* Even with Black King Bar, Pudge's
Meat Hook and
Dismember can still catch and disable Bane while he is channeling Fiend's Grip, breaking the channel as a result,
Meat Hook can also be used to save targets affected by Bane's abilities.
* Dismember can disable Bane while channeling Fiend's Grip if Pudge is not targeted.
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Dismember can also be used to save an allied hero that is targeted by Fiend's Grip.
* Pudge's high health and health regeneration allows him to survive through most of Bane's abilities.
* His Rot can force Templar Assassin out of her Meld and destroy all of her Refraction charges quickly, and her small health pool and meager defense make her very vulnerable to his
Meat Hook without Refraction.
* Insatiable Hunger's attack damage amplification can reduce the effectiveness of
Enfeeble, and the
Enfeeble will not weaken the magical damage output from
Silken Bola,
Spawn Spiderlings and
Spinner's Snare from
Aghanim's Scepter, though it will still reduce their cast range.
* Bane's single-targeted arsenal of abilities make him an easy target for Broodmother and her Spiderlings.
* Broodmother often buys Orchid Malevolence and it's upgrade
Bloodthorn, which allows her to cancel
Fiend's Grip, and completely shut Bane down.
Additional:
* Insatiable Hunger's attack damage amplification can reduce the effectiveness of
Enfeeble, and the
Enfeeble will not weaken the magical damage output from
Silken Bola,
Spawn Spiderlings and
Spinner's Snare from
Aghanim's Scepter, though it will still reduce their cast range.
* Bane's single-targeted arsenal of abilities make him an easy target for Broodmother and her Spiderlings.
* Broodmother often buys Orchid Malevolence and it's upgrade
Bloodthorn, which allows her to cancel
Fiend's Grip, and completely shut Bane down.
* With Aghanim's Scepter, Broodmother will gain access to
Spinner's Snare, which will allow her to create invisible lines on her webs from
Spin Web that will root, deal damage over time, and reveal enemy heroes if they unwittingly step on them. This allows Broodmother to keep her allies alerted on heroes who rely on invisibility-themed and movement-themed abilities and items to surprise enemy heroes and disrupt ganking attempts of enemy heroes:
Phantom Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Mirana,
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Spirit Breaker,
Anti-Mage,
Tusk,
Ursa,
Nature's Prophet,
Enigma,
Void Spirit,
Magnus etc.
* Hex abilities can cancel the channelling of Fiend's Grip : Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Dazzle from
Aghanim's Shard with upgraded
Poison Touch.
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy Refraction
* Heroes who commonly buy Linken's Sphere:
Luna,
Weaver,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Ember Spirit.
* Searing Chains and Flame Guard quickly burn through Refraction instances exposing her low health pool.
* Templar Assassin has no inherent way to prevent Ember Spirit from escaping, a good Ember player also will be able to dodge her meld attack
* Ember Spirit`s Searing chains give true sight into invisibility, why Templar Assassin can't hide from it in
Meld and get out of the fight using
Blink Dagger
Additional:
* Flame Guard burns quickly through
Refraction charges, which is why it can interrupt Templar Assassin, giving his team the opportunity to kill her.
* Ember Spirit can dodge a blow from Meld with
Sleight of fist, providing him an advantage in a 1v1 situation.
* Searing Chains give true sight into invisibility, why Templar Assassin can't hide from it in
Meld and get out of the fight using
Blink Dagger.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
Additional:
* Phantasm's illusions make it difficult for Bane to target Chaos Knight with Nightmare,
Enfeeble, and
Fiend's Grip.
* Chaos Bolt is a comparatively low cooldown tool to interrupt Fiend's Grip.
* Nightmare can be transferred by Phantasm illusions.
* A strong illusion Phantasm) from Chaos Knight can cleared from her's
Refraction. Additionally, natural items
Manta Style can dispell silence Psionic Trap from Aghanim's Shard.
* Both Infernal Blade and
Doom can be used to disable Bane while he is channeling Fiend's Grip.
* A similar effect can be achieved by using Devour on {U:Centaur Conqueror}, which will give him access to
War Stomp.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Dark Pact can dispel Enfeeble, as well as Nightmare and Fiend's Grip when timed correctly.
* Shadow Dance can protect Slark from Bane's single-target abilities.
* Dark Pact rips through Refraction charges and still steals attributes during Refraction.
* Pounce and Dark Pact will still hit Templar Assassin while she is Melded. Since she cannot move, both abilities will be easy for Slark to land.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes with single-target abilities will be overwhelmed by Lycan and his summons: Wraith King,
Bane,
Phantom Assassin.
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Bane has low mobility and health, making him an easy target for Walrus PUNCH!
* Walrus PUNCH! can be used to cancel Fiend's Grip if he is not the target.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
* Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip can be instantly dispelled by Aphotic Shield.
* Bane lacks mobility, therefore becoming helpless when silenced by Curse of Avernus.
Additional:
* Aphotic Shield applies a strong dispel on the allied target and can be used to remove both Fiend's Grip & Nightmare.
* Borrowed Time applies a strong dispel on Abaddon and can instantly remove both Fiend's Grip & Nightmare when activated.
* Bane, when caught by Curse of Avernus will struggle to escape because of his innately low mobility.
* Track provides vision on Templar Assassin during her
Meld, allowing him and his teammates to gank her often until she buys a
Black King Bar or the {ValueColor:1|Meld Dispels|20tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent to dispel it.
Additional:
* Track provides vision on Templar Assassin during her
Meld, allowing him and his teammates to gank her often until she buys a
Black King Bar or the {ValueColor:1|Meld Dispels|20tal} {Symbol:Talent} talent to dispel it.
* Kraken Shell dispels Fiend's Grip, wasting it easily. Additionally, in late game, it secures premature dispell of a level 4 Nightmare, in case of continuous Bane's rightclicks.
* Enfeeble only reduces distance of Gush, but not of
Anchor Smash or
Ravage, and thanks again to
Kraken Shell, is easily dispellable for him in team fights.
* Ravage affects large area, effectively reaching Bane's spot for applying Fiend's Grip, even with Glimmer Cape, Aether Lens and/or Aghanim's Scepter.
Additional:
* Kraken Shell dispels Fiend's Grip, wasting it easily.
* Flux removes Refraction charges very quickly, and Arc Warden can hit her freely with his better attack animation, speed and range. If she tries to mute in her creep wave, Spark Wraith can quickly kill the ranged creep, forcing her to stay near the melee creeps, again, allowing for easy right clicks.
* With Tempest Double, Arc Warden can easily output 1000 damage (with the stacking of Flux and Spark Wraith and kill Templar Assassin within seconds. She cannot avoid this combo as Spark Wraith will still hit her in Meld.
* A good Arc Warden can destroy the item timings of a Templar Assassin, and mitigate her impact during the mid-game, when she is the strongest.
* In the late game, if Templar Assassin tries to split push with Aghanim's Scepter, Arc Warden's double can always threaten to kill her if equipped with a
Bloodthorn and a
Blink Dagger , or a
Hurricane Pike, forcing her to have to use
Black King Bar to survive.
* Quick reactions can also protect Arc Warden and his allies from Meld strike with Magnetic Field, and if equipped with a
Hurricane Pike, Arc Warden can double force himself away from the attacking Templar Assassin to safety, where after her
Black King Bar ends, she can die to Arc Warden's right clicks.
* The damage block instances of Refraction can be burned down with Ignite.
* Fire Shield effectively reduces the burst damage from a Meld-charged ambush from Templar Assassin, provided the spell is cast beforehand.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Her Refraction charges can and will be easily burned away by Phoenix's damage over time abilities, and
Meld can't protect her from Phoenix's AoE abilities, even without detection.
Additional:
* Phoenix's abilities target and deals damage over time, making them a threat against Meld and Refraction. His abilities' nature makes them pretty hard to correctly land on the target, but that is not a problem against a Templar Assassin that needs to stand still during Meld.
* Icarus Dive allows Phoenix to shrug off the slow from her trap and make an easy escape from her ambush.
* As Templar Assassin relies on her quality-over-quantity bursting attacks to make quick work on fragile target, Fire Spirits' attack speed reduction can cripple her ability to deals any damage during combat. With the debuff applied in early-mid game, a Meld-breaking hit from her is significantly slowed to the point that her target can travel a safe distance before she even lands the hit.
* Sun Ray has a quick damage tick and will burn through her Refraction in no time.
* Supernova deals damage over time in an incredibly large area, and again with her quality-over-quantity style, she may not be able to attack quickly enough to break through the Phoenix Sun by herself. (not to mention the debuff from Fire Spirits) This can lead to a failed ganking attempt or even a turnaround.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Pugna's Decrepify can render Templar Assassin's physical attacks useless.
* Pugna can also cast Life Drain on Templar Assassin, burning her Refraction instances.
* On the other hand, Pugna generally has low health and armor. Use this to your advantage.
* Huskar's burn damage from Burning Spear is incredibly strong against Templar Assassin as it completely cancels out her Refraction from the burning over time which results in making her very vulnerable to ganks and harassments, and in turn forcing her out of the lane.
* Templar Assassin is dependant on Refraction in teamfights. Because Magnetize deals damage per second and Earth Spirit is even able to refresh the duration of his ultimate he is suitable for wasting Refraction and allowing his team to take her down.
* Sand King can quickly remove her Refraction with his Sand Storm.
* Once Refraction is down, she is very vulnerable to Epicenter's high magic damage.
* Pulse Nova can easily burn Templar Assassin's
Refraction charges quickly, and can also hit her while she is invisible in
Meld.
* Ion Shell destroys Refraction's protection stacks in short time.
* Surge ignores the massive slow from Psionic Trap.
* Despite the armor reduction from Meld, Templar Assassin's reliance on physical damage and medium attack speed is unlikely to harm Dragon Knight.
* Templar Assassin's Refraction charges also get quickly removed by the damage over time from Dragon Knight's ultimate.
Additional:
* The damage over time from Dragon Knight's Elder Dragon Form rapidly burns down Refraction, allowing him to attack her.
* Also, Breathe Fire reduces Templar Assassin's damage and
Dragon Tail is a stun with a considerable duration, letting him and his team whittle her health down once her defenses wear off.
* Templar Assassin will struggle to kill Dragon Knight thanks to his high armor and health regen from Dragon Blood as she deals entirely physical damage.
* Fiend's Grip is a powerful but channeled ability, making it useful and easy to Spell Steal and interrupt with
Telekinesis.
* Stolen Fiend's Grip or Nightmare combined with Arcane Supremacy allows Rubick to disable Bane's allies for a longer period of time.
* As a natural Aghanim's Scepter carrier, Rubick can steal an upgraded Fiend's Grip and deal lots of damage to Bane's allies.
* Attacks from Boars and the attack speed boost from Inner Beast will quickly wear down Refraction.
* Bushwhack can tear through
Refraction as it does multiple intervals of damage.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Ensnare disables Templar Assassin's invisibility and Blink Dagger (a core item on Templar Assassin), and her illusions will break Refraction easily.
* Heroes whose attacks can affect multiple enemies at once will clear Naga Siren's illusions. Such heroes include Sven,
Magnus,
Dragon Knight,
Luna,
Medusa,
Templar Assassin,
Gyrocopter,
Muerta.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
* Diffusal Blade, his core item, drains Templar Assassin's small mana pool, rendering her unable to save herself with
Meld.
Additional:
* Phantom Lancer's illusions destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
* Diffusal Blade, his core item, drains Templar Assassin's small mana pool, rendering her unable to save herself with Meld.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Batrider's DoT damage quickly removes Templar Assassin's Refraction and can damage her during
Meld.
Additional:
* Batrider's abilities are designed to deal damage over time, burning through Templar Assassin's layers extremely quickly. Flamebreak applies 7 instances of damage, burning through the entirety of Refraction, and
Firefly applies damage on the place, forcing her to either get out of Meld and be attacked or stay in place or be incinerated.
* Flaming Lasso pierces Black King Bar and rendering Templar Assassin helpless unless there are allies helping her.
* Focus Fire tears apart Templar Assassin's Refraction very quickly and easily bursts her down due to her low health pool against Windranger's immense attack speed.
* Templar Assassin's Psionic Trap doesn't slow down Windranger due to Windrun. Additionally, Windranger can survive Templar Assassin's high burst damage thanks to the evasion it provides.
* Though Bane's Enfeeble can weaken Luna's physical damage output, it still does not weaken her magical damage output, although it will still reduce her cast range.
* Without Black King Bar, Luna's
Lucent Beam and 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun talent for
Eclipse can be used to disable Bane while he is channeling Fiend's Grip.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse combined with 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun can repetively stun Bane, and can even discourage him from even trying to use Fiend's Grip.
Additional:
* Though Bane's Enfeeble can weaken Luna's physical damage output, it still does not weaken her magical damage output (although it can still disable her cast range).
* Without Black King Bar, Luna's
Lucent Beam and 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun talent for
Eclipse can be used to disable Bane while he is channeling Fiend's Grip.
* Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Eclipse combined with 0.25 Eclipse Mini-stun can repetively stun Bane, and can even discourage him from even trying to use Fiend's Grip.
* Smart and skilled Luna can buy Abyssal Blade to cancel
Fiend's Grip even through
Black King Bar in case of emergency. Forcing Bane to buy
Linken's Sphere.
* Heroes with invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health: Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Weaver,
Treant Protector,
Nyx Assassin.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Heroes who just want to farm and avoid Lone Druid early will find it very hard to do so when he starts knocking on towers: Templar Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Ember Spirit,
Morphling.
* Heroes with strong dispels can dispel Bane's disables from their allies: Oracle,
Legion Commander,
Omniknight.
* Heroes with strong channeling spells like Crystal Maiden's
Freezing Field,
Bane's
Fiend's Grip, and
Enigma's
Black Hole can easily be interrupted from a long range by Nether Swap, assuming they don't have a
Linken's Sphere.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
Additional:
* Warlock can cast Upheaval when Templar Assassin uses Meld, preventing her from escaping at the right moment.
* Warlock can also send his Warlock Golem near where she used Meld, preventing escape by
Blink Dagger due to the Warlock Golem's
Permanent Immolation.
* Warlock's Golem's Permanent Immolation will burn away
Refraction with its damage over time.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Templar Assassin's
Refraction will easily be removed by Eye of the Storm, and Static Link reveals Templar Assassin hiding with
Meld and drain the bonus damage from
Refraction.
Additional:
* Razor's Eye of the Storm damage-over-time easily wear off Refraction charges, allowing Templar Assassin to be damaged.
* Static Link empties Templar Assassin's damage output even with the bonus from Refraction, and will keep doing that even if the Razor cannot see her during Meld.
* Plasma Field can easily strike her during Meld.
* Heroes who can provide True Sight are always credible threats: Slardar,
Bounty Hunter, especially
Zeus since his
Lightning Bolt provides True Sight without the need to detect her beforehand to apply the debuff. So even a late-coming Zeus can easily scout a large area to reveal her, and she cannot purge herself from his sight with the dispel talent.
* Hex abilities can cancel the channelling of Fiend's Grip : Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Dazzle from
Aghanim's Shard with upgraded
Poison Touch.
* Hex abilities can cancel the channelling of Fiend's Grip : Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Dazzle from
Aghanim's Shard with upgraded
Poison Touch.
* Heroes who commonly buy Linken's Sphere:
Luna,
Weaver,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Ember Spirit.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Any hero who lanes very poorly will struggle with Primal Beast's potential snowball in the very early levels, like Keeper of the Light,
Luna,
Templar Assassin...
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Blade Fury's damage over time dispels
Refraction almost instantly.
* Juggernaut's high armor allows him to survive for long enough to remove Refraction and threaten her with
Omnislash as long as he or his team carries detection.
* Templar Assassin's short attack range makes it difficult for her to target a well-placed Healing Ward. She cannot splash onto it with
Psi Blades.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
Additional:
* Fiend's Grip pierces spell immunity, rendering
Blade Fury nearly useless.
* Heroes who are entirely reliant on dealing physical damage and/or have very little to no area-of-effect abilities will make Underlord tickle and will have no effect against him thanks to his Atrophy Aura, and will also be unable to ambush Underlord and his team if Underlord chooses to use
Fiend's Gate to get to a designated point of the map:
Phantom Assassin,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Drow Ranger,
Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Bounty Hunter,
Alchemist,
Templar Assassin,
Nyx Assassin,
Bane.
* Firestorm will destroy Refraction charges very quickly.
* Firestorm will hit Templar Assassin while under the effects of Meld Meld.
* Templar Assassin has a hard time maneuvering around Pit of Malice.
* Atrophy Aura weakens Templar Assassin's damage output, as she relies on direct attacks to be effective.
* However, Templar Assassin's Psionic Traps can be used to intercept Underlord and his team, and to keep her team alerted on Underlord if he chooses to use
Fiend's Gate to get to a designated point of the map.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Heroes that provide vision will see Fiend's Gate coming: Techies,
Templar Assassin,
Treant Protector.
* As with other heroes mentioned in this section, Templar Assassin is not a hero that is fully "countered" by Crystal Maiden (the way she is against Viper and
Jakiro), however, the proper combination and execution Crystal Maiden's spells, stacked with her team, can most certainly spell the end for Templar Assassin. Though as the later the game goes, and fighting her without team is not the best choice.
* Frostbite can quickly eat away Refraction charges, leaving Templar Assassin vulnerable for the rest of her team to kill.
* Freezing Field will still apply damage to Templar Assassin when she is under the effect of Meld, making it an even less viable form of escape until a
Blink Dagger is purchased.
* Blink Dagger is also cancelled by all of Crystal Maiden's spells, and the fairly short cooldowns on Frostbite and Crystal Nova make her a great asset to a chase against Templar Assassin.
* This is not to say that Templar Assassin has any difficulty killing off the low armor, low HP pool Crystal Maiden, so fighting her alone is never advised.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Venomancer's entire arsenal deals lingering damage over a long time and therefore burns through her Refraction very quickly. Not only that, his persistent slow from Poison Sting (it can be re-applied again and again with
Plague Ward) allows his team to catch up to her even with the disruption from her Psionic Trap.
Additional:
* Venomous Gale and Plague Wards allow to quickly melt through Refraction charges.
* Both Poison Nova and Venomous Gale hit invisible units, so Meld cannot be used defensively.
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain
Bash of the Deep charges, and
Templar Assassin can spill
Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
Additional:
* One of Terrorblade's illusions can be used to absorb damage and disable Nightmare.
* Terrorblade's large amount of illusions can make it difficult to pinpoint and target the real Terrorblade with Fiend's Grip. But bear in mind that Bane can counter this with
Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap and by farming
Mjollnir, although it can be hard to play Bane as carry and farm
Mjollnir on him.
* However, bear in mind that illusions from Conjure Image have different colors than other illusions which can be seen even by enemy team, and that can make it easy for Bane to detect real Terrorblade unless Terrorblade buys
Manta Style.
* Terrorblade's high armor makes him exceptionally tanky against physical attacks, and Templar Assassin's main damage source is mostly physical damage, it would be difficult for her to take down Terrorblade quickly even with Meld and Refraction.
* Terrorblade's illusions combo with Manta Style and
Reflection can make a short work to burn Refraction instances, and combined with
Eye of Skadi, Terrorblade can chase down Templar Assassin easily.
* Sunder is not blocked by Refraction's damage block.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes whose attacks allow them to deal either magical or pure damage that can bypass Terrorblade's high armor: Faceless Void,
Silencer,
Spirit Breaker,
Spectre,
Templar Assassin,
Outworld Destroyer.
* Mirana can build Eul's Scepter of Divinity and
Sacred Arrow can help her's allies canceled from
Fiend's Grip.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Enfeeble can be used to decrease Shadow Fiend's already abysmal level one damage even further, preventing him from getting farm and
Necromastery stacks.
* Brain Sap allows Bane to heavily harass Shadow Fiend, even through debuff immunity from
Black King Bar.
* Nightmare allows Bane to set up some early ganks onto Shadow Fiend.
* Fiend's Grip enables Bane to completely take Shadow Fiend out of a fight and potentially even kill him, even through
Black King Bar.
Additional:
* Enfeeble can be used to decrease Shadow Fiend's already abysmal level one damage even further, preventing him from getting farm and Necromastery stacks.
* Brain Sap allows Bane to heavily harass Shadow Fiend.
* Nightmare allows Bane to set up some early ganks onto Shadow Fiend.
* Fiend's Grip enables Bane to completely take Shadow Fiend out of a fight and potentially even kill him, even through
Black King Bar.
* Shadow Fiend's fragility and lack of a natural escape mechanism makes him a great target for Templar Assassin's Meld.
* Shadow Fiend's burst damage, such as Shadowraze and
Requiem of Souls, is easily nullified by her Refraction.
* Brain Sap's pure damage ignores stacks of Reactive Armor.
* Nightmare prevents Timbersaw from using Timber Chain, setting him up for chain stuns and burst damage.
* Enfeeble highly reduces regeneration granted by reactive armor.
* Fiend's Grip immobilizes Timbersaw and drains his low mana pool, preventing escape afterwards. It also pierces
Black King Bar.
* Bane's multiple disables often force Timbersaw or his teammates to spend gold on a Linken's Sphere.
* Templar Assassin Meld`s ability will break Timbersaw's armor, which makes it very easy to break through and not feel his
Reactive Armor, which will allow the team to kill Timbersaw quickly, or drive him out of the fight.
* Templar Assassin's Refraction ability gives her the ability to avoid damage from
Whirling Death, which will give her the ability to deal Timbersaw more damage than he will deal.
Additional:
* Templar Assassin Meld`s ability will break Timbersaw's armor, which makes it very easy to break through and not feel his
Reactive Armor, which will allow the team to kill Timbersaw quickly, or drive him out of the fight.
* Templar Assassin's Refraction ability gives her the ability to avoid damage from
Whirling Death, which will give her the ability to deal Timbersaw more damage than he will deal. However, he may easily burn through
Refraction with
Chakram.
* Fiend's Grip prevents Anti-Mage from Blinking away or using Manta Style. It also pierces spell immunity.
* Nightmare sets Bane's team up for chain disables on Anti-Mage.
* Enfeeble lowers Anti-Mage's status resistance and magic resistance, making him more vulnerable to disables and magic damage.
* Refraction protects against Anti-Mage's low burst damage, and allows her to win most fights against Anti-Mage during the early game.
* Meld's burst damage and armor reduction is often enough to finish off Anti-Mage before he Blinks away.
* Fiend's Grip and
Nightmare are very useful to lock down Void Spirit.
* Brain Sap can be difficult for Void Spirit to deal with in the laning stage.
* Refraction negates all of Void Spirit's burst damage.
* Meld quickly burns through
Resonant Pulse.
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak,
Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well.
Enfeeble also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with
Stifling Dagger and to use
Phantom Strike at longer distances.
* Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with
Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to {A|Brain Sap|Bane
Additional:
* Enfeeble greatly reduces Phantom Assassin's attack damage, and if her attack damage is weak, Coup De Grace will also suffer from attack damage reduction as well. Enfeeble also reduces any healing Phantom Assassin receives, making her unable to heal herself with Phantom Strike, and it also reduces cast range of Phantom Assassin's abilities, making her unable to harass with
Stifling Dagger and to use
Phantom Strike at longer distances.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip can ground Phantom Assassin, who normally blinks around with Phantom Strike, and stop her from outputting damage, even with Black King Bar.
* Phantom Assassin's low health pool early on makes her susceptible to Brain Sap and Fiend's Grip's heavy nuke damage.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Templar Assassin can easily counter Invoker's last hitting process in the early game with Refraction.
Refraction also negates the stun from Cold Snap, since it will need to deal damage in order to apply its stun.
* Additionally, Refraction completely blocks damage from Sun Strike should Invoker try to finish her off, provided she activate Refraction beforehand.
* Bane can use Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip to lock down Ursa early game and in team fights, forcing Ursa to buy a Black King Bar and making him very vulnerable to being kited once his Black King Bar is down to 6 seconds.
* Overall, Bane's potent disables force Ursa to build more defensive items and play more defensively in general.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
Additional:
* Templar Assassin usually places Psionic Traps inside the Roshan Pit (and can teleport herself to the traps with an
Aghanim's Scepter), preventing Ursa from killing Roshan without getting noticed by the enemy team.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time: Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Clinkz
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time: Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Clinkz
* Heroes that can disable or silence Silencer for a long time, such as Bane and
Legion Commander, can lock down Silencer while their allies put him down.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Heroes with spell immunity can still be disabled by Fiend's Grip and damaged by Brain Sap: Juggernaut,
Lifestealer,
Pangolier.
Additional:
* Enfeeble can weaken Lifestealer's Feast and may force him to cast Rage too quickly or itemize to dispel it.
* Fiend's Grip pierces through magic immunity and allows him to disable Lifestealer while in Rage.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat: Lich,
Lina,
Sniper,
Outworld Destroyer
Zeus
* Refraction can be very useful in safely neutralizing Proximity Mine fields, or absorbing Techies' Blast Off combo.
* Sven has no easy way to burn Refraction charges and needs help from teammates to kill TA successfully.
* If Bane is outside Chronosphere, he can use Nightmare or Fiend's Grip to cripple Faceless Void inside.
* Nightmare and Fiend's Grip are long duration disables and can render Time Walk's mobility very unreliable.
* Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip both allow Bane to potentially waste Pierce the Veil.
* Brain Sap allows Bane to trade very effectively against Muerta's low health pool in the early game.
Brain Sap and
Fiend's Grip can also damage and disable Muerta even through both, Pierce The Veil and
Black King Bar.
* Enfeeble reduces Muerta's attack damage and cast range, both of which she benefits greatly from.
Additional:
* Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip both allow Bane to potentially waste Pierce the Veil.
* Brain Sap allows Bane to trade very effectively against Muerta's low health pool in the early game.
Brain Sap and
Fiend's Grip can also damage and disable Muerta even through both,
Pierce the Veil and
Black King Bar.
* Enfeeble reduces Muerta's attack damage and cast range, both of which she benefits greatly from.
* Even though Bane has no abilities to deal with multiple Chen's creeps, skilled Bane can easily counter this problem by going for Aghanim's Shard, which will allow
Brain Sap to easily kill Chen's creeps and by buying either
Gleipnir or
Mjollnir.
* Fiend's Grip can disable Chen or any of his allies and often finish them before he can save them with
Hand of God. And to make things worse, Chen has no way to cancel
Fiend's Grip on his own, and must rely on outside from {U:Centaur Conqueror} or {U:Mud Golem} under his control.
* Templar Assassin easily withstands all the damage from Skyrwrath Mage, thanks to its first ability Refraction. In addition, Templar Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage with a single hit from under the second ability
Meld.
Additional:
* Templar Assassin easily withstands all the damage from Skyrwrath Mage, thanks to its first ability Refraction. In addition, Templar Assassin can kill Skywrath Mage with a single hit from under the second ability
Meld.
* Heroes that have disposable area-targeted spells can force her to undo her Meld: Leshrac,
Puck,
Tiny,
Jakiro,. An experienced Templar Assassin could try to use Refraction before Meld so she can tank through those damage without getting her Blink disabled.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* None of Puck's abilities have any damage-over-time components, meaning that Refraction is a valuable form of defense against Puck's lane harassment.
* Psi Blades deals pure damage and spills over instantly. Puck cannot reliably dodge the damage with Phase Shift.
Additional:
* Puck high magical burst is almost completely useless against Refraction. Templar Assassin often buys Orchid Malevolence to render Puck useless in teamfights.
* Centaur has nothing to deal with Refraction that will negate all of his burst damage.
* Psionic Traps provide good vision, making for him harder to initiate.
* Fiend's Grip provides mana drain, which can heavily damage Mana Shield and prevent Medusa from using
Stone Gaze.
* Even if she does use Stone Gaze, Nightmare can buy enough time to protect allies and reset the fight.
Additional:
* Fiend's Grip leaves Medusa defenseless, since not only does it deal damage, it also drains mana.
* Heroes with hiding abilities can protect disabled allies: Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Tusk,
Phoenix with
Aghanim's Scepter.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Refraction blocks most of the damage dealt with Arcane Orb and Sanity's Eclipse if used correctly, and is difficult for Outworld Destroyer to deal with.
* If Astral Imprisonment is on cooldown, then an Outworld Destroyer slowed by Psionic Trap is an easy kill for Templar Assassin, especially during the laning stage.
* Heroes who can provide True Sight are always credible threats: Slardar,
Bounty Hunter, especially
Zeus since his
Lightning Bolt provides True Sight without the need to detect her beforehand to apply the debuff. So even a late-coming Zeus can easily scout a large area to reveal her, and she cannot purge herself from his sight with the dispel talent.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Although Lightning Bolt and
Thundergod's Wrath can reveal Templar Assassin during Meld, Zeus nonetheless has no way to deal with Refraction.
* Zeus is a rather squishy hero, falling easily to Templar Assassin's high burst damage.
Additional:
* Refraction blocks all of Zeus' damage and Zeus has no innate way of removing the instances quickly.
* Meld helps burst down Zeus' small health pool while he's still working through the Refraction instances.
* Psi Blades allow her to harass and zone Zeus in lane.
* Templar Assassin usually buys Blink Dagger, enabling her to quickly close the gap to Zeus' defensive positioning.
* Heroes with nukes: Bane,
Lich,
Lion,
Skywrath Mage
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
Additional:
* Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip help to control/disable Troll Warlord in team-fights.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Heroes that can jump and kill him: Meepo,
Clinkz,
Templar Assassin
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Wraith King,
Medusa,
Storm Spirit and other mana dependent heroes will have diminished impact on a fight if they survive Fiend's Grip due to its mana steal.
* Heroes with illusions and summons can swarm and overwhelm Bane, who has no area abilities to deal with them outside from Aghanim's Shard upgraded
Brain Sap:
Broodmother,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Nature's Prophet,
Phantom Lancer,
Terrorblade,
Visage,
Warlock,
Wraith King.
* Wraith King,
Medusa,
Storm Spirit and other mana dependent heroes will have diminished impact on a fight if they survive Fiend's Grip due to its mana steal.
* Heroes who can delivers a big chunk of damage in few hits will find themselves struggle against Templar Assassin's Refraction: Sven,
Phantom Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King,
Lifestealer
* Heroes who possess abilities that can save targets from being killed by Reaper's Scythe: Abaddon,
Bane,
Outworld Destroyer,
Shadow Demon,
Omniknight, etc.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Heroes that can keep Marci for a long time in one place so she can't pursue her targets, like Bane,
Lion,
Shadow Shaman,
Invoker,
Disruptor and
Kunkka.
* Heroes with either magical, physical or pure damage burst: Bane,
Ember Spirit,
Leshrac,
Lina,
Luna,
Nyx Assassin,
Phantom Assassin,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Ursa,
Void Spirit.
* Heroes with channeled abilities can be interrupted by a long-range Fissure: Crystal Maiden,
Witch Doctor,
Bane,
Pugna,
Pudge.
* Her Psionic Traps will usually disable Earthshaker's
Blink Dagger prior to a teamfight, preventing him from initiating.
* Refraction blocks all of Earthshaker's abilities.
* Heroes who have channeled abilities can be stunned by Light Strike Array, like Witch Doctor with
Death Ward and
Bane's
Fiend's Grip.
* Templar Assassin can outmatch Lina on the center line thanks to her own Psi Blades, which is why the advantage of Lina's long-range attacks become turned against her.
* Refraction is good defense against Lina's burst damage. But remember that Lina can partially counter this with
Dragon Slave's damage over time.
Additional:
* Outlanes Lina on the center line thanks to her own Psi Blades, which is why the advantage of Lina's long-range attacks become turned against her
* Closes from Lina's magic attacks with her own Refraction, which is why Lina can't make her combination:
Light Strike Array,
Dragon Slave,
Laguna Blade and kill Templar Assassin quickly
* Heroes with strong dispels can dispel Bane's disables from their allies: Oracle,
Legion Commander,
Omniknight.
* Bane has powerful single-target abilities that can help his allies win Duels, or at least cripple Legion Commander for the duration.
* Nightmare can waste Duel's entire duration as the dueled units transfer the Nightmare back and forth. This may be prevented if a non-Dueling unit attacks the Nightmared Dueler.
Additional:
* Enfeeble,
Nightmare and
Fiend's Grip all prevent Legion Commander from winning Duels, especially when Bane has
Blink Dagger.
* Sniper destroys Templar Assassin Refraction's only defense with its
Shrapnel ability, which is why it can easily punch it and kick it off the line, getting more level and gold.
* The huge range of Sniper's attack due to the Take Aim ability allows him to spend the whole game at a distance far from Templar Assassin, constantly punching her with his physical attacks, which is why Templar Assassin remains either to run away or hide in
Meld, however, even there Sniper will not let her escape with the help of
Blink Dagger, since he uses
Shrapnel.
Additional:
* Sniper destroys Templar Assassin Refraction's only defense with its
Shrapnel ability, which is why it can easily punch it and kick it off the line, getting more level and gold.
* The huge range of Sniper's attack due to the Take Aim ability allows him to spend the whole game at a distance far from Templar Assassin, constantly punching her with his physical attacks, which is why Templar Assassin remains either to run away or hide in
Meld, however, even there Sniper will not let her escape with the help of
Blink Dagger, since he uses
Shrapnel.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes with powerful nuke can waste their precious abilites on her Refraction during a ganking attempt or chaos combat: Lich,
Lina,
Sniper,
Outworld Destroyer
Zeus
* Swashbuckle quickly burns away Refraction charges.
* Lucky Shot can possibly disrupt Templar Assassin when she is boosted with Refraction.
* Pangolier's abilities which does not need to target and has big area of effect allows him to damage her even during Meld.
* Pangolier's high mobility easily shrug off the slow from Psionic Trap.
* Heroes with spell immunity can still be disabled by Fiend's Grip and damaged by Brain Sap: Juggernaut,
Lifestealer,
Pangolier.
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger,
Sniper,
Templar Assassin,
Arc Warden
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes that have disposable area-targeted spells can force her to undo her Meld: Leshrac,
Puck,
Tiny,
Jakiro,. An experienced Templar Assassin could try to use Refraction before Meld so she can tank through those damage without getting her Blink disabled.
* Due to Tiny's non-existent agility gain, high physical damage heroes are more effective against him (Clinkz,
Templar Assassin,
Ursa,
Wraith King etc).
* Heroes who commonly buy Linken's Sphere:
Luna,
Weaver,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Ember Spirit.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes who commonly buy Linken's Sphere:
Luna,
Weaver,
Morphling,
Queen of Pain,
Ember Spirit.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes with powerful channeling abilities are easily interrupted by Phantom's Embrace: Bane,
Pudge,
Witch Doctor,
Crystal Maiden,
Enigma.
* Fragile supports with low armor are always a good prey, also her Psionic Trap will wear down most attempts to flee with their built-in disables: Silencer,
Crystal Maiden,
Warlock,
Ancient Apparition,
Grimstroke,
Witch Doctor
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Because Templar Assassin does not have escape potential in lane, any support hero with roaming potential and a Dust of Appearance can be great at shutting her down early game:
Earth Spirit,
Spirit Breaker,
Tusk,
Bounty Hunter,
Riki,
Warlock.
* Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi,
Earthshaker,
Lion,
Rubick,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Dawnbreaker,
Alchemist,
Ogre Magi,
Axe,
Shadow Shaman,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Bane,
Pudge,
Clockwerk.
* The damage over time from Viper's Poison Attack and
Viper Strike rapidly wear down Refraction charges, allowing Templar Assassin to be damaged. Additionally,
Corrosive Skin causes her attacks to apply damage overtime on her as well.
* Nethertoxin is a big threat to Templar Assassin. Her initially low range making it very hard to deal against Nethertoxin in the laning phase. At any stage of the game, a Nethertoxin can always force her to undo her Meld.
Additional:
* All of Viper's abilities quickly burn through Refraction charges.
* Templar Assassin's short range, aside from Psi Blades' spill damage, makes her vulnerable to
Poison Attack harassment.
* Templar Assassin usually buys health and armor items for damage. Outside of Black King Bar, Viper will almost always be able to kill her when
Refraction is down.
* Enfeeble weakens Viper's attack damage, any healing he receives and his cast range, which makes him unable to harass enemy heroes with
Nethertoxin,
Poison Attack and
Viper Strike.
* Brain Sap allows Bane to heavily harass Viper, damaging him while healing Bane, which allows Bane to fight back against Viper's damage over time output, even through debuff immunity from
Black King Bar.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin is useless against Bane as all of his damaging abilities deal Pure damage.
* Viper has no solutions to cancel Fiend's Grip and in addition, he hates buying disabling items like
Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
Additional:
* Enfeeble weakens Viper's attack damage, any healing he receives and his cast range, which makes him unable to harass enemy heroes with Nethertoxin, Poison Attack and Viper Strike.
* Viper's Corrosive Skin is useless against Bane as all of his damaging abilities deal Pure damage.
* Viper has no solutions to cancel Fiend's Grip and in addition, he hates buying disabling items like
Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
* The three Primal Split brewlings all attacking Templar Assassin at once will remove her Refraction quickly, especially with Fire's Permanent Immolation.
* Templar Assassin has no way to stop Brewmaster from using Primal Split by herself, and may get unlucky and miss her Meld if trying to burst him during her ally's disable.
* After Brewmaster has committed Thunder Clap and Cinder Brew to gank, Bane can use Nightmare on Brewmaster to wait out the debuffs, and might even turn the tables by buying time for allied reinforcements.
* Bane can also prevent Brewmaster from using Primal Split with his long disables.
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer,
Sven,
Wraith King,
Phantom Assassin,
Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Heroes that can quickly deal damage to her, regardless of how weak they are, can easily break through her Refraction:
* Multiple attackers thanks to summoned units or clones: Meepo,
Witch Doctor,
Lycan,
Enigma,
Shadow Shaman
* Multiple attackers thanks to illusions: Phantom Lancer,
Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren (bonus for her
Ensnare). Also despite the visual effects, Templar Assassin does not spill damage against illusions or buildings, so she is not a really good hero to clean up illusions.
* Weak damage but high tick rate or persist in a long time: Slark,
Gyrocopter,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Shaman (
Shackles),
Jakiro,
Pugna,
Doom
* Low-health, normally mobile carries who rely entirely on raw attack damage are vulnerable to Bane's nukes and disables: Anti-Mage,
Clinkz,
Drow Ranger,
Faceless Void,
Gyrocopter,
Juggernaut,
Meepo,
Mirana,
Monkey King,
Morphling,
Phantom Assassin,
Phantom Lancer,
Riki,
Shadow Fiend,
Slark,
Sniper,
Terrorblade,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver.
* Heroes with strong dispels can dispel Bane's disables from their allies: Oracle,
Legion Commander,
Omniknight.
* Because Oracle uses few, powerful instances of damage to kill enemies, Templar Assassin's
Refraction and
Visage's
Gravekeeper's Cloak can absorb his burst damage.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
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You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
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Bane
* Jakiro relies entirely on dealing damage through his area-of-effect abilities, making
Enfeeble less effective against him, although it will still reduce his cast range.
Nightmare can give Jakiro a good setup for all of his ablities.
Fiend's Grip with
Ice Path, as Bane is very easy target while channeling it.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Macropyre can deal pure damage-over-time and pierce spell immunity, which can discourage Bane from even trying to use Fiend's Grip.
Enfeeble less effective against him, although it will still reduce his cast range.
Nightmare can give Jakiro a good setup for all of his ablities.
Fiend's Grip with
Ice Path, as Bane is very easy target while channeling it.
Aghanim's Scepter upgraded
Macropyre can deal pure damage-over-time and pierce spell immunity, which can discourage Bane from even trying to use Fiend's Grip.
* An ill-timed
* Jakiro can easily cancel
*
Additional:
* Jakiro relies entirely on dealing damage through his area-of-effect abilities, making
* An ill-timed
* Jakiro can easily cancel
*
Templar Assassin
* All of Jakiro's active skills can be targeted on an area, which is effective at forcing Templar Assassin to move should she
Meld away.
Refraction.
* Many of Jakiro's spells utilize damage-over-time mechanics, which makes it easy to strip away layers of