Templar Assassin - The True 1v5 Hero (7.00)

Introduction

Update: Hey just updated this guide for 7.00. See the section "What is new in 7.00."

Hey guys Eango here and this is a guide to my favorite dota 2 hero, Lanaya the Templar Assassin. This is my second guide (check out my Spectre guide) on this site and thought I would publish it before I'm too busy during my next semester of college.

Lanaya is not only my favorite dota 2 hero, but also my most played and my best hero.

I think Templar Assassin is a must learn hero for anyone aspiring to be a better mid player. Like Tinker, Shadow Fiend, and Invoker TA will always be a strong mid laner in the right hands no matter the "meta." Furthermore, TA is one of the funnest and most interesting dota 2 heroes in my opinion.

With all this said it may confuse you why Templar Assassin is criminally underplayed and has an abysmal winrate...
The reason is, TA is a much harder hero than she intiially appears. When playing Templar Assassin, you must have good map awareness, great laning mechanics, decent farming, passable micro (to activate traps), very solid mechanics, and understanding TA's limits. Overall, TA has a pretty simple skillset that can be difficult to execute correctly. This guide will teach you how to TA: from mid matchups, farming patterns, fight execution, and item builds.

Templar Assassin is a hero that can SOLO CARRY HER TEAM. Okay, I know dota is a team game and playing effectively AS A TEAM will get you the most out of TA. However, some games your team needs to rely on THAT 1 HERO to win the game. Anti-Mage, Spectre, and Invoker are other heroes I deem that can take control of a game that should have been lost. But none of them, in my opinion, can compare to Templar Assassin. Templar Assassin doesn't only take control of a game, she makes the game go TOTALLY OUT OF HAND VERY QUICKLY.

Keep up in net worth, get a few kills, now you got an aegis. Oh **** now your taking towers by yourself AND your traps control the enemy jungle aaaaaaannnnd the game is over. Probably the main reason I'm addicted to playing Templar Assassin is because of the control she offers at ALL STAGES OF THE GAME.

I play a lot of Templar Assassin...
To be honest, TA took me a while to start winning more than losing with. She does take a lot of practice like Invoker and Tinker.

Okay so the first 2 builds are more "serious" builds. The assassination build is usually your best bet but building a more stat oriented TA in the form of the "race car" build is sometimes better. The last build is more for fun so I won't discuss it but it is an effective build nonetheless if you want to do something unorthodox.

What is new in 7.00

TA is basically the same she just has one change:
-Psi Blades now work when illusions of Templar Assassin attack

This is a pretty nice change as you would sometimes buy Manta Style. Before I said how I wasn't a huge big fan of Manta Style but It's slightly better now for split pushing. Oh, and Diffusal Blade can NO LONGER SELF PURGE which is a pretty significant nerf. So if you need a dispel as TA your forced into Manta Style now.

Talent Tree
Lanaya got a pretty good talent tree in my opinion. Basically all the options are good and what I provided is by no means the "default." Also keep in mind that you may want to skill an ability over a talent sometimes. But on TA, I think her talents are good enough that you would rather skill them. Let's go through the choices one by one.

Level 10: +25 Attack Speed OR +15 Movement Speed
Both of these are pretty awesome! In the 10ish games I played I tend to prefer the attack speed for the Blink Dagger build. The movement speed talent is very good with the Shadow Blade build though!

However, though both these are good talents this is probably the one to "hold off" on leveling maybe until like 14ish. That is because as TA you get a lot of value from your other skills being maxed ASAP so holding off on the first talent tree may be a decent idea.

Level 15: +6 All Stats OR 12% Evasion
Again both these are super good at level 15 and definitely worth skilling when have the chance. I think the +6 stats is the more safer option that will be a solid pick up every game. But get the evasion if your against a lot of right click. 12% evasion is really "trolly" as its not enough evasion for the enemy to really warrant buying a Monkey King Bar but its enough to help you preserve Refreaction.

Level 20: +250 Health OR +40 Damage
This one I would get the damage basically every time tbh. The last talent gives you a chance to level stats already, and +40 damage is just more value as a TA player imo.

Level 25: +3 Refraction Instances OR -30s Respawn Time
For this one I would get the +3 Refraction Instances unless you think the game is going late and respawn timer will be a big deal (and your Refraction is burned through fast anyways]]. 3 Additional Refraction Charges is a pretty big deal especially considering your going to hit level 25 first in a lot of games. Since TA tends to want to end the game around mid game, it makes sense to skill a talent that enhances her snowball potential even more.

Pros and Cons

Pros Fun to Play Wins many mid matchups Best rune controller in the game Provides team vision with her traps Snowballs very easily Is actually really hard to shut down Takes roshan easily A fantastic pusher and tower destroyer

Cons Falls off very late game Countered by relatively cheap items Easy kill if locked down (and can give up a lot of comeback gold!) Basically a melee hero (but gets no advantages of a melee hero from items)

Lanaya is pretty much always a solid pick even if you have to face your "counters." I will get into dealing with certain heroes a little more later. The only time I would not pick lanaya as you mid is if your team needs more aoe burst or lockdown and not more physical damage. In that case, go with someone like Invoker or Queen of Pain.

You may look at this list and think "wow Lanaya has like no weaknesses" and your pretty much right. Lanaya is THE BEST SNOWBALLER IN THE GAME AND IS VERY HARD TO SHUTDOWN. What keeps her balanced though is that many heroes can counter her as well as cheap items can counter her. So even though you will most likely get your farm eventually and theoretically have the power to 3 shot heroes, executing fights as Templar Assassin can be tricky if you initiate badly.

Oh, also dying once as TA often sucks as your likely feeding the enemy absurd amount of comeback gold (a mechanic that balanced snowballing effectively) since your probably ahead in networth.

Abilities

TA's abilities are not rocket science by any means and you probably already have an understanding on how to use them so I will make this chapter mercifully brief.

Refraction
Duration: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 attacks or 17 seconds
Bonus Damage: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80
Cooldown: 17
Mana Cost: 100
cast Time: 0s

Refraction is a spell that amplifies TA's damage as well as block instances of damage. In fact, refraction will block ALL instances of damage. This can allow you to perform some "outplays" such as casting refraction right when a lina ults you for example. In fact, perfoming clutch refractions isn't too difficult either since it has NO CAST ANIMATION TIME whereas most abilities, like a lina ult, have a cast time.

Besides using refraction for survival, you will also be spamming it while in lane to out last hit and deny your opponent. If TA is able to keep casting her refraction in lane, which is done through having the mana via controlling the runes, the lane will probably be won.


Meld
Bonus Damage: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200
Armor Reduction: 2 / 4 / 6 / 8
Armor Reduction Duration: 10
Cooldown: 6
Mana Cost: 50

Meld is a pretty unique ability in dota 2 and a lot of people don't know how it works. Basically it "first applies Templar Assassin's actual attack damage, then the armor debuff and then the Meld damage" (quote from dota 2 wiki). The order in which damage is applied is what allows desolator to be so good on TA. However, sadly you cannot get a critical strike on meld.

With the useless information dump out of the way, you should basically be using meld as an AGRESSIVE OFFENSIVE SPELL. Even though it has an instant fade time (fastest in the game I believe), it's not meant to be used an escape mechanism unless its a last resort scenario.

If you want to become a good TA player, you need to master the blink + meld strike combo perfectly. I don't care how you do it: quick cast, attack move (i don't recommend this way since you may be by creeps), or just having quick fingers (like me). Just practice blink + meld in a private lobby and it shouldn't take long to master. I will discuss other meld combos in later chapters.

Psi Blades
Bonus Attack Range: 60 / 120 / 180 / 240
Spill Width: 75
Spill Range: 590 / 630 / 670 / 710

Also psi blades spill does PURE DAMAGE which can inflict MASSIVE PAIN.

Psi Blades is a pretty sick passive. It's basically a free battlefury if you learn how to farm with it correctly. I will go into more on how to use psi blades properly, whether for farming or dominating the enemy mid or performing those sick pure damage meld combos.

Psionic Trap
Cast Range: 2000
Maximum Traps: 5 / 8 / 11
Fade Time: 2
Trap Duration: Permanent
Cooldown: 11 / 8 / 5
Mana Cost: 15

TA's ult is super good as it synergies very well with her skills and playstyle. You will want to trap the rune spots and roshan pretty much throughout the game. Other good spots include: ancients, secret shops, and enemy jungle camps.

Besides just using the traps as ****ty wards, you will also be using them to murder people. Trap usage is probably the best way i can tell a bad TA from a good one.

A bad TA tends to place the trap right on the enemy and then proceed to spam "d" on their keyboard. It looks something like this:


This is AWFUL because your not getting full value out of the slow. That's because "Traps charge up to slow an additional 5% every second, up to 50%." (it starts at 30% slow). I feel like a lot of people don't know this information.

So what does a good TA do when chasing? You probably guessed it, they place the trap in front of the target, leading them into it. Furthermore, they probably manually detonate the trap (this used to be a must since pressing "d" had a cast time but i believe they removed that). I would also like to point out that TA's trap radius is MUCH LARGER than the trap itself. So you can really wait until the enemy passes the edge of your trap.
Here is how a good TA trap chase looks like:

Note On Skill Build

Templar Assassin has no set in stone build. What I provided is probably just most standard. I usually get 2 points into Psi Blades to be honest but it really depends. I even sometimes put more points into Meld than Refraction earlier depending on my mid matchup which I will talk about next. Overall, TA is pretty flexible in how you level her which is pretty cool :3

Know Thou Enemy (important mid matchups)

Okay so you pick TA and your most likely going mid (I would hope so). Depending on what hero your facing, we are going to change your starting items and strategy. These matchups are the most common ones I see when I play as TA.

Also while your in the mid, some general advice is to try and push the lane before the rune spawns. Furthermore, you should be stacking the ancient creeps whenever you have the opportunity.

I like to personally push the wave constantly at odd minutes (3:00, 5:00, 7:00 so on). Make my way towards the ancients at odd minutes (3:53, 5:53, 7:53), stack them, then get the rune spawning at the even minute. Depending on the rune, maybe even get a kill. If it's a haste rune, check the other lanes quickly, TA haste early game can be nasty and unexpected!

Otherwise, just rinse and repeat and hope some kill opportunities come now and again. If they don't, whatever, we will start ACTIVELY LOOKING TO KILL once we farm our first mobility item.

Oh and one more thing! In 6.88 (or was it 6.87?) the XP from a range creep is ABOUT HALF OF THE WAVE. So prioritize DENYING THE RANGE CREEP MID. This change has really changed the mid lane a lot since the range creep is very easy to deny often times. So you can really dominate your opponent in xp if you deny the range creep every wave!

Queen of Pain
Starting Items


This matchup is honestly pretty even, just slightly favored for qop. However, it's actually a pretty winnable win for Templar Assassin. Here's what I do.

First check qop's inventory, see if she has a sentry ward and see how much regen she brought to lane. If qop doesn't have a sentry, then you should be able to stay in the lane and be fine. That's because what your going to do is skill meld (either at level 2 or 3) and dodge every single poison dagger she throws at you. It's honestly piss easy to dodge. And if qop can never poison dagger you, she is honestly not a good mid at all.

Okay let's say qop does have a sentry because she's a smart player. Well that's cool, we just won't be skilling meld that early anymore since there is no point. Instead, just get some refraction and psi blades. I like putting 2 points into psi blades against qop, since she stands far back.

Lastly, if qop doesn't have much regen (I'm talking like only 2 shared tangos), then be aggressive as **** early on. Qop players often get overconfident when facing a mid matchup they believe their heavily favored in and you can use this to your advantage as TA can easily burst her.

Invoker
Starting Items


Invoker versus TA is also pretty even. The main thing you have to watch out for is ganks, since invoker can kill you pretty easily if he has help from someone like a Bounty Hunter or Crystal Maiden. As long as you avoid ganks and not die, you both will probably get good farm. Unfortunately you can't really dominate an equally skilled invoker due to his OP quas orb regen and multiple defensive spells. I would reccomend to mainly just focus on out last hitting invoker early on as you have a damage advantage with refraction. Later in the game, once you have your core items, you can start killing the cocky ****er a lot.

Razor
Starting Items

I like to get boots of speed first against razor. Another option is rushing them before your bottle, but I prefer to just start with them.

With boots of speed, razor cannot reliably static link you until he gets boot of his own. So what we are going to do is play super aggressively early on! I literally stand between the creep wave and ask him to fight me by the time I'm level 3. Honestly, razor's damage is just not that good if he cannot static link you so you can literally make sure he gets little farm for the first couple waves.

On a sidenote, many bad razor players who picked razor to "counter" you think that their level 1 static link is "instant." If they walk up to you and just start static linking, KICK HIS *** DON'T RUN. In fact, if I see the razor keeps making this dumb mistake, I will get more points into meld strike to just KICK HIS *** if he keeps walking in my face. Overall, when his Static Link is like level 3, Razor can start dominating the lane but you may be able to get enough of an early advantage. And if his Static Link does start to zone you out of lane, you will have ancient stacks around that time. Ultimately, I don't find Razor to be that threatening of a matchup (Though he is a decent counter for TA).

Shadow Fiend and Storm Spirit
Starting Items

I put these two together as they are both similar. Similar as in a very easy lane for you. With Storm Spirit I will sometimes get more points into meld strike if they are confidently walking up and static remnant farming so then i can KILL HIM. However, storm spirits usually play very scared of you so you can just push the lane, stack ancients, get rune, beat storm spirit up if he dares shows himself, rinse and repeat.

Shadow Fiend fairs decently against TA early on, but once you get level 3, (2 points in refraction one point in psi) just constantly push the lane out and try to land them psi blades. SF can't reliably burn you refraction charges. Also he's really easy to kill if a support ganks mid for you or you hit level 6 OR your just a better player than the Shadow Fiend.

Viper
Starting Items

Viper is the one hero that can absolutely stomp a TA in lane. However, Viper kind of stomps any hero in lane because if he doesn't, then he's pretty screwed. When playing against viper, the first couple waves matter the most. Just try to secure your bottle and some levels. Also, getting a good creep block helps.

I'm going to go with the assumption that the viper player is decent and is able to outfarm you mid. Honestly, this isn't always the case as many people pick viper to "counter" you and end up kind of sucking :P

So if you "lose" mid, you can easily still stack ancients and even just abandon your lane for some large jungle camps once you get some levels. If viper tries to take your mid tower while your jungling or stacking, which he should, you can call for a gank.

Even though viper counters TA in laning, it's not really the scariest hero for TA as you can still fall back on ancient stacks, jungle, and comeback gold from when your team kills viper and due to how fast TA farms ancients, you will pass him in networth in no time.

Ember Spirit
Starting Items

This is the last matchup I will talk about. Though it's not common, it's one of my favorite matchups in the game since both Ember Spirit and Templar Assassin can easily kill each other!

Overall, your favored in this matchup as Ember Spirit is a melee hero and thus must walk up to the creep wave to last hit. That said, Ember Spirit can easily kill you if you are not careful! When he hits level 6, and has reasonable hp and enough mana to triple remmant, you probably ****ed up since a good ember will just kill you. MAKE SURE HE NEVER HAS ENOUGH HP to comfortably go for a kill. If he walks up in your face, MELD STRIKE him and kick his butt. Otherwise, just keep landing psi blades on him and watch his hp drop rapidly.


General Mid Advice = Land as Many Psi Blades as you can
Lots of players seriously struggle to lane against Templar Assassin since they are not use to playing against her. If you learn to land psi blades consistently you will see the enemy becomes increasingly more scared to walk up and farm. Furthermore, don't be afraid to put more points in Meld than normal against heroes like Pudge, Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit, and more if they keep walking up in your face. They will immediately regret their decision since early game meld strike hurts a lot.

Overall, looking for ganks is a waste of time unless you get a really good rune or the enemy is seriously low hp out of position.

And if you do not lane so hot, just be sure to get the ancients to triple stack or quad stack to help you catch up in net worth.

Lastly, if you do EVERYTHING CORRECTLY. Do decent in lane and stack ancients consistently and have rune control.... You should be getting 60 last hits by 10 minutes! This is quite a bit for a midlaner and don't forget that the ancients also give a lot of XP. You will be in great shape if you do your laning correctly and will get your core items before 20 minutes.

Playstyle (Sorted by Build)

Assassin Build
This is the most standard way to itemize Templar Assassin for the mid game. That is, get a Blink Dagger and a Desolator. Now there is some controversy on the order to get these items in. I personally farm my Blink Dagger first but I've seen some people get Desolator first. Getting Blink Dagger first says you want to look for fights a little bit whereas getting Desolator first is probably a little more "greedy" (but with it you can farm up a Blink Dagger quickly).

Either way, your goal is to get Blink Dagger and Desolator in you inventory BEFORE 20 MINUTES. This isn't too hard to do with no kills. If you do get some kills or maybe an early roshan, you could be looking at a 15 minute core which would basically spell out "gg."

But often times games don't go super smoothly and that's okay. I don't want to be to strict on the item timing, but I would say that your probably doing something wrong if your getting these items after 25 minutes.

The trick to playing this style of TA is to "assassinate" the easy to kill targets, and apply heavy pressure in the enemy jungle. Before a fight even breaks out, you should blink and 2 shot that pesky Crystal Maiden or Lich and make the fight an instant 4v5. By applying pressure in the enemy jungle, I mean placing traps in it and actively farming it and getting easy kills. Not to mention that camping the enemy jungle guarentees that the enemy has no idea where you are and they will get increasingly frustrated as they can never safely enter their own jungle.

With your core up, you should also look into taking objectives quickly. Take out all the tier 1 towers than ask you support to set up wards so you can solo rosh (or preferrably get help from your safelane carry to rosh).

If TA has her core by 20 minutes, has taken tier 1 towers, and has an aegis, and has a few kills under her name, the game becomes out of hand. From here, your probably rich enough for a Daedalus or Black King Bar. If I'm way ahead, I tend to get Black King Bar actually because it means I'm not lacking in damage. Bkb allows TA to play very recklessly which leads to more kills. If you feel you need some damage, get Daedalus. Hell, you can even get a casual crystalis into a bkb. I see a lot of TA players never get Black King Bar in any game. This will only work against bad players in the first place but even if you are playing versus bad players, Black King Bar will just net you more kills in the mid game.

Now for the sake of arguement, let's say the enemy is able to kill you a couple times and your slightly behind on your core items (like 22 minutes) and the game is relatively even. Your goal is still to sneak a roshan in and force fights as often as possible. Even though the game is even in terms of farm, TA comes online very early so you should still not hesitate to fight even if your "behind."

Race Car Build
The most popular way to build TA used to be Drum of Endruance, Yasha, and Desolator (no Blink Dagger) since drums was a better item back then and the refraction/blink dagger change didn't exist yet. However, that build has fallen out of favor for the more snowbally assassinate build since the blink dagger change.

That said, this "race car" build is a modified version of the older build but using Shadow Blade instead of drums. Before explaining how to play this version of TA you may be curious when to go this route of assassinate. In my opinion, this build is better when your team lacks frontliners, you have a carry that makes you 4v5 a lot, your line up has little carry potential and your pretty much position 1, your team has no invisible heroes (so you waste enemy resources on dust and sentries), it's a really good silver edge game ( Phantom Assassin, Phantom Lancer, Slark, Silver Edge is seriously underrated), or you feel like you need to tank up.

Though this build is a different playstyle, you will still be looking to take towers and roshan once you have Desolator as well as control the enemy side of the map with your traps. This build also tends to delay your Desolator timing a little bit BUT you farm way faster overall so you should get 6 slotted pretty easily.

So basically the idea behind the race car TA is the same as always. An early Yasha and Shadow Blade makes you very fast, meaning you chase well as well as farm a little quicker than the assassinate build. With this build, I tend to shadow blade into the enemy jungle and just get a lot of kills whilst also farming it like mad. It's kind of like playing Slark.

Here's the combo: Shadow Blade, hit target to get shadow blade damage, immediately Meld Strike AND IF DONE RIGHT you get the shadow blade damage, they are probably about dead.

The trick is to do this combo very quickly. You need to meld strike immediately after the first attack to get the shadow blade bonus damage. Here is a video of the combo:

You can even manually detonate traps and remain invisible in your Shadow Blade!

So if the game is going well you should be able to take roshan and afford another item. I actually really like getting Sange and Yasha lately. It's been buffed a lot recently with its maim chance increased which helps your chasing. It also gives you hp which is very helpful. With this build, Daedalus is less needed since your more so relying on attack speed and tankiness to win fights. But it's still a solid pick up in most games.


Well that's about it in terms of playstyle. Let's talk items on TA.

Itemizing Templar Assassin

Templar Assassin has a lot of viable items. Usually, you tend to want to build a mix of damage and survivability from stat based items. That said, come late game you may want to go full yolo with all damage items and Divine Rapier since damage is the only way to keep TA relevant.

First here are the rejected items



I've seen this built and I've even seen this reccomended. This item is terrible on TA. She doesn't need an item solely devoted to mana regeneration and this item costs a lot. It's literally 5k gold down the drain



I've also seen this recommended and heavily disagree with it. The problem with heart is that first it doesn't give stats that TA needs. "Okay you say, but the regen is nice right?" Well yes it would be but heart is also a VERY EXPENSIVE LUXURY item and TA STAYS RELEVANT BY BUILDING DAMAGE. Like if an Ember Spirit had a heart in his inventory late game you would be like wtf.

If you feel like you need to "tank up" consider items that give you damage, stats, or synergize well with damage such as Satanic, Assault Cuirass, and Eye of Skadi.



Arteezy fanboys are prone to buy this. It's just not a good item on Templar Assassin because she relies on a timing window to get Desolator and some mobility as fast as possible. If you think about it, most heroes that rely on timing windows wouldn't get a midas (Antimage, Sven, Terrorblade, Lycan).

Also, would like to add that Arteezy is an excellent Templar Assassin player and he never gets midas in a serious pro game (he usually goes the assassination build in recent games). So if your playing to win, don't get a midas. But it can be a fun item if your playing for the LOLs.

Assassin Build Items

Boots of Choice
or
Lately Phase Boots have been overly nerfed. Phase Boots use to be the best boots for Templar Assassin in my opinion, but nowadays Power Treads is arguably better (and this is the case for many heroes who use to favor Phase Boots).

That said, I still generally get Phase Boots for the assassinate build because they still allow you to dominate your lane, chase more effectively, and snowball easier. That said, if you feel like your going to need some more stats, want to farm quicker, or just to get more out of your mana pool then go for Power Treads.
(btw I do think Phase Boots will get a buff soon so keep an eye on that).


Ring of Aquila is just a really good item for all agility heroes. I pretty much always get it because it just gives valuable stats and mana regen. When you have Ring of Aquila and Phase Boots (or Power Treads) you should take the ancient creeps that SHOULD BE STACKED at least 3 times by now (REMEMBER TO STACK).

Core Items



Blink Dagger will allow you to snowball mid game as Templar Assassin. If you want to be aggressive in the enemy territory or just deem that you can outplay the enemy and get early kills, then get this item before Desolator. Also remember, as long as you have refraction up, YOU CAN BLINK EVEN WHEN TAKING DAMAGE. This fact is what makes Blink Dagger so awesome on Templar Assassin as early game she can get away with what may seem to be reckless plays.



If you are playing to win, buy a Desolator. I won't really get into the math of it, but basically Desolator and Meld synergize very well due to the order in which dota applies damage. In fact, Desolator remains a relevant item on Lanaya for a while unlike other heroes thanks to her Meld. That said, super super late game you will probably be replacing this with something like an Eye of Skadi or Divine Rapier. But usually, you will be ending games as Lanaya with Desolator in your inventory.

Once you got Desolator and Blink Dagger with the assassinate build, its time to start taking towers, killing roshan, and assassinating heroes. Unless your items were really delayed, your most likely the strongest hero in the game in terms of raw DPS output so use this timing window to your advantage. DO NOT PASSIVELY PLAY when you get your core up you need to start pulling ahead in networth at this time.

Extensions
These two items should probably be built every game when going the assassinate build since they are just very good...



I feel that this item should be bought every game as TA pretty much. When I was at lower mmr, I would never get Black King Bar. But I got away with that since those were BAD PLAYERS. A TA without any defensive items mid game can be countered by just being good at the game. However, with Black King Bar, not only can we not be countered well, but we can also get WAY MORE KILLS AND DAMAGE DONE. A defensive item allows you to play more offensively.

Black King Bar allows Templar Assassin to make even more reckless plays. This hero WANTS TO PLAY RECKLESS! If your ahead in the game and find that with Desolator and Blink Dagger you are just absolutely melting enemy heroes in like 2-4 hits no sweat, then I would get a Black King Bar before Daedalus. That is because your not lacking in damage, so you just want an item that allows you to just hit heroes. As long as Lanaya can hit heroes, mid game fights are going to be a breeze. The enemy WILL NOT HAVE THE ANSWER TO A 10 SECOND MAGIC IMMUNE HERO HITTING REALLY HARD.

Though I pretty much get Black King Bar every game as Templar Assassin, since you can honestly pretty much always use one, come super super late game I do sometimes sell it for more damage items. I will talk about when you may want to sell your BKB later.



This is the best DPS item in dota so of course you want to get it if your goal is to quickly blink in and one shot a support! Seriously though, if you get Daedalus at a reasonable time, your going to be 1-2 shotting support heroes easily before they can even use Ghost Scepter, Glimmer Cape, or Force Staff.

I don't get Daedalus always against a Phantom Assassin. Just get a Monkey King Bar, it's similarly as effective. Against heroes who may go butterfly later, you can honestly still get a Daedalus and then just farm up a Monkey King Bar afterwards. Most heroes are not going to rush a butterfly because that's just not a smart decision :P

Having Daedalus and Monkey King Bar is perfectly fine too. In fact, if your way ahead, feel free to consider a second Daedalus. Two is better than one!

Usually I prefer to get Black King Bar first since I'm usually ahead enough that I don't desire the extra damage as much. If I'm behind though, I may feel that I would rather some damage to try and rely on comeback gold from easy pick offs. Getting a casual Crystalys into a Black King Bar is another smart option.

Luxury



I get Assault Cuirass quite a bit as my 6th item when I feel it's time to close out the game. Assault Cuirass gives you some good armor and attack speed. It's negative armor effective on enemies and it's aura affect on allies is what makes is so solid though. A simple "buff up your team" for a final gg push item.

If the game is very close though, I tend to NOT WANT an Assault Cuirass. Instead, ASK A TEAMMATE more suitable to the item to get one. You still greatly benefit from it's aura. Not to mention, AC is a solid pick up on lots of heroes and every team can use an AC carrier.

EDIT: Oh, and one more thing. Assault Cuirass is not a UAM so you can still have your Desolator in your inventory. This is what makes it just a solid item to pick up last and end the game.



This item is soooo goood. Basically solves any mana issues, gives you a lot of dps, and helps your team out. Not to mention the true strike may come in handy if the enemy evasion heroes didn't get a Black King Bar. You can even force out a BKB, Bloodthorn has a stupidly short cooldown.

With that said, Bloodthorn is similar to Assault Cuirass in that you kind of want someone else on the team more suited for the item to get it come late game. However, if you are the only one who can afford it and you deem that your team can use a Bloodthorn, BUY IT.



If the game goes super late, it's probably a good idea to sell your Desolator and pick up an Eye of Skadi. This item gives fantastic late game stats and the BKB piercing slow is perfect synergy for late game Templar Assassin. Not to mention it helps your mana pool quite a bit.



This is the best choice for a 6th item to end the game if someone else on your team has an Assault Cuirass and/or you need survivability from physical attacks.

Whats cool about Butterfly on Templar Assassin is that the enemy often doesn't buy Monkey King Bar immediately since Templar Assassin isn't a "natural" Butterfly carrier per say. If the enemy hero causing you pain does have a Monkey King Bar though, Butterfly might not be the option unless your buying it to quickly take objectives and end the game. I would instead get an Assault Cuirass, Eye of Skadi, or even a Hurrikane Pike (will discuss later) to have survivability against physical attacks. OR JUST BUILD MORE DAMAGE (that's always an option :3).



This item is easy to buy at the enemy secret shop before ending the game so why not. Other than that, also remember to buy one of these late game to consume it!



Lanaya is one of the most riskiest rapier carriers in the game which makes this item super fun :P

Though you usually want to avoid getting a rapier as you do lose it very easily, YOU KIND OF NEED ONE IF THE GAME GOES SUPER LATE. The thing is, Templar Assassin does fall off super late game when the enemy has a lot of armor, hp, ways to burn refraction, and so on. To stay relevant, your going to need to stash up Divine Rapiers, kind of like an Ember Spirit stays relevant.

I will talk about how to play ultra late game as Templar Assassin in another section, but for now just know to NOT BE SCARED TO GET A RAPIER. This is a general dota carry player tip. If Divine Rapier will help you win the game, buy it. Play to win, don't play to lose.

Situational




Diffusal Blade is sometimes a must get item if there are just too many Ghost Scepter that are screwing up your game. You should pick it up immediately after your core items if that's the case. Maybe even pick it up earlier if you think it will help you win.

Diffusal Blade is also solid against Medusa or Wraith King or Faceless Void (**** time lock).



I'm not a huge fan of Manta Style if you build Templar Assassin with this assassination build because her illusions just kind of suck then. So only get Manta Style if you need to dispel something like a silence or want to use it to defensively disjoint stuff like Storm Hammer.

Linkens Sphere

Also not ideal but sometimes required against Doom or Bat Rider



Great item if:
1. your ahead (since it provides barely any damage you need to make sure you already got good damage before getting this)
2. Can be a late game pickup if you find that you NEED to disengage from pesky gap closer. ie good against Sven, Troll Warlord, pretty much any carry that needs to be in your teams face.
3. Good item if you have Drow Ranger on your team since her passive damage boost means you can "get away with it."

Hurricane Pike is usually bought after Desolator and Blink Dagger. However, another build is to get Desolator then Hurricane Pike (no Blink Dagger) but I hadn't tried this yet.

It's a pretty fun concept so I recommend giving it a try. Force Staff into Meld kill an enemy then Blink Dagger to safety... There is a lot of sick outplays you can make with 2 mobility items :)

and

Super super late game, consider selling you Blink Dagger and pick up a Silver Edge and Scythe of Vyse to try and kill the enemy carry. I'm talking like you got 8 items in inventory late game :P

Also, if you feel Silver Edge would help because that Bristle Back or Phantom Assassin is slaying your team, go for it. Hell, nothing wrong with having both Shadow Blade and Blink Dagger if you want to swag all over the enemies. Though if your considering that, your probably way far ahead and the game is won :P



Unfortunately this item's damage got nerfed which really sucks for carries like Templar Assassin. However, if you need to lock down an enemy with bkb such as Anti-Mage, Blink Dagger into Abyssal Blade might be the answer.

If you need to lockdown someone without Black King Bar, Scythe of Vyse may honestly be the better option. Scythe of Vyse gives 3.5 seconds of disable (1.5 seconds more) and its cheaper so will come online quicker (this is a big plus in my opinion).

Overall, get Abyssal Blade if you deem the active will help your team kill a magic immune target.



So in my opinion, with Blink Dagger, Abyssal Blade is sometimes the better option if the enemy has a Black King Bar. However, Scythe of Vyse is better if the enemy doesn't have a Black King Bar and you value longer disable duration (1.5 seconds more), you want something that's cheaper so you get your lockdown online faster, or you got yourself a fancy Silver Edge.

Silver Edge plus Scythe of Vyse is very good late game against carries. That said, Blink Dagger plus Scythe of Vyse is also great initiation! (though a quick fingered carry may be able to bkb when seeing your blink).



When this item was first introduced, I thought it would be a core item for TA. In my opinion its not because you really don't want to delay your Desolator and Blink Dagger. That said, if you want some good stacks for tanking up and fighting for a cheap price, this may be the item for you. It's kind of like a better Drums of Endurance now...



Satanic is worth considering if you deem you MUST MANFIGHT an enemy carry. In the late game, Satanic, and some Divine Rapiers makes you one of the best manfight heroes in the game. It's a very yolo item build but can definitely work out. Just make sure you got the enough damage to warrant buying it.

Heroes I think Satanic plus lots of damage is good against: Slark (he usually ults and brings you really low so you can pop it after his ult is over), Phantom Assassin (she initiates with a lucky crit and your pretty much dead? pop Satanic), probably more but I rarely built Satanic.


EDIT: Also Make sure you don't have Desolator or Eye of Skadi or other UAM in your inventory when making this purchase. You usually sell your Desolator late game and choose between Satanic or Eye of Skadi if you want another UAM. Satanic on TA is usually an ultra late game item (as you will want a lot of damage with it).

Race Car Build

I like to go this build if I want to build Templar Assassin more as a carry rather than an assassin...

Basically if you want to tank up, be very fast, annoy enemy supports with Shadow Blade, and farm a lot this is the build for you.

Early Game



I get Power Treads when going this build since attack speed synergizes better with this style in my opinion. Furthermore, without a "get out of jail free card" in the form of Blink Dagger and Refraction, we can use some more stats to survive early fights. That said, if you prefer Phase Boots, you do you!

and

With these two items and Power Treads, you can really turn on your farm game! Take the ancients stacks as much as possible. Furthermore, this style of Templar Assassin really benefits from your supports stacking for you. That is because this build snowballs more in the way of outfarming your opponents rather than killing them. Hence, the race car build may also be a good idea if you deem your opponent has hard to kill heroes early on and you feel its safer to just play the farm game.

Core



I always build Shadow Blade before Desolator because I find the earlier you get it, the easier it is to find pickoffs (since there is less 5 manning in early game). Furthermore, this item helps you farm even faster with its attack speed as well as be an extremely effective chaser.

Shadow Blade is very underrated on Templar Assassin, mainly because Blink Dagger exists to be fair. Nonetheless, people who think your a "noob" for building Shadow Blade are not worth listening too since all items shine in certain situations. I've had some TA games where I needed a Silver Edge + Scythe of Vyse to kill the enemy carry before he could react. Another myth I want to dispell is that "TA can't chase effectively without Blink Dagger." This is completely false: with traps, s-blade, and yasha you can still easily find initiations. In fact, for a time pros didn't build Blink Dagger on Templar Assassin (pre 6.83)

That said, here's the combo:
1. hit enemy out of Shadow Blade
2. immediately use Meld and hit the enemy
3. If done fast enough, you get 2 "shadow blade hits" and one dead enemy.



With this build, your Desolator will come a bit later than the Assassination build. However, you can get it before 25 minutes if your farming well.

Get this item for pretty much the same reasons. Again, once you have Desolator look to take roshan and some towers. Also, your going to absolutely shred people at this point, your damage is overwhelming.

Extension Options
You don't necessarily HAVE to build a Black King Bar or even a Daedalus with this more carry oriented build unlike the Assassination build that relies on quickly killing enemies. I will try to explain how I decide what items to extend too...



I usually don't buy Daedalus right after I get my core up because I find I don't need the damage. However, if you a little behind on farm or just want more damage for the funsies, go for it. I do usually get the Daedalus eventually when I deem I need some damage.



Upgrade to Silver Edge immediately if your facing a Phantom Assassin or some other hero that you could use it against (Bristle Back is countered hard by it too).



Get Black King Bar if magic damage and stuns from that pesky Invoker, Tinker, or Lion is just wrecking you in fights. You usually will need this.



In my opinion, this is the item you WANT TO BUY immediately after your core since the sooner you get a XY the better. I tend to get this item the most, then usually follow it up with a Black King Bar, then proceed to a damage item.

With Sange and Yasha, your chasing power is amazing and your really hard to take down, especially if you have an Aegis of Immortality (which should be the case around your desolator timing :P).

Luxury

The items explanations are the same to be honest. There is one difference though. For the race car build I added Scythe of Vyse as a luxury instead of situational since it's better synergy with Silver Edge. Here is why.



For this build, I don't consider Scythe of Vyse as a situational item since it just have better synergy with Silver Edge than Abyssal Blade from my opinion. Scythe of Vyse is an item you get if you think it will help you WIN (well duh). Gotta kill that cocky Storm Spirit or Antimage with no buy back to end? Surprise them with a sheep stick pick up. They won't be expecting it as long as you keep it hidden.

Besides getting Scythe of Vyse to get that crucial kill, it also gives okay stats and nice mana regen so that's cool. It's not a bad 6th pickup as long as you find your other 5 items offer what you need.

Situational Items

Same reasoning as before. Except with this build, Manta Style is more acceptable since you might have the agility stats to make your illusions a threat.

Example Itemization Games

Here are some example games. Lots of them are somewhat stompy but to be honest, when you win as TA you often win quite convincingly, if that makes sense. Your just very hard to stop when ahead. Templar Assassin is the best snowballer in the game.

Example 1: Standard Assassin

This is pretty much a typical TA game. We had a good team composition to frontline for me so the assassinate build is the go to. Black King Bar is a must after our core since we are against Tinker and other annoying stuff. I got two Daedalus since my role was to do a lot of damage. I didn't need a Monkey King Bar so getting a 2nd Daedalus was a decent idea. Another good item would have been Abyssal Blade or Scythe of Vyse to help catch out tinker better but if I remember correctly he was dying super easily :3

Honestly, if you get your inventory looking like this your probably in good shape!

Example 2: Another standard Assassinate Build
Another game we can play how we want. Medusa will frontline for us effectively and so will Undying in the early game. I finish my core items with an Assault Cuirass to help break highground with the aegis on our farmed Medusa.

In this game, my priority target is Sniper. Even though he is not a support hero, Sniper will be in the backlines and he is a very easy kill (he has less escape than most support heroes). He is a very high value kill that is also easy to get! Witch Doctor and Rubick are two other heroes I can also go on, especially under Black King Bar. Lastly, it's important I apply minus armor to Bristle Back for my team, but otherwise he will be saved for last.

Example 3: Standard Race Car
This game the race car build is really good. One reason is that our team has late game in the bag so playing the farm game is a decent strategy. However, my main reason for going this build was because we had an Alchemist and Ember Spirit which is a very greedy lineup. So I pretty much had to frontline for my team.

Earth Shaker and Elder Titan both easily fall to the Shadow Blade + Meld combo. Axe is a pretty bad target to go on and you usually just want to avoid him.

Black King Bar was a no brainer since the game was very stompy and I was far ahead in damage. So I had to make sure to not die. It's also solid against Earthshaker and Elder Titan.

Example 4: no BKB game
Okay, Black King Bar is not ALWAYS NEEDED but I usually is. If you look at this game though, Black King Bar wouldn't have done much. Axe pierces Black King Bar and their other heroes don't do threatening lockdown really. Pudge may be threatening but he is honestly often the easiest kill ever (he has no armor) even if he hooks you. Furthermore, we had great frontliners that the enemy needed to focus so we could get away with a more greedy dps build this game.

Overall, Templar Assassin fairs pretty well against Phantom Assassin in all stages of the game. You are just have to get Monkey King Bar which is whatever. Most Phantom Assassin players just build bkb and some damage since that is the most effective way to play PA. However, that makes her super squishy for Lanaya pretty much the whole game.

Example 5: Rapiers
This was a pretty silly unranked (classic no supports :3) game I played with a friend (who's still new to dota) that went super late!

I basically stashed up a lot of items. I initially had Eye of Skadi and the 3 Divine Rapiers (pretty much how my ultra standard late game build looked). However, with Invoker on the enemy team I NEEDED BKB to fight so I replaced Eye of Skadi with my Black King Bar. Furthermore, I also had a Silver Edge in my stash as well as more rapiers (if I recall correctly). We keep Daedalus to crit with the rapiers. Even though Sven had a Satanic, I did so much damage I could just out man fight him! Overall, in the late game you are likely to just have a lot of items in your stash as TA (since your probably super rich). Freely switch things around until something works!

Example 6: Captains Mode
This was a recent TA game I played in the weekend Battle Cup going on right now. TA is a good pick here since we can use some physical damage and they have no counter to Lanaya in their draft.

I go the assassination build with Desolator and Black King Bar to help pick off Natures Prophet and Witch Doctor (during his Death Ward) good. Furthermore, Sand King and Spectre cause a lot of chaos in fights that allows the more "blink assassinate" style to work out.

The game goes somewhat late and I have a lot of money so I decide to sell my Black King Bar for a Butterfly and sell my Desolator for an Eye of Skadi. This adapts my build to fit better into the late game and allows me to still reliably be the strongest hero in the game (since I have the most items and the most expensive items!). Furthermore, Butterfly was really good against their team as most their damage was Physical (even Witch Doctor does physical damage!). And Eye of Skadi pierces Rage and Black King Bar so they can't escape as well as make me very tanky. Just take note that selling and replacing items is perfectly okay!

Lastly, I had 1 Divine Rapier in my stash. If I died, my plan was to buy back and replace either one of my items with a rapier and tp back in. Unfortunately, we won the final teamfight and I didn't get to show off my rapier :[

Fight Execution (WIP)

Execution is probably the most important thing for Lanaya. Honestly, execution in teamfights is probably the most important thing in dota. If you don't play fights correctly with your hero your putting your team at a disadvantage.

With both builds, TA WANTS TO INITIATE ON THE BACKLINES. Killing the squishy backline supports first is just a pretty good general rule to stick by. However, the assassination build does accomplish that goal a lot easier (that's why it's usually the "best" build).

The strength of TA in a 5v5 engagement is making the fight an instant 3v5. However, dota is complex and there are some cases in which you may want to go on a frontline carry. For example, your ally Lion may of got a good initiation on the enemy Anti-Mage. Since dota teamfights are chaotic, we can't really generalize how to execute fights as TA without giving some examples.

So let's look TA teamfights.

Okay so these first 2 fights came from a game I played yesterday. I played pretty poorly overall but executed fights decently enough :)

EX 1: Trap Use
TA Fight EX 1

Nothing to special here :3 My disruptor player got a great static storm on their Storm Spirit so we obviously want to focus him down first! Pretty much always pop Black King Bar when you want to go in.

One thing you should notice from this fight is how I am able to slow both Wraith King and Vengeful Spirit with my trap. I place it THEN I WAIT FOR A LITTLE TO GET MAX SLOW.

EX 2: Psi Blades!

TA Fight EX 2

This fight I played pretty well! Our disruptor player was again on point and caught out the Vengeful Spirit so the fight is an instant 4v5. That means it's time to go in! Then Timbersaw gets caught out (again thanks to disruptor!).

So what I do is instantly BLINK TO HIGHGROUND since I want their team to focus me. THEN POP BKB. Notice I don't even bother going on Storm Spirit unless he's locked down.

Lastly, notice how when Treant Protector gets a nice ult off I SIDESTEP TO THE LEFT TO POSITION FOR PSI BLADES. This is obviously not a "pro" play BUT the fact that I actively keep psi blades in mind allows an easy kill of Nyx Assassin AND Wraith King. Overall, in fights TRY TO KEEP PSI BLADES IN MIND.

Really try to use them if a hero like Treant or Enigma sets it up for you!

Super Late Game Strategy

So in the super late game you can pretty much trash this guide away as it no longer applies :P Depending on the state of the game, you will be having a weird inventory. I can at best offer some basic guidelines for late game itemization.
(found this stupid image here: Source +1 if you get reference :P)

I'm glad you are curious!

So ideally you don't really want the game to go super late as Templar Assassin kind of falls off. The enemy supports probably have Ghost Scepters, Glimmer Capes, [[Force Staffs], and a bunch of other annoying stuff.

The enemy carries can also just out manfight you by now since they just scale better.

Thus what Templar Assassin needs to do late game is rely ALL OUT ON DAMAGE. Get a couple of Divine Rapier and just stash them up. I like to have 2 Divine Rapier and 1 Daedalus. Your Desolator should be replaced by something like a Eye of Skadi (my favorite) or maybe a Satanic. Furthermore, you may have to replace your Black King Bar for even more damage (probably a Monkey King Bar to deal with late game evasion). You also might consider a Diffusal Blade if enemy supports are kiting you with their annoying defensive items.

You can either keep Blink Dagger or replace it for a Silver Edge if you thinks thats smart. To be honest, if the game is super late, you probably have both items in your stash and you can choose which one you want in your inventory.

Overall, don't be afraid to have a WEIRD AS HELL inventory that deviates from this guide if the game is super late. Late game dota is a beast on its own. Though to give you some general suggestions, I find these builds to be the best to stay very relevant:

All out Damage




Probably your best bet. Skadi helps you stay relatively tanky and you kind of need Blink Dagger to make proper initations. Eango where are the boots? well you can have Boots of Travel if you want but if the game goes super late, your probably better off yoloing with no boots and a dagger.

Kill Enemy Carry




This is the build to go if you want to catch out that split pushing Antimage and then end the game. I'm just assuming that the carry will have a Butterfly since that's often the case. If not, maybe just get a 3rd Divine Rapier to take them out even faster!

Man fight




Silver Edge can be replaced by Blink Dagger if you like that better and Monkey King Bar can be replaced by a third Divine Rapier or a Linkens Sphere if you plan to manfight Sven (which honestly may not be the brightest idea but you do you).


Rat way to victory


Upgraded Boots of Travel

This build will absolutely melt towers. If you literally just need a little bit more rax damage to get mega creeps, and the enemy has just crushed you in recent teamfights, just rat your way to victory like a total *******.



Well that's about it for late game. Just make sure to keep having Divine Rapier stashed up and try not to die. Also Make sure to have buy back and Boots of Travel in inventory so you can surprise the enemy. I remember watching a pro game where Mushi, fnatic's mid player, kept 2 Divine Rapier in his stash, purposely initiated and died, then proceed to buy back with rapiers, tp in and wreck the enemy. Be creative!

Friends and Foes

Foes

Batrider has damage over time for all his abilities pretty much which burns through your Refraction easily. Furthermore, his bkb peircing Flaming Lasso offers the best lockdown in the game and if TA is lockdown, she is not hard to kill. Oh and this hero also stomps you if he goes mid.

When playing against Batrider, you will probably want to go the assassinate build and get a Black King Bar first, that way you can snowball to a point where you can just delete this ****er from a fight before he can get a good ultimate off. If Batrider goes offlane instead of mid then you have more control on his when he gets his Blink Dagger. Make it a priority to delay that item!


A good Shadow Demon player can be a nightmare. He has damage over time, he can easily farm items such as Urn of Shadows and Ghost Scepter, and his ultimate pretty much makes you useless in teamfights (as your practically a melee hero). Oh, he can also save his allies from you as well.

Again, Black King Bar is the answer to this guy. If you don't have a bkb yet, be very careful on initiating as Shadow Demon can just cast Disruption on you or an ally and turn the fight. But once you get bkb, try to blow this guy up first in fights.

Luckily not many people play Shadow Demon (even though he such a strong hero!).

and
Both these heroes tend to have a lot of illusions up and Psi Blades doesn't proc on illusions. Furthermore, these guys can burn through Refrcation pretty easily. Phantom Lancer is not to hard to deal with as long as you can find the real one! Just blow him up before he creates his massive illusion army. PL is honestly not the best late game hero anymore. Terrorblade is a little more tricky to deal with. Your going to have to rely on you team to lock him down so you can blow him up before he casts Sunder.

and
Probably the worst thing about TA is that she is countered the most by these 2 relatively cheap items. If Ghost Scepters are just completely messing up your game, as in you can never just "blow up" a support, you are forced to get a Diffusal Blade. It's not a terrible item, you would just rather have more damage usually.

And the counter to being constantly urned is, you guessed it, Black King Bar. There is a reason your going to need a bkb in majority of games as TA, it counters everything.

Special Mentions



Jakiro and Venomancer both have good DoT spells. However, as long as you have a Black King Bar your going to be okay. Both heroes have no escape mechanism!

Radiance carriers such as Spectre and [[Naga Siren can be annoying. But these heroes take a while to get rolling and TA plays the game very fast. Just stick to your game plan. Don't try to force anything without your item timings. People tend to "freak out" when playing against great late game heroes and farm too little and take bad engagements.

Friends

Dazzle pretty much as the skills that perfectly supports TA as well as goes for items that help her. He usually gets a Medallion of Courage (and eventually Solar Crest), which will help you take rosh even faster as well as take highground. Furthermore, his constant sustain through healing and his Weave makes taking highground a lot easier earlier in the game. When Dazzle] is on your team, you can reliably take objectives after won fights!

If Dazzle is on my team, I will also play with Shallow Grave in mind. Shallow Grave allows TA to be even more reckless with gettings kills. Just make sure to test the competency of your Dazzle before relying on him :P



Any carry that wants to just "go in" and man fight is a good ally for TA. Strength carries tend to fit this trend. The reason that you want a tanky carry is so that he draws the other teams attention more and creates "chaos" in the fight. TA wants the fights to be "chaotic" so she can blink into the back lines and take out supports.



Special mention to Slardar. He can just "go in" like most strength carries but he also has some nice damage reduction that will help you absolutely shred enemies. If slardar is on your team, tell him to consider not getting Desolator since your a much better carrier. Instead, Slardar should go something like Armlet of Mordiggian then maybe a heart and AC later (he's a better AC carrier than you).



You can buy Spectre a lot of space to farm. Furthermore, you will initiate good fights for your Spectre player to haunt in on. Not to mention both of you are excellent chasers which leads to 1 pick off leading into a teamwipe. Lastly, Spectre tends to build tanky which allows you to play "your game" of blink assassination more effectively.



TA fits well into a drow strategy. Your team can end the game very fast. Enough said :D



Any heroes that like to roam mid are nice. Even if you don't get kills, your probably forcing the other midlaner back to base or at least making them scared to farm.

Crystal Maiden solves mana issues very well and can gank once she gets level 3. Bounty Hunter and Riki do similar things (the one picked depends on the meta I guess). Tusk and Earth Spirit are in my opinion the best roamers in the game so they are always appreciated for any midlaner.


These items help you get highground easier. I wish supports or offlaners would buy these items more often :(

Conclusion

Well that's about it. Got any questions, just leave a comment.

Oh and if you want to watch other TA players here is a list of good TA players
1. Wagamama
2. Arteezy
3. Dragonfist
4. Ferrari_430
5. Mushi

Hopefully this guide gave you some good knowledge on TA and you can start dominating your games with Lanaya.