Phantom Lancer - some guidance on play

So a few months ago I played Phantom Lancer for the first time and really enjoyed how he plays, but only recently have I started to try and dedicate my time to this hero, and so some guidance would be really good.

Here is my current DOTAbuff data on the hero and as you can see, only a handful of games really but I do enjoy and wish to get better.
http://dotabuff.com/players/123303344/matches?date=&faction=&hero=phantom-lancer&lobby_type=&game_mode=&region=&duration=

What I am finding is :
- If i get a poor lane partner who does not protect me, I lose farm, what should I do to recover ?
- At the moment I typically aim for Ring of Aquila, then Power Treads followed by level 1 Diffusal Blade - after that it depends - thoughts on this ?
- Since PL is seemingly farm dependant, when should I be supporting team in team fights - PL is very squishy.
- last few games I have maxed out Spirit Lance and Doppelwalk first - is this advisable? It means later pushes but helps evading threats and the doppel spirit can help in lane a bit.
- Sometimes I have felt like in no mans land - not farming and not supporting team - typically when team is on back foot - what is a PL to do in the scenario of the team losing out ?

I have been reading some of the guides but thought I would ask here and spark some back / forth to help me out.

Cheers !

Let's see:

When I'm having a hard time I usually pick up a regeneration item (it used to be Tranquil Boots, but since their rework I usually go for a casual Ring of Health or a Bottle) and try not to die. When the lane's pushed, I usually farm in the jungle as the extra HP regen makes me able to do so without getting damaged too much.

I usually go for Power Treads and Drum of Endurance before the Diffusal: the extra HP and mana help a lot, plus the aura gets transferred to your illusions. Seriously, going for a straight diffusal just forces you to buy a HP item after it (usually the Heart of Tarrasque), but by going Drums first you can go Diffusal Blade into Manta Style which is way better. Also, I usually start with a Ring of Protection so I can buy a Ring of Basilius - which is more than enough and costs way less than Aquila - from the side shop.
So, my usual build would be: Ring of Basilius --> Power Treads --> Drum of Endurance --> Diffusal Blade --> Manta Style --> Heart of Tarrasque --> Butterfly. As said before, you can also pick a Magic Wand/ Bottle/ Ring of Health in the laning phase if you're having a hard time.

You should focus on split pushing most of the time, given your reliable (since you can purge dust with the Diffusal Blade) escape mechanism; join teamfights only after your Manta Style. You can also fight before buying your Diffusal Blade (that's why the Drum of Endurance comes in handy), but only if it's for defending a tower since you're supposed to farm in the early game.

The "modern" (which means about 1 year old, since PL fell off the meta a while ago) build focuses on Spirit Lance first, then Juxtapose. A single level of Doppelwalk is enough since the only noticeable difference between levels is the mana cost decrease (which shouldn't be a problem with a Drum of Endurance); late Juxtapose also limits your pushing power in the mid game.

When you're losing just farm, especially in the jungle. Keep a Town Portal Scroll in your inventory at all times so you can TP and defend your towers when it's needed, but other than that focus on getting a big game-changing item. Joining teamfights with a TP scroll is still vital, as you get a lot more gold from assists (or kills) than from jungle farm, so never underestimate the power of a Town Portal Scroll.


Anyway, the old Tranquil Boots/ Power Treads, Ring of Aquila, Diffusal Blade, Heart of Tarrasque build with max Juxtapose at level 15 is less effective in my opinion, as it belongs to a period when carries had enough time to farm big core items and there were less threats in the mid game. You should really try out the Drum of Endurance, since it's one of the most cost-efficient items in the game and helps your illusions, too. Also, generally avoid the Radiance: nowadays I would say you could go Boots of Speed into Radiance, but it's a risky build and doesn't work that well on Phantom Lancer; getting a late Radiance (after 25 minutes) is also bad as you don't benefit much from its aura. Same for Vladmir's Offering: it's a good item on paper, but the lifesteal doesn't apply to your illusions; let the supports buy it while you focus on more important items.

Yes it's advisable. It's always best to max Spirit Lance and Doppelwalk instead of Juxtapose. You need the illusions later on not early.
My build for Phantom Lancer is: Power Treads, Vladmir's Offering, Diffusal Blade, Manta Style, Radiance, Butterfly, Assault Cuirass, Monkey King Bar, Daedalus, Hand of Midas. I do not buy Heart of Tarrasque like many other players because I don't like it on Phantom Lancer. I rarely even buy it.


I actually don't agree with this. You know clearly that maxing Spirit Lance and Doppelwalk is better. Level 1 Doppelwalk is not enough. It costs 150 mana on level 1. I my self don't plan on to use 150 mana always for escape. Juxtapose is better of late rather than maxing it early in the stage.


You are right about this. The old build passed out but I still see players play like it. I found that build stupid and never bought Tranquil Boots on Phantom Lancer and maxing Juxtapose.

Perhaps a 4-2-3, or 4-3-2 is in order? 4-2-3 gives you 6 total Illusions, but if you're playing defensively, settling for 4 with a 90 Mana/20second Cooldown Escape Mechanism might be called for. I may only have 2 Lancer games so far, but I think it's fair to say, you don't really need either skill Maxed before lvl12. What's 2 extra Illusions or 30 Mana and 5 seconds worth?

Thanks both - some great advise and Peppo, I will definitely give Drums of endurance a try - stats are what work on illusions, that I know, so it bolsters a lot.

As you can see by the stats, so far I dont tend to die with PL, so I am reasonably good at surviving ganks and team fights. For me its the game phases and understanding what to do in each of them and when to transition - so thanks for the guidance.

Due to playing on my own, I have found that who you get as a laning partner makes a massive difference. Last game (a loss) I had an incredibly passive Centaur Warrunner who would not support me and took last hits - very frustrating. It was not a perfect game by me either, and since i was playing with a 4 stack, I got moaned at..... hey ho. In that game, it was the first one where i did not get a Diffusal Blade due to severe lack of early farm, and i definitely noticed the difference - a Spirit Lance followed by a number of mana burning hits from the illusions makes a big difference.

Typically, every hard carry needs a good support Hero in their lane, even at lower levels. You can get away with a dual carry lane if playing Heroes like Slark, Gyrocopter, Chaos Knight, Lifestealer or Mirana, but Faceless Void, Anti-Mage, Phantom Lancer et cetera have a much bigger impact if their laning phase is easy.

I still don't like maxing Doppelwalk second for the same reason why I don't max Blink on Anti-Mage by level 7 but take stats instead: you don't actually need the cooldown reduction, as a single Doppelwalk (or Blink) will either save your life or be useless; it doesn't matter whether you have a level 1 or 4 Doppelwalk, you'll always die if the enemies carry invisibility detection. Mana isn't a problem if you have a good support assisting you (and a Drum of Endurance), but if you don't you can consider putting a second point in it, though it doesn't make that much of a diference.

Seriously, the more illusions you have, the better you can push or jungle farm. Why would you delay the best way you have to flash farm in the jungle? If I were against a PL I wouldn't try to gank him without Dust of Appearance anyway, so the skill build I suggested makes more sense to me.

I certainly hear your point Peppo and will give all suggestions a try to see how it works - I have tried both ways in my few games and I am still new to Phantom Lancer to form a definitive position.

Power Treads into Diffusal Blade into Heart of Tarrasque is a beast build for PL,Provided you get the kills and the farm. Drum of Endurance is a good item too.

Guys, don't suggest maxing out Doppelwalk before Juxtapose!
I would never ever do this.
If your lane is going well, you don't need invis anyway and with Juxtapose its a lot easier to farm the jungle/push the tower.
If your lane is going badly, you need to catch up! Juxtapose lets you farm a lot faster than Doppelwalk! Always keep in mind that PL is a hardcarry that needs to get as much farm as possible as fast as possible.
Additionally Peppo has a good point: If your enemies have no detection, level 1 Doppelwalk saves you, if they have some you are screwed anyway, so don't waste your precious points!

Also please don't tell him not to join fights early/midgame. The sole reason for going Drums -> Diffusal is that you can actually be useful in fights by then. (high mana pool to spam multiple Lances and nice rightklicks)
If you just want to afk farm go Radiance -> Manta! Diffu or drums don't really boost your farmspeed as much as those items do.


Also: You can go heart before Manta, if you need to fight a lot, while manta is better for farming.

Lategame you can do 2 things: splitpush like a crazy person or go for fights.
If the enemy has a carry that can beat you in combat, i would just splitpush with your illusions and farm the whole map while they are not able to leave their base.
If your enemies lategame isnt that great just go for fights.

For items i usually go for Treads -> Drums -> Diffu -> Heart/Manta -> Manta/Heart -> Butterfly -> another Heart (for splitpush) or Daedalus/MKB/Skadi for fighting

So firstly thanks to all the input from you guys - great stuff.

I managed to get a few games in at the weekend (i dont really get a lot of time to games) and whilst the end results was 1 win and 2 loses with Phantom Lancer I was generally happy with how I played.

http://dotabuff.com/players/123303344/matches?date=&faction=&hero=phantom-lancer&lobby_type=&game_mode=&region=&duration=

So all the games I tried Ring of Basilius, Power Treads and Drum of Endurance - with starting items of Ring of Protection, Gauntlets of Strength, Tango and Healing Salve - this seemed to work for me very well - early stats really helped in lane and even the drum charges combined with Doppelwalk for chasing got a couple of kills for the extra early game burst of speed.

Now I did not max out Spirit Lance and doppelwalk first - I had been but decided for these gone at lvl6 : 3-1-1-1 and from here maxing lance at 7, Juxtapose @ 8/9/10 etc. Now I am still coming to a conclusion on build - I do like using doppelwalk for more than just escaping and it is the main reason I dont die much as Phantom Lancer.

The guidance on transition and gameplay helped a lot - thanks - I was a lot more focused on farming/lane control and joined fights only when needed - from about level 8 onwards on the above build, I found I could work through the jungle between lane movements - with some caution.

However, it meant for the 2 games we lost, it was very frustrating to see the team throw away their lives but also I found it hard to focus on being selfish. The last game meant I had very little early farm and had to really adjust to try and salvage things. In the end I managed to get some farm and some items but their 2 carries were too fat - though I managed to get a load of kills but not enough to save the team - a fun loss though (it might have been different if our Lion did not pick up the dropped Divine Rapier and try to give it to me - which if i had seen quick enough i would of shouted "LEAVE IT !!!" )!