Terrorblade Position 3 Build Guide

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 suppor t, 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.

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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

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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.

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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.

After maxing out Reflection, start putting points into Conjure Image and Metamorphosis, respectively. Don’t go for Talents until you max out all your other abilities.

As for your Talents, here are the ones you want to pick up:

-4s Reflection Cooldown
+10% Reflection Slow/Damage
+10 All Stats
-30s Sunder Cooldown

Item Build

The items you buy for Terrorblade can vary depending on your role in Dota 2. For the Offlane, you’ll want to build some stats and items that let you move around the map and play with your team, creating space for your Hard Carry.

The Best Items You Will Usually Want To Buy On Terrorblade When Running Him As The Offlaner

The hero needs some early stats to last hit safely, and trade hits with the opponent heroes. In most games, you’ll want to go for a set of Tango, an Ironwood Branch, a Magic Stick, and a Quelling Blade. But if you think the lane is particularly hard, skip the Quelling Blade and get an extra set of Tango and two extra Ironwood Branches. Focus on last hitting the creeps and trade hits only when you know you’ll have an HP advantage after the fight.

Terrorblade is a greedy hero to pick for the Offlane because he relies on having a good lane. Go for a Bracer as soon as possible for the early sustain. Get Boots of Speed next to escape any enemy gank attempts quickly. If you get a decent farm early on, go for Falcon Blade. It’s an exceptional item on Terrorblade, giving him Mana Regen, some extra early damage, and also a bit of health. However, if you have a bad laning phase with multiple deaths in the lane, you’ll have to skip it.

You’ll want to start working towards the Pipe of Insight as soon as possible. This is the first major item on Terrorblade that gives this hero the ability to fight with his team early on. The HP regen and Magic Damage Barrier granted by this item takes care of all his weaknesses.

After you get your Pipe of Insight, upgrade your Boots of Speed to Power Treads and keep it at Strength for some extra health. Start building towards Manta Style for some dispel, and pick up your Aghanim’s Shard when the clock hits 15 minutes.

Activating Demon Zeal when Metamorphosis is active will revert Terrorblade back to melee form.

Each game in Dota 2 is different, and you’ll often have to switch up your item build depending on the hero matchup and game conditions. Consider picking up the Black King Bar when playing against multiple stuns, silences, and slows. This will ensure you get your Sunder off on enemy heroes in each fight.

Some mobility items, such as Blink Dagger or Force Staff, can also be great on Terrorblade. If you’d rather play as a Disabler yourself, consider going for Orchid Malevolence and upgrading it to Bloodthorne later on. Once upgraded, the illusions from your Conjure Image ability will also proc critical hits on the targeted enemy hero. Vladamir’s Offering can also be a fantastic choice to give your team bonus damage and lifesteal.

Eye of Skadi can also be good if the enemy team has a lot of high-HP heroes.

Playing Terrorblade in the Offlane certainly takes a a bit of practice. But once you itemize properly and get the ability build pinned down, you’ll start to see your win rate with the hero soar. Feel free to try out this Dota 2 build guide in your pub games, and let us know how it worked out for you.