Slark 'the Nightcrawler' 7.06f

Introduction

Welcome to my guide to Slark . Slark is a very mobile, Hard to kill carry. He's one of my favorite hero cause of his Dark Pact which makes him very hard to deal with. It's a great hero to snowball. I'd suggest you to not pick this hero if you are new to DoTA , Slark is not that easy hero to play, you'll need to manage everything correctly from the start(Early game) to shine in Late game or you'll just feed yourself and get 4 Reports from your mates.

Lore

Little known to the inhabitants of the dry world, Dark Reef is a sunken prison where the worst of the sea-breed are sent for crimes against their fellows. It is a razor barbed warren full of murderous slithereen, treacherous Deep Ones, and sociopathic meranths. In this dim labyrinth, patrolled by eels and guarded by enormous anemones, only the vicious survive. Pitched into Dark Reef for crimes unknown, Slark spent half a lifetime without kin or kindness, trusting no one, surviving through a combination of stealth and ruthlessness, keeping his thoughts and his plans to himself. When the infamous Dark Reef Dozen plotted their ill-fated breakout, they kept their plans a perfect secret, murdering anyone who could have put the pieces together--but somehow Slark discovered their scheme and made a place for himself in it. Ten of the Dozen died in the escape attempt, and two were captured, hauled back to Dark Reef, then executed for the entertainment of their fellow inmates. But Slark, the unsung thirteenth, used the commotion as cover and slipped away, never to be caught. Now a furtive resident of the carnivorous mangrove scrub that grips the southern reach of Shadeshore, Slark remains the only successful escapee from Dark Reef.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Hard to Kill
• Strong at every stages of the game (After he gets Ult)
• Pretty durable at Mid-Late game
• Easy to escape
• High damage output and Stats steal

Cons:

• Weak against some nukes
• Mana burners will love you
• Can't do many things without mana
• Low Mana Pool
• Dark Pact timing must be good or it'll just hurt you

Skills

---

Dark Pact is very useful for farming, purging some debuffs. It has a great damage for nuking, and the most important is low cooldown&mana cost. if you use this skill effectively, you'll be hard to kill. (BE CAREFUL , YOU'LL TAKE A HALF DAMAGE FROM THIS SKILL THOUGH)

---

Pounce is your main escape & chase ability, you can jump through a terrain like a cliff, chase down the enemy and detect some illusions too. (REMEMBER SINCE THE LAST PATCH, POUNCE DOESN'T DISJOINT PROJECTILE ANYMORE)

---

One of the best passive ability for AGI carries. With this Ability, you can steal enemies' stats and take it as a damage and armor.

---

This is why slark is really annoying. The regen bonus is just Great, add some pretty good movement speed, Invisible to enemies, detections even true sight, What do you expect? lol

Tips & Tricks

---

Dark Pact Usage

Spoiler: Click to view

Play Video

If you watch the video and look carefuly, you'll see that i managed to tread-switch to INT before i use Dark Pact and changed it to
STR in order to Tank the damage dealt from Dark Pact

How To Chase With Blink Dagger

Spoiler: Click to view

Play Video

Tread-switch to INT Before Dark Pact -> Blink towards the enemy -> Use Pounce -> Tread-switch to STR and hit the enemy. REMEMBER : Try to time Dark Pact Correctly or you'll have your Blink Dagger on Cooldown

Pounce and Darkpact for escape

Spoiler: Click to view

Play Video

This trick is really useful, especially for those who have Projectile-type stun such as Vengeful Spirit , Sven.

Talents

Level 10 Talent : +15 Damage / +10% Lifesteal

---

At the early stage of game, you'll need damage boost, with 10% Lifesteal you still can't withstand the damage taken from Dark Pact, and it won't be really useful since you have Shadow Dance

Level 15 Talent : +15 Agility / +15 Strength

---

It's actually more like situational, when you keep going well then i think +15 Agility is good, since it gives you +15 Damage and +2 Armor, but if you had a bad mid game, lack of HP , nukes everywhere ill suggest you to pick that +15 Strength boost

Level 20 Talent : +10% CD reduction / +25 Attack Speed

---

I suggest you to pick that +25 AS than +10% CD reduction, the cooldown reduction is not worth at all, maybe worth enough for Shadow Dance, but still for another skill i wouldn't recommend it. +25 AS is just good for you , since it's a late game and you need to steal more enemies' stats ftw.

Level 25 Talent : +3 Pounce Leash duration / +12 All stats
It actually depends on your game situation, if you fight against QoP / AM , then don't take +3 Pounce Leash duration since they can just blink away from your leash. But if you fight against someone with no escape ability such as blink, or the enemies don't have BKB(I doubt it, since it's a late game) then you can pick that +3 Pounce leash duration.

Items (Starting Items)

SLIPPERS OF AGILITY

---

You may want to rush Poor Man's Shield since it gives nice damage and armor, and some pretty good Block chance to counter some harasses from your enemies.

IRON BRANCH

---

Branches are excelent stats boost for early game, it's cheap and you can use it as a happy little tree for your tangoes, or you can Upgrade it to Magic Wand if you fight against someone like Bristleback or Zeus

TANGO

---

This little thing will heal you from the harasses, Dark Pact farm, etc.

HEALING SALVE

---

This boi will heal you from critical damage taken.

Items (Early Game)

POOR MAN'S SHIELD

---

Like i said before, it's just good for Harasses , Damage & Armor

HAND OF MIDAS

---

It's good for EXP and GOLD boost for you, the attack speed bonus is nice too, it'll help you so much :)

RING OF AQUILA

---

Why should you buy this item? The mana regen from this item is pretty good since you'll spam your for farming. (Turn Off your Aquila if you don't want to push your lane!)

QUELLING BLADE

---

It'll help you to farm. A lot.

POWER TREADS

---

The best shoes that you can buy , You can tread-switch before Dark Pact. The stats and Attack speed just fit with your hero.

ORB OF VENOM

---

Buy this if you want to chase enemy easily, and later upgrade it to Eye of Skadi

Items (Mid game #1)

SHADOW BLADE

---

Good item for start a gank, not only that, this little boy will help you to escape as well. Attack speed is good, upgradeable to Silver Edge when late game comes.

ECHO SABRE

---

It'll help you to gain more Health, Mana regen, and Attack speed. Movement speed slow when hit is good for chasing.

Items (Mid game #2)

BLINK DAGGER

---

It's still great chasing & escape item eventhough it gives NO stats for you.
(Don't buy this, if you fight someone that has Long DPS like Viper and anybody who has Radiance

ULTIMATE ORB

---

The stats are nice, upgrade this later to Eye of Skadi later

POINT BOOSTER

---

The stats are nice, upgrade this later to Eye of Skadi later

Items (Late game)

ABYSSAL BLADE

---

Buy this thing, if you need more Durability and fight against some Escapers such as Tinker Queen of Pain Anti-Mage

BUTTERFLY

---

It adds more evasion, more armor which means more Durability, more damage, attack speed and some movement speed when activated.

MONKEY KING BAR

---

MKB will be perfect if you have fast attack speed. Buy this if you need RAW damage and more chance to proc a bash.

BLACK KING BAR

---

BKB is a must if you play against Nukers. It'll help you a lot, but if you fight against someone like Doom , you'll need to buy Linken's Sphere

MJOLLNIR

---

Mjollnir is optional if you need some faster attack speed, faster farming potential, BEST ITEM FOR SLARK to counter Illusions like Phantom Lancer

Items (Situational, Luxury)

MOON SHARD

---

It's just great items for you if you have a lot of gold and you don't know what do you want to buy. Just buy Moon Shard to consume it. (Never buy Moon Shard if you won't consume it, it'll just waste your slot and it doesn't give any stats except attack speed.)

REFRESHER ORB

---

You'll only buy this item if the game goes really well for you, and if you need 2 Shadow Dance s .

DIFFUSAL BLADE

---

This is really situational, If you face someone like Wraith King , It's really good combined with your Essence Shift (For Mana burn + Stats Steal). But it's not that really MUST have item since the stats are pretty much Agility which makes your HP pool low.

LINKEN'S SPHERE

---

The stats from Ultimate Orb is great, Mana regen bonus is quite good for farming, Buy this if you struggled with Doom & Duel

Sange and Yasha

---

The Maim and Movement speed from both Sange and Yasha are great, but you won't buy this item if you only want Stats from it (I'd prefer Eye of Skadi than Sange and Yasha), Buy this item if you need more Movement speed and want something different from your build.

Bloodthorn

---

You'll need this if you face someone like Storm Spirit, Mirana,and Another escaper. But, please never rush this item, cause it's really expensive and Not great item for your mobility (Lack of stats given)

Playstyle

EARLY GAME

You may want to play safely until you get your Shadow Dance. Don't forget the Creeps Aggro and Ask your support to Pull the creeps, if you got a bad lane (ex: Fight against Bristleback , Buy Magic Wand and play safely, Try to not die->Go farm to Jungle, Iron Talon will help you a lot.) After you get your Shadow Dance, This is when you can easily farm. Choose your 1st core item( Blink Dagger or Shadow Blade , DEPENDS ON SITUATION ).



MID GAME

In this stage, you may want to Push and FARM or Gank and Farm. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Please ,
After your team Wiped enemy out, Please PUSH and WIN the GAME or Go For ROSHAN. If you have nice early & mid game, it's almost guaranteed that you'll win the game.


LATE GAME

After you passed the mid game, but still not Win, you must get your Late Game Items ASAP. After you got your Late Game item such as Eye of Skadi, Abyssal Blade, you should go for 2nd/3rd Roshan, (Give Cheese to your Tanks pls), and you should go for the last clash of the game.

Good & Bad Against

Slark is Good Against :

• Sniper
  

  ---

  
  You can chase Sniper Easily with your Silver Edge and use Pounce to him.
  Sniper Usually go for Hurricane Pike , He can't escape your Pounce with Hurricane Pike , even if he use it to you, you can still use Shadow Dance to Kill him.
  
  
• Crystal Maiden
  

  ---

  
  Crystal Maiden is really squishy. You can purge almost all of his debuffes with Dark Pact . If she ults, just simply Pop your Black King Bar up.
  
  
• Pudge
  

  ---

  
  Pudge can't easily Meat Hook -> Dismember you. After you get hooked, be sure to Dark Pact right before he Dismember you, and then you have just dispelled the Dismember .
  
  
• Lifestealer
  

  ---

  
  What can Lifestealer do, if you Shadow Dance and hit him? Silver Edge reduces 50% Damage Output and Removes Passive which can help you withstand his Attack easily
  
  
• Bristleback
  

  ---

  
  Silver Edge with your Eye of Skadi will just melt him down. Be sure to hit in front of him if you have Silver Edge on Cooldown.
  
  
• Lycan
  

  ---

  
  Lycan doesn't have any AoE Spells, which means if you Shadow Dance , There's nothing that he can do beside Run or Tank. If he doesn't have BKB yet, Pounce will work like a charm on him.
  
  

Slark is Bad Against :

• Storm Spirit
  

  ---

  
  Storm Spirit is really annoying, he can easily escape from you with Lighting Ball , even if you build Bloodthorn, He usually build Linken's Sphere and Black King Bar .
  
  
• Anti-Mage
  

  ---

  
  Slark is Mana-Dependent carry. Without mana, he can't escape. Anti-Mage has mana burn skill, not only that his BAT(Base Attack Time) is really Low , which means his ATK Speed is really fast. Anti-Mage just need manta to burn all your mana, and Mana Void you to the hell.
  
  
• Necrophos
  

  ---

  
  Necrophos just need to Reaper's Scythe you when you got <50% Health Below,
  You can't Dispell his Reaper's Scythe , Disjoint his Death Pulse.
  
  
• Timbersaw
  

  ---

  
  It'll be hard for you to kill this Carpenter. All of his skills are AoE, which means your Shadow Dance won't be that effective against him.
  
  
• Ancient Apparition
  

  ---

  
  Never pick slark against Ancient Apparition . His Ice Blast will Obliterate you to dust. No regen for you
  
  
• Disruptor
  

  ---

  His Glimpse and Static Storm will trap you like a chicken , with his Aghanim's Scepter, You can't use BKB to get out from the static storm.
  
  
  
• Faceless Void
  

  ---

  
  His Chronosphere wont let you escape. And while inside the Chronosphere , Void just need to pop up Manta Style and hit you with Diffusal Blade, Your mana's gone, you can't escape. and His Time Dilation is really annoying against you, it'll stop your skill's cooldown,and it's hard to use Dark Pact before Time Dilation.
  
  
  
• Bloodseeker
  

  ---

  
  Aw , what does Bloodseeker love? Fish... lol no. Bloodseeker 's Thrist will rekt you hard , since you are visible to enemy team, you basically can't regen with Shadow Dance. Rupture goes through Black King Bar , makes you really hard to escape .
  Even though, there's a way to counter Bloodseeker 's Rupture and Blood Rite . You just need to do Shadow Dance -> TP to fountain.
  Only works , if there's no AoE disables nearby.
  
  
  

Conclusion

Slark is one of the most annoying Agility hero that has
High Damage Output. He's late-game viable carry, due to his high armor (Thanks to Essence Shift Stats steal), Escape ability ( Pounce- Dark Pact), and that enormous HP regen from Shadow Dance.

However, Slark is vulnerable to some Nukes, Mana Burns and Non-Stop Disables like Perma-Bash, Mute-Ability such as Doom and Static Storm (With Aghanim's Sceptre). *Sigh* I think that's all lol, Thanks for reading.