Templar Assassin

Psionic Trap
Summoned Ward
Health 100 +0.5
This unit has no mana.
Notes	Phased

Templar Assassin 21 + 2.4 23 + 3.2 20 + 2
	+20HP and +0.1HP regeneration/point.
	+0.17 armor and 1 attack speed/point.; +1 main attack damage/point.
	+12MP and +0.05MP regeneration/point.
L0	Base Hero Values
L1	⤷ + Base Attributes
L15	⤷ + Attribute Gain
L25	⤷ + 6 levels of Attribute Bonus
L30	⤷ + 7 levels of Attribute Bonus
	All values shown are without talent bonuses.

Hero

Strategy

Lanaya, the Templar Assassin, is a very short-ranged agility hero capable of dealing huge bursts of physical damage to swathes of enemies with expert positioning and timing. Unlike most physical damage dealers, Lanaya reaches her damage potential quite early and then scales up from that point with carry items, letting her gank with impunity throughout the mid-game, and her short attack range increases from being comparable to that of a melee hero to a ranged hero with short reach as she levels Psi Blades.

Her Psionic Traps provide map control and the ability to chase down fleeing heroes from a distance, and Refraction and Meld lets you shrug off high-damage nukes and disjoint projectiles. With a Blink Dagger, Lanaya can quickly materialize in the enemy team's weakest flank and shred several heroes at once with her Meld and Psi Blades.

Bio[]

Lanaya, the Templar Assassin

▶️ "Where the Hidden Ones send me, I go without question. I do not even question why I question not."

Lore:

Lanaya, the Templar Assassin, came to her calling by a path of curious inquiry. Possessed of a scientific bent, she spent her early years engaged in meticulous study of nature's laws--peering into grimoires of magic and alchemy, recreating experiments from charred fragments of the Violet Archives, and memorizing observations of the Keen recordkeepers. Already quiet and secretive by nature, the difficulty of acquiring these objects further reinforced her skills of stealth. Had she been less retiring, she might have become notorious among the guilds as a thief-scholar. Instead her investigations led her into far more obscure corners.

As she devoted her furtive talents to unlocking the secrets of the universe, she instead unlocked a secret door that exists in nature itself: the entryway to the most Hidden Temple. The intelligences that waited beyond that portal, proved to be expecting her, and whatever mysteries they revealed in the moment of their discovery was nothing compared to the answers they held out to Lanaya should she continue in their service. She swore to protect the mysteries, but more to the point, in service to the Hidden Temple she satisfies her endless craving for understanding. In the eyes of each foe she expunges, a bit more of the mystery is revealed.

Voice:

Linda K. Morris (Responses)

Abilities[]

Refraction

▶️

▶️QR

$Refraction icon.png$

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Templar Assassin becomes highly elusive, avoiding damage and gaining a bonus to her damage. The damage and avoidance effects are separate, and have a limited number of instances.

Cast Animation: +

Number of Instances: 3/4/5/6 (

11/12/13/14)

Attack Damage Bonus: 25/50/75/100

Duration: 17

17

100

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_refraction_damage: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_templar_assassin_refraction_absorb: Dispellable with death only.

Manipulating her psionic veil, Lanaya bends nature's law to her will.

Notes:

Refraction interrupts Templar Assassin's channeling abilities upon cast.

Places 2 buffs on Templar Assassin, one granting instances of damage block and the other instances of bonus attack damage.

The number of remaining instances is visible on the buff icons. The buffs and the visual effects of the ability are visible to everyone.

Grants regular flat bonus attack damage.
- Loses a bonus damage instance when the attack projectile successfully lands on the target. Missed or disjointed attacks do not count.
- Neither loses instances upon attacking allies, nor applies the bonus damage to them.
- Does not provide bonus damage when cast while an attack projectile is traveling, but still uses up one instance upon projectile hit.

Refraction fully negates damage (after all reductions), causing several on-damage effects to not trigger.
- Refracts the 3 damage types, but not heals and HP Removal effects (e.g. Sunder, Soul Ring etc.).
- Has a higher priority than Aphotic Shield, but lower than False Promise. However, it still loses a charge when combined with the latter.
- Damage below 5 (after reductions) is completely ignored. It is neither blocked, nor consumes any block instances.

Meld

▶️

▶️WD

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self / Enemies

Damage
Physical

Templar Assassin conceals herself, becoming invisible as long as she remains still. If Meld's invisibility is broken by attacking an enemy, Lanaya will deal bonus damage to the enemy and reduce their armor for 12 seconds.

Cast Animation: +

Fade Time: 0

Damage: 80/120/160/200

Armor Reduction: 5/6/7/8 (

8/9/10/11)

Debuff Duration: 12

Invis Duration: Permanent

Bash Duration: 1

11/9/7/5

35/40/45/50

The attack projectile out of Meld can be disjointed.

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_meld: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_templar_assassin_meld_animation: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_templar_assassin_meld_armor: Dispellable with any dispel.

modifier_bashed: Dispellable with strong dispels.

Lanaya is as elusive as her covenant with the Hidden Temple.

Notes:

Meld interrupts Templar Assassin's channeling abilities upon cast.

Turns Templar Assassin instantly invisible, phased and a stop order is issued.
- She can turn, pick up, drop or attack items without breaking the invisibility, considering she does not move while doing so.
- The invisibility is lost upon reaching the cast point of abilities, upon landing an attack, or upon moving.
- Forced Movement also cancels Meld if moved horizontally. However, vertical movement and teleporting effects do not cancel it.
- After an attack projectile has been launched, Templar Assassin can perform any action without losing the invisibility.
- However, if the projectile misses or is disjointed, the invisibility is lost at the moment it misses.

Templar Assassin's next attack which connects with a unit applies the Meld effects.
- This does not necessarily have to be the first attack out of Meld. If somehow the following attack hits another target first, the new target is affected instead.
- Meld first applies the armor debuff, then the attack damage, then the Meld damage and then the bash.
- The Meld hit bash talent stacks with other bash sources.

The Meld damage is dealt in a separate damage instance, and counts as attack damage.
- Since it is applied separately, it does not trigger crits, lifesteal or Psi Blades.

Neither the bonus damage nor the armor reduction from Meld affect buildings.

Multiple instances of the armor reduction debuff fully stack.

The Meld dispel talent applies a basic dispel on Templar Assassin upon cast.

Psi Blades

▶️EB

Ability
Passive

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Pure

Templar Assassin's psi blades slice through the attacked unit, splitting and damaging enemy units directly behind it, while gaining bonus attack range. For each unit it damages, the spill damage is reduced by a percentage.

Attack Range Bonus: 80/130/180/230 (

200/250/300/350)

Spill Area Width: 90

Spill Area Length Multiplier: 1.5

Attack Damage Spilled: 100%

Damage Loss per Target: 5%

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_psi_blades: Undispellable. Persists death.

Her blades pierce the skin as much as the mind, furthering her understanding of the mystery that is reality.

Notes:

Increases Templar Assassin's total attack range to 240/290/340/390 ( 360/410/460/510).

The spill area has a rectangular shape, with a width of 90 and a length based on Templar Assassin's total attack range.
- With her default attack range and Psi Blade's attack range bonus, the spill area has a length of 360/435/510/585 ( 540/615/690/765).
- The spill area starts at the attack target's location and extends beyond them. So from her total maximum attack range, it can hit units up to 600/725/850/975 ( 900/1025/1150/1275) range away.
- The spill area can be further increased by other attack range bonuses.

Psi Blade's damage counts as spell damage, but they ignore outgoing spell damage amplification and cannot spell lifesteal.
- The initial spill damage equals the amount of damage the primary attack target took from the attack.
- This means the spill damage is fully affected by incoming damage manipulation.
- This also means that it also works with critical strike, quell and bashes. However, it does not work with Javelin and Monkey King Bar procs.
- Attack modifiers are only applied to the primary target.

The 5% damage loss per target is always based on the initial damage, not on the damage the previous target took.
- This means Psi Blades' damage reaches 0% after the 20th target.
- However, it still affects all enemies within its area, applying a 0 damage instance to further targets.

Templar Assassin's position is checked as the projectile hits the target, not upon launching.

Psi Blades spill damage when attacking allies or wards which use flat health (e.g. Plague Ward).
- Spill damage can hit Courier and invisible units.
- Does not spill when attacking wards that require a fixed amount of attacks to be destroyed.
- Despite the visual effects, Psi Blades do not spill damage when attacking buildings.

Trap

▶️DT

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Springs the nearest trap, slowing nearby enemies.

Cast Animation: +

Trap Search Radius: Global

Slow Radius: 400

Total Damage: 250/300/350 (

360/410/460)

Min Move Speed Slow: 30%

Max Move Speed Slow: 60%

Trap Charge Time: 4

Slow Duration: 5

Min Silence Duration: 1.5

Max Silence Duration: 3.5

0.5

Slow persists and attempts to damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_trap_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.

modifier_silence: Dispellable with any dispel.

Notes:

This ability is unlocked when Psionic Trap is learned.

Does not interrupt Templar Assassin's channeling ability upon cast.

Cannot be cast when there is no Psionic Traps present.

The slow starts at 30% and increases by 0.25% in each server tick, reaching its maximum values at 4 seconds.
- With Aghanim's Shard, the silence duration starts at 1.5 and increases by 0.01 in the same intervals.

On each second after placement, the slow values and silence durations are:
- 0 Seconds: 30% slow, 1.5 seconds silence.
- 1 Second: 37.5% slow, 2 seconds silence.
- 2 Seconds: 45% slow, 2.5 seconds silence.
- 3 Seconds: 52.5% slow, 3 seconds silence.
- 4 Seconds: 60% slow, 3.5 seconds silence.

The damage is only applied when the trap is fully charged.
- The trap visually changes once fully charged. Its outer ring starts black and turns white once fully charged.
- The damage values are always based on the current level and talent upgrades upon triggering the trap, and are not set upon spawning the trap.
- The source of the damage is the caster, and not the trap itself.
- Deals 50/60/70 ( 72/82/92) damage in 1-second intervals, starting 1 second after the debuff is placed, resulting in 5 damage instances.

Multiple instances of the debuff do not stack, but get refreshed instead.
- When refreshed, the slow and damage values get updated based on how long that trap was charged.

Psionic Projection

▶️FW

Ability
Target Point / Channeled

Affects
Self / Enemies

Damage
Magical

Allows Templar Assassin to teleport from a nearby Psionic Trap to another after a brief channel. Does not break meld. Detonates both Psionic Traps on arrival.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: Global

Slow Radius: 400

Channel Time: 1.5

Total Damage: 250/300/350 (

360/410/460)

Min Move Speed Slow: 30%

Max Move Speed Slow: 60%

Trap Charge Time: 4

Slow Duration: 5

Min Silence Duration: 1.5

Max Silence Duration: 3.5

10

50

Slow persists and attempts to damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.

Can be cast while rooted or leashed, but immediately gets stopped without getting wasted and without error messages. Getting rooted or leashed while already channeling does not cancel it, but prevents the teleport from happening if the channeling finishes while rooted or leashed.

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_trap_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.

modifier_silence: Dispellable with any dispel.

Ability Draft Notes:

Requires drafting

Psionic Trap to be unlocked.

In reward for her service, Lanaya has been granted access to secrets that unlock new techniques for her psionic gifts.

Notes:

Requires Aghanim's Scepter to be unlocked.

Teleports to the closest trap from the targeted point. The trap gets detonated upon teleporting.
- Same notes as for Trap apply.

Casting this while traps are not present does nothing, wasting mana and cooldown.

Psionic Trap

▶️RC

Ability
Target Point

Templar Assassin places mystical traps that invisibly monitor enemy movement. When sprung at her command, they exert a slowing influence of 30% in the area. Traps charge up to slow 60% after 4 seconds. Deals bonus damage when fully charged.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 1800

Max Traps: 5/8/11 (

9/12/15)

Trap Fade Time: 2

Trap Duration: Permanent

11/8/5

15

Grants a new ability: Psionic Projection.

Causes Psionic Trap to silence enemies for up to 3.5 seconds based on how long the trap has been charged. Increases max trap count by 4.

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_psionic_trap_counter: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_templar_assassin_trap: Undispellable. Persists death.

Calling upon the reach of the Hidden Temple, none escape the eye of the Templar.

Notes:

Psionic Traps only apply their effects on enemies when they triggered by either Trap, Psionic Projection or the ability from the trap itself.
- The traps do not apply their effects when they are destroyed by attacks, or by detonating when exceeding the maximum allowed traps count.

Psionic Traps do not block neutral creep camps.

Psionic Trap Ability[]

Trap

▶️QT

Ability
No Target

Affects
Enemies

Springs the trap, slowing nearby enemies.

Cast Animation: +

Slow Radius: 400

Total Damage: 250/300/350 (

360/410/460)

Min Move Speed Slow: 30%

Max Move Speed Slow: 60%

Trap Charge Time: 4

Slow Duration: 5

Min Silence Duration: 1.5

Max Silence Duration: 3.5

0.5

Slow persists and attempts to damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.

Modifiers

modifier_templar_assassin_trap_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.

modifier_silence: Dispellable with any dispel.

Notes:

This ability is cast from the trap itself, allowing Templar Assassin to trigger traps from afar without having to trigger nearby traps first.

Same notes as for Trap on Templar Assassin apply.

Talents[]

Hero Talents
+8 Refraction Instances	25	1s Meld Hit Bash
-3 Meld Armor Reduction	20	Meld Dispels
+120 Psi Blades Range	15	15% Evasion
+110 Psionic Trap Damage	10	+20 Attack Speed

Notes:

The evasion talent stacks multiplicatively with other sources of evasion.

Recent Changes[]

Main Article: Templar Assassin/Changelogs

Version

Description

7.30

Psi Blades
- Now deals 5% less spill damage to each successive enemy after the first target.
- Reduced spill area length from 2x to 1.5x of Templar Assassin's total attack range.
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
- Psionic Projection
  - Can no longer start channeling while rooted or leashed. [?]
  - Increased channel time from 1 to 1.5.
Talents:

Level 10 left talent changed: +100

Psi Blades range ➜ +110

Psionic Trap damage.

Level 15 left talent changed: +180

Psionic Trap damage ➜ +120

Psi Blades range.

7.29b

Reduced Meld cooldown from 15/12/9/6 to 11/9/7/5.
Talents:

Level 10 left talent: +80

Psi Blades range increased to +100.

7.29

Meld
- Increased damage from 50/100/150/200 to 80/120/160/200.
- Reduced mana cost from 50 on each level to 35/40/45/50.
- Increased cooldown from 12/10/8/6 to 15/12/9/6.
Reduced Psionic Trap cast range from 2000 to 1800.
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
- Psionic Projection
  - Reduced mana cost from 100 to 50.
  - Reduced cooldown from 15 to 10.
Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Psionic Trap
  - Now also increases the vision radius to 525.
  - Increased minimum silence duration from 0.5 to 1.5.
  - Increased maximum silence duration from 3 to 3.5.
Talents:

Level 10 left talent changed: +20 movement speed ➜ +80

Psi Blades range.

Level 10 right talent: +15 attack speed increased to +20.

Level 15 left talent: +160

Psionic Trap damage increased to +180.

Level 25 left talent: +6

Refraction instances increased to +8.

Recommended Items[]

Starting items:

Tango give Templar Assassin health regeneration allowing her to stay in the lane for longer.
Healing Salve, used at the last moment, can save Templar Assassin from death.
Clarity help her sustain the mana cost of her Refraction, which is an essential ability for Templar Assassin in her laning phase.
Iron Branches give an overall cheap damage, health and mana boost and can be built into a Magic Wand later on.

Early game:

Boots of Speed is a vital item for every hero in the game in order to escape and chase when necessary.
Bottle is important for saving runes and sustaining her health and mana while she roams the map to find kills.
Blight Stone is very cost-effective early game item and will be upgraded later to Desolator.
Magic Stick can help Templar Assassin out a lot when facing heroes which spam their abilities. The instant health and mana restore can turn around the outcome of a fight when used properly.

Mid game:

Power Treads provides appropriate attributes, increasing her health or mana at will, as well as raising attack speed.
Magic Wand makes use of the branches and the Magic Stick from earlier and has a stronger potential heal burst.
Blink Dagger is essential to reach Templar Assassin's maximum potential. Although she is technically a ranged hero, her base attack range is similar to that of a melee hero. A Blink Dagger allows her to get in range to attack enemies and land her Meld attack, or to catch up to enemies slowed by her Psionic Trap. In teamfights, it helps her to position herself to use the full potential of Psi Blades. On the other side, it is also a great escaping tool when combined with her spells. Refraction prevents the dagger from getting disabled, but if it does get disabled, Meld can help her hide for a moment and then blink out if the enemy has no True Sight or area spells.
Desolator increases Templar Assassin's damage output immensely, since Templar Assassin only deals physical damage by default (besides Psi Blades). The armor reduction of Desolator fully stacks with that of Meld, allowing her to reduce up to 15 armor on a target. This results in a highly increased damage output, which then translates into higher damage with Psi Blades, since their damage is based on what the initial attack target received. On top of this, Desolator also grants a decent raw attack damage bonus.

Late game:

Black King Bar may be required to deal with disables; although Refraction helps her from taking any kind of damage, it does not stop disables. If avoiding their disables with blink or Meld is not possible, a Black King Bar should be bought. The item also grants some raw damage and a bit of health, increasing her damage output and survivability further.

Situational items:

Assault Cuirass, similar to Desolator, synergizes well with Templar Assassin as it reduces enemy armor and increases her attack speed, upping her damage output by a massive amount. Besides that, the additional armor compensates for her squishiness. The armor bonuses and reductions are also auras, making it a valuable contribution to any teamfight.
Heart of Tarrasque allows Templar Assassin to fight for much longer thanks to its enormous health boost. However, it should only be bought after having built up some damage first, because being tanky does not help her much when she deals little damage.
Butterfly is always a great item for every agility hero, as it increases attack damage and speed by a lot and also provides evasion, helping against enemy attacks. The evasion also synergizes very well with Refraction, which does not lose any of its damage block charges when Templar Assassin evades attacks.
Manta Style can be considered on Templar Assassin if some extra push power is required. If one has quick reflexes, its active can also be used to disjoint enemy attacks and spells. It also provides decent stats and grants some mobility. Keep in mind though that, despite her melee-like attack range, Templar Assassin is still a ranged hero, so the ranged illusion values and cooldown are used.
Daedalus is a great item on Templar Assassin, since a critical strike is spread to all enemies with Psi Blades. It also works extremely well together with her high amount of armor reduction from her ability and typical item choices. However, since it is a chance-based effect and is based on her attack damage, other damage increasing items are required first to unlock its high potential.
Eye of Skadi grants attributes for tankiness and damage, the slow also keeps enemies in attack range.
Dragon Lance gives Templar Assassin higher range and a good amount of stats that she needs early-mid game: Strength for health and Agility for armor and damage. The increased attack range also allows Templar Assassin to perhaps skip a few points on Psi Blades and focus on maxing out Meld after Refraction instead. Afterward, it may be disassembled to be turned into a Black King Bar, or kept and upgraded into Hurricane Pike, giving Templar Assassin a second mobility item with Blink Dagger, and its active gives Templar Assassin four possibly unavoidable attacks from any range.

Gameplay[]


Roles:	Carry Escape
Complexity:	★★☆
Playstyle:	Only the Hidden Temple can satisfy Lanaya's infinite thirst for knowledge. In exchange for such wisdom, she pledged to protect its mysteries with her latent psionic abilities. Bending the laws of nature itself, Lanaya forms a Refraction field that absorbs incoming blows, yet amplifies outgoing attacks. She Melds into the background, lying in wait to unleash a burst of psionic energy on unsuspecting targets. Violet light emanates from her fingertips, Psi Blades that outrange any melee weapon, and cuts through lines of foes at once. Persistent in her goals, Lanaya marks the ground with magic circles of eldritch design. Those who walk unknowingly over a Psionic Trap can only limp away from the explosion—for their presence has been revealed, and the Templar Assassin is not far behind.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio[]

Responses

Sounds

History[]

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment[]

Trivia[]

In DotA, Templar Assassin makes numerous references to the game Starcraft, another famous RTS game by Blizzard. Her ability to manipulate psionic energy, the psi blades she wields, and the mention of her master being originally from Aiur in her DotA biography all apply to the Protoss, one of the three main races of the game. The description of Meld also describes it as the "Art of Shakuras". In Starcraft lore Shakuras is the capital of the Lenassa clan which is part of the Nerazim faction better known as Dark Templar. Lenassa templars are wearing cloth shrouds on their faces, and have purple warp blades and purple eyes.^[1]
Templar Assassin's rare response upon snapping a trap, ▶️ "It's a trap!" is a reference based on Star Wars' Admiral Ackbar's quote from "Return of the Jedi."
The response ▶️ "My body is a temple for which I will kill." is a reference to the bible verse John 2:19-22.
Templar Assassin's response upon killing Snapfire ▶️ "Alright then, keep your secrets." is a reference to Frodo's quote in the 2001 film The Lord of the Rings.