Tel'Annas: Queen of the Jungle

Build and Guide Tel'Annas: Queen of the Jungle

Items
Soulreaver
Flashy Boots
Claves Santi
Slikk's Sting
Devil's Handshake
Spear of Longinus


Introduction
Just playing two or three 5v5 Arena of Valor matches will be enough for a newcomer to see the powerhouse that is Tel'Annas. A pricey pick-up at 18,888 Gold, this mean wood elf channels the very best high-fantasy tropes to sling arrows like it's nobody's business.

A true glass cannon, however, Tel'Annas is nothing but your typical ADC. Her methods of control can be attained with little effort, but it's only her auto-attacks that truly threaten her opponents. Using that range to her advantage, she hopes to cut through the enemy team without opposition; as the moment she takes a hit, there's a strong chance she'll fall in the blink of an eye.

Skills
(Passive) The Morning Star – Tel'Annas' attack damage is increased by 10% whenever she is within range of an ally. This is why you see most Tel'Annas players occupy the bottom lane, but jungling opens up some mean gank opportunities.

(Ability 1) Eagle Eye – Unlocking this ability gives Tel'Annas an additional passive effect, slowing down those hit by her auto-attacks by 6% per strike (up to a max of 5 stacks).

Activating the ability increases her attack speed and range considerably, apply two stacks of the slow-down passive per hit, and deal additional magic damage to better cut through tankier opponents. The range increase means Tel'Annas can out-range a tower, making her a powerful destructive force. This build focuses on getting as many shots out within that small 3-second timeframe.

(Ability 2) Penetrating Shot – Far more tame than her first ability, Penetrating Shot is a wide-range ability, quickly firing three arrows side-by-side in a straight line. As per her auto-attacks, those hit by an arrow are slowed. As the name suggests, these go through enemies – though their damage is reduced for each enemy hit.

(Ultimate) Arrow of Chaos – Not quite on the same level as Yorn's ultimate, Arrow of Chaos has a far shorter range, but still packs a punch. Another control ability, this one strikes everything in its path, bumping them away slightly and stunning them in place. This one is typically saved for group fights to hit multiple targets, but it's a good way to single out individuals, too.

The further the arrow travels to hit a target, the more damage they'll take. Not only is it a decent finishing move, but it's a pretty good opener, too, as the 20% movement speed boost awarded upon firing gives Tel'Annas an opportunity to assault those caught in the line of fire.

Skill Order
Building Tel'Annas is less a matter of opinion and more about just doing what is right. Playing her, you'll notice just how potent Eagle Eye is with its brilliant range and sharp boost to Attack Speed, meaning we want to be getting the most from it whenever it's available.

Picking up Eagle Eye from the start is also a no-brainer as the passive slowdown applied to her auto-attacks from then on will keep distant targets within range longer. Ranking this up will increase her attack speed to the max once fully itemized and bolster the additional magic damage effect useful for damaging tanks. Basically, level this one up whenever your Ultimate isn't ready for a boost.

Talents
Punish – The only option when looking to jungle as Tel'Annas, Punish – once Mr. Stabby has been bought – becomes Frostbite, an ability that can be used on enemy heroes to strike for damage and slow them down yet again. The main allure of this ability is to smite down jungle targets to reduce the time they spend wailing on Tel'Annas' shoddy health and just speeding up the rate at which she can farm, decreasing the time it takes for her to become a force to be reckoned with. Simple stuff.

Items
Generally attacking from such a distance and so quickly means Tel'Annas focuses less on raw damage and more on landing fast, successive critical hits from afar. Building Soulreaver is an initial necessity that will help her Attack Power grow over time, but Claves Sancti will be one of the only damage-heavy items after that – mostly due to its flat 30% Critical Strike chance.

Flashy Boots come in to reduce the cooldown time of her abilities, while additional movement speed will come from the very same items used to build her to dangerous levels of Attack Speed and Critical Chance – like Slikk's Sting and Devil's Handshake.

We round things off with Murumasa in an attempt to curb the threat of tanks in the late game. Grakk and Thane become major threats that can shrug off Tel'Annas' attacks with ease, close the gap between them, and finish her off no slower than any other hero. You won't be able to focus them down in a 1v1 situation at this point, but reducing their Armor count by 40% will make a big difference in the health you can shave off while they're pre-occupied.

Spear of Longinus can be substituted here as a way to apply around 250 points of Armor Reduction for allies to put to use (and gain a little yourself), but this count won't mean much against softer opponents and typically won't even negate a single fully built tank item.

Arcana
Arcana spreads will look drastically different between tiers with Tel'Annas purely down to how stat mixes change across them. Being so reliant on raw power, Tel'Annas enjoys anything from Critical Strike Chance to Armor Pierce, and Attack Damage to Attack Speed.

Tier-1 Arcana users don't have much choice in how they build Tel'Annas. Without gaining any Critical Strike Chance from Arcana, she'll sit at around 70% when fully built. It's not quite the 90-100% we'd love to see slam down on our enemies, but it's not a bad attempt at all. For that, we suggest opting for Agility arcana to soak up an extra 6% attack speed. Armor Pierce will be your only Green option, but that helps in a bunch of situations anyway.

Moving into Tier-2 arcana and things start to gain a little more flavor. Critical Chance becomes far more as you're able to stack an additional 10% thanks to the flat 1% gains for each Ambush arcana in the Red sockets. Attack Speed (and even more Critical Chance) can be had from Fury in the Purple slots, leaving Assault in the Green slots to bolster speed further and ensure the gains of Eagle Eye are more readily available through 5% cooldown reduction. Batter, Cyclone, and Backstab are all viable Red options, but raw critical chance will bring us so much closer to that desired 100% chance. This way, around 4 of every 5 auto-attacks will hit for massive damage.

Tier-3 manages to look far more simplified. We'll have to settle for around 75% Critical Chance due to the 0.5% increase from Blitz, but Attack Damage and Armor Pierce will climb far higher thanks to Assassinate and Skewer. Movement Speed will see a 10% increase on-par with an extra pair of boots, which, when paired with specific items and Arrow of Chaos can keep Tel'Annas in range of her target far more easily. The speed gains won't be that noticeable later in a match, but can make a tremendous difference in the early game.

Don't be tempted to go for Life Steal. As desirable as it may sound, Tel'Annas is essentially dead the moment she's targetted. No amount of Life Steal will change that.

Early Game
Tackling the jungle is a far different beast that having Tel'Annas sit on a lane for 5-6 minutes, as she'll very rarely get the passive damage boost she enjoys by being near an ally. Secluded in the jungle, she'll offer an element of surprise a little later on as she levels up through the jungle to unlock her skills and use the range of her abilities to blast targets down as she roams.

As with any jungler, you want to defeat the monsters as soon as possible. Use Punish whenever it's off cooldown to maximize damage and use any jungle downtime to pop Eagle Eye from a river brush to harass a struggling lane. Your aim here is to power up as quickly as possible. A hero kill during a quiet moment will accelerate the process, but you simply want to afford Soulreaver as quickly as possible so you can get back to earning the 15 jungle monster kills needed to power it to it's fullest – and gradually earn Claves Sancti.

The range offered by Eagle Eye makes sneaking in the enemy jungle a worthwhile strategy to consider – but only if your team isn't struggling with their lanes. If roaming and ganking isn't necessary, use any downtime offered by clearing your own jungle to take your opponent's away from them. It'll help speed up the development of Soulreaver and deny the other team any extra Gold they mean need if they're struggling to farm on their own lane.

Mid Game
Still using your impressive range to your advantage, ganking will still be what you bring to the table for a little while longer. Before you amass the killer attack speed and critical rate to stand your ground on any lane that requires it, you'll simply want to surprise your opponents by activating Eagle Eye from the brush as they push down a lane, keeping them within range through your near-endless array of slowdowns.

Tel'Annas' lack of defensive options makes her ripe for the picking, meaning any melee heroes who know they can close the gap before taking a fatal shot will likely  attempt just that. The faster they can reach you, the more threat they pose. Targets with a charge, lunge, or jump will emerge as your nemesis here, so poke them from safety before making for the hills. Use Arrow of Chaos if needed to keep them at bay while using the speed boost to make an escape. Thane, Lumburr, Wukong, Butterfly, and Grakk are enemies you'll need to watch out for.

Just focus on getting kills from a safe distance at this point, ensuring you're either invisible when you launch your attack or stood behind any nearby allies so that they can peel would-be assailants from you while you strike with a barrage of arrows from afar with Eagle Eye.

Late Game
As you close into your final item or two, you'll really start to notice how much power Tel'Annas can pump out at the push of a button. Any additional Gold required can be had in seconds flat by clearing out any nearby jungle, with a well-positioned Eagle Eye making it possible to clear the entire jungle without moving an inch more.

Rotate around the battlefield to pick up creep kills in an instant while dealing decent damage to any nearby tower without waiting on minions by attacking on the edge of your Eagle Eye range. Doing this while all 5 stacks of Devils Handshake are active will greatly speed up the amount of shots you can land before running dry.

But as good as Tel'Annas is at roaming the battlefield, she can chop down targets with ease so long as she's left alone. Make sure you're never on the front line as any attempts to initiate a large-scale fight without proper backup will result in a quick death and an opportunity for the enemy team to push forward and crush what remains of your own. Despite jungling this time around, Tel'Annas is still considered the AD Carry, meaning going in without her will drastically.

Stand back and focus on earning Gold whenever there isn't a fight ready to break out, but stay within close proximity of your team so that you can rush in when needed. You're basically going to be on auto-attack mode, so pop Eagle Eye from a safe distance once your team have properly initiated a fight and focus on blasting down anything that isn't a tank. You're going to want avatar targeting on for sure, as it tends to be the tanks who are closest to your bow and will be prioritized by most auto-attack settings. A single use of Eagle Eye won't last long enough to shut a tank down, but it can be enough to destroy 2-3 softer heroes. Just keep the attacks flowing out and fill any gaps with Piercing Shot and Arrow of Chaos for spread your damage and control across more of the enemy team.

Whenever you have a shot at the tower, absolutely take it – assuming the enemy team is retreating, dead, or just not there to defend, that is. Activate Eagle Eye and go to down from outside of its range. If your team decides to get involved, you'll typically knock it down before it has a chance to deal much damage.

Just keep up the pressure. You're a tour-de-force when it comes to auto-attacks and can control targets more than enough to have the rest of the team pick up what they can. You just need to stay safe. Count the enemy team and be on the lookout for any missing assassins, as they generally know how and when to strike.

FAQ/Tips
Eagle Eye allows you to out-range a tower for around 3 seconds. You can use this to chip away without losing your window of opportunity to slow minions.

Tel'Annas can easily die in 2-3 hits from even low-damage tanks. If you can't kill your target just as quickly, they're better left alone.

Remember that simply being around your allies means a flat 10% Attack Damage boost.

Your exceptional range and speed makes kiting an essential skill to master. Learn to move and fire.

Piercing Shot and Arrow of Chaos both hit numerous targets. Aim to use them when the enemy team is grouped up to help stun and slow them down for the rest of your team.

Counters
Any character that isn't stacking HP and Armor is ready to die by Tel'Annas' hand, but ignorance of the very same stats means she's a sitting duck for anyone able to best her range – or punch her in the face.

With little in the means of escape, Tel'Annas can't do much to fend off attacks who shrug off her arrows. Grakk can pull her in and keep her there, Thane can charge right to her, and Lumburr can fling her high and crash on top of her like a meteorite. Give up trying to best these in mortal combat; it just isn't going to happen.

Similarly, legendary assassins; like Zill, Butterfly, and even those like Zuka or Wukong can all pounce on her without much regard for her slowdown tactics. They're far easier to tackle if she gets the drop on them, but having it go the other way around will end just as you expect.

Support characters, thankfully, can't do much about her. As discussed above, she's designed to stand far out of the way of enemy range while increasing her own to the point where it doesn't matter. If a character isn't rocking things like The Aegis and Gaia's Standard, she'll typically win if left alone. If she's approached or stunned for even a second, there's a high chance she'll get blown apart before a counter-attack can even be considered.