The Heroes in Dota 2 - An Introductory Guide for Slark

Introduction

With over 100 heroes to choose from, we can easily see why Dota 2 is considered as one of the most complex game in the world. In fact, even when you finally learn what's the specific role of each hero, you will still be surprised that many people tend to experiment with different things. That's because, unlike League of Legends, there are no specific roles here. In other words, every single hero can potentially be played at any position in the game. However, there are a couple of exceptions from this rule, and one of them is Slark.

Let's take a look at everything you need to know about this awesome hero.

Slark 101

Often considered as one of the most elusive heroes in Dota 2, Slark is capable of carrying his team alone when he gets a good start. That's why you can often see boosters playing this hero. He is scaling very well throughout the entire game, and after the recent changes where they've allowed him to get permanent agility from kills, he became an even more significant threat for late game. 

These are Slark's current spells:

• Dark Pact - this remarkable skill is one of the reasons why Slark is such an amazing hero to play. This is a nuke that has a small cooldown and doesn't cost that much mana. At first, you might think that this spell sucks because it also does damage to you. However, that's not the case at all. Sure, it does damage to you, but it also dispels the most negative debuffs you have on you. In other words, you can remove things like slows, stuns, etc.
• Pounce - this spell can be used both defensive and aggressively, depending on the situation. It works in a similar way like Mirana's leap. When used, Slark will jump towards the direction he is looking at and will catch the first hero that's on his way in a leash. While leashed, the enemy hero will be unable to move, which allows Slark to do a lot of damage.
  Ever since patch 7.23 was released, the Aghanim's Scepter increases the range of this spell twice, and it gives two charges. 
• Essence Shift - a potent passive spell that makes Slark a monster during the later stages of the game. When he attacks an enemy, he steals one agility per hit and adds it to his stats. The duration of the stolen stat depends on the level of the spell, so the more you level it, the longer you will have your stats. Additionally, you also gain one agility permanently whenever you get a kill on an enemy.
• Shadow Dance - Slark's ultimate is one of the strongest spells for late game. When used, it makes him untargetable for a couple of seconds. During that time, the hero itself can still attack and move around, but he won't be able to be targeted by the enemies. In addition, he will also regenerate a lot of HP.
  In addition to the powerful effect, Slark's ultimate also has a passive one. When the enemy doesn't have vision, he gains bonus movement speed and passive health regeneration. This makes him extremely hard to deal with, especially during the laning stage.

Items, Position, and Counters

Slark will play as a safelane carry in 90% of the matches he is picked. The hero is just perfect for this position because he scales very well. Alternatively, he can also be placed mid, but it depends heavily on the matchup. Sometimes it's just impossible to lane versus certain heroes.

When it comes down to items, there are many popular choices. In fact, there are two main items builds among pub players - with or without a Shadow blade. Here are some of the most popular items on Slark:

• Shadow Blade - this item provides Slark with movement speed and damage, which is precisely what he needs. Also, he can easily pick off the enemy support heroes when he attacks them with this item. Of course, let's also not forget that he will regenerate his HP while he is invis,  as long as the enemy does not have vision.
• Black King Bar - this is a must for every single Slark player later on in the game. This item allows him to have sustainable uptime on the enemies, which is essential for this hero because he needs to steal as much agility as possible.
• Eye of Skadi - a trendy choice for Slark players who want to become harder to kill. This is not necessarily the most offensive item in Dota 2, but it is strong in this regard because it gives slow. However, the downside is that it's pretty expensive, so most people tend to buy it towards the later stages of the game.
• Butterfly - this item is nearly a must for every carry player later on. It provides damage, attack speed, and, most importantly - evasion. Unless the enemy carry buys MKB, he will miss the most of his attacks.

As for counters, there are a couple of heroes that can make Slark's life very hard:

• Anti-Mage - even though this hero is not really a counter to Slark, a "well-fed" AM is very strong in late game and will always win the right matchup. 
• Storm Spirit - this hero is capable of jumping from far away, which can catch Slark off-guard. He is a very fragile hero, especially early on, so every single gank could potentially result in death.
• Legion Commander - if LC gets a good start, she can make the life of Slark a living hell. Duel can't be dispelled, and in most cases, LC will always win it.