Templar Assassin farms quickly, protects herself with Refraction, and kills a target with several empowered attacks. Let’s take a look at what damage removes Templar Assassin’s charges, who prevents her from keeping her distance, and how to find her traps.

Hero Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: Templar Assassin excels at physical burst damage, fast farming with Psi Blades, and map control with Psionic Trap. Refraction blocks a limited number of instances of damage.

Weaknesses: Frequent damage over time instantly removes her defensive charges, and the hero struggles against illusions, durable targets, and early pressure before she gets her key items.

Best Heroes Against Templar Assassin

Templar Assassin usually plays in the mid lane, though she is sometimes picked as a carry. The main counters deal frequent damage and prevent her from farming Ancient creeps without punishment.

Carry

  • Phantom Lancer A large number of illusions quickly removes Refraction and makes it difficult to identify the real target.
  • Naga Siren Illusions pressure Templar Assassin with frequent attacks, while Ensnare prevents her from repositioning.

Mid

  • Viper Constant damage quickly removes Refraction, while Nethertoxin forces her to leave a favorable area.
  • Huskar Burning Spear consumes her defensive charges and prevents Templar Assassin from laning comfortably.

Offlaner

  • Axe Counter Helix quickly removes Refraction, while Berserker's Call prevents her from escaping with Meld.
  • Bristleback Quill Spray deals frequent damage and wins prolonged fights against physical damage.

Support

  • Batrider Firefly and Sticky Napalm constantly remove charges, while Flaming Lasso pulls Lanaya out of position.
  • Venomancer Poison prevents Refraction from lasting long and hinders her attempts to enter or leave a fight.

Hard Support

  • Jakiro Liquid Fire and Dual Breath create multiple instances of damage, while Ice Path holds the target in place.
  • Witch Doctor Maledict and frequent control bounces quickly consume Refraction.

What to Buy Against Templar Assassin

  • Dust of Appearance Reveals Meld during a focus.
  • Sentry Ward Reveals traps and Lanaya while she is invisible.
  • Crimson Guard Reduces physical damage dealt to your team.
  • Ghost Scepter Saves a support from a barrage of attacks.
  • Shiva's Guard Provides armor and slows attack speed.
  • Heaven's Halberd Prevents Lanaya from attacking.

How to Play Against Templar Assassin at Different Stages

Laning

Don’t stand behind a creep in the lane against Psi Blades. Use frequent damage instead of one big hit: this makes Refraction run out faster. Control nearby jungle camps and runes. Don’t use all your regeneration in the first minute, and let your support know in advance when you can contest the ranged creep. A good lane equilibrium is more important than an extra attack on the hero that leaves you without resources.

Midgame

Check the Ancient creeps and don’t give Templar Assassin several minutes of free farm. Carry Dust of Appearance and place Sentry Wards on the approaches to fights and Roshan.

In the midgame, the most important thing is not to enter a fight alone and give her an easy target. Don’t use both defensive tools on the first effect—save one for the follow-up to the combo. After a favorable trade, immediately secure vision and the nearest objective; otherwise, the won fight won’t change the map. Try to start moving after pushing out two lanes. This forces the enemy to choose between defending buildings and committing to a full team fight, while you get to see at least part of their positioning in advance.

Late Game

Protect your supports from the initial physical burst and remove Refraction before applying your main control. Don’t move around the map without detecting traps: they give the enemy information about every movement.

Before the decisive fight, check whether key heroes have buyback and defensive items. After a failed attack, don’t blindly chase: restore vision, wait for cooldowns, and only then move on Roshan or buildings. Leave one hero on a safe lane so the enemy can’t get a free path to your base. Before using Smoke of Deceit, push out the far lane and remove visible enemy wards. That way, the enemy won’t figure out your direction from the movement of creeps or meet your team at a spot they chose in advance.