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UniversalUniversal · Melee

Nyx Assassin

Reflects enemy damage and stuns

NukerDisablerEscapeInitiatorModerate to play
Nyx Assassin portrait

Win rate

52.6%

S across all ranks

Pick rate

10.5%

of public matches

Public picks

356.6K

in the sample

Pro scene

9

4 bans · 44% win rate

Win rate by rank

  • Herald1Herald51.3%
  • Guardian2Guardian52.2%
  • Crusader3Crusader52.7%
  • Archon4Archon52.6%
  • Legend5Legend52.4%
  • Ancient6Ancient52.6%
  • Divine+7Divine+53.5%

Bars start at 50%. Sample sizes: Herald 4.7K · Guardian 18.9K · Crusader 41.1K · Archon 76.1K · Legend 100.8K · Ancient 66.2K · Divine+ 48.6K.

Last 6 days

52.7%

Popular item build

Starting items

Bought before the horn

  1. 1

    Iron Branch

    55g
  2. 2

    Tango

    90g
  3. 3

    Blood Grenade

    50g
  4. 4

    Observer and Sentry Wards

    50g
  5. 5

    Sentry Ward

    50g
  6. 6

    Boots of Speed

    500g

Laning

The first minutes

  1. 1

    Boots of Speed

    500g
  2. 2

    Tranquil Boots

    900g
  3. 3

    Arcane Boots

    54%1,500g

Mid game

Core items

  1. 1

    Blink Dagger

    65%2,250g
  2. 2

    Essence Distiller

    59%1,775g
  3. 3

    Arcane Boots

    54%1,500g
  4. 4

    Eul's Scepter of Divinity

    61%2,600g
  5. 5

    Aghanim's Shard

    61%1,400g

Late game

The full build

  1. 1

    Blink Dagger

    65%2,250g
  2. 2

    Eul's Scepter of Divinity

    61%2,600g
  3. 3

    Aeon Disk

    3,000g
  4. 4

    Force Staff

    2,200g
  5. 5

    Aghanim's Scepter

    58%4,200g
  6. 6

    Consecrated Wraps

    2,600g

Most-bought items for Nyx Assassin in OpenDota’s sample of parsed public matches (901 purchases counted). Bars compare each item with the most-bought one in its phase. The percentage is the win rate in games where Nyx Assassin bought the item by minute 30 (green or red when it is clearly above or below Nyx Assassin’s average). Teams that are ahead buy items sooner, so a high number shows the item goes with winning games, not that it causes the win. Items with fewer than 100 games show no percentage. Cheap components are hidden from the mid and late game.

Best win rate by purchase time

Bought ≤ 12 min

  1. Arcane Boots

    438 games

    57%
  2. Perseverance

    91 games

    56%

Bought 12–15 min

  1. Essence Distiller

    65 games

    65%
  2. Arcane Boots

    170 games

    46%

Bought 15–20 min

  1. Eul's Scepter of Divinity

    108 games

    62%
  2. Blink Dagger

    83 games

    61%
  3. Aghanim's Shard

    89 games

    60%

Bought 20–30 min

  1. Dagon

    103 games

    66%
  2. Blink Dagger

    266 games

    66%
  3. Aghanim's Shard

    252 games

    62%

Final items compared within the same purchase window (at least 60 games each), so they are not simply ranked by how late or expensive they are. Still a correlation: a team that is far ahead can buy anything sooner.

What these items do

  • Iron Branch

    55

    • +1 All Attributes

    Use: Plant Tree: Targets the ground to plant a happy little tree that lasts for 20 seconds.

  • Tango

    90

    Use: Devour: Consumes a target tree to gain 7 health regeneration for 16 seconds. Consuming an Ironwood Tree doubles the heal duration. Comes with 3 charges.

  • Blood Grenade

    50

    • +50 Health

    Use: Throw Grenade: Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5…

    Full description

    10s

    Use: Throw Grenade. Throw a grenade at the target area. Enemies in the area will take 50 damage on impact, and be slowed by -15% and take 15 damage every 1s for 5 seconds. Radius 300.

  • Observer and Sentry Wards

    50

    Use: Plant: Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.

    Full description

    Use: Plant. Plant the currently active ward. Double-Click to switch the currently active ward.

    • Hold Control to give one ward to an allied hero.
  • Sentry Ward

    50

    Use: Plant: Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a…

    Full description

    1s

    Use: Plant. Plants a Sentry Ward, an invisible watcher that grants True Sight, the ability to see invisible enemy units and wards, to any existing allied vision within a 1050 radius. Lasts 7 minutes. Does not grant ground vision. Hold Control to give one Sentry Ward to an allied hero.

  • Boots of Speed

    500

    • +45 Move Speed

    Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Tranquil Boots

    900

    • +65 Move Speed
    • +14 Health Regen

    Passive: Break: Whenever you attack a hero or are attacked by any unit, the bonus 14 HP regen is lost and the movement speed bonus is reduced to 40 for 13 seconds.

    Full description

    13s

    Passive: Break. Whenever you attack a hero or are attacked by any unit, the bonus 14 HP regen is lost and the movement speed bonus is reduced to 40 for 13 seconds. Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

  • Arcane Boots

    1,500

    • +45 Move Speed
    • +0.25 Mana Regen
    • +125 Mana

    Active: Replenish: Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200

    Win rate when bought53.8% · 663 games

    • ≤ 12 min57%438
    • 12–15 min46%170
    • 15–20 min54%41
    • 20–30 min–14
    Full description

    55s

    Active: Replenish. Restores 150 mana to all nearby allies. Radius: 1200

    Passive: Basilius Aura. Grants 1 mana regeneration to allies. Radius: 1200 Movement speed bonuses from multiple pairs of boots do not stack.

    • Does not work on Meepo clones.
  • Blink Dagger

    2,250

    Active: Blink: Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    Win rate when bought65.0% · 363 games

    • ≤ 12 min–4
    • 12–15 min–10
    • 15–20 min61%83
    • 20–30 min66%266
    Full description

    15s

    Active: Blink. Teleport to a target point up to 1200 units away. Blink Dagger cannot be used for 3 seconds after taking damage from an enemy hero or Roshan.

    • Self-casting will cause you to teleport in the direction of your team's fountain.
  • Essence Distiller

    1,775

    • +1.5 Mana Regen
    • +3 All Attributes
    • +6 Armor
    • +150 Mana

    Active: Soul Release: Provides 40 health regeneration when cast on allies.

    Win rate when bought58.8% · 226 games

    • ≤ 12 min–26
    • 12–15 min65%65
    • 15–20 min54%106
    • 20–30 min–29
    Full description

    10s

    Active: Soul Release. Provides 40 health regeneration when cast on allies. Can be ground targeted to lie dormant for up to 15s and attach to the first enemy that comes within 450 radius. When on enemies, deals 25 damage per second and provides True Sight over them and shares their vision with the wearer's team. Lasts 8 seconds. Gains charges every time an enemy hero dies within 1500 units.

    • Empty distillers gain 2 charges.
    • Only the closest Essence Distiller to the dying hero will gain a charge.
    • If the allied unit is attacked by an enemy hero or Roshan, the effect is lost.
    • Does not trigger spell block or spell reflect.
    • While dormant, provides vision in 450 radius. Vision lingers for 0.5s after latching.
  • Eul's Scepter of Divinity

    2,600

    • +10 Intelligence
    • +2.5 Mana Regen
    • +20 Move Speed

    Active: Cyclone: Sweeps a target unit up into a cyclone, making them invulnerable for 2.5 seconds. Cyclone can only be cast on enemy units or yourself.

    Win rate when bought61.0% · 403 games

    • ≤ 12 min–4
    • 12–15 min–10
    • 15–20 min62%108
    • 20–30 min62%281
    Full description

    23s175

    Active: Cyclone. Sweeps a target unit up into a cyclone, making them invulnerable for 2.5 seconds. Cyclone can only be cast on enemy units or yourself. Enemy units take 50 magical damage upon landing. Dispel Type: Basic Dispel

    • You cannot cyclone allies.
    • Cyclones cast on yourself go through spell immunity.
    • Cyclone can dispel some buffs and debuffs.
    • Cyclone duration is unaffected by status resistance.
  • Aghanim's Shard

    1,400

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades an existing ability or adds a new ability to your hero.

    Win rate when bought61.2% · 361 games

    • ≤ 12 min–8
    • 12–15 min–12
    • 15–20 min60%89
    • 20–30 min62%252
  • Aeon Disk

    3,000

    • +250 Health
    • +300 Mana

    Passive: Combo Breaker: When you take damage and your health falls below 70%, a strong dispel is applied and you gain a 2.5 second buff that provides +75% Status…

    Full description

    105 / 125 / 145 / 165s

    Passive: Combo Breaker. When you take damage and your health falls below 70%, a strong dispel is applied and you gain a 2.5 second buff that provides +75% Status Resistance and causes all damage you deal and are dealt to be reduced to zero. Only triggers on player based damage. Cooldown increases every time it triggers. Dispel Type: Strong Dispel

  • Force Staff

    2,200

    • +10 Intelligence
    • +175 Health

    Active: Force: Pushes any target unit 600 units in the direction it is facing.

    Full description

    19s150

    Active: Force. Pushes any target unit 600 units in the direction it is facing.

    • Self-cast will cause you to use Force on yourself.
    • Force Staff doesn't interrupt the target's actions.
    • Will not work on a unit inside Chronosphere, Duel, or Black Hole.
    • Force Staff has 850 cast range when cast on enemies.
  • Aghanim's Scepter

    4,200

    • +10 All Attributes
    • +175 Health
    • +175 Mana

    Passive: Ability Upgrade: Upgrades the ultimate, and some abilities, of all heroes.

    Win rate when bought57.5% · 113 games

    • ≤ 12 min–3
    • 12–15 min–3
    • 15–20 min–9
    • 20–30 min57%98
  • Consecrated Wraps

    2,600

    • +5 All Attributes
    • +250 Health

    Passive: Hallowed: Gain a charge every 4s, up to a maximum of 3 charges. Upon gaining a charge, your movement speed is increased by 15% for 5s.

    Full description

    Passive: Hallowed. Gain a charge every 4s, up to a maximum of 3 charges. Upon gaining a charge, your movement speed is increased by 15% for 5s. Whenever you take damage from a player-controlled source or Roshan, consume all charges to gain an all damage barrier for 5s that absorbs 120 damage per charge (360 max).

    • Charges cannot be gained for 4s after you take damage from a player-controlled source or Roshan.
    • Self-damage and HP Loss damage cannot remove charges.
    • Movement speed buff does not stack.

Abilities

Impale

17 / 15 / 13 / 11s90 / 100 / 110 / 120

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
  • The spikes move at 1600 units per second, over 750 range.
  • Impale cannot be blocked by Linken's Sphere.

Mind Flare

11 / 9.5 / 8 / 6.5s100 / 105 / 110 / 115

Deals damage equal to a percentage of the target's Max Mana and burns part of it away. Deals additional damage equal to a percentage of the damage the target has taken from Nyx Assassin in the last 15s. Resets accumulated damage before applying damage.

MAX MANA AS DAMAGE
25 / 30 / 35 / 40%
MANA BURNT
9 / 12 / 15 / 18%
BONUS DAMAGE
15%

Spiked Carapace

20 / 16 / 12 / 8s40 / 40 / 40 / 40

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
0.7 / 1 / 1.3 / 1.6
DAMAGE REFLECTED
140%
  • The damage is calculated after all reductions.
  • Spiked Carapace will only trigger on damage from other player controlled sources.
  • The damage reflected will have the same damage type as it had when it was dealt to Nyx Assassin.
  • Damage done by this ability is considered reflected damage. Reflected damage does not provide any lifesteal and cannot be reflected.

Burrow

Granted by Aghanim’s Scepter

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 Assassin 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
  • Casting Vendetta will cancel burrow.

Mana Burn

Innate

Nyx Assassin's damage on enemies also burns mana as a percentage of the damage dealt.

MANA BURN
12%

Vendetta

Ultimate80 / 70 / 60s180 / 240 / 300

Nyx Assassin becomes invisible and gains a speed bonus. If Nyx Assassin attacks to break the invisibility, massive bonus damage is dealt with the attack that applies a break to the target. Nyx Assassin has 75 additional attack range and a 70% faster attack animation for this attack.

DURATION
45 / 50 / 55
MOVEMENT SPEED
16 / 18 / 20%
BONUS DAMAGE
300 / 400 / 500
BREAK DURATION
4
  • If a spell is used to break the invisibility, or the invisibility expires, the bonus damage is lost.
  • With Aghanim's Shard, the Break is applied before the bonus damage.

Aghanim’s ShardFor the first 15s of Vendetta, Nyx is hasted and has unobstructed pathing.

Talents

600 Mind Flare Radius

25

+80 Agility

+0.6s Spiked Carapace Stun Duration

20

+140 Impale Damage

+50 Vendetta Damage

15

-3s Mind Flare Cooldown

+25% Spiked Carapace Damage Reflect

10

+0.2s Impale Stun Duration

Base stats

Attributes

  • StrengthStrength17+2.7/lvl
  • AgilityAgility18+2.9/lvl
  • IntelligenceIntelligence21+2.6/lvl

Universal heroes get bonus damage from every attribute.

At level 1

Damage
26–30
Attack time
1.7s
Attack range
150 (melee)
Move speed
310
Armor
4
Magic resistance
25%
Health
494 (+3.7/s)
Mana
327 (+1.1/s)
Vision day / night
1800 / 800

Recent changes

latest 12 patches
  1. 7.41b
    • Vendetta:Duration decreased from 60s to 45/50/55s
  2. 7.41
    • Removed Nyxth Sense innate ability
    • Mana Burn:New innate ability. Passive
    • When Nyx Assassin deals damage with attacks or his abilities, he burns affected unit's mana equal to 12% of damage dealt
    • Damage reflected with Spiked Carapace also counts
    • Mind Flare:Now burns 9/12/15/18% of the target's Max Mana
    • Vendetta:Now also applies a 4s Break on hit
    • Aghanim's Shard reworked
    • Decreases cooldown by 10s. For the first 15s, Nyx Assassin is hasted and has unobstructed pathing
  3. 7.40
    • Mind Flare:Bonus Damage decreased from 20% to 15%
    • Spiked Carapace:Stun Duration increased from 0.4/0.8/1.2/1.6s to 0.7/1.0/1.3/1.6s
  4. 7.39d
    • Talents:Level 20 Talent Impale Damage increased from +100 to +140
    • Level 20 Talent Spiked Carapace Stun Duration increased from +0.5s to +0.6s

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.

Win rates come from public Dota 2 matches (OpenDota), 3.4M matches counted, refreshed Oct 24, 2026. Tiers use the win rate in the chosen rank: S 52.5%+, A 51%+, B 49%+, C 47.5%+, D below; heroes with too few games are left unrated. Hero data and patch notes are Valve’s. Builds Forge is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Valve.