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Contents
Bad against...[]
- Track hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, making him an easy kill for gold as well.
- While Burrowing, Nyx is an easy target for a Blood Rite, although he can at least partially counter it with a well-timed Spiked Carapace.
- Thirst is always a threat to Nyx Assassin, hindering his attempt of escape using Vendetta.
- Rupture also prevents Nyx Assassin from escaping with Vendetta, as it forces him to stay still.
- Cyclone from Storm in Primal Split can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
- A well-timed Doom prevents Nyx Assassin escaping with Vendetta and does not allow him to disengage with Spiked Carapace.
- Doom's high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
- Blade Fury completely counters all of Nyx Assassin's abilities except Vendetta, and does not allow him to disengage with Spiked Carapace.
- Omnislash makes quick work of Nyx Assassin, and Spiked Carapace offers no protection at all.
- Familiars deal many instances of damage quickly, minimizing the effectiveness of Spiked Carapace. They are, however, relatively fragile and can be killed quickly with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, especially from Vendetta.
- Gravekeeper's Cloak and tanky item builds make him hard to kill with burst damage.
- Visage's long range on Soul Assumption and Grave Chill make him hard to escape from, and Soul Assumption's low cooldown outmatches Spiked Carapace.
- Rage completely negates all of Nyx Assassin's abilities except Vendetta, while Open Wounds allow him to quickly close the gap.
- Infest combined with an ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target with Dust of Appearance or a Gem of True Sight.
- Lycan's high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
- Corrosive Haze hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, as well as reducing his armor and make him very vulnerable due to his low health pool.
Others[]
- Hero with damage over time abilities can easily pierce Spiked Carapace and damage Nyx Assassin; however, this also means they are easily stunned.
- Abilities and items with Silence or Root is a threat to Nyx Assassin, the former is because his nature as an ability-reliant hero, the latter is because most of them does not allow him to disengage with Spiked Carapace or Vendetta.
- Heroes with high HP easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
- Mana Burn is useless against heroes that are not relying on abilities.
- Nyx Assassin is ability-dependent and thus vulnerable to silence, especially while Burrowed.
- Some abilities deals damage from an independent source and not from the hero itself, so Nyx cannot counter them with Spiked Carapace: illusions or summoning units, Homing Missile, Nimbus, Mass Serpent Ward and especially Techies's mines.
Items[]
- Detection items ( Gem of True Sight, Sentry Ward and Dust of Appearance prevent Nyx Assassin from using Vendetta to initiate or escape.
- Black King Bar blocks most of Nyx Assassin's damage.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
- Any good strength/health item like Eye of Skadi, Heart of Tarrasque or even Bloodstone can completely eliminate Nyx's solo ganking as a threat.
- Pipe of Insight protects multiple heroes from Nyx Assassin's spell damage.
- Lotus Orb discourages Nyx Assassin from targeting a hero with spells or items. However, Nyx Assassin can punish this in return with Spiked Carapace.
Good against...[]
- Spike Carapace easily interrupts Freezing Field.
- Frostbite's damage over time sets up an easy Spiked Carapace stun.
- Crystal Maiden is extremely fragile and dies quickly to Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
- Spiked Carapace reflects the damage from Impetus.
- Enchantress is a rather squishy hero, making her fall easily to Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
- Enigma's uncontrollable damage from Malefice and Midnight Pulse make him easy to stun with Spiked Carapace.
- Black Hole can be easily interrupted by Impale or Spiked Carapace.
- Spiked Carapace can be easily triggered by Flame Guard or Battle Fury, setting up a deadly Impale.
- With her passive Split Shot, Medusa can be easily interrupted by Spiked Carapace during combat, especially during her precious Stone Gaze.
- Mana Burn quickly destroys Mana Shield, especially if Medusa only increases her mana pool by bolstering intelligence (which has the added bonus of increasing Mana Burn's damage).
- Uncontrollable damage from Mystic Snake and Split Shot can trigger Spiked Carapace.
- Medusa lacks single target damage, making a Burrowed Nyx Assassin hard to kill.
- Outworld Destroyer's high intelligence gain and fragility makes him an easy target for a massive Mana Burn, as well as killing him outwards with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
- Astral Imprisonment can be easily exploited by Nyx Assassin with his abilities. As long as Astral Imprisonment was not cast on Nyx Assassin, it will make an opportunity for an easy stun, either by Spiked Carapace (if Outworld Destroyer hid his allies or your allies) or Impale (if he hid himself). If Astral Imprisonment was cast on Nyx Assassin, using Spiked Carapace while banished will proc the stun after the disable, since Spike Carapace has a 0 second cast time and Astral Imprisonment deals damage right after the disable ends.
- An ill-timed Sanity's Eclipse or well timed Spiked Carapace can deal a lot of damage to Outworld Destroyer and stun him, unless Outworld Destroyer used Black King Bar beforehand.
- Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and Icarus Dive.
- Illusory Orb is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace, either stunning Puck and setting up an easy Impale or forcing a premature Phase Shift.
- Puck is an intelligence hero that tends to build intelligence items, making it vulnerable to Mana Burn.
- An ill-timed Phase Shift can easily set Puck up to be stunned by Impale.
- Puck's low base armor and below average agility gain mean it is always susceptible to Vendetta.
- Nether Blast's animation makes it easy to time Spiked Carapace for a stun.
- Pugna has the largest intelligence gain in the game, making him a prime target for Mana Burn.
- Pugna needs to channel Life Drain, making him easy to hit with Impale.
- Assassinate is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
- Shrapnel's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
- In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.
- Mana Burn removes much-needed mana for Ball Lightning.
- Spiked Carapace triggers on Static Remnant for an easy stun.
- March of the Machines and Heat-Seeking Missile allow easy Spiked Carapace stuns.
- As a fragile hero that relies on mana and intelligence items, Tinker is vulnerable to Mana Burn.
- Nyx Assassin's stuns can interrupt Rearm and leave Tinker helpless.
Others[]
- The nature of some abilities turn them into an easy target for a turnover from Spiked Carapace:
- Slow-moving projectiles: Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Necrophos
- Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling: Enigma, Crystal Maiden, Invoker, Shadow Fiend, Pugna, Keeper of the Light
- Deals damage over time: Venomancer, Huskar, Ember Spirit, Dark Seer, Sand King, Doom
- Heroes with high intelligence gain and low durability are vulnerable to Mana Burn.
- Positioning-dependent heroes are threatened by Vendetta: Ember Spirit, Drow Ranger.
- Because Vendetta applies a Break status, heroes that rely on passive abilities like Enchantress, Huskar, and Phantom Assassin will have limited contributions in fights.
Items[]
- With Spiked Carapace off cooldown, Nyx Assassin is somewhat a counter to Lotus Orb. He can use Spiked Carapace, then Mana Burn a target with an active Lotus Orb, protecting him from the damage of the reflected mana burn (but not the burnt mana), reflecting the damage back and stunning the target.
- This is better with a Dagon, since all it does is deal damage, resulting in a Lotus Orb backfiring and the target suffering twice the Dagon's damage.
- This works even more effectively with the 175% Spiked Carapace talent (at level 20), as it reflects the Dagon's damage twice, resulting in the Dagon's damage tripling in total. With Dagon 5, this becomes an instant 2400 damage nuke and 2.4 second stun (before amplification/reduction).
- Another thing is that Lotus Orb itself is a good item itself for Nyx Assassin. Alongside with Blade Mail, a combination of Dagon, Blade Mail, Lotus Orb, and Spiked Carapace hit on enemy with a Lotus Orb activated will deal about 2400(3000 with level 20 talent) magic damage (before reduction/amplification).
- Items with area of effect damage may proc Spiked Carapace, stunning the wielders and allowing Nyx Assassin to follow with other abilities: Battle Fury, Maelstrom, Mjollnir, Shiva's Guard and most notably Radiance.
- Powerful passive skills are easily disabled by Vendetta's break: Counter Helix, Blur, Jingu Mastery.
- Aeon Disk can prevent Nyx Assassin from nuking you down.
Works well with...[]
- Nyx Assassin's initiation potential works great in conjunction with Invoker's high damage spells.
- Impale allows Invoker's Sun Strike to be easily aimed.
- Invoker's Tornado, Ice Wall, and Cold Snap allows Nyx Assassin to land Impale rather easily.
- Nyx Assassin's high burst damage helps Legion Commander gain Duel damage.
- Press the Attack removes silences and Dust of Appearance from Nyx Assassin.
- Nyx Assassin can initiate using Blink Dagger and Vendetta, making him an ideal Infest target.
- Thirst helps Nyx Assassin locate and eliminate weakened enemies.
- Rupture can help land Impale, which can in turn set up Blood Rite.
Others[]
- Heroes with global or very long range spells can help Nyx Assassin take out tougher enemies: Zeus, Ancient Apparition, Spectre.
- Tanky heroes who can lure enemies to use their AoE nukes, allowing Nyx Assassin to counter-initiate with Spiked Carapace.
- Heroes with area disables that can help Nyx Assassin land an Impale: Lion, Tidehunter, and Underlord.
- Heroes with Boots of Travel 2 can take advantage of Vendetta to sneak behind enemy lines.
