Slardar -The Right Way to Slither

First I complete my Boots and some life sustain like RoH or Morbid Mask, then the highest priority is to get Blink Dagger as fast as possible! If you really want to build Urn (I never do so on this hero), only after Blink. Therefore I think its a bit late for such an item if you play him as carry.


At least in pubs Slardar is a super hard carry if played right, especially because of his pure Physical Damage output.
For inhouse it depends on lineup and his played role. He can be devastating, but he is mostly played as semi-carry and for group chain-stunning.


Except for solo he can do well in any lane.


In the past I also thought so, but even in pubs I max Sprint now before investing any points in Bash.
You surely can surprise the enemy with blink-stun, but after that you can only chase with Q lvl 1 if you play against morons.
Normally you are slowed, which can be compensated by +44%MS, but not with +20%.
Relying on your bashluck is silly, as you haven't high attack speed that early in the game.

Eightfold - yes, lifesteal is good with armlet, but if you have an Urn of Shadows and are diligent enough to armlet-toggle instead of leaving it on, you don't really need the Lifesteal as well. It's also possible that another member of your team gets a Vlad's. That's why the lifesteal items are "situational". I DO agree that Mask of Madness+ Armlet of Mordiggian is a baller combo for a bursty strength hero that needs attack speed.

Datvu - yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to point out, largely because Slardar doesn't make the best hard carry (he's a very rare pick on the pro scene), and so I'm suggesting building him more as a snowball/ganking hero.

Allegiance - I don't agree with Slardar being in a defensive tri-lane, as there are many better hard carries out there, who would benefit the team more from that level of dedicated farm. However, I can see a place for him in an aggressive tri-lane, if he had the right support.

Peppo - In deference to you, as I highly respect your guides, I've edited the guide to include a Sprint]-over-Bash build, with Blink Dagger as an early core. I realize that mobility is a lot more important in competitive games, so I understand the heavy emphasis on both Sprint and Blink, but on a pub level, I think that one level of Sprint + Blink gives enough chase, and the chance for earlier Bashes (given the recent buff) would allow Slardar to snowball more heavily.

But it depends on which way you play Slardar. 2 notable examples are Night Stalker and Spirit Breaker. They definitely aren't support, yet Urn of Shadows is almost a compulsory on them. Slardar benefits from Urn of Shadows exactly the same as those two, as it provides much needed mana regen and heal after a gank, or bust damage to finish someone of. And it's an easy build from your starting gauntlet. But if someone on your team plan to get urn, go for Medallion of Courage instead, it also gives mana regen and it makes your ult even more scary. Urn is very good on ganking Slardar

I agree with this, even if it doesn't make that much of a difference in pubs.

The main problem with this build, though, is that you max Sprint last! Maxing it by level 9-10 lets you run faster than a Bloodseeker in the early levels and makes you able to get kills you wouldn't get without it.

Urn of Shadows is an item your supports should buy! Getting it on slardar just unneccessarily delays your Blink Dagger, which should be your top priority.
Also i don't agree with maxing bash over sprint.

Laning him is not so hard. Just put him in a trilane (defensive or maybe aggressive) and farm a fast Blink. You just need the right lineup to play him. Very good combo throughout the midgame is Slardar + Templar Assassin or Slardar + Shadow Fiend.
You shouldn't play him in a single-core lineup though, since he lacks of farm speed and carry power.

slardar combos well with heroes which can deal massive ammounts of physical damage in a short period. I.e. all agility carries.

best combos are, Juggernaut+ Slardar , Legion Commander+ Slardar, Drow Ranger+ Slardar, and Morphling+ Slardar (beast combo this one)

You need some form of lifesteal to counteract the draining effect of the Armlet. You mentioned that you probably should have lifesteal, but putting it in situational could make a person new to dota think that it's not needed everygame, unlike the armlet.