Slark: the hit and run murloc

Thanks! It's still not updated but thanks anyway!

Btw, I published my guide on the workshop, there's not much strategy rather than what items get and why and how to use your skills. You can search for it as "In I crawl"

Your guide didn't update, most likely because you only clicked the save feature instead of the publish feature. A saved guide will only be viewable to you, while a published guide is visible to all users and visitors. Log out and you should see what I mean.

Iceskull, I went ahead and added your eye of skadi build.

Iceskull, I definitely see the use of getting Eye of Skadi, especially as it gives you health while you're building it. If I was getting good farm/kills, I'd consider doing it. But I have many games where I don't get that critical amount of kills early game to gain momentum

I'm here to bring more discussion!
I disagree with all of you! :D

This is my build:

Starting items:
3 Ironwood Branch
1 Stout Shield
1 Tango
1 Salve

Core items:
Power treads
Wand
Orb of Venom

I rush Eye of Skady after core items (usually get EoS from as good as 17min mark to as bad as 27min)
And then if game gets complicated go straight for Black King Bar or if there are lots of carries and DPS go for Butterfly (Against FV, DR, Ursa)
If game is piece of cake I would go for Basher >> Abyssal as (imo) is the best DPS item for slark's Attack speed.

Aaaand I have very good games with this, out of my 20 last games I lost 2.
Here's my Dotabuff profile filtered by slark:

http://dotabuff.com/players/82484744/matches?hero=slark&game_mode=all_pick&match_type=real

I recommend you this two replays:
http://dotabuff.com/matches/124728330
http://dotabuff.com/matches/124841187

I think I'm a decent slark, I usually play him when I really want to win no matter my allies (usually when I'm playing by my own)

Cheers!

Meh, Daedulus not so much. He's more of a mid-game carry, so building up hard carry items isn't really needed. A great item for him is Vlads, you can stack it with another orb such as Deso / Diffusal and it synergizes with essence shift, where most your damage comes from. Its also a good pick up because you're the semi-carry, and the hard carry will be farming for higher tier items.

I sent you a message for the match ID.

I see Orchid Malevolence as an offensive weapon with mana regen, while Black King Bar is a survival weapon. Basically, you'll start killing lots of people when you get Orchid Malevolence. They'll start to focus you, so getting Black King Bar then helps you survive and get away. Not to mention that by the time you can afford both these items, the enemy AOE will be pretty strong. More than once, I've lept into a fight after my team initiated and two AOE ults annihilates me.

And yes, I'd love to see your match ids. As I said in the credentials section, I'm storing information I learn about slark here, so it changes a lot. I've recently discovered that the Shadow Blade works great, until they get a gem. At that point, I want to get tanky so I'm going to start going Shadow Blade then Black King Bar. All item choices after that are still up in the air for me.

I like the idea of Diffusal Blade and Daedalus

Yea, my builds got messed up a bit as I tried to tweak them. I'll fix them soon

Essentially these are all great alternatives to Slark builds, with the exception of the MoM + Basher. Each of them isn't exactly my ideal end-game but they have that general feel, and I can see you know how valuable BKB is for Slark.

As for the first build, I don't see the need for both a Medallion and an Orchid. Most often in high skill play, the Orchid is generally rushed, like how a Clinkz is played. Each are great item selections for Slark, I just find its a one or the other kind of deal. Recommending Necro for him is also a great idea, but with the build you're going for an SnY is not ideal, its more of a rushed item because of all its small components.

As I said, I never suggest a MoM on a Slark, and most especially without a BKB. But your shadow blade build is a more reasonable suggestion then most other's shadow blade builds and could be quite the use, but Bloodstone wouldn't be a worthwhile item on him unless it was rushed from a perseverance. A more suitable defensive item would be an Assault Cuirass. Also was wondering what the Chainmail was for...?

The skill build could use some work, Dotabuff.com can provide you with statistics of win% and usage of each skill build to give you an idea of what's effective. You should also look into the foes section more. Right off the bat, I can tell you that Clockwerk is nothing for Slark as you can just leap out of the cogs with no problem, you might get zapped once away from the box once you land out, but that shouldn't be much of a problem. I'd suggest heroes like Bloodseeker and Nightstalker to be a threat.

I'd definitely look into Assault Cuirass, and orbs such as Diffusal Blade. If you'd like to see how effective The Cuirass is I could private message you an example match ID.

When ever I have my cary player play slark (in all pick, curse you valve!!!) I normaly have him get a basher. It gives good stats and good chasing power.

A good guild none the less, +1

I like the Medallion of Courage suggestion. +1

Edit: Why do you recommend both Orchid Malevolence and Black King Bar? They seems like they would fit the same 'space'