Templar Assassin

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[e][h]Templar Assassin

Radiant Hero

Attributes

21 +2.4

23 +3.2

20 +2

30 - 36

1

305

Base Stats

Health Regen

0.25

Mana Regen

0

Magic Resistance

25%

Attack Speed

100

Attack Time

1.7

Attack Duration

0.3 + 0.5

Attack Range

160

Missile Speed

900

Turn Rate

0.7

Sight Range

1800 / 800

Level Changes

Level

1

15

25

Health

578

1172

1604

Mana

315

651

891

Armor

5.6

14.6

21

Damage

53-59

97-103

129-135

Most Played As

LessMore

Role

1

2

3

4

5

Notes

Collision Size

24

Legs

2

Lanaya, the Templar Assassin

Recommended Roles

Carry Escape

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.

Peppering the battlefield with slowing traps, Templar Assassin hides invisibly, ready to ambush her prey. Once she springs her attack, she shreds enemies with piercing psionic blades, and deflects counterattacks with her refracting shield.

Abilities

Refraction

QR

Targeting
No Target

Affects
Self

Damage Type
Physical

Templar Assassin becomes highly elusive, avoiding damage while gaining a bonus to her damage. These effects are separate, and have a limited number of instances.

Instances	3/4/5/6 11/12/13/14 25

Bonus Damage	25/50/75/ 100

Duration	17

Cast Point	0

17

100

Manipulating her psionic veil, Lanaya bends nature's law to her will.

Notes

• The visual effect is visible to enemies.
• The damage block only triggers if the damage after reductions is greater than 5.
• Blocks the damage from mana burn abilities, but does not block the mana loss.
• Attacking a friendly unit will not consume damage charges.
• Will not provide bonus damage when attacking allied units

Meld

WD

Targeting
No Target

Affects
Self

Damage Type
Physical

Templar Assassin conceals herself, gaining invisibility while remaining still. On the next attacked enemy unit, Lanaya will reduce its armor and deal bonus damage to it.

Bonus Damage	80/120/160/200

Armor Reduction	5/6/7/8 11 20

Armor Debuff Duration	12

Cast Point	0

Cast Backswing	0.53

Ability	Dispels Debuffs 20

Stun Duration	1 25

11/9/7/5

35/40/45/50

	The armor reduction can be dispelled.

Lanaya is as elusive as her covenant with the Hidden Temple.

Notes

• The bonus damage and armor reduction are only applied if Meld is broken by attacking a unit.
• When breaking Meld with an attack, Templar Assassin stays invisible until the Meld strike hits.
• Although the hit is displayed with a critical strike indicator, it is not a crit and behaves as its own separate instance of damage.
• Templar Assassin can proc critical strike at the same time as Meld strike. Meld damage is not added to the critical hit and is dealt separately.
• The initial attack also benefits from the armor reduction.
• Bonus Damage is not increased by Spell Amplification.
• Meld debuff now stacks

Psi Blades

EB

Targeting
Passive

Affects
Self

Damage Type
Pure

Templar Assassin's psi blades slice through the attacked unit, splitting and damaging enemy units directly behind it, while gaining bonus attack range. For each unit it damages, the spill damage is reduced by a percentage.

Bonus Attack Range	80/130/180/230 200/250/300/350 15

Spill Range	360/435/510/585 540/615/690/765 15

Spill Width	90

Reduction Per Target	5%

	Disabled by break.
	Illusions gain this ability.

Her blades pierce the skin as much as the mind, furthering her understanding of the mystery that is reality.

Notes

• Attacks against illusions will not deal any spill damage, regardless of visual effects.
• Spill damage activates on denies.
• Spill damage can hit invisible units.
• Spill range and direction is determined from the target's position when the projectile hits.
• Spill damage is equal to the amount of damage the initial target takes. E.g., if the initial target takes no damage due to a spell like  False Promise, the spill damage is also reduced to 0.

Psionic Trap

RC

Targeting
Point Target

Affects
Enemy Units

Damage Type
Magical

Templar Assassin places mystical traps that invisibly monitor enemy movement. When sprung at her command, they exert a slowing influence in the area. Deals damage when fully charged.

Damage	250/300/350 360/410/460 10

Maximum Traps	5/8/11

Fade Time	2

Charge Time	4

Minimum Movement Speed Slow	30%

Maximum Movement Speed Slow	60%

Slow Gain Per Second	7.5%

Slow Duration	5

Slow Radius	400

Cast Range	1800

Cast Point	0.3

Minimum Silence Duration	1.5

Max Silence Duration	3.5

11/8/5

15

	Causes Psionic Traps to silence enemies for up to 2.5 seconds based on how long the trap has been charged. Minimum 0.5 duration.
	Does not pierce Spell Immunity.
	Dispellable.

Calling upon the reach of the Hidden Temple, none escape the eye of the Templar.

Notes

• Maximum slow is reached 4 seconds after being placed.
• Slow gain is acquired in smaller instances of 0.75% every 0.1 seconds.
• When detonated, the current slow value is applied and does not continue to increase.
• Damage is dealt in 5 instances once per second, starting 1 second after trap is sprung.
• Does not block neutral creep camps from spawning.

Trap

DT

Targeting
No Target

Affects
Enemy Units

Springs the nearest trap.

Cast Point	0

0.5

Aghanim's Scepter Ability

Psionic Projection

FN

Targeting
Unit Target
Channeled

Affects
Self

Templar Assassin teleports to any Psionic Trap after channeling. Does not break meld. Detonates the Psionic Trap on arrival.

Channel Time	1

Cast Range	Global

Cast Point	0.2

10

50

	This spell is granted directly by the scepter.
	Cannot be cast while rooted.

Notes

• Detonates the Psionic Trap on arrival.

Talent Tree

Talent Tree
+8  Refraction Instances	25	1s  Meld Hit Bash
+3  Meld Armor Reduction	20	Meld Dispels
+120  Psi Blades Range	15	+15% Evasion
+110  Psionic Trap Damage	10	+20 Attack Speed

Summon Abilities

Psionic Trap

Spring Trap

QT

Targeting
No Target

Affects
Enemy Units

Springs the trap, slowing nearby enemies.

Cast Point	0

0.5

Summon Stats

Psionic Trap [h]

Stats

Unit Type

Ward

Armor Type

 

Basic

Health

100

Sight Range

400

525

/ 400

525

Magic Resistance

Immune

Gold Bounty

25

Experience

12

General Strategy

Overview

Templar Assassin is one of the strongest solo mid heroes in the game known for her ability to snowball out of control and being able to destroy enemies in seconds. Refraction allows her to avoid damage from the enemy while dishing out heavy damage of her own. In lane, this is used to secure last hits (and in turn, harass with Psi Blades) as well as nullify enemy harass. Later on in the game, it is mainly used for bonus damage as her enemies will likely have easy ways to remove defensive charges. Meld is what allows her to assassinate targets in the mid-game. Removing 8 armor and dealing 200 physical bonus damage lets her kill low-armor targets in 2-3 hits with Refraction up. Meld can also be used as an escape, although skilled opponents are likely to carry detection such as Dust or a Gem to reveal her. The instant invisibility can also be used to disjoint enemy projectiles, such as Shadow Strike, Viper Strike, Laguna Blade, and more. Psi blades extends Lanaya's range, and also allows her attacks to spill onto enemies directly behind her target. This what allows TA to be a lane dominator, as she can effectively harass enemies every time she goes for a last-hit or deny. Later on in the game, Psi Blades allow TA to flash farm creep waves and jungle stacks. Lastly, Psionic Trap grants Lanaya and her team a huge amount of map control and vision. Traps can be placed in high-traffic areas of the map to scout enemy movements. They also give TA insane chasing power, slowing enemies for 50% over 5 seconds.

TA is almost always played solo mid where she can gain solo exp and farm. Psi Blades is great for farming and allows her to easily take jungle and ancient stacks to accrue a net-worth advantage, and explode into the midgame with a large advantage in levels and items. TA should aim to snowball in the midgame, and end before the 40 minute mark. She does not scale as well as most safelane carries and begins to fall off when enemies are able to farm up some armor items and survive her burst.

Early Game

As a Carry, Templar Assassin is mostly reliant upon levels in the early to mid-game as the bonus damage from Refraction and range from Psi Blades scale fairly well. The same can be said about the armor reduction granted by Meld. However, as the game progresses into the late game, Templar Assassin will require damage dealing items such as Butterfly (which pairs well with Refraction because attacks can be evaded and thus not reduce an instance) and Daedalus for its raw damage output and critical hit chance which also stacks with Meld and Refraction. The ability to chase and position traps with the use of a Blink Dagger becomes imperative. Not only this but the invisibility granted by Meld is nullified by the fact that players often purchase a Gem of True Sight for the purpose of de-warding as well as detecting invisible heroes.

Templar Assassin is generally played in the Solo Mid role. Therefore, buying a single set of Tangoes and some Iron Branches is enough to sustain her. The money saved is then used to purchase a quick bottle. If you are playing Templar Assassin in an offlane, you will probably need to buy a Healing Salve and a Ring of Protection to build into a quick Ring of Basilius.

Like most Solo Mid heroes, TA should purchase an early Bottle. The bottle coupled with some rune control or bottle crowing, should provide enough health and mana to sustain her. Boots of Speed should be purchased next to improve her rune control and ganking ability.

Mid Game

Templar Assassin is overall a very squishy hero and any hard disables (Hex, Scythe of Vyse) will shut her down with good focus fire. As such, engaging with Refraction up at all times becomes a quintessential staple of playing this hero. Not only for the bonus damage but for the limited invulnerability it grants. Do not think that Templar Assassin cannot be out-carried by the likes of Anti-Mage and Spectre. The attack speed of these heroes coupled with Manta Style can easily melt away at Refraction and leave Templar Assassin incredibly fragile. Phantom Lancer also provides an excellent counter (due to the shear number of illusions that can be created and thus remove instances of Refraction) to Templar Assassin if he can match her farming.

Generally, Templar Assassin is strongest in the Mid-Game where a quick Blink Dagger combined with her Traps and burst damage allow her to pick off underfarmed heroes and position her Psi Blades to maximize splash during team fights. This style of play is best exemplified by South East Asian teams and best demonstrated by the players Mushi, Ferrari 430, and Wagamama.

As a low range hero who benefits dramatically from positioning, Phase Boots are generally purchased over Power Treads. Because Refraction has only a limited number of instances, she benefits less from the attack speed boost from power treads and more from the burst damage of phase boots. To allow TA to better position her splash damage from Psi Blades and pick off heroes that are out of position, a Blink Dagger is also an essential item. Refraction also gives her excellent durability so a Magic Wand is usually sufficient for the mid game.

Late Game

The most popular extension item on TA is the Black King Bar. Because of her high burst damage and short range, TA is a popular target for disables. Together with its ability to preserve Refraction charges against heroes like Venomancer, this makes an item like a Black King Bar core in many games. An alternative to this is the Linken's Sphere, which is advocated by players such as Wagamama. Other popular items on TA include the Desolator because of its synergy with Meld and the pure damage of Psi Blades as well as the Daedalus. It is useful to note that critical damage stacks with both meld and refraction. This allows a single lucky crit to splash onto and damage an entire team.

Version History

Version	Balance Changes
7.30
	Psi Blades spill range multiplier reduced from 2 to 1.5 Psi Blades now deals 5% less spill damage to each successive enemy after the first one. Psionic Projection channel time increased from 1s to 1.5s Psionic Projection no longer teleports if Templar Assassin is rooted or leashed Level 10 talent +100 Psi Blades Range replaced with +110 Psionic Trap Damage Level 15 talent +180 Psionic Trap Damage replaced with +120 Psi Blades Range
7.29b
	Meld cooldown reduced from 15/12/9/6 to 11/9/7/5 Level 10 Talent increased from +80 Psi Blades Range to +100
7.29
	Meld mana cost reduced from 50 to 35/40/45/50 Meld damage increased from 50/100/150/200 to 80/120/160/200 Meld cooldown increased from 12/10/8/6 to 15/12/9/6 Psionic Trap shard silence duration increased from 0.5/3 min/max to 1.5/3.5 Psionic Trap shard increases vision from 400 to 525 radius Psionic Trap cast range reduced from 2000 to 1800 Psionic Projeection scepter mana cost reduced from 100 to 50 Psionic Projeection scepter cooldown reduced from 15 to 10 Level 10 Talent changed from +20 Movement Speed to +80 Psi Blades Range Level 10 Talent increased from +15 Attack Speed to +20 Level 15 Talent increased from +160 Psionic Trap Damage to +180 Level 25 Talent increased from +6 Refraction Instance to +8
7.28b
	Psionic Trap max trap count now increases by 4 with a Shard
7.28a
	Psionic Trap silence duration increased from 2.5 to 3
7.28
	Base strength increased from 19 to 21 Base attack range increased from 140 to 160 Psi Blades attack range bonus rescaled from 60/120/180/240 to 80/130/180/230 Psi Blades Spill range is now 2x your attack range Level 10 Talent increased from +15 Movement Speed to +20 Added Aghanim's Shard Upgrades Psionic Traps Causes Psionic Traps to silence enemies for up to 2.5 seconds based on how long the trap has been charged. Minimum 0.5 duration.
7.27b
	Meld armor reduction rescaled from 2/4/6/8 to 5/6/7/8. Meld cooldown increased from 6 to 12/10/8/6. Level 25 Talent increased from +4 Refraction Instances to +6
7.26c
	Level 10 Talent changed from 12% Evasion to +15 Movement Speed Level 10 Talent reduced from +20 Attack Speed to +15 Level 15 Talent changed from +15 Movement Speed to +15% Evasion Level 25 Talent increased from +3s Refraction Instances to +4
7.26b
	All talents are now about 20% weaker
7.25
	Psionic Projection scepter ability cast time reduced from 2 to 1 second
7.23c
	Level 15 Talent reduced from +25 Movement Speed to +20 Level 25 Talent reduced 1.5s Meld Hit Bash to 1.25s
7.23
	Psi Blades spill width increased from 75 to 90 Psionic Projection cooldown reduced from 30 to 15
7.22d
	Refraction no longer provides bonus damage when attacking allied units
7.22
	Added Scepter upgrade: Grants you a new ability, Psionic Projection Allows you to teleport to any Psionic Trap after a 2 second channel Does not break Meld Cooldown: 30 Mana Cost: 100 Detonates the psionic trap on arrival
7.21d
	Agility gain increased from 2.8 to 3.2 Meld debuff duration increased from 10 to 12
7.21c
	Agility gain increased from 2.6 to 2.8 Refraction bonus damage increased from 20/40/60/80 to 25/50/75/100
7.21b
	Meld debuff now stacks
7.21
	Movement Speed reduced by 5 Meld debuff is now applied before the attack damage is reduced by armor Fixed meld bonus damage being increased by Spell Amplification Level 10 Talent changed from +3 Psionic Traps to +15% Evasion Level 15 Talent changed from +7 Armor to +25 Movement Speed
7.20
	Level 20 Talent changed from Refraction Dispels to Meld Dispels Level 25 Talent changed from Psi Blades Spill Paralyzes to 1.5s Meld Hit Bash
7.19
	Psionic Traps damage reduced from 250/350/450 to 250/300/350
7.18
	Psionic Traps bounty increased from 1 to 25
7.16
	Increased Base HP regen to 1.75
7.12
	Movement speed increased from 300 to 310
7.07c
	Level 10 Talent changed from +250 Health to +3 Psionic Traps Psionic Trap damage increased from 175/250/325 to 250/350/450 Psionic Trap max charge time reduced from 6s to 4s
7.07b
	Level 10 Talent increased from +200 Health to +250 Psionic Traps bonus damage increased from 100/125/150 to 175/250/325
7.07
	Psionic Traps now deal 100/125/150 damage when fully charged (Dealt over the duration of the debuff rather than instantly) Movement Speed reduced by 5 Reworked Talent Tree
7.06
	Agility gain reduced from 2.7 to 2.3 Replaced Respawn Talent: -8 Meld Armor Reduction (Level 25)
7.02
	Level 10 Talent from +15 Movement Speed to +20 Level 20 Talent from +250 Health to +275
7.00
	Psi Blades now work when illusions of Templar Assassin attack Added Talent Tree
6.88
	Psi Blades Spill Width increased from 68 to 75 Psionic Trap max movement slow increased from 50% to 60%
6.86
	Refraction is now always visible
6.84
	Meld cooldown from 7 to 6
6.82
	Psionic Trap cooldown from 11/9/7 to 11/8/5
6.81
	Psionic Trap sub-ability now has the same cast point as the ability on the trap itself (both have zero cast point)
6.77
	Refraction mana cost increased from 75 to 100
6.76
	Psionic Trap now requires a buildup time to reach it's maximum slow Starts at 30% and increases by 5% each second until it reaches 50%
6.75
	Psi Blades no longer spills damage when attacking illusions
6.74
	Psi Blades bonus range increased from 40/100/160/220 to 60/120/180/240
6.73
	Refraction instances increased from 2/3/4/5 to 3/4/5/6
6.72
	Psi Blades width increased from 70 to 80
6.70
	Base damage increased from 45-55 to 53-59
6.68
	Psi Blades spill range from 320 to 320/340/360/380
6.64
	Psionic Trap now adds to your most recently placed trap to your selection panel as a secondary unit
6.63
	Strength growth increased from 1.7 to 2.1
6.60
	Changed Refraction duration/cooldown (20/23➜17/17) Changed Psi Blades spill range (80/160/240/320➜320) and attack range bonus (50/100/150/200➜40/100/160/220) Refraction is now an instant cast ability
6.58
	Improved turn rate
6.55
	Improved Psionic Trap's cooldown progression
6.50
	Slightly improved Psi Blades spill width and range Increased cooldown on Psionic Trap from 7 to 14 seconds

Notable Players

QO

Armel

gpk

Chris Luck

Iceberg

See also

• Slow
• Invisibility
• Attack Range
• Ward

External links

Guides

• Standard Templar Assassin (Middle) Build
• DotaFire's Builds & Guides for Templar Assassin