A guide to Weaving.

Introduction

I've been enjoying playing Weaver following Umnusman's guide (Autistic Weaver), which has inspired me to write a guide for how I play him. Umnusman's version is great, but I find myself lacking early game presence while farming for the Radiance. This isn't much different than their guide other than what I choose to purchase between the starting items and Radiance. By all means, go read his guide, it is quite good.

So, some quick Pros/Cons on this little bug:

Pros

Easy to farm with
Able to dodge skills/ganks easily
Can harass easily and effectively

Cons

Squishy. Hes a bug, enough said
Can take some learning to time his skills right for escapes
Silences will ruin you
Humans with shoes can one shot him

Skills

Weaver launches a swarm of 12 beetles that latch on any enemy unit in their path, attacking and reducing armor until it is killed.

Weaver's first skill is a an armor debuff. It can be removed by the enemy attacking the beatle that will attach itself to enemies hit by the wave, they can take 4 hits from other heroes, and 8 from any other unit. This is a great opener and will allow you to deal a bit more damage to armored targets.

Weaver shifts out of visibility, gaining the ability to move at maximum speed through physical unitsdoing harm to any enemies it passes through.

Weaver's second skill is a temporary invisibility. You will gain bonus movement speed, the ability to walk through units, as well as deal damage to units you pass through. Note: each unit can only take one instance of damage from Shukuchi. This is a great escape skill, as well as a great opener for a fight/gank when the enemy doesn't expect you. This is also great for farming with no risk of being attacked by the enemy.

Allows Weaver to dispatch two swarms, attacking an enemy twice.

Ahh, Weaver's bread and butter. This will allow your next normal attack to cast twice. When maxed, and with a bit of attack speed, you will make for one hard pusher. Note: This will override other attack effects such as critical strike, or other unique attack modifiers. Though while it is on a short cooldown, your attacks between will use any other unique attack modifiers. This also makes farming early game much easier.

Weaver warps backward to whatever position it was in five seconds earlierregaining the HP and mana from that time. No effect on cooldown, gold or experience.

This skill will allow you to "blink" backwards to where you were five seconds ago. You can use this to escape back down a lane if you run into unexpected enemies, as well as effectively reverse ganks if you're quick on the cast. You can turn fights around by jumping back to full health in a 1v1 even. As a squishy hero, this skill is gold for you, but it will take practice to time it perfectly.

Items.

I usually start with two Tangos, a Healing Salve, and two Slippers of Agility. I take the extra tango over Iron Branches because I lane for as long as possible, and the extra healing can come in handy. As soon as you can you'll want to buy your Boots of Speed. These will help you with your Shukuchi, giving you some additional movement speed to get the job done. Not long after you should be able to afford to upgrade the slippers into two Wraith Bands.

Note: If you are going through mana too quickly, you can upgrade one of the Wraith Bands into a Ring of Aquila.

Once you have your two Wraith Bands and your Power Treads you will want to work on your manta style, starting with a Yasha. Grab an Ultimate Orb and upgrade to a Manta Style as soon as you can. Your next step will be to farm up for a Sacred Relic. With the manta, you will have some bonus damage, attack speed, and movement speed. You should be able to gank other lanes easily and pick up some extra gold through kills and assists. Once you have your sacred relic, work on picking up your Radiance.

This is your core build, the last few spots are optional depending on what you're fighting. If you aren't being targeted by CC, or are good enough to play without defense, grab a Daedalus. Another option instead of, or even with a daedalus if you're fed enough, is a Monkey King Bar for a mini-stun. If you're being silenced/stunned all the time, grab a Black King Bar instead. Another option if you're facing a lot of other right click heroes is a Butterfly and a Vanguard. These two will give you plenty of avoidance and block to beat them in 1v1 situations, and teamfights. You can also easily take on a 1v2 group by now if you play your skills right.

Early / Mid / Late game.

Early game.

You will want to try for a sidelane on the "easy lane" (bottom for radiant, top for dire) with a support with a stun if possible. You can work with nearly anyone with some sort of CC to easily take control of the lane, or you can take mid if needed.

For the first few levels focus on farming. Watch your germinate attack's cooldown and use it to last hit easily. Once you hit level 4 you can start working with your partner to harass with your Shukuchi and germinate attack, before going in for the kill. If you're in mid, try to harass with your germinate attack and go for a kill if possible, if not you should call for a gank from a lane or the jungler. Don't forget to check for runes.

Mid game.

You should have your Manta Style by now, and using its active be able to take down enemies quickly. It shouldn't take too long for you to get a Sacred Relic and then your Radiance. Start ganking other lanes if you have an opening, with your Shukuchi you can surprise people easily.

Late game.

By now you should have your Power Treads, Manta Style, and Radiance. A Daedalus should be your next step if you're doing well. If you're being targeted by a lot of CC, then go for a Black King Bar instead. Other than that, start working with your team and use your pro pushing powers to shred through their towers. If you've played well with your team, the game should easily be yours.

Final words.

Weaver is a fun hero to play, he is surprisingly easy, yet in the hands of a more experienced player he can be impossible to kill. I hope this guide will help some people out there. I also want to give a big, big thanks to Umnusman for inspiring me to play Weaver, and eventually write this guide.

Good luck, and thank you for reading this guide.