Terrorblade Dota Guide

• About
• Latest Posts

Stefan Stevanovic

Stefan is a major MOBA nerd. He got hooked by the competitive nature of Dota 1 some 15, 16 years ago. Since that time, he was jumping from HoN to LoL, and ultimately, Dota 2. Of course, Stefan has tried other titles within the niche and, as of late, is focusing on MOBA shooters (in other words, Valorant). However, he also likes other genres. Stefan is a CIV fanatic, and when he wants to chill and play something casual, he goes with popular ARPG titles.

Latest posts by Stefan Stevanovic (see all)

• Top Games Like Overwatch - January 20, 2023
• Best Healer in Overwatch Guide - January 4, 2023
• Overwatch 2 Character Tier List - December 31, 2022

Terrorblade is one of the strongest carries in Dota 2. He becomes extremely strong after using Metamorphosis, which turns him into a ranged demon. Conjure Image allows the hero to create dangerous replicas of himself, while Sunder can save him from even the trickiest situations.

Terrorblade is not a particularly explosive hero. Unlike Riki, Slark, or Phantom Assassin, don’t expect to get many kills when playing him. He is more like a stalwart tower that slowly rumbles forward and crushes everything in its path. I simply love how overpowered he gets in the late mid-game, becoming almost untouchable. At that point, all you can do is watch as he slowly turns your towers into dust.

In this complete Terrorblade Dota Guide, we will take a deep look at the hero and how to properly use him from the laning phase to the late game.

Key Info Up Front

Terrorblade is a melee/ranged agility carry. He is rather weak during the laning phase due to his low health but can quickly snowball out of control with levels and items.

• Health: 520
• Damage: 52-58
• Movement speed: 315
• Strength: 16 + 2
• Mana: 303
• Armor: 8
• Attack speed: 0.81 attacks per second
• Agility: 22 + 4.4
• Intelligence: 19 + 1.6
• Spells and abilities: Reflection, Conjure Image, Metamorphosis, Sunder
• Special abilities: N/A
• Strengths: Strong illusions, high agility, amazing against non-illusion enemies, can push tower
• Weaknesses: Very weak early game, no escape mechanism, dependent on Metamorphosis

Basic Spells

Terrorblade should start fights by using all of his 3 basic spells at the same time. He needs to turn into a demon as soon as possible, with Metamorphosis. After that, he should create an illusion of himself with Conjure Image (ideally, you should already have an illusion or two even before the fight begins). When the enemies are close enough, he can use Reflection to slow them down.

If the hero is in a pinch and starts losing health, he can cast Sunder on an enemy or an ally, restoring some of that health. On rare occasions, you will use this spell to save an ally. However, be very careful as this will put Terrorblade in a tricky spot.

Reflection

Most players will put a point in Reflection at early levels so they can pursue or escape from enemies. The spell creates invulnerable images of the enemy heroes within a 475 radius. These reflections will attack opponents for 5 seconds, damaging them and slowing them down.

Every enemy hero in the radius will be attacked by a carbon copy of himself. Although these images are non-targetable, and you can’t affect them in any way, they have the same properties as the hero and will grant your team their auras.

Every reflection has a movement speed of 550 and unobstructed movement. At earlier stages, the spell is mostly used for its movement speed slow but, as enemies get more physical damage items, they can become a danger to themselves.

Conjure Image

Every 16 seconds, Terrorblade can Conjure Image of himself. These images are considered illusions and can be affected by all spells, abilities, and items that otherwise affect illusions. Each one of them lasts 34 seconds (with talent 42 seconds), so you can have up to 3 of them.

Although adding points in this skill seems a bit underwhelming, slightly increasing the damage of illusions, it is a skill that helps Terrorblade farm. At the 4^th level, an illusion will deal 60% damage. So, by having 2 of them at all times, you are more than doubling the farming speed.

Like all other illusions, Conjure Images take extra damage from all sources. This makes them very squishy during the early portions of the game. However, as the hero gets items, they become harder to deal with. This is especially true in the late game, where they become a necessity.

Conjure Image illusions change according to Terrorblade’s form. If the character is in his original melee form, they will also have a melee attack. During Metamorphosis, they will get extra damage and range, like Terrorblade. Unlike other illusions in the game, Terrorblade’s illusions are visibility different from the main hero. As a result, you can easily focus attacks on the hero.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is the hero’s main spell. He will instantly turn into a large ranged demon. During Metamorphosis, the hero will gain 15/30/45/60 extra damage and 340/360/380/400 range. Each additional point also increases its duration.

As mentioned, when you click the spell, all your illusions will also turn into the ranged version of the hero. However, they need to be within a 1200 unit radius of Terrorblade. One cool thing about the spell is that it will also turn Manta Style illusions into ranged attackers (or any other illusion).

The bonus damage is considered as base damage and not added damage. This can be important for certain items, buffs, and debuffs. For example, an effect that adds 10% damage to the hero would add much more damage when Metamorphosis is turned on.

Unfortunately, if you die while Metamorphosis is active, you will respawn without it. This can be a major issue if you’re carrying Aegis of the Immortal or if you buy back into the fight.

Sunder (Ultimate)

Sunder is an ability that allows you to transfer health from yourself to a target. It is a great spell if you’re being ganked or targeted in a team fight as it allows you to quickly exchange life with an enemy (orally) who has a full bar.

It is worth noting that some health must remain on target or Terrorblade. Each level invested reduces the minimal threshold from 35% to 30% and ultimately, 25%. For example, if you have 5% health and you switch with an enemy who has 100%, the enemy will not have 5% but instead the minimal 35%/30%/25%.

The same principle goes for allies. If your teammate has 5% health, and you Sunder him while at full health, Terrorablde will have 35% (at level 1 Sunder), while the target will have 100%. A cool feature of the ability is that you can also exchange health with illusions. This can come in handy in certain situations when there are no enemies nearby.

Demon Zeal (granted by Aghanim’s Shard)

Demon Zeal is a neat ability that works well with Sunder. The hero will use 20% of his current health to cast a basic dispel on himself. At the same time, Terrorblade will receive 50 movements and attack speed for 7 seconds. The numbers are doubled if he’s in melee form.

Demon Zeal can be used every 14 seconds. So, if you have lifesteal or talent that reduces Sunder cooldown, you can restore health between casts. Among others, it can be a great tool for sieging. The spell makes melee Terrorblade just a tad bit better.

Terror Wave (granted by Aghanim’s Scepter)

Terrorblade’s Scepter was previously known as one of the worst Aghanim upgrades in the game. Even now, it is rarely picked up.

When you use Terror Wave, a quickly spreading wave will emanate from the hero. All units caught in the radius will get feared and will start running away from the hero for 2.5 seconds. Furthermore, the spell activates Terrorblade’s Metamorphosis for 10 seconds.

If you already had Metamorphosis active, it will instead prolong the duration for 10 seconds. You can recast the spell several times, each time increasing the duration by 10 seconds (keep in mind that Terror Wave cooldown is 90 seconds, so you would need a Refresher Orb to do that).

Terror Wave gives the hero instant AOE disable. In theory, it can be a great initiation tool if you have a Blink Dagger. You can jump behind enemy lines and fear enemies towards your team. In practice, the spell is used when opponents descend upon Terrorblade. Terror Wave will fear them and provide the hero valuable time to escape.

Terrorblade is one of the best carry pushers. He is very similar to Medusa in that sense. When playing Terrorblade, everything you do will be predicated on the Metamorphosis cooldown. As the main source of damage, it would be unwise to engage the enemies when the spell is not ready.

While developers have tried to remedy the issue as of late, with the introduction of Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard, they simply aren’t good enough to cover for this flaw.

Although you have Sunder to provide some defensive grit, the hero often feels fragile. What’s even worse, it takes a lot of time to come online and contribute to team fights. So, when picking a lineup that revolves around Terrorblade, make sure to choose the heroes who can create space early on.

Laning

Although the hero has a very low starting health pool and low strength gain, he has very high armor and solid health regeneration. You won’t be bothered too much by the physical attacks during the laning phase. However, spell damage poses a major issue. Heroes such as Skywrath Mage, Viper, Jakiro can ruin your day.

Metamorphosis is the spell you need to prioritize early on. It gives you a very strong presence in the lane forcing the enemies back. Conjure Image is the second ability you need to focus on. Sometimes, you will get a point in Refraction if you think there is a killing potential in the lane.

Often, Terrorblade players will get 3 points in Metamorphosis and 2 in Conjure Image, only to maximize Conjure Image after level 5. The reasoning is simple; as you finish the laning phase, you will need illusions to farm woods. While Metamorphosis also helps clear wood stacks, maximizing the second spell is much more efficient.

Due to low health, it is very important to get a few items that would make you tankier. Dragon Lance and Falcon Blade are great early pickups. If you have a good lane, and if you think that the enemies will not pressure you in the mid-game, you can even start with Yasha. The item is much better for farming.

One of the things you should try to do is to push the enemy tower. Given that the hero goes AFK during mid-game, you need to give allies some sort of an advantage and gold boost.

Mid game

Going into the mid-game, the hero will spend most of his time in the woods. Basically, from minute 8 to minute 20, you shouldn’t engage in any fights. The only exception is when the enemies don’t have a reliable source of initiation, and they can’t reach you in the backlines.

Terrorblade is great if you have a defensive specialist on your team. As long as you can survive the opponent’s initial burst, you can turn the fight around with Sunder. Not only does this spell saves you from getting killed, but it also puts the enemy attacker in a precarious situation. So, if you have someone like Dazzle, Shadow Demon, or Oracle on your team, you can play a bit more aggressively.

Terrorblade is also similar to Medusa in terms of the items. He usually gets Manta Style and Eye of Skadi as the first two big items. As any illusion hero, Terrorblade benefits from stats. Despite the fact you are a ranged hero, you will likely need a Black King Bar at one point.

Even if you’re trying to play passive, you should make an occasional appearance on the map. If you don’t wish to engage the enemies, and your team is fighting 4v5, you should at least try to push the lane. While Terrorblade needs time to kill lane creeps, he is an incredible tower pusher, which would allow him to create space for the team.

Late Game

Terrorblade is one of the strongest late-game carries. In the end, he has all the tools to be one. Long-range attacks, high base damage, illusions, strong defensive ability, reflected damage; all these spells work nicely in making the hero a threat while protecting him from harm.

Terrorblade can stand toe to toe with almost anyone. Even if he is brought down to low health, he can cast Sunder to restore it quickly. If you get an appropriate talent at level 25, you can use the ability every 6 seconds.

However, as Black King Bar’s duration winds down, he becomes prone to getting stun-locked. Nevertheless, as long as you manage to kill off an enemy or two at the start of the fight, you should be able to survive and win these engagements.

One of the few things that can cause a problem is how the Aegis of the Immortal interacts with Metamorphosis. Simply put, the item is not as strong on Terrorblade as on some other heroes. So, if you wish to seal the deal in the late game, you need to keep your distance while sieging (or preventing a siege) and trust your teammates to save you if you get jumped on.

Itemization (Core items)

Manta Style

Manta Style is a must-have item on the hero. Due to Metamorphosis, Terrorblade has much higher base damage than some other illusion heroes. In other words, every illusion he creates is that much stronger.

Furthermore, the hero has ranged attacks (unlike Phantom Lancer or Naga Siren), allowing him to reach distant targets. Unlike many other characters in Dota 2, who make Manta Style for stats and debuff purge, Terrorblade has a very tangible offensive benefit from the item.

Eye of Skadi

After buying Manta Style, most Terrorblade players will go for Eye of Skadi. Given that illusion-based heroes benefit more from stats than pure damage, this will be an ideal pickup for Terrorblade. Furthermore, it makes it easier to pursue enemies. The slow work well in conjunction with Reflection, and it can be a great counter to enemy carries who rely on life-stealing and heals.

Dragon Lance

Dragon Lance is an especially nice early game. It gives the hero strength and agility, making him tankier while also helping with farming. It also increases your reach, which is very important for Terrorblade given that Metamorphosis provides only 400 range at level 4. With Dragon Lance, it is easier to siege but also to attack enemies who have 600 range.

Black King Bar

Although Terrorblade is considered a ranged hero, he is very dependent on Black King Bar. As long as he has Sunder, he can turn any battle around. It is a great defensive ability that plays an important role in Terrorblade’s kit. Unfortunately, you often don’t have the opportunity to use it because you’re continuously targeted and stun-locked. Black King Bar can solve that issue.

Itemization (Optional items)

Falcon Blade

As a relatively new addition to the game, it is hard to call Falcon Blade a core item. In the end, it wasn’t present throughout the patches, so we cannot call it a traditional Terrorblade item. However, it has become very popular as of late.

The item is very cheap, and it gives the hero everything he needs. Besides increasing Terrorblade’s pathetic health pool, it also provides mana regeneration (important for spamming Conjure Image) and additional damage for farming lanes and jungle.

Satanic

Satanic works in a similar way as Black King Bar. As long as you’re able to survive the initial burst, you can restore health by activating the item’s Unholy Rage ability. The health you get from the item is great not only for your survivability but also for all the illusions.

Lastly, lifesteal can come in handy during a long siege. One of the coolest things about Satanic is that it allows you to use Sunder on allies. After saving an ally with the spell, you can simply turn on Unholy Rage to restore health and continue fighting as if nothing has happened.

Butterfly

Butterfly shines against teams with strong auto-attacking heroes. Although Terrorblade has a talent that provides evasion, you can additionally increase your defensive capability with evasion on this item. Agility is great for all your illusions, and you will also benefit from attack speed and damage.

Daedalus

One of the potential issues you might have with the hero is lack of damage. Often, players prioritize stat-heavy items completely, omitting damage. As a result, they will become so impotent during team fights that the enemies will completely disregard them. Daedalus works well with Metamorphosis’ high base damage, and it can help you quickly eliminate enemy heroes.

Monkey King Bar

After Daedalus, Monkey King Bar is the second-most popular damage item on Terrorblade. It is especially great against heroes with high evasion. The damage and attack speed are always beneficial.

Swift Blink

Swift Blink has become a very popular pick-up on the hero as of late. While Terrorblade has Reflection for reducing enemies’ movement speed, and he usually goes for Eye of Skadi, he still has trouble pursuing elusive enemies. Not only does Swift Blink reduce the distance between the two, but it also adds damage and attack speed for the duration helping Terrorblade nuke the target.

Talent Builds

Level 10 (+16% evasion OR +2 seconds Reflection duration)

Between these two talents, the first one is much more popular. The evasion is especially valuable during the early portions of the game as the hero is struggling with defense.

Reflection duration can come in handy during later stages when enemy carry gets damaged items and would dish pain onto himself. However, to get to that point, you would have to survive the early and the mid-game, for which 16% evasion comes in handy.

Level 15 (+30 attack speed OR +275 health)

Again, you need to choose between offense and defense. Both of these are nice as they work on your illusion. If we check the statistical data, you will notice that the majority of players take +275 health. But that doesn’t mean that attack speed is useless. The first talent is nice if you have the chance to finish the game early, as it increases your sieging potential.

Level 20 (+8 seconds Conjure Image duration OR +8 to all stats)

Conjure Image duration is much more valuable between these two. At level 20, +8 to all stats is somewhat negligible. It gives you 160 health, 8 damage, and some other minor stats. On the other hand, having longer-lasting illusions can help with sieging and during team fights.

Level 25 (+20 seconds Metamorphosis duration OR -34 seconds Sunder cooldown)

Here is another really tough choice. Given how important Metamorphosis is, the duration increases of approximately 40% would do wonders for you. On the other hand, being able to use Sunder every 6 seconds is game-breaking in its own rights.

If you have Refresher Orb or Refresher Shard, Metamorphosis talent might not be as important. Generally speaking, Sunder is much better if you’re at a disadvantage, while Metamorphosis talent will help if you’re trying to seal the game.

FAQs

Last Considerations

Although the hero has straightforward spells, he is relatively hard to use. The main issue with Terrorblade is using Metamorphosis at the right time. If you activate it prematurely, the enemies can simply fall back and wait for it to expire. Furthermore, you need enough items to start a fight in the first place.

However, if you take a favorable engagement, and you manage to stay in the back, Terrorblade can annihilate enemies. Even at lower levels, he can dish enormous amounts of damage. Unfortunately, low health and attack range makes it hard to do so.

Terrorblade is not my favorite hero. But he can be really fun in the right setting. If you’re having a good game, you can get Manta Style and Eye of Skadi in 20 minutes, after which you can just go around the map and punish anyone who dares face you.