Silencer Semi-Carry/Support

Thread after thread I read that Silencer is such a bad support and must be ran as a carry to even be effective. Though I think a few of the support items really compliment him. Ive been running this item build for a week or so and its been working pretty well, let me know what you guys think. (by all means im no pro so if the build is real bad please let me know why so I can learn a little)

I usually run him Mid so I start w/ Ring of Bas + tango for some mana regen for my glaives. Then I go into Ghost Septer then Phase boots (my thinking on this is that if i score a last word on someone trying to gank me Etheral + Speed boost will get me out plus the speed helps with ganking, and its been working pretty well)

Then Vlads (take advantage of Ring of Bas purchase and supports in team fights (This is only purchased if someone else isnt getting it))

Then Rod of Atos (Health + damage + slow)

Lastly Mealstrom --> Mjollnir (by this time you have been in a couple team fights and your int stolen should be getting up there and the Speed bonus from these items help extremely well)

Sorry Heydoc, this isn't really a support build - you're going mid and not really building any team utility items. Support Silencer should be in lane with a carry, using Curse of the Silent and harassment, buying Observer Ward, Mekansm, etc.

Whoops, I was more thinking stuff like RoB , Vlads, Rod was more of support than carry. Sorry >< . But other than that is it bad?

Vlads doesn't give you lifesteal,but its great for supporting only if you have like 3-4 more melee heroes in your team.

Your starting items can be improved, but the rest is ok. The only thing I disagree with is that early Ghost Scepter: you could get your boots, then Wand/Meka/Staff/whatever then your Scepter, which whould be pretty useless anyway against a level 5 carry with little to no items. Also, the nukes are a big threat in the early game while you're in ethereal form.

A support going mid is kind of a waste. A support that saves 1600 gold instead of buying wards or Mek or mana boots cripples the early game. Unless you have someone else doing this, in which case you're not a support and renders this comment moot.

That's not true. Beastmaster and Warlock are common mid laning supports: competitive players tend to get a mid support when they either have a jungler who needs a lot of farm or when they need a fast Mekansm for early-mid game dominance (or both). Of course you want your lane support to buy Wards until you are 10-15 minutes into the game, but after that it's just personal preference.

About a side-laning Silencer, I really think it's a waste unless you're in a trilane against another trilane: as this Hero doesn't have any stuns or big/instant nukes, you will end up spending too much time in lane and stealing experience from your carry. Also, he's not able to initiate trilane ganks either.

Side-lane support Silencer is a bit of a funny one, but it can work as a 2 man lane - it really depends on how vulnerable to Curse of the Silent the enemy heroes are. Basically he's just there to harass - possibly setup kills with Last Word later on. Global Silence is the big ultimate team fight ability, Glaives possibly gets levelled at some point.

Tbh he's not a true support hero in a lot of ways, but he can do a job in the right circumstances - i.e. against heroes with no cheap casting ability, and when Global Silence provides a hard counter to some enemy heroes.

I did say kind of. Beastmaster is good mid for his harass and AoE farming along with the absurd rune control. Warlock in my opinion is just a Dignitas thing, and I don't see it becoming too popular.

Silencer is just so poor mid against common mid heros like Magnus, Batrider, TA, SF, etc. Curse of the Silent is rendered completely obsolete, and you're forced to use Last Word as a harass, but all those other mid heroes use spells to harass and get cs. Going mid = going bottle, that's why Invoker has largely dropped out. Would you get bottle on a Silencer if you go mid? It just seems so questionable.

Silencer is quite versatile and might do well anywhere but on the suicide lane (not a great contribution to a trilane imo). If you send Silencer mid it might be a good idea to have a roaming hero to try and maintain rune control. That being said, it’s a pretty bad pick for pubs, because it doesn’t have any generic escape or cc and the Global Silence requires certain coordination to take advantage of.
I feel that Silencer should start off as a semi-carry with his steady damage output during the early and midgame. Seeing that this requires some farm and given your obvious lack of babysitting skills, I do not recommend laning with a hardcarry. Once your skills are fully developed, the late game should see you transitioning into a support/disabler/backup dps.
My item suggestions are as follows:
- Power Treads – I feel this is a must, mostly because it transitions much better into midgame, where Glaives of Wisdom starts becoming a factor. There aren’t any other early/mid game options to increase your attack speed.
- Mekansm – unlike the good old days, you’re not necessarily the TOP carrier for this one, but it’s certainly a good option, especially if you can get it early on and your team sticks together during the midgame.
- Force Staff – great way to boost your mobility + decent stats.
- Eul’s Scepter of Divinity – decent utility + movespeed and pretty much resolves your mana issues.
- Scythe of Vyse – game breaking utility + awesome stat boost.
- Orchid Malevolence – complements your already formidable silencing powers and boosts your dps significantly; especially nasty against blinkers and Weaver.
Phase Boots or Arcane Boots might be nice early on, but they do not synergize well with your Glaives of Wisdom during the midgame transition. Rod of Atos looks suitable, but the active is much less useful than any of the utilities provided by the other suggested options. Mjollnir costs almost as much as Scythe of Vyse and doesn’t synergize with you orb effect that well.