In Defense of the Temple: A Guide to Lanaya (6.84)

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my first ever guide on DotaFire! This guide will hopefully help you better understand how to successfully play Templar Assassin (who happens to be one of my favorite heroes), as well as give you some insight as to how to play against her. I'm by no means a great player but I have this hero down pretty well.

As of the day this guide is published, Templar Assassin is the 44th most popular Hero in Dota 2 (according to DotaBuff) and has an okay winrate of about 48%. She has also seen a decent amount of competitive play during TI5, but is not as highly regarded as a hero in the professional scene as she was before the 6.76 and 6.77 updates, two patches which brought pretty significant nerfs to Lanaya (increasing the mana cost of Refraction and making the slow of Psionic Trap to be less useful if activated right after it is placed). However, ever since 6.77, a few small buffs have helped her start to return to professional Dota.

Although many other mid heroes are considered some of the strongest heroes in 6.84 ( Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, and Leshrac come to mind), many of which are actually decent counters to Templar Assassin, Lanaya is still very much a viable pick once you become familiar with her, especially in the public scene.

NOTE: I am very open to any criticism, whether it be criticism on the builds I suggest or the formatting of the guide itself. This is my first guide, after all!

Pros and Cons

Pros Solid main attribute gain Solid and well-rounded secondary attribute gain Has great rune control with Psionic Traps Very strong during the laning phase; mana-free harass with Psi Blades and extra last hitting damage thanks to Refraction Good base movement speed and good base damage Is able to significantly reduce the enemies' armor (synergizes well with other physical-damage-dealing heroes)

Cons Relies heavily on defensive Refraction charges to stay alive, and these can be easily countered by DoT damage (which leaves her quite squishy) Falls off relatively early compared to many other carries Can fall prey to mild mana issues early-mid game when your Bottle is empty

Ability #1: Refraction

Refraction

Type: No Target (Active) Targets: Self

No Target (Active) Self

Templar Assassin becomes highly elusive, avoiding damage and gaining a bonus to her damage. The damage and avoidance effects are separate, and has a limited number of instances.

---

Refraction is your bread and butter skill, and the reason why DoT is the bane of your existance. Make sure to use it during the laning phase to help you last hit; what makes it particularly good in the laning phase is that you will gain the extra damage while denying, too, but attacking allied units won't count as you using up an instance of bonus damage. Abuse this to get a lot of denies and to stay ahead of your opponent; also keep in mind that the bonus damage you get from Refraction will be dealt to all units hit by Psi Blades, not only the original target, which makes your harass potential really high.

- HP Removal (such as Heartstopper Aura or Armlet of Mordiggian) will not be blocked by Refraction. Fortunately, it won't be counted as a block instance, either.

- It completely prevents the damage from registering as affecting your Hero, which means activating items like Blade Mail will have no effect on enemies who are damaging you as long as Refraction is up. However, this also means Blink Dagger will not be put on the 3-second damage cooldown as long as you have Refraction charges ready, which makes it particularly good on Templar Assassin as of 6.84.

- When attacking with Refraction damage bonus charges, the charge will only disappear if the attack successfully lands. You will not use up a instance if your attack is evaded or disjointed.

Ability #2: Meld

Meld

Type: No Target (Active) Targets: Self

No Target (Active) Self

Templar Assassin conceals herself, becoming invisible as long as she remains still. If Meld's invisibility is broken by attacking an enemy, Lanaya will deal bonus damage to the enemy and reduce their armor for 10 seconds.

---

Meld is a very versatile skill is nature; much like Refraction, it has both defensive and offensive properties. However, in the case of this ability, the offensive property is much more important and is the one will use the most. It isn't that effective of an escape mechanism and it is only very rarely appropriate to use it as an escape mechanism. Considering you can't move while in Meld, any hero with any AoE ability or detection will make quick work of you. Occasionally, you can use it to hide if you are running away from an enemy or two and there is a quick period of time where they can't see you (usually if you are running up to a higher ground and the fog covers you), in which case they won't know exactly where you Melded or if you just ran away, but that's about it. When using it for the extra damage and armor reduction, make sure to Meld right next to an enemy so you can get the attack off without having to move beforehand. You can often use your Blink Dagger to get close enough to pull this off. Also, you can use Meld to help you last hit if you are struggling to get good farm in your lane or if you know your opponent is a competent denier (or both), especially when you are last-hitting siege creeps.

- After breaking Meld with an attack, Templar Assassin is still invisible until the attack actually hits. During this invisibility, you are free to move and attack.

- Being repositioned during while Melded(through the likes of Vacuum, Gust, etc.) breaks Meld.

- The bonus damage from Meld is not applied to units hit by Psi Blades, only to the original target.

- You can pick up items without breaking the invisibility if you are close enough to them.

Ability #3: Psi Blades

Psi Blades

Type: Passive Targets:Enemy Units

Passive Enemy Units

Templar Assassin's psi blades slice through the attacked target, splitting and damaging enemy units directly behind it, while gaining bonus attack range.

---

Psi Blades is the reason Templar Assassin can harass enemies so effectively in lane. For every last hit, try to align yourself up with the enemy Hero you are laning against so that they are forced to burn through their Tangos and Bottle charges. The extra range helps a lot too, considering Templar Assassin has a tiny base attack range (in fact, although she is considered a ranged Hero, she has a shorter base attack range than Doom, a melee Hero).

- Increases Templar Assassin's attack range from 140 to 200/260/320/380.

- Templar Assassin can hit units up to 790/890/990/1090 range away with the damage spill (200/260/320/380 units of that range being the distance from Templar Assassin to the original target).

- Both the damage spill and extra range work when attacking allied units (so you can harass your opponent by denying, too).

- Manta Style illusions created by Templar Assassin will inherit the extra attack range but not the spill effect.

Ability #4: Psionic Trap

Psionic Trap

Type: Target Point Targets: Enemy Units

Target Point Enemy Units

Templar Assassin places mystical traps that invisibly monitor enemy movement. When sprung at her command, they exert a slowing force of 30% in the area. Traps charge up to slow an additional 5% every second, up to 50%.

---

Psionic Trap is an ultimate ability that may seem a bit out of place when you consider the rest of her skillset, and yeah, I guess it kinda is. At the same time, the amount of utility you can achieve from this ability is staggering. You can use the traps to slow enemy units that you are chasing, you can use the traps to slow enemy units that are chasing you or an ally, you can use the traps to give vision of key points on the map... it may seem a tad underwhelming if you just glance over its description but it really has a big impact. Keep this in mind; you can activate the traps by both activating a sub-ability ( Trap), which instantly activates the trap nearest to Templar Assassin, or select the trap you want to detonate and use Self Trap, which is an ability of the trap itself.

- Some key places to keep Psionic Traps at are: the Roshan Pit, one or both rune spots, and somewhere in the middle of your lane to make your laning opponent pay if they overextend with too little health. You also can place them around either team's jungle for intel or in the river/in your allies unwarded areas to help give them vision of enemies closing in for a gank.

- Although they give vision in a 400 radius, they will not prevent neutral creeps from spawning.

- Unlike any of the mines Techies has in his arsenal, the traps will not have any effect on enemies when destroyed.

- The traps give 1 gold and 12 experience to enemies who destroy them, so don't too much about "feeding" the traps to the enemy team.

Skill Build Justification

95% of all Templar Assassin players will go for the same skill build, maybe with a tiny bit of deviation at most. I am no different. There is one thing that is a bit of a hot topic between skill builds, though...

Which is a better level one skill: Psi Blades or Refraction?

This is pretty much the only discrepancy I've seen in these guides here at DotaFire. I think I have a reasonable answer.

First of all, I highly recommend saving your skill point until the first wave of creeps meet or until your first engagement with an enemy Hero (whichever comes first). This is a good thing to practice doing on not only Templar Assassin, but also on most Heroes in the game. Let me give you the two most likely scenarios you are to encounter and explain what skill I think is best to get in each one.

SITUATION 1 - 2V2 FIGHT OVER TOP RUNE: This one may seem a bit obvious, and it should. I was considering giving a more specific scenario (that included what Heroes are involved in this engagement), but honestly, I can't think of anything that would any difference at all. Refraction is definitely the better skill to get level one in this situation; the extra damage and the extra durability are likely to scare off your opponent, and if they decide to stay too longer in hopes of getting the rune, you have a good chance at getting first blood if your 2v2 partner has any sort of slow or stun. In fact, Refraction is one of the abilities for early tussles in my opinion. There is a slight chance that Psi Blades could help you deal damage to both of the enemies fighting for the rune, but chances are you won't have that positioning and the extra range will have little to no impact.

SITUATION 2 - NO FIGHT OVER RUNE, LANING PHASE STARTS NORMALLY: If you see a guide that recommends getting Psi Blades at level one, they are probably referring to this scenario as opposed to the first one. As someone who almost always tries to get the 0:00 rune as a mid Hero, it's good I don't blindly follow these. Okay, so if you don't run into any enemy Heroes (whether that be because you didn't go for the rune or the rune wasn't contested), I think either skill is viable as a level one skill. It just comes down to preference, really; I still usually would go for Refraction over Psi Blades, and would probably recommend it to you as well, but if you want the extra range for more safety last hitting and really want to start harassing your opponent as soon as possible, go for it. It comes down to play style as well.

---

Aside from that, my skill build is pretty standard. You will always want to max Refraction first to make you a really strong enemy in the early-mid game, maxing Meld next for the extra burst damage and armor reduction considering that Psi Blades doesn't scale [i]particularly[/i] well (we just get a value point for the harass potential, really). Getting [[Psionic Trap at 6, 11, and 16 is 100% a must for the vision if not for anything else.

Why Mask of Madness on TA?

I can already smell the comments...

"Why would you ever go for Mask of Madness on Templar Assassin?"

" Mask of Madness isn't a very good item on Templar Assassin because she is too squishy to handle the 30% extra damage."

" Mask of Madness isn't worth it because it doesn't stack with Desolator."

This specific build isn't what I would recommend for high MMR ranked gameplay, where, yeah, you should probably go for the standard build I have made. The Mask of Madness build is for more of an average player in a more casual match. And let me tell you, in a casual match, Mask of Madness is actually quite good. The extra movement speed really compliments Templar Assassin's skillset that revolves very much on positioning and speed (of course, a Blink Dagger also fills this role but in a slightly different way). The extra attack speed is great because you inherit a lot of extra damage from Refraction instances but actually don't have very impressive attack speed for an AGL hero. The lifesteal helps you transition into the jungle earlier than usual if you need it and gives you sustain in teamfights.

This build in general is situational. I will almost never go for Mask of Madness if there is any sort of hard counter to Templar Assassin on the enemy team, ex. Viper or Venomancer or Doom, etc. The argument that Templar Assassin is simply too squishy to make Mask of Madness a good item is a valid one if the other team has some good way of removing your Refraction charges, but otherwise you generally won't suffer too horribly from the extra incoming damage. Plus, Mask of Madness allows you to dive towers and get lots of easy kills if you are paired up against a squishy, disable-less mid like Sniper (similar to a Blink Dagger.

In my eyes, the biggest problem with the Mask of Madness build is not that you will take extra damage but that you can't stack the armor reduction of a Desolator with a Mask of Madness. That is also why I sometimes won't go for this build unless there is another carry on my team is a suitable Desolator carrier, ex. Weaver, Sniper, etc. because in that case you having a Desolator wouldn't be as impactful as it would be if you were the only one with it on your team.

In order to ensure the extra damage isn't too much for you to handle, I recommend picking up a Sange and Yasha or Manta Style for the extra bit of survivability they give, while on the standard build I often don't get either of them. You should also always consider Black King Bar, which will help you last a lot longer in fights and is an item you will need in many games, and a Linken's Sphere is usually not necessarily an ideal item stat-wise for Templar Assassin, but the Spell Block can help if their is a certain spell you are afraid of on the enemy team.

So to sum it up, yeah, I have no problem admitting that Mask of Madness isn't a great item on Templar Assassin in a lot of situations, particularly in higher level matches. However, if the setting is just right, you can have a huge impact with this item.

Also, I'm not trying to make it sound like you have to choice between Mask of Madness and Blink Dagger; getting both can be acceptable if you really feel the need for the mobility. Personally, I rarely go for both but against certain lineups it can definitely be worth it.

Item Build Justification

Now that we have Mask of Madness out of the way, we have essentially the same builds on both of the two builds.



These should be your standard starting items for almost every game. You get extra base damage and survivability from the Iron Branches and all of the health regen you'll need to tide you over until you get your Bottle, but it's very cheap and helps you get your core items up as quickly as possible. Oh, and regarding the Boots of Speed / pack of Tangos starting items: I actually don't think it's all that bad on a hero like Templar Assassin that can increase their own damage and survivability easily through their spells. That being said, this would delay your Bottle by a bit so I would still say these starting items are better.




These are your two main early game items. Get them as soon as possible. You need the speed to compete for runes, execute ganks, and stay alive, and, I mean, the Bottle is kinda self explanatory.




Phase Boots are my favorite type of boots on Templar Assassin. The extra chasing speed really helps when your Blink Dagger is on cooldown (if you have one) and the extra damage helps so, so much in the laning phase to get last hits and deny. However, you could make a fair case for Power Treads as well, and those are also acceptable if you are following the standard build (for the Mask of Madness build, Phase Boots are generally better).



Ah, the good ol' Blink Dagger. In order to make the most out of your extra damage from Refraction and the burst damage / armor reduction from Meld, you need to always be a good position. Blink Dagger also helps you escape from a fight that won't end well, chase foes, and flee from enemies pursuing you. This item is now a whole lot better after the 6.84 changes, too; before, even if you had Refraction up and took no damage, Blink Dagger would go on the three second Hero damage cooldown. That is now changed, allowing you to have more mobility in teamfights.



As I've mentioned, you unfortunately shouldn't get this in the Mask of Madness build, but this item is so good on Templar Assassin! . Once again, 6.84 helped us Lanaya players out by making this item 600 gold cheaper (at the cost of 10 damage but it is 100% worth it). The armor reduction synergizes amazingly well with the armor reduction from Meld, and the relatively low cost for a lot of damage is ideal for a mid-game oriented Hero like Templar Assassin.

THE SITUATIONAL ITEMS:

Okay, okay, Black King Bar is so close to being a core I could almost call it that. But I refuse to, because there are occasions where in fact you won't want to pick it up. Most of the time, though... Linken's Sphere also isn't bad but I would never get it unless there is a specific initiating or particularly scary spell on the enemy team (like Doom or Flaming Lasso). Drum of Endurance is a good, well-rounded early-game option that gives you a little bit of everything, which Templar Assassin definitely benefits from, but sometimes it will delay your other items unnecessarily. Sange and Yasha is probably my favorite item on this list, and it works particularly well on the Mask of Madness build because of the maim coming into play more often and the extra survivability being so valuable. The extra attack speed and movement speed from the Yasha is just great in general, though, and if you are following the general build, Manta Style will often be better if you are having a good game. Oh, and Lotus Orb? It's a little gimmicky, but it's not bad at all. You get some regen that you don't really need, but certainly appreciate, plus it's fun Echoing spells to your enemies that you don't even take damage from in the first place.

THE EXTENSION ITEMS:

upgraded boots of travel

You can't really go wrong with any of these. We have the obvious pure damage options ( Daedalus, which is usually the first damage item I pick up, and Monkey King Bar, which is a must against evasive carries like Phantom Assassin or any enemies who pick up a Butterfly), the "attack-speed-with-a bit-of-survivability-and-damage" options ( Manta Style, because the illusions always come in handy for scouting and extra damage output, and Butterfly, because it is the ultimate item of all AGL carries), the "not-quite-so-obvious-but-still-great" options (Heart of Tarrasque comes to mind, which isn't very commonly seen on [[Templar Assassin but really tanks you up, as well as Assault Cuirass, which also beefs you up a bit and increasing your DPS while also providing these benefits to your nearby teammates), and, of course, the upgraded boots (ft. the new 6.84 Upgraded Boots of Travel, which you should only get as a last, last, last item). The Abyssal Blade is mainly just for the Mask of Madness build, as you really need the attack speed to make it worth the cost.

THE REJECTED ITEMS:

Okay, not gonna lie, I was really intrigued when I heard about the Armlet of Mordiggian build, but it's not that good. Also, why would you ever get Bloodstone? Why?

If you want to get something to push enemies from focusing you, get Lotus Orb, not Blade Mail.

Friends and Foes

Friends

Not that he isn't a good pairing with essentially every single Hero in the game, but Dazzle is a particularly great addition to a lineup with Templar Assassin. Not only does Dazzle help you reduce the armor of your enemies (through both Weave and from a Medallion of Courage, an item very frequently picked up by Dazzle) to keep your damage output high, he also can save you in sticky situations when your Refraction charges has been used up, thanks to his Shallow Grave and the heal from Shadow Wave. The stun from a Level 4 Posion Touch is much appreciated as well, as Templar Assassin herself lacks any hard disable.




Say goodbye to any of the mana issues you have ever worried about while playing Templar Assassin! Although you won't have any severe mana problems with Lanaya, Crystal Maiden's Arcane Aura while help keep your mana pool topped off, even when you're struggling to keep your Bottle full. Plus, her wide array of slows in addition to Frostbite make her a useful ally when chasing enemies.




I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Track is one of the best ultimate abilities in the game. As you hopefully understand by now, Templar Assassin is pretty item-dependent; Bounty Hunter's ability to increase the gold you earn from certain kills and assists will help you in the long run itemization-wise. Plus, Track provides True Sight of enemies you are chasing, will which give you information as to where to place your Psionic Traps ahead of them to keep them slowed down.






Any form of armor reduction is very helpful. Although none of these Heroes can quite live up to the armor reduction of Dazzle (in addition to the extra utility Dazzle brings when paired with Templar Assassin), they really help make your right-clicks hurt. Special mention to Slardar, though, who not only has the highest reliable armor reduction on this list but also provides you with True Sight of the enemy targeted by Amplify Damage, which is useful for chasing.

Foes

Ah, the fabled end-all-be-all counter to Lanaya the Templar Assassin. Batrider is definitely one of the worst Heroes you can possibly play against; his skillset is packed with damage over time (most notable Firefly, but also Flamebreak as of 6.84), which will rip through your Refraction charges plus he has a powerful slow in Sticky Napalm. As a Hero that relies a lot on mobility in fights and chases (especially if you are going for the Mask of Madness build and decide not to buy a Blink Dagger), the incredibly strong turn rate slow from Sticky Napalm is really annoying to deal with. He is also not exactly the easiest target to escape from, either, as Firefly will allow him to cross over terrain and trees to reach you if you try to flee. And, of course, Flaming Lasso is a nightmare, as he will be able to destroy your Refraction and drag you into enemy terrority where you will be extremely vulnerable. Avoid playing against Batrider if you can.




If there was a kingdom of damage over time, Viper, Venomancer, and Jakiro would be the king, queen, and prince. Every single spell in Viper's and Venomancer's array of abilities deals some form of damage over time, and many of these also slow, which, like I have already touched on, is just flat-out difficult to deal with. Jakiro also comes packed with three of his own DoT spells, as well as a zoning stun that will hinder you from chasing enemies trying to escape the battlefield. Viper is particularly difficult to deal with, though, because he also has an passive that slows your attack speed when you focus him Corrosive Skin and because he is the only one of these three that is consistently played in the middle lane.




I mean, Doom is considered to be a counter to all Heroes, right? But he's particularly strong against Templar Assassin; your Refraction charges burn off just standing in his presence when he has Scorched Earth activated, plus, players of the Hero often pick up Radiance, the ultimate item counter to Templar Assassin (for obvious reasons). And, of course, his dreaded ultimate lowers your effectiveness in fights and, like Scorched Earth, deals damage over time.




Okay, so think of it this way. The enemy Meepo, assuming they have level three Divided We Stand, has four or five Meepos. Each Meepo has Geostrike as a passive, which deals damage over time. Geostrike lasts for two seconds and deals DoT, and it stacks fully from every Meepo that applies it. Add in the inital hit from each Meepo, plus the extra attacks during Geostrike's duration, and, voila, you get a whole lot of damage instances that will render your Refraction useless. Oh, and Earthbind is super annoying to deal with when you are trying to run around during a fight.




DoT from the Warlock Golem/s' aura + damage instances from the Warlock Golem/s' attacks + Shadow Word + possible damage instances from Necronomicon units if Warlock has one = a LOT of damage over time. Plus, getting stuck in an Upheaval is painful.






Illusion-based Heroes/items usually won't be as big of a problem as DoT-based Heroes, but they still will do more damage to your Refraction charge count than the average enemy. Special mention to Dark Seer, who also can deal some serious DoT through Ion Shell.

Chapter Title

Thanks for reading! Please leave any thoughts in the comments section.

If this guide gets any sort of attention I may add a changelog.

Also, if someone could tell me how to make it so the the Hero Doom shows up when I bracket "Doom" instead of the spell (same with Bristleback), that would be much appreciated. Thanks!