Anub'seran, The Nerubian Weaver

The Spirit Spider

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INTRODUCTION

Weaver is a tough to play hero that has excellent payoff if you take the time to learn his spells. Due to the recent buffs to Weaver through the addition of Urna Swarm he has become a much better, more synergetic hero. His ability to silence a decent size area for up to 24 seconds total (20 DPS during entire 24 seconds) is unparalleled by any silence currently in the game. Combined with Time Lapse and Shukuchi to provide great juking capabilities and Geminate Attack for high DPS he is both a well rounded and lethal hero. Also, Urna Swarm gives a free map hack that is close to being on par with Weaver's old map hack spell. Overall, Weaver is adept at disrupting the spell casting of 2-3 heroes on the enemy team, running in and dealing some DPS, then getting out of the fray virtually unscathed.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Pros & Cons
• Hero Information
• Skill Build
• Item Build
• Basic Strategy
• Advanced Strategy
• Using Your Spells
• Weaver's Role
• Best Allies & Worst Enemies
• Epilogue
• Links & Replays
• Changelog

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PROS & CONS

Pros

• Free map hack from Urna Swarm.
• Spammable max MS and Invisibility from Shukuchi.
• Excellent survivability from Time Lapse.
• Longest silence in the game from Urna Swarm.
• High DPS potential with Geminate Attack.
• Excellent Juke potential.

Cons

• Low HP.
• Vulnerable when Time Lapse/Urnas are down.
• Terrible attack animation that makes it hard to last hit.
• Terrible starting stats.

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HERO INFORMATIOn

Strength: 15 + 1.5 each level
Agility: 14 + 2.5 each level
Intelligence: 15 + 1.8 each level
Base HP: 435
Base Mana: 195
Base Damage: 46 - 56
Base Armor: 2
Base Move Speed: 290
Range: 425 (Ranged)
Attack Speed: 0.67

Skills


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SKILL BUILD

Basic Skill Build

Level 1 - Shukuchi
Level 2 - Urna Swarm
Level 3 - Shukuchi
Level 4 - Urna Swarm
Level 5 - Shukuchi
Level 6 - Time Lapse
Level 7 - Shukuchi
Level 8 - Geminate Attack/Urna Swarm
Level 9 - Geminate Attack/Urna Swarm
Level 10 - Geminate Attack
Level 11 - Time Lapse
Level 12 - Geminate Attack
Level 13 - Urna Swarm/Geminate Attack
Level 14 - Urna Swarm/Geminate Attack
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Time Lapse
Level 17 - Stats
Level 18 - Stats
Level 19 - Stats
Level 20 - Stats
Level 21 - Stats
Level 22 - Stats
Level 23 - Stats
Level 24 - Stats
Level 25 - Stats

Traditional Skill Build

Level 1 - Shukuchi
Level 2 - Urna Swarm
Level 3 - Shukuchi
Level 4 - Geminate Attack
Level 5 - Shukuchi
Level 6 - Time Lapse
Level 7 - Shukuchi
Level 8 - Geminate Attack
Level 9 - Geminate Attack
Level 10 - Geminate Attack
Level 11 - Time Lapse
Level 12 - Urna Swarm
Level 13 - Urna Swarm
Level 14 - Urna Swarm
Level 15 - Stats
Level 16 - Time Lapse
Level 17 - Stats
Level 18 - Stats
Level 19 - Stats
Level 20 - Stats
Level 21 - Stats
Level 22 - Stats
Level 23 - Stats
Level 24 - Stats
Level 25 - Stats

Justification


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ITEM BUILD

Starting Items





Starting Gold (603) - 1x Gauntlets of Strength (150) - 2x Tango of Essifation (180) - 4x GG Branch (212) = Remaining Gold (61)

Early Game




Gauntlets of Strength (150) + Magic Wand (484) + Boots of Speed (500) + Sacred Relic (3800) = 4934 Gold (Roughly 90 Creeps)

Mid Game





Gauntlets of Strength (150) + Magic Wand (484) + Power Treads (Strength) (1450) + Radiance (5150) + Scroll of Town Portal (135) = 7369 Gold (Roughly 54 More Creeps)

Late Game/Luxury

or



Blademail (2200) + Magic Wand (484) + Power Treads (Strength) (1450) + Radiance (5150) + Butterfly (6000) + Scroll of Town Portal (135) = 15419 Gold (Roughly 178 More Creeps)

Optional



When it comes to tanking items (for after Radiance) you have a really wide spread of choices. The main choice used to be HoT but after it's nerf BM has become a viable alternative that synergizes well with Time Lapse. Vanguard, HoD, and BM all provide cheap forms of tank for after Radiance, whereas HoT and Linkens cost more but give some better extras.



Damage items are also really flexible for Weaver. In my opinion Radiance is the best because of its synergy with Shikuchi and Time Lapse and the fact that it's damage isn't impeded by Geminate Attack.

Stay Away From



Geminate Attack is an orb ability you scallywag.



If this seems like a good idea you should probably lay off the sauce for a while.

Justification


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BASIC STRATEGY

Lane Selection

Proper lane selection is an important aspect of playing Weaver. Weaver is best played in a side lane for a few reasons. Firstly, he has a poor attack animation and only 400 range so farming against a strong mid solo (SF, Tinker) will be hard. Secondly, the trees on side lanes provide excellent hiding places for Urna Swarms in preparation for a gank. It's possible to solo mid with Weaver by utilizing Urna Swarm for rune control but overall he is more effective with a lane partner in a side lane.

Farming
Weaver's main farming source is creeps in lane, although he has some gank potential early he will often find himself outgunned by nukers/disablers if he tries to gank too much. You need to farm up some cash and level up your Urnas before going for heroes. Around mid game when you have higher levels of Urna Swarm and some Geminate you can start farming off of heroes and participating in team fights.

Runes

1. Double Damage - Geminate Attack makes this a deadly rune against enemy towers/heroes.

2. Illusion - Extra damage and juke potential is decent but Illusions don't get Geminate.

3. Regeneration - You don't have a large MP or HP pool but grab this if no one else needs it.

4. Haste - You already have Haste, leave this for someone else.

5. Invisibility - You already have Invisibility, leave this for someone else.

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ADVANCED STRATEGY

Juking

Juking is extremely easy with Weaver. By combining Time Lapse and Shukuchi you can essentially escape from any gank rather easily. Shukuchi can be used alone to dodge missile spells like Storm Bolt and Hellfire Blast as well as spells like Poison Nova and Arctic Blast. Simply cast Shukuchi before the animation hits you, if you fade into invisibility before the projectile hits you it will cancel. This can also be used to dodge physical attacks from units and towers (you must be out of the tower's True Sight range before the projectile hits you). If you are being chased by someone with a missile spell (Leoric/Sven/Venomancer) and you suspect they are going to stun/hit you with a spell have a finger ready on Shukuchi so you can cancel it.

Shukuchi and Time Lapse can also be used to juke away from chasing enemies. Shukuchi alone can be used for the invisibility and maximum movespeed it provides; simply cast to easily evade enemies. If your enemy has True Sight you can still escape by utilizing the max MS to outrun your enemy or the Phase to quickly escape through a creep wave that your enemy must go around. If you are running away from your enemy and you run into trouble (more enemies/dead end) you can use Time Lapse to take you back 5 seconds to a potentially safer spot. Using Time Lapse in conjuntion with Shukuchi makes you one of the hardest heroes to chase (even when the enemy has True Sight). Shukuchi gives 522 MS for 4 seconds thats 2088 Units in 4 seconds, if you add another 365 units for 1 second of normal movement your total is 2453. The average hero with Boots of Speed has 350 MS which after 5 seconds will move them 1750 Units. That's a difference of 700 Units (longer than the cast range of many stun spells). If your opponent is fast or has Blink and he keeps up with you, simply cast Time Lapse to instantly move 2453 Units backwards (if you Shukuchi in the opposite direction thats another 2088 units). This is why it's so hard to chase Weavr; if you are slow he can just escape using Shukuchi, if you are fast he can just escape using Time Lapse, if you try to stun he cancels the spell, if your stun hits he just Time Lapses then Shukuchis away.

Urna Micro

*Basic Micro Combo - Auto Attack with Urnas (#2) - Control Weaver (#1) - Use (#2+F) combo every 3 seconds

To successfully micro manage Urnas you are going to need to use Control Groups. Most people already put their hero in a Control Group (by selecting the hero and pressing Ctrl + 1) to make it easy to select your hero. Usually I will add one group for my Urna's (usually #2) and I will have another for weaver and the Urna's (usually #3). This allows you to select Weaver, Urna's, and Both groups so you can easily control either during battles and both during movement. When using Urnas in battle I will usually control both groups seperately because I don't want Weaver moving with the Urnas and visa-versa. To utilize the AoE silence that Urna's get from Infestation you simply need to select your Urna group (#2 for example purposes) and have them all attack your silence target (this will make them all follow the target at 400 MS). With the whole group selected whenever you press the F key, 1 of the Urnas will cast Infestation giving 3 second of silence and 20 DPS for 3 seconds. If you Press the #2 Key + F Key every 3 seconds you essentially can have a maximum of 24 seconds of silence on your target.

Note - If you are getting confused in team battles while controlling two different groups it helps to time your actions in your head. Counting 1-2-3 then pressing #2+F can help constantly keep your silence going.

*Advanced Micro Combo - Manually control Urnas (+2) - Control Weaver (#1) - Use (#2+F) combo every 3 seconds

The only difference between this combo and the basic micro combo is that this one allows you to place Infestation more tactically. If you have sufficient micro you can easily silence 2-3 heroes although it requires constant movement of the Urnas to keep up with your targets.

Burrows Spots

Urna's, like wards, have many applications. They can be used for sight to avoid ganks and scout for runes/enemies. They can also be used to block neutral creep spawns. I usually will position one Urna at a rune spot (top or bottom, it doesn't matter) as this effectively gives vision of both sides. I will usually use the second Urna to scout in the forest or river to watch for ganks. Potential Burrow spots are shown on the map below.



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USING YOUR SPELLS

Urna Swarm

Urna Swarm is a spell that has many uses and thus is rather difficult to use. I don't consider myself to be the best Weaver user however I will describe to you how I use Urna Swarm. Generally I will park 1 Urna at the closest rune spot (since 1 is all you need to control both runes) and I will have a second in the woods watching for ganks. Generally I will keep the Urna's unburrowed until they see an enemy since I can quickly burrow them by pressing (#2 + R) and they have a much larger sight range will unburrowed. I will then keep whatever leftover Urna's I have 2-6 near me (either burrowed in the actual lane or unburrowed in the forest). This way I use a little of their vision power and a lot of their silence power. You can of course use more Urna's for vision and less for silence if you want.

In a battle format I will auto-attack my main silence target with all my Urnas and will press (#2 + F) every 3 seconds to keep the silence going.

Shukuchi

Shukuchi can be used to last hit creeps, damage heroes, dodge missiles, escape ganks, and set up Time Lapse. Last hitting creeps is easy with the damage from Shukuchi. Wait till 1-2 creeps are at low health and cast Shukuchi for an easy 90-100 gold. Damaging heroes is also easy, just run through them. Dodging missiles is simple, just cast Shukuchi when the Storm Bolt/Poison Nova/Attack Projectile is coming your way to cancel it. To set up Time Lapse all you have to do is run a long distance with Shukuchi then Time Lapse back, this will throw off 90% of enemies.

Geminate Attack

For Geminate attack to work you need to issue an attack command. That means that if you move to a spot and Weaver automatically starts attack a creep Geminate Attack won't work, you need to tell him to attack a creep by attacking the ground of targeting a creep.

Time Lapse

Time Lapse is excellent against Burst Damage and for escaping. Against burst damage casters like Lion and Lina cast Time Lapse after their combo to fully heal effectively making them waste their spells and mana. Time Lapse can also be used to Blink backwards to where you were 5 seconds ago to refresh MP/HP or to escape chases; with Shukuchi and Time Lapse you shouldn't ever be caught by chasers.

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WEAVER'S ROLE

Early Game

Weaver's early game role is to farm up to his Radiance. Without Radiance you really lose a lot of your effectiveness. Laning with an item-independent hero like CM, Rhasta, Warlock is advised as they won't contend for farm with you and they can babysit you by harassing the enemy. Help you team by using some Urna's to scout runes and ganks.

Mid Game

Mid game you are somewhat dominant as long as you have radiance. With proper usage of Time Lapse and Shukuchi you should be able to stay alive for most team fights or at least escape if things get dicey. If you are getting focused really hard you can farm with Radiance and Geminate until you get one of your tanking items.

Late Game

Late game you have decent DPS and good survivability with Butterfly/Blademail up and your Time Lapse Shukuchi combo. You should be able to easily silence your targets with Urnas and then destroy them with your DPS. Most heroes except for hard carries will run from you.

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BEST ALLIES & WORST ENEMIES

Best Allies

Damage Amplifiers & Armour Reducers


Say "Yes" to more DPS.

Babysitters



These guys make farming and staying alive in your lane a piece of cake.

Worst Enemies

Long Disables


If you are disabled for a long time you are easily taken down, this is why Linken's is a good option against these kinds of baddies.

Long Silences


Without Time Lapse or Shukuchi you are really squishy.

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EPILOGUE

There we go, my 8th guide is done. Weaver is a great hero to play if you are decently skilled and want to learn a more complicated hero. All of his spells can be mastered and are quite rewarding if you master them. Weaver is a great counter to burst DPS and to heroes that are ineffective while silenced. Overall, I hope this guide makes you want to try Weaver or at least try the build that I suggest for Weaver if not my playstyle. Thank you for reading this far, please comment/rate.

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LINKS & REPLAYS

Thanks to Ironfisto for the Dota Layout I used for Burrowing Spots.

Thanks to Dotastrategy.com and Playdota.com for their extensive hero and item information sections.

Replays coming soon!

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CHANGELOG

December 19th 2009 - Original Post