Phantom Lancer - Army in my Pocket

Im not sure of this, and sorry if Im wrong, but i dont thing that pure damage bonuses affect illusions, which would make radiance less valuable. I thought it was only stats and passives from items. Again, I'm not sure, and have not tested it, so im sorry if im wrong.

Radiance first is better because it falls off late game, it helps u farm multiple jungle camps at once and dont get radiance after 25 minutes.

THINGS YOU SHOULD BUY!



Early game, the soul ring + tranquil boots combo should give you all the lane sustentability you need to never have to go back to base, ever.
Plus, this combo gives you free nukes, just pop the soul ring, throw phantom lance and heal up with tranquil.
But why tranquil and not treads you might ask:
Well, tranquil is the cheapest pair of boots in the game, and they give a lot of movespeed, making chasing/escaping so much easier for you. Plus, with all that agility gain, PL can make do without the extra attack speed from treads. Tranquil doesn't give you the stats that treads does, but it does give you some nice armor.

Diffusal is an obvious choice, since it's the only orb effect that works on illusions AND it combos wonderfully with your phantom lance's slow. Plus the extra agi can't hurt on such a stats deppendent hero.

Radiance works well on any illusion hero, and that includes PL. Sure your illusions don't get the raw damage increase, but they do get the aura, and that makes farming and pushing easier, since the real you doesn't need to be there

HoT is a great item for any hero, but it works specially well on PL, since it makes you and your illusions so tanky that they can probably kill an enemy support hero by themselves.

Manta is great on PL, not only it gives some nice stats, attack and movespeed, its active ability works wonders on him, since the manta illusions can also create more illusions by themselves.

Butterfly is the ultimate item for every agi carry, and even if the illusions don't get the evade, it is still an amazing item.

BKB is a nice item for every carry, but I find myself hardly ever needing it, but always keep it in mind against a hard disable/magic damage team.

Ethereal Blade not only gives you and your illusions some great stats, but combined with your amazing agility gain and your spirit lance, you can deal massive amounts of damage to people. I know this goes against the whole concept of a hard auto attacking carry, but this item can turn the tide of a 1v1 against another carry, since it deals great damage, and it stops them from attacking you. Plus, you can probably 2 shot most squishy supports.


THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T BUY!


Skull Basher/Abyssal Blade are completely useless, since your illusions don't benefit from the raw damage nor they can bash, stay away from it.

Battlefury is also stupid! your illusions don't cleave and don't recieve the bonus damage. Sure the regen in nice, but still not worth it.

Ring of Aquilla sure gives you some nice stats, but the tranquil + soul ring combination is so much better.

Sange and Yasha is a bad bad bad combination of items. Sure it gives you nice stats, but it's too expensive for what it provides.

MKB is a nice item, but once again, it benefits only you, and not your illusions.


A FEW TIPS ABOUT ITEMS


Whatever you choose to buy, remember: you're looking for things your illusions benefit from, so always remember that when buying stuff.

your item choice is very bad...

I build somewhat similar and it comes out fine, but the order is very different.

I start 4 branches, a Ring of Protection and 2 tangos. I sell one branch, pick up Boots and a Basilius, then straight into a Radiance if I'm having an easy time I finish treads first. This is followed up by a Diffusal Blade and an Aquila, then a HoT or a Butterfly depending on the type of survival I need.

You got an upvote from me, but remove Sange and Yasha. you should not use this as a fall back on illusion heroes, if you have a Radiance, You can turtle and use your Q to farm.

that doesn't mean u can't get another item before it. farming for 20 min is something that is a luxury in many games. the enemy can keep pushing into u and u can say, "bye bye radiance right there."

in my view getting diffusal, then radiance isn't a bad idea. i have seen it done personally and the PL owned throughout the game. that is only in pubs though. if ur up against disablers, this build will be ur doom. the first priority is not to die. this build gives no survivability. so dead or useless PL then. haha.

farm fast, and gank fast. his way of playing. this build works. (situational build to kill paper heros)

Radiance should never, ever, be late game.
It is pretty much useless if bought after the 25 min mark

First time I used this build, I ended up getting 20/6/11. Brilliant build - thanks muchly for it.

I can see one fundamental problem in that build. No survivability. I agree that with diffusal and radiance, he owns everyone. But the thing is, many times enemies get battlefury to counter his images. AOE nukes also destroys him (even after taking his magic resistance into consideration). He is just not very tanky. Getting a vanguard should be the way to go give u survivabilty and some high hp images to make u a treat. You can pretty much put a spectre build on him and he's sweet.

You can think of vanguard as a miniature HoT. And if HoT is in luxuries, why not get a cheaper version of it early to guarantee no deaths.

And one more thing. Its a good thing to buy quelling blade with him because his images also get the bonus damage on creeps. It really makes farming and pushing easier.

I think in some situation getting Radiance before Diffusal blade can be more effective, providing you got a good babysitter or ganker, since Radiance become less threatening in late game. Just adjust the item build a little bit depends on the situation, Phantom Lancer's role can be flexible if used correctly. Agree on the skill build, high level Doppelwalk is underrated sometimes.
Nice guide +1

they're not useless just that people need to have an open mind.

Fixed.