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21 Votes

Phantom Lancer - Army in my Pocket

September 2, 2012 by NotSureIf
Comments: 36    |    Views: 49935    |   


We have Strength in Numbers

DotA2 Hero: Phantom Lancer




Hero Skills

Spirit Lance

2 4 6 8

Doppelganger

1 3 5 7

Phantom Rush

9 12 13 14

Juxtapose

10 11 16

Talents

15 17 18


Phantom Lancer - Army in my Pocket

NotSureIf
September 2, 2012


Introduction

Phantom Lancer is a very powerful late game carry and pusher. His built in illusion abilities called Juxtapose and Phantom Edge that allow a chance for him upon auto attacking to create illusions that you may control which can be used to quickly raze towers or destroy another team.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Very unique and fun play style
  • Built-in Shadow Walk (Escape mechanism)
  • Does quite well without a whole lot of items
  • Powerful mid/late game presence
  • Built-in Magic resistance (from Phantom Edge)
  • Decent slow
Cons
  • Some micromanagement skills are necessary
  • Susceptible to harassment early game
  • Quite vulnerable to AOE abilities such as Earthshaker’s Echo Slam

Skill Build Justification

Spirit Lance


Type:
Targets:


Active
Enemy Units
Casts a magical spirit lance on a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while a Phantom is summoned to attack the unit.

Level

1


2


3


4

Mana

125


130


135


140

Cooldown

7


7


7


7

Range

750


750


750


750

Damage

100


150


200


250

Effect

10% Movement slow. Lasts 3 seconds. Also creates an illusion that lasts 2 seconds.

10% Movement slow. Lasts 3 seconds. Also creates an illusion that lasts 2 seconds.

10% Movement slow. Lasts 3 seconds. Also creates an illusion that lasts 2 seconds.

10% Movement slow. Lasts 3 seconds. Also creates an illusion that lasts 2 seconds.

Notes:
  • Illusions take 300% bonus damage
  • Illusions deal 25% of your current damage

Doppelwalk


Doppelwalk Type:
Targets:


Active
No Target
Renders Phantom Lancer invisible, while generating a duplicate image to confuse enemies.

Level

1


2


3


4

Mana

150


120


90


60

Cooldown

30


25


20


15

Duration

8


8


8


8

Effect

Grants 15% bonus movement speed. Creates an illusion that lasts 20 seconds.

Grants 15% bonus movement speed. Creates an illusion that lasts 20 seconds.

Grants 15% bonus movement speed. Creates an illusion that lasts 20 seconds.

Grants 15% bonus movement speed. Creates an illusion that lasts 20 seconds.

Notes:
  • Illusions take 300% bonus damage
  • Illusions deal 25% of your current damage

Juxtapose


Type:
Affects:


Passive
Self
Phantom Lancer's attacks have a chance to create illusions to confuse enemies.

Level

1


2


3


4

Mana

N/A


N/A


N/A


N/A

Cooldown

N/A


N/A


N/A


N/A

Duration

20

20

20

20
Effect

Provides 12% chance to create illusions upon auto attacks. Maximum illusions at this level is 2.

Provides 12% chance to create illusions upon auto attacks. Maximum illusions at this level is 4.

Provides 12% chance to create illusions upon auto attacks. Maximum illusions at this level is 6.

Provides 12% chance to create illusions upon auto attacks. Maximum illusions at this level is 8.

Notes:
  • Illusions take 350% bonus damage
  • Illusions deal 25% of your current damage

Phantom Edge


Phantom Edge Type:
Affects:


Passive
Self
Phantom Lancer hones his abilities. Improves chance of Juxtaposing, and the Juxtapose illusions can now create their own illusions. Phantom Edge also increases Phantom Lancer's magic resistance.

Level

1


2


3

Magic Resistance

10%


15%


20%

Juxtapose Chance Bonus

2%


4%


6%

Illusion Juxtapose Chance


3%


5%


7%


Notes:
  • The magic resistance from Phantom Edge stacks with other magic resistance items such as Hood of Defiance
  • Hostile illusions, such as those created by Shadow Demon's Disruption, can create additional hostile illusions due to this skill.


So why have the skill build like this?
  • Having Doppelwalk at level 1 provides you with a safe escape mechanism during the earlier phases of the game as it will be incredibly unlikely that they had anti-invisibility items such as Gem of True Sight or Sentry Wards.
  • Maxing your Spirit Lance and Doppelwalk is crucial as it provides the nuke, slow and escape Phantom Lancer needs later on in the game.
  • Do not level Phantom Edge or Juxtapose until both Spirit Lance and Doppelwalk have been maxed as they are not effective until you have suitable items to make your illusions more effective in combat.

If you still seem a tad confused...
  • Maxing Doppelwalk first allows you to quickly evade ganks or to evade stuns (if you time the Doppelwalk correctly you will be completely unaffected by the stun)
  • Maxing Spirit Lance second allows you to have a powerful slow and nuke that can be used in the process of a gank that will aid you in getting farm that will go towards your Diffusal Blade and Radiance
  • Get one level in Juxtapose and then focus on Phantom Edge. This will mean you have both the chance for your main hero to create illusions upon auto attacks as well as your illusions having the chance to create illusions as well.

Item Build Justification

Why these items? Why don’t I just get a Divine Rapier and attack move to win? Well…

• Once you lose your Divine Rapier you’ve basically given the game away to the other team
• Feedback from the Diffusal Blade is carried on into your illusions which means 3 seconds for auto attacks from yourself and your illusions, the enemy you target can say bye to their mana
• Ring of Aquila is great for giving you and your illusions an armour bonus and mana regeneration which means more Spirit Lance spam

In terms of the other items…

These should be taken over Phase Boots as these provide you and your illusions with an HP bonus that can be changed later on to provide a damage boost.

The Radiance burn aura also resonates through your illusions. Therefore it allows faster farm and the 60 damage bonus it provides also hits home when you’re in fights.

Boosts the number of illusions Phantom Lancer can have at one time. Also allows you to avoid stuns and other targeted spells such as Lina’s Laguna Blade. Also provides damage, armour and movespeed.

Not a bad item but it can be picked up by another player on your team. Provides an attack speed and armour bonus for you and your team and decreases the armour of the other team and their buildings.

A pretty nice item for Phantom Lancer as it provides evasion, damage and attack speed. As you are an agility carry this item always should be considered.

) Pick this up if your farm is going to high hell. Provides HP, damage, movespeed and stats that Phantom Lancer can benefit from. If by chance you do regain that lost farm you can easily dismantle this item so you can build a Manta Style and a Heaven’s Halberd to still provide an inexpensive evasion and HP bonus.

This is a nice item that will provide more HP to Phantom Lancer and his illusions. The HP regeneration bonus it provides will keep you out of your base a lot more so you can focus more on razing towers.

This can be built if you were forced to use a Sange and Yasha. Provides evasion, damage and HP that Phantom Lancer can benefit from.

Conclusion

Phantom Lancer is a hero I would recommend to intermediate-skill players as he does require some level of micromanagement skills. If you enjoy being a pain in the backside for the other team choose this hero. Hope you enjoyed reading the guide. Post appropriate feedback so I know what can be fixed and what I did well. Thanks guys.

I'd like to thank Dr.D for his excellent guide for formatting on Dotafire. I'd also like to thank Wilddeonpwn and Hades4u for inspiring me to write this guide.

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