Samuro Abilities and Strategy

• Clones' initial focus or movement can be controlled prior to Level 10, by using an Attack-Move command in the same moment they are created (This can be done by holding the button during the Mirror Image usage).
• Use Mirror Image to tank tower shots while ganking, or to damage structures without a friendly minion wave.
• Critical Strike resets your Basic Attacks; activate it immediately after delivering a Critical Strike for optimal effect.
• Wind Walk can be used to quickly approach enemies, or to help you escape dangerous situations. Remember the cooldown starts ticking as soon as the ability is activated
• Use Bladestorm to clear waves or to deal some AoE damage in fights, when enemy has no crowd controls available.
• The Movement Speed provided by Image Transmission can be used not only to chase, but to dodge or to disengage from combat as well.
• Activate Image Transmission to engage on a Hero near one of your Images, or to reposition to safety when you are in danger.

Image Transmission (D) Samuro

• Cooldown: 14 seconds

Activate to switch places with a target Mirror Image, removing most negative effects from Samuro and the Mirror Image.

Advancing Strikes

Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes increase Samuro's Movement Speed by 25% for 2 seconds.

Image Transmission can help Samuro to apply additional Basic Attacks onto fleeing enemies, and to dodge enemy Abilities during confrontations. More importantly, it can be activated to swap places with Images. This opens up a variety of ways to deceive or outmaneuver your opponents.

Mirror Image (Q) Samuro

• Cooldown: 14 seconds

Teleport a short distance in the direction of the mouse cursor, creating 2 Mirror Images for 8 seconds with 100% of Samuro's current Health that Basic Attack enemies for 11 (+4% per level) damage. Images have their duration increased by 1 second each time they or Samuro use a Basic Attack against an enemy Hero. Whenever an Image takes damage, it deals that amount of damage to itself, effectively doubling the damage it takes.

Maximum 2 Mirror Images can be active at at time. Using Mirror Image removes most negative effects from Samuro.

Mirror Image is Samuro's most iconic Ability. As a squishy Melee Assassin, he relies on these to take damage for him. Activating Mirror Image will remove negative effects, move Samuro slightly in the direction of the cursor, and create Images in the opposite direction. Images will spawn with the same percentage of Health that Samuro has at the time of casting, meaning that Images are most effective when cast while you are at full Health. The Images can clear Minion waves, clear Mercenary Camps, and confuse and damage enemy players. Images can soak many shots from enemy Structures, allowing Samuro to siege without Minions, known as backdoor. When using the Images against enemy Heroes, it is a good idea to input as little as possible. Controlling Samuro in an intelligent manner will give away the real Samuro; only do so when you are ready to disengage. If you have Illusion Master, consider moving one of the Images away. This will give you an exit via Image Transmission, or fool enemies into thinking the Image is Samuro.

Critical Strike (W) Samuro

• Cooldown: 10 seconds

Samuro's next Basic Attack within 8 seconds will be a Critical Strike, dealing 50% increased damage. This also applies to Images, and does not break Wind Walk.

Passive: Samuro and his Images deal a Critical Strike on every 4th Basic Attack.

Activating Critical Strike will reset the passive portion of the Ability, so it is a good idea to use Critical Strike immediately after applying a critical via the passive. Critical Strikes activated through the passive will not expire, and can be saved for use at a later time. By quickly activating Critical Strike after a passively triggered crit, you can hit an enemy with 2 Critical Strikes in quick succession. This can help to speed up Mercenary Camps or other PvE activities, and can deal burst damage to enemy Heroes.

Wind Walk (E) Samuro

• Cooldown: 15 seconds

Grant Samuro Stealth for up to 10 seconds or until he attacks, uses an Ability, or takes damage.

While Stealthed, Samuro heals for 3% of his maximum Health every second, his Movement Speed is increased by 20% and he can pass through other units. Remaining stationary for at least 1.5 seconds while Stealthed grants Invisible.

Samuro is Unrevealable for the first 1 second of Wind Walk.

Wind Walk can be used to approach enemy Heroes or to help you retreat. The Health Regeneration provided by it can be quite useful if you need to double soak, by using it instead of mounting in rotations, you will always be in a good state to duel whoever you are facing.

Since Wind Walk is your only way to self-sustain, it should always be used when Samuro is not hitting anything. With proper use, Samuro will never have to return to base.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Bladestorm (R) Samuro

• Heroic
• Cooldown: 25 seconds

Cause a Bladestorm of destructive force around Samuro for 3 seconds, granting him 25 Armor and dealing 180 (+4% per level) damage per second to nearby enemies.

Samuro can move during Bladestorm, and cancel it by reactivating the Ability. Bladestorm greatly improves Samuro's waveclear. Given it deals less single target damage than your Basic Attacks, it should mostly be used to clear a wave, as it deals enough area of effect damage to quickly kill all Minions. It has higher range than your Basic Attacks, so it helps you to secure kills that could otherwise be prevented by enemies moving outside of Melee range. If an enemy is low on Health and you are able to get in range, this Heroic will almost always result in a takedown. If you do not have Mirror Image to self-cleanse a Blind, Bladestorm will be a great way to keep dealing damage to your target. Keep in mind that Samuro will be an easy target during that Heroic, because enemies will instantly know that you are the real one and will be able to focus you down.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Illusion Master (R) Samuro

• Heroic
• Cooldown: 14 seconds

Mirror Images can be controlled individually or as a group and their damage is increased by 100%.

Passive: Image Transmission's cooldown is reduced to 8 seconds.

Illusion Master is a novel Heroic that is more of an extra passive, rather than an actived one. Illusion Master will increase the efficiency of your Mercenary clear, so if you are playing on a Map where Mercenary Camps are very important (like Blackheart's Bay,) it can be a very strong choice. If you want to try a challenging and unconventional approach focused on cunning and subterfuge, try this Heroic out! Although powerful, this Talent adds a layer of mechanical complexity; we recommend Illusion Master for players who are already quite comfortable with Samuro's other mechancis.