Nyx Assassin - The element of SURPRISE

Introduction

Welcome to GearBoxed's guide on Nyx Assassin. Nyx Assassin is a primarily a ganker whos role is to quickly jump in and burst the enemy carrys so easily that all their hard work farming become futile. At around 30 minutes, Nyx can easily burst down squishy heros such as Morphling, Bounty Hunter, Drow Ranger, Venomancer and Viper. With clever use of Vendetta and Spiked Carapace, Nyx Assassin can swiftly jump in and out of team fights, as well as escaping ganks. If your laning against int stacking heros like Silencer and Outworld Destroyer, it would be wise to consider prioritizing Mana Burn before Spiked Carapace.

Pros / Cons

Pros Good stats gain Very high burst damage Efficient use of mana Clever use of Vendetta Correct usage of Mana Burn Perfect Spiked Carapace timing

Cons Dies easily without Heart of Tarrasque or Vanguard Wards screwing up his ganks Helpless when silenced Mana dependant Low burst damage CD on Spiked Carapace when needed

Skills and Basic Gameplay

Impale

Type: Targets:

Active Unit/Point

Slams the ground with massive claws, shooting spiked tendrils out in a straight line, dealing damage and hurling enemy ground units into the air in their wake.

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Notes:

• Damage type: Magical
• Hit units will fly for 0.52 seconds before the real stun is applied.
• Distance traveled is 700.
• The wave of tendrils moves at 1600 units per second.

Impale is your main farming and crowd control skill. If timed correctly, you can hit multiple Heroes and/or creeps, doing damage while also stunning. You can start using it on creeps when you have obtained Arcane Boots so you can easily take waves of gold and rush that dagon without any mana issues. This skill applies magical damage so when you have your ethereal blade, i will be able to land 260 + 40% (364) magic damage.

Mana Burn

Type: Targets:

Active Unit

Sends a bolt of negative energy that burns a target enemy unit's mana based on its Intelligence. Burned mana combusts, dealing damage to the target equal to the amount of mana burned.

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Notes:

• Damage type: Magical
• Damage dealt is proportional to mana lost

Mana Burn is not the strongest skill to use if your laning against a heavy str or agi hero, but when used against an int hero, you will be able to burn huge amounts of mana as well as harass them out of lane. Prioritizing Mana Burn over Spiked Carapace and Impale is situational during the lane phase but late game, Mana Burn won't be completely useless as you can burn someones mana before a team fight.

Spiked Carapace

Type: Targets:

Active Instant

Temporarily enhances the Assassin's chitinous armor with organic barbs, causing him to prevent and reflect the next player based damage instance and stuns the target. Lasts 4.5 seconds.

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Notes:

• Damage type: Pure
• The damage reflected is calculated after all reductions (magic resistance, armor...).
• Will only trigger on damage caused by an enemy player.
• The stunned unit will always be the enemy player's hero.

Spiked Carapace is both a defensive skill and offensive. When used at the right time i can turn a losing 1 vs 1. Spiked Carapace is to be used when the enemy's skills require a channel or a delay such as Sniper, Ancient Apparition, Gyrocopter and Witch Doctor. Remember that Spiked Carapace reflects 100% of the damage so those annoying high damage ultimate's can be reflected.

Vendetta

Type: Targets:

Active Instant

The Nerubian Assassin turns invisible for a short period of time, and can break his invisibility with an incredibly damaging attack.

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Notes:

• Damage type: normal
• If Nerubian Assassin's invisibility expires, the bonus damage will not be dealt to the next target.
• Nerubian Assasin is revealed when he damages the target, not at the beginning of his attack.
• Has a 0 second fadetime.

Vendetta, the best invisibility spell in the game as your next attack will deal insane backstab damage. As well as being used as a ganking spell, Vendetta can be used to escape team fights or ganks due to the 0 second fade time. However, during the lower levels the is a 70 second cooldown so be sure to use it wisely. To combo with Nyx Assassin use your attacks in this order:

After Obtaining Dagon - 20 min
Total Damage : Approx.375+260+Intx4+Reflected Dmg+400 (1245 Burst)

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Dagon

After Obtaining Ethereal Blade - 50 min
Total Damage : Approx.525+780+364+Intx4+1120 (3069 Burst)

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Dagon