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Bad against...[]
- A well-timed Berserker's Call can expose Nyx Assassin while he is invisible with Vendetta, and prevent him from using Spiked Carapace.
- Axe can use Battle Hunger's damage over time to minimialize effects of Spiked Carapace.
- Axe's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off. Especially since Axe is a common Heart of Tarrasque wielder, which can completely eliminate any chance for Nyx Assassin to kill Axe alone.
- Culling Blade can often kill Nyx Assassin as he is very fragile and vulnerable to damage while Spiked Carapace is on cooldown.
- Track hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, making him an easy kill for gold as well.
- While Burrowing, Nyx is an easy target for a Blood Rite, although he can at least partially counter it with a well-timed Spiked Carapace.
- Thirst is always a threat to Nyx Assassin, hindering his attempt of escape using Vendetta.
- Rupture also prevents Nyx Assassin from escaping with Vendetta, as it forces him to stay still.
- Cyclone from Storm in Primal Split can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's.
- A well-timed Doom prevents Nyx Assassin escaping with Vendetta and fighting back with Spiked Carapace.
- Doom's high health also allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
- Juggernaut's entire skillset greatly counters Nyx Assassin's Spiked Carapace, his most important ability.
- Blade Fury allows Juggernaut to freely attack Nyx Assassin, and deal heavy damage to Nyx Assassin. Nyx Assassin cannot counter Blade Fury with Spiked Carapace because Blade Fury gives Juggernaut spell immunity. And besides Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other way of dealing damage to Juggernaut while he is spell immune.
- Healing Ward allows Juggernaut to recover himself and his allies from Nyx Assassin's damage output.
- Omnislash and Swiftslash from Aghanim's Scepter can quickly finish off Nyx Assassin, and just like Blade Fury, Nyx Assassin cannot counter neither Omnislash and Swiftslash from Aghanim's Scepter with Spiked Carapace because both abilities render Juggernaut invulnerable. And if Nyx Assassin has no Vendetta available to use for escaping, both abilities will kill him very quickly before he can do anything.
- Overall, any attempt for Nyx Assassin to gank and kill Juggernaut will hurt Nyx Assassin more than Juggernaut.
- Like with Juggernaut's Blade Fury, Rage allows Lifestealer to freely attack Nyx Assassin and hunt him down if Vendetta is on cooldown. Nyx Assassin cannot counter Rage with Spiked Carapace because Rage gives Lifestealer spell immunity. And besides Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other way of dealing damage to Lifestealer while he is spell immune.
- Open Wounds from Aghanim's Shard allows Lifestealer to severely slow down Nyx Assassin while also allowing his team to recover themselves while attacking Nyx Assassin. Open Wounds can also fester and spread if Nyx Assassin takes enough damage that will trigger the spread while he is affected with Open Wounds.
- Infest combined with an ancient creep makes Nyx Assassin an easy target to surprise with Dust of Appearance or a Gem of True Sight. And similarly to Juggernaut's Omnislash and Swiftslash from Aghanim's Scepter, Aghanim's Scepter upgraded Infest can also allow Lifestealer to infest, disarm and freely attack Nyx Assassin from within. and Nyx Assassin cannot counter this with Spiked Carapace because Lifestealer is invulnerable while attacking the infested enemy hero from within.
- Like with Juggernaut, any attempt for Nyx Assassin to gank and kill Lifestealer will hurt Nyx Assassin more than Lifestealer.
- Even though Nyx Assassin can easily kill Luna with his high burst damage, Luna can also do the same to him if he is not careful.
- Lucent Beam can deal a fair amount of damage to Nyx Assassin if he has no Spiked Carapace available to use. Although Luna should be patient using Lucent Beam on Nyx Assassin when he uses Spiked Carapace.
- As Luna commonly buys Black King Bar, she can use it to freely attack Nyx Assassin whenever he tries to defend himself with Spiked Carapace during teamfights. Luna can also buy Eye of Skadi and Manta Style to survive Nyx Assassin's burst damage and distract him.
- Though Vendetta can deal serious damage to Luna and avoid Eclipse, smart Luna will always buy Dust of Appearance to provide vision on Nyx Assassin to her and her team.
- Lycan's high health allows him to easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
- As Lycan commonly buys Black King Bar, he can use it to freely attack Nyx Assassin and chase after him with Shapeshift.
- Corrosive Haze hinders Nyx Assassin's ganking attempts with Vendetta, as well as reducing his armor and make him very vulnerable due to his low health pool.
- Even though Visage's Familiars from Summon Familiars are fragile and can be killed quickly with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage, they can deal many instances of damage quickly, minimizing the effectiveness of Spiked Carapace.
- Gravekeeper's Cloak and tanky item builds make Visage hard for Nyx to kill with his burst damage. Aghanim's Shard upgraded Gravekeeper's Cloak also allows Visage to use Stone Form to both recover himself and stun Nyx Assassin if he is close enough to Visage.
- Visage's long range on Soul Assumption and Grave Chill make him hard to escape from, and Soul Assumption's low cooldown outmatches Spiked Carapace.
Others[]
- Abilities and items with Silence or Root are a threat to Nyx Assassin, the former is because his nature as an ability-reliant hero, the latter is because most of them does not allow him to fight back with Spiked Carapace or escape with Vendetta.
- Heroes with high HP will easily shrug off Nyx Assassin's burst damage and fend him off.
- Heroes who build Black King Bar as either core or situational item will be able to fight back against Nyx Assassin and freely attack him as Spiked Carapace cannot pierce spell immunity at all: Axe, Broodmother, Dawnbreaker, Enigma, Huskar, Jakiro, Legion Commander, Lina, Luna, Lycan, Slardar, Slark, Troll Warlord, Witch Doctor.
- Mana Burn is useless against heroes that are not relying on abilities like Huskar.
- Heroes who rely on damage over time as Spiked Carapace can block and reflect only one instance of damage: Venomancer, Huskar, Ember Spirit, Dark Seer, Sand King, Doom, Dawnbreaker. However, this also means they are easily stunned.
- Nyx Assassin is ability-dependent and thus vulnerable to silence, especially while Burrowed.
- Some abilities deals damage from an independent source and not from the hero itself, so Nyx cannot counter them with Spiked Carapace: illusions or summoning units, Homing Missile, Nimbus, Mass Serpent Ward, Death Ward and especially Techies's mines.
- Nyx Assassin's skillset is mostly single-targeted, therefore he will have difficulties against heroes with illusions and summons: Naga Siren, Broodmother, Lycan, Visage, Phantom Lancer. And to make things worse, Nyx Asassin is not a common Battle Fury, Maelstrom, Mjollnir, Gleipnir or Radiance wielder to counter this problem.
Items[]
- Any detection items such as ( Gem of True Sight, Sentry Ward, Dust of Appearance and Gleipnir prevent Nyx Assassin from using Vendetta to initiate or escape.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can waste Nyx's Spiked Carapace, since its duration is shorter than the Cyclone's. Later it can be upgraded into Wind Waker which can do the same and which can also be used to escape from Nyx Assassin.
- Any good strength/health item like Eye of Skadi, Heart of Tarrasque or even Bloodstone can completely eliminate Nyx's solo ganking as a threat.
- Bloodthorn and Scythe of Vyse will silence Nyx Assassin, rendering him not only useless, but also defenseless and powerless as he will not be able to use neither Vendetta to escape nor Spiked Carapace to defend himself while disabled, making Nyx Assassin weak even against heroes he naturally counters. Bloodthorn also allows it's owners's attacks to weaken Nyx Assassin's spell damage each time he/she attacks him.
- Pipe of Insight can protect multiple heroes from Nyx Assassin's spell damage.
- Eternal Shroud can reduce all the damage Nyx Assassin tries to inflict on it's wielder while also converting inflicted damage into mana, thus nullifying effects of Vendetta.
- Manta Style illusions can be used to attack Nyx Assassin when he tries to protect himself with Spiked Carapace, and make Nyx Assassin waste time attacking them.
- Gleipnir can be used to root Nyx Assassin and reveal him while under the effects of Vendetta, allowing it's owner to alert himself/herself and his/her allies on Nyx Assassin's attempts to gank with Vendetta.
- Aeon Disk can save it's wielder from getting nuked and killed by Nyx Assassin.
- Lotus Orb is a double-edged sword against Nyx Assassin. While Nyx Assassin can counter it in return with Spiked Carapace, he will still suffer damage if he uses his abilities and items on a hero who is affected by it.
- Black King Bar blocks most of Nyx Assassin's damage and greatly discourages Nyx Assassin from targeting a hero with spells or items while also allowing it's wielder to freely attack Nyx Assassin, making Nyx Assassin weak even against heroes he naturally counters. And unlike Lotus Orb, Nyx Assassin cannot punish this in return with Spiked Carapace because Spiked Carapace cannot pierce Spell Immunity at all. And outside from Vendetta, Nyx Assassin has no other ways to deal with Spell Immunity at all.
Good against...[]
- Spiked Carapace easily interrupts Freezing Field.
- Frostbite's damage over time sets up an easy Spiked Carapace stun.
- Crystal Maiden is extremely fragile and dies quickly to Nyx Assassin's burst damage.
- Spiked Carapace interrupts Starbreaker before Dawnbreaker has her Aghanim's Shard, as well as Solar Guardian during the initial channel, making her ineffective at joining and dealing damage in teamfights.
- The slow projectile and damage over time effect of Celestial Hammer makes it easy to stun Dawnbreaker if she attemps to engage or chase.
- Spiked Carapace reflects the damage from Impetus.
- Enchantress is a rather squishy hero, making her fall easily to Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
- Enigma's uncontrollable damage from Malefice and Midnight Pulse make him easy to stun with Spiked Carapace.
- Black Hole can be easily interrupted by Impale or Spiked Carapace.
- Spiked Carapace can be easily triggered by Flame Guard or Battle Fury, setting up a deadly Impale.
- With her passive Split Shot, Medusa can be easily interrupted by Spiked Carapace during combat, especially during her precious Stone Gaze.
- Mana Burn quickly destroys Mana Shield, especially if Medusa only increases her mana pool by bolstering intelligence (which has the added bonus of increasing Mana Burn's damage).
- Uncontrollable damage from Mystic Snake and Split Shot can trigger Spiked Carapace.
- Medusa lacks single target damage, making a Burrowed Nyx Assassin hard to kill.
- Outworld Destroyer's high intelligence gain and fragility makes him an easy target for a massive Mana Burn, as well as killing him outwards with Nyx Assassin's high burst damage.
- Astral Imprisonment can be easily exploited by Nyx Assassin with his abilities. As long as Astral Imprisonment was not cast on Nyx Assassin, it will make an opportunity for an easy stun, either by Spiked Carapace (if Outworld Destroyer hid his allies or your allies) or Impale (if he hid himself). If Astral Imprisonment was cast on Nyx Assassin, using Spiked Carapace while banished will proc the stun after the disable, since Spike Carapace has a 0 second cast time and Astral Imprisonment deals damage right after the disable ends.
- An ill-timed Sanity's Eclipse and/or well timed Spiked Carapace can deal a lot of damage to Outworld Destroyer and stun him, unless Outworld Destroyer used Black King Bar beforehand.
- Spiked Carapace reacts on any of the damage over time from Phoenix's abilities and can interrupt Sun Ray and Icarus Dive.
- Illusory Orb is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace, either stunning Puck and setting up an easy Impale or forcing a premature Phase Shift.
- Puck is an intelligence hero that tends to build intelligence items, making it vulnerable to Mana Burn.
- An ill-timed Phase Shift can easily set Puck up to be stunned by Impale.
- Puck's low base armor and below average agility gain mean it is always susceptible to Vendetta.
- Nether Blast's animation makes it easy to time Spiked Carapace for a stun.
- Pugna has the largest intelligence gain in the game, making him a prime target for Mana Burn.
- Pugna needs to channel Life Drain, making him easy to hit with Impale.
- Last Word is extremely easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for large amounts damage, due to triggering when Nyx Assassin casts a spell, but can still silence Nyx Assassin. It also has the added bonus of dealing more damage the more Intelligence Silencer has.
- Glaives of Wisdom quickly builds Silencer's Intelligence, making him a particularly prime target for Mana Burn.
- Silencer rarely builds survivability items, nor is he able to steal much Intelligence while surrounded by his team, and so is an excellent target for Vendetta.
- Silencer has no reliable way of dealing with a burrowed Nyx, and also lacks the ability to prevent Nyx from escaping with Vendetta,
- Assassinate is easy to reflect with Spiked Carapace for massive damage.
- Shrapnel's area damage can set up an easy stun with Spiked Carapace, especially when combined with Vendetta.
- In the early game, Sniper's low health pool and high intelligence makes him easy prey for Nyx Assassin.
- Mana Burn removes much-needed mana for Ball Lightning.
- Spiked Carapace triggers on Static Remnant for an easy stun.
- Heat-Seeking Missile allow easy Spiked Carapace stuns.
- As a fragile hero that relies on mana and intelligence items, Tinker is vulnerable to Mana Burn.
- Nyx Assassin's stuns can interrupt Rearm and leave Tinker helpless.
Others[]
- The nature of some abilities turn them into an easy target for a turnover from Spiked Carapace:
- Slow-moving projectiles: Skywrath Mage, Tinker, Necrophos
- Large area-of-effect with delay or require channeling: Enigma, Crystal Maiden, Invoker, Shadow Fiend, Pugna, Keeper of the Light, Dawnbreaker.
- Heroes with high intelligence gain and low durability are vulnerable to Mana Burn.
- Positioning-dependent heroes are threatened by Vendetta: Ember Spirit, Drow Ranger.
Items[]
- Lotus Orb is a double-edged sword against Nyx Assassin: While Lotus Orb can discourage Nyx Assassin from targeting a hero with spells or items, Nyx Assassin can punish this in return with Spiked Carapace: While Spiked Carapace is available for Nyx Assassin to use. He can use Spiked Carapace, then Mana Burn a target with an active Lotus Orb, protecting him from the damage of the reflected mana burn (but not the burnt mana), reflecting the damage back and stunning the target.
- This is better with a Dagon, since all it does is deal damage, resulting in a Lotus Orb backfiring and the target suffering twice the Dagon's damage.
- This works even more effectively with the 175% Spiked Carapace talent (at level 20), as it reflects the Dagon's damage twice, resulting in the Dagon's damage tripling in total. With Dagon 5, this becomes an instant 2400 damage nuke and 2.4 second stun (before amplification/reduction).
- Another thing is that Lotus Orb itself is a good item itself for Nyx Assassin. Alongside with Blade Mail, a combination of Dagon, Blade Mail, Lotus Orb, and Spiked Carapace hit on enemy with a Lotus Orb activated will deal about 2400(3000 with level 20 talent) magic damage (before reduction/amplification).
- Items with area of effect damage may proc Spiked Carapace, stunning the wielders and allowing Nyx Assassin to follow with other abilities: Battle Fury, Maelstrom, Mjollnir, Shiva's Guard and most notably Radiance.
Works well with...[]
- Witch Doctor's Maledict means that Nyx Assassin's Vendetta is almost always lethal
- Witch Doctor's Death Ward and Voodoo Restoration pairs well with Nyx Assassin's multiple stuns
- Nyx Assassin's initiation potential works great in conjunction with Invoker's high damage spells.
- Impale allows Invoker's Sun Strike to be easily aimed.
- Invoker's Tornado, Ice Wall, and Cold Snap allows Nyx Assassin to land Impale rather easily.
- Nyx Assassin's high burst damage helps Legion Commander gain Duel damage.
- Press the Attack removes silences and Dust of Appearance from Nyx Assassin.
- Nyx Assassin can initiate using Blink Dagger and Vendetta, making him an ideal Infest target.
- Thirst helps Nyx Assassin locate and eliminate weakened enemies.
- Rupture can help land Impale, which can in turn set up Blood Rite.
Others[]
- Heroes with global or very long range spells can help Nyx Assassin take out tougher enemies: Zeus, Ancient Apparition, Spectre, Dawnbreaker.
- Tanky heroes who can lure enemies to use their AoE nukes, allowing Nyx Assassin to counter-initiate with Spiked Carapace.
- Heroes with area disables that can help Nyx Assassin land an Impale: Lion, Tidehunter, and Underlord.
- Heroes with Boots of Travel 2 can take advantage of Vendetta to sneak behind enemy lines.
