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BKB is sometimes a complete necessity on Slark. He's squish and can easily get bursted down, especially by heroes like Lina and Timbersaw that deal damage through your ulti and whose spells you block completely with a BKB.
i think glimmer on him could actually be really sick but it costs so much mana. his problem this patch is getting bursted though, and that is why BSJ goes a more tanky build, if you arent in very high HP or against massive amounts of nukes then just go Shadow Blade or blink.
Yeah, I edited the guide to outline that shadowblade, silver edge glimmer cape, and blink are situational items that can always be bought. If you have a good break target, then go for silver edge, against lesh+nuker then get glimmer cape, need initiation and faster farming get blink, if your team has excellent initiation get none of these and get skadi faster.
They have snowballing storm with early orchid, but no other big threats rush euls and go into glimmer/manta and abyssal in the lategame.
They have high skilled antimage(who counters slark pretty hard) and Queen of pain(good against slark aswell) that your team can't lockdown get an early orchid+silver edge and gank them over and over bcuz they squishy and ez picks if you have orchid shadowblade. You arent "wasting your time if you don't get a kill" with non-stat items as people say, your team has other heroes that can farm the jungle and safelane when you gank. Every time you are missing the enemy is losing farm while you are gaining farm.
But if they have hard to gank tanky heroes, have low nukes, group as five early, and will pressure your towers/jungle before you can get a big item like skadi, only then should you get Drum+SnY, and in that case I think another hero would fit the role just as well. The amount of times that situation happens is under 5% of the time whereas in the current meta the number of times the enemy's main threat will be a snowballing carry nuker like storm/leshrac/shadow fiend/queen of pain in ranked matchmaking is going to be close to 80% and so glimmer cape and these other "situational items" will be good in MOST games.
They have tons of stuns+focus, get BKB.
I just think people's cookie cutter builds are terrible. Blindly buying a drum+sny every game and wondering why you still get nuked down despite spending all of your gold on 0 utility(no mobility or medallion) and all stats like bsj is simply not good. When you could have gone for any of the previously mentioned builds. Dismissing all of these items like so many players do can lose you many games. The game isn't pure stats. I think slark is the strongest hero in the game because he is this good with so many items.
Sorry if I seem like I ranted at you, you just started a thought process on slark I thought I should post.
Why not use Glimmer Cape like some Dragon Knight's do; You use it a value step in item for Shadow Blade, and then end with a value Cloak as well.
It lets you get active just that little bit earlier than waiting for the full Shadow Blade. And Cloak is a crazy good value item, so it's a pretty prudent idea in my mind.
Thank you for this idea! that is a very good idea, especially if the enemy has a target you are going to want to "Break" with silver edge. I have never seen or heard of dragon knights doing this but it is a very good idea in many situations.
Why not use Glimmer Cape like some Dragon Knight's do; You use it a value step in item for Shadow Blade, and then end with a value Cloak as well.
It lets you get active just that little bit earlier than waiting for the full Shadow Blade. And Cloak is a crazy good value item, so it's a pretty prudent idea in my mind.
i think glimmer on him could actually be really sick but it costs so much mana. his problem this patch is getting bursted though, and that is why BSJ goes a more tanky build, if you arent in very high HP or against massive amounts of nukes then just go Shadow Blade or blink.
I think he's right, if you use Solar Crest's active you lose its armor and evasion:
"Shine
Not blocked by Spell Immunity. Not blocked by Linken's Sphere. Can be dispelled.
Ability Affects
Target Unit Units
Temporarily removes the armor and evasion from Solar Crest. When cast on an ally it grants them 10 armor and 30% evasion. When cast on an enemy it removes 10 of their armor and blinds them, causing them to miss 30% of their attacks."
Unless i am mistaken, i believe that the evasion from solar crest never fades away, you retain the evasion even if you buff/debuff others. The 30% evasion from solar crest is a flat amount, and the debuff that you cast on enemies is a separate account.
No, the evasion goes away when you buff/debuff others, as does the armor. This is according to the wiki description of shine (the active effect of solar crest) "Temporarily removes the armor and evasion from Solar Crest."
Unless i am mistaken, i believe that the evasion from solar crest never fades away, you retain the evasion even if you buff/debuff others. The 30% evasion from solar crest is a flat amount, and the debuff that you cast on enemies is a seperate account.
Medallion of Courage is a good item to get, but as usual, if your support can get it, you should let your supports use it. Fow example, Medallion is a very powerful item on Weaver, and extremely underrated on Phantom Assassin. However, once a suppport Dazzle or Vengeful Spirit says he will buy it, i will skip the item completely. doesn't mean i won't get it if there is no one buying it though.
If slark activates dark pact and casts solar crest on an enemy carry right before the purge, then slark suddenly has around 55% evasion against that carry because of mischance and the evasion gain of solar crest and an armor advantage of at least 20 armor. This makes Medallion/Solar crest the absolute best item for slark to purchase himself. If a support buys one and activates it on the enemy it is only giving half of the benefits. A support can get it on top of slark to reduce the enemy's armor by a whopping 20 and give slark a 70% mischance. If the support and you get it it makes it even higher in value, not lower. The item is decent on cores like Phantom Assasin.that are not Slark, but Slark mitigates the drawbacks with his purge making it absolutely best on slark.
The glimmer cape is rather poor initiation and does have a high mana cost. It is used to save slark from nukes and allow him to regen in fights at the same time. This item should be skipped in competitive games if your support is getting it, unlike the case of medallion/solar crest. I should add blink and silver edge to situational if you need to be initiating or they have a hero like spectre or PA to break.
I personally like glimmer cape because it covers slarks only weakness after buying medallion, nukers. If you have a support who can use it on you in fights you do not need it, but in solo matchmaking it is difficult to maintain that coordination. I would get cloak just to cover slarks weakness even if I purchased a blink or silver edge.
Thank you for your post. +1
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That's alright, try the Illidan build!
Treads >> Midas >> Shadow Blade >> BKB >> Silver Edge >> Eye of Skadi >> Abyssal Blade
1-3-1-1 into 4-4-1-2
i think glimmer on him could actually be really sick but it costs so much mana. his problem this patch is getting bursted though, and that is why BSJ goes a more tanky build, if you arent in very high HP or against massive amounts of nukes then just go Shadow Blade or blink.
Yeah, I edited the guide to outline that shadowblade, silver edge glimmer cape, and blink are situational items that can always be bought. If you have a good break target, then go for silver edge, against lesh+nuker then get glimmer cape, need initiation and faster farming get blink, if your team has excellent initiation get none of these and get skadi faster.
They have snowballing storm with early orchid, but no other big threats rush euls and go into glimmer/manta and abyssal in the lategame.
They have high skilled antimage(who counters slark pretty hard) and Queen of pain(good against slark aswell) that your team can't lockdown get an early orchid+silver edge and gank them over and over bcuz they squishy and ez picks if you have orchid shadowblade. You arent "wasting your time if you don't get a kill" with non-stat items as people say, your team has other heroes that can farm the jungle and safelane when you gank. Every time you are missing the enemy is losing farm while you are gaining farm.
But if they have hard to gank tanky heroes, have low nukes, group as five early, and will pressure your towers/jungle before you can get a big item like skadi, only then should you get Drum+SnY, and in that case I think another hero would fit the role just as well. The amount of times that situation happens is under 5% of the time whereas in the current meta the number of times the enemy's main threat will be a snowballing carry nuker like storm/leshrac/shadow fiend/queen of pain in ranked matchmaking is going to be close to 80% and so glimmer cape and these other "situational items" will be good in MOST games.
They have tons of stuns+focus, get BKB.
I just think people's cookie cutter builds are terrible. Blindly buying a drum+sny every game and wondering why you still get nuked down despite spending all of your gold on 0 utility(no mobility or medallion) and all stats like bsj is simply not good. When you could have gone for any of the previously mentioned builds. Dismissing all of these items like so many players do can lose you many games. The game isn't pure stats. I think slark is the strongest hero in the game because he is this good with so many items.
Sorry if I seem like I ranted at you, you just started a thought process on slark I thought I should post.
Why not use Glimmer Cape like some Dragon Knight's do; You use it a value step in item for Shadow Blade, and then end with a value Cloak as well.
It lets you get active just that little bit earlier than waiting for the full Shadow Blade. And Cloak is a crazy good value item, so it's a pretty prudent idea in my mind.
Thank you for this idea! that is a very good idea, especially if the enemy has a target you are going to want to "Break" with silver edge. I have never seen or heard of dragon knights doing this but it is a very good idea in many situations.
It lets you get active just that little bit earlier than waiting for the full Shadow Blade. And Cloak is a crazy good value item, so it's a pretty prudent idea in my mind.
"Shine
Not blocked by Spell Immunity. Not blocked by Linken's Sphere. Can be dispelled.
Ability Affects
Target Unit Units
Temporarily removes the armor and evasion from Solar Crest. When cast on an ally it grants them 10 armor and 30% evasion. When cast on an enemy it removes 10 of their armor and blinds them, causing them to miss 30% of their attacks."
http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Solar_Crest
Sorry if I can't comment on the guide itself, I don't play Slark :)
As for help with the formating: http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/blog/dr-d/guide-formatting-and-you
Any question you have feel free to ask me too. GL
Unless i am mistaken, i believe that the evasion from solar crest never fades away, you retain the evasion even if you buff/debuff others. The 30% evasion from solar crest is a flat amount, and the debuff that you cast on enemies is a separate account.
No, the evasion goes away when you buff/debuff others, as does the armor. This is according to the wiki description of shine (the active effect of solar crest) "Temporarily removes the armor and evasion from Solar Crest."
Medallion of Courage is a good item to get, but as usual, if your support can get it, you should let your supports use it. Fow example, Medallion is a very powerful item on Weaver, and extremely underrated on Phantom Assassin. However, once a suppport Dazzle or Vengeful Spirit says he will buy it, i will skip the item completely. doesn't mean i won't get it if there is no one buying it though.
If slark activates dark pact and casts solar crest on an enemy carry right before the purge, then slark suddenly has around 55% evasion against that carry because of mischance and the evasion gain of solar crest and an armor advantage of at least 20 armor. This makes Medallion/Solar crest the absolute best item for slark to purchase himself. If a support buys one and activates it on the enemy it is only giving half of the benefits. A support can get it on top of slark to reduce the enemy's armor by a whopping 20 and give slark a 70% mischance. If the support and you get it it makes it even higher in value, not lower. The item is decent on cores like Phantom Assasin.that are not Slark, but Slark mitigates the drawbacks with his purge making it absolutely best on slark.
The glimmer cape is rather poor initiation and does have a high mana cost. It is used to save slark from nukes and allow him to regen in fights at the same time. This item should be skipped in competitive games if your support is getting it, unlike the case of medallion/solar crest. I should add blink and silver edge to situational if you need to be initiating or they have a hero like spectre or PA to break.
I personally like glimmer cape because it covers slarks only weakness after buying medallion, nukers. If you have a support who can use it on you in fights you do not need it, but in solo matchmaking it is difficult to maintain that coordination. I would get cloak just to cover slarks weakness even if I purchased a blink or silver edge.
Thank you for your post. +1
Could get a Silver Edge or Blink Dagger.
A good guide for experienced players tho +1