GUIDE TO AZWRAITH, THE PHANTOM LANCER

Ok now that were all done with that cool pic of the icy gorilla of dota lets move on to some pl stats

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT COMING UP NOT FOR T3H FAINT AT H34RT

~ PHANTOM LANCER, A TALE OF A GORILLA

Although his true name is unknown to his allies, Azwraith's assigned name tells you enough. Like the Angel of Death, Azrael, he fights to rid the world of those who choose to embrace undeath. He is able to appear and disappear at will like a wraith, often appearing in many places at once. Azwraith is more than capable of dispatching the undead using his lance, each blow sending them closer to the spirit-realm. This lance is the source of his astounding ability to duplicate himself, whenever it draws blood he can use their life to create weaker copies of himself.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/I][/FONT]

TECHNICAL STATISTICS

Starting HP: 492 || Starting MP: 273 || Base Damage: 45-67
Base Armor: 3.2 || Strength: 18 + 2 || Agility: 23 + 2.8 || Intelligence: 21 + 2

Pros:

* Looks cool
* Good agi and agi gain
* Good int and int gain
* Massive damage
* Has good nuke to domnate a lane and...ks
* Has an escape mechanism
* Best image hero in dota
* One of the best late-gamers
* Ability to play games with you oppponents mind
* Massive pushing ability
* Great last hitting and farming capability

Cons:

* Melee
* Sad str and str gain
* Sad base HP
* Armour isnt that good
* Somewhat item dependent
* Sorta squishy
* Needs to floss
* Broken Horn

SKILLS

Spirit Lance :

Throws a magical spirit from his lance at a target damaging it and slowing it down for 3 seconds. An illusion is created attacking the target.
Casting range: 750 || Cooldown: 7 seconds

Dopple Walk:

Allows the Phantom Lancer to become invisible for a period of time, leaving behind a duplicate of himself to confuse enemies. 10% movement bonus at all levels. Lasts 8 seconds.
This illusion lasts 20 seconds || Cooldown: Varies per level

Juxtapose(passive):

Whenever the Phantom Lancer attacks he will randomly create a duplicate of himself. Limit of 5 images. Duplicates last 20 seconds.
Passive Ability || Images deal 25% damage and receive 400%.

Phantom's Edge(passive):

Gives the Phantom Lancer an edge in combat by increasing Juxtapose's image generation and increasing magic resistance. Additionally, it enables his images to generate their own images.

Skill Build

Level 1 - Dopplewalk
Level 2 - Spirit Lance
Level 3 - Spirit Lance
Level 4 - Dopplewalk
Level 5 - Spirit Lance
Level 6 - Dopplewalk
Level 7 - Spirit Lance
Level 8 - Dopplewalk
Level 9 - Juxtapose
Level 10 - Phantom Edge
Level 11 - Phantom Edge
Level 12 - Juxtapose
Level 13 - Juxtapose
Level 14 - Juxtapose
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Phantom Edge

Moving on...

Item Builds

OK now the controvertial part comes..im keepin this short an simple basically Azzy bein an infinite image hero may have a VERY flexible item build...but for me i find the following build very effective in mostly every situation

CORE:

p.s-i would like to thank juddernaught for this pic

Later:

If you get yasha on an image hero next best thing to ketchup is to turn it into a manta.People who wont do that need to burn in hell(

)
Why we dont make Phase Boots?

BTW GAME SHOULD END AT THIS JUNCTURE WITH YOUR PUSHING ABILITIES!

If for some strange reason or by the will of god or your teams retarded mental capacity to own even when u have a manta the gome doesnt finish treat yourself to one of these

Luxury:

OK IF YOUR GET THESE ITEMS YOU-ARE-A-NOOB:

Optional Items you can get in the Middle of the game:

Against casters:

For Physical Survivability:

Althought vangaurd really isnt recommended since its slows your farming like hell..even then its for the stupidly retarded ones.. its your descision really.The new heart also is a bit piss weak compared to the one before.

STRATEGY

Early Game: Now i aint gonna drag on and on..i just got 1 word for ya...SURVIVE. Atleast until you get your diffusal. The secret to survival is lane control.You can start controlling a lane by DENYING.Remember for every time you hit your opponents creep the closer to get to THEIR tower and vice-versa...So start denying and stay near your tower..wait for your opponent to make a freakin mistake.They are humans you know

.And once they make a mistake capitalize by lancing em..send em back to their fountain to heal,get a kill if possible.WHile both of the effects are good, the latter being better.But seriously if your laned against people like viper, witch doctor or warlock or peaople like that SWITCH LANES IMMEDIATELY OR RISK THE GAME COMPLETELY!!! Let the pros like kuroky,merlini and loda take risks like that.And PLEASE PLEASE dont waste your dopplewalk on retarded things like sneaking up or going past them.Also if possible ask for ganks in your lane if you have co-operative teammates.
Once you get your diffusal blade which should be somewhere around level 11 even if your playing moderately, things should even out and tip the scales in your favour if your engaging one guy in combat.Remember..early game PLAY SMART.

JUST FOLLOW THE 2 GOLDEN RULES TO BEIN A LATE GAME AGILITY CARRY HERO AND YOU SHOULD BE FINE

Mid Game: This is where you start glow...not shine but glow.You should have your diff blade boots and a yasha. Right now you can take on most heroes one on one, Can move in and outta combat like a shadow and launch lances like crazy.Now you can start ganking.However there are some rules:

* Do not stay in the front line..you are not the tank.
* Do not initiate..you dont have a stun (lance is hardly a initiation skill)
* Come in only when there is utter confusion in the hopes of spawing some images creating more utter confusion adn chaos i.e crowd control
* Dopple in make the real Azzy stay near the enemy or behind them so he doesnt get hit by an aoe and use the image like its the real thing so that the enemies thing your the real Azzy comin in to save the day and hopefully waste a nuke or two on it.If they do good , if not bad luck better luck next time. Either way that should be a cue for your allies to bring in the heat and go all out which brings me to the next point
* When your allies do go all out you target the final line of your opponents casters and decimate them one by one. With a diffusal and the enemy caster already on a shortage of mana you can prolly take out 2 in less than 10 seconds which should give you just about enough time to dopple out and wait in the back and see if you can ks the HI-HP heroes like doom and treant with your lance
* Go in with 1k come out with 2-2.5

Late Game: This is where you start to shine so much even you gotta wear shades

. Right now you should have finished your manta and BoT and you should be on your way in completeting or already have completed a high tier game ending item like butterfly or buriza. No hero on the dota roster is a match for you one on one now ( maybe an equally farmed up mortred who knows which is the real you but its still chance based.I mean a 1-1.5k crit can screw up any agility hero).Right now you can prolly 2v1 or even 3v1 though i dont recommend it.Just Go to a lane: push, spawn 7 images in less than 2 seconds,TP to another lane, push, spawn 7 more images in less than 2 seconds and finally tp t the last lane, push, spawn 7 more images and push. Rinse-Repeat. To hero kill or mass hero kill.
1) Dopple in
2) Right click on desired food
3) right click on the next desired food
4) If you can manage right click one more
5) Dopple out
6) Laugh

MIND GAMES

OK SO TO LEARN ABOUT THE ART OF MIND GAMING I SUGGEST YOU VISIT Totalnewbies ART OF MINDGAMES This is total newbie showing mind games at its best

Next off, another guide writer Juddernaught who explained the art of mind games while playing Azzy so well i decided to quote him as he did not leave out ANYTHING!!!(seriously)

Quote:

Images are your best friend: they do a lot of work for you and are expendable. They can be used for a variety of purposes:
Scouting:
The image created by Dopplewalk lasts 20 seconds, that's more than enough time for you to get to a rune or to scout the jungle. You can scout with your Juxtapose images, but each only lasts about 7 seconds. They are best used when you're jungling and want to scout out an area since you can start them running in different directions, covering lots of ground. They are also helpful during pushes because once you have killed the creep wave and you have left over images, send them in different directions (into the jungles, Rosh, behind you, ahead of you, etc). They won't survive until the next wave anyway, so you may as well put their sight to good use.

Drawing Enemy Fire:
Azwraith gets dominated by chain stuns and focus-fire due to his fairly low HP. The way to counter this is to go out of your enemies' sight (behind trees, up cliffs, around corners, out of range, etc.), Dopplewalk, and control that image like you would control yourself. If played right, enemies will fire away on that image. This is especially the case when you think they are coming to gank you as they are very eager to get a kill. I have successfully drawn Rooftrellen's mass entangle, Rexxar's roar, Lion's finger, Bane's grasp, and a bunch of stuns with my illusion. The trick is to make your enemy think it's you since they can't tell a difference. Although this may not seem like much since you're not killing anyone, you just made them waste their precious mana with (hopefully) their strongest spell. Now they are less of a threat to both you and your teammates. Plus, you can trash talk a little. Go on, you earned it.

Avoiding Spells:
In a related concept, since Dopplewalk has no transition time into invisibility, you can use it to avoid spells. Although this isn't really "using your images," one is created in the process, so I stuck this here. For example, if you have a storm bolt coming at you, activate Dopplewalk or Manta. The spell will fail and you will be unharmed. Additionally, the enemy, anticipating the stun will hit, will likely come in after you. They will attack the illusion, leaving you an opportunity to hit back.

Confusing your Enemy:
As mentioned earlier, when you cast Spirit Lance, your images mimic you but shortly afterward. Therefore, by casting the lance, you give away your position. This can be helpful however. First, make sure you can Dopplewalk. Second, cast your lance. Third, Dopplewalk. You know that "real" one your enemy was looking for? Well, he's a fake one now. You can run around searching for an opening to strike or bail if you have to.

Jungling:
Images play an important role in jungling because they allow you to tackle creeping earlier and harder. It's like having a friendly hero with you but better because they don't leach your experience. The basics are: go in and attack, creating some images, then you back out a little while your images do most of the work. Some people recommend moving on to another creep camp once you've spawned a few images, but I prefer to stay at one until it's over. Why? Well, 1) that ensures you get the experience, 2) if enemies come to gank you, you already have duplicates to confuse them, 3) if only one enemy shows up, you already have a ganking squad, 4) you can use your 7 images to scout the area after the camp is dead. What camp you can kill depends on the creep strength and your items. Once you get diffusal most of the creeps will be easy pickings but with manta and a vitality booster, creeps should be trembling in fear (except Rosh, who eats your illusions like a fat kid eats cake).

Slowing your Enemy:

WARNING: Uber-micro Required! Having a hard time catching that speedy Strygwyr or Barathrum? Spirit Lance and Diffusal Blade slow. Well, so can images. After casting Spirit Lance, your enemy is crippled for a decent slow. If you plan it right and can chase. After casting the spell, quickly tell your real hero to attack the enemy and take control of your image. Then, have your image, who runs at your speed, run in front of their hero. Use that image to block the enemy as you would your own creeps. You can catch up and initiate the beating.

IMAGES: AN IN DEPTH SURVEY OF WHAT THEY LIKE

Images will not benefit from:

* Direct bonus to damage items (i.e. items that say +x to damage do not give that bonus damage to images)
* Direct bonus to armour items (Chain mail, Platemail, etc)
* Direct regeneration items (Ring of Regen, Ring of Health, etc)
Increased Attack Speed percent (Hyper stone, Treads, Hand of Midas, Monkey King Bar, Butterfly)
Frost Attack (Eye of Skadi)
* Lifesteal (Satanic, Mask of Madness, Mask of Death, Helm of Dominator) Note: the graphic appears, but the images don't actually leach life
Chain Lightning (Maelstrom)
* Cleave - Percentage Splash Damage applied to nearby targets (Battlefury)
* Maim (Sange, Sange and Yasha)
% Chance for Microstun that disrupts concentration spells and gives bonus damage (Monkey King Bar)
Corruption effect - minus to armor upon hit (Stygnian Desolator). Images will benefit from the corruption given by your main hero
* Damage block (Stout Shield, Vanguard)
Spell items - images can't cast spells (Dagon, Guinsoo, Mechanism, Mantastyle, etc)
*Magic resistance items (Planeswalker Cloak)

Images will benefit from:

*Stat bonus items (Wraith Bands, Bracers, Null Talisman, Ultimate Orb, etc)
*Feedback (Diffusal Blade, Manta Style)
*Critical Strike (Crystalys / Buriza ) Just the critical strike ability is transferred to images not the bonus damage from the item.
*Evasion (Butterfly, Radiance)
*Raw movement speed gain items (Boots, Treads, Boots of Travel)
% Movement Speed gain items (Sange and Yasha, Yasha).
*True Sight (Gem of True Sight)
*Radiance burning aura (Radiance) - Note that while images get the burning aura only one such aura will apply to an enemy at a given time (i.e. 4 images do not mean 4xdamage from the burn aura) The bonus damage from the Radiance item itself does not transfer
*Direct Hit Point bonus items (Vitality Booster, Point Booster, Soul Booster, Heart of Tarresque, Manta Style)
*Direct Mana Point bonus items (Energy Booster, Point Booster, Soul Booster, etc)

Hmm..Im not gonna waste time stickin pics of good allies bad enemies..figure it out yourself or you wont learn a thing.Experience it yourselves and make your own mistakes and then learn from em..But i can give you some basic.

GOOD ALLIES:

* Stunners like DK, Rexxar,a good mirana or even a REALLY good techies
* Slowers like viper and drow.
* Miscl: Mini stunners like enigma and witch docter
Heroes that give you a passve boost like lycan
Barathrum and vengeful spirit

BAD ENEMIES:

* Just one kind...AOE freaks

Warlock
Leshrac
Tormented soul
Tiny
Invoker
And his worst nightmare and arch enemy:EARTHSHAKER!!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE:
*To counter a gem carrying dude gank that guy and take that gem
*To counter dust..kill the guy fast if you can..if not use the movement speed buff from your dopple to get outta there until it wears off
*TO counter people such as gondar and slardar..outfarm and outlevel them..nothing else you can do

CONCLUSION

Ok guys this is the end of the road,I just finished writing a guide on Azzy,hope you enjoyed it and above all learned something from it and hopefully you will find out how entertaining it is to play him

. I'll post a few replays when I get some good ones. Till then ciao and hang tight for my next guide on another carry hero

Azwraith the Phantom Lancer
Author: swordofhonour01
Map Vers.: 6.64b

Azwraith, The Phantom Lancer

Images of Imminent Chaos.REWORKED!

Date Posted: 09/30/09
Last Comment:28/07/2010
Total Votes: 44
Current Rating: 7.66
Views: 54265