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Silencer
From Dota 2 Wiki
| Hero | Strategy | Counters | Equipment | Gear | Responses | Sounds | Lore | Old Abilities | Changelogs | Known Bugs |
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Nortrom, the Silencer, is a ranged intelligence hero who can be played as a support, carry, or initiator. He is one of the few intelligence heroes that truly benefit from intelligence items and is effective against heroes that rely mostly on spells, as he can silence them while stealing their intelligence and adding it to his own. He is a notorious anti-caster hero who can disrupt the magical abilities of his enemies and cripple spellcasters throughout the game. Arcane Curse slows and causes enemies to lose health for a set duration, but increases with each spell the enemy casts, forcing them to either wait and cast no spell until it expires, or cast spells and prolong the debuff and thus take more damage. Last Word places a curse on Nortrom's target that damages and silences for a long duration if the target casts a spell. If the target does not cast a spell before the curse duration ends the effects are the same. Glaives of Wisdom is an active attack modifier that deals a percentage of Nortrom's intelligence as pure damage. Nortrom's ultimate, Global Silence, silences all enemy units on the map for a few seconds. A well-timed Global Silence can be used to save yourself or an ally, initiate a teamfight, or ruin the enemy's initiation.
Silencer has the unique innate ability, Intelligence Steal, which permanently steals the intelligence of enemy heroes that die near him or are directly killed by him and adds it to his own. This rewards his presence in teamfights, also making his glaives ever stronger as the battle goes on.
Contents
Bio[edit]
 Nortrom, the Silencer
| |
|---|---|
| Play "Enemies should be seen and not heard." | |
| Role: |  Carry /  Support /  Disabler /  Initiator /  Nuker
|
| Lore: | Part of the seventh and final generation of a carefully designed pedigree, Nortrom was bred by the ancient order of the Aeol Drias to be the greatest magic user the world had ever seen. He was the prophesied one, the culmination of two-hundred years of careful pairings, a war-mage who would bring glory to the order, and destruction to their sworn enemies, The Knights of the Fold. Raised with other young mages in a hidden cantonment among the hills of the Hazhadal barrens, the order's preceptors waited for Nortrom’s abilities to manifest. While the other students honed their talents with fire, or ice, or incantatory spells, Nortrom sat silent and talentless, unable to cast so much as a hex. As the day of final testing approached, he still hadn’t found his magic. In disgust, the preceptors berated him, while the children laughed. “You are no mage,” the head of the order declared. Still, Nortrom did not slink away. He entered the day of testing and faced down the young mages who had mocked him. And then his preceptors learned a valuable lesson: a lack of magic can be the greatest magic of all. Nortrom silenced the young mages one by one and defeated them in single combat, until he alone stood as champion of the Aeol Drias, in fulfillment of the prophecy. |
| Voice: | Michael Gregory (Responses) |
Abilities[edit]
Intelligence Steal 
Ability
Passive
Passive
Affects
Enemy Heroes / Self
Enemy Heroes / Self
Silencer will permanently steal 2 intelligence from any enemy hero that dies within 925 range or is killed by the Silencer.
Steal Radius: 925
Stolen Intelligence: 2
Illusions cannot steal intelligence.Although the status buff is copied by illusions, the stolen intelligence is not copied.
Modifiers
Int Steal: Undispellable.Notes:
- This is an innate ability and does not need to be skilled. It is not bound to any ability, but to Silencer himself.
- Stolen intelligence is directly removed from the enemy's base intelligence and added to Silencer's base intelligence.
- Can only steal from base intelligence + intelligence gained from levels. Bonus intelligence cannot be stolen.
- It does not matter how an enemy hero within the radius dies, Silencer always steals its intelligence.
- Silencer also always steals intelligence when he deals the killing blow on an enemy hero, regardless of distance.
- However, Silencer needs to be alive as the kill happens to steal the intelligence.
- Cannot steal intelligence from illusions or hero clones.
- When Silencer kills a
Meepo clone however, he does steal intelligence, since killing a Meepo clone also kills the main Meepo.
- When Silencer kills a
- Cannot reduce enemy base intelligence below 1. Silencer also does not gain intelligence from heroes that are at 1 intelligence.
- The status buff, however, increases by 2 on every kill or nearby death.
- Each stack effectively changes Silencer's and the enemy's mana by 22, mana regeneration by 0.08 and spell damage by 0.14%.
- Silencer also gains 2 attack damage per stack, while the enemy loses the same amount if it is an intelligence hero.
Arcane Curse
Curses the target area, causing enemy heroes to take damage and slowing their movement speed. Anytime affected enemies cast a spell, the duration is increased.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.37
Cast Range: 1000
Radius: 425
Damage per Second: 14/22/30/38
Move Speed Slow: 9%/12%/15%/18% (
34%/37%/40%/43%)
34%/37%/40%/43%)Base Duration: 6
Penalty Duration: 4
20/
75/
Slow persists and attempts to damage if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
Curse Of The Silent: Dispellable with any dispel.Nortrom's lack of incantations is less of a problem for him than it is for his adversaries.
Notes:
- Whenever an affected unit casts a spell, the duration is increased by 4. This effect has no stack limit.
- Fully ignores toggle abilities, active attack modifiers and the abilities listed here.
- If an affected unit gets silenced, the duration and the damage are paused until the silence expires.
- However, the slow is not paused while silenced and still slows affected enemies.
- Successive casts of Arcane Curse fully stack, always placing an independent debuff.
- Damages in 1 second intervals, starting 1 second after the debuff is applied, resulting in 6 (+4 per penalty) instances.
- Can deal up to 84/132/180/228 (+56/88/120/152 per penalty) damage to a single unit (before reductions).
- The sound effect played on every damage instance is only audible to the affected unit's player.
Glaives of Wisdom
Silencer enchants his glaives with his wisdom, dealing additional damage based on his Intelligence.
Cast Range: 600 ( 800)
800)Intelligence as Damage: 35%/50%/65%/80%
Intelligence as Damage against Silenced: 35%/50%/65%/80% (
70%/100%/130%/160%)
70%/100%/130%/160%) 0 15
Causes Glaives to pierce Spell Immunity and deal 100% more damage against silenced units.
Cannot be cast on spell immune enemies.Can be cast on spell immune enemies when upgraded.
Although lacking in traditional incantations, Nortrom's pedigree of the Aeol Drias gives him uncanny wisdom, which he applies to physical combat.
Notes:
- Glaives of Wisdom can be disjointed.
- Glaives of Wisdom deal their damage in a separate damage instance. So they are unaffected by any attack modifying effect.
- Glaives of Wisdom deal their damage before the attack damage is applied, but still depend on the attack hitting the target.
- Checks Silencer's intelligence as the projectile hits. Gaining/losing intelligence while the projectile is travelling does affect its damage.
Last Word
Enchants a target, causing them to be damaged and silenced if they cast a spell or if the enchantment timer expires.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.47
Cast Range: 900
Initial Debuff Duration: 4
Damage: 150/200/250/300
Silence Duration: 3/4/5/6
30/ 115
Does not attempt to damage or silence if initial debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled. Silence persists if silence debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.Modifiers
Last Word: Dispellable with any dispel. Last Word Disarm: Dispellable with any dispel. Silence: Dispellable with any dispel.Nortrom ensures that spells uttered by his opponents will be their last.
Notes:
- When the target casts a spell during the initial debuff, it gets damaged, then silenced, and then the cast spell goes off.
- Since the spell counts as cast, the silence does not prevent it from happening. Although the silence happens first, the spell's effects are already queued up.
- However death does stop the spell, meaning when the damage from Last Word is enough to kill the target, the cast spell does not go off.
- This also means that damage negating spells like
Refraction and spells that provide spell immunity do not block its damage.
- Does not trigger on toggle abilities, active attack modifiers and the abilities listed here.
- Triggers on channeling spells, but waits for the channeling to stop first.
- Last Word does trigger on
Phase Shift. However, it only applies its effects when Phase Shift is canceled manually. - When
Recall is cast while having the debuff on, it freezes and does not trigger until another spell is cast.
- When the initial debuff expires, it still damages and silences the target.
- Grants shared vision as long as the 4 second initial debuff is on.
- The Last Word Disarm debuff, although no longer serving a purpose, is still applied and visible in the HUD.
Global Silence
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
Enemies
Enemies
Silencer stops all sound, preventing enemy heroes and units on the map from casting spells.
Cast Animation: 0.3+0.37
Radius: Global
Duration: 4/5/6
130 250/Modifiers
Global Silence: Dispellable with any dispel.With a shock to the ground, all magic and sound pauses, and Nortrom fulfills his prophecy.
Notes:
- The silence affects spell immune, invisible and invulnerable creeps, summons and heroes. Does not affect hidden units.
- The sound effect of Global Silence which plays on each enemy's hero has the highest sound priority in the game.
- This means it heavily tones down other game sounds for enemies, making it basically the only sound they can hear during the silence.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
+25%  Arcane Curse Slow
|
25 | +200 Attack Range |
| +12% Magic Resistance | 20 | +30 Attack Speed |
| +60 Gold/Min | 15 | +200 Health |
+7  Intelligence
|
10 | +4 Armor |
Notes:
- The armor is added as bonus armor, and therefore does not benefit illusions.
- Gold granted from the talent is unreliable gold.
- Upgrading health increases maximum health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.
- The magic resistance stacks multiplicatively with other sources of magic resistance.
- The attack range talent also affects the cast range of
Glaives of Wisdom.
Recommended items[edit]
Starting items:
- One each of
Tango and 
Healing Salve are minimum regen requirements to stay in lane without being harassed out. As a support, Silencer can also share the benefits of this regen with his carry. - As he is reliant on casting spells,
Clarity is very important for allowing Silencer to harass enemies with his spells as needed. - Choice of early stat items varies depending on Silencer's role and position. In the midlane,
Null Talisman provides the most damage for securing last hits and denies, while a 
Bracer aims for the defensive, giving an extra 60 starting hp over Null Talisman, and can be preferable if planning to build 
Drum of Endurance or 
Rod of Atos. Side laning support Silencers Generally purchase a 
Wind Lace and support items instead of additional stats.
Early Game items:
-
Town Portal Scroll is especially important for Silencer to carry early, as he benefits greatly from getting quickly to fights to steal early intelligence. -
Magic Wand has all the benefits of Magic Stick, along with providing stats and greater charge storage. As Silencer is quite vulnerable to enemy attacks even as a carry, burst HP regen is always helpful. -
Bottle can be beneficial on Silencer if he is played as a mid hero or a roaming support, as every rune can be used to improve his ganks, and the regen also allows him to avoid needing to return to base. -
Boots of Speed are mandatory on almost all heroes. In Silencer's case, being able to get close enough to cast his spells is important, as he can potentially get kills or assists to proc Intelligence Steal. - Wind Lace is useful if playing support for a small move speed boost if starting gold is spent on support items. Additionally, it can be further built into
Eul's Scepter of Divinity. -
Power Treads are important for providing Silencer with stats, particularly strength to give him more HP, no matter if he's a carry or support. The ability to switch attributes can help with spell casting or damage output, and the attack speed is highly beneficial when playing as a carry. -
Force Staff is important on Silencer whether he is played as a carry or support. The Forced Movement can be used on himself or a teammate as an escape mechanism or him to close the distance upon a fleeing enemy, or can be used to push an enemy out of position. Also, it allows a nice build up to 
Hurricane Pike, improving his attack range and allowing him to finish off an opponent with four glaives at long range. -
Orchid Malevolence is a powerful item to build on a carry Silencer, synergizing with all of his spells. Orchid is the only item which gives a large amount of int, mana regeneration, attack speed, and attack damage in one spot, and they're all things Silencer needs if he wants to be an effective carry.
- Arcane Curse's duration pauses when silenced, so a third source of silences increases the effectiveness of this spell, and increases the likelihood of being able to apply a second curse, before the first wears off.
- Glaives of Wisdom get more damage and more attack speed, plus Orchid's active will amplify all the damage done during it's duration. Additionally, in combination with
Aghanim's Scepter, this item increases the length of time Nortrom can gain the bonus damage to silenced targets. - Last word's biggest weakness is the 4 second delay before damage and silence is inflicted, allowing ganked targets to cast an escape spell. By using Soul Burn, then Last word, the delay duration becomes a benefit, as it provides True Sight over the target for the full duration, and continues into a total of 11 seconds of silence without using Silencer's ultimate.
- Finally, if evasion significantly reduces the damage Glaives are doing, he can upgrade to a
Bloodthorn.
-
Aghanim's Scepter greatly improves Glaives of Wisdom, allowing him to deal his full damage potential even against Magic Immune targets, as well as Doubling the Pure damage of his Glaives when he strikes silenced targets. The item itself also grants Silencer many beneficial stats across the board, giving him more survivability overall. - Most of the time, Support silencer will either purchase
Tranquil Boots for the bonus movespeed and regen, or 
Arcane Boots to provide the team with a source of mana and eventually build 
Guardian Greaves. - Force Staff is important on Silencer whether he is played as a carry or support. The Forced Movement can be used on himself or a teammate as an escape mechanism or him to close the distance upon a fleeing enemy, or can be used to push an enemy out of position.
-
Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a very powerful utility item, particularly on a support Silencer. The increased movement speed and mana regen allows Silencer to be more active on the map, while Cyclone can disable enemies, remove debuffs from yourself and make yourself temporarily invulnerable.
Situational items:
- Rod of Atos is an inexpensive utility item that provides both Intelligence and HP, and is great for Silencer if he needs an early disable. The Root is great for catching enemies out of position, or holding them in place so that you can retreat to a safe distance.
-
Mekansm is a defensive support item that gives Silencer the ability to assist teammates more in teamfights, as it gives him regen, stats and armor alongside the healing active ability. - Drum of Endurance is a strong offensive support item, increasing the power of early pushes as well as improving his ability to chase ganked enemies.
-
Scythe of Vyse provides a strong disable, The stats it provides are very beneficial, giving him more intelligence and HP as well as powerful mana regen to sustain his spells. It is a strong lategame item to build whether as a support or carry. -
Shiva's Guard greatly increases Silencer's survivability against physical damage while also granting him more intelligence to fuel his spells and attacks, making it a powerful carry item. The slow can also be used to chase down fleeing enemies more easily. - Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a very powerful utility item, particularly on a support Silencer. The increased movement speed and mana regen allows Silencer to be more active on the map, while Cyclone can disable enemies, remove debuffs from yourself and make yourself temporarily invulnerable.
-
Black King Bar greatly increases Silencer's survivability, particularly as a carry. It gives him more HP and right-click damage, and the spell immunity prevents him from being disabled before he can cast his spells to disable the enemy instead. - When played as a support, Silencer should carry at least some of the support duties. This means assisting the team's other supports in purchasing the
Animal Courier, starting 
Observer Ward, upgrading to the 
Flying Courier, and so on. -
Blink Dagger is a powerful mobility tool, no matter what role Silencer is played in. As a support he can easily position himself to cast his disables on the enemy, as well as use it to evade enemy ganks. As a carry, it gives him strong positioning, allowing him to move quickly into a fight to attack after disabling the enemy with his ultimate. Or to simply blink in to steal intelligence from dying enemy Heroes. -
Ghost Scepter is highly beneficial on a support Silencer, who does not rely on his right-clicks in order to be effective. Becoming immune to physical damage allows Silencer to get his spells off more easily, and buys him time if the enemy's carry jumps on him. This can be upgraded to 
Ethereal Blade which gives him agility for more attack speed and armor, and if Silencer has stolen a substantial amount of intelligence, Silencer can easily nuke down weakened or low-leveled Heroes with its active Ether Blast. And if Ether Blast is used in tandem with a 
Dagon Silencer further increases his killing power, provided he has stolen plenty of intelligence. -
Heaven's Halberd is a powerful survivability item that can either be used for utility on a support Silencer or more staying power as a carry Silencer. The extra HP and evasion give Silencer more survivability against physical damage, and the active can be used to disarm a target on top of silences, rendering enemies completely unable to do anything. -
Mjollnir is a situational weapon to build on a carry Silencer. The vastly increased attack speed allows Silencer to output a lot of damage with his physical attacks, and the shield can be used on himself to deal out even more physical damage or on a highly durable ally who can tank on the front lines. -
Refresher Orb can be a powerful utility item to purchase on a support Silencer if the enemy is mostly reliant on their usage of spells in a fight. The ability to inflict up to 12 seconds of silence to the enemy in a teamfight, through spell immunity and invulnerability, can prevent them from retaliating effectively against your team, securing a victory.
Gameplay[edit]
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
Sets
Shield
Trivia[edit]
- Unlike most heroes, Silencer's attack projectiles actually use the model of his equipped cosmetic weapon.
- Like
Death Prophet, 
Omniknight and 
Io, Silencer received a color palette change, changing his model and icons, having his former red armor replaced with violet.
- Before his palette change, newer players would occasionally mistake Silencer for
Dragon Knight, and he would sometimes be referred to as "The other Dragon Knight". Even after the palette swap, some older players may refer to him as "Purple Dragon Knight".
- Before his palette change, newer players would occasionally mistake Silencer for
- Silencer's spell sound effects are based on some of his voice lines. Arcane Curse debuff sounds is based on "Play Curse you!", Last Word is based on one of his laughing lines and Global Silence is based on Play this.
-
Chen is a member of the Knights of the Fold which would make him an enemy to Silencer based on Silencer's background. Despite this, there is no dialogue between the two heroes.
Gallery[edit]
Splash artwork
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
References[edit]
