* 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.
* Savage Roar interrupts Starbreaker.
* Dawnbreaker is a slow moving hero. Although tanky, Lone Druid can eventually wear her down with his better movement speed.
* 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.
* Many of Jakiro's spells utilize damage-over-time mechanics, which makes it easy to strip away layers of Refraction.
* Heroes with channeling spells are very easy targets for Jakiro's abilities: Crystal Maiden, Dawnbreaker, Enigma, Pudge, Shadow Fiend, Shadow Shaman, Warlock.
* 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.
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy Refraction
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Kinetic Field prevents Dawnbreaker from escaping with Celestial Hammer.
* Kinetic Field and Static Storm can pin down Dawnbreaker after she jumps in with Solar Guardian.
* Glimpse can force Dawnbreaker out of a fight right after she uses Solar Guardian.
* Ion Shell destroys Refraction's protection stacks in short time.
* Surge ignores the massive slow from Psionic Trap.
* 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.
* 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.
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker:Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.
* Slardar can attack through Plague Wards and gain Bash of the Deep charges, and Templar Assassin can spill Psi Blades through Plague Wards too.
* Pulse Nova can easily burn Templar Assassin's Refraction charges quickly, and can also hit her while she is invisible in Meld.
* 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.
* 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.
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker:Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Bushwhack can tear through Refraction as it does multiple intervals of damage.
* 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.
* 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.
* Many physical-only single-target heroes like Lifestealer, Sven, Wraith King, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin can have their damage mitigated by Cold Embrace.
* 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 invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health: Bounty Hunter, Templar Assassin, Riki, Clinkz, Weaver, Treant Protector, Nyx Assassin.
* 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.
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker:Lion, Crystal Maiden ,Venomancer etc.
* Luna can easily cancel channeling spells with Lucent Beam and 0.25s Eclipse Lucent Ministun talent for Eclipse, she can also buy Abyssal Blade in case they decide to buy Black King Bar: Enigma's Black Hole, Witch Doctor's Death Ward, Shadow Shaman's Shackles, Lion's Mana Drain, Bane's Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Pugna's Life Drain, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, and Naga Siren's Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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
* 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...
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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
* Being a strength hero with a high strength gain means Feast can give her a hard time,especially later in the game.
* However,Starbreaker's physical damage can control him in the laning phase.
* 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
* Gust can shut down most of Dawnbreaker's abilities, rendering her useless.
* Frost Arrows followed by a high attack speed, makes it hard for Dawnbreaker to escape.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Clinkz
* Spiked Carapace can stop Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian which will eliminate her global presence and limits her movement around the map.
Additional:
* Spiked Carapace interrupts Starbreaker before Dawnbreaker has her Aghanim's Shard, as well as Solar Guardian during the initial channel, making her ineffective at joining and dealing damage in teamfights.
* The slow projectile and damage over time effect of Celestial Hammer makes it easy to stun Dawnbreaker if she attemps to engage or chase.
* Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage: Jakiro, Viper, Venomancer, Huskar, Ember Spirit, Dark Seer, Sand King, Doom, Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
* 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.
* Powerful physical hitters that can destroy Pangolier during his rolling from afar: Drow Ranger, Sniper, Templar Assassin, Arc Warden
* 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.
* 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
* Attacks from Boars and the attack speed boost from Inner Beast will quickly wear down Refraction.
* Heroes with summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (Phantom Lancer ,Beastmaster ,Lycan).
* 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.
* Heroes with summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (Phantom Lancer ,Beastmaster ,Lycan).
* 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.
* Heroes with channeling spells because Shadow Fiend has nothing to cancel channeling outside of Requiem of Souls: Bane, Enigma, Pudge, Shadow Shaman, Dawnbreaker, Warlock, Crystal Maiden.
* 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 capable of perofrming interceptions who can anticipate and counter-initiate after Phantom Assassin blinks on them with Phantom Strike will often kill her than the other way around: Axe, Bane, Dawnbreaker, Centaur Warrunner, Luna, Medusa, Omniknight, Pudge, Razor, Terrorblade, Underlord.
* Starbreaker can deal huge damage to Chen and clear waves of his creeps.
* Celestial Hammer can deal damage over time to both, Chen and his creeps, which may force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely.
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to counter Chen's pushing attempts and to rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Solar Guardian can also give Dawnbreaker's allies evasion while Dawnbreaker is airborne for it's duration, wasting much of Penitence's power.
Additional:
* Starbreaker can deal huge damage to Chen and clear waves of his creeps.
* Celestial Hammer can deal damage over time to both, Chen and his creeps, which may force Chen to use Hand of God prematurely.
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to counter Chen's pushing attempts and to rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Solar Guardian can also give Dawnbreaker's allies evasion while Dawnbreaker is airborne for it's duration, wasting much of Penitence's power.
* Refraction can be very useful in safely neutralizing Proximity Mine fields, or absorbing Techies' Blast Off combo.
* Starbreaker and Celestial Hammer does high AoE damage which easily clears {U:Treant}, shutting down most of Nature's Prophets damage and pushing power.
* Dawnbreaker can teleport to deal with split-pushing Nature's Prophet and rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it.
* Since Starbreaker clears trees in its path followed by a stun at the end Nature's Prophet will be unable to escape the dangerous situation by using Sprout on himself and teleporting away with either Teleportation or Town Portal Scroll.
Additional:
* Starbreaker and Celestial Hammer does high AoE damage which easily clears {U:Treant}, shutting down most of Nature's Prophets damage and pushing power.
* Dawnbreaker can teleport to deal with split-pushing Nature's Prophet and rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it.
* Since Starbreaker clears trees in its path followed by a stun at the end Nature's Prophet will be unable to escape the dangerous situation by using Sprout on himself and teleporting away with either Teleportation or Town Portal Scroll.
* Sven has no easy way to burn Refraction charges and needs help from teammates to kill TA successfully.
* Dawnbreaker can use Solar Guardian to help her team against Muerta whenever they are in distress against her, especially when trapped in the radius of the The Calling. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Solar Guardian can also give Dawnbreaker's allies evasion against Muerta's attacks from Gunslinger while Dawnbreaker is airborne for it's duration.
* Solar Guardian and Starbreaker can disable Muerta even through both, Pierce the Veil and Black King Bar, though Starbreaker will not deal any damage to Muerta as it's damage output is physical instead of magical.
* Celestial Hammer and Solar Guardian deal magical damage which allows Dawnbreaker to fightback against Muerta whenever she has Pierce the Veil. Dawnbreaker can also buy Revenant's Brooch to attack Muerta through Pierce the Veil with Starbreaker.
* Dawnbreaker is also common Black King Bar wielder which allows her to protect herself against Muerta's abilities. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Starbreaker can also give Dawnbreaker debuff immunity against Muerta's abilities.
* 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.
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside Arena of Blood.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* Spectre has no innate disables or silence to stop any of Dawnbreaker's abilities
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to quickly stand next to one of her allies, denying Spectre any of Desolate's bonus.
* Luminosity outheals the damage dealt by Dispersion.
Additional:
* Spectre has no innate disables or silence to stop any of Dawnbreaker's abilities
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to quickly stand next to one of her allies, denying Spectre any of Desolate's bonus
* Luminosity outheals the damage dealt by Dispersion
* 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.
* Refraction negates all of Void Spirit's burst damage.
* Meld quickly burns through Resonant Pulse.
* Solar Guardian can save allies who are being dueled and will interrupt her Duel initiation.
* 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.
* Dawnbreaker can easily clear waves of Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image with Starbreaker, Celestial Hammer and Solar Guardian.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Starbreaker will allow Dawnbreaker to dispel Ensnare and freely attack Naga Siren during Song of the Siren when combined with Black King Bar, a common item on Dawnbreaker.
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to counter any attempts of Naga Siren and rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Solar Guardian can also give Dawnbreaker's allies evasion while Dawnbreaker is airborne for it's duration, as Naga Siren mainly relies on direct attacks in order to deal damage.
Additional:
* Dawnbreaker can easily clear waves of Naga Siren's illusions from Mirror Image with Starbreaker, Celestial Hammer and Solar Guardian.
* Aghanim's Shard upgraded Starbreaker will allow Dawnbreaker to dispel Ensnare and freely attack Naga Siren during Song of the Siren when combined with Black King Bar, a common item on Dawnbreaker.
* Solar Guardian allows Dawnbreaker to counter any pushing attempts of Naga Siren and rejoin her team with Solar Guardian when they require it. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Solar Guardian can also give Dawnbreaker's allies evasion while Dawnbreaker is airborne for it's duration, as Naga Siren mainly relies on direct attacks in order to deal damage. Solar Guardian can also be used after Naga Siren uses Song of the Siren near her allies to either escape from or counter-initiate against them.
* 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
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven, Omniknight, Enigma, Luna, Naga Siren, Mars, Jakiro, Venomancer, Elder Titan, Faceless Void, Rubick, Keeper of the Light, Pugna, Invoker, Spectre, Alchemist, Treant Protector, Lina, Oracle, Zeus, Shadow Shaman, Phoenix, Razor, Huskar, Batrider, Kunkka, Tidehunter, Wraith King, Sand King, Medusa, Dawnbreaker.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Clinkz
* 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.
* 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
* Heroes whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once: Dawnbreaker, Ember Spirit, Lina, Luna, Jakiro, Leshrac, Invoker, Muerta, Dazzle.
* 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
* 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 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Solar Guardian can save an ally getting targeted and focused by Spirit Breaker.
* 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.
* 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.
* Heroes who have channeling abilities because Terrorblade has no disables to cancel them at all besides Terror Wave from Aghanim's Scepter, and he does not like buying disabling items at all: Enigma's Black Hole, Witch Doctor's Death Ward, Shadow Shaman's Shackles, Lion's Mana Drain, Bane's Fiend's Grip, Pudge's Dismember, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Pugna's Life Drain, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, and Naga Siren's Reel In from Aghanim's Scepter.
* 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 provide vision will see Fiend's Gate coming: Techies, Templar Assassin, Treant Protector.
* Heroes with strong area-of-effect damaging and/or disabling abilities will be able to intercept Underlord and his team when they exit from Fiend's Gate: Luna's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Eclipse, Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian, Axe's Berserker's Call, Mars's Arena of Blood, Jakiro's Macropyre, Dual Breath and Ice Path, Naga Siren's Song of the Siren, Razor's Eye of the Storm and Plasma Field, Lina's Light Strike Array, Broodmother's Spinner's Snare from Aghanim's Scepter, Elder Titan's Earth Splitter and Echo Stomp, Alchemist's Unstable Concoction and Acid Spray, Queen of Pain's Sonic Wave, Dark Seer's Wall of Replica and Vacuum, Venomancer's Noxious Plague and Poison Nova from Aghanim's Scepter, Oracle's Fortune's End and Rain of Destiny from Aghanim's Shard, Bloodseeker's Blood Rite, Enigma's Black Hole and Midnight Pulse, Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls, Batrider's Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Flaming Lasso, Firefly, Flamebreak and Sticky Napalm, Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast, Sand King's Epicenter, Sand Storm and Burrowstrike, Gyrocopter's Call Down, Ember Spirit's Sleight of Fist, Death Prophet's Exorcism and Silence, Monkey King's Wukong's Command, Crystal Maiden's Freezing Field, Muerta's The Calling, Medusa's Stone Gaze, Zeus's Nimbus from Aghanim's Scepter. Dark Willow's Bramble Maze, Pangolier's Swashbuckle, Grimstroke's Soulbind, Ink Swell and Stroke of Fate, Earthshaker's Echo Slam and Fissure, Puck's Dream Coil and Waning Rift, Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse, Magnus's Reverse Polarity.
* Time Walk can easily avoid Dawnbreaker's abilities or to escape her gank attempts and backtrack any damage she deals.
* Time Dilation can prevent Dawnbreaker from using her abilities after initiating, and slowing her down severely.
* Time Lock combined with his high attack speed can lock Dawnbreaker in place, preventing her escape with Celestial Hammer.
* Chronosphere locks down Dawnbreaker in place right after she uses Solar Guardian.
* On the other hand, if Solar Guardian is cast beforehand from afar, it may discourage Faceless Void from casting Chronosphere in its location
* Solar Guardian can heal allies that trapped inside Chronosphere.
* 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
* 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 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).
* 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
* 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 summoned units don't fare well against Dawnbreaker. (Phantom Lancer ,Beastmaster ,Lycan).
* 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 who can clear the waves of Enigma's Eidolons: Lina, Luna, Dawnbreaker, Jakiro, Shadow Shaman, Death Prophet, Keeper of the Light, Invoker, Leshrac, Puck.
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Templar Assassin
* 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.
Dawnbreaker
* Nethertoxin disables Dawnbreaker's Luminosity. Since she's a melee hero, she needs to close gap to attack and Nethertoxin will be bad for her since she cannot heal.
* Viper Strike and Poison Attack will severely slow her down and combined with Nethertoxin, it will be her death sentence (unless her Celestial Hammer or Solar Guardian are off cooldown). Besides that, chasing her down will be easy due to the slow.