Phantom Lancer

Azwraith the Phantom Lancer is a melee agility carry and pusher because of his capability of generating multiple illusions in a matter of seconds. He requires deep cunning, positioning, and most importantly, great micromanagement as his illusions might just get in the way rather than help the situation if not utilized correctly. Many of his abilities help him in his creation of images, allowing him to always have a companion. He has a nuke ability in, which deals high damage, slows the target, and creates an illusion at his target's location. His escape ability allows him to quickly relocate himself and any nearby illusions while creating additional ones, possibly tricking enemies into wasting their spells and time in trying to kill said illusions. His passive allows him and his illusions to close the distance toward a target when issued an attack order, giving him the ability to quickly focus single targets in battle. His ultimate gives him the ability to generate a large number of illusions when attacking a target, while giving said illusions the ability to replicate themselves as well. Phantom Lancer is an extremely mobile hero who is hard to pin down and can quickly overwhelm his opponents in battle.

Tips

 * Though attack speed is still important on Phantom Lancer and still a by-product of making the hero stronger, it is no longer needed as much to create images as he now creates an image on every other attack at level 16.
 * Illusions are counted as Heroes in a target check. However, they receive effects intended for units. An example is Witch Doctor's Paralyzing Cask, which will stun Phantom Lancer's illusions by 5 seconds. Even with this fact, Hero-only spells like Doom's LVL? Death can be cast on illusions.
 * Watch out for Earthshaker! His Echo Slam also generates an echo for every illusion and Legion Commander's Overwhelming Odds dealing high damage per illusion.
 * Creating confusion for your enemies is what the Phantom Lancer is known for along with outnumbering the enemy. Use illusions to cause unnecessary chases, wasted skillshots, pointless ultimates, and frustration for your enemy. But be sure to pay attention to the real Phantom Lancer while your illusions run around, however.
 * Illusions can have cast on them if a Dazzle is on your team; you can further fool your enemy by making them chase the wrong Phantom Lancer.
 * When choosing an item build, remember that not all passive abilities are shared with illusions.
 * An Eye of Skadi is an extremely effective purchase for Phantom Lancer - Great stats across the board, all of which will benefit illusions, and a spell immunity-piercing slow which, in conjunction with his slows and speed buffs, along with the mana drain from Diffusal Blade that prevents enemies from casting any possible escape mechanisms, will make Phantom Lancer impossible to escape from assuming no teammate is around to help his enemy.
 * Because of the fact that illusions do not last very long, a Manta Style should be considered in every game if the player wishes to use Phantom Lancer's deceiving abilities effectively, as the illusions provided by it last much longer and hit harder, giving him a higher chance to bait the enemy into poor spots or using their ultimates without the real Phantom Lancer around.

Trivia

 * In DotA, Phantom Lancer's in-game model was a fan interpretation of Kimahri Ronso, a playable character in the RPG game Final Fantasy X. As such, the Phantom Lancer of Dota 2 gained many similarities with Kimahri, namely the blue skin, humanoid feline appearance, and halberd weapon.