Guide to Successful Weaver (Updated)

Intro

This is my first guide so far but I'm very good with Weaver, so this should be informative.

Weaver is an Agility-based Carry hero who has some of the best survivability in the game thanks to his powerful set of skills. His role in the team is to deal as much damage as possible to his enemies while avoiding being damaged himself. He is extremely item dependent if he needs to carry the team, otherwise he can be used simply to harass and/or chase fleeing heroes. He is probably one of the squishiest heroes in the game, especially for an agility-based hero, and should be played carefully using his full set of skills to outsmart and outrun enemies.

This is a defensive build, meaning that it is assuming that the opposing team has numerous stuns and/or single-target nukes, all of which will counter Weaver easily. This build focuses on getting Linkens Sphere ASAP, as it will make the opponent's spells useless.

Pros / Cons

Pros

• Very hard to catch, even harder to kill
• Has great potential for ridiculously high Damage Per Second
• Doesn't need attack-speed buffs due to Geminate Attack
• Can easily carry a good team around mid-to-late game

Cons

• Very, very squishy
• Enemy team will focus on you exclusively
• Stun or Silence equals death
• Extremely item-dependent

Items: Explanation

• Starting Items
  Get the standard healing items for Weaver, as he can be very squishy early game, making him a primary target for enemy ganks.
  
  Grab a circlet and slippers for the stat boost. These will build into a wraith band, which will in turn build into a Ring of Aquila. Spend the rest on branches. These stat boosts will give Weaver much needed last-hitting power, and will allow him to harass more effectively. This will also give him some extra mana for Shukuchi. Remember that early game is when Weaver is most vulnerable; his hitting power and health are some of the lowest in the game.

• Early Game
  Ring of Aquila will handle your mana needs until mid game, allowing you to use your abilities without fear of being stuck without mana. The aura is good for pushing as well. Magic Stick can provide more survivability depending on who Weaver is laning against. If the opponent is spell-intensive, go for it. If not, save up for other items.
  
  Boots will provide Weaver with a better passive move speed, allowing him to get around faster in the early game when he doesn't have enough mana to spam Shukuchi. These will also build into Power Treads.
  
  The Ring of Health is also a must-have, as it gives Weaver a better ability to stay in lane, and will eventually work to build into a Perseverance.

• Early Mid-Game
  Perseverance will allow Weaver to stay in lane for a much longer time, and will handle most of your mana regen needs for the rest of the game. Power Treads are will be your boots for the rest of the game. Weaver will appreciate the stat boost from them; remember to have it on agility as a default until you get some better DPS, at which point switch it to intelligence as a default to help with mana regen.
  
  Javelin will give you a primary source for DPS to help you in team fights and to get you more last hits. Remember that Geminate Attack will effectively double the damage output. This will also go towards building MKB later in the game.
  
  A Magic Wand follows the same rule as the Magic Stick; if you are up against ability-intensive heroes, grab it. If not, save for more useful items.

• Late Mid-Game
  By this point, your farm should be very good. If not, start working towards either extreme farming or ganking to get gold for the next items.
  
  Ultimate Orb will give you great stat boosts, increasing your damage and mana regen even further. This is also the second-to-last item on your list to get your Linkens Sphere. Demon Edge will give you a very good DPS boost and will work towards constructing your MKB.

• Core Items
  Linkens Sphere is the must-have here, as it's spell block will allow Weaver to evade being stunned. Monkey King Bar will give Weaver an unstoppable DPS rating, making him extremely effective and allowing him to carry the team and kill single targets easily.
  
  At this point, you are the enemy team's primary concern. Make use of Shukuchi to get to a good area to attack, deal a hell of a lot of damage to whoever is unlucky enough to be right-clicked by you, then run away again with Shukuchi before they have a chance to retaliate.

• Situational Items
  Desolator is a good DPS item, and the armor reduction added to the -20 potential reduction from your Swarm makes your DPS all the more effective.
  
  Radiance is great for getting farm, pushing, and chasing fleeing heroes. The added 60 damage is also a great boon. Most players rush this before MKB, but MKB builds better and lets you stay at a good DPS range for the entire match.
  
  Butterfly is self-explanatory. The Evasion chance is awesome for staying in teamfights for longer and the Agility boost is just ridiculous.
  
  Black King Bar is a good item to have on you to supplement your Linkens Sphere and protect you during big teamfights.

Abilities

The Swarm

The Swarm is a light-damage teamfight and farming ability that summons a swarm of 12 beetles that latch to targets, dealing damage and reducing armor every second. These beetles take the aggro of creeps almost immediately, making it useful for pushing lanes. The armor reduction is what makes this skill shine in teamfights, and a well placed swarm can cause effective chaos in the ranks of enemy heroes. A poorly organized enemy team will divide up between killing the beetles, wasting time, or ignoring them, allowing armor to be reduced and damage to be dealt.

It's good to note that these beetles last about 20 seconds and deal 30 damage each second they attack. This can render up to about 600 damage, maybe more if they reduce the victims armor to a negative level. Unfortunately, this skill is mana intensive (for Weaver anyways) so it's usually a good idea to leave this skill until late game and leave Weaver's mana pool intact for using Shukuchi and Time Lapse.

Shukuchi

Shukuchi is Weaver's main skill, the one that makes him a great carry and justifies his squishiness. It allows him to go invisible for up to 4 seconds and increases his move speed to the maximum 522. He also deals damage to units he passes through (150 at its highest level).

This is a great skill early game, and allows Weaver to effectively harass enemy heroes in his lane while staying relatively safe. It also serves as his primary escape skill, making it ridiculously easy to counter ganks and get away from losing fights. At higher levels, this can be spammed for the increased move speed, allowing you to move around the map freely. In teamfights, Weaver can use this skill to get in close to his target, deal damage, then escape before they can retaliate, effectively turning him into the perfect hit-and-run hero.

It is essential that you max this skill first, as the decreased cooldown will be a complete lifesaver during teamfights, escapes, and ganks.

Geminate Attack

Geminate Attack is what gives Weaver the potential for ridiculous DPS. It allows Weaver to attack twice in one attack. This ability actually dispatches another projectile, but as long as the first one hits the target, the second one will as well. Generally speaking, this allows you to deal double the damage of a normal attack in the same amount of time that it takes to perform a single attack.

Use this skill to harass enemies early game. The damage dealt will be unbearable to squishy heroes, and will serve as a good counter to higher health heroes. This is also a great tool for last hitting creeps, but remember that the double damage is not instant, but another separate projectile, so timing is everything.

It's a good idea to max this skill out second, but consider maxing it first over Shukuchi if you need more last hits or you are getting destroyed in team fights.

Time Lapse

Time Lapse is Weaver's secondary escape skill, but it is probably his most powerful. It allows him to revert back to where he was 5 seconds ago. His mana, health, and cooldowns all revert back to where they were at the 5 second mark. This is what makes Weaver such a powerful and diverse hero. He can take a huge amount of damage, make the enemy team waste all of their spells on him, and then simply revert back to full health and mana. This allows him to do anything from tank, to dive towers early game for kills, to juking disables, clearing his debuffs, etc.

In combination with Linkens Sphere and Shukuchi, this makes Weaver almost invincible in teamfights so that he can keep hitting enemies with his insane DPS.

Strategy for Weaver

• Early Game:
  
  Farm as much as physically possible. Take mid if you can, if not, work with a good support hero to get kills and plenty of last hits. You should participate in ganks whenever possible. If you are going against a good harasser, keep Shukuchi ready to evade high damage hits like Huskar's Flaming Spear and Clinkz's Flaming Arrows. Don't be afraid to dive towers once you get your ult (just make sure you have enough mana). Avoid getting stunned; if you don't you're a neon target saying "kill me".
  
• Mid Game:
  
  Start getting your DPS up as soon as you get your Perseverance. Javelin will provide plenty when stacked with your Power Tread's agility increase. This will give you a much larger presence in ganking and early teamfights, giving you an opportunity to get more gold and farm for your late-game items. Keep using your Shukuchi to move around and assist in ganking.
  
• Late Game:
  
  By now you should have your two major items; Linkens Sphere and Monkey King Bar. You are a powerful force now, able to hold your own in teamfights and ganking. You should start working towards more DPS items since with Linkens Sphere your survivability is at a max. Radiance is probably your best bet. If you find yourself getting targeted by a lot of right clicks, you should instead work towards a Butterfly for the 35% evasion that it provides.