* 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.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* Shackles and Mass Serpent Ward instantly destroy
Refraction
* 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.
*
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.
*
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.
* 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.
*
Pulse Nova can easily burn Templar Assassin's
Refraction charges quickly, and can also hit her while she is invisible in
Meld.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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
* Ion Shell destroys
Refraction's protection stacks in short time.
* Surge ignores the massive slow from
Psionic Trap.
*
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.
*
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.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* 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.
Additional:
* Batrider's DoT damage quickly removes Templar Assassin's
Refraction and can damage her during
Meld.
* 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.
*
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.
Additional:
* 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
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
Additional:
* 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.
* 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.
*
Bushwhack can tear through
Refraction as it does multiple intervals of damage.
* 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.
* 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:
* 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.
* 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
Additional:
* 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.
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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
* 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.
* 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
* 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
* 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.
*
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.
* 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 with invisibility will be detected by Thirst when they have low enough health:
Bounty Hunter,
Templar Assassin,
Riki,
Clinkz,
Weaver,
Treant Protector,
Nyx Assassin.
* Due to her slow movement speed,heroes with crowd control and slows can shut down Dawnbreaker:
Lion,
Crystal Maiden ,
Venomancer etc.
* 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.
Additional:
*
Spiked Carapace can stop Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian which will eliminate her global presence and limits her movement around the map.
* 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.
* 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).
* 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
*
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
* 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
* 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
* 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
* 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.
* 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
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 who are being dueled and will interrupt her
Duel initiation.
* Sven has no easy way to burn
Refraction charges and needs help from teammates to kill TA successfully.
* 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.
* 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
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside
Arena of Blood.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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
Additional:
* 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 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.
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 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.
* 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.
*
Refraction can be very useful in safely neutralizing Proximity Mine fields, or absorbing Techies' Blast Off combo.
*
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.
* 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.
*
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 negates all of Void Spirit's burst damage.
*
Meld quickly burns through
Resonant Pulse.
* 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.
* 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 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
* 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.
* Fragile carries with no reliable escaping mechanism can be bursted down in no time:
Sniper,
Drow Ranger,
Clinkz
* 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
* 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
* 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 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.
* 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
Additional:
*
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 whose abilities can affect multiple enemies at once:
Dawnbreaker,
Ember Spirit,
Lina,
Luna,
Jakiro,
Leshrac,
Invoker,
Muerta,
Dazzle.
* Heroes that can jump and kill him:
Meepo,
Clinkz,
Templar Assassin
* 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.
* 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 that avoid damage by coming in and out of invisibility in teamfights such as
Weaver,
Templar Assassin, and
Riki will be easy for Zeus to reveal with Lightning Bolt and Thundergod's Wrath, but these heroes usually have other ways to avoid his damage or kill him, so he is not a perfect counter alone.
*
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.
Additional:
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
*
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
* 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.
* 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).
* 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
* 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).
* 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.
* Durable heroes:
Axe,
Dawnbreaker,
Bristleback,
Mars,
Omniknight,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Primal Beast,
Underlord.
Additional:
* Solar Guardian can save an ally getting targeted and focused by Spirit Breaker.
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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.
Refraction charges.
Psi Blades' spill damage, makes her vulnerable to
Poison Attack harassment.
Black King Bar, Viper will almost always be able to kill her when
Refraction is down.
*
Additional:
* All of Viper's abilities quickly burn through
* Templar Assassin's short range, aside from
* Templar Assassin usually buys health and armor items for damage. Outside of
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.
*