Reflects enemy damage and stuns
Nyx Assassin is always hunting for fragile targets. Sneaking invisibly through the forest, when he spots his prey, he swipes them with his deadly claws and impales them on stunning spikes, then reverses any counterattack with his reflecting carapace.
Win Rate 50.6%
Pick Rate 10.0%
Attributes
494 +55.0/lvl
327 +30.0/lvl
17 +2.5/lvl
18 +2.3/lvl
21 +2.5/lvl
Stats
Damage:
51.199999999999996 - 55.199999999999996 + 5.1/level (228.8 - 232.8 at level 30)
Range:
150
Armor:
4.0 + 0.4/level (17.4 at level 30)
Movement:
310
Roles
Carry
Durable
Nuker
Pusher
Support
Escape
Disabler
Initiator
Facets
Mana Burn
Win Rate: 48.1%
Pick Rate: 23.8%
Mana Burn
Scuttle
Win Rate: 51.4%
Pick Rate: 76.2%
For the first {s:bonus_free_pathing_duration}s of Vendetta, Nyx is hasted and has unobstructed pathing.
Vendetta
For the first =15s of Vendetta, Nyx is hasted and has unobstructed pathing.
Abilities
BREAKABLE: Yes
Nyx Assassin can detect heroes within 350 units of himself.
PATCH 7.37
Now also reveals enemy heroes in fog of war
Radius decreased from 400 to 350
Impale
Rock spikes burst from the earth along a straight path. Enemy units take damage, then are hurled into the air and stunned.
STUN DURATION: 1.1 / 1.4 / 1.7 / 2
IMPALE DAMAGE: 100 / 160 / 220 / 280
18 / 16 / 14 / 12
100 / 110 / 120 / 130
750
- +0.2s Impale Stun Duration
- +100 Impale Damage
Mind Flare
Deals damages to the enemy equal to a percentage of its Max Mana. Additionally deals damage equal to a percentage of damage the target received from Nyx Assassin in the past 15s. Instantly kills non-ancient creeps.
MAX MANA AS DAMAGE: 20% / 25% / 30% / 35%
BONUS DAMAGE: 25%
13 / 11 / 9 / 7
100 / 105 / 110 / 115
800
- -3s Mind Flare Cooldown
- 600 Mind Flare Radius
Spiked Carapace
When activated while above ground, Spiked Carapace reflects and negates damage dealt to Nyx Assassin (max once from each source), as well as stunning the source of the damage. Activating Spiked Carapace will not break Vendetta invisibility. While Burrowed, Spiked Carapace instantly stuns nearby enemies when cast.
REFLECT DURATION: 2
STUN DURATION: 0.4 / 0.8 / 1.2 / 1.6
DAMAGE REFLECTED: 125%
23 / 18 / 13 / 8
40
- +0.5s Spiked Carapace Reflect Duration
- +0.5s Spiked Carapace Stun Duration
Vendetta
Allows Nyx Assassin to become invisible and gain a speed bonus. If Nyx Assassin attacks to break the invisibility, massive bonus damage is dealt with the attack. Nyx Assassin has 75 additional attack range and a 70% faster attack animation for this attack.
DURATION: 60
MOVEMENT SPEED: 16% / 18% / 20%
BONUS DAMAGE: 300 / 400 / 500
80 / 70 / 60
Aghanim's Shard
Vendetta applies Break on attack.
- +40 Vendetta Damage
Unburrow
Emerge from the burrow.
Burrow
Nyx Assassin buries himself beneath the battlefield over a short duration. Once burrowed, Spiked Carapace instantly stuns nearby enemies when cast, the range of Mind Flare and Impale is increased, and Impale's cooldown is decreased. While burrowed, Nyx Assassin is stationary, unable to attack, and invisible. Nyx gains damage reduction from all damage sources.
MAX HP REGEN: 1%
MAX MANA REGEN: 1%
BURROW DAMAGE REDUCTION: 40%
BURROW BONUS CAST RANGE: 500
BURROW BONUS COOLDOWN REDUCTION: 25%
BURROW SPIKED CARAPACE RANGE: 400
Talents
+80 Agility
+ 4.2 %
n/a Mind Flare Radius
+100 Impale Damage
+ 0.1 %
+n/as Spiked Carapace Stun Duration
-3s Mind Flare Cooldown
+ 1.3 %
+0.5s Spiked Carapace Reflect Duration
+0.2s Impale Stun Duration
+40 Vendetta Damage
+ 0.9 %
Win Rate
Pick Rate
Strategy
Nyx is a fairly weak laner. Focus on creep equilibrium, pulling and securing runes for midlaner.
Use Impale to secure the ranged creep and stun opponents at the same time if possible.
Consider hijacking a second opponents' creepwave behind the tower at 50 seconds into the game.
You can use Spiked Carapace during Vendetta without exiting it.
Once you have Vendetta up, be active - setup kills and scout. Avoid showing yourself on the lanes too much.
Pick up Aghanim's Scepter as it improves most of your spells among other things.
Remember to use Mind Flare only after you have used all your other damage dealing spells and items.
Use portals to roam between lanes and get kills with your Impale and Carapace setup.
When not much is happening in the game, look to use Mind Flare to instantly kill some jungle creeps for some quick farm and experience.
Counter Strategy
Be careful not to use a major damaging spell when Spiked Carapace is on or Nyx Assassin is about to use it.
To counter Nyx Assassin's mana burn facet, get a Magic Stick or Arcane Boots.
To see Nyx under Vendetta buy Sentries and Observer Wards.
Carry detection on multiple heroes.
Spell immunity is great against Nyx.
Avoid buying too many mana pool increasing items against Nyx Assassins Mind Flare.
Lore
Deep in the Archive of Ultimyr, shelved between scholarly treatises on dragon cladistics and books of untranslatable spells, there is an ancient tome of entomological curiosities. Compiled by scholars, the book describes the telepathic talents of the zealot scarab, a strange species of social insect with abilities unique to all the seven planes.
Unlike most grubs of his colony, Nyx Assassin did not arise from metamorphosis with the plodding thoughts and blunted appendages common to the worker caste of his kind. For his was a special transformation, guided by the grace of Nyx. He was the chosen one, selected from the many and anointed with an extract of the queen goddess herself. Not all survive the dark blessing of the queen's chamber, but he emerged with a penetrating mind, and dagger-like claws--his razor sharp mandibles raking the air while his thoughts projected directly into the minds of those around him. Of all zealot scarabs, he alone was selected for the highest calling. After his metamorphosis, he was reborn, by grace of Nyx, with abilities which shaped him for one thing and one thing only: to kill in the name of his goddess.