5 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
1 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
2 | 4 | 13 | 16 |
6 | 12 | 18 |
10 | 15 |
PROS:
Clear Creeps/Camps much faster
Great Mana/Health Regen
More Damage
CONS:
Delays Diffusal purchase by 7-10 minutes
Must be assured that game will go past 30 minutes, otherwise you've just made your team go 4-v-5 for nothing.
Since the release of 7.07, I've finally picked up PL and searched for an item build that has everything I need, as well as incorporating various tried-and-true methods of old.
Obviously, Diffusal Blade is utterly essential for the Cancer Lancer... but is that really all we want him to be?
For myself, I'll lane until level 6, then immediately head into the jungles, popping out on a lane every once in a while to gather a bit more gold.
Now, if things go well enough, then I'm able to get a Diffusal at around the 13-minute mark. Then, yes, I'll be able to team-fight a little bit afterwards, though it'll be in true Cancer-Lancer style. Just whacking the enemy a million times until they finally drop.
However...
I found that if I went and rushed a Battlefury, completing it at around 15 minutes on average, I could then smash through Ancient creeps in a third of the time, hard-camps in a quarter, and I could build a Diffusal in 8 minutes after the BF.
WHY get a BF? Mana and health regen, which will come in especially handy when spamming the Spirit Lance a little later on, as well as helping you get a bunch more GPM than usual.
SO. Take a gander and compare this build with what you're already comfortable with.
So, to start, Quelling Blade and Orb of Venom. Better damage on creeps, as well as a little bit of slow/d.o.t. in case you want to chase or harass.
The next items go towards moving you around faster; Wind Lace and brown Boots. The Void stone is the first part of the Perseverance needed for the Battlefury, and will help replenish your mana between Dopples.
The tactic is, once you hit level 6 and take to the Jungle, to Dopple into a camp and use your illusions as mere distractions while you smack away. YOUR ILLUSIONS MAKE USE OF THE VENO-ORB, so they'll at least chip away at the health of the creeps while you take down the others.
Try to position yourself so that you have a chance to steal a bounty-rune from the enemy, as well as picking up one of your own every two minutes. This will certainly speed things up.
As soon as you get the Battlefury, add the Ancients into your route, and slice your way to a Diffusal as quick as you can.
By about the 25-minute mark, you should have both, and from here you'll really start to snow-ball into a huge pain in the enemy's rear.
I like to go for the Scepter, now, as it'll splash 375 damage (with talent) around in a 400-radius, as well as spawn an illusion for everything it hits. This means catching an enemy near a creep-wave will yield a good 6 illusions, which will take all of 5 seconds to completely drain the target of mana.
Next up is a Skull Basher to help with chase-and-kill, then a hyper-stone/Moon Shard to drain that mana even faster. Yes, your illusions take advantage of it, too, and it is glorious.
The final piece of the puzzle is the Boots of Travel... which can really be picked up any time after the Diffusal Blade, depending on how hard you want to split-push or zip over to aid allies in a fight.
Dopple is your best friend... though also your greatest enemy should you neglect levelling it as quickly as possible.
The cool-down for the first level is ludacris at 25 seconds, but after you get it to stage-3, then you'll easily be able to use it on every Jungle-camp without having to wait.
THINGS TO REMEMBER: Dopple can also act as a basic dispel. Queen of Pain's/Viper's venom will disappear after Doppling, so wait until they burn a little mana to use it. Also, it phases you out of existence for a while, meaning that you can use it to dodge Gyro's annoying Missle, or Skywrath's spammable abilities.
Dopple will NOT clear Venomance's ult, Bloodseeker's Rupture, or any other non-dispellable skills.
Two levels in Phantom Rush early will aid your closing potential, but I've found that it's not particularly essential in the mid-game, especially if you've maxed Dopple to have a 10 second CD. Since the Lance has a 7-second CD, you can use the slowing effect, Dopple all of your illusions around your target, then simply whack away until they manage to slowly escape your immediate radius. Then you just repeat the cycle once or twice more to kill them off.
Yes, I don't even bother to get a point of the Lance until I'm almost in the jungle. And even then I use it sparingly, typically onto Centaurs and Hellbears, which only trigger their abilities when 3 or more targets are in their immediate area. Dopple, lance, wait, then attack.
After getting the Scepter, ALWAYS initiate with a Lance-throw. Save your Dopple for either an escape or a chase.
10% Evasion over the minor attack-speed increase, simply for survivability. Besides, you'll be getting a Moon Shard at some point, so what's an additional .05 in relation to a critical dodge.
+125 Lance Damage means 375 points taken off every 7 seconds, with a guaranteed illusion spawning. Coupled with the Ag Scepter, it means you clear a creep wave in .5 seconds and instantly spawn an army.
+4 Illusions = More Death And Confusion.
30% Chance at a 2x Crit is like having a Deadalus built into your character. If you manage to stun an opponent with your Skull Basher, or take advantage of your team-mates' abilities, then you'll be able to destroy most opponents in a matter of two seconds in late-game.
So, if you're still a little leery of this build, just try it out once or twice. You might be surprised at how quickly you're able to build other items, or might find yourself impressed that you can clear a creep-wave late-game with a single right-click.
It's fun, too, to watch your opponents suddenly freak out at the appearance of 14 illusions, all of which immediately begin to drain their mana.
Good Luck, Have Fun!
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