Slark the Herald Angel Sings

1) As far as an early level in Essence Shift goes, some players prefer to take it. I disagree with this choice. When the -1 strength is applied it does NOT subtract 19 health. Instead it keeps the players percent of total life the same. This means if you hit someone with full health it will do an additional 19 damage; however, if the person it at half health, say after being hit with a pounce, it will only do 8-9. Thus grabbing an extra level is dark pact is preferred for the 75 damage increase. Also keep in mind after 15 seconds they will get the health back.

2) For the most part I agree with you on this. Shadow Blade doesn't do anything for your health problems, but what it does is provide a way to engage an enemy without using your pounce, so you can save it for when they run. In addition the 6 second recharge period can be covered under dark pact duration, so you have the means for sustained invisibility. This combo can allow Slark to pick off targets even with teammates around. That being said yes it is a bit expensive and if countered is mostly useless. There are situations though where a rushed Shadow Blade can be game changing.

3) Yes, the Wraith Band / Ring of Aquila is incredibly cost efficient. I will normally pick this up only if I am having a slower game, simply because I'd rather hit a Vitality Booster or Claymore faster.

4) I agree with you as far as Shadow Blade's bad buildup. Like I said before in some situations it is incredibly helpful in taking out targets without having to worry about their teammates. Armlet of Mordiggian is a valid choice and something I should put into its own build. As far as Slark's role goes he is an escape and that's it. A Shadow Blade can enhance this to the point where Slark is untouchable, but once again the downside is that it can be countered. In some games Armlet of Mordiggian is a much better choice.

5) I still feel as if the early point in Essence Shift is a waste. All items mentioned are perfectly valid choices for staying in lane and or early ganking power. As I said in the guide, Shadow Blade is not always the best choice. There are items that work better in certain situations. But the entire concept of the Shadow Blade build is that there is one target, say a farmed Ursa, who needs to be taken down in a less than fair fight. The Soul Booster build is geared towards sustained ability usage and some extra survivability for consistent ganking. I will however, have to add an Armlet of Mordiggian build for it does offer significant advantages in certain match-ups, but I feel that against a team with heavy crowd control building Slark as a glass cannon is sub-optimal. Also I disagree with the Eye of Skaadi on the basis that Pounce already stops them from escaping. Granted it also reduces attack speed, but I feel something like a Heaven's Halberd which stops them attacking period is more appropriate.

1) 1 point in Essence Shift is an extra 19 damage on auto attacks due to the STR loss. at level 6/7 when you should be starting ganking, this is about a 25%-30% increase in your auto attack damage which is significant because of terrible stat gains. not getting 1 point in it before 6 is a disservice IMO.

2) Shadow Blade is unneccesary once you have the personal skill to dip in and out of combat to regen health (which is one of the reasons many/most people go with max pounce first). Its an expensive item that is easy to counter and doesnt even cover up your biggest weakness which is bad stat gains, specifically health. compare it to an armlet, which with 1 level in your ultimate can be left toggled on indefintely as long as you get out of vision when you are getting low. when you get your shadow blade with your suggested build I'd guess you are what? level 10 or 11? maybe 1k Health?

3) I think you would be suprised at just how much more effective the upgrade to ring of Aquila is for the money. its 9 extra damage, 6 AS, 39 mana, and 57 health for less than 500 gold. It's totally worthwhile on a char with such poor stat gains. Also an early OoV does wonders for chasing once yo uhit level 6 and start roaming and I pretty much always get it

4) Slark is a good pickup for early agression, taking out squishies with ease, so I personally prefere to do whatever maximizes his survivability and damage cheaply. Depending on how tough the lane is, It's not super uncommon to come out with a ring of aquila, poor mans shield, OoV, Brown Boots and on my way to power treads. I think this is totally reasonable and not many heroes have the sustained ganking power you do as soon as you have your ultimate. Going to Shadow Blade after treads threatens your advantage because you don't have the slow buildup in effectiveness that going for armlet or something else with a better buildup like Yasha gives you. The longer time you have between items, the smaller your early advantage becomes because Slark is a ganker, not a carry (though he can snowball).

6) As far as personal builds go. I go for a build like W, E, Q, W, W, R, W, Q, Q, Q, R, S, E, E, E, R, STATS. start with stout shield, tango, salve, slippers. get PMS, OoV, Aquila, power treads, armlet, skadi, butterfly/daedalus/MKB depending

(Me after reading the title and and the title only)

+1 for you good sir!

Interesting guide. +1 vote from me.

Check out my slark guide please.