Lancelot

Lancelot possesses a unique set of attributes that define his role and effectiveness on the battlefield. Understanding these can help you leverage his advantages and mitigate his shortcomings.

• Strengths: Lancelot boasts high physical damage output, making him excellent at bursting down squishy targets. His kit provides exceptional mobility, allowing him to quickly reposition, chase enemies, and escape dangerous situations. Furthermore, his abilities grant him untargetability and invincibility frames, offering crucial moments of safety and outplay potential against enemy crowd control or high burst damage.
• Weaknesses: Despite his offensive prowess, Lancelot has relatively low durability, meaning he can be easily eliminated if caught without his defensive skills. His playstyle demands precise skill execution and good positioning, contributing to a moderate difficulty curve for mastering his combos and timing. He is heavily reliant on his skills for both damage and mobility, making him vulnerable if they are on cooldown or misfired.

Mastering Lancelot's skills is paramount to unlocking his full potential as a deadly assassin. Each ability contributes to his mobility, burst damage, and survivability.

• Soul Cutter (Passive): Each time Lancelot charges, his damage is increased by 7.5% for 4 seconds, stacking up to a maximum of 30%. This passive rewards aggressive, continuous movement and skill usage. To maximize your damage, aim to activate this passive before engaging in a major skirmish or attempting to burst down an enemy, often by using Puncture or initiating with Thorned Rose.
• Puncture (Skill 1): Lancelot charges in the target direction, dealing 100 flat + 50% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical) to enemies along the way and applying a Sword Mark to the first unmarked enemy hit. If Lancelot successfully applies a Sword Mark, the cooldown of this skill will reset. This is Lancelot's signature mobility tool. You should use Puncture to close gaps, reposition, and most importantly, reset its cooldown by hitting different unmarked targets (heroes, minions, or jungle monsters). The 50% Total Physical Attack scaling means this skill benefits from your overall physical attack items, making it a decent damage source in addition to its utility.
• Thorned Rose (Skill 2): Lancelot strikes in the target direction 3 times, each time dealing 170 flat + 130% scaling (Extra Physical Attack, Physical) to enemies hit. He is untargetable and invincible during this process. Enemies in the center of the area take all 3 hits and are slowed. Thorned Rose is Lancelot's primary burst damage ability and a crucial defensive tool. You should use it to deal massive damage in close quarters, especially aiming to hit enemies in the center for the full effect and slow. The untargetability and invincibility frames are vital for dodging enemy crowd control or high-damage abilities. The high 130% Extra Physical Attack scaling indicates that this skill becomes incredibly potent as you build physical attack items that provide raw attack stats. It is also highly effective for quickly clearing minion waves and jungle camps in the early game.
• Phantom Execution (Ultimate): After a short delay, Lancelot performs an executioner's strike in the target direction, dealing 350 flat + 170% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical) to enemies hit. He is invincible throughout the process. This is Lancelot's powerful finishing move. You should use Phantom Execution to secure kills on low-health enemies or to provide an additional invincibility frame to dodge incoming damage or escape a tricky situation. The very high 170% Total Physical Attack scaling makes this ultimate a devastating ability in the late game once you have accumulated significant physical attack items.

Lancelot's effectiveness hinges on a build that amplifies his physical damage, mobility, and survivability. The following items are typically recommended to maximize his impact on the game.

• Blade of the Heptaseas: This item's Unique Passive - Ambush provides a significant damage boost to your next basic attack after 5 seconds of not taking or dealing damage. This is perfect for Lancelot's hit-and-run playstyle, allowing him to initiate with a powerful burst and slow, making it easier to land subsequent skills.
• Ice Hunter's Magic Boots: As an assassin who often takes the jungle role, these boots are essential. Their Unique Passive - Hunter deals bonus True Damage to creeps, accelerating Lancelot's jungle clear speed and helping him gain an early gold and experience lead.
• Endless Battle: The Unique Passive - Divine Justice of this item is tailor-made for Lancelot. After casting a skill, your next basic attack deals additional True Damage. Given Lancelot's skill-heavy combos and frequent basic attacks between abilities, this item significantly enhances his overall damage output.
• Blade of Despair: This item is a core damage amplifier for Lancelot. Its Unique Passive - Despair increases your Physical Attack by 25% when dealing damage to enemies below 50% HP. This passive synergizes perfectly with Lancelot's role as an executioner, ensuring his finishing blows are even more devastating.
• Hunter Strike: Hunter Strike's Unique Passive - Retribution grants Lancelot a burst of movement speed after hitting an enemy hero or creep 5 times. This speed boost is invaluable for chasing down fleeing enemies, repositioning during team fights, or making quick escapes after securing a kill.
• Queen's Wings: While Lancelot is primarily an damage dealer, Queen's Wings provides crucial survivability. Its Unique Passive - Demonize grants damage reduction and extra Spell Vamp when your HP drops below 40%. This can be the difference between life and death in intense team fights, allowing Lancelot to sustain himself and potentially turn the tide.

Mastering Lancelot's playstyle involves understanding his unique mechanics and knowing when to engage, disengage, and burst down targets.

• Utilize Puncture Resets: Lancelot's Puncture is his most versatile skill. Always look for opportunities to reset its cooldown by hitting an unmarked enemy hero, minion, or jungle monster. This allows for continuous dashes, making you incredibly agile and hard to catch.
• Timing is Key for Invincibility: Both Thorned Rose and Phantom Execution grant Lancelot invincibility frames. Practice timing these skills to dodge critical enemy crowd control, high burst damage, or even tower shots. This can turn a losing fight into a favorable trade.
• Position Thorned Rose Carefully: For maximum damage and the crucial slow effect, aim to hit enemies in the very center of Thorned Rose's area. This ensures they take all three hits, significantly increasing your burst potential.
• Efficient Farming: In the early game, use Thorned Rose to quickly clear jungle camps and minion waves. This allows you to gain gold and experience faster, reaching your power spikes earlier than your opponents.
• Target Prioritization: As an assassin, your main goal is to eliminate high-priority, squishy targets like enemy marksmen or mages. Look for isolated enemies or those positioned poorly, then use your mobility to dive in and burst them down.
• Engage and Disengage: Lancelot excels at quick engagements and disengagements. Use Puncture to initiate, follow up with Thorned Rose and Phantom Execution for burst, and then use remaining Puncture charges or the invincibility frames to safely exit the fight or reposition for another target.

Understanding who Lancelot excels against and who he struggles with can greatly influence your game plan and target prioritization.

• Strong Against:
  • Aurora: Mages like Aurora often have high damage capacity for a short period of time. Lancelot can exploit their relatively low durability and lack of mobility to instantly kill them using his Ultimate, Phantom Execution, before they can retaliate.
  • Layla: Marksmen generally have a low amount of HP, especially in the early to mid-game. Lancelot's burst damage and mobility allow him to easily dive Layla and eliminate her, particularly in the late game when he has acquired his core damage items.
• Countered By:
  • Natalia: Natalia possesses a skill that can silence Lancelot, preventing him from using his abilities. This is extremely dangerous for Lancelot, as his entire kit relies on skill usage for both damage and survival. Additionally, Natalia's ability to become invisible makes her difficult to target and allows her to ambush Lancelot before he can react.

Imagine you've spotted an isolated enemy Marksman or Mage positioned slightly too far forward. Your goal is to eliminate them swiftly and safely.

First, activate your passive, Soul Cutter, by using a Puncture dash towards a nearby minion or jungle monster if available, or directly towards your target to gain the initial damage boost. Then, use Puncture (Skill 1) to dash directly onto the squishy target, applying a Sword Mark and dealing initial damage. Immediately follow up with Thorned Rose (Skill 2), aiming to hit the target in the center of the ability's area to deal maximum burst damage and apply a slow. This also makes you untargetable, dodging any immediate counter-attack. As Thorned Rose finishes, use Puncture (Skill 1) again, thanks to the cooldown reset, to either reposition, chase a fleeing enemy, or dash away to safety if the kill is secured. If the target is still alive and within range, finish them off with Phantom Execution (Ultimate), utilizing its high burst damage and invincibility to secure the kill while remaining safe from any final retaliation.

• 1. Prioritize Targets: Focus on eliminating high-priority, squishy enemy heroes like Marksmen and Mages. Your burst damage is most effective against them.
• 2. Master Skill Timing: Utilize the untargetability and invincibility provided by Thorned Rose and Phantom Execution to dodge crucial enemy abilities, crowd control, or tower shots, ensuring your survival and maximizing your damage output.
• 3. Chain Puncture Effectively: Constantly look for opportunities to reset Puncture's cooldown by hitting different unmarked targets. This allows for unparalleled mobility, enabling rapid engagements, disengagements, and repositioning.
• 4. Optimize Your Build: Equip items like Endless Battle and Blade of Despair to amplify your physical damage and true damage output, ensuring that your skill combos translate into swift and decisive eliminations.