Winning with Slark in Dota 2 patch 7.35b

Slark wasn’t modified by IceFrog in Dota 2 patch 7.35b, so he is still the strong carry he was in patch 7.35. In that patch, he received three small buffs. His strength and intelligence gain went up by 0.2 per level, while his level 15 talent now gives +50 Shadow Dance regen instead of +40.

Given Slark’s natural capabilities, it’s not a big surprise that he’s quite successful at the community level. This is one of the most enjoyable carry heroes that you can play. He’s not as fun as Pudge, but he’s still a fun hero, especially in the lower MMR brackets, where most players don’t have a thorough understanding of how to counter you.

Slark’s toolkit

Slark has a 3.8 HP regen at level 1, which means that you can get to around 6 with a very small investment and just a few more levels. That will give you 360 HP regen per minute for the laning phase, which is important if you play against a strong offlaner that can easily damage you.

Slark is at his weakest in the first 10 minutes. If you survive this part and your team doesn’t fall too far behind, you’ll gradually become a monster during the mid game. And by the time you reach the late game, you’re almost unstoppable.

The main strategy when playing Slark is to use your Dark Pact to farm faster and your Shadow Dance to constantly regenerate yourself and deward enemy vision. In team fights, Punce allows you to close the distance or escape. If you’re making offensive moves and you connect, the target will be leashed for 2.5 – 3.25s.

What to build on Slark

Winning with Slark is not that complicated, as long as you don’t lose all map control in the first 15 minutes. This hero has a 51% win rate and a 16% pick rate at the community level. He is very fun to play if you have an Aghanim’s Scepter or a Silver Edge, but you can also choose to build a Mage Slayer and a Diffusal Blade first.

In many cases, you will end up buying a Mage Slayer immediately after Power Treads. Aghanim’s Scepter gives you great mobility, while Diffusal Blade gives you the ability to keep targets in your attack range.

If you need to become more tanky, buying an Eye of Skadi will solve the problem in most cases. But Linken’s Sphere or a Black King Bar should also be among your options.

Header: Valve