Phantom Assassin

Mortred the Phantom Assassin is a melee agility Hero fitting the role of hard carry. Mortred is best-known, and infamous for, her ability to inflict staggering damage with single strikes. Her abilities synergise supremely well with each other, rendering her an extremely formidable foe once she has acquired the items she requires. She is a very farm-dependent melee Hero, but she farms creeps with much more ease than many of her fellow carries, using her Stifling Dagger for last hitting. Besides eliminating the weakness most melee Heroes have in their farming, it also saves her from expending gold on important melee carry items like Quelling Blade. Her second ability, Phantom Strike, acts as both her escape and initiate, while Blur gives her an edge against other Heroes that depend on their physical attacks by evading them; giving her partial damage immunity to many carries. Her ultimate, the strongest critical strike in the game, is what connects Mortred with four-digit damage and what gives her a place amongst the very best support killers in the late game, since they usually fall instantly from the divine strike her ultimate provides.

Tips

 * Stifling Dagger has multiple uses. It should generally be the first skill maxed, as it allows you to last hit creeps from a distance. It also allows you to harass the enemy, though do be the relatively high mana cost in the early game as Mortred has a small mana pool.
 * If enemies have fallen back in lane to use a Clarity or a Healing Salve, Stifling Dagger can be used to disable the regeneration effects.
 * Phantom Strike can target both allies and enemies. Jumping to a friendly unit can be useful if Mortred needs to escape.
 * A single point in blur early on can be beneficial in the laning stage. It can be a good idea to max it in the early game if the enemy are being especially aggressive.
 * While it may seem smart to build towards attack speed items to work with the PRD of Coup de Grâce, it's better to stick towards building damage items since Phantom Strike provides ample amounts of attack speed. In addition, Mortred also gains 3.15 agility per level, so the focus on attack speed items is generally unnecessary.
 * Be very wary of enemies using Blade Mail, as Mortred's damage output is many times greater than her health pool, though with a Black King Bar you can alleviate the issue if the enemy does build a Blade Mail.

Trivia

 * Mortred is derived from Mordred, a character in the Arthurian legend who betrayed and fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camalann.
 * "Coup de grâce" is a French term (that bled into English) which literally means "blow of mercy", and refers to the killing blow of a wounded person or animal, friendly or not, to end their suffering.