E-Sport Portal: Templar Assasin Guide Dota 2

Templar Assasin

(Lanaya)

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)