Let's Introduce Myself

Table Of Contents
Hero Introduction
Background Story
Statistics
Pros Cons
Hero Changelogs
Skills
Skill Build
Item Build

Hero Introduction

The Nightcrawler excels from traveling lane to lane to gank unsuspecting lone heroes. His signature Shadow Dance provides all the benefits of unbreakable invisibility for 5.5 seconds along with passive movement speed and HP regeneration as long as he is unseen by the enemy. Essence Shift lowers target enemy heroes' stats with each hit while boosting your agility growth for 2 minutes. Pounce provides a nuke and movement disable for a whopping 3.5 seconds, assuming you can land it. Dark Pact is what frustrates disablers and dust carrier, as most negative status buffs are dispelled after a slight delay, not to mention an AOE nuke to boot. Slark, with all the perquisites and instincts of an evasive killer, is truly a fearsome little bugger.

Background Story

In the deepest, blackest pits of the ocean a fearsome and terrifying creature lurks. Bending the shadows to his will, few have seen his true form and none have lived to speak of it. For the shadows are his sanctuary, a place of empowerment and revitalisation. Bathed in this inpenetrable darkness he strikes unseen, every attack making him swifter and more powerful whilst weakening his enemy. An unbreakable leash awaits all who try to escape, leaving them at mercy of this horrifying phantom. By sacrificing a fraction of his soul, his pact with darkness allows him break even the most powerful bonds and curses. With echoes of the Great War reaching every corner of the earth, this creature, known only as Slark, has emerged from the depths to search for an ancient relic...

Statistics

Strength: 21 + 1.8
Agility: 15 + 1.5
Intelligence: 16 + 1.9
Affiliation: Scourge
Damage: 48 - 56
Armor: 1.1
Movespeed: 305
Missile speed: Instant
Casting animation: 0.001 / 0.51
Attack animation: 0.5 / 0.3
Base attack time: 1.7
Attack range: 128 (melee)
Sight range: 1800 / 800

Pros Cons

Pros
+ The best heal for free
+ Great counter against heroes relying on stats/raw damage
+ Ridiculous ganker , especially 1 vs 1
+ Able to counter debuffs
+ Built-in counter - ward skill
+ Does not need regeneration

Cons
- 2nd lowest HP in game
- Item dependent late-game
- Easily counter-picked and easily counterable

Hero Changelogs

6.73c
- Pounce damage increased from 40/80/120/160 to 70/140/210/280
- Pounce cooldown rescaled from 12 to 20/16/12/8
- Pounce cast range increased from 400/500/600/700 to 700
- Shadow Dance regen increased from 2/3/4% to 3/4/5%
- Shadow Dance passive bonuses activation delay decreased from 0.7 to 0.5
6.71b
- Pounce cooldown reduced from 16 to 12
6.70c
- Adjusted the timing on Dark Pact. Instead of starting after 2 seconds and pulsing (damage and buff removal) over 0.5 seconds, it now starts after 1.5 seconds and pulses over 1 second. Same overall damage but now has a longer duration for the buff removal period.
- Dark Pact self damage is now dealt to himself as he deals it to the area around him instead of at cast time
6.69c
- Decreased base Agility from 21 to 15 and increased starting damage by the same amount
- Pounce damage rescaled from 50/75/100/125 to 40/80/120/160
- Dark Pact cooldown reduced from 10 to 10/9/8/7
6.66b
- Pounce Leash now gets removed if the target blinks or teleports away
- Shadow Dance passive no longer works if Slark is Doomed

Skills

Dark Pact

Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: C

-Slark calls upon deities of the swamps to seal a dark pact. Sacrificing some of his lifeblood, Slark is redeemed of all negative effects. After 1.5 seconds, a dark wave of destruction emits from the Nightcrawler, dealing damage to all nearby enemies.

Notes

� 1.5 seconds after cast, a series of 10 pulses separated by 0.1 seconds deals 75/150/225/300 total magic damage to enemies within 350 AoE, and half that damage to Murloc Nightcrawler.
� Each pulse also removes buffs from Murloc Nightcrawler.
� Murloc Nightcrawler cannot kill himself with this skill.
� If Murloc Nightcrawler dies, the pulses stop.

Pounce

Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: E

-Surges directly forward and latches on to the first hero he hits, binding it with chains of darkness. The enemy is unable to move more than 325 distance away from the point of impact for 3.5 seconds.

Notes

� On cast, Murloc Nightcrawler leaps forward at a speed of 933.33, stopping when he latches onto an enemy unit in 95 AoE, or has traveled 700 distance.
� When an enemy hero is leashed, it takes 70/140/210/280 magic damage, and is unable to move more than 325 distance away from Murloc Nightcrawler's landing spot for 3.5 seconds (moving more than 100 distance away in less than 0.03 seconds will break the leash).
� Magic immune units cannot be leashed.
� Trees are destroyed in a 200x200 rectangle around Murloc Nightcrawler's landing area.
� Blinking or teleporting away will break the leash.

Essence Shift

Ability Type: Passive
Targeting Type: N/A
Ability Hotkey: N

-Reciting ancient Nightcrawler incantations, Slark enchants his blade to steal the power and courage from his enemies. Every time Slark hits an enemy hero, he steals 1 point from all attributes of that enemy hero while Slark gains 3 points of Agility.

Notes

� Each time Murloc Nightcrawler attacks an enemy hero, 1 point of each of that hero's attributes are stolen, granting Murloc Nightcrawler the sum of the stolen attributes as Agility.
� Attributes cannot be dropped below 1 by Essence Shift.
� When either Murloc Nightcrawler or the affected unit dies, its stats are returned to normal.

Shadow Dance

Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: D

-Covers himself with a dark smoke, he becomes invisible and does not reveal himself while attacking or casting spells for 5.5 seconds. Passively increases Nightcrawler's movement speed and regeneration when he is out of sight of hostile units. Has a 0.7 delay when activated or deactivated.

Notes

� When cast, the Murloc Nightcrawler becomes invisible for 5.5 seconds, this invisibility is not broken by casting abilities, using items, or attacking.
� While invisible from this ability's active effect, a visible cloud effect is shown at Murloc Nightcrawler's position.
� Shadow Dance passively grants +30%/+35%/+40% movement speed and +3%/+4%/+5% HP regeneration when Murloc Nightcrawler is not visible to the enemy (has a 0.5 second delay on activation and deactivation).
� If Murloc Nightcrawler is damaged by a neutral unit, the passive effect is removed for 2 seconds.
� Passive effect does not work if Murloc Nightcrawler is affected by Doom.

Skill Build

Pounce
2.

Essence Shift
3.

Pounce
4.

Essence Shift
5.

Pounce
6.

Shadow Dance
7.

Pounce
8.

Essence Shift
9.

Essence Shift
10.

Dark Pact
11.

Shadow Dance
12.