Lanaya: More than just an Assassin

In this guide, I will talk about Lanaya, the Templar Assassin, including items, skills and how to deal with certain enemy mid heroes or heroes in general. I will try to make this guide as easy to understand as possible, yet still having a lot of important information.
Lanaya is more versatile in both item builds and skill builds than many think, yet all those modifications are situational, thus the normal build is better, but that doesn't mean it is set in stone and that there is no room for inovation. Let's get started, shall we?

Disclaimer

So, before we start, I want to adress an issue with the guide that has been brought to my attention, and that is, there are some people who might not have read more than the introduction or first 2-3 chapters, and because they look similar to the Face, Meet Lanaya [www.dotafire.com] guide on DotAFire, accused me of just copy pasting Dr. D's guide, which, those who did read my whole guide, will notice that it's not true.

I do confess that I used the layout of his guide as a blue print for mine, hence some similarities, but, as you all can see, beside some small similarities in skill description and game play, the guides are extremely different. For example, Dr. D's guide has a section where he explains all about armor, section which I decide not to make, at least for now, while my guide has 3 sections dedicated only to mid lane match-ups, sections that his guide does not have.

To all those who believe that I copied his guide, please forgive the similarities and understand that the guides are different. Writting a comprehensive guide is not as easy as it looks.

Introduction

I welcome all to my guide to Lanaya, the Templar Assassin. In this guide I will try to teach you all I know about Lanaya, all the tips and tricks I learned over the time I spent in DotA and hopefully, more people will start playing this awesome hero.

Why Lanaya and not another hero?

Lanaya is by far my most played hero and my best. At the time of writing, on this account I have around 350 games with more than 200 wins and a total of over 600 TA games with more than 400 wins over all 3 accounts and my previous W3 DotA profile.

Now, as for why exactly her and not another hero: I enjoy playing and learning more about her and I often see her as a missunderstood hero especially in the lower brackets, so I decided to share with you my knowledge about one of the most fun to play heroes in the game.

Her item choices can vary depending on the enemy line-up and how the game started for her. Her comeback potential is really high but one has to take advantage of it fast. Most of the mid-game, her skills alone deal an insane amount of damage but in order to make a good comeback, one has to know when to farm and when to gank and most important, who to kill. Lanaya is not a full carry but a semi-carry, so if she doesn't have a huge enough lead, she can be easily killed in the late-game no matter her farm level.

Who is Lanaya?

From the Wiki: Lanaya the Templar Assassin is a 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 range changes from 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 up to 2000 range, 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.

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.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
-Good all-around stat gains
-High burst damage
-Spammable spells with low cooldownd and mana cost
-Melts armor like a Slardar
-Counters most solo mid
-Free "wards"

Cons:
-Less starting range than Doom Bringer
-Squishy without Refraction
-Easily outmatched by "true" carries lategame
-Radiance

When to pick Lanaya?

Pick Lanaya when:
-You want to easily kill squishy heroes
-Your team has more armor reduction heroes.
-The enemy team is full of squishy nukers/supports
-You like playing mind games with the enemy
-You want to take the term "rune-♥♥♥♥♥ to a new level


Do NOT pick Lanaya when:
-You don't like using Blink Dagger
-You plan on farming mid all day long
-You would prefer to play heroes that can solo an entire team
-You would prefer to play a hero with few active skills.
-Another hero needs mid lane much more than you do
-The enemy team has Batrider/Doom Bringer/a Radiance carrier
-Your team consists of Sniper, Phantom Assassin, Morphling, and Phantom Lancer

Skills and Skill Build

As I previously said, most of Lanaya's early-mid game damage comes from her skills and the way these skills are leveled depends on the current situation of the game. From the Wiki:

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 Time: 0+0
Number of Instances: 3/4/5/6
Attack Damage Bonus: 20/40/60/80
Duration: 17
Cool Down: 17
Mana Cost: 100

Notes:
-Refraction interrupts Templar Assassin's channeling spells upon cast.
-Places 2 buffs on Templar Assassin, named "Damage" and "Absorb". One buff grants instances of damage block and the other buff grants instances of bonus attack damage.
-The numbers of left instances are visible on the buff icons. The buffs are visible to everyone, as well as all other visual effects of the ability.
--Refraction - Damage buff
-The damage buff has a different icon than the absorb damage buff
-The bonus damage is added as raw attack damage bonus, which is visible in the HUD.
-Loses a bonus damage instance when the attack projectile successfully lands on the target. So when the attack is evaded, or disjointed, no instance is lost.
-An instance is not lost when attacking a friendly unit, but the attack still does bonus damage.
-When casting Refraction while an attack projectile is traveling, the projectile does not get the bonus damage, but still uses up one instance upon landing.
--Refraction - Absorb buff
-Fully negates damage, causing several on-damage effects to not trigger.
-Has a higher priority than Aphotic Shield and Living Armor, but lower than False Promise. However, it still loses a charge when combined with False Promise.
-Damage below 5 (after reductions) is completely ignored. It is neither blocked, nor wastes any block instances.
-As with all damage manipulating effects, Refraction only negates the 3 damage types. It does not negate HP Removal and Negative Regeneration.
-Refraction's visual effects and status buffs are always visible.

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 10 seconds.
Cast Time: 0+0.53
Fade Time: 0
Damage: 50/100/150/200
Armor Reduction: 2/4/6/8
Debuff Duration: 10
Invis Duration: Permanent
Cool Down: 6
Mana Cost: 50

Notes:
-Meld interrupts Templar Assassin's channeling spells upon cast.
-The attack projectile out of Meld can be disjointed.
-Turns Templar Assassin instantly invisible and orders her to stop.
-Invisibility is lost upon reaching the cast point of spells or items, upon landing an attack, or upon moving or getting moved in any way.
-After an attack projectile has been launched, Templar Assassin can perform any action without losing the invisibility.
-However, when the projectile misses (evasion, blind or disjoint), the invisibility is lost at the moment it misses.
-Turns Templar Assassin phased, so that other units may pass through her.
-Templar Assassin can pick up, drop or attack items without breaking the invisibility, considering she does not move while doing so. She also can turn without losing it.
-The next attack of Templar Assassin which connects with a unit applies the damage and armor reduction.
-This does not necessarily have to be the first attack out of Meld. If somehow a following attack hits another target first (e.g. it teleports away), the new target is affected instead.
-The armor reduction debuff does not stack with itself.
-Neither the bonus damage nor the armor reduction from Meld affect buildings.
-Meld's damage is independent from her attack damage and is applied as a separate instance.
-This means that Lanaya cannot lifesteal off the damage, it cannot crit, be reduced or amplified by e.g. Enfeeble or Empower and is not spilled by Psi Blades.
-Meld first applies Templar Assassin's actual attack damage, then the armor debuff and then the Meld damage.
-This means the leading attack's damage is not increased by the armor reduction, but the spell's own damage is.

Templar Assassin's psi blades slice through the attacked unit, splitting and damaging enemy units directly behind it, while gaining bonus attack range.
Spill Range: 590/630/670/710
Spill Width: 68
Attack Range Bonus: 60/120/180/240

Notes:
-Psi Blades increases Templar Assassin's total attack range to 200/260/320/380.
-With no points in Psi Blades, Templar Assassin has an attack range of only 140. However, she is still treated as a ranged hero for all item interactions.
-The spill range is based on the attack target's position, not on Templar Assassin's. So from max attack range, she can hit units up to 790/890/990/1090 range away.
-Spill damage is based on her attack damage after all reductions meaning that the spill damage can be increased by reducing the armor of the primary target as well as by increasing Templar Assassin's attack damage with attack modifiers like crits, bashes and Manabreak.
-Attack modifiers are only applied to the primary target.
-Templar Assassin's position is checked as the projectile hits the target, not upon launching.
-Despite the visual effects, Psi Blades do not spill damage when attacking illusions or buildings.
-Psi Blades damage does not hit wards and buildings.
-Psi Blades spill damage when attacking allies or wards.
-Spill damage hits invisible units.

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 an additional 5% every second, up to 50%.
Cast Time: 0.3+0
Cast Range: 2000
Maximum Traps: 5/8/11
Min Move Speed Slow: 30%
Max Move Speed Slow: 50%
Slow Duration: 5
Trap Duration: Permanent
Cool Down: 11/8/5
Mana Cost: 15

Notes:
-Psionic Traps do not prevent neutral creeps from spawning.
-The slow starts at 30% and increases by 0.5% in 0.1 second intervals, reaching the maximum slow 4 seconds after placing the trap.
-Psionic Traps do not slow upon getting destroyed.
-Casting Psionic Trap while teleporting and having the "Teleport Requires Stop" setting on, still cancels the teleport.

Springs the nearest trap, slowing nearby enemies.
Cast Time: 0+0
Trap Search Radius: Global
Slow Radius: 400
Cool Down: 0.5

Notes:
-Trap is unlocked when Psionic Trap is learned.
-Does not interrupt Templar Assassin's channeling spells upon cast.
-Cannot be cast while no traps are present (gives "No Traps" error message).

Springs the trap, slowing nearby enemies.
Cast Time: 0+0
Slow Radius: 400
Cool Down: 0.5

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


As I said, the skills can be leveled up depending on the need, but as with every hero, there are prefered skill builds. Lanaya's "core" skill build consists of maxing Refraction first with one level of Psy Blades at level 1 or 3 and one level of Meld at lvl 5, taking Psionic Trap whenever possible and maxim Meld second, with Psy Blades last. This skill build is good indeed, but it has one minor flaw, being the short range until the leveling of Psy Blades at lvl 12.

More about skills

Refraction is the skill that essentially defines Lanaya, and it is what makes her incredibly powerful and item-independent early to mid-game. As such, it is usually the first skill that many players prefer maxing out. Its mana cost is not too hard to handle, but you won't be able to keep it on all the time without a Crystal Maiden on your team, so knowing when to use it is crucial.

Due to the massive utility that Refraction provides, you should primarily be using Refraction to control your lane. As the bonus damage from Refraction is very high (higher than a fully charged Necromastery and similar to Metamorphosis), you can abuse it with your Psi Blades to harass the enemy hero pretty hard. As long as you don't directly attack them, the enemy creeps won't target you, and the enemy hero likely won't be able to retaliate thanks to Refraction's defensive charges. That being said however, if you can't hit the enemy safely or can't do it consistently, it is perfectly acceptable to use Refraction for last hitting as well.

For example, fighting Ember Spirit directly with Refraction will probably cause you to lose all of your defensive Refraction charges to his Flame Guard and Searing Chains, so you will want to wait untill after the Chains to ensure a little more defense against his Flame Guard. But, when fighting a nuke-heavy hero such as Tinker, it's better to activate Refraction beforehand so you don't eat his Laser + Missile combo.

Additionally, if you wait about 8-12 seconds after your first Refraction cast, you should be able to cast Refraction again almost immediately after the first one wears off. This essentially doubles the amount of charges that you would normally have in a given period of time. Similar to the double Overpower tactic used by Ursa, you should aim to do this prior to engaging in any expected battle, if possible as it can mean the difference between a lost fight and a win.

Also, keep in mind that both teams can see the Refraction dome and charges, so many players may chose to auto attack you to destroy the defensive charges before using their spells to try and kill you.

Meld is a really versatile skill, and the only burst damage Lanaya has. However, too often many TA players use it wrong. Despite the fact that it provides instant invisibility, Meld is primarily used offensively, and shouldn't be used defensively except for certain situations. That is to say, most of the time, Meld should not be used to hide unless it can save you untill your Dagger comes off cooldown or team mates reach you.

Offensive Melds, or "Meld-taps" as I enjoy calling them (name taken from Dr. D's guide, but I like the name, so I decided to use it here), are what you will be using most of the time. To do this, simply move next to an enemy, cast Meld, and then immediately break it with an auto-attack. When doing this, you should have your cursor close to your target and a-click the ground afterwards. This is because any action taken will break Meld, but only attacking an enemy will apply the bonus damage and debuff. If you managed to hit, you should try to follow up with at least one more auto-attack, preferably using Refraction, as it also deals physical damage. Note that turning does not break Meld, so you can use this to your advantage.

Like Refraction, Meld also has a very short cooldown relative to the effect's duration. Therefore, if you can predict where the enemy will move, you can essentially pull off 2 Meld strikes. This is done by activating Meld in a location that they are headed towards, which will place Meld on its 6 second cooldown. Then, break your Meld with an a-click on the ground, as usual so we don't waste it. By this time, Meld should be almost, off cooldown, allowing you to use it again almost immediately afterwards for Vendetta-like burst.

Defensively, Meld cannot be used to escape in the same way that most other invisibility skills, such as Scheleon Walk, are used. As I mentioned earlier, any action, including movement, will break Meld. This means you cannot use a TP Scroll in conjunction with Meld either, but, you can Meld right before the TP ends, to give the impression that you did TP away. Meld has a near-instant fade time of 0.0001 seconds, which means that you can effectively dodge most targeted projectiles such as Wraithfire Blast or Storm Hammer by using Meld while they are still en route. When dodging projectiles this way, keep in mind that you do not need to remain invisible for the entire duration of the projectile unless it cannot be disjointed, such as Alchemist's Unstable Concoction. This also means that if the enemy has True Sight of you such as through Gem of True Sight, Dust of Appearance, or Track, the projectile can and will still hit you. Additionally, abilities that don't target you specifically, such as Elune's Arrow, will also hit you in Meld, regardless of whether or not the enemy has vision.

Psi Blades is a powerful lane-controlling and farming skill that functions a bit similar to Kunkka's Tidebringer. Whenever you attack any target, ally or not, Psi Blades creates a hit box behind your target with a small width and long length. All enemies within the hit box take damage equal to what your target took as Pure damage.

Each time you try go for a last hit/deny, simply try to position yourself such that your opponent is almost behind your target (remember, the hit box has a small width, so the target can be a little on the side, not perfectly behind). While you should not hope to hit every single time, you should easily harass some enemy heroes more than others.

This does not apply to illusions however; if you attack an illusion, you will not spill damage.

Psionic Trap might seem like a rather weak ultimate at first, considering the rest of Lanaya's skill set is made to kill people fast. But the Psy-Traps allow you to reach enemies that move faster than you, or they can grant you vision on certain areas to do your dirty work, so no more sneaky Roshan's for Ursa. Always keep one trap for ganks or escapes.

The most obvious use for Psionic Trap is to slow down enemy units, and you should have at most 1-2 traps dedicated sorely to this. Keep in mind that the slow itself is still very powerful - at full strength. Along with its short cooldown, it is very possible to keep an enemy almost "perma-slowed" with Psy-Trap.
To do this properly, you will first want to place the trap slightly ahead of where they are running with its ridiculous 2000 casting range, so they also have a small window of opportunity to charge the slow a little more.

In addition to their slowing effect, Psionic Traps can also serve as ward substitutes with no gold cost and really smal vision range.

Talents

There isn't much to say about Lanaya's talents. They are all good and situational, but some are prefered over the others.

Level 10: +20 Move Speed vs +25 Attack Speed

The level 10 talent is up to player preference, and even tho many would suggest the Attack Speed, my suggestion would be the Move Speed. One of Lanaya's biggest weaknesses is chasing people and not being kited, thus, the +20 move speed will make sure she is harder to kite. She is a burst assassin, so the attack speed isn't really something she needs.

Level 15: +12% Evasion vs + 6 All Stats

The level 15 talent is an obvious choice, the +12% evasion. If the stats on the other choice would be something like +10 or +15, then maybe it could've been considered preference, but +6 is not something that Lanaya can benefit from that much.

Level 20: 40 Damage vs 275 Health

The level 20 talent is back to personal choice. I prefer the 275 health as the 40 damage is not something really important, especially if you are behind. You could have 1000 damage per hit, but if you are dead, you deal no damage, so the extra health will also increase your DPS by allowing you to attack more.

Level 25: +3 Refraction Instances vs -8 Meld Armor Debuff

The level 25 talent is as well, player choice, you can't have it set in stone. If you are snowballing and can kill anyone relatively fast and they have a hard time killing you, then taking the -8 Meld Debuff will just ensure that they will die faster, but if the game is balanced or you need some defence, then the +3 Refraction charges will help quite a lot. Basically: Need more nuke? -8 Armor. Need more sustained damage: +3 Charges. Is there an Axe/Bristle Back that needs to die? -8 Armor. Need some defence: +3 Charges.

Note: Before everyone who's into cookie cutter builds jumps in and tell me that no matter how you look at it, you will get more damage from the +3 Charges, regardless of what the enemy team is, please get your head out of your poop hole and listen for a second. Yes, it will add 240 (80x3) raw damage for your attacks, but that's the thing "your attacks", but since it's not an instant 240 damage, it's sustained damage, since it comes in instances, and it comes after your initial 6 end, there's no instant benefit to it, while the -8 armor is instant, as your next attack on the enemy hit will hurt much more, hence why I said that if you need more nuking and are hard to kill already, this talent is better. Also, if the enemy has a big tank that needs to die, even tho the +3 Charges add more damage to YOU, the -8 armor increases the damage output of your whole team against that person. Raw Damage and Damage Output are two different things, so please stop thinking of only Raw Damage and "it's better"

Items and Item Build

Item section has been momentarely removed as it was outdated and obsolote for the moment outside of the 2 item core, Desolator and Blink Dagger.

I will remake this section after I finish testing with many of the new items, as I did not have the time to do so until now due to the long break from the game I had.

Mid Lane Match-Ups part 1

Ok, let's talk about her match-ups on the mid lane. I will put chances for each hero against her after the hero name, they will look like 60-40 for example, the first number will represent the enemy chance to win the lane against her while the second number represents her chance. For this I have taken into account both kill potential and farm capabilities. If for example she has a higher kill potential on the enemy hero but a lower farm potential the lane will be a 50-50 and vice versa. The changes will only change when one hero has both a higher kill and farm potential.

I will also list a skill build that should give you an edge in a certain match-up if there is a need for a different build than the normal one and some tips that should help you at least survive the lane. The normal build for this section is considered E-Q-Q-E-Q-R-W at lvl 7.

80-20. Batrider is full of DoT spells and AoE. His Napalm will slow you and also increase all the damage he can do to you. You cannot stop him from an easy farm but in the same time, he can't really stop you from farming, as his Napalm only stacks on enemy units and his right click damage isn't that high, but you need to take care not to get too close to him. If you have 4 or more stacks on you, unless you are taking a last hit, you should face your tower, that will take away much of his kill potential on you. Skill build: E-Q-E-W-E-R-E at lvl 7 followed my maxing Meld.

60-40. In the old days this lane would be easily won by Lanaya, but now, Krobelus has a new skill which will prove problematic since it is a DoT. Spirit Syphon and Exorcism coupled with her high move speed tilts the scale in Krobelus' favour. Her early lane dominance is inexistent because her right clicks are low and her nuke doesn't do much damage on early levels, so you should take all the advantage you can during these early levels. She cannot stop you from last hitting but you should keep your distance, if she can get close to you, you can easily die to her. Skill build: E-Q-E-W-Q-R-W and followed by a mixt of Refraction and Meld.

40-60. Davion cannot stop you from farming and his laning strenghts consist of his hard to harras nature thanks to high armor, regen and the fact that his Breathe Fire also reduces enemy base damage. Now, as Lanaya, your Psy Blades can care less about his high armor because they deal pure damage, but his hp regen does mitigate the damage. His Breathe Fire does reduce base damage, but Refraction damage cannot be reduced, so you should always have enough damage to last hit and deny. You cannot kill him nor can he kill you early levels. At level 7, the kill potential of heroes rises, with him having a small advantage if you get too close, but you can also kill him, if you are careful.

50-50. Traxex is squishy, she has low hp and starting armor, but what she does have over you is a slow and a silence that knocks you back. You can both freely harras eachother, but you should keep distance unless it's a sure kill because she can kill you. Gust takes you out of Meld so you cannot use it to hide from her. She has a higher kill potential while you have a higher farm potential.

50-50. You each have what kills the other, so the first that makes a mistake is the first to die and from there the lane is lost for said hero. You can harras him with Psy Blades but he can also harras you with Flame Guard. The lane is balanced really well, as each should stay away from the other and kill attempts can easily turn around. Skill build: E-Q-E-W-W-R-W followed by maxing Meld.

50-50. Much like Xin, Huskar and you have what kills the other. Unlike Xin, Huskar is ranged but with lower damage, so the farming potential remains the same. His harras is slighly higher than yours but if you are careful, your kill potential is huge against Huskar. Contrary to an ordinary match-up for Huskar, his lvl 6 increases your kill potential. All you need to do is Meld when you see him jumping. Skill build: E-Q-E-W-W-R-W followed by maxind Meld.

50-50/40-60. if Kael goes a QW build, the lane is balanced, he has a high kill potential on you now that he got lvl 1 Invoke, but his farm potential is really low balancing the lane. If he goes on an Exort build, then his farm potential equals you but his kill potential decreases. If he is going WQ you will need to ferry some Clarities or a few Mangos every now and then so you can keep up mana wise.

60-40. You can't really do much againt Leshrac, his harras is stronger then yours, his kill potential over you is much higher and he can outfarm you once his harras got you low hp. He can't deny you much farm thou, so you can grab some last hits as long as you stay away from him. The normal skill build can work well against him, you can take one more point of Psy Blades if you really feel the need. Focus mostly on farming and don't try to kill him unless it's a sure kill.

50-50. Lina can kill you pretty easily if she knows what she is doing if she can time her spells to destroy your refraction first, otherwise she is pretty much dead against you. She can't do really much against you because she is a nuker type hero and Lanaya is strong against nukers. You can't deny too much farm because of her AoE nukes but the same goes the other way around, she can't deny much farm either, as she prefers to stay far away and her projectile speed isn't the best, nor is her attack animation and damage. After she reaches lvl 6 you need to pay atention, if she stuns you and auto attacks your refraction down before finishing her combo you are done. Her 2 AoE skills are spammable, so your Meld won't save you for long against her.

30-70. Unless you screw it up big time, you can easily outlane Magnus and your kill potential over him is pretty high. You easily deny his harras mechanism and since he needs to come close to the creeps to last hit gives you a really good chance to harras. You do need to take care around his Skever as it will displace you out of Meld, same for Reverse Polarity. Other than that, if you play agressive early with Psy Blades and Meld he won't be able to do much against you.

60-40. Meepo and his best friend Meepo will really make your life hard on the mid lane, one good net can make you wish you wouldn't have picked TA. But, he is melee and really weak to burst damage. He can't deny you much farm, so you can outfarm him if you are careful, but most importantly, you need to watch out for the Nets, you cannot become invisible if they hit you. Maxing Refraction against him might not be the best idea because Poof deals damage twice on each cast, meaning that each Poof will remove 2 Refraction Block charges. Skill build: E-Q-E-W-W-R-W followed by maxing Meld.


20-80. Puck can do nothing against you, he is a nuker and his low hp and armor are exactly what you need to dominate him. He can be hard to kill if he keeps using Illusory Orb to get away, but if you have a Haste rune or are level 6 and he uses the Orb for any reason, he is as good as dead. His low damage means you have almost free farm on the lane. There is nothing Puck can do to kill you unless you screw it up.

Mid Lane Match-Ups part 2

40-60. Mirana can't really kill you but in the same time, unless she uses a bad Leap, there isn't much you can do to kill her. Your lane dominance comes from the Psy Blade harras and her low damage, which means you can easily out last hit her and deny. You do need to watch out for Elune's Arrow thou, if it's coming from a long range, a 5 second stun is nothing to scoff at and can get you really low or outright kill you if she catches you without Refraction.

50-50. Do not fall under the illusion that Slithice can kill you easily just because she has more units. Rip Tide can affect you only once, no matter how many illusions there are, so if you manage to time Refraction right, she won't be able to do much. Her illusions deal almost no damage early game, yes, the will remove Refraction Block charges, but it won't be that much of a deal. If you can find out fast which is the real one, you can even kill her if she used Ensnare to initiate.

50-50. I cannot say much about Harbinger, since his rework the lane became easier for him, thus making the match-up more balanced. Last hitting will matter this lane, as both of you can deny and harras the other. His Astral Prison will make you lose last hits, but Refraction will make him lose last hits. At level 6, you can kill him if you get hit with the Prison before you engage, otherwise he can get away. He can't really kill you if you keep some distance because he has a short attack range.

20-80. There isn't much to say here, unless he hooks you near tower range or creeps when you don't have Refraction activated he won't be able to kill you. Even if his hp is high, he has no armor, which means your Psy Blades and Melds hurt like hell. Rot will remove your Refraction almost instantly. His kill potential on your skyrockets when he hits level 6, but that only if he manages to Hook you, otherwise you can, he has to move next to you, which means you can lower his health with a Meld tap and some right clicks. If he comes to you, don't use refraction untill he will Dismember you, then start spamming the hot key, this way you will block the Hook. He won't be able to last hit too much, so he cannot stop you from farming. But keep in mind that a skilled Pudge can make your life hell if you aren't paying attention to him. Skill build: E-Q-W-E-W-R-W followed by maxing Meld.

50-50. Contrary to most believes, Akasha isn't really a counter to you. Don't cry about Shadow Strike, as it will only remove charges once every 3 seconds and it also can be disjointed, meaning that a timed Meld will make so that it won't hit you. You don't have to stay Melded untill it hits, just Meld and move. Her rune control is better than yours untill level 6, if she Blinks near the rune and you have a Trap, unless the rune is Haste or Invisibility she is dead. Other than Shadow Strike she is a nuker, which allows you to block most of her damage if you time your Refraction. But, don't fall under the illusion that she is an easy match-up. In this lane, the one who screws up first loses, so give her a finger and she takes your whole team. One line can describe what Akasha and Lanaya have in common: As they are beautiful they are deadly. Skill build: W-E-Q-E-Q-R-Q followed by maxing Refraction.

40-60. Most of your dominance comes from denying him as many creeps as possible during the early levels. Nevermore is reliant on fast souls and a quick Bottle. Unless you give him the chance, he can't kill you, but with a Haste rune or after level 6, you can easily kill him. A tip for when you engage, try to go in meele range. From the normal distance, his Short and Medium Razez can hit you, but if you stay in meele range, only the Short Raze can hit. There isn't much to say. Try to last hit and deny as much as you can to prevent him from taking too many souls. Once they start racking up, you can't deny him that much. Even if he can outfarm you later, he can't easily kill you.

40-60/80-20. There isn't much to say here, the way the lane will go depends on how good Kerdel is. If he is a typical Sniper who doesn't take points in Shrapnel, it can easily be a win in your favour or a balanced lane, but if the Sniper is good and actually skills Shrapnel he can outfarm you and even kill you. Kerdel alongside Viper is one of the hardest counters to Lanaya on the mid lane, but unlike Viper, he can become food if he isn't good.

40-60. Unless you give him the upper hand, Raijin can't kill you. He can farm well thanks to his spells but can't deny that much farm. He is a nuker by nature, so he can't kill you but in the early levels you can kill him. The lane is slightly in your favour because early you can outfarm and even kill him if you manage to snag a Haste rune.


50-50. There isn't much you can against Boush. If he takes one point in March of the Machines he will screw your Refraction early and easily and if he doesn't the 100% miss on Laser will hurt your killing potential. You do have a slight stronger farm potential in the early levels, which can balance the lane unless he gets a fast Bottle, then he might Laser you on any ocasion making you miss a lot of farm. Normally neigther will manage to farm really much because of Refraction. If he Lasers you too early and you have a Haste or are level 6, you can kill him.

60-40. Jah'rakal can easily out farm you and even kill you if you aren't careful, he has the advantage in this lane, but that doesn't mean he can easily win it if you don't give him the chance. He has a 60% blind on his Whirlwing Axes, which will screw you as you are a right click hero. He can go in meele or ranged form depending on the need and his attack speed can ruin your day. Against him you should keep the distance. The normal skill build can work against him as well as a Meld first skill build. Once he gets in meele range to you it won't really matter which skill build you took, unless you have a team mate with you, then you are dead.

80-20. Viper is bad, all he has is DoT both in his auto attack and passive. If you Psy Blade him, his Corrosive Skin will make your day, if you get too close he will kill you. Before level 6, there is nothing you can, he will free farm the lane and even kill you if you make mistakes. Meld can disjoint Viper Strike, so if you have a chance to kill him keep Meld untill you see him using the ultimate. Otherwise you are just a sitting duck most of the time if you get too close. Skill build: E-Q-E-W-E-R-W followed by maxing Psy Blades and Meld. You need all the range you can get in this lane.

60-40. The lane is in Lyralei's favour, her attack damage and animation are really good allowing her to contest last hits and you just can't kill her unless she makes a really bad mistake. After she hits level 6, with a dust she can kill you on the spot thanks to her huge attack speed. The best you can do in this lane is to farm as much as you can and stay away when she hits level 6. If you see her waste Windrun before level 6, you might have a chance to kill her.

Mid Lane Match-Ups Part 3

30-70. This lane is mostly in your favour as his harrasing skills are countered by Refraction and a Magic Wand. He can't stop you from farming and you can kill him easily. But keep in mind that his W and R provide true sight over you, so you cannot Meld to hide and he can also deward your Psy-Traps. Also, his passive E does affect Invisible units, but it is blocked by Refraction, so it is a good idea to keep in mind that each spell can remove 2 of your Refraction charges.

80-20. Not often seen in the mid lane, but when it happens, prepare for trouble and make it double. His insane DoT spells and debufs can really make your life hard, and all his spells beside the Macropyre will slow/stun and damage you. He is also incredibly tanky for an inteligence hero, but can suffer from mana problems early game, still, procced with caution.

55-45. Kunkka is not the hardest match-up of them all, but you need to understand that all his damaging spells do hit invisible units, and, regardless of the fact that he is a burst damage type hero, which normally you are good against, his Torrent deals damage in short intervals, meaning that if you don't dodge it, you will lose your defensive Refraction. Beside that, you have better harras as long as you can dodge the Tidebringer with Refraction and his Torrent. He is meele, so you can do some right clicks on his to harras beside your normal Psy-Blades.

60-40. Another hero that is not common for the mid lane, but can provide a challenge because of her high damage and passive. Momment of Courate will help her clear your Refraction faster and her Overhelming Odds can deal masive damage, but, this match-up is more related to player skill than hero capabilities. A good Tresdin will make you suffer, but a bad one can end up giving you a lot of free damage thanks to her Duel.

50-50. Neither of you can kill the other, and even if you are equipped with better harras, you cannot match his escape or prevent him from last hitting. His Q bettles will die instantly if you can Meld, but they can also grant him a kill, if you play poorly. The other way around is also a thing to keep in mind, your Psy-Blades do hit invisible units, so if he is range for one and really low HP, you can get a kill. Alike the Tresdin match-up, it's more a farming lane for both, as kills shouldn't be happening unless one of you really messes up big time.

75-25. Ever since his change from Curse of the Silent to Arcane Curse, Silencer became one of Lanaya's worst match-up. Before the change, a Meld or Refraction could cause his damage to stop completely, but now, it will make it last longer, which is just a bad thing for you. Other than that, he is really squishy and has no escape, so provided with a S4 Haste rune or Invisibilyu, you can end up getting a kill on him. Later in the game, he will not be much of a problem unless he is fed.

Friends

There is no team where Rylai can do wrong, so just like anyone else, she is a great friend for Lanaya. One thing that Lanaya lacks is a hard disable, but our ice queen here has just that, she's full of flows and disables allowing Lanaya to easily kill her targets. During the early stages of the game, Lanaya has some mana problems, so Arcane Aura is most welcome. As most friendships, the relation is mutual, Psione Trap adds to the slow from Freezing Field keeping enemy heroes trapped inside for longer.

Gondar is a great ally for Lanaya. His Track gives you bonus movement speed when you are close to the tracked target, making it easier for you to chase enemies. Your burst damage along his burst damage from Shuriken Toss, Shadow Walk, and Jinada should easily net you a kill, which then gives you bonus gold from Track. And, unlike most gankers, Bounty Hunter almost never takes mid lane.

A very strong and aggressive support, Dazzle has a somewhat cheap and spammable ultimate, Weave, which synergizes well with your armor reducing abilities. Ganking his lane is also easier than most, thanks to his Poison Touch which slows and stuns an enemy. If you are getting focused down in a team fight, his Shallow Grave combined with his Shadow Wave can also help keep you alive, or at least give you enough time to run away. Plus, since all of his spells deal Physical damage, your armor reduction increases his damage significantly.

Rigwarl has amazing synergy with Lanaya. Viscous Nasal Goo has everything Lanaya could ask for in a spell, from a movement speed slow to armor reduction, all with an extremely cooldown. Combined with your Psionic Trap, and your target will be hard pressed to move anywhere at all. Your armor reduction also helps him tremendously, as his mainstay damage spell, Quill Spray, inflicts stacking Physical damage. Plus, he is a great chaser thanks to Warpath, allowing the two of you to catch up and beat the holy snot (no pun intended) out of your target with all of that bonus damage.

There are many more heroes that combine well with Lanaya, but these are the strongest ones. Any hero that focuses on physical damage is a greath ally to Lanaya, examples would be Witch Doctor, Faceless Void and Slardar.

Foes

In general, Lanaya wants to avoid heroes with damage over time skills such as Acid Spray or skills that inflict very rapid damage, such as Rocket Barrage. However, there are too many of them to list here, so I will just be listing the main enemies that Lanaya should watch out for. I know I have written about some of them in the "Mid Lane Match-Ups" sections, but I will also put them here because they hate you that much so evey bit of info is welcomed (and because I ran out of space in the above sections)

I'm sure you've already seen Lucifer as an enemy on pretty much every single guide there is, because he "counters" everybody with his Doom. Lanaya is no exception, as a skill based hero, she can't function if silenced before using at least refraction, but it's even worse for her. His Scorched Earth melts her Refraction charges fast, and guess what? He's also a very common Radiance carrier in some skill brackets. Late-game, he can hit quite hard if you let him farm, but he's pretty passive early game. Take advantage of this and harass him hard during the laning phase. He literally has no armor at all, so he doesn't like Meld and Desolator, if you can get it fast enough. Also, get a Linken's Sphere, he has no way to break it without items, and BKB is useless against him.

If the enemy team has a Batrider, I would recommend not picking Lanaya. If he's smart, he'll use Sticky Napalm on you every chance he gets, making you extremely slow and vulnerable to his attacks. And since your range is pitiful, there's not much you can do about it unless you take early levels of Psi Blades. If you still picked Lanaya, play it safe and try to avoid getting hit by Sticky Napalm while still getting some last hits and denies. Since he is rather squishy as well, you can try to burst him down once you get some levels in Meld. In teamfights, he can use Blink Dagger to get to you, and then drag you right into his team with his Flaming Lasso/Firefly combination that will completely destroys your Refraction charges. You'll likely be dead before his lasso even ends. His Firefly also destroys trees and provides flying vision, making it very difficult to juke him if he has Dust of Appearance/Gem of True Sight. A Linken will help here as well, as he will be forced to waste Force Staff to break it.

Viper didn't come to mid lane to farm creeps, he came to farm YOU. A single Poison Attack burns through 3 of your Refraction charges, leaving you vulnerable when you go up for a last hit. If he has Corrosive Skin, attacking him directly will also burn off your Refraction charges. Keep in mind that you can dodge his auto-attacks and Viper Strike with your Meld. That doesn't mean that he won't be constantly harassing you, however. If you find his harass to be too difficult, call out for a gank - he is very squishy early-game and has no escape mechanism. Late-game, he is just another semi-carry just like you, but you should have no problems taking him out if he doesn't Viper Strike you. And he is another hero that can be ruined by Linken's Sphere.

Meepo and his best friends Meepo, Meepo, Meepo, and Meepo will absolutely destroy you. Geostrike from a single Meepo breaks your Refraction, but, you won't be fighting just one Meepo. More likely, they'll all Poof to your location and begin bashing you in with their shovels. The Earthbind cycle will keep you permanently snared, and you can't even use Meld while under the effects of Earthbind. Note that if you were invisible before Earthbind actually hit it will be disjointed. Basically, if you get caught by him you are as good as dead. Alternatively, you can try and gank him early game to keep him behind for a while, but do not underestimate his flash farm capabilities.

If damage over time abilities are bad, then Lesale would be evil incarnate. All (read as, every single one) of his abilities are very annoying to deal with as Lanaya, though fortunately he is often very squishy and easily ganked. One auto-attack with a level 2 or higher Poison Sting will eat away your entire Refraction. His Plague Wards will also poke away at your charges, and partially counter the map domination that you have. In any skirmish or teamfight, he will almost certainly use his Venomous Gale and/or Poison Nova, both of which have a very large area of effect. Getting hit by either of them, or worse both, will leave you quite dead most of the time. BKB doesn't work, as all his skills bypass magic imunity. So a casual Hood of Defiance, might be a really good idea, if not the whole Pipe.

When it comes to popping Refraction, Ish'kafel is second only to Pudge. His Ion Shell inflicts damage every 0.1 seconds, which means that your maxed out Refraction won't last for at least full second. However, his other skills are just as frustrating to deal with. Not only is Vacuum a nightmare as pulls you out of your Meld. If you catch him or his ally he can use Surge to allow them to escape. And when your team starts to hit hard, Wall of Replica will turn that damage against you. If all this wasn't bad enough, he also starts with one of the highest base armor values in the game, and tends to build survivability items. His skills are also spammable, so take care. If by any reason he comes mid, try to kill the Ion creep first, or pull his creeps on it if it's your creep.

Game Play

Lanaya is a ganking carry, so don't think you can AFK farm your way to victory with her . Because she is really dependant on early farm and levels, she should always take the mid lane, yes, she can perform on the sidelanes but it won't beneficial to her and will put to waste her rune control abilities.

You should keep the starting skill point untill you reach the lane, as her first skill point can be extremely flexible. If for example you play against a Shadow Fiends, skilling Refraction first is a good idea, against a Queen of Pain, Meld is best as starting skill is some brackets.

Lanaya is a very aggresive laner, ganker, semy-carry and rune-♥♥♥♥♥ and many players tend to get lost between these roles and misjudge what to do when. Which ends up harming their team. I for one prefer to farm mid until I get my Blink Dagger, but I also gank when needed or when I find a good Haste/Invis rune.

- Laning:

-- Rune control: In addition to the great bonus effects that the runes provide, maintaining rune control is an important aspect which can make or break a mid lane. Not only does it give you adequate health and mana regeneration for using Refraction, but it can also prevent the enemy mid to use the rune for ganking or to kill you with it's special effects, unless you got the bounty....

-- Ganking: Mostly done after you have Psionic Trap but earlier ganks can be done with the help of competent allies and lucky runes. Lanaya's map control is better than most other gankers thanks to the Traps, which allow you to spot enemies that are alone if you put the traps in the right places. Always keep in mind to always keep 1 Trap for ganks. For example at lvl 1 you place a maximum of 4 traps on the map. Also, do not camp lanes hoping for a gank. Unlike many other gankers, Lanaya is a semy-carry, so farm can help her retain a huge advantage in late-game, so only gank when an oportunity presents itself and if the gank is succesful, not just because your team mates ask for a gank.

-- Surving: Might sound stupid at first, but, in some lanes, you simply can't farm much, so just taking xp will help, as a semy-carry, early-mid game most of your power comes from spells and not items, so just aquiring the necesarely levels will help you manage a come back from bad lanes. Stack ancients or the jungle camps near the mid lane, as Lanaya can easily farm stacks thanks to her Psy-Blades, she is one of the few mid heroes left that can actually farm stacked ancients, so remember to stack when going for runes.

-- Harrasing: Lanaya is one of the best harrasers thanks to her Psy Blades, so before you go for a last hit/deny, try to align yourself in such a way that the enemy is behind the creep you want to last hit/deny. This way you can force some opponents to waste their consumables faster or even force them to go back to base.

- Team Fights:

-- Because Lanaya is more of a glass cannon and has a single target nature, she isn't the best team figther hero. During a team fight, her role is to take down the supports or important dps heroes with low armor or hp. Such targets include Alchemist, Lina and Witch Doctor.

-- Before team fight watch out for BKB piercing spells such as Flamming Lasso or Dismember, as the enemy team can initiate as well and as a glass cannon, Lanaya makes a perfect target for some spells.

Conclusion

And with this, we come to an end. I hope you all learned something about Lanaya. She is a really strong laner and ganker and most importantly, she is really fun to play.

As my first hero guide, all critism is accepted, but please provide a reason for your oppinion if you think something is not correct.

I will try to keep the guide updated with new patches or meta changes, when I finish making new sections and when I have time.

Thanks for reading my guide, and I hope you enjoyed it.

[C.C. 折オリ枝 の 夫]

@Ultra Dumbass: Yea, I guess I have to do that, but both level 25 talents are preference based, so...

[pyrotechnicrat]

Should probably update the talent section, huh?

[C.C. 折オリ枝 の 夫]

The "Don't like Blink Dagger" is more of a suggestion. You can play her without it, but it will be much harder. Also, it depends on MMR. Low level players will still walk to you to fight you, instead of kiting you, but even so, you rely on others to make things happen for you, instead of making things happen yourself, which is what she excells at

[post apocalypse otter boi]

There is no preiestess in dota 2 only a princess.

[RebeL]

:)

[C.C. 折オリ枝 の 夫]

As Deutschbag stated, my slow internet prevented me from playing 7.00 for the moment (was busy and needed the internet, so I couldn't afford to let 7.00 download atm), but I will first update this guide for 7.00 and then will try to make another guide I already had in mind, it's gonna be for 1 of the 2 lovely moon ladies, but I'm favoring the Priestess

[Doob]

He'd need to play 7.0 before submitting a guide for it ....................

[RebeL]

Hope u make more guide with another Carry's we need it... In 7.0

[RebeL]

Blink +shield is good then sb.... Anubis know that... That's y he op with T@ nice guide bro....

[D. Igne Natura Renovatur Integra]

If you play low MMR bracket, then maybe Shadow Blade would work for trolling if enemy has a lot of ground AOEs.