Phantom Assassin, fondly referred to as PA, is one of the most iconic heroes in Dota 2, celebrated for her unparalleled burst damage, exceptional evasion, and the ability to eliminate priority targets with precision. With a striking combination of critical hits, agility, and stealth, she remains a fan-favorite for those who enjoy high-risk, high-reward gameplay. This guide delves into everything you need to know about Phantom Assassin, including her bio, abilities, talents, item builds, and fascinating trivia to hone your understanding of this formidable hero.
Phantom Assassin – Bio and Lore
Phantom Assassin, whose real name is Mortred, serves the Veiled Sisters, a shadowy and enigmatic faction of assassin nuns. Tasked with eliminating marked individuals, she moves unseen and strikes without hesitation. Her missions are said to carry a spiritual weight, as each of her targets is selected by Divine decree. Mortred’s personality is shaped by her unshaken Faith and the burden of her deadly role, making her one of the most mystifying and lethal combatants in the world of Dota 2.
Phantom Assassin – Roles and Playstyle
Phantom Assassin is primarily a carry hero but can also serve as a nuker, escape artist, and sometimes an initiator. Her strength lies in the following characteristics:
- Exceptional burst damage from critical strikes.
- Evasion and survivability in physical engagements.
- High mobility and gap-closing abilities that can disable enemy backlines.
- An innate capacity to snowball into an unstoppable force if given sufficient farm.
However, with great potential comes great risk. Phantom Assassin has low durability early in the game and requires careful positioning alongside strategic item builds to maximize her impact.
Abilities – Phantom Assassin
Stifling Dagger
Description: PA throws a dagger infused with a portion of her attack damage, applying a 50% movement speed slow and triggering her passive abilities (including critical strike from Coup de Grace). Stifling Dagger is versatile, offering harassment, last-hitting, and kill setups.
- Key Uses: Harass enemies during the laning phase, securecreeps from a safe distance, slow down enemies for pursuit, and trigger critical hits in combination with Coup de Grace.
- Damage Scaling: It scales based on Phantom Assassin’s total attack damage, making it highly valuable in the late game.
Phantom Strike
Description: Phantom Strike allows PA to blink to a target (enemy or ally), granting increased attack speed for a short duration.
- Key Uses: Close gaps quickly to engage priority targets, escape dangerous situations by blinking to an ally, or rapidly reposition in fights.
- Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade: Resets Phantom Strike’s cooldown upon securing a kill, allowing PA to chain multiple kills in a fight.
Blur
Description: Blur is a dual-purpose ability that passively grants evasion and can be activated to remove PA’s visibility from the minimap. It also grants movement speed and temporary invisibility under certain conditions.
- Passive Component: Grants evasion from physical attacks, making PA difficult to damage in engagements.
- Active Component: Conceals Mortred on the map, increasing her stealth potential and enabling her to farm or initiate surprise attacks.
- Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade: Instantly casts Blur with a dispel and refreshes abilities upon getting a kill.
Coup de Grace
Description: Coup de Grace is PA’s ultimate ability, providing a chance to deal massive critical damage. With percentages ranging from 200% to 450%, this ability defines Phantom Assassin’s reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the game.
- Synergies: Items that improve attack damage and critical strike efficiency, such as Daedalus and Battle Fury, significantly enhance its output.
- Trigger with Stifling Dagger: Stifling Dagger carries Coup de Grace’s critical chance, giving PA extra opportunities for devastating strikes from a safe distance.
Phantom Assassin – Item Builds and Equipment
Laning Phase
During the early game, Phantom Assassin needs to focus on survivability and farm efficiency. Common items include:
- Ring of Health: Provides sustain for longer lane presence.
- Quelling Blade: Assists with last-hitting.
- Orb of Corrosion: Adds more harassment potential with bonus damage and slow.
Mid to Late Game
Itemization for PA revolves around amplifying her damage output and enabling her to survive longer in engagements.
- Battle Fury: Improves her farming speed and deals splash damage, enabling rapid scaling.
- Black King Bar (BKB): Provides immunity to magic and disables, ensuring PA can engage safely in fights.
- Desolator: Reduces enemy armor and enhances burst potential.
- Satanic: Provides lifesteal and survivability, allowing PA to regen health mid-fight.
- Mjolnir: Offers attack speed and helps deal with creeps and illusions effectively.
How to Play Phantom Assassin – Tips and Strategy
Choosing When to Play Phantom Assassin
- PA works well against teams with squishy backline heroes that lack escape tools. Supports like Crystal Maiden and Drow Ranger are easy prey.
- Avoid playing her against heroes who can disable her evasion, such as Monkey King Bar carriers or Bloodthorn users.
Teamfighting
- Wait for enemy crowd-control abilities to be used before jumping in.
- Focus on eliminating high-priority targets like enemy carries or supports.
- Time your Black King Bar activation well to maximize survivability.
Advanced Tactics
- Use Blur’s invisibility strategically to secure farm in risky areas.
- Position yourself during fights to avoid excessive crowd control.
- Maximize your farming efficiency by using Battle Fury and Stifling Dagger to clear stacks.
Phantom Assassin – FAQ
What roles can Phantom Assassin play?
Phantom Assassin is primarily a carry but can also act as a nuker or escape artist due to her mobility and burst damage.
How should I counter Phantom Assassin?
Counter PA by picking heroes with crowd control, obtaining Monkey King Bar to negate her evasion, or building items like Ghost Scepter.
What is Phantom Assassin’s greatest strength?
Her ability to deal massive critical burst damage and evade physical attacks makes her lethal in late-game scenarios.
What does Blur’s active component do?
Blur hides PA from the minimap and can render her invisible for brief moments, providing opportunities for surprise attacks or safe farming.
What is the best item build for Phantom Assassin?
A great core build includes Battle Fury, Black King Bar, Desolator, Satanic, and Situational Upgrades.
What are PA’s weaknesses?
She struggles against magic damage, disables, and heroes who can ignore her evasion.
How does Coup de Grace work?
It passively gives Phantom Assassin a chance to land devastating critical strikes on her attacks.
How does Aghanim’s Scepter enhance Phantom Strike?
It refreshes Phantom Strike’s cooldown upon securing a kill, allowing rapid targeting of multiple heroes during fights.
What makes Phantom Assassin a high-risk, high-reward hero?
Her reliance on timing, positioning, and critical hit chances can either lead to a game-winning performance or a disappointing failure if executed poorly.
How can I improve my Phantom Assassin gameplay?
Focus on positioning, farming efficiently, and understanding when to engage or disengage in team fights.
Phantom Assassin – Trivia and Fun Facts
- Phantom Assassin’s lore connects her to the Veiled Sisters, a faction not deeply explored in Dota 2 but rich with mystery.
- Her design and abilities are inspired by conventional depictions of stealth-based rogue characters in fantasy games.
- PA has one of the most iconic voice lines: “For the Veiled Ones,” a reference to her allegiance.
- Her critical strike often tops the damage charts, making her a record-holder for max damage in many pro games.
Source : Dota2HighSchool
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