Fvckrulez: Mortred - Panthom Assasin

Mortred, the Phantom Assassin

Table of Contents

Guide Introduction
Background Story
Stats
Pro's & Con's
Why play Mortred?
Skills
Skill Building
Items
How to behave with Phantom Assassin
Good Allies & Worst Enemies
Replays
Special Thanks

Guide Introduction

Before introducing I would like to state that this is my first guide ever and will especifically focus on pubs. Even though it is too risky to use her on the competitive scene and most of the times not viable, it is still an option.
Every kind of content on this guide is expressively my opinion. After picking and playing with Mortred so many times, after trying different kind of skills and items buildings, I will share what I've learned (Heh, even though she is a no brainer).
This is her correct play-style according to my eyes. I hope you will enjoy the reading.

Background Story

Born into the reclusive Night Elf order known as the Wardens and shunned by mainstream Night Elf society, Mortred pledged allegiance to the Scourge to take revenge. A perfect blend of strength and speed, the years spent alone in the forests of Ashenvale allowed her to blend into the terrain, appearing phantomlike at times and striking when you least expect it. The deadly precision with which she carries out her attacks has made her a valuable member of the Scourge, and it is clear why she is known as the Phantom Assassin.

Stats

Strength: 17 + 2.05 (About average str gain to an Agility hero)
Agility: 23 + 3.15 (Second best agi gain in the game)
Intelligence: 13 + 1 (Poor int gain, however you don't need int and mana isn't a problem to PA)

Affiliation: Scourge (Agility Tavern)
Attack Animation: 0.3 / 0.7 (Fast and easy to learn)
Damage: 46 - 48 (Weak compared to other carriers starting damage)
Casting Animation: 0.3 / 0.5 (This is swift)
Armor: 4.3 (Fair starting armor but contrasted by low starting HP)
Base Attack Time: 1.7 (Good, and gets better later on)
Movespeed: 310 (Above average, helps a little on chasing)
Missile Speed: Instant (Fast) (Does its job well)
Attack Range: 100 (melee) (Melee heroes suffer on early game if facing ranged ones)
Sight Range: 1800 / 800 (Day / Night) (Normal sight range)

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x693.

I don't take any credit for this artwork. Image was gotten from deviantART

Pro's & Con's

[+]Insane critical multiplier;
[+]Escape mechanism if you have smart allies;
[+]Easy last-hitting with Stiffling Dagger;
[+]She is a walking Butterfly and a Buriza-Do Kyanon;
[+]Strong late game presence;

[-]Weak early game;
[-]Too item-dependent;
[-]Low starting HP;
[-]Almost a dead weight if you can't farm properly;
[-]Easy target before she gets a BKB.

Why play Mortred?

Why would someone want to play mortred? Well, before trying to play this hero you should ask yourself if you enjoy playing stealth-like heroes; chasers and late carries. And on top of that, if you have patience.
Mortred can change the tides of battles when she gets her late game items, becoming from a nobody to a "gg-i-shall-kill-ur-whole-teamz-now!!!11" hero by one or two new items in your inventory. *coughs like Divine rapier and Satanic*.

Skills

Let's take a look at the skills of this smexy-looking creepy lady first:

[Note that for further information such as ranges, cooldowns and mana costs just click above the skill icon]

Stifling Dagger

This is a powerful slowing tool;
You safely farm from distance by using this skill;
Can protect both your and your allies' asses from being chased;
Use this to help your team cast their spells;
Easily hits your enemy's heroes to stop them from regenerating their health and mana on items that dispels on damage;
It's mana cost is really low allowing you to spam this often;
Also remember to cast it when slowing your enemy's hero will cause them to take a few extra hits from either the tower or your creeps (gay harassing I know right).

Phantom Strike

The synergy of Stifling Dagger and Phantom Strike makes Mortred a good and competent chaser;
When you think you can get a kill you basically throw your dagger and blink in even before your dagger reaches your oponnent. Getting 100% IAS on a slowed hero for 3 seconds really hurts. Your skills usage for chasing always start with Stiffling Dagger, then you blink to land your attacks. You can blink again before your dagger's cooldown refreshes: Keep repeating this process until you or an ally can kill the enemy hero;
Remember to avoid spamming this on early game because blinking will end up with your mana pool too fast, and that will only make it worse for you to last hit with your dagger;
You can also avoid stuns or some disables with Blink;
If you are somehow ambushed you can blink to an ally unit to escape.
Blur
It is a good choice against physical DPS heroes;
Evasion doesn't stack with Butterfly;
If you are new to DotA or Warcraft in general, make sure to have in mind that her Blur won't make it harder to see you due to something that can be enabled on options, thusly setting your health bar to be shown above your head. If you didn't know about that, go and check it out now!
Coup de Grâce
Her bread and butter;
Definitely as the name says, this is her killer skill;
At level one it won't do much compared to level two or three;
Because of this skill maxed you literlly can reach the so-loved red four digits critical numbers;
This is what makes your life-steal reliable;
This is the reason why I love Phantom Assassin so much;
It has a low % chance to strike a critical compared to other DPS carries with critical too (only 15%), however your insane attack speed at late levels in addition with your extra 100% IAS you get from Blinking balances its landing rates so much.
Skill building
This building has 2 ways. One is getting Blur between level 12 and 15, and another one is getting Blur at your last levels as can seen below. You should be able to figure out which one to use by the time you reach level 11.

The first one and that I usually stick with is basically the global one.
Level 1 - Phantom Strike
Level 2 - Stifling Dagger
Level 3 - Stifling Dagger
Level 4 - Phantom Strike
Level 5 - Stifling Dagger
Level 6 - Phantom Strike
Level 7 - Stifling Dagger
Level 8 - Phantom Strike
Level 9 - Stats
Level 10 - Coup de Grâce
Level 11 - Coup de Grâce
Level 12 - Blur / Stats
Level 13 - Blur / Stats
Level 14 - Blur / Stats
Level 15 - Blur / Stats
Level 16 - Coup de Grâce
Level 17 - Stats
Level 18 - Stats
Level 19 - Stats
Level 20 - Stats
Level 21 - Stats
Level 22 - Stats / Blur
Level 23 - Stats / Blur
Level 24 - Stats / Blur
Level 25 - Stats / Blur

The reason for getting Phantom Strike at level one is for escaping purposes since it is most likely your enemy team will try to ambush you or screw up your life really badly at the first few moments, when Mortred is really weak. And it doesn't take too long to make it to level two anyways. Then after that you try to max Stifling Dagger ASAP along with Phantom Strike. Why? You ask me. I'll tell you the reason, PA needs the early game farming that Stifling Dagger provides. And maxing Phantom Strike first isn't a good idea due to the fact that rarely you will have the opportunity to blink twice in the early game nor the power to make it worth it. 4 seconds of slow also helps your team on ganking easier.

Note that if you are facing a team that where the five heroes have their strategy based on nuking then you should go with the second skill settings because Blur just dodges physical attacks. So getting stats over Blur will boost your HP helping you to survive more against painful nukes.
Noobie question: "Ohh, but isn't Blur realiable at early levels if you are getting harassed so much? Those misses really can help!"
Answer: NO! O.o, wasting your early levels on that will only delay your farming capacity. And why get Blur to avoid harassment when your Stiffling Dagger can do pretty much the same by making you to stay safe back in the lane? So you get to max it after level 11 because that's when your foes are also improving their DPS just like you.
Noobie question #2: "Hey, how come at level 6 you don't get her ultimate? I mean seriously, it is a sexy free critical skill!"

Answer: Having a critical at level six, when you don't actually have good damage to offer isn't a good thing. It will only tickle your enemies. However, focusing on her chasing skills first is better. So when you get it at level 10, you then can raise it to level 2 right away when she levels. And that is when it starts to get a little better. So you get your ultimate whenever you can due to the fact that at level 16 you should have most of your core items and doing some good damage.

Items

Now here's her ideal starting items and core item builds:
Starting Items

Basically her starting items mainly focus on survivability.
Ancient tango of Essifation and Healing Salve are due to the fact competent enemies will try to damage you as much as possible on your first 2 levels.
2 Slippers of Agility because you will transform that into a Poor Man's Shield, it is easy and cheap to build on the first few minutes and that will be a good help until the end of the mid game.
2 Iron Wood branch for stats and because you will transform that into Magic Wand.

Core Items

This basically what you should aim for your whole game.
After your starting items, the first item you should purchase is a Stout Shield so you can get your Poor Man's Shield early.
Then you should analyze what kind of heroes you are facing against. Do they spam too much skills? Do they try to harass a lot? If yes then you should purchase a Magic Stick before you start building your Power Treads, otherwise you can get your Power Treads first.
Make sure it is a STR one since that extra HP is what Mortred most needs.
Then once you have your Buttlefury you need to pick either Helm of the Dominator or BKB. Remember that you will need both at the end so if you are getting too much disabled on gankings or in Team Clashes then you should get a BKB;
Helm of the Dominator will makes it easier for you to start jungling from level 11 and forth since your high criticals will start to shine helping a lot with lifestealing.
After all that try to get enough money to purchase a Divine Rapier, if you ever manage to get one then the game is yours already, just make sure to don't go alone on a suicidal rush.

Luxury Items

Satanic is an amazing thing on Mortred after she gets her main items. More lifesteal is always welcome since PA has a horrible HP along the game. Also it gives more STR boosting your life; More armor; A small damage boost and if activated you can get 175% Lifesteal for 3.5 seconds, this is time enough for you to throw your dagger, blink in and get 1 or 2 criticals. There you go, green health bar again yay!

What is more luxurious than a Satanic? A Divine Rapier! You will be Godlike if you get 1 or 2 of these, really (who doesn't?). Just make sure to don't die if you are bearing it... that is the stupidest thing you can ever do and I don't need to say why...

Heart of Terrasque is pure luxury and a good item on any hero, providing precious HP for survival. But only get this if you really have the money and you are being focused a lot.

Dream Allies

These guys are known as "babysitters" and will be a great aid if you have any of them in your lane. They will provide heal so you can farm more freely. Some have good disables that will assist you to get that kills on early levels that is so hard for PA to achieve.

Omniknight is your best allied to assist you so far. He will heal you when you need; Repel when a team clash is going to start and make you immune to anykind fo attacks for a few seconds. Mortred is very deadly with him.

Having those in your team means that you will have your damage/AS/MS pumped up! And that will only transform you into a great killing machine, no big deal...

Magnus is a wonderful hero to boost your status. His Empower has a great synergy with with your Buttlefury plus you will gain even more damage. Have him casting this on you and watch yourself raping the whole enemy team.

Nightmare Foes