does anyone know's how to put pictures? and also please comment on the guide if you find it helpful. thanks a lot!
Upload a photo on a site then copy here the photo URL Given like this:
[im.g]IMG URL[/im.g]
Without the periods:) i personaly use TinyPic.com
ahh thanks! can you just post a pre uploaded image? i'm sure there will be a lot of item pictures that i might not need to upload any?
SB is one of the best items on slark for sure, whats not to like about it? You go invis, break invis by doing additional dmg + 2-3 hits, then leap and q, few more rightclicks and oponent is dead. If needed then you activate ulti, but lots of times its not even needed. SB gives you great initiation ability, dmg + aspd, so its by any means a good item on slark. I go Skadi sometimes after that, but i dont really like that item that much. Way too expensive for what it does. You can get Yasha + skull basher for this money and have a lot more killing potential + move speed.
@sano read sugar puppy's description.
@sugar puppy yes sb is really effective on slark. i usually go for orchid as you get aspd, dmg, high mana regen, and silences for sneaky bastards. yasha and basher is good as well!
thanks for reading:)
I didn't say it's bad I said it's not core.
http://dotabuff.com/players/49382246/matches?hero=slark&game_mode=&match_type=real
I do it sometimes but not always:
http://dotabuff.com/players/86735371/matches?hero=slark&game_mode=&match_type=real
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[color="orange"][size="23"]How to play Slark the slippery axolotl by Vlkyr[/size][/color]
[color="orange"][size="18"]Introduction[/size][/color]
Slark is a melee agility hero that utilizes hit and run strategy to kill his enemy(ies) before they have enough time to react. As the fight goes on, slark gains more stats by stealing his enemies' and without any action towards him, enemies can only hope to win a manfight against him. Even if Slark is in disadvantage, his set of skills, utilized to both aggressive and defensive means will leave him standing on the end of the clash. His high regeneration reminds me of the axolotl who can regrow broken limbs, Slark is exactly like that. Going from 5 hp to full in less than a quarter of a minute.
[color="orange"][size="18"]Pros and Cons[/size][/color]
[color="green"][size="18"]Pros[/size][/color]
Extremely mobile
Great health regen and ms out of vision after level 6
Best escape mechanism in game (debuff, terrain jump, unreveallable invisibility, you name it)
Great ganking capability
Awesome agi gain from essence shift
One of the best level 1 disable
One of the best snowballer
[color="red"][size="18"]Cons[/size][/color]
Super squishy
Need to snowball to be effective
Not a hard carry
[color="orange"][size="18"]Abilities[/size][/color]
[color="white"]Dark pact[/color]: An aoe nuke that must be timed nicely as it only damages 1.5 seconds after you cast it. Slark takes half of the damage (150 non lethal dmg at level 4), so be careful not to use this if you're too low on health. The damage is divided into ten pulses (take note that this can remove spells/passive such as templar assasin's refraction, treant's living armor, visage's gravekeeper cloak etc). This spell also REMOVES DEBUFFS from slark (STUNS, silence, hex, DUST, poison etc). Whatever build you go you MUST have at least a level of this by level 4.
[color="white"]Pounce[/color]: leap (towards or away from an enemy) to the direction you're facing for 700 range (or until you hit an enemy). Enemy hero will be leashed for 3.5 seconds (they can however cast skills or move around the leash). Some spells such as blink and items such as manta can remove leash, but spells like mirana's leap and force staff can't break it. This spell WILL ONLY HIT REAL HEROES so if you pounce through illusion you won't leash it and it might help in identifying the real pl/am/siren/etc). A great spell to escape as well as you can MOVE OVER TERRAIN with it. You can also DODGE PROJECTILES such as sniper's assasinate or vs's magic missile. NOTE: You need a bit of practice to land a good pounce, especially if you have heroes with terrain change as your enemy/allies (earthshaker, clockwerk, furion, etc) as if the enemy is blocked by fissure/cogs/sprout/etc you can't simply land a pounce by clicking attack on the enemy and the pressing pounce. You need to click move to the ground in front of you that faces directly to the enemy and then hit pounce. practice makes perfect!
[color="white"]Essence shift[/color]: Slark steals 3 agi per hit to real heroes and the heroes instead lose one of each attributes (1 str, agi, int). Nothing to explain as this skill is OP. The long duration at level 4 means you can snowball with it as you can continue stealing agi as long as you keep ganking people.
[color="white"]Shadow dance[/color]: Well everyone loves invisibility. This one is a little bit more! while inactive, this skill gives you passive 3/5/7% hp regen per second and 30/35/40% ms as long as you are out of sight. The active is an unreveallable 4 second invisibility that you can hit around people and cast spell without breaking. The active can also be used to dodge projectiles (or troll a concotion casting alche to stun himself :P).
The MAIN MISTAKE i see people playing Slark is that they use shadow dance too soon. Most people go like dark pact - pounce - shadow dance. This should be avoided except it have to be done. In a solo gank, the dark pact is usually enough to debuff you from disables from your victim, while the pounce rendered his movement. So why do you need your ulti? To regen? NO. Only use shadow dance if you are on a heavy teamfight and you're heavily targeted or your victim is too tank and fast for you to chase. Else, use pounce (again. note the very short cooldown) until your victim dies. Usually in a chase especially in a forest the enemies wouldn't be able to see you as he's trying to juke around or he just make a turn, your passive MS bonus helps you in chasing him and then when pounce is off-cd you can pounce on him again. No need to waste your ulti in such trivial manner :)
[color="orange"][size="18"]Builds[/size][/color]
Max pounce first. Trust me the lower CD and higher damage really helps. I usually get all Q W E at level 3, and then max pounce. Then you can max either dark pact or essence shift based on your liking. Dark pact for more nuke oriented and essence for more hit snowball oriented. Both works pretty well!
[color="orange"][size="18"]Items[/size][/color]
Early game
Midgame (core)
Lategame
I like [color="white"]stout shield[/color] as my starting item as slark can get harassed quite easily during the laning phase.
I don't usually buy [color="white"]orb of venom[/color] for slark but it's a great item if your enemy is a bit faster than you are.
[color="white"]Power treads[/color] is my usually go to boots, the extra hp and attack speed helps in chase and gaining more stats from essence shift. Slark is quite mana dependent but not to the point that he needs arcane boots (ask your supports for it! :P).
[color="white"]Magic stick[/color] is a MUST. you will be ganking all day and the hp/mana boost from this item might help you in 1 more gank or just to survive a teamfight.
Single [color="white"]sage mask[/color], to be upgraded to oblivion staff and orchid.
[color="white"]Shadow blade[/color] is ESSENTIAL. This is probably the item that synergizes most with Slark especially after his ulti got a longer CD. During it as long as you're not seen you get the bonus MS/regen during it. You can use this to initiate, escape and reinitiate enemies that think they're safe as you just ran 5 seconds ago (apparently you're just regening your hp and wait for pounce and dark pact to be ready heh).
[color="white"]Orchid[/color]. For that extra mana regen, damage, attack speed, and silence for annoying escapee such as timbersaw or manta-less am. What's not to love?
[color="white"]Skadi[/color]. I don't really like it and usually we already won the game when you finished it but its a good choice for slark. You need all the str, mana, and agi it gives and the slow is really nice.
[color="white"]Butterfly[/color]. If you wanna contest that enemy Rikimaru as who's the harder carry.
[color="white"]S&Y[/color] is pretty solid on slark, the extra MS/ASPD and maim is good.
[color="white"]Hyperstone-Cuirass/mjol[/color] - Well aspd is never bad on anyone, especially Slark.
[color="white"]Basher-Abyssal[/color] - Great for locking down enemy, especially that 2-second-goes-through-bkb stun can win you a close fight.
[color="white"]BKB[/color] if youre against a magic heavy lineup and you feel dark pact and your ult doesn't do the job, then this is for you.
[color="red"]Vanguard[/color] for some tankiness? Why not BKB or the point booster for skadi? you can use the extra mana :)
[color="pink"]MOM[/color] is always controversial. Personally i don't really like it, but if it fits you then go for it.
[color="white"]MKB[/color] against pa/halberd/bfly is always superb
And [color="white"]rapier[/color], when you're owning hard!
[color="orange"][size="18"]Playstyle[/size][/color]
[color="white"]Early game[/color]
You are very flexible as a slark. You can go safelane as carry, mid, or even offlane. Just be careful and play safe when you're against dual/trilane. You can almost always own a 1v1 matchup though. You can mid against melees such as dk, pudge, rexxar, kunkka etc. Ranged heroes are bit more annoying, but just leech xp. Use dark pact and pounce away from ganks and you'll be alright. Your main goal is to reach level 6 safely then you will be able to feel more comfortable laning/roaming. The one thing that you should be noting is not fearing the dual/trilane too much. Keep a distance, but if the enemy disruptor go balls deep to harass you then by all means you can take him down quite easily and get away with it.
For a safelane always look for runes and try to set a gank. A DD and successful pounce will almost always guarantee a firstblood/kill.
If you're mid go gank other lanes when you're 6-7. However you're not a fulltime ganker until you get your shadow blade, so keep farming for it.
[color="white"]Midgame[/color]
If you havent gotten your sb, then i've got bad news for you. But if you do, look for a solo gank or lead a smoke gank. Hit-darkpact-pounce-hithithit will almost always guarantee a kill on squishy agi/intel. Get a dust if you're against invis. In a teamfight, you can either initiate or not, if you do make sure you pick the right target. A squishy support on the back that will die instantly is a good one as it will give you a 5v4 advantage. You can also aim the ranged carry such as sniper or drow and nullify their ranged advantage. Also go solo kill that rat np.
[color="white"]Lategame[/color]
If you do this (midgame things) right, the enemy will not even have a lategame for them. But if they eventually did, keep doing what you should be doing midgame. Gank, lead a teamfight. Aim the most annoying/squishy hero and win teamfight and push your way through victory.
Oh you can also dive fountain with your shadow dance as it wont be able to hit you. Best way to fountain dive :P
[color="orange"][size="18"]Allies and Enemies[/size][/color]
[color="white"]Allies[/color]
Any support with disable is good to lane with slark. CM is also good as she provides you with mana regen. AA+slark combo is awesome as enemies will be frozen solid if AA cold feet him before pounce. Invoker is also good as he can land a good sunstrike with enemies leashed with pounce. Note that terrain changing allies/enemy are a bit of nightmare for slark as its harder to land a pounce to enemies trapped within the terrain.
[color="white"]Enemies[/color]
Bloodseeker. Simply don't pick him where there's bs. below 50% you won't get your MS and Regen. If someone counterpick you with this guy, a way to counter this is to passively farm until you get your sb and continuously gank BS (he got no escape mechanism so its easy to gank him) so that he'll be dead when you're below 50% and still get your regen. Shadowblade also makes your low hp cap 25% instead of 50%. Also always bring regen like salve/tango.
Massive aoe. They can kill you even without seeing you. Heroes like lesh, invoker, od have no worries killing you with their aoe.
Tanks. Although tanks hate Slarks, Slark hate them too. It took too much effort to kill a tank/tanky support such as OM so you don't want them to be your enemies.
[color="white"]Pick him against[/color]
Heroes that need good positioning (squishy support, ranged carries such as sniper/drow), rat doto such as NP, and heroes with non nuke disable (rubick/disruptor/etc), heroes that need vision to do their job (jugg/luna/alche/etc. You can dodge their ult/skills with your ult), jungler (ld, naix, doom). Special note against medusa as you reduce her full hp instead of damaging her mana shield.
[color="orange"][size="18"]Tips[/size][/color]
Slark can detect whether there are enemy wards around you as if there is he will lose his ulti passive. You can then tell your teammates to deward or be careful around that area.
Look closely at your ulti passive while in shadowblade. if its gone then it means there may be sentries/gem around. if you're not sure then use darkpact and pounce away ASAP.
[color="orange"][size="18"]Suggested gameplay[/size][/color]
Slark has not been seen much on the meta and if he shows up he often loses the game. Look for noobfromua videos for proplayers playing slark and you'll get a hint of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvR1_CCWsz4
[color="orange"][size="18"]Closing thoughts[/size][/color]
Slark is a very fun hero to learn, don't get frustrated if you lose and keep learning. I hope you guys find this guide helpful. I have around 500 games as slark in dota 2 and have around 60% win rate, and even in games i lose i mostly keep a positive score.
Have fun with the slippery axolotl!! :)
Questions : i rarely post pictures in forum, so how do i do it? how do i also change colours of the word in the guide? will someone be editing it? i'll also still be editing this guide! Thanks!