Some Idiot's Guide to Silencer

Introduction

Hello one and everyone! Safecyn here, bringing you a guide to...

Where the hell have you been???

Uh... what?

You haven't written anything in MONTHS! You have a part 1 in your blog with no part two! What have you been DOING with your life, man!??

You missed me. <3

NO! I... well, I don't think I exist without you, so it's impossible for me to miss you...

Ah... right then. But yeah, I mean... I like, have a job and a girlfriend and, believe it or not, I actually like to PLAY Dota in my spare time? Plus I have hobbies.

Dota... is not a hobby?

Dota is an ART you monster. How dare you?

... This was a guide?

Oh, right! Silencer! This guys a... eh...

What?

I mean, I'd say he's a blast, and in the right hands he certainly can be, but.. he's not flashy, his lines aren't really all that funny, and the amount of times he says the word 'silence' can get annoying at times? That being said, it IS really badass when he goes shhhh after killing someone, all Saving Private Ryan style.

Which is a very morbid scene of that movie to bring up, I realize, but that kinda fits the guy. Dark, serious, clad in dark royal purple, obsessed with people being quiet... yeah. Kind of a buzzkill. But that's what makes him such a good hero, so I suppose I'll let it slide.

As if you had any sway over the game.

Shush.

And do remember, this guide is just suggestions based on my own experiences and understanding of the game, and shouldn't be followed to the letter. Being able to adapt to your specific game is what separates the pros from us rank amateurs. Feedback is appreciated, as long as it's constructive!

Pros / Cons

Pros Above average strength gain for an INT hero Best AGI gain for an INT hero by FAR Flexible laner Exceedingly powerful ultimate in Global Silence One of the few heroes that can scale infinitely (technically) High starting intelligence Good harassing in lane Ultimate pierces Spell Immunity Ultimate one of the few spells that changes the game's aesthetic for its duration Can be pretty badass

Cons On the low side when it comes to INT gain Noticeable damage spread makes last hitting more difficult Harass falls off against heroes with easily spammed spells Useless if silenced (the irony!) Global Silence can be purged Slow and lacks an escape mechanism Still rather squishy despite decent strength gain Damage falls off dramatically against Spell Immune targets No fun at parties

Safecyn Reflects

Oh? A guest? Please, have a seat.

Oh what's that? There aren't any seats other than this deliciously comfortable construct of fine Corinthian leather, soft, supple goose down, and fine whalebone stitchwork? I suppose you'll have to stand then. I sure as hell won't.

Ah... I see you've come to discuss the Silencer. An interesting man. A troubled man. A man who, like many of the wandering souls that inhabit our dear planet Earth, has no designated purpose or one true place.

What's that supposed to mean?

Silencer. The man, the legend. He can lane anywhere, which is to say he isn't particularly GOOD at any lane. He can harass in mid-lane, but lacks a rune control mechanism, can harass in offlane but lacks an escape mechanism and will easily be killed by a competent trilane. He can support in the safe lane, but his lack of hard disables means others do this job better. He can farm in safe lane, but... but...

Yes?

But he really, really isn't a hard carry. Despite his ability to scale indefinitely, this scaling is based on being around during the death of other heroes, meaning that he wants to get involved in ganks and teamfights often and early. Alas, because of his lack of hard disables, he makes a sub-par ganker and teamfighter!

So... what... don't pick him until he gets buffed more?

Heavens, no! He's a very strong hero, if only for his ultimate ability. I only mean to say his farming position and lane is... difficult to determine. A mid Silencer who gets off to a good start can snowball out of control and become a fearsome front line fighter, but against a competent opponent with... almost any other mid lane hero, he won't be able to get off to that good start in the first place. Though the recent advent of additional runes HAS made this a slightly easier task.

His role, then, in my most humble of opinions, is as a situational pick-up against strong initiators. A counter-initiator, if you will. With a quick enough finger and a single press of the R key, Tidehunter, Sand King, Puck and even my beloved Brewmaster will find themselves in a sorry state when they attempt to start a teamfight. Of course, he's also quite strong against heroes who require mobility to stay alive like Anti-Mage and Queen of Pain, and against heroes who are dead if caught out of invisibility, like Bounty Hunter and Riki. All this strength, and it comes without any need for items! A powerful hero indeed.

As such, my advice to you burgeoning young Silencer players is this: be what your team needs. If you are truly the only mid-laner, go mid, and if you are truly the only hero on your team with carry potential, farm the safe lane. But do not insist on these roles, for they are not your true purpose. Be the ward slave. Hug your tower in the solo off lane. Fill the gap that your team has and let them get the most out of their lanes. And when teamfights come, for they will come, be ready to TP in and let loose that glorious, glorious quiet upon thy enemies.

Can we... can we get to the skills section now? This is weird.

Philistine.

Archived for Posterity: Curse of the Silent (pre 6.86 Q ability)

Curse of the Silent

Curse of the Silent

Curses the target area, causing enemy heroes to take damage and lose mana until they cast a spell.

Damage: 20/35/50/65
Mana Loss: 8/16/24/32
Duration: 6
Radius: 350
Range: 800

Nortrom's lack of incantations is less of a problem for him than it is for his adversaries.

Cooldown: 20/16/12/8 Mana: 75/95/115/135

Notes:

First and foremost, because I'm well aware how much math is expected of me (despite being just Some Idiot), the totals for if this spell lasts its full duration are 120/210/300/390 damage and 48/96/144/192 mana removal. This, as anybody who's played a low mana pool carry against an offlane, harassing Silencer knows, is a tremendous pain to deal with.

Any personal tales of woe you'd like to share, oh incompetent one?

Enh.. yeah, sure. Here ya go. I was playing the Chaos Knight against Dr. Oh No here, and was getting the absolute **** kicked out of me. No kills, but I had to retreat back to fountain twice, and really got off to a crummy start despite having safe lane. Well played, Dr. Oh No. You have my respect, and I may have given a very loud shout of victory when I finally got a kill on you later in the game.

7-7-7 as Chaos Knight. Cool.

I know right??? The only way that'd be better is if I was Ogre Magi. But anyways, that's really where the strength of this ability lies, the sheer amount of harass it puts out. As a Chaos Knight, Tiny, Wraith King, Shadow Shaman ... you have to make a choice as to whether you want to cast one of your spells at an inopportune moment, or take some serious damage and burn through your regeneration items quickly.

Not to mention the punishment you can dish out to heroes who primarily use orb effect spells, cause those don't count. Drow Ranger, and Huskar won't be able to shrug off the harass until they get points in their other abilites, and while Viper literally CAN'T shrug off the harass until he gets his ultimate at level 6, if he's smart and maxes Corrosive Skin against you, you will die.

That'a bit of an over-exaggeration, don't you think?

No way, man. Even with the recent nerf to the ability you take damage if you're inside a ridiculous 1400 range, and the maximum cast range of this ability, if you catch someone right at the edge, is 1150. While you will technically win the trade-off in damage, you're essentially putting a nine second move and attack speed slow on yourself. As a squishy hero. Against a Viper. Who doesn't need the mana, really, and will just take the opportunity to move forward and kill you.

So just... just don't.

One final note before I move on: as of patch 6.82, this spell is now purge-able. Fun fact! Diffusal Blade makes the man cry silent tears even more now.

Skills

Intelligence Steal

Silencer's innate, passive ability. Permanently steals 2 Intelligence from enemy heroes that die near him.

Ignore the mouse-over text, we'll get to Glaives in a bit.

Intelligence Steal Distance: 900

Notes:

This skill right here is in a category completely on its own. It is Dota 2's one and only innate passive ability, a skill that is fundamentally tied to its hero in such a tight and synonymous fashion that not even the chaotic maelstrom of ability draft can tear it away.

So... a League of Legends passive?

SHUSH! I won't allow any hatespeak in this guide, you flame war starting troglodyte.

Anyways, this is a pretty big freaking deal, as it's the entire reason Silencer has the ability to scale to infinity and beyond. It's ALSO easy to overlook if you're just starting the game and weren't around when this was a part of Glaives of Wisdom, so I'll give you a few seconds to read over the description a few times, let each and every bit of it sink in.

After doing this, I hope you've taken note of the two most important words: 'permanent' and 'steal'. This means that, if Silencer is around during somebody's death, not only does he gain 2 damage, 26 mana, and .08 mana regen per second for the rest of the game, but the poor shmuck who died also LOSES that. This is kinda huge.

Oh nooo. Not 26 mana. Whatever will I dooo?

Ok tough guy. Let's say you're playing Lone Druid, yes? Our pal Sylla has a starting mana pool of 169, and intelligence growth of 1.4. With me so far?

Yes...

The number of times a Silencer need kill a Lone Druid without stat items (let's say he goes Midas to Radiance: not an unlikely build) before the man becomes unable to Summon Spirit Bear is given by the equation:

4 + 1.428 * (level of Lone Druid)

Or, to put in human-readable mode, four times, then four more times for about every five levels Lone Druid gets.

What the...

Yes. Do you see? Alone, it may seem meaningless, but when factored in over and over again across the course of an entire game, the attrition is STRONG. Think of all the heroes out there that rely on spells to teamfight and have small mana pools. Juggernaut, Brewmaster, Tidehunter... this ability can make Silencer an absolute NIGHTMARE to play for these heroes. Another notable example is Faceless Void, everyone's favorite hate magnet: kill him four times before level 6 and he won't be able to Time Walk and Chronosphere without additional mana items or regen. Forever. Well, for the rest of the match anyways.

I do love seeing a Void get screwed over.

You would. Anyways, some final notes:

- Stolen intelligence is added to Silencer's BASE intelligence, meaning... illusions technically benefit from it? I don't think you'd want to get Manta Style on him though.

- If Silencer gets the last hit, he steals intelligence regardless of whether he's in the 900 AOE. Particularly useful when Aghanim's Scepter is in play.

- Intelligence isn't stolen while Silencer is dead... unless he has a Bloodstone, and it occurs while that mark is in play. But I'm not sure why you'd have one of those.

- Silencer will not gain intelligence from this ability if the hero he kills has 1 or less intelligence. But... if you've completely drained someone's intelligence, you're probably winning anyways. Don't worry about it.


Curses the target area, causing enemy heroes to take damage. Anytime affected enemies cast a spell, the duration is increased.

Cast Range: 1000
Radius: 425
Damage per Second: 14/21/28/35
Base Duration: 7
Penalty Duration: 4
Cooldown 18/16/14/12 Mana 75/95/115/135

Notes to come: can't Dotes and Joke at the same time. Bad for my health.

Nortrom's lack of incantations is less of a problem for him than it is for his adversaries.

Silencer enchants his glaives with his wisdom, dealing additional pure damage based on his Intelligence.

Percent Intelligence to Damage: 30%/50%/70%/90%

Although lacking in traditional incantations, Nortrom's pedigree of the Aeol Drias gives him uncanny wisdom, which he applies to physical combat.

Mana 15

Notes:

This right here, coupled with Intelligence Steal, is the reason Silencer scales without limit. 90% of your intelligence! As PURE damage! That's insa... well, it's insane depending on how much intelligence you have. 90% of something small is something small.

So? You're the numbers guy, is it insane or not?

Good question, szechuan.

I am not takeout food, thank you.

Shush. Silencer starts with 27 int and gains 2.5 per level which, as Dotafire so kindly calculates for me, leaves him with 89.5 intelligence at level 25. Less than his end agility, I'll point out. 89.5 * .9 = 80.55, leaving him with 169.55 damage while using Glaives (219.55 after factoring in his base damage), even if he's completely item-less. Which he won't be by level 25. Probably? Stranger things have happened, I guess.

Taking a value point in this skill at level 2 allows you to harass without drawing creep or tower aggro in the laning phase, making you even more annoying to deal with. It also helps you last hit better, allowing you to further dominate your lane, particularly if you're going mid.

Seems legit. Any nitpicky, mechanical things to keep in mind?

Oh you betcha. For starters, Glaives of Wisdom still counts as a Unique Attack Modifier (despite how many are being removed from the game in recent patches). This means no lifesteal, no Orb of Venom, no Eye of Skadi. Honestly, if Icefrog really DOES want to make Silencer a true carry, changing this would go a long way.

Skadi Silencer does sound disgusting.

Doesn't it? Anyways, the other big thing to keep in mind about this skill is that while the additional damage is pure, so you cut right through armor and magic resistance, it IS nullified by Spell Immunity. Which is huge! And one of the reasons Silencer hates Black King Bar, as it makes a hit of his that should've done 219 damage do a measly 139! Do you know how big a difference that is???!?

Uh... 90%?

Of... your INTELLIGENCE, yeah. Actually, that's kinda obvious, it is right in the spell description. But yeah, magic immunity cuts your outgoing damage by a great deal, which means that the recent nerf to Black King Bar actually works as an indirect buff to Silencer? Just barely, but it is nice knowing that if the game goes late, there's only a 5 second window where you hit like a wet tissue.

Unless there's an Omniknight of course...

Does this look like the Allies and Enemies section? DOES IT???

Last Word

Enchants a target, causing them to be damaged, silenced, and their movement speed slowed if they cast a spell or if the enchantment timer expires.

Debuff Duration: 4
Damage: 150/200/250/300
Movement Speed Slow: 14%/16%/18%/20%
Silence/Disarm Duration: 3/4/5/6
Range: 900

Nortrom ensures that spells uttered by his opponents will be their last.

Cooldown: 30/24/18/12 Mana: 115

Notes:

Pro tip. Don't use this skill the way Safecyn uses it. The man compulsively decides to use this skill AFTER he's cast Curse of the Silent rather than before. It's amazingly stupid. I have no idea how he continues to do it.

Shush... though you do have a point. This is your nuke so to speak, and ideally you want to cast it, wait for the enemy to either a) cast a spell to pop the debuff early or b) wait for the debuff to pop on its own, and THEN cast Curse of the Silent, assuring that the silence from this ability will guarantee even MORE harass from an already annoying spell.

The truly amazing thing about this spell isn't actually the silence, though, it's the disarm that comes if the initial debuff lasts the full duration (which, by the way, you can guarantee once your ultimate is level 2... assuming the enemy doesn't have BKB, of course.) This is an incredibly powerful anti-carry tool at all stages of the game, and puts Silencer in an elite club of heroes that naturally have some form of disarm.

UPDATE, 6.84: My, my how things have changed, dear Nortrom. You're finally starting to find your place in the world. Good for you.

About time you updated this guide. This thing hasn't been touched since 6.82.

Shush. Anyways, 6.84 is here and it's changed this ability for, in my opinion, the better. A slow synergizes more with Silencer wants to do: get out there, grab some kills, and build his intelligence so he can man-mode carries. There's three important things to note that have changed about this skill:

1) As mentioned, it's a slow, not a disarm. Silencer no longer beloves to the exclusive club he once did, and you might view this as a nerf. And maybe it is! Only time will tell. One thing that has been buffed though, is that:

2) The slow pops NO MATTER WHAT. Previously, the disarm only triggered if the unit failed to cast a spell during the 5 second initial debuff. Now if they case a spell, all they do is trigger the slow early! And the slow will trigger earlier than you expect either way because:

3) The window of opportunity the enemy has to cast a spell has been reduced to 4 seconds. Make no mistake, with the way this ability works now this is a BUFF, not a nerf. The enemy has only 4 seconds to run before they're slowed.

The scaling of this ability isn't terribly great, 50 damage each level as opposed to Curses's 90, and the slow only increases by a measly 2% each time. This is why I recommend maxing this second. There are, however, situations where you might want to max it first. If you've got a nice ganking partner who can help you get a lot of kills to buff your INT, maxing this first might give you the extra time you need to secure those kills, especially since 6.84 nerfed this guy's movement speed.

Nice. That actually sounded kind of insightful, you might be improving.

Oh hush you. You just want me to buy you drinks after this.

Guilty.

A few other notes about the skill:

- During the 4 second initial debuff, you'll have vision over your target. Helpful for picking out Assassinate targets!

- Cancelling a channeling spell will cause the debuff to pop. Fun fact! I guess that's good to know if you're a right-clicker with a channeling ability? I dunno, just... throwing it out there, man...

- The initial debuff can't be purged, but the silence/disarm that follows can be. So don't waste a Diffusal Blade charge on this spell until after you stop glowing.

Global Silence

Silencer stops all sound, preventing enemy heroes and units on the map from casting spells.

Duration: 4/5/6

With a shock to the ground, all magic and sound pauses, and Nortrom fulfills his prophecy.

Cooldown: 130 Mana: 250/375/500

Aghanim's Scepter: Applies current level of Curse of the Silent to all units.

Notes:

This is probably one of the most powerful ultimates in the game, if not THE most powerful. A single button press and you stop all spells. So simple, yet so damaging to so many heroes.

It's so awesome, in fact, that it has to have a laundry list of drawbacks in order to not be OP as all hell. Two minute long cooldown. Insane mana cost (though Silencer can typically afford it, especially with a few stacks of Intelligence Steal). The biggest one, though, is that it's freaking purge-able.

I thought it pierced Spell Immunity?

Oh, it does, which makes it great for countering someone who's already activated a BKB. But using the Black King Bar AFTER the ult has already been cast will remove it. Or using a Diffusal Blade. Or using a Eul's Scepter of Divinity.

Yeesh.

Yeah, being Silencer against people who know more of the ins and outs of the game can really suck. It really is such a good skill though. One button press and you cancel a Black Hole or a Death Ward, prevent a Ravage or a Primal Split... it's such a powerful tool to have at your disposal, and the fact that it's global means Silencer can affect teamfights even from the fountain.

Just the threat of Global Silence can really put a team at a disadvantage, and force them to play in less than ideal circumstances. If you want to see this in motion, and a well-played Silencer game in general, you should check out the recent Empire vs. Team Tinker game from Starladder. It really showcases how much impact the hero can have, even with a rough start.

What about the Aghs? Where do you come down on that?

I'm glad you asked! It gives me a perfect segue into...





I hate you.

I am too high on glorious mathematics to care, good sir.

Nortrom's Aghanim's Scepter upgrade was pretty unique when it was first added to the game. If my memory serves correctly, it was the first upgrade to take into account more than just the hero's ultimate, and it significantly expanded the ways Silencer could be used.

It's not a bad upgrade, to be honest. If you have an Aghs, at level 3 you're guaranteed to deal 390 damage and remove 192 mana from all five members of the enemy team, and that's only with the ultimate alone! Add in the fact that this damage and mana drain is fully stackable with a cast of Curse of the Silent and you can double those numbers. Provided, of course, that they just don't purge everything off them. Which is a thing they can do.

Where things get really cray-cray is if you grab a Refresher Orb AND the enemy doesn't have a way of removing the debuff. If you chain things exactly right, (you can't just stack two silences or two curses on top of each other) you'll get a grand total of...

[(65*6)+(65*6)]*2 = 1560 magical damage

After magic resistance, this turns into something like 1170, but still! That's to an entire enemy team too... a-assuming that they all stay in the same spot for 12 seconds.

The more realistic number is how much damage you deal with Refresher/Aghs Silencer without the additional Curse of the Silent cast. This comes out to:

(65*6)*2 = 780 magical damage (585 after 25% resist)

Which is still ok. The 12 seconds of silence is the important part, but it's not bad.

There is one last saving grace for the item, though, and that's one of those tiny little, seemingly insignificant notes way up at the top of this section, under Intelligence Steal. See how it says "If Silencer gets the last hit, he steals intelligence regardless of whether he's in the 900 AOE"? An Aghanim's Scepter lets the man get a last hit from ANYWHERE.

With good team work and a little luck, this skill could net you 10 intelligence, translating to 10 damage, 130 mana, and .4 mana regeneration! That's 2/3rds of a Ring of Basilius!

So if it's so good, why isn't it core?

Well, y'know. Silencer has a rough go of it when it comes to farming. If your team composition does involve Silencer transitioning into a core, though, this is probably your next stop after Force Staff, unless the double silence that Refresher Orb offers is needed.

This is starting to sound suspiciously like an items section.

Yeah. Should probably move there next. Good call.

Items

Starting Items (Safe/Offlane)

OR

Starting items are always a bit self-explanatory, I feel, but there is the potential someone is trying to learn the absolute basics of the game from this guide, so let me elaborate.

The Tango, the Healing Salve, and the Clarity constitute your basic regeneration, allowing you to shrug off harass and stay in lane longer. Remember to use Tangos to keep topped off from harass, and Salve to regen a lot of health quickly!

Don't patronize me.

Think of the n00bs, man. Some people need to hear this. Anyways, I've gone for a Mantle of Intelligence over three Iron Branches because it will make the build-up into Null Talisman later on easier. It also increases your damage and your mana pool, so you can harass harder.

Lastly, a support item. I'm not going to endorse a hard carry silencer build in this guide (though it IS possible, especially if your team plans around it) so if you're following my advice, get either Courier or Wards. Ideally, you'll want to get the wards if you're offlane, but realistically just get the one that the other support didn't get. And if you're the only support (or the only GOOD support, I should say), suck it up, skip your Mantle, and get both. Your team... probably won't thank you, at that sort of MMR bracket, but at least you'll feel warm inside.

Starting Items (Midlane)

INTO

Do you ever NOT suggest "fast bottle" for mid?

I haven't really done a guide on a hero that doesn't benefit from Bottle regen, so no. No I don't.

I remember the good old days, man, when Bottle only cost 600 gold, when an empty bottle didn't slow down the courier at all... when you could buy a flying courier right after first blood instead of having to wait three minutes...

Good times?

Enh. Not for Silencer, to be honest. Back before 6.82, when there was only one rune and it spawned at a random rune spot, mid lane was even harder for the guy. Sure he could harass, but other mids could almost always beat him to the rune... probably even kill him for even trying to contest it.

But things are more fair now, and mid Silencer is stronger than it once was. He still isn't great at it, but the guaranteed rune spawns DO mean he can more reliably cast his spells to force someone out, and his built in orb attack means he can freely harass! Your team will also benefit from the fast level 6, so be sure to coordinate with your team and use Global Silence to secure some kills while your opponents are still without their ultimates.

Core Items

and either or

That's it?

Silencer doesn't need much as a hero, really. To be perfectly honest, even the Null Talisman isn't absolutely required. It does however, provide a nice chunk of intelligence, some health, some agility, and some damage, so all in all it's a nice pickup, and if you get enough gold and the game calls for it, you could build it into one of the many possible luxury items suggested.

One of the man's big needs, though, is an escape mechanism, and that's exactly what Force Staff brings to the table. If you get jumped on before you can get your ultimate off, your team could be royally screwed, so being able to escape a gank is crucial. The intelligence it gives also synergizes with your Glaives of Wisdom, as well as padding your mana pool nicely.

Which brings us to boots. Personally, I recommend Power Treads in most scenarios. You can tread switch to INT to increase your damage output and reserve more mana when casting spells, but primarily you want to keep them on strength to make you less squishy. If you get enough stacks of Intelligence steal off and can transition into a right clicker later on in the game, the additional attack speed will make you that much more effective!

Arcane Boots, however, do win games, especially if gotten early on. An extra Storm Hammer here, an extra Thunder Clap there... a support with Arcanes is oten just enough of an edge to help a team snowball out of control. While they're not necessarily the boots of choice for Silencer, picking them up if no one else on your team will is something to consider, and the extra mana doesn't go to waste on the guy. It does, however, fail to give Silencer any intelligence, which is what he really wants, so don't jump into them without a good reason.

From here on out, we're talking luxury, baby. As a hard support Silencer, you probably won't ever touch one of these... might not even get Force Staff depending on your game...

That's totally happened to you.

I... kinda had to Bracer stack to avoid getting popped, yeah. Won the game though! If you're actually doing well, though, and can afford to grab something else, here's some options:

Luxury Items

Mekansm is a great item for a support to grab, as the burst heal and armor benefits your whole team, and the additional stats and armor from it make Silencer that much harder to kill, and more likely to be able to unleash his ultimate on his foes. Nowadays, it's more common for a semi-carry like Viper or Razor to grab this item for the team, but with the recent increased mana cost, this trend may change.

Orchid Malevolence may seem redundant, but it really, really isn't: there's never such a thing as silencing an enemy TOO MUCH... well, now that they changed Blood Rage anyways. XD.

The attack speed and intelligence this item gives both help Silencer transition into a core role, and the active ability synergizes perfectly with his kit: a 5 second silence forces an opponent to not cast for the entire duration of Last Word's debuff, guaranteeing a disarm! And don't forget the magic amplification, which will make Curse of the Silent tick for more damage.

Scythe of Vyse is just a powerful item in general, especially in the hands of someone who turns all that +35 intelligence into nearly 65 additional damage. The other stats also help him right click better, and the mana regen lets him spam his spells... but it's the hex that's really the strong point. Disables are pretty strong, y'know? Even if it doesn't break passives anymore. :C If you can afford it, get it, it's great against basically everyone.

Shiva's Guard is one of my personal favorite items in the game, and for good reason: it's just so dang powerful! +30 intelligence and a boatload of armor, plus an aura that reduces attack speed AND an active that slows and deals damage? As a hero who is both squishy and has difficulty catching up to people, this item addresses a lot of Silencer's needs, at a decently cheap price too... though saving up to get that Mystic Staff is always a pain.

Aghanim's Scepter. I talked about it a lot already! Not sure what else there is to say, really. The stats are nice, and the upgrade to your ultimate adds a lot of damage to the table, plus the potential to steal massive amounts of intelligence from your foes. That being said, while I've spoken very highly of it, always make sure your team doesn't need another item more before rushing this. If you're balling out of control, though, by all means.

Eye of Skadi is mega luxury, and is really just to rub in how well you're doing to the other team. That being said, the stats tank you up and make you hit like a truck, and while the slow won't stack with Glaives of Wisdom, you can always alternate between regular attacks and glaives, or leave glaives off if the slow is more important for your team.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity is handy against heroes that can silence you before you silence them. Skywrath Mage, Death Prophet, and Drow Ranger all come to mind as heroes who can silence you, kill you quickly, and then proceed to destroy the other team because your game-changing ultimate is now offline. (For those of you who are new, I'm referring to how you can use the cyclone ability of Eul's on yourself to purge debuffs off of you, like silences and slows.)

The movement speed, intelligence, and mana regen it gives all help Silencer out too, making it a decent choice all around, to be honest. Plus you can always use that handy cyclone to disable an enemy in a team fight... just make sure you don't do it on them and remove your silence, ok? That's Fails of the Week material right there, especially if they then turn around and Black Hole your entire team.

I remember that game! That was priceless.

Sh-shush...

Refresher Orb is awesome. It just is! Mana regeneration, health regeneration, damage, and the ability to double the length of your "press R to win" spell. It's very expensive though, particularly the recipe, so if your team isn't helping you get farm, you might not ever grab it. It can work wonders though... well, you can watch the Starladder game I linked above to see for yourself.

Rod of Atos is so often overlooked, and for no real good reason! It's a very large chunk of intelligence for a moderate amount of gold, perhaps the best gold/int ratio in the game when it comes to bigger ticket items. It also gives a tissue-paper guy like Silencer some much needed health, and gives him that godly Cripple to slow people from afar so he can kill them softly. Quietly. So no one can hear them scream.

Veil of Discord is a great item to get if your team has a lot of AOE magic effects: 25% magic amp! It's good! It not only increases the damage output of your Curse of the Silent and Aghs'd up Global Silence, but also of potential teammates like Sand King and Venomancer. The additional armor and health regen also help you die less, which is great, and it even builds from Null Talisman now, making your early game items do extra work! And speaking of items that build from Null Talisman...

Dagon. Dagon!!! Who doesn't love Dagon?

H.P. Lovecraft, for one.

Snaaaaaap! Cthulhu mythos burn! Now I'm not saying Dagon is particularly good on Silencer. The amount of intelligence it gives compared to the amount of gold you spend is really quite pitiful, and the burst damage nuke will really fall off if the game goes long enough.

But boy is it fun. And in the end, Dota is a game right?

Right!

WRONG DOTA IS AN ART HOW ARE YOU NOT PAYING ATTENTION UGH I JUST SAID THAT.

Yeesh...

Lastly, we have Hand of Midas, which is for players who know they're playing core Silencer and get off to a great start. The extra levels and gold accelerate your farm and raise your INT, allowing you to get kills easier and get that snowball a rolling.

That being said, you really should almost never get this item on Silencer? Unless you know you can get the most out of it. And you get it early enough. But I don't want anybody losing a game because they got Midas on Silencer at twenty minutes and then blaming Safecyn cause he suggesting it in his guide, ok? Ok. Good. We're done here.

Allies and Enemies

So... many... luxury items... my hands.. I can't feel my hands...

Just be glad you're not doing a Nature's Prophet or Lone Druid guide.

True that. Though Lone Druid... I mean, you just get 12 Hands of Midas, right?

... sure.

Allies

Outworld Devourer

The synergy... so beautiful... pair the guy who does more damage based on how much higher his intelligence is than his enemies' with the guy who steals intelligence permanently from his enemies. It's wonderful. It's glorious. It also might not work as well as you might think if Silencer doesn't get involved in a lot of early kills, but still! The potential alone makes it a combo worth considering.




The big teamfight heroes that Silencer works so well against also make powerful allies: the only thing worse then your entire team getting hit by Ravage is your entire team getting hit by Ravage and then being unable to cast spells for 6 seconds. Allies that rely on channeling to do their damage like Enigma, Witch Doctor and Sand King will love not having to worry about getting stunned out of their ultimate, and squishies like Puck and Venomancer will stand a better chance of living through their initiations with the opposition's spells offline.




Everyone loves Crystal Maiden. Period. She's just the absolute best, especially when paired with heroes that have higher costing spells that they want to spam more often. Like Silencer!! It's a beautiful thing.

Oh and... KotL provides mana sustain too so... I guess he's ok as well. But Crystal Maiden though! So good.

Enemies

As mentioned earlier, any hero that can silence you and make you useless is something to be feared, as the only thing worse than death is death by poetic justice. Have your Force Staff and your Eul's Scepter of Divinity ready if going against these guys... your KDA will thank you.




While you're quite effective against heroes that rely on spells to do a lot of burst damage, if they get the jump on you, you can kiss your squishy butt goodbye. Lion in particular has that OP as all heck Hex that will instantly mute everything you can do and makes you a sitting duck. Well... a sitting frog. You get the idea.



Did you see how much mana your spells cost? 135, 115, and 500 respectively? Nether Ward turns that into 236, 201, and 875 damage to you, drains your mana when you get close to it, and doesn't give a single hoot about silences if it's already on the field. It stings. Especially since it deals the damage BEFORE the spell is cast, so if that 875 damage is enough to kill you... no teamfight ultimate for you, which is bad for absolutely everyone.



As has been mentioned a LOT in this guide, purges and magic immunity remove everything that Silencer can dish out. EVERYTHING. Granted, Omniknight can't actually cast Repel is he's silenced beforehand, but in the laning phase he can use the spell to negate all your harass from Curse of the Silent, as can Lifestealer with his Rage. In fact, Lifestealer might even then turn around, slow you with Open Wounds, and tear you a new one. So there's that!

Conclusion

Well, I did it, guys. I wrote another guide! Aren't you all excited?

... no?

Shush. You missed my rambling, my random mathematical overloads, and my immaculate grammar and you know it.

You realize now everyone's going to troll back through and pick out every single mistake you made spelling and grammar-wise, right?

Guaranteed comments, man. Gotta generate buzz somehow.

Disgusting.

On a serious note, thanks all of you for reading this guide. I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticism, so feel free to call me out on what I messed up! I won't... beg for your silence, I swear.

Even MORE disgusting. Somehow. It's almost impressive.

Safecyn, signing out.