Quillen — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Default: B]
Quillen — Assassin Guide
Quillen is a positional assassin who punishes every misstep with guaranteed crits the moment he catches someone off-angle. His passive, Ambush, turns every attack and skill into a crit when it lands from behind, so flank geometry is the whole language of the hero. This is not the dive-and-pray style of a Nakroth or Keera. Quillen wants patience in the approach and violence in the execution. He sits S tier on the Thai server right now for structural reasons. The patch's dominant tanky supports and bruiser junglers lack the mobility to stop him getting behind them once he commits Decimate and Assassinate. His ultimate's invisibility, attack-speed steroid, and built-in sustain carry him through the retaliation burst that ends lesser assassins, and his W mark's 50% slow plus damage reduction make him stickier than his stat page suggests. Pick him if you read wave states, objective timing, and enemy positioning before you leap. He is rewarding for Diamond-plus players who want a jungle carry that can solo-win the map, and brutal on you if you enter from the front.
Strengths
- +Quillen's Ambush passive guarantees 100% crit chance on rear-contact attacks and skills, delivering burst damage at mid-game power spikes that no amount of armor stacking trivially negates.
- +Decimate's mark applies a 50% slow on every hit and simultaneously reduces its own cooldown, making Quillen one of the stickiest junglers in the game against carries who try to kite.
- +Assassinate's built-in invisibility, regeneration, and kill-reset passive allow Quillen to survive counter-initiation and chain eliminations in a way that most single-target assassins cannot.
- +The 30% damage reduction from attacking a Decimate-marked target gives Quillen a hidden layer of tankiness in extended duels that makes him far harder to trade back against than his glass-cannon items suggest.
Weaknesses
- −Quillen has no hard crowd control of his own, meaning any team with reliable stuns, roots, or knockups can interrupt Assassinate's stealth window and completely dismantle his burst sequence before it lands.
- −Ambush deals zero crit from the front, so heroes with point-and-click crowd control that forces face-on positioning, like Baldum or Lumburr, can nullify his entire damage identity in a single engagement.
- −His early jungle clear before Soulreaver is among the slower in S tier, which means aggressive Level 2 or Level 3 invades from opposing junglers can put him far enough behind to lose the mid-game power spike.
- −Assassinate's fairly long base cooldown at early ranks means a failed all-in, where you enter stealth and emerge without a kill, leaves you as an immobile physical damage dealer with no escape tool for several seconds.
Abilities
PAmbush
When attacking an enemy from behind, guaranteed 100% crit chance (including abilities) with 125% base damage (+0.5% damage per 1% crit chance). Attacking from the front grants no crit chance. (Max 1500 damage to non-hero targets)
1Mutilate
Quillen slashes toward the target direction 2 times, each dealing 160 physical damage (+45% Bonus AD). (Can be used while moving)
2Decimate
Quillen dashes toward the target direction and attacks enemies at the end, dealing 300 physical damage (+70% Bonus AD) and marking the target for 10s. Each attack on a marked enemy slows them 50% for 1s and reduces this ability's cooldown by 1s. Quillen takes 30% reduced damage from marked enemies. (Can mark only 1 enemy at a time)
RAssassinate
Quillen dashes forward and becomes invisible. During this time, movement speed increases 40% and restores 70 HP (+15% Bonus AD) every 0.5s for 3s. Attacking breaks invisibility and grants 150 attack power for 3s. Enemies hit by attacks take increased damage and Quillen gains 30% movement speed for 1s. Passive: Killing or assisting a kill on an enemy hero resets all ability cooldowns.
How to Use Quillen's Kit
Every single kill pattern you build should be designed to guarantee a rear approach, if you activate Decimate and land behind the target, your very next auto and both Q slashes will all crit, which at full build represents a frankly disgusting burst window. The 125% base crit damage scales further with every 1% of crit chance you buy, so Claves Sancti is not optional, it compounds this passive multiplicatively. The biggest mistake players make is committing to Decimate from the front when terrain or crowd-control forces a face-on angle; if you can't get behind, abort the trade and reset.
Two rapid physical slashes in a chosen direction, each benefiting from Ambush if Quillen is behind the target, meaning a clean rear approach turns Q into two simultaneous crits that chunk even tanky laners. Critically, Q is castable while moving, so you weave it into your Decimate dash without stopping your forward momentum, creating a seamless W→Q animation that enemies struggle to react to. Do not throw Q blindly as a wave-clear tool; its cooldown matters in extended skirmishes where you need repeated W reductions, and every Q fired early is one less crit available in the kill window.
Decimate is the engine of Quillen's entire gameplan: the dash delivers the initial mark, the 50% slow on each subsequent hit extends every fight in your favor, and the 30% damage reduction from the marked target is quietly one of the best defensive tools any assassin has in the game. Cooldown reduction on W is triggered by attacking the marked target, so stacking auto attacks and Q slashes against the same enemy actively refreshes your mobility, letting you chain W across multiple targets in teamfights if the first kill is clean. The mark lasts 10 seconds, a lifetime, so you can W onto a carry, pivot to peel a threat, and return to collect the marked target before it expires.
Assassinate's invisibility window is not an escape button, it is a repositioning tool that lets you correct a bad approach angle mid-fight, a distinction that separates average Quillen players from excellent ones. The 40% movement-speed boost during stealth means you can circle a target entirely within the duration and re-enter from behind, ensuring Ambush crits on the first post-stealth attack, which then triggers an additional 30% movement burst to stay glued to whoever is fleeing. The passive skill-reset on kill or assist means a two-carry backline situation often allows you to chain Ultimate across both targets, secure the first kill, watch for the reset, and immediately pop Assassinate again before the second carry can respond.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Mutilate | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
2Decimate | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
RAssassinate | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Rampage
Assassinate
Dragon's ClawStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard Gank Burst
2P1Dash with W to land behind the target, let Ambush trigger on the first contact, then Q immediately for two rear crits followed by autos with the slow keeping them in range, this is the bread-and-butter kill pattern for any isolated carry.
Stealth Re-angle Kill
2RP1Use when the target is facing you or has a gap-closer; W in to apply the mark and slow, immediately pop Assassinate to circle behind during the stealth window, then break stealth into Ambush crits with Q, the mark's slow ensures they cannot escape while you reposition.
Chain Execute
RP12ROpen with Assassinate to approach from stealth in a teamfight, burst the first target from behind with autos and Q, use W to leap onto the second carry, and if the first kill procs the Ultimate reset, immediately activate Assassinate again to cycle for a clean two-man elimination.
Objective Skirmish Disengage
21RWhen trading at Dragon or Abyssal Dragon without full kill confidence, W to apply the mark, weave Q for damage, then R immediately to vanish and reset the engagement if the trade is going poorly, the speed buff lets you escape while the mark's damage-reduction continues to blunt their retaliation.
Gameplan
Quillen's first spike is level 4 with all three abilities, but it only means something with Soulreaver complete. Before that item his burst is bluffable. The real breakpoint is Soulreaver plus Claves Sancti, where Ambush crits delete squishies in two to three hits from behind and ganks stop being coin flips. His second spike, often the decisive one in ranked, is Broken Spear: the armor pen lets him threaten fighters and off-tanks, widening his kill pool past pure carries. Late game he is a threat rather than a win condition, since grouped teams deny him the isolation he needs.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Start Red Buff side to complete your first clear quickly, prioritizing a fast Soulreaver stack — do not invade or fight before the item is close to complete, as your pre-item damage is genuinely unimpressive.
- →Gank lanes where enemies are overextended past the river midpoint; a W dash that lands cleanly behind a pushing laner is an almost-free kill at Level 4 because they have no time to turn and deny Ambush.
- →Contest enemy jungle camps after a successful gank rather than recalling — the gold advantage from stealing a camp plus securing your own buffs accelerates Soulreaver completion by one to two waves.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →With Soulreaver and Gilded Greaves complete, prioritize rotating to Dragon when it spawns; your kill threat on any support or mage warding the objective is high enough that you can duel-clear the pit and threaten simultaneously.
- →Look for the enemy carry isolated in a sidelane — a one-item Quillen that reaches a solo ADC from behind will almost always convert the kill, and the snowball from that repeat pressure is how you close games before the enemy team groups.
- →Build Claves Sancti before Broken Spear if the enemy team is carry-heavy; if they are running two fighters or a bruiser jungler, flip that order to maintain kill pressure on non-squishies.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →Abyssal Dragon setup is your most important macro window — deep ward the enemy jungle thirty seconds before spawn, identify the carry's position, and use Assassinate's stealth to approach from an unexpected angle rather than walking through a chokepoint.
- →In five-on-five teamfights, never engage from the front regardless of how strong you feel; wait for your frontline to absorb the first wave of crowd control before using W and R to access the backline, since a single stun during Assassinate's exit animation kills your threat entirely.
- →If the game goes past two Abyssal Dragon stacks and the enemy has a tanky composition, acknowledge that you are a disruptor rather than a solo winner — pick off the support or the mage before the objective fight starts and let your team do the rest.
Matchups
Quillen wants CC supports that lock enemies in place, and he is terrorized by supports who can do the same to him. Never first-pick him into an unknown roster. His damage model breaks the moment the enemy drafts a point-and-click CC support like Baldum or Arum. In those games your role shifts from solo carry to enabler: use Assassinate to make chaos and pressure their backline so your carries work, instead of expecting clean isolated kills that won't come. Draft him after their support and jungler are locked, and pair him with a displacement frontliner like Lumburr or Annette to manufacture your own rear angles.
Quillen gets countered by
BaldumHis point-and-click grab forces Quillen to engage from the front, completely shutting off Ambush crits and turning the duel into a damage race Quillen cannot win without his passive.
ArumArum's persistent crowd control and tankiness mean Quillen cannot isolate or burst her within a single Assassinate window, and she can peel for her carry faster than Quillen can re-engage after the stealth breaks.
LaurielLauriel's burst and area-control during her ultimate can interrupt Quillen's stealth approach and burst him before he reaches the backline, punishing his relatively fragile mid-game health pool.
ButterflyButterfly's own dodge-and-repositioning passive makes landing a clean rear-approach with Decimate genuinely difficult, and her damage output in a mirrored assassin duel exceeds Quillen's if he cannot guarantee Ambush crits.
Quillen synergizes with
AnnetteAnnette's ultimate knocks and groups enemies predictably, giving Quillen the easiest possible rear-access angles during teamfights, any enemy knocked into the air lands disoriented, and Quillen is already behind them.
LumburrLumburr's ground-shaking crowd control locks enemies in place long enough for Quillen to dash behind and open a full Ambush combo, and the zoning pressure forces enemies to turn toward Lumburr rather than watch for the flank.
GildurGildur's suppression ultimate holds a single target completely still, which is essentially a gift-wrapped target for Quillen to walk behind and crit, the combination wins most two-versus-two skirmishes in the sidelane.
Tel'AnnasTel'Annas's ultimate provides long-range global pressure and root that lets Quillen freely approach from behind while the enemy is committed to dodging arrows, creating a split-second window that is all Quillen needs.
Pro Tips
- →During Assassinate's stealth window, actively circle around your target using the 40% speed bonus rather than charging straight in, the extra half-second of repositioning is the difference between a guaranteed Ambush crit opener and a wasted ultimate.
- →W's cooldown reduction triggers on any hit against the marked target, including Q's two slashes, weaving Q immediately after landing Decimate effectively refunds nearly two seconds of W cooldown in a single combo, enabling a second dash far sooner than enemies expect.
- →Track the enemy jungler's buff timers: Quillen can steal Blue or Red Buff between ganks using the Decimate dash to gap-close onto the camp from an unexpected angle, and Punish secures the objective before the enemy arrives to contest.
- →Against mobile carries who try to turn and face you mid-combo, use Assassinate not as an opener but as a mid-fight repositioning tool, flash the stealth after you've applied W's mark, let the slow do its work while you circle back behind them, and reappear for the kill rather than giving them the facing reset they're fishing for.
Quillen is the right jungle pick for disciplined Diamond-plus players who get positional assassin play and want a hero that punishes enemy complacency at both the duel and macro level. He does not forgive random all-ins. His damage lives or dies on landing behind the target. Meet that condition consistently and he is one of the few junglers who can solo-decide a game's pace. The thing to master is using Assassinate not as an opener but as a mid-fight repositioning tool that fixes your angle against targets who turn to face you. Get that right and the rest of the kit clicks.
Quillen — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Quillen good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. Quillen is firmly S tier this patch, built on exploiting the many immobile carries and slow bruiser junglers who can't stop a clean rear approach. His sustain, slow, and damage reduction make him one of the most complete jungle assassins right now. If you can play him, he is one of the highest-value jungle picks at Diamond and above.
What is the best build for Quillen?+
Core path is Soulreaver into Gilded Greaves, then Claves Sancti for the crit synergy with Ambush, Broken Spear for armor pen into bruisers, Omni Arms for on-hit attack speed, and Fenrir's Tooth for an execute threshold. Don't reorder casually. Claves Sancti multiplies Ambush's bonus crit damage per 1% crit chance, which makes it a non-negotiable third item.
How do you counter Quillen?+
Any point-and-click CC that forces him to engage from the front strips Ambush crits and turns the duel into a damage race he loses. Baldum and Arum are the problem picks because they control his approach angle. At draft level, a frontline CC support plus a mobile carry who can pre-face him on a spotted gank removes most of his kill threat.
Is Quillen hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium. The basic combo is accessible, but the precision to land behind targets with Decimate and to time Assassinate's reposition is punishing when misread. Beginners feel weak because they trigger Ambush crits inconsistently. He is a great second or third jungle hero once camp routing and gank pathing are internalized.