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Tango
Iron BranchIron BranchIron Branch
Circlet
Blight Stone
Phase Boots
Power Treads
Blink Dagger
Desolator
Daedalus
Heart of Tarrasque
Assault Cuirass
Power Treads
Phase Boots
Divine Rapier
Manta Style
Boots of Travel
Black King Bar
Butterfly
Rune of Double Damage
Rune of Invisibility
Rune of Haste
Rune of Illusion
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Hi, I'm the Jade Dagger and 
Templar Assassin IMO is one of the most powerful heroes in-game. She is generally played in Middle Lane and has a set of unique skills. She's a bit tricky to master, but is really really powerful if played correctly. Lets dive in!
PROS
-Very powerful mid
- Refraction gives yummy bonus damage too
- Meld reduces armor
-Easy harassment with Psi Blades
-Psi Traps act as wards
- Desolator means a lot of armor reduction!
CONS
-A bit tricky to master
-Squishy
- Refraction costs a decent amount of mana
- Meld is only useful when you have Blink Dagger
-No reliable nukes
Refraction (Q)
Templar Assassin becomes highly elusive, avoiding damage and gaining a bonus to her damage. The damage and avoidance effects are separate, and have a limited number of instances.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Number of Instances: 3/4/5/6
Attack Damage Bonus: 20/40/60/80
Duration: 17
Cooldown: 17
Mana: 100
Meld (W)
Templar Assassin conceals herself, becoming invisible as long as she remains still. If Meld's invisibility is broken by attacking an enemy, Lanaya will deal bonus damage to the enemy and reduce their armor for 10 seconds.
Cast Animation: 0+0.53
Fade Time: 0
Damage: 50/100/150/200
Armor Reduction: 2/4/6/8
Debuff Duration: 10
Invis Duration: Permanent
Cooldown: 6
Mana: 50
Psi Blades (Passive)
Templar Assassin's psi blades slice through the attacked unit, splitting and damaging enemy units directly behind it, while gaining bonus attack range.
Spill Range: 590/630/670/710
Spill Width: 75
Attack Range Bonus: 60/120/180/240
Psionic Traps (R)
Templar Assassin places mystical traps that invisibly monitor enemy movement. When sprung at her command, they exert a slowing influence of 30% in the area. Traps charge up to slow an additional 5% every second, up to 50%.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0
Cast Range: 2000
Maximum Traps: 5/8/11
Min Move Speed Slow: 30%
Max Move Speed Slow: 60%
Slow Duration: 5
Trap Duration: Permanent
Cooldown: 11/8/5
Mana: 15
TIPS ON REFRACTION
Refraction is a skill that can be used both offensively and defensively. In the early game or laning phase, you probably are going to want to use it defensively. It blocks off a decent amount of damage, so if you were to engage in 1v1 combat, you'd probably win. However there are some spells like 
Plague Ward and 
Burning Spear that will wear away at your Refraction. Refraction also gives you bonus damage for a short duration. When Refraction is maxed, you get 80, yes 80 extra damage. You can pop it in a teamfight for the protection and bonus damage.
TIPS ON MELD
Meld is tricky to master, but is really good with Desolator. A Desolator takes off 7 armor for 15 seconds and Meld takes off 2/4/6/8 armor for 10 seconds. If you're getting chased, you can Meld if the enemy hasn't got any items that detect invisible units. However, this usually doesn't work because you must stay still. Meld has a 6 second cooldown, so here are some nice little tricks you an do. If the enemy stays close to you, press W. Wait for the ability to refresh and if the enemy is still there, hit them with Meld, press W and hit them again. So much armor reduction and damage! You've probably heard this trick before though. Be careful if you're up against Necro's 
Heartstopper Aura.
TIPS ON PSI BLADES
Psi Blades is one of the best harassing passives in the game. The blades spill back onto other enemies, making easy last hits and easy creep-wave clearing. The cool part is that if you deny a creep with it, it still spills onto enemy creeps. Anyway, without Psi Blades, you will get harassed a LOT.
TIPS ON PSIONIC TRAP
The Psionic Traps are great ways to monitor enemy movement and slow them down. It usually secures runes and is easy to catch enemies with it. Like 
Invoker's Sunstrike, you need to predict where your victim is. If you place it directly under them, they will most likely escape. Fun places to put traps are near the enemy secret shop and Shrines. Since 7.00 offers new rune spawn spots, place them there too if possible. The traps can be placed at very long range, so you don't have to get up close and personal to place them.
LEAVING FOUNTAIN
We need something for healing!
Iron Branch x3 gives good attributes
Circlet gives us even MORE attributes.
EARLY GAME/LANING PHASE
When you get to level 6, you will need 
Bottle for rune control
More movement speed and attack speed. Toggle to agility for maximum effect.
We will use this to build into Desolator later on.
CORE: MUST HAVE BLINK DAGGER AND DESOLATOR
Blink in for easy kills with Meld and get a better escape.
This one's pretty obvious. Yummy Meld super armor reduction+ Yummy extra damage
If you get one lucky proc in a teamfight: WHOOSH PSI BLADE PASSIVE AND CRITICAL!
WOW even more armor reduction. OH YES! Melt everything like crazy once core is complete.
So you didn't want the Assault Cuirass? Heart of Tarrasque makes you go super tanky. Combined with Refraction, you're nearly unstoppable.
ALWAYS CARRY A TOWN PORTAL SCROLL IF YOU DON'T HAVE BOOTS OF TRAVEL. I apologise for the messiness.
CARRY:
Use the traps to net yourself loads of kills. TA is designed to be a killing machine. Her damage scales well. You might even find yourself getting free kills with the Psi Blades spill.
SUPPORT:
I don't recommend this, only if your team has 5 'carries'. Your carry will whine about your Psi Blades stealing kills and last hits. You probably will miss out on the Blink Dagger, Desolator and all the fun.
DISABLER:
Really, your only disable is your Psionic Traps. This can be a secondary role, but if you are no good at the traps or Blink Daggers this is not for you.
INITIATOR:
I'm also shaking my head at this one. Your safe way is your Refraction, but you don't have a high burst AoE ability. You're mainly a right clicker. By the time your team arrives, you'll probably be dead.
JUNGLER:
TA is a good jungler thanks to her Psi Blades, but you want to be present in your lane. You can farm when the time is right, such as when none of your towers or heroes are getting punched or when there's a massive teamfight.
DURABLE:
TA is pretty squishy without the Refraction and extra attributes, so no.
NUKER:
I think TA is fine as a nuker. She can quickly take down enemies with her high right click damage and Meld. Desolator completes the job.
PUSHER:
TA can clear creep waves super fast, but she can only destroy towers when her team is helping.
ESCAPE:
Meld can be an 'escape', but a not very good one.
GANKER:
A nice TA role. Traps are very good at this.
ALLIES
Lina + Templar Assassin
We want someone who is a good nuker or has a good slow or stun. TA focuses on right-clicking, so a Lina ally could use 
Dragon Slave and then stun (if they're good). If it fails, you can use MORE right click and 
Laguna Blade.
COMBO: Psionic Trap + 
Trap + Dragon Slave + 
Light Strike Array+ right-click!+ Laguna Blade + RIGHT CLICK= kill
Vengeful Spirit + Templar Assassin
When maxed, VS's 
Wave of Terror takes of 6 armor and your Meld takes off 8. Total: 14. If you add the Desolator, then that's 21! The stun is also just enough time to spring the Psionic Trap and is more reliable. However, the stun provided by 
Magic Missile is shorter. If you're horrible at springing traps, get Venge to stand in the trap and when the enemy comes, 
Nether Swap!
COMBO: Wave of Terror + Meld + Meld right click+ Magic Missile + Psionic Trap+ Trap+ Right clicks= kill
ADVANCED: Meld + wait 6 seconds+ get venge to lure the enemy+ Meld Strike+ Double Meld!+ Wave of Terror + Magic Missile + rightclicks=kill
And then of course are the nasty dudes.
Refraction is super awesome, but can quickly get wrecked by Damage over Time (or DOT). DOT heroes include
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Venomancer
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Viper
-
Huskar
-
Witch Doctor
-
Warlock
just to name a few. You get the idea.
This may sound sort of unusual, but 
Spectre is kinda bad too. It's not Spectre that's the problem, it's the fact that most people playing as Spectre will probably buy a 
Radiance. I personally don't use Radiance on Spectre, but some people do. That's no good. because she can activate it when you're in Meld or something. And DOT.
AND TA'S GREATEST ENEMY IS............................
Batrider. No surprise there. If they pick Batrider, do not ever pick Templar Assassin unless you want to throw the game for your team. Batrider's 
Sticky Napalm slows you down, wears off your Refraction and if he Lasso you, gg.
LEVEL 10: A)25 attack speed vs B)15 movement speed
Both are nice, but A slightly overpowers B. When you get to late game, you will dish out LOADS of damage and you'll regret picking movement speed.
LEVEL 15: A) 12% evasion vs B) +6 all stats
Again, this is a toss. If you plan building a Butterfly instead of a Heart of Tarrasque or Assault Cuirass, go for the evasion. 6 all stats is easy to obtain via items, but 12% evasion isn't much more effective without Butterfly.
LEVEL 20: A) 250 health vs B) 40 extra damage
TA is about building damage, so I'd say B.
Level 25: A) 3 more Refraction Instances vs B) -30 second respawn time
A is a must! It counters pesky DoT heroes and makes her more tanky with Refraction. This means less deaths which means less need for shorter respawn time.
Overall, Templar Assassin is super powerful with this build. Once you have the right items, you can kill practically any hero in 3 to 5 hits. Get the Power Treads or Phase Boots and Blight Stone, then build Blink Dagger. Upgrade Blight Stone into Desolator, then get the Daedalus followed by Heart or Assault. Both items work just as well.
Have fun!
Last updated:
13.1.17:
-Removed hotlinked picture
-Added double bracket feature
-Fixed grammar errors
-Made combos easier to read
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