SpicyMcCheese's Guide to Slardar , The Slithereen Guard


Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Hero Overview
3. Skill Build
4. Item Build
-Starting items
-Early items
-Core items
-Extension items
-Alternative items
-Bad items
5. Strategies
6. Best Allies / Worst Enemy
7. Replays
8. Conclusion

Introduction:

Hey all! im SpicyMcCheese, and this is my first guide, Slardar!, why Slardar? Cause its my second favorite hero in DotA!

He can be a ganker, a tank at late game and DPS at the same time! His signature skill, Amplify Damage, -15 armor is nothing to sneeze at, it can make tanks frail! and believe me it hurts

He's a Mid-Late game hero, at early you must farm (Or maybe gank) to earn some money, he's not that item dependant, but still you have to farm and earn your core items (Will be discussed soon)

So are you ready? well then lets go!



Hero Overview:

Slardar - The Slithereen Guard
Range: 100 | | Move Speed: 300 | Primary: STR
Str: 21 + 2.8 | Agi: 17 + 1.9 | Int: 15 + 1.5
Damage: 51 - 59 | HP: 549 | Mana: 195
HP Regen: 0.88 | Mana Regen: 0.61
Attack Speed: 1.41 (+ 17% IAS) | Armor: 4.4

Let's see.. Average stats, Nice MS, Melee, STR-Type Hero, Kinda small INT but he's not Spammy type hero, Average Base damage, Start HP, Mana, i think thats it


Pros:
- Nice AoE stun ( Slithereen Crush )
- Can Achieve High ms and chase with Sprint
- Passive Bash
- Pretty good STR and STR Gain
- Nice Ultimate, Can be used to spot Invisible Heroes ( Amplify Damage )

Cons:
- Melee
- Average stats, beside STR



Skills:

Sprint (T)



Slardar increases his movement speed dramatically, but takes 20% bonus damage.
Lasts 25 seconds.
Level 1 - Increases speed by 10%.
Level 2 - Increases speed by 20%.
Level 3 - Increases speed by 30%.
Level 4 - Increases speed by 40%.
Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 45

Increases Slardar's speed A LOT at lvl 4! 40% is high! this is why Slardar is a great chaser, use this if you want to gank someone or maybe escaping, but be careful you take 20% more damage, just dont use this when team fights happens, it kills you very fast

Slithereen Crush (R)



Slams the ground, stunning and damaging enemy land units 300 AoE around Slardar. Slows enemy units by 20% for 2 seconds afterwards.
Level 1 - 50 damage, 1 second stun.
Level 2 - 75 damage, 1.5 second stun.
Level 3 - 100 damage, 2 second stun.
Level 4 - 150 damage, 2.5 second stun.
Mana Cost: 80/ 95/ 105/ 115
Cooldown: 8

Good AoE skill, the damage is kinda meh but the Stun and the Slow are Superb, 2.5 seconds and 20% slow after the stun is great! the AoE is kinda small, so you have to be close to the enemies, also its very good in clashes and the damage is Physical, which reduces by the target's armor


Bash (B)



Gives a chance that an attack will do bonus damage and stun an opponent for 1 second.
Level 1 - 10% chance per attack, 40 bonus damage.
Level 2 - 15% chance per attack, 50 bonus damage.
Level 3 - 20% chance per attack, 60 bonus damage.
Level 4 - 25% chance per attack, 70 bonus damage.
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A

Just like other normal Bash, it stuns an opponent for 1 second ( 2 seconds on Creeps ) and deals bonus damage, whats more to say?


Amplify Damage (G)



Amplifies physical damage against enemy units by reducing their armor.
Can track invisible units.
Level 1 - 5 armor penalty.
Level 2 - 10 armor penalty.
Level 3 - 15 armor penalty.
Mana Cost: 25
Cooldown: 10

Greatly reduce an Enemy's armor and gives sight until the duration is up, the Armor stacks with Desolator, AC -Armor Aura, Shadow Fiend's Presence of the Dark Lord, Alchemist's Acid Spray,etc
This really cripples enemies EHP, and it Reveal Invisible Units, Lasts 30 seconds on heroes, 120 seconds on creeps.

Skill Build:

Level 1: Slithereen Crush
Level 2: Bash
Level 3: Slithereen Crush
Level 4: Bash
Level 5: Slithereen Crush
Level 6: Amplify Damage
Level 7: Slithereen Crush
Level 8: Bash
Level 9: Bash
Level 10: Sprint
Level 11: Amplify Damage
Level 12: Sprint
Level 13: Sprint
Level 14: Sprint
Level 15: Stats
Level 16: Amplify Damage
Level 17-25: Stats

I think this is the Standard Build

Slithereen Crush is a MUST, you must take this whenever you can, its a great skill, its very helpful to gank, help allies, cancel channeling abilities (TP,Epicenter,etc) and much more

Bash is good, it helps you kill heroes, and some lucky kills may happen, and it helps you Farming at Neutrals, why not?

I choose Bash over Sprint on early levels cause there aren't gonna be a chasing situation, even there are, disables are more likely good than extra MS, and that 20% bonus damage hurts in early game, it might even kill you when your trying to kill the enemy

Sprint is good when mid comes, is time you gank people with high MS! 40% is awesome, almost everyone can't run away from you with sprint, but temember that 20% bonus damage increase, it hurts

Amplify Damage is gotten whenever possible, why? it decreases enemy's EHP and gives vision, give this to those pesky invisible heroes, and junglers, and when you gank someone

Item Build:


Starting Items:

X2

OR

X2

OR




Its up to you, if somebody already bought the chicken and share it to you, choose build 1, but if theres no chicken, choose build 2, if the game have powerups, choose build 3, Runes is good, Double damage for killing, Haste for Chasing, Invisiblity for Suprise reasons, its awesome!

Early Game Items:



Boots is for Move Speed, no need explanation

Then buy some bracers, this should keep you from dying, it gives you damage, survivabilty, mana, HP and more!

Core Items:



Upgrade that Boots into a Power Treads! Gives you more MS, extra AS and +10 stats! its cheap and effective!

Now, Buy Armlet of Mordiggian, why Armlet? cause you need cheap burst damage, and look! there's Armlet! let's see, 2850 gold, CHEAP, when activates it gives you +25 STR (Like a Reaver) +45 Damage, +25% AS and Armor! HELL YES! and automatically you gain 475 HP! and the build up is very easy, the highest is 950 gold (Helm of Iron Will), but the thing about armlet is the degen, but don't worry, your enemies will die in a matter of seconds


Bottles are situational actually, if you gank more often than farming, then buy bottle, but if you farm more often than ganking, you can buy it or not


TPs are well.. is a MUST, dont leave your base without buy one of these (except if you already have one or BoT)

And the total cost is... 5720 gold!! + TPs, pretty cheap eh?

Extension Items:



Desolator - Its really good, +60 damage and Curroption, reduces your enemy's armor by 6 for 5 seconds, with your Amplify Damage, you can deal shit loads of damage



Black King Bar - Hate those damn Disablers? only 1 more hit to kill Sniper and suddenly there's Lion and uses impale on you? Dont like to be Focused by Nukers? then buy this, but remember, each time you use this, the duration will be decresed by 1 second so its 10/9/8/7/6/5 seconds, use it wisely


Heart of Tarrasque - If you step up to be the main tank, or for survivabilty, buy this, gives you a lot of STR and HP, and with 1% regen, just awesome


Buriza-do Kyanon - Not bad, You can bash and crit at the same time! plus Criticals based on target's armor, the lower the target's armor is, the higher damage crit will happen, and you have Amplify Damage, ouch!


Assault Cuirass - Another item that reduce enemy's armor, and adds your EHP a lot and AS, but remember Negative armor DOES diminish, so stacking armor reducing abilites it's not that effective if the target's armor is below 0, and AC is fucking expensive, it's a born luxury


Boots of Travel - Sell Power Treads and buy one of these, its for mobilty and late game push, and you can teleport anywhere as long there is Creeps, neat!

Alternative Items:


Hood of Defiance - The magic reduction is great, and so does the regen, but the thing is, is not that effective if you compare with BKB, Immune to magic man! you still can be disabled, but if you are facing Heavy nukers, feel free to buy this for survivablity


Kelen's Dagger - If you are to one who Initiates and Tank, buy this one, your AoE Stun (Slithereen Crush) is very good for Initiating, 2.5 stun for little bit of mana? sure!