The deep ones have sent forth their secrets to us, and we're letting you in on how to master playing one of the most stun-intensive heroes in Dota 2- Slardar!
This particular Slithereen Guard is mostly an underestimated Initiator that can turn the tide of a battle by punishing heroes in close combat. One of the fiercest melee heroes, Slardar can truly wreak havoc on the front lines, with the right items. Here’s what items we think you should consider on this Hero.
15. Phase Boots
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He doesn't really have feet, but they still help him move faster.
Move through enemies and BASH them into submission when they least expect it! These boots will give you a massive early-game advantage if your playstyle is aggressive as Slardar’s taunts.
What makes Phase Boots Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Additional Movement Speed
Ability to Move Through Enemy Units
Additional Armor
Additional Damage
Item Details (As of patch 7.23)
Grants +15% Movement Speed
Grants +18 Damage (Melee)
Grants +12 Damage (Ranged)
Grants +4 Armor
Reset timer 8 seconds
+22% Increased Movement Speed on Melee Heroes (Active)
+10% Increased Movement Speed on Ranged Heroes (Active)
Active for 3 Seconds (Can turn faster and move through enemy units)
Total Cost is 1480 Gold
14. Blight Stone
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A stronger hit equals faster kills with this stone on your hero.
It’s easier to cut through soft butter, that’s the logic with a Blight Stone early in your game. When Slardar hits, he hits hard. Couple that power with armor corruption early in the game and you’re going to give your opponent a migraine they weren’t prepared for, as they keep hurrying back to regen or regain health while also spending gold on healing items.
What makes Blight Stone Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Relatively Cheaper.
Makes Enemies Softer for Slardar.
Will let your opponents know you mean business.
Item details (As of patch 7.23)
Passive ‘Lesser Corruption’
Attacks Reduce Targets Armor by 2 for 8 seconds.
Total Cost is 300 Gold
13. Blink Dagger
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Blink, stun combo and decimate. That's how Slardar owns every 1v1 fight.
Blink and you’re in trouble! Slardar is one of the best when it comes to Initiation, especially because of his double dash wombo-combo that’ll give an enemy plenty of time to drink tea and watch helplessly as their hero lays immovable while Slardar keeps on attacking. With good enough speed, that stun will almost be permanent.
What makes Blink Dagger Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Gives Slardar a reason to partake in ‘Surprise’ attacks.
Makes him a stronger initiator.
Item details (As of patch 7.23)
Teleports Hero up to 1200 units away
Reset Timer is 15 Seconds
Cannot be used after being attacked by Enemy Hero or Roshan (for 3 seconds)
Total Cost is 2250 Gold
12. Armlet of Morddigian
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For the masters of mayhem, this item is pure evil. Be careful with it though.
The faster you attack, the faster you stun your enemy, and the faster you’ll eliminate him. That’s the base attack-logic you’re going for with Slardar. Hence, this beaut. Get this early in the game and you’re sure going to enforce thoughts into your enemy’s mind. Keep in mind though, this item is hard to master, and your influence onto your enemies psych will either make or break depending on how good you are at using this item.
What makes the Armlet of Mordiggian Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Adds a cool ‘purple-ish’ highlight to your hero on being activated.
Your opponents will see this ‘highlight’ automatically assume you’re unkillable and will most likely avoid engaging you unless you prove otherwise.
Can be switched on & off to keep adding +25 strength (more hit points) for pro-like survivability skills in a fight.
It provides a bunch of extra benefits to your stats.
Item details (As of patch 7.23e)
Provides +9 Damage (+31 when active)
Provides +25 Attack Speed
Provides +5 Armor (+4 when active)
Provides +5 HP Regeneration
Provides +25 Strength (When active)
Depletes 54 hit points/second (cannot die from the item)
Total cost is 2380 gold
11. Assault Cuirass
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Armor is very important for every initiator. Even more so for one that's a fish, fighting on land.
Being an initiator doesn’t mean you don’t help your team. Everyone does that now. Don’t bank on a supporting hero to take care of you, c’mon, it’s 2020. Be an independent...Jk. This is a team game, and the benefits the Assault Cuirass brings to the equation is powerful. From greater attack speed to more protection, you’re going to get commended just for sure with this in your inventory. (Not if you feed the enemy though.)\
What makes Assault Cuirass Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Great for team fights with a positive buff for allied units.
It has negative buffs on enemy units.
Item details (As of patch 7.23)
Grants +30 Attack Speed
Grants +10 Armor
Grants +5 All Attributes
Grants 25 Attack Speed and 5 Armor to nearby Allied Units & Structures
Decreases Nearby Enemy Unit and Structure Armor by 5
Radius 1200 Units
Total Cost is 5200 Gold
10. Black King Bar
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For some uninterrupted smash *cough cough* time. This is what you choose.
Since you’re going to be the first one jumping into fights and picking on the enemy’s weakest or ‘most important to take out’ hero, you’ll also be the first one to probably get killed. Slardar has a great advantage in 1-on-1’s, but that dominance diminishes if you’re up against 2 or more heroes. Remember, Slardar is a melee hero, he can at max fight one at a time while mildly damaging others with cleave damage or anything similar of the sort, but that’s not his style. So always remember to get yourself a BKB (Black King Bar) if your opponent is dashing out a whole lot of magic damage.
What Makes Black King Bar Great for Slardar (As of Patch 7.23e)
Complete immunity against magic spells.
Enemy magic heroes will dislike you a lot.
Provides extra stats apart from magic protection.
Item details (As of Patch 7.23e)
Provides +10 Strength
Provides +24 Damage
Duration Reduces After Every Use from 10 seconds to 9/8/7/6/5
Reset Timer is 70 Seconds
Total Cost is 4050 Gold
9. Silver Edge
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Add some extra damage to your bash & crush.
It’s going to be troublesome for enemies from the second you get a blink, but add the Silver Edge to the situation and you’re going to keep them on their heels throughout the game. They’ll be spending tons of coins on Sentries and Vision to keep an eye all over the map, just so they know where you’re at. Fear is lovely, fear will help you win. This is how you’ll get that edge.
What makes the Silver Edge Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
INVISIBILITY! Who doesn’t love sneaking up? Especially when the other team has weak support heroes that just won’t bother buying sentry wards.
It gives an insane boost to all other attributes, all while giving extra attack speed & bonus damage at the same time.
You move faster when you’re invisible.
Breaking your invisibility by attacking, grants bonus damage.
Best used for ‘surprise parties’ in the enemy jungle.
Item details (As of patch 7.23e)
Provides +36 Damage
Provides +30 Attack Speed
Provides +15 All Attributes
Grants Invisibility for 14 seconds
Grants +25% movement speed when active & you’re invisible
Bonus 175 damage on target hero if you attack while you’re invisible
Disables passive abilities for 4 seconds if you attack while you’re invisible
Total cost is 5550 gold
Mana cost is 75
Reset Timer is 22 seconds
8. Echo Sabre
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Fast hitting items are important, but how ones you can afford early-on are important too.
Slardar’s passive bash is unique, similar to Kunnka’s cleave damage. After every 3 attacks on an enemy unit, Slardar’s 4th attack will stun whoever he hits. Add this advantage to your active bash skill (Slithereen Crush) and you’ll have your enemy struggling to turn, let alone move. This item will help you stun the enemy faster as it more or less combines 2 attacks into a ‘quick one’.
What Makes the Echo Sabre Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Each ‘double attack’ slows the target unit by 100% for 0.8 seconds.
Makes heroes like Slardar, Monkey King, Ursa, Kunkka, etc. a tad bit scary. (As if they already weren’t scary enough.)
Ranged heroes were warned back in the years of ‘Warcraft’ to be wary of such an item.
Adds a lot to your stats, making for an all-round stronger hero.
Item details (As of patch 7.23e)
Provides +10 Intelligence
Provides +12 Strength
Provides +10 Attack Speed
Provides +15 Damage
Provides +1.25 Mana Regeneration
Applies 100% Slow for 0.8 seconds on each double strike.
Echo Strike reset timer is 5 seconds
It is a passive (timed) item.
Total cost is 2575 gold
7. Abyssal Blade
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As if he didn't have enough stuns. Get this so you can add to that perma-stun dream.
As if this item wasn’t powerful enough, they had to go ahead and add a blink-to-target ability to it. But hey! That’s for the best if you’re a Slardar main. Taking out an enemy hero is easier with this, simply blink & stun, crush (second skill - stun), passive stun and by the time you know it, your opponent’s already down by a massive amount of HP. Use this as an initiator.
What makes Abyssal Blade Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Blinks to target and stuns,
If that wasn’t enough, it has passive stuns as well,
Gives Slardar another stun, as if 2 stun abilities weren’t enough,
Item details (As of patch 7.23)
Grants +25 Damage
Grants +250 Health
Grants +10 HP Regeneration
Grants +10 Strength
Uses 75 Mana
Reset Timer 35 Seconds
Blinks to the enemy and stuns the target for 2 seconds
25% chance to stun for 1.5 seconds
Pierces Spell Immunity
Range 600
Total Cost is 6650 Gold
6. Desolator
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Better than a blight stone, during the late-game phase. But of course, you know this. Didn't you?
Go back to point 14, now imagine something 5 times better than it, and you’ll get this. A desolator will work better for you than the Eye of Skadi, mainly because this will destroy your opponent faster and the slow from Skadi won’t matter much on someone that’s almost constantly being stunned by you.
What makes Desolator Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Makes enemies softer (take more damage).
Great item for faster kills.
Item details (As of patch 7.23)
Grants +50 Damage
Reduces Target's Armor by 7 for 15 Seconds
Total Cost is 3500 Gold
5. Heart of Tarrasque
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Unstoppable, unkillable. That's what he will be in 1v1 fights with this.
Survivability is on the top of any initiator’s mind. Sure, dying is a prerequisite for most initiators, but hey! Wouldn’t it be great to survive a reckless jump that may potentially help your team win? This item will make Slardar even more potent in 1v1’s and help him get back into the fight faster since most of his skills take up less mana and one of his main abilities is a passive bash, which, truth be told, is always needed in a fight.
What makes Heart of Tarrasque great for Slardar (As of Patch 7.23e)
Massive HP regeneration allows you to kite opponents and stay in battle for much longer
CAN BE STACKED! For added HP and HP regeneration/second.
It’s a passive item.
You’re likely to be alive at the end of most battles. (conditions apply, of course.)
Item Details (As of Patch 7.23e)
Grants +45 Strength
Grants + 400 Health
Grants +50% Health Regen Amplification
Grants +10 HP Regeneration
Grants Passive Health Restoration every 7 Seconds
Restores 5% of max health per second.
Regen rest timer is 5 seconds from Roshan or Melee heroes
Regen rest timer is 7 seconds from Ranged heroes
Total Cost is 5200 Gold
4. Moon Shard
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Faster hits equal faster stuns. Remember that.
Slardar has a secret wish-list too, and this item tops that list. What makes a Moon Shard so desirable to Slardar is a fact that matters more than its attack speed, and that fact is the capability to stack this item, making Slardar attack faster, stun faster & eventually turn his opponent in religious preachers that keep praying for a miracle to save them from a ‘Moon Shard’ mad, Slardar.
What Makes the Moon Shard Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Terrifyingly High - Attack Speed Bonus
It can be consumed for partial Attack Speed Bonus, and you can continue to buy another Moon Shard, for additional Attack Speed Bonus.
It makes you look like an in-game demonic entity eager to end the game quickly so they can go to sleep or just ‘play one more game’.
Item details (As of patch 7.23e)
Passive Item
Can only be consumed once
Provides a Monstrous +140 Attack Speed
Grants 400 bonus night vision
It can be consumed to permanently grant +60 Attack Speed and 200 bonus night vision.
Total cost is 4000 gold
3. Linken’s Sphere
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Your insurance to get that initial stun in there without being stopped by magic.
Getting into a fight is important, but what can really ruin that is if your blink is reset just before you jump in. To avoid that, you either get a BKB or a Linken’s Sphere. This way you can slither in worry-free and get the job done.
What Makes Linken’s Sphere Great for Slardar (As of Patch 7.23e)
Blocks multiple spells completely.
Immediately makes you more tanky and durable.
Gives great bonuses for all attributes.
Spell block is a passive skill after every interval, that’s one less thing to worry about in a fight.
Item details (As of Patch 7.23e)
Provides +14 of Every Attribute
Provides +7 HP Regeneration
Provides +5 Mana Regeneration
Spellblock has a cooldown of 12 seconds
Spellblock can be transferred to an allied unit.
Total Cost is 5050 Gold
2. Shiva’s Guard
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Extra armor, extra strong. Apart from that, this item is a magical surprise.
On being activated, this item will literally send chills down the spines of your opponents. One simple tap and the ‘chill & cool’ white cold-cloud wave that will move around and probably stop one attack on yourself whilst pushing the enemy back. Such is the power of Shiva’s Guard. It is an important item that provides more than just protection, it also provides a magic attack. Choosing between this and the Cuirass was a tough choice, however, on studying a bit more, Shiva’s Guard helps Slardar do a better job.
What Makes Shiva’s Guard Great for Slardar (As of Patch 7.23e)
Apart from providing high-level armor, it also delivers a good amount of magic damage.
Enemies that attack have their attack speed reduced.
Makes any hero look reliable and bulky and strong.
Item details (As of Patch 7.23e)
Provides +30 Intelligence
Provides +15 Armor
Active Reset Time is 30 seconds
Total Mana Cost is Around 100
Total Cost of the unit is 4750
1. Bloodthorn
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It's always great to destroy your opponent while they're too busy staying muted.
At this point, if you can afford a Bloodthorn, you’re mostly just playing with your food. Slardar is a tough hero, add this item and you’ll bring him closer to invincibility. Pair that up with a ‘Blink’ a ‘Silver Edge’ and a ‘Moon Shard’, and you’ll have enemy heroes reporting you for in-game ownage.
What makes Bloodthorn Great for Slardar (As of patch 7.23e)
Silences enemy units and causes more damage, as if you weren’t taking enough from Slardar’s constant bashes.
It gives even more damage output.
It makes you a hella lot scarier.
Item details (As of patch 7.23)
Grants +25 Intelligence
Grants +30 Attack Speed
Grants +68 Damage
Grants 5.5 Mana Regeneration
Uses 100 Mana
Reset Timer is 15 Seconds
Silences Target for 5 Seconds
30% Damage during silence will be taken as magical damage
Chris is a professional writer & a competitive gamer that has one rule. 'If it moves, shoot it', & then make a meme about it. That's probably why he loves FPS games with friendly fire 'on'.
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