:

• Arcane Boots makes up for Grimstroke's high mana usage. It can also be dissembled into Aether Lens or Aeon Disk.
• Magic Wand gives attributes, as well as more health and mana restoration.
• Glimmer Cape allows Grimstroke to escape bad situations, and sneak up on enemies for a stun with Ink Swell (cast either on himself or his ally). Since Grimstroke is commonly played as a support, the item is highly cost-effective for him.

Late game:

• Aghanim's Scepter gives new very powerful and scalable single-target ability Dark Portrait that can be casted on two targets when combined with Soulbind.
• Scythe of Vyse can hex two enemies at once when used with Soulbind. It also prevents opponents from killing the phantom, thus forcing them to take full damage.

Situational items:

• Force Staff helps Grimstroke's chase down enemies after they have been slowed. It also serves as a good escape for him in a pinch.
• Aether Lens increases Grimstroke's already long cast ranges, and gives him extra mana regeneration. The cast range bonus is significant for Grimstroke as winning teamfights rely on casting all spell combos successfully. The range keeps him safely in the backlines.
• Aeon Disk helps Grimstroke survive with strong dispel and damage reduction so that he can keep using abilities in fights.
• Dagon adds burst magical damage and can be cast on two targets at once when combined with Soulbind.
• Ethereal Blade works with Soulbind to amplify magical damage dealt to two enemies at once as well as to disarm them so that they cannot attack the phantom.
• Orchid Malevolence Can be considered as a tool to silence up to 3 enemies.

Gameplay

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio

Responses

Sounds

History

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment

Grimstroke Equipment (expand sets) Sets Fury of the Damned Herald of the Ember Eye Paean of the Ink Dragon The Chained Scribe Weapon Fortune of the Five Houses Head Remnants of Ascension Taunt Taunt: Harsh Critique

Trivia

• Grimstroke's abilities have different names in the game files:
  • Stroke of Fate: Dark Artistry
  • Phantom's Embrace: Ink Creature
  • Ink Swell: Spirit Walk
  • Soulbind: Soul Chain
• The line ▶️ "More art than science." is a reference to the common phrase "More of an art than a science", when referring to an activity or field that is not bound by clearly-defined rules and is open to subjective interpretation.
• The line ▶️ "At least you died with a smile on your face." is a reference to album of the label "Bella Union".
• The line ▶️ "Welcome to the real void." perhaps a reference to the film "Matrix" - "Welcome to the real world".
• Grimstroke after killing Lich he says ▶️ "Another self-styled king meets his end." perhaps a reference to the Lich-King in fantasy world "Warcraft".
• The line ▶️ "Brush beats scythe." is a reference to game "Rock, paper, scissors".

Gallery

• 

  In-game model

• 

  In-game model

External links

• Official Trailer
• Introducing Grimstroke
• Blog post