Damage
52-66
96-110
128-142
Collision Size: 8
Illusions: Illusions created by Phantom Lancer's abilities are yellow instead of blue. This color is only seen by allies.
Azwraith, the Phantom Lancer[edit]
The remote village of Pole had no knowledge of the wars raging in the heart of the kingdom. For them, the quiet of spear fishing, and a family meal were all that a full life required. Yet war came for them nonetheless. Joining the able-bodied conscripts as they filed passed their homes, the humble lancer Azwraith vowed to bring peace to his kingdom, and in so doing, his people. Placed with his kin in the vanguard of the final assault against the Dread Magus Vorn, the cost to his fellows was absolute. As the charging force battled toward the fortress, Azwraith alone among his kind remained standing, and he alone was able to infiltrate the keep. Focused and infuriated by the slaughter of his brothers, Azwraith bested each of the wizard's deadly traps and conjured guardians. Soon the simple fisherman arrived at Vorn's tower sanctum. The pair dueled through the night, pike to staff, as chaos raged below, and with a deafening cry Azwraith pierced his enemy. But the wizard did not simply expire; he exploded into uncountable shards of light, penetrating his killer with power. As the dust settled and the smoke of combat began to clear, Azwraith found himself standing among a throng of his kin. Each seemed to be dressed as he was, each seemed armed as he was, and he could sense that each thought as he did. Aware that his allies were approaching, he willed these phantoms to hide themselves, and one by one they began to vanish into nothingness. As the soldiers came upon the sanctum, they found the warrior that had bested the wizard. When they approached their champion, the lancer vanished. The pikeman who had stood before them was no more than another phantom.
Abilities[edit]
Casts a magical spirit lance on a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while a Phantom is summoned to attack the unit.
| Movement Speed Slow | 10%/18%/26%/34% |
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| Cast Range | 525/600/675/750
950 |
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| Illusion Damage Dealt | 20%
50% |
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| Illusion Damage Taken | 400% |
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| Bounces once towards an enemy up, prioritizing heroes. Increases Spirit Lance Illusion damage. |
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| Does not pierce Spell Immunity. |
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| Blocked by Linken's Sphere and echoed by Lotus Orb. |
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| Dispellable. |
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| Illusions within 675 range will cast a fake Spirit Lance. |
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Azwraith's proficiency at spearing his family's meal of fish is proving quite useful in the battlefield.
Notes
- The projectile travels at 1000 speed.
- Spirit Lance illusions always give 5 experience and gold regardless of Phantom Lancer's level.
Target an area. Phantom Lancer and all nearby illusions will disappear for a second, then have their positions shuffled into the target area. This also creates two illusions of opposite types.
| Illusion 1 | Damage Dealt: 0%
Damage Taken: 100% |
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| Illusion 2 | Damage Dealt: 20%
Damage Taken: 600% |
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| Illusion Duration Extension | 2 |
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| Illusion Gather Radius | 900 |
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| Cannot be cast while rooted. |
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Dread Magus Vorn's death imbued the Phantom Lancer with the ability to bend and fracture all spectrums of light.
Notes
- The illusion that takes more damage looks identical to a Juxtapose illusion, while the illusion that takes less damage is a brighter, more solid yellow. This difference is only visible to allies.
- The illusion that deals 0% damage still applies mana burn damage if Phantom Lancer has a
Diffusal Blade.
- This ability can disjoint projectiles.
- Destroys trees in the target area.
Passive with cooldown. Triggers when issuing an attack order on an enemy unit outside of attack range. Grants bonus movement speed and phase until Phantom Lancer strikes his target, upon which he is granted bonus
Agility.
| Maximum Trigger Distance | 600/700/800/900
1250 |
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| Minimum Trigger Distance | 200 |
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| Dispellable. |
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| Disabled by break. |
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| Illusions gain this ability. |
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Azwraith knows that on the field of battle, speed can mean everything.
Notes
- The speed bonus is lost when the attack order on the original target is completed or canceled.
- Agility is gained upon reaching the target and is counted for the first attack.
- Phantom Rush can be toggled to disable it.
Grants Phantom Lancer and his illusions a chance to create an illusion when attacking.
| Maximum Illusions | 6/8/10
14 |
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| Illusion Damage Taken | 650% |
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| Juxtapose can now be cast, destroying your other juxtapose illusions and quickly creating the max illusions it allows, with a bonus duration. |
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| Disabled by break. |
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| Illusions gain this ability. |
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Each of Azwraith's lance attacks feels like two from a normal warrior; or three; or four...
Notes
- Juxtapose illusions attack the target that the passive triggered on.
- Juxtapose illusions always give 5 experience and gold regardless of Phantom Lancer's level.
Talent Ability[edit]
Grants a chance to deal a bonus damage critical strike.
| Illusions gain this ability. |
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Talent Tree[edit]
Recommended Items[edit]
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Early Game |
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General Strategy[edit]
Phantom Lancer storms enemy forces with an endless supply of clones. Leading his illusory army, he can cut foes apart in a breathtaking flurry of attacks, send clones to push into enemy territory, or use his doppelgangers to mislead and elude foes if cornered.
Phantom Lancer (In-Game Description)
Overview
Phantom Lancer is a carry, relying on his illusions to farm and fight. With his strong nuke he is able to bully his opponents in lane, and his doppelganger provides him with mobility and elusiveness. With an early Diffusal Blade he is able to kill most heroes solo throughout the mid game. Watch out for heroes that can clear his illusions, since Phantom Lancer is vulnerable without them.
Skill Build
| Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
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| Level | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 25 | |
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Early Game
Phantom Lancer generally goes safe lane, being paired up with one or two supports to give him a comfortable early game and the space to farm. Use your Spirit Lance to keep the enemy offlaner away, and focus on getting your Diffusal Blade as soon as you can.
With the release of patch 6.82 Phantom Lancer has moved away from the passive, farm/split push until late game role that he has assumed for many years. He is now much more effective and versatile during the early game phase than he has ever been with more agility from level 1-4, evening out at level 5, and having 1.2 less natural agility gain every level from 6 on and is no longer as squishy early with a base strength increase of 3. This in no way diminishes his viability as a late game carry as Juxtapose has been reworked so that Phantom Lancer is much more effective in ganking and short skirmishes owing to the fact that the chance to create images was significantly increased (increased by 28%/33%/38% rather than a flat 12%) while more than halving the duration. The illusions also take significantly more damage and deal significantly less (500% taken from 350% and 16% dealt from 20%) making reliance on illusion damage (based on stat/base dmg) no longer the focus as 1 point in agility only provides the illusions with 0.16 additional dmg.
Mid Game
With a Diffusal Blade you're able to kill most heroes solo, and contribute in team fights. Boots of Travel give you global map presence, but you can also build the normal Power Treads.
Radiance is no longer a viable/cost effective item on Phantom Lancer owing to the fact that his images only last 8 or 4 seconds depending on the source of the image and can no longer split push with it. Spirit Lance was not changed so he is still unlike many other carries, with a strong and spammable level one nuke. Combined with a mana battery hero such as the Keeper of the Light, the reworked Outworld Devourer, or a Soul Ring, Phantom Lancer exerts more early game lane control than most other carries. He also has a significant amount of durability throughout the game with the new skill Doppelganger that allows Phantom Lancer to remove himself from the game for 1 second, moving 275 to 925 units away from his current location and creating more images on a 10 second cool down and meaningless 50 mana. To provide him with even more mobility when offensively ganking (could, in certain situations, provide a means of escape much like a lesser blink strike) with Phantom Rush. When combined with Spirit Lance, it is nearly impossible to escape this hero.
Late Game
Focus on items that increase your illusions durability, like Eye of Skadi or Butterfly. Your illusions will start falling off if the game goes very late, and enemies will have items to clear them out as fast as they can.
Version History[edit]
| Version
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Balance Changes
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| 7.28b
|
 Spirit Lance shard now also increases cast range by 200
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| 7.28a
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- Spirit Lance shard illusion damage increased from +20% to +30%
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| 7.28
|
- Base intelligence increased from 19 to 21
 Spirit Lance manacost rescaled from 110/120/130/140 to 120- Phantom Rush agility bonus is still provided if the dash is canceled
- Phantom Rush minimum proc distance reduced from 250 to 200
- Level 15 Talent increased from -1s Spirit Lance Cooldown to -2s
 Level 20 Talent decreased from +400 Phantom Rush Range to +350 Scepter Rework
- Juxtapose can now be cast, destroying your other juxtapose illusions and quickly creating the max illusions it allows (6/8/10), with a bonus 10 seconds duration.
- Cooldown: 60. Manacost: 75.
- Added Aghanim's Shard
- Upgrades Spirit Lance
- Bounces once towards an enemy up to 900 units away, prioritizing heroes.
- Increases Spirit Lance Illusion damage by +20%.
|
| 7.27b
|
- Attack damage spread reduced from 48-70 to 52-66 (same average damage)
- Spirit Lance damage increased from 100/150/200/250 to 100/160/220/280
- Level 15 Talent changed from +100 Spirit Lance Damage to -1s Spirit Lance Cooldown
- Level 20 Talent changed from +5 Max Juxtapose Illusions to +4% Juxtapose Illusion Dama
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| 7.26b
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- All talents are now about 20% weaker
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| 7.25c
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- Base Agility reduced by 3
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| 7.24
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- Level 15 Talent reduced from +275 Health to +250
- Level 25 Talent reduced from -6s Doppelganger Cooldown to -5s
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| 7.23
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- Reworked Scepter:
- Phantom Rush agility bonus duration reduced from 2 to 1.5
- Phantom Rush speed boost is now always available when attacking enemy units, regardless of the cooldown
- (Agility bonus is still cooldown limited)
|
| 7.22g
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- Juxtapose illusions damage increased from 20% to 22%
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| 7.22e
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- Spirit Lance mana cost reduced from 125/130/135/140 to 110/120/130/140
- Level 15 Talent increased from +250 Health to +275
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| 7.22d
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- Juxtapose illusion damage increased from 18% to 20%
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| 7.22c
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- Juxtapose illusion damage increased from 16% to 18%
- Level 10 Talent increased from +15% Evasion to +20%
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| 7.22
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- Strength gain increased from 2 to 2.2
- Agility gain increased from 3 to 3.2
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| 7.21b
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- Phantom Rush Agility bonus increased from 6/14/22/30 to 11/22/33/44
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| 7.21b
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- Phantom Rush Agility bonus increased from 6/14/22/30 to 9/18/27/36
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| 7.21
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- Level 10 Talent increased from +10% Evasion to +15%
- Level 20 Talent increased from +4 Max Juxtapose Illusions to +5
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| 7.20
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- Spirit Lance slow reduced from 10/20/30/40% to 10/18/26/34%
- Juxtapose incoming damage increased from 600% to 650%
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| 7.19d
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- Spirit Lance cast range rescaled from 750 to 525/600/675/750
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| 7.19c
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- Agility gain reduced from 2.8 to 2.6
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| 7.19b
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- Level 25 Talent reduced from -7s Doppelganger CD to -6s
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| 7.19
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- Juxtapose Illusion incoming damage increased from 500% to 600%
- Base intelligence reduced by 2
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| 7.18
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- Base strength reduced by 3
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| 7.16
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- Doppelganger can no longer be cast while rooted
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| 7.10
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- Level 25 Talent increased from -5s Doppelganger Cooldown to -7s
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| 7.07
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- Base HP regen increased from 1.5 to 3
- Base movement speed reduced by 5
- Phantom Rush can now be toggled to be disable it (default state is enabled)
- Doppelganger now adds 2 seconds to the duration of all your illusions
- Reworked Talent Tree
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| 7.06e
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- Agility gain increased from 2.6 to 2.8
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| 7.06d
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- Base HP regen increased from 0.5 to 1.5
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| 7.06
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 Fixed Doppelganger Illusions lasting one second less than intended- Phantom Rush agility bonus is now granted before the first hit lands, rather than after
- Juxtapose max illusions increased from 5/7/9 to 6/8/10
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| 7.05
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- Phantom Rush bonus agility from 6/12/18/24 to 6/14/22/30
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| 7.03
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- Spirit Lance illusions now give the same constant 5 bounty as Juxtapose, rather than scaling with levels
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| 7.02
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- Level 10 Talent from +150 Health to +75 Spirit Lance Damage
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| 7.00
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- Phantom Rush now provides 6/12/18/24 Agility when you reach the enemy (Lasts 2 seconds)
- Phantom Rush minimum proc range reduced from 300 to 250
- Added Scepter to Phantom Lancer:
- Causes Spirit Lance to bounce on nearby enemies
- Bounce Range: 400
- Bounce cap: 5
 Added Talent Tree
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| 6.85
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- Agility growth reduced from 3 to 2.6
- Doppelganger cast time increased from 0 to 0.1
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| 6.83c
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- Enabled in Captains Mode
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| 6.82c
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- Juxtapose max illusions reduced from 6/8/10 to 5/7/9
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| 6.82
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- Removed from Captains Mode
- Agility gain reduced from 4.2 to 3
- Base Agility increased from 23 to 29
- Base Strength increased from 18 to 21
- Replaced Doppelwalk with a new ability, Doppelganger
- New passive ability, Phantom Rush
- Replaced Phantom Edge with a reworked version of Juxtapose
|
| 6.78
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- Spirit Lance, Dopplewalk, Juxtapose, and Phantom Edge illusions damage dealt decreased from 25% to 20%
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| 6.76
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- Collision size decreased from 24 to 8
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| 6.75
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- Agility growth increased from 2.8 to 4.2
- Spirit Lance slow duration increased from 3 to 3.25 seconds
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| 6.73
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- Doppelwalk movement bonus increased from 10 to 15%
- Juxtapose illusions cap increased from 2/3/4/5 to 2/4/6/8
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| 6.72c
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- Juxtapose rebalanced to have a 12% creation chance at all levels with a max of 2/3/4/5 illusions
- Base HP regeneration increased to 0.75
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| 6.69
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- Strength growth reduced from 2 to 1.7
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| 6.67
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- Juxtapose illusions now take 450% extra damage (up from 400%)
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| 6.63
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- image lifetime increased from 15 to 20 seconds
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| 6.55
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- Increased Spirit Lance cast range from 600 to 750
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| 6.54
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- Various changes to Phantom Lancer and Spirit Lance
- Phantom Lancer's images now create a dummy Spirit Lance effect when the primary casts it
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| 6.52
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- Improved initial AI on Dopplewalk image to make it less obvious when it's created
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| 6.51
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- Changed Phantom Edge's secondary ability from evasion to magic resistance
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| 6.50
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- Increased Phantom Lancer's Strength gain from 1.5 to 2
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Notable Players[edit]
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
Carry 
Escape 
Pusher 
Nuker
