Abilities, roles and builds with an explanation for every purchase.
HERO GAME PLANI build up illusions, burn mana, and prolong a fight the enemy struggles to end.
Phantom Lancer storms enemy forces with an endless supply of clones. Leading his illusory army, he can cut foes apart in a breathtaking flurry of attacks, send clones to push into enemy territory, or use his doppelgangers to mislead and elude foes if cornered.
My recommendation is a starting point. We choose another position together with the team and for its needs.
I need protected farm, my item window and damage on important targets.
This is an editorial starting plan based on hero mechanics. It is not presented as a match I have already tested or a popularity ranking.
Here is my initial plan: I do my role's job first, then choose the items the team needs. I adapt the order and expensive purchases to the opponent.
Provide attack speed and switchable attributes for farming and managing my resources.
Adds mana burn to attacks and helps stick to the chosen target.
Provides illusions for pressure and a separate dispel. This item cannot help you wait out or remove every disable.
Adds health and regeneration for prolonged play; I check the enemy’s answers to healing.
Builds on the Diffusal route and adds flexibility for movement and dispels.
Butterfly ↗Increases physical damage and protection against suitable attacks. I check whether the enemy has an answer to evasion.
Eye of Skadi ↗Improves attributes and lets attacks keep a target under control, limiting suitable sources of its restoration.
Aghanim's Shard ↗Unlocks or upgrades Juxtapose. The exact effects are shown below in the abilities section.
I do not assign one ‘correct’ minute to every purchase. I look at my gold, the next fight and the problem: am I missing mana, target access, control or protection? If an expensive slot will arrive too late, I get a useful answer earlier.
Original Valve icons and descriptions. Cooldowns and mana are shown by level from the data snapshot; talents and upgrades can change the values.
Sends a magical spirit lance to a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while summoning an illusory phantom to attack the unit.
Sends a magical spirit lance to a target enemy unit that damages and slows, while summoning an illusory phantom to attack the unit.
Spirit Lance bounces once on enemies, prioritizing Heroes. Increases Spirit Lance illusion damage.
The hero and all nearby illusions briefly disappear from the battlefield. After 1 sec., the hero, his copies, and two new illusions with different properties appear at random points within the selected area. Extends the lifetime of all illusions.
The hero and all nearby illusions briefly vanish from the battlefield. After 1 sec., the hero, their copies and two new illusions with different properties appear at random points within the chosen area. Extends the lifetime of all illusions. One new illusion takes normal damage but deals none; the other takes 500% more damage and deals 80% less damage. DISPEL TYPE: Basic
When targeting an enemy for an attack, Phantom Lancer quickly charges into range, gaining increased movement speed and evasion.
When targeting an enemy for an attack, Phantom Lancer quickly charges into range, gaining increased movement speed and evasion.
Increases the maximum rush distance. As the hero runs through enemies, he creates Juxtapose illusions to attack them. For every 600 units traveled during the rush, an illusion is created that runs toward the target.
Phantom Lancer has a chance to fracture his presence on an attack, creating an illusion of himself. Illusions also have a chance to fracture further. Illusions created from Phantom Lancer last for 8 seconds, while illusions created from other illusions last 4 seconds.
Phantom Lancer has a chance to fracture his presence on an attack, creating an illusion of himself. Illusions also have a chance to fracture further. Illusions created from Phantom Lancer last for 8 seconds, while illusions created from other illusions last 4 seconds.
Makes the ability active. On use, the hero becomes invisible for 8 sec. and leaves a decoy illusion at his location. Invisibility increases movement speed by 15%.
These abilities are not necessarily available at the same time. I check the condition beside the name: innate ability, another form or an Aghanim purchase.
Whenever an illusion of Phantom Lancer is created, its outgoing damage cannot go below a fixed value for 3 seconds.
Whenever an illusion of Phantom Lancer is created, its outgoing damage cannot go below a fixed value for 3 seconds.
These are fields from the official source. The hero's final values in the client account for attributes and other active mechanics.
Items, slang and real episodes help connect abilities with what happens in a match.
