Balancing Phantom Assassin

I dont see a BKB. Also i think drums + vlads are too many small items.

Drum of Endurance are a crisis item you are better off building a BKB. I dont think PA needs Vlads either just ask some other Melee Hero to make it.
Ever tried Armlet of Mordiggian on PA?
You already have a buff in the form of Phantom Strike it doubles your AS. Why get mjollinr? Its active is just not worth the price.

MKB and Abyssal are well suited to PA imo.

Stop buying ring of aquilla people. Seriously, biggest waste. If you want the mana regen, just get that Ring of Basilius. Never upgrade it.

May i ask why this hate towards aquila?
Nice stats, armor increase and if i am not mistaken it increases mana regen a bit.

I believe Drums + Vlad's is perfectly fine if you're focusing on the mid game, especially if you are mid or just want to be useful 15 minutes into the game. She might be a hard carry, but she actually has decent lane control and killing potential even in the mid game.


In my opinion PA, being a melee Hero, benefits much more from a Vlad's then a HotD: you can upgrade the latter into a Satanic, but do you really need its active? Sometimes, if the enemy hard carry is farming much more than you, an Eye of Skadi is better for the attack speed decrease. Eeither go Vlad's and then get a Skadi or go HotD and then get a Satanic.
And you usually get a Maelstrom because Phantom Strike lets you proc the lightnings more often: I don't like it, but it's good on paper.

About the Ring of Aquila argument, if I need to rush a Black King Bar I always get it first because it's so cost-efficient and lets me solo push the safe lane if my farm is uncontested. If the enemy team isn't as threatening or if my team is mid-game oriented, instead, I go Drums and/or Vlad's into BKB, in which case Aquila (and Basilius in general) is useless.

Soo... after all the comments, the suggested build for mid-game impact is...

Drums >> Vlad's >> BKB >> Basher?

I'll try that.

What about late-game oriented? I'm assuming that's the old

Bfury >> HotD >> Abyssal >> Satanic >> MKB >> Skadi?

Drum/Vlads is a tanky PA that deals no damage. It's not that effective because the whole strength of PA is to get a kill with only one Phantom Strike. And Black King Bar isn't that efficient on a hero that deals no damage in the first place. Best to get damage first, then BKB.

Replace the drum with a Desolator and it's really good. Treads -> Vlads -> Deso -> BKB is the best build IMO for mid game impact.

Actually tank items are not that good on PA because if you build more damage on her she will have to tank way less anyways. She only puts herself in danger by chasing heroes for 30 seconds and hitting them for 30 damage a hit. The whole strength of her mid game is to kill any hero in ONE blink.

There's not much point going for Battle Fury on Phantom Assassin, it doesn't help you fight early on like Drum of Endurance does, and why wait to fight? If you want to Farm, Maelstrom is a good option, or perhaps even Hand of Midas if you have plenty of space.

Helm of the Dominator is also wasted on her, when you build a Satanic you should always go Reaver first, or maaaaybe a Casual Morbid Mask if you need a bit of Lifesteal desperately, since she has no innate Skill to clear Stacked Camps, there's not much benefit to Helm of the Dominator by itself.

If you think game is going to go Late right from the start, then get Maelstrom -> Black King Bar -> Situational, e.g. Satanic], Mjollnir, Monkey King Bar, 2nd Black King Bar, etc.

Papa Wolf give me your damage.

And +20 damage from the item itself, very cost-efficient, free Claymore pretty much.

Bkb is not refreshed of you get a new one or are you implying that you can benefit from second when first one is on cooldown?
I think battlefury is legit on her as a damageitem. If you can build it early like 14 to 15 mins. Although it can be sacrificed for situationals.