Meepo the Geomancer is a melee agility hero who is notorious for being one of the hardest carries in the game to play effectively due to his heavy reliance on micromanagement. Meepo's defining ultimate, Divided We Stand, allows Meepo to create up to 3 additional clones of himself, (4 with Aghanim's Scepter), each of which has its own mana and hit points, as well as individual cooldowns on Meepo's spells. The clones cannot use any items besides the boots that the main Meepo himself wears, but each clone can gain experience and gold additively with the original Meepo, allowing him to gain levels and gold extremely fast. This means that a well-played Meepo can gain experience faster than any other hero, capable of reaching maximum level extremely early into the game and overpowering his unsuspecting opponents; however, Meepo's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness, as the death of any Meepo, including the clones, spells death for all Meepos.
Individually, each Meepo is very weak, but by combining their strength and spells Meepo can overwhelm opponents with their nukes and disables. A single cast of Earthbind is little more than an inconvenience, but multiple Earthbinds chained together can allow a Meepo army to keep an enemy permanently rooted to the ground. Poof is a short-ranged area nuke by itself, but combined with the clones allows any Meepo to globally teleport to any other Meepo, and deal increasing amounts of damage when stacked together on the same target. Geostrike deals small damage over time and little slow by itself, but combining the efforts of all clones can paralyze a foe and deal heavy magical damage over time. With this skill set, Meepo can be everywhere on the map at once, and can group up on an unsuspecting victim in a moment's notice. Meepo redefines the power of numbers, and managed properly can overwhelm the enemy as a one-man army. What's going on? I developed a meepo macro for non-skilled guys like me, or for people who want to play with less effort. I have got Razer and Logitech products so I can only help with those mice/keyboard/headset. I don't really know if its legal or not but those companies sell these stuff and macro function is in the driver so, it must be legal. I searched but couldn't find any information about if its legal or not, so just let me know if you guys find something about that. I can remove it if its illegal to use macros. What does it do? Its like, you press your macro button and aim to enemy, main meepo blinks to enemy, throws net to enemy, all meepos poof to him, then all meepos attack to enemy. And all those stuff happen in 1.5 second. I am sorry for... I know there will be some people who won't like it but I made something like this, and I find it useful, since pressing 20-25 buttons in 1.5 second without no mistake is pretty hard. I just wanted to share it. I apologize for people who won't like it because they can really do it manually. 1 : What do we need? We will use only mouse/keyboard/headset drivers so; If you are using a Razer product, you'll need Razer Synapse program. Here is the link for it : Click And if you are using a Logitech product, you'll need Logitech Gaming Software program. Here is the link for it : Click We don't need any other programs. 2 : Importing macro files Now, you will download the macro file to import to your device. Decide which one you should download like, Which product you use / Do you use QWER or Legacy skill bind, this is really important. If you are using a Razer product, download this one; Poof(F), Net(E) : Click Poof(W), Net(Q) : Click And if you are using a Logitech product, download this one; Poof(F), Net(E) : Click Poof(W), Net(Q) : Click Make sure you downloaded the right one! Now its time to import the macro file If you are using a Razer product, check this one; Press the Import button you see there : Click And if you are using a Logitech product, check this one; Press the Import button you see there : Click Select the file, when you are done, go to next step. 3 : Assigning macro to a button Its really easy but maybe someone doesn't know how to do it; If you are using a Razer product, check this one; Open Razer Synapse > Go to Mouse > Customize > Choose the button you want > Choose Macro from top > Assign Macro choose Meepwnage > Press Save And if you are using a Logitech product, check this one; Open Logitech Gaming Software > Open profiles tab > Make sure you chose the right profile > Search for daktari's meepwnage at left side > When you find it, drag it on to key you want Now we're done with all stuff outside the game, lets go into game. 4 : The most important part, BINDING! Now, we installed the macro pretty well. You must edit some settings ingame; Unit Actions bindings Open the game > Go to settings from top left > Controls > Unit Actions Assign Control group 1 to "1" Assign Control group 2 to "2" Assign Control group 3 to "3" Blink dagger binding Open the game > Go to settings from top left > Controls > Items Assign Inventory 4 to "4" YOU MUST PUT THE BLINK DAGGER TO INVENTORY SLOT 4 When you finished doing those, you must know how to bind units to keys. You must do it every match so it is really important. You do it like, you choose unit or units you want, then press CTRL + key you want to assign it to. Assigning while playing Choose your main meepo and press CTRL + 1 Choose your all other meepos except the main one and press CTRL + 2 Choose your ALL MEEPOS and press CTRL + 3 So when you have one meepo at start, just bind it with CTRL + 1. When you get your second meepo, choose the second guy and assign him to button 2, also choose both of them and assign them to 3. As long as you get more meepos, you must do the same like, if you have 5 meepos, bind main one to 1 , bind all other 4 to button 2, all 5 to button 3. Sir, I repeat, YOU MUST PUT THE BLINK DAGGER TO INVENTORY SLOT 4! 5 : Last words and about how does it look To use it, you should click the button on your device that you assigned and AIM ON/NEXT TO ENEMY. You must do it really good because if you aim somewhere else or if you put your crosshair on hud or minimap, something like that, it won't work well. Some meepos wont poof, maybe you won't blink, it will have some problems like that. So thats why aiming part is so important. Here is how it should look like
Twitch.tv is a live streaming video platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com. Introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv, the site primarily focuses on video gaming, including playthroughs of video games, broadcasts of esports competitions, and more recently, creative content. Content on the site can either be viewed live, or viewed via Video on demand.
The popularity of Twitch would eclipse that of its general-interest counterpart; in October 2013, the website had 45 million unique viewers, and by February 2014, it was considered the fourth largest source of peak Internet traffic in the United States. At the same time, Justin.tv's parent company was re-branded as Twitch Interactive to represent the shift in focus – Justin.tv was shut down in August 2014. The site has also branched out into music-related streams and content. In 2015, Twitch announced it had more than 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million visitors per month.
History
When Justin.tv was launched in 2007 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear, the site was divided into several content categories. The gaming category grew especially fast, and became the most popular content on the site. In June 2011, 40 the company decided to spin off the gaming content as Twitch.TV, inspired by the term twitch gameplay. It launched officially in public beta on June 6, 2011. Since then, Twitch has attracted more than 35 million unique visitors a month. Twitch had about 80 employees in June 2013, which increased to 100 by December 2013. The company was headquartered in San Francisco's Financial District
Twitch has been supported by significant investments of venture capital, with US$15 million in 2012 (on top of US$7 million originally raised for Justin.tv), and US$20 million in 2013. Investors during three rounds of fund raising leading up to the end of 2013 included Draper Associates, Bessemer Venture Partners and Thrive Capital. In addition to the influx of venture funding, it was believed in 2013 that the company had become profitable.
Especially since the shutdown of its direct competitor Own3d.tv in early 2013, Twitch has become the most popular e-sports streaming service by a large margin, leading some to conclude that the website has a "near monopoly on the market". Competing video services, such as YouTube and Dailymotion, began to increase the prominence of their gaming content to compete, but have had a much smaller impact so far. As of mid-2013, there were over 43 million viewers on Twitch monthly, with the average viewer watching an hour and a half a day. As of February 2014, Twitch is the fourth largest source of Internet traffic during peak times in the United States, behind Netflix, Google, and Apple. Twitch makes up 1.8% of total US Internet traffic during peak periods.
On March 24, 2015 Twitch was reportedly hacked and users’ details compromised. Users’ accounts were reset, but it does not seem that any credit card or other financial information has been made available. However, passwords do appear to have been leaked and the company recommends that users reset their details on any site where they use the same password.
Growth, acquisition speculation
On February 10, 2014, Twitch's parent company Justin.tv, Inc. was renamed Twitch Interactive, reflecting the increased prominence of the service over Justin.tv as the company's main business. That same month, a stream known as Twitch Plays Pokémon, a crowdsourced attempt to play Pokémon Red using a system translating chat commands into game controls, went viral; by February 17, the channel had reached over 6.5 million total views since its introduction five days prior, and was averaging concurrent viewership between 60 to 70 thousand viewers, with at least 10% participating. Vice President of Marketing Matthew DiPietro praised the stream, considering it "one more example of how video games have become a platform for entertainment and creativity that extends WAY beyond the original intent of the game creator. By merging a video game, live video and a participatory experience, the broadcaster has created an entertainment hybrid custom made for the Twitch community. This is a wonderful proof of concept that we hope to see more of in the future." Beginning with its 2014 edition, Twitch was made the official live streaming platform of the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
On May 18, 2014, Variety first reported that Google had reached a preliminary deal to acquire Twitch through its YouTube subsidiary for approximately US$1 billion.
August 2014 changes
On August 5, 2014, the original Justin.tv site was abruptly shut down, citing a need to focus resources entirely on Twitch. On August 6, 2014, Twitch introduced an updated archive system, with multi-platform access to highlights from past broadcasts by a channel, higher quality video, increased server backups, and a new Video Manager interface for managing past broadcasts and compiling "highlights" from broadcasts that can also be exported to YouTube. Due to technological limitations and resource requirements, the new system contained several regressions; the option to archive complete broadcasts on an indefinite basis ("save forever") was removed, meaning that they can only be retained for a maximum of 14 days, or 60 for partners and Turbo subscribers. While compiled highlights can be archived indefinitely, they were limited to two hours in length. Additionally, all on-demand videos became subject to acoustic fingerprinting using software provided by Audible Magic; if copyrighted music (particularly, songs played by users from outside of the game they are playing) is detected, the 30-minute portion of the video which contains the music will be muted. Live broadcasts are not subject to these filters.
The audio filtering system, along with the lack of communication surrounding the changes in general, proved to be controversial among users. In particular, users felt that the new filtering system was too inaccurate, flagged music played within games themselves, and voiced concerns that it could affect the service's ability to present footage from games which notably include large amounts of licensed music, such as the Grand Theft Auto series. The change also drew comparisons to the similar policies employed by YouTube—especially given the rumors surrounding Google's bid to purchase the service. In a Reddit AMA, co-founder Emmett Shear admitted that his staff had "screwed up" and should have provided advance warning of the changes, and promised that Twitch had "absolutely no intention" of implementing audio filtering on live broadcasts. On August 7, 2014, the 2-hour length limit on highlights was again removed, and an appeals process was added for flagged audio contained within on-demand recordings. In January 2015, to further rectify these issues, Twitch introduced a royalty-free music library featuring tracks from various independent labels cleared for use in streams.
Acquisition by Amazon.com
On August 25, 2014, it was announced that Amazon.com Inc. would acquire Twitch Interactive for US$970 million. The deal was expected to be finalized by the end of 2014. Sources reported that the rumored Google deal had fallen through and allowed Amazon to make the bid; Forbes reported that Google had backed out of the deal due to potential antitrust concerns surrounding it and its existing ownership of YouTube. The acquisition was closed on September 25, 2014.
Twitch is now operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc, with Emmett Shear remaining as CEO. Shear touted the Amazon Web Services platform as an "attractive" aspect of the deal, and that Amazon had "built relationships with the big players in media" which could be used to the service's advantage—particularly in the realm of content licensing. The purchase of Twitch marks the third recent video gaming-oriented acquisition by Amazon, which had previously acquired the developers Reflexive Entertainment and Double Helix Games.
On December 9, 2014, Twitch announced it had acquired GoodGame Agency, an organisation that owns the esports teams Evil Geniuses and Alliance.
Content and audience
Twitch is designed to be a platform for video game-related content, including e-sports tournaments, personal streams of individual players, and gaming-related talk shows. A number of channels do live speedrunning. The Twitch homepage currently displays games based on viewership. The typical viewer is predominately male and aged between 18 and 34 years of age, although the site has also made attempts at pursuing other demographics, including females.
Twitch has also made expansions into non-gaming content; in July 2013, the site streamed a performance of Video Games Live from San Diego Comic-Con, and on July 30, 2014, electronic dance music act Steve Aoki broadcast a live performance from a nightclub in Ibiza. In January 2015, Twitch introduced an official category for music streams, such as radio shows and music production activities, and in March 2015, announced that it would become the new official live streaming partner of the Ultra Music Festival, an electronic music festival in Miami.
On October 28, 2015, Twitch launched a second non-gaming category, "Creative", which is intended for streams showcasing the creation of artistic and creative works. To promote the launch, the service also streamed an eight-day marathon of Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting.
Charity
Games Done Quick is a bi-annual speedrunning event for charity, hosted on Twitch.
Broadcasters on Twitch often host streams promoting and raising money towards charity. By 2013, the website has hosted events which, in total, raised over US$8 million in donations for charitable causes, such as Extra Life 2013.
Lag issues
In late 2013, particularly due to increasing viewership and using a legacy Adobe Flash plugin to present video to desktop users, Twitch had issues with lag, predominantly in Europe. Twitch has subsequently added new servers in the region. Also in order to address these problems, Twitch implemented a new video system shown to be more efficient than the previous system. Initially, the new video system was criticized by users because it caused a significant stream delay, interfering with broadcaster-viewer interaction. Twitch staff said that the increased delay was likely temporary and at the time, was an acceptable tradeoff for the decrease in buffering.
Banned games
Twitch users are not allowed to stream games that contain "overtly sexual content" or "gratuitous violence". Twitch has also explicitly banned specific games from streaming; this includes games such as BMX XXX, eroge visual novel games such as Dramatical Murder, HuniePop, Rinse and Repeat, Yandere Simulator, and any game rated "Adults Only" (AO) in the U.S. by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), regardless of its rating elsewhere. Edited cuts of AO-rated games with lower ratings, such as Indigo Prophecy, are still allowed.
The banning of Yandere Simulator was criticized by its developer, who argued that the service had refused to provide any explanation of why it was banned, and operated under a double standard as it has not banned other games with similarly excessive sexual or violent content such as Mortal Kombat X, Grand Theft Auto, or The Witcher 3.
Partners Program
In July 2011, Twitch launched its Partner Program, which reached 4,000 members as of June 2013. Similar to the Partner Program of other video sites like YouTube, the Partner Program allows popular content producers to share in the ad revenue generated from their streams.
Advertising on the site has been handled by a number of partners. In 2011, Twitch had an exclusive deal with Future US. On April 17, 2012, Twitch announced a deal to give CBS Interactive the rights to exclusively sell advertising, promotions and sponsorships for the community. On June 5, 2013, Twitch announced the formation of the Twitch Media Group, a new in-house ad sales team which has taken over CBS Interactive's role of selling advertisements.
Platform support
Twitch is available as a mobile app on the iOS and Android platforms. Key features include viewing Twitch's streaming content in high definition and in landscape view. It offers a browsing option of the top streamers. Users can browse by game title or featured games. The app also allows users to follow their favorite channels and has also an in-app chatting feature which allows viewers to chat with other viewers.
Twitch has been integrated into PC software, including video streaming to Twitch directly from EA's Origin software, Ubisoft's Uplay, games played on modern Nvidia video cards (via the driver's ShadowPlay feature), and games such as Minecraft, Eve Online, PlanetSide 2 and the Call of Duty franchise. Players also have the ability to link their Twitch accounts with accounts on Valve's Steam software. In 2013, Twitch released a software development kit to allow any developer to integrate Twitch streaming into their software.
Twitch also supports streaming from some consoles. Twitch has dedicated software for the Xbox 360, Ouya, PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. CEO Emmett Shear has stated a desire to support a wide variety of platforms, stating "Every platform where people watch video, we want to be there."
Yesterday news broke that Valve’s Dota 2 tournament, The International 2014, would be broadcast on ESPN. Well, ESPN2. Well, a preview show on ESPN2 with the event itself on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN3.
Still, it’s pretty cool news all the same, as it’s mainstream recognition for Dota 2 fans and the tournament itself, which has likely attracted so much attention thanks in large part to its massive, nearly $11M prize pool, mostly raised by the community itself.
I’ve been covering eSports for a while now, through League of Legends, Starcraft, Smash, Dota, COD and more, but one refrain I keep hearing has never rung true with me. This idea that eSports needs to make it to television in order to become “legitimate.” I’m interviewed about eSports a lot these days (you’d be amazed at how many college kids are writing papers on the subject) and the question is always there. “Do you think eSports will be televised someday?”
My answer is always the same: Maybe, but it doesn’t need to be.
That’s why I don’t think the negative reaction to this International news is warranted, from fans who really don’t view it as a victory because the tournament is being relegated to stream on ESPN3 rather than be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. In my eyes, streaming, on ESPN3, Twitch, MLG or what have you, is far and away the best way eSports can be consumed, and really, things would almost be moving backwards if eSports starting airing on TV.
Interest in eSports, be it Dota, League, Starcraft, and so on, is something that interests a largely younger crowd, those in their teens, twenties, or maybe thirties (with obvious exceptions). And while people may see millions and millions tuning into watch a tournament final online, the idea that those numbers would translate to ESPN if the match was broadcast there isn’t realistic. Namely, cable TV is becoming a dinosaur among the exact generation that’s so interested in eSports. Why do all this work to try and expand to a medium that the majority of your fanbase may not even want or be able to access?
But nearly everyone has access to a streaming internet device, and even the minimally tech savvy understand how to hook up an HDMI cable from a laptop to a TV to watch something on a bigger screen if they so choose.
Given the massive size and scope of these tournaments, a channel like ESPN would never dedicate a weekend to airing an entire Dota or LoL tournament, nor five hours a night of coverage to weekly leagues those games have. Then yes, an option is for some media magnate to get the idea to make an eSports dedicated channel, but again, this is looking backward, and solving a problem that doesn’t exist. There’s a clear and present shift away from traditional TV and to streaming. eSports is actually ahead of the game, by utilizing streaming since birth. eSports was born streaming, TV is just now starting to adopt it.
This idea that eSports needs to migrate en masse to television in order to be “taken seriously” or legitimized is misguided. Streaming is far and away the best way to consume these events, so seeing The International streaming on ESPN3 instead of airing on ESPN itself is actually a good thing. Though depending on how things go, fans may even wish they were watching on Twitch instead.
The question is not whether it would be progress if eSports ever made it to TV, it’s whether traditional sports can progress by being widely available on streams without a bulky cable subscription.
Taking place during the upcoming weekend, registrations for the SEA open qualifiers have opened.
ESL One Manila
Marking the start of the process to decide the two SEA representatives at the ESL One Manila LAN event, the open qualifier for the SEA region have started taking registrations; the SEA open qualifiers are open to teams with three members or more in the SEA (excluding Philippines), South Asia, East Asia or Oceania region. The games will start on the 27th of February at 11:00 SGT.
Teams in the open qualifiers will battle in a best-of-one single elimination bracket with a best-of-three finals to decide the top four, following their victory, the four victors will then join eight other directly seeded teams in the main SEA qualifier to compete for a place at the ESL One Manila LAN finals and a portion of the $250,000 prize pool.
The ESL One Manila LAN event is an eight team event scheduled for the 22nd and 24th of April at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. Of the eight teams that will be invited, five have been decided, Secret, Liquid and EHOME received direct invites, whereas Empire and coL won the European and American qualifiers respectively. The remaining three teams will be decided by the SEA and Philippines main qualifiers which will most likely take place shortly after the conclusion of the SEA qualifiers.
The Ecclesiast-King of Elze nursed a desire for pain--forbidden pain. In a less prominent political figure, such desires might be considered unwise, but in a monarch of his stature, to satisfy such thirsts would have threatened the virtue of the Divine Throne itself. Therefore he turned to his dungeon full of demonologists, promising freedom to whoever could summon a personal succubus of torment and bind it entirely to his service. The creature who arrived, visited upon him such exquisite torments that he named her his Secret Queen, and he began to spend all his spare moments submitting to her clever torments--eventually abdicating all his responsibilities in his pursuit of the painful pleasures that only she could bring. Queen of Pain could bring him to the brink of death, but she was rune-bound to keep him alive. At last the King's neglect of state brought on an uprising. He was dragged from his chamber and hurled from the Tower of Invocations, and at the moment of death, Queen of Pain was let loose into the world, freed from servitude--freed to visit her sufferings on anyone she deigned to notice.
Pros
- Excellent nuking power
- Good at ganking and farming
- Great at zoning enemies off the lane.
- High mobility with Blink
- Decent right-click potential
- Powerful hero in proper hands.
Cons
- Frail hero, susceptible to burst damage.
- Falls into late-game because of her nuke-dependency.
- Needs farm and quick levels.
- Overall stats gain is very mediocre.
Shadow Fiend can be a hard hero to put pressure on - he can trade back your hits with triple Shadowraze and right-clicks, especially if he has souls inNecromastery. Be careful when attempting to gank him with team-mates: if you are not 100% sure that you can take him down quickly, he can turn up 2vs1 situations and get a double kill. Enjoy the first minutes in the lane, as your right-click power will be better than his and try to zone him out with Shadow Strike. 2. Storm Spirit Difficulty : Easy-Medium
The Storm Spirit isn't that hard when facing him in mid. He's frail and slow before level 6 and he needs his Bottle full all the time to make use of Overload. If you attempt a gank on him before six, it can be fairly easy, because the amount lockdown to bring is a lot less than when he gets Ball Lightning. 3. Templar Assasin Difficulty : Medium
The Templar Assassin is kind of a glorified melee hero, but she has some tools to stay and contest the middle lane. Be sure to burn her Refraction shield ( Shadow Strike is your best bet) when attempting a kill - one layer can block a complete Sonic Wave.
6.86 Queen of Pain Item Build Mid and Offlane
Starting Items
Mid
Offlane
Early Items
Core Items
Late Game Options
Choose One Of These Items Below for the One Slot Left
Lanaya, the Templar Assassin, came to her calling by a path of curious inquiry. Possessed of a scientific bent, she spent her early years engaged in meticulous study of nature's laws--peering into grimoires of magic and alchemy, recreating experiments from charred fragments of the Violet Archives, and memorizing observations of the Keen recordkeepers. Already quiet and secretive by nature, the difficulty of acquiring these objects further reinforced her skills of stealth. Had she been less retiring, she might have become notorious among the guilds as a thief-scholar. Instead her investigations led her into far more obscure corners. As she devoted her furtive talents to unlocking the secrets of the universe, she instead unlocked a secret door that exists in nature itself: the entryway to the most Hidden Temple. The intelligences that waited beyond that portal, proved to be expecting her, and whatever mysteries they revealed in the moment of their discovery was nothing compared to the answers they held out to Lanaya should she continue in their service. She swore to protect the mysteries, but more to the point, in service to the Hidden Temple she satisfies her endless craving for understanding. In the eyes of each foe she expunges, a bit more of the mystery is revealed.
BRIEF REVIEW
Templar Assassin is a very good and capable mid hero who eats most of the heroes early game but eats mostly squishy nukers and/or supports late game without a Desolator. If you see people choosing Shadow Fiend, Drow Ranger, or Zeus, she is one of the best possible counters. Templar Assassin is a very squishy agility hero without her Refraction active or if the charges ran out. The trick here (mentioned in several guides) is to activate refraction beforehand then engage when the buff is gonna expire and/or the cooldown is almost over. This way, you'd get 12 instances each of the buff since you'll be popping the refraction twice. This, although it sounds so good to be true, have a downside. The mana cost is a bit high, popping refraction twice would melt your mana bar down to half or maybe 3/4's. You need fast reaction time and deep knowledge of her gameplay to use her to her max potential.
SKILL OVERVIEW
Her Refraction is her greatest asset. I'd consider this a "nuke" since you can activate it frequently and it gives you bonus damage as well as it blocks 6 instances of damage at level 4, but sadly her only considered "nuke" is Meld. Meld is like a portable active Daedalus as I'd like to call it. It gives you Phantom Assassin like crits if maxed very early though I don't suggest this unless you think it'll be a sure-win game ;). People have underestimated this skill and used it mostly for escaping. Do not do this if they have strong AOE damage, I repeat, DO NOT DO THIS. I am speaking from experience and I tell you, it's not worth it. If they don't have strong AOE damage skills like Shadowraze or Dual Breath though, you may use it xD. This is so because if your gankers still stayed, you'd still get the normal experience gain but the opponent mid-laner would get the divided experience, because another of their teammate is in the lane and/or near the creeps. Psi Blades are her meat and cheese for me. It is usually maxed or even leveled last because they say it's not worth it or something like that. If you are a pretty experienced squishy melee player and you are comfortable and confident with it, why not? Psi blades give you extra range and it also slices into units behind the primary creep/hero that was attacked. She has a low starting range a bit less than Doom's and this skill makes up for it. The psi blades I think still hits invisible units so if there happens to be a riki and he's low on health, attack a creep in front of where you think he might be. Last but not the least Trap is her most defined skill. Not only does it provide vision but it also slows the enemy when triggered to a near 50% MS reduction. I didn't put Blink Dagger on her mid game items because with trap and the Yasha MS bonus, you'd quickly be near your target for a perfect Meld strike. Her skills have great synergies with each other; pop Refraction, spring Trap, go near and Meld strike and just hit away with your DPS items.
PROS & CONS
Pros
+ Not "that" item dependent. (like Shadow Fiend, Storm Spirit, Naga Siren)
+ Great flexibility. (can fit into more than 2 roles)
+ Huge burst damage without using items.
+ Tanky with Refraction on.
+ Easy to understand but hard to play.
+ She's a great looking girl. ;D
Cons
- SQUISHY without Refraction on.
- Level dependent
- Team-oriented
- You need to be alert and aware of the map especially with your traps' provided vision.
- May be the first to be taken out during teamfights.
- One of the most underplayed heroes in DotA 2.
- Easily countered
- Easy to understand but hard to play.
- DOT spells like Doom, Shadow Strike, etc...
- Countered by Radiance
TEAM WORK & SYNERGIES
Templar Assassin is very dependent on her team. One slightest fail in ganking or roaming would end or simply degrade her usefulness in the game. Don't be scared of using her, believe me I failed a lot of times but that didn't stop me from wanting to learn her style more. As you can see in the above video of Ferrari_430's ranked gameplay, he was able to communicate with his team to run a smoke gank to Naga Siren when he was having trouble taking her down. He was also able to solo Roshan and lure the opponent team to the pit. There were some fail ganks he made but nobody's perfect. It's either the opponent team warded some places or they were playing safe and sticking together.
He did a Hand of Midas build; this is optional for Templar Assassin to rush most of her items. Yes, the price is costly but you'd get your Desolator faster than before with successful frequent ganks along with the extra xp and gold earned from sing Midas. Also, he achieved all of his items faster and got his butterfly under 30 minutes! I can't do that XD.
Her traps are valuable for initiating, ganking, vision, escaping, chasing and many more so always remember to check the shared unit controls so that your teammates may help you detonate them if you have poor map awareness.
There are a lot of heroes who work well with Templar Assassin. Armor reduction heroes like Slardar, Vengeful Spirit and Tidehunter works absolutely well. So I'm going to let the Armor reduction heroes sit aside for now and open up various heroes that can be paired up with Templar Assassin.
Here is a list of my favorite heroes that go well with TA and why:
Bounty Hunter-huge burst damage potential, bonus gold with Track.
Bristleback-armor reduction+slow, spammable Quill Spray.
Magnus-perfect for lining opponents up for your Psi Blades, huge burst damage potential, escape proof with Skewer.
Dazzle-heal+slow+armor reduction=DAZZUL XD
Disruptor- great harassing skills to keep enemy on low health, escape prood with Glimpse and Kinetic Field, silence.
Queen of Pain-slow+insane burst damage potential+great mobility.
Wraith King-stun+slow+can tank tower for you since he have Reincarnation (only if he's willing to give it up).
Crystal Maiden-stun+slow+global happy Arcane Aura+devastating SS= My Bae <3
The reason I like these heroes is because they can give you an early kill or assist. Bounty Hunter gives incredible burst damage with Jinada and Shuriken Toss. The Track skill also serves a great asset to the line-up. It grants bonus gold to the one who killed and the one who assisted in the kill. This will get you your Desolator much faster. Bristleback is another armor reduction hero with his Viscous Nasal Goo. The slow works great to slow them down for your early Meld strikes and his Quill Spray is also nothing to laugh at either. It is a great harassing skill early especially against tanky melee heroes like Axe. I bet you know the synergy with Magnus already so I might as well skip that. Dazzle works a lot like Bristleback with the heal from Shadow Wave and slow from Poison Touch. His Weave gives a minus 1 armor every second and is stacked with the armor reduction from your Meld. Disruptor nets you an even earlier kill with the great harass from the Thunder Strike ability. His Glimpse and Kinetic Field prevents enemies from escaping and will annoy the opponent laner especially if they used a TP scroll to go back to lane. Queen of Pain and Wraith King works a like to each other. The slow from Shadow Strike makes you faster in comparison and Wraith King's stun is even better. Crystal Maiden is exceptionally my most favorite hero among the rest. Her Arcane Aura will be able to help you with Refraction's tad high mana cost. Frostbite and Crystal Nova immobilizes and slows the enemy for your perfect Meld strikes. Her SS, Freezing Field ain't supposed to be looked down either.
There are numerous others like Sand King, Lion, and Vengeful Spirit but these are my personal favorites and I think you'll find the synergy quite awesome as well. Either way, these aren't your lane partners as you are taking the solo mid lane. They can only synergize well with your ganks and team clashes.
LANING
The first level in Psi Blades grant you more range so that you can't get harassed by the melee heroes' auto attacks. This is more useful than a level one Refraction as you can hit creeps and harass your opponent at the same time with the passive spill "cleave". I always grab this whether my opponent is ranged or not.
You should now deny, harass and last hit at the same time. Max out Refraction and Meld simultaneously. Although, don't forget to grab a second level of Psi Blades to land your Meld strikes better as Templar Assassin's range is still pitiful with a level one Psi Blades.
Traps will be your best friend from level 6 and onward. This will prevent you from being ganked and even turn their gank against them if you have back-up. Always have at least 1 trap in or outside the Roshan lair; especially if there is an Ursa in the opponent team. You can kill him or anyone else, plus you can steal the Aegis of the Immortal.
Communicate with your supports and especially if you're ganking. They'll be the essential core setters of the gank, as most supports have at least 1 disable/slow/stun. After they have disabled the enemy, you pop Refraction and quickly land a Meld strike. The damage output is very high and Meld's armor reduction is applied before the strike hits. If you think that s/he can still survive the gank after the duration of the disable is over, slow him down with your Trap.
Do not try to tower dive the enemy even if your opponent is slowed by your Trap unless you are sure you can come out alive. Even with a level 2-3 Refraction, if the enemy has back-up waiting for you to dive in and make a mistake or if s/he has a stun, you're in for some real trouble bro.
When the late game comes
You'll be on your own
They are frightened of
My skills to kill their supports
When the late game comes
late game comes, when the late game comes
As my medley says, your role in the late game is to kill their supports. Most initiators are basically supports (i.e. Tidehunter). After you get rid of their supports before a clash starts, either the clash will be delayed until the initiators respawn or you won their failed clash. Space will be created for you either way to push their towers down. Your Desolator will be melting those tower in a matter of seconds.
Tips in Laning:
Denying the creep with your Refraction on will not use up the charge. Use this to your advantage and either try to last hit with Psi Blades and/or harass the opponent and deny their farm and xp gain.
Do not get too overconfident with your Refraction and Meld.
Remember to always place traps between your lane and the runes, this way you can be the winner in a race to get maybe a double damage rune or haste rune. Who knows, you might turn the race to a kill you can get. This will also provide vision that can prevent an upcoming gank.
Carry a Dust of Appearance if you're planning to gank a lane with an invi hero like Nyx Assassin, Riki, Mirana so on and so forth to secure the kill and not let them escape.
Do not, I repeat, do not buy a Gem of True Sight unless you have take out 2 of their barracks or tier 3 towers at least. The lost of a gem means the 900 gold you (or your support) bought will turn into nothing.
Do not solo-gank early game.
Zeus' Lightning Bolt reveals you in your meld for a brief moment like all other invisible buff.
Keeper of the Light's Blinding Light removes Meld.
Drow Ranger's Gust silences you and removes Meld.
Any repositioning skill will remove Meld.
If you cannot secure the kill, don't bother chasing and just go back to farming your lane.
Trap are seen with Sentry wards and Gem of True Sight.
Each Trap give 1 gold bounty when destroyed.
Bottle crow when you fail to get the runes. Do it often as the side lane shops have most of the early game items needed for the safe and off-lane heroes.
KNOWING WHEN TO GANK OR NOT
Lanaya is also labeled both a carry and a roamer. She gets her bounty mostly from side lane enemies; meaning she ganks pretty often to get her items faster. Basically, you start ganking when you reach level 6. Most other players however can even gank without reaching level 6. Was the gank a coincidence? Sheer luck? Or skill?
It will be either your teammate ganking mid for you or you gank their lanes.
Ganking is generally leaving your lane to aid the side lanes in killing their enemies. Technically you'd get the kill since you bothered to help; you earned it, but even the assist gold is worth it to get that Desolator much faster.
Feel free to gank when
Your team's lanes are pushed back but yours is quite pushed in.
They are having trouble against the harass and cannot farm well.
The hero they chose have a few set of stuns, slows and disables.
You have nothing else to do and want a number in your kills.
I learned most about ganking from this Youtube vid over here and I suggest watching it.
Now you should always gank as a mid hero. Even heroes like Puck, Shadow Fiend and Storm Spirit will always casually roam and gank. When your teammates ask for a gank, do not deny. They will be more determined in getting rid of the opponent than you are.
Do not waste time sitting in the jungle waiting for the enemy to make the slightest mistake. The time will be better wasted farming mid lane and denying the mid laner their gold and xp.
Also as much as possible, do not cross the rivers when trying to gank. Invisibility is also a key factor when ganking. This is because the river will usually be warded always. nonetheless their jungle will also be warded especially when playing safe. I suggest getting or having:
Smoke of Deceit
Shadow Blade
Rune of Invisibility
ITEM BUILDS
Early (Bottle Rush)
Early Game
Post (1-10 mins)
Mid Game (Your show time)
Late Game
Rejected
DENDI TEMPLAR ASSASIN PRO GAMEPLAY & DECISION MAKING
Meepo the Geomancer is a melee agility hero who is notorious for being one of the hardest carries in the game to play effectively due to his heavy reliance on micromanagement. Meepo's defining ultimate, Divided We Stand, allows Meepo to create up to 3 additional clones of himself, (4 with Aghanim's Scepter), each of which has its own mana and hit points, as well as individual cooldowns on Meepo's spells. The clones cannot use any items besides the boots that the main Meepo himself wears, but each clone can gain experience and gold additively with the original Meepo, allowing him to gain levels and gold extremely fast. This means that a well-played Meepo can gain experience faster than any other hero, capable of reaching maximum level extremely early into the game and overpowering his unsuspecting opponents; however, Meepo's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness, as the death of any Meepo, including the clones, spells death for all Meepos.
