Dota 2 Heroes – An introduction to Lanaya the Templar Assassin

Lanaya the Templar Assassin made her entry into the Defense of the Ancients (Dota) 2 Hero roster last week. Being one of the most positioning and timing-intensive heroes in game, she is most suitable for advanced players.

Templar Assassin is an agility semi-carry and ganker. The latter becomes even more apparent with her abilities allowing her to set up ganks from a very far distance.

When her first skill Refraction is activated, it will grant her protection from the next 6 instances of damage or for 17 seconds, whichever comes first. Keep in mind that this is for both physical as well as magical sources. This spell will also add 80 bonus damage Templar Assassin’s arsenal, which will dissipate after 5 instances.

Her second skill Meld will allow her to go invisible where she is standing for an infinite amount of time. If she moves or uses any spell while being in this state, she would break the invisibility. However, if she breaks the invisibility by attacking the target enemy in range, she would do 200 bonus damage, as well as apply a minus (-) 8 armour rebuff to the enemy for a 10-second period. Note that the invisibility is instant and thus can be used to dodge certain spells.

Psi Blades is a passive ability that will first and foremost increase Templar Assassin’s attack range by 240, therefore taking increasing her range from a measly 140 to a respectable 380.It will also give her a passive buff. Any unit up to 735 units behind the target that she is attacking will take what is called spill damage. They will essentially take the same amount of the damage that your main target is taking. In fact, the damage they take is pure, therefore it will literally be the same damage. As the length of this effect is good at a 735, the width is almost non-existent at 55 units.

Templar Assassin’s ultimate, Psionic Trap, is one of the most unique ultimates in the game. The skill is the main reason why she excels in ganking. At Level 3, you will be able to place 11 traps around the map. The cast range of placing these is very large at 2000. These traps will last indefinitely and will have 400 vision during both day and night. When one of these traps is triggered, which can technically be from the other side of the map, it will slow enemies in a 375 Area of Effect (AoE) by 50 percent for 5 seconds. With a mana cost of 15 and cool-down of 7, you can imagine how useful these traps can be. As a side, these traps can be destroyed as they only have 100 health points (HP), but will become invisible after an initial 2-second fade time.

The Templar Assassin is as lethal as they come. Despite relatively low health, her skills increase her survivability significantly. She is also adept at farming due to the presence of Psi Blades in her arsenal and hardly has to ever worry about getting ganked after placing Psionic Traps at strategic spots. She is indeed a force to be reckoned with and will definitely become a highly-picked hero in days to come.

Disclaimer: The research used in this article is accredited to Dota Cinema and SUNSfan. No copyright infringement is intended.