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A few patches back, if anyone picked up Terrorblade as an Offlaner in Dota 2, most would assume that the player is griefing. After its brief tenure as a Position 5 support, Terrorblade seemed to have gone out of the meta completely. Sure, you'll occasionally see him get picked as the Position 1 Hard Carry in certain matchups, but this hero was pretty much left behind in the pro scene.
Fast-forward to today, and suddenly, Terrorblade has become a popular pick as Position 3, especially in the high MMR bracket in Dota 2. What makes this hero work in the Offlane? What items do you build for this role? You'll find the answers to these questions and more in this complete Position 3 Terrorblade build guide.
Dota 2 Terrorblade Overview
Before heading into why Terrorblade should be picked for the Offlane, let's talk about the hero. Terrorblade is a melee Agility hero with exceptional Agility gain per level. While both his Strength and Intelligence gain are low, his high Agility stat gives him tons of armor as he gets a few levels under his belt. By the late game, taking him down with Physical Damage becomes pretty much impossible, even by the best Dota 2 heroes.
The hero also has an above-average movement speed, which, combined with his abilities, allows him to move quickly from one stacked jungle camp to another to farm up gold for his essential items. His Innate Ability, Dark Unity, gives the hero's illusions within a certain range of the hero bonus damage. The hero has three active skills and an ultimate.
A Quick Overview Of Terrorblade's Abilities
Ability Name
How it Works
Reflection
Terrorblade creates an invulnerable illusion of all enemy heroes in a target AOE that deals 100% damage and slows the attack and movement speed of the enemy.
Conjure Image
Creates a controllable illusion of Terrorblade that deals damage and lasts for a long duration.
Metamorphosis
Terrorblade transforms into a powerful demon gaining bonus attack range and damage. All Conjure Image illusions also switch to Metamorphosis form within a certain range.
Sunder
Terrorblade swaps his current HP with the target's current HP. The ability can't kill the enemy hero but can bring them down to 1 HP when the Condemned Facet is active.
Sunder can also be used on allies to save them.
Terrorblade's Aghanim's Scepter and Aghanim's Shard upgrades are as follows:
- Aghanim's Shard: Gives Terrorblade a new ability called Demon Zeal. Activating the ability causes Terrorblade to lose a percentage of his current health to gain health regeneration, bonus attack speed, and bonus movement speed. It can only be used when the hero is in melee form.
- Aghanim's Scepter: Grants Terrorblade a new ability called Terror Wave. Activating the ability releases a wave of terror that inflicts Fear on any enemy heroes and deals damage. It also activates Metamorphosis for 10 seconds or extends the duration if it's already active.
Terrorblade also has two Facets:
- Condemned: Removes the health threshold for Sundered enemies.
- Soul Fragment: Conjure Image illusions always spawn at full health, but casting the ability now has an additional health cost.
Position 3 Terrorblade Build Guide in Dota 2
What makes Terrorblade work so well in the Offlane is his first ability, Reflection. It's a low-mana, low-cooldown spell that creates an Illusion of the enemy heroes for a short duration. On top of that, the Illusion does 100% damage, meaning if you make an Illusion of an enemy core hero like Lina, you’ll be able to take them out of the battle completely.
Of course, this doesn't change the fact that Terrorblade has an extremely low Health Pool. So, you'll need to build items that overcome this weakness. You'll also want to get the right Talents and put points in your abilities in the correct order to get the most use out of the hero.
Facets, Talents, & Ability Order
When playing Terrorblade in the Offlane, you'll want to pick the Facet, Condemned. Since it removes the HP threshold for Sunder, it becomes even more devastating if you manage to time it well. A well-executed Sunder can even take out a farmed Husker with one blow.
Of course, Reflection should be the first ability you pick up as you get to the lane. This lets you harass the opponent Safelane duo from a safe distance and can also help you get some early kills. You'll want to max it to full as soon as possible. Go for Metamorphosis at level 2 to add some kill threat and Conjure Image at level 4. Get Sunder once you reach level 6.