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Slark
Slark
Strength attribute symbol
Agility attribute symbol
Intelligence attribute symbol
21 + 1.9
21 + 1.5
16 + 1.7
Level 0 1 15 25 30
Health 120 582 1154 1836 2100
+3.25 +5.35 +8.01 +11.11 +12.26
Mana 75 267 543 891 1023
+0.9 +1.7 +2.89 +4.34 +4.87
Armor -1 2.5 6 10.5 12.08
Magic Resist 25% Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "%".% Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "%".% Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "%".% Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "%".%
Damage Block 16 (50%)
Damage

33
41

54
62

75
83

102
110

111
119

Attack Rate 0.59/s 0.71/s 0.84/s 0.99/s 1.05/s
Attack Range Melee 150 (600)
Attack Speed ▶️ 100 (1.7s BAT)
Attack Animation 0.5 + 0.3
Projectile Speed Instant
Move Speed ▶️ 295 (Nighttime 325)
Turn Rate Takes 0.175s to turn 180°. 0.6
Collision Size 24
Bound Radius 24
Vision Range (G) 1800
Gib Type Default
Internal Not Provided

Slark, the Nightcrawler, is a melee agility hero that utilizes his abilities to spring onto enemy heroes and slip out unhindered. He is a very mobile ganker, but remains attribute-wise below most other carries unless he is able to steal away attributes with his abilities. Once he does, though, only a few heroes can hope to be as fearsome as the Nightcrawler - extremely mobile to the point of ever-presence, his strikes only hitting harder and faster.

Slark can quickly leap forward onto enemies with Pounce to leash them and bind them from escaping. His Dark Pact releases a delayed dispel that breaks even the most powerful disables. This gives him one of the most flexible abilities to start and end fights in the game. He is also capable of stealing attributes by attacking his victim to boost his own attack damage temporarily with Essence Shift, which can rapidly shift engagements in his favor, even when merely performing hit-and-run maneuvers. Slark's ultimate, Shadow Dance, allows him to remain unseen even while attacking for a short duration and allows him to move quicker when not under the watch of enemy eyes to strike in and out of enemy ranks unhindered.

Bio

Slark minimap iconSlark, the Nightcrawler
▶️ "If I'd known I'd end up here, I'd have stayed in Dark Reef Prison."
Little known to the inhabitants of the dry world, Dark Reef is a sunken prison where the worst of the sea-breed are sent for crimes against their fellows. It is a razor barbed warren full of murderous slithereen, treacherous Deep Ones, and sociopathic meranths. In this dim labyrinth, patrolled by eels and guarded by enormous anemones, only the vicious survive. Pitched into Dark Reef for crimes unknown, Slark spent half a lifetime without kin or kindness, trusting no one, surviving through a combination of stealth and ruthlessness, keeping his thoughts and his plans to himself. When the infamous Dark Reef Dozen plotted their ill-fated breakout, they kept their plans a perfect secret, murdering anyone who could have put the pieces together--but somehow Slark discovered their scheme and made a place for himself in it. Ten of the Dozen died in the escape attempt, and two were captured, hauled back to Dark Reef, then executed for the entertainment of their fellow inmates. But Slark, the unsung thirteenth, used the commotion as cover and slipped away, never to be caught. Now a furtive resident of the carnivorous mangrove scrub that grips the southern reach of Shadeshore, Slark remains the only successful escapee from Dark Reef.

Abilities

Dark Pact
Dark Pact icon
Ability
No Target
Affects
Enemies / Self
Damage
Magical
After a short delay, Slark sacrifices some of his life blood, purging most negative debuffs and dealing damage to enemy units around him and to himself. Slark only takes {{#show:#Dark Pact|?value4#}} of the damage.
Damage Radius: 325
Effect Delay: 1.5
Total Damage: 75/150/225/300 (Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3#}}+1".)
Self Damage Percentage: 50%
Cooldown symbol
 9/8/7/6
Mana symbol
 55/50/45/40
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
Dark Pact
Undispellable
Dark Pact Pulses
Undispellable
Slithereen are capable of quickly regrowing appendages, in case of critical injury, to save their own lives.

  • Dark Pact interrupts Slark's channeling spells upon cast.
  • Deals Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3#}}*0.1". (Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3 tal#}}*0.1".) damage within a {{#show:#Dark Pact|?value1#}} radius in 0.1 second intervals, starting {{#show:#Dark Pact|?value2#}} seconds after cast for a total of 10 instances.
  • Slark takes Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3#}}*{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value4#}}*0.1". (Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3 tal#}}*{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value4#}}*0.1".) damage in the same intervals, resulting in Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3#}}*{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value4#}}". (Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value3 tal#}}*{{#show:#Dark Pact|?value4#}}".) total damage.
  • Applies a strong dispel on Slark in the same intervals, before each of its damage instances.
  • The visual effects and sounds during the {{#show:#Dark Pact|?value2#}} seconds delay is only visible and audible to allies.
  • The visual effect of the damaging pulses are visible even when Slark is invisible.
  • Dark Pact ends Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". seconds after cast, but ends instantly when Slark dies.
  • Re-casting Dark Pact during the effect delay cancels the previous cast and starts a new one instead.


Pounce
Pounce icon
Ability
No Target
Affects
Enemy Heroes / Self
Damage
Magical
Slark leaps forward, grabbing the first hero he connects with. That unit takes damage and is leashed to Slark, and can only move a limited distance away from Slark's landing position.
Leap Distance: 700
Latch Radius: 95
Leash Radius: 325
Damage: 30/60/90/120
Leash Duration: 3.5 (Talent Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".)
Cooldown symbol
 20/16/12/8
Mana symbol
 75
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
Pounce
Undispellable
Pounce Leash
Undispellable
Time in the Dark Reef made Slark a dangerous assassin; aggressive and fearless.

  • Slark leaps forward at a speed of 933.33 for up to Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". seconds.
  • Always jumps for the full distance, unless an enemy hero gets within {{#show:#Pounce|?value2#}} radius of Slark during the jump.
  • Can latch on enemy heroes up to Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". range away (max distance + latch radius).
  • Slark can turn, cast spells, and use items during Pounce, but cannot attack.
  • When latching on a unit, Slark is automatically ordered to attack the target.
  • The more the leash gets stretched, the slower the affected unit can walk away from the center, eventually coming to a full stop. It directly affects the target's movement speed.
  • Pounce destroys trees within 100 radius around Slark upon landing.


Essence Shift
Cannot be used by illusions. Disabled by Break. Pierces spell immunity. EN
Essence Shift icon
Ability
Passive
Affects
Enemy Heroes / Self
Slark steals the life essence of enemy heroes with his attacks, draining each of their attributes and converting them to bonus Agility.
All Attributes Lost per Attack: 1
Agility Gained per Attack: 3
Duration: 15/30/60/120 (Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "{{#show:#Essence Shift|?value3#}}+40".)
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
Essence Shift Debuff
Undispellable
Essence Shift Counter
Undispellable
Essence Shift Buff
Undispellable
With each strike at his adversaries, Slark's knowledge of their weaknesses improves.

  • Essence Shift steals attributes before attack damage is applied.
  • Successive attacks do not refresh the duration of all stolen/lost attributes. Each stack has its own duration.
  • The status buff and debuff icon show the number of current stacks and show the duration of the last stack.
  • Effective stats loss by primary attribute of attacked enemies, on top of Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". attack damage:
    • Strength attribute symbol Strength: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". health, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% health regen amp, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% magic resistance, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". armor, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% move speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". attack speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". mana, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% mana regen amp, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% spell damage.
    • Agility attribute symbol Agility: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". health, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% health regen amp, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% magic resistance, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". armor, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% move speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". attack speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". mana, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% mana regen amp, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% spell damage.
    • Intelligence attribute symbol Intelligence: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". health, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% health regen amp, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% magic resistance, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". armor, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% move speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". attack speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". mana, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% mana regen amp, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% spell damage.
  • Effectively grants Slark Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". armor, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".% move speed, Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". attack speed, and Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". attack damage per stack.
  • Essence Shift cannot reduce any attribute below 0. However, Slark continues to gain agility, even when the attacked hero has no more attributes left to steal.
  • When Slark dies, he loses all stolen attributes, but the affected enemies do not get theirs back, and vice versa.
  • Cannot steal attributes from illusions, but can steal from hero clones.
  • Can steal attributes from allies.


Shadow Dance
Shadow Dance icon
Ability
No Target
(Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. Aura)
Affects
Self
(Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. Allied Heroes)
When used, Slark hides himself in a cloud of shadows, becoming immune to detection. Attacking, casting spells, and using items will not reveal Slark. Passively, when not visible to the enemy team, Slark gains bonus movement speed and health regeneration.
Aura Radius: 0 (With Aghanim's Scepter 325)
Fade Time: 0
Move Speed Bonus: 30%/40%/50%
Max Health as Regen per Second: 3%/5%/7%
Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
Active Duration: 4 (Talent Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".)
Cooldown symbol
 60 (With Aghanim's Scepter 30)
Mana symbol
 120
Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter.
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
Reduces cooldown and causes Shadow Dance active to be an area of effect ability, hiding nearby allied heroes underneath it.
Buff/Debuff
Modifiers [?]
Shadow Dance Passive Regen
Undispellable
Shadow Dance Aura
Undispellable
Shadow Dance
Undispellable
The hidden Thirteenth is a slippery foe.

  • Shadow Dance interrupts Slark's channeling spells upon cast.
  • Slark gains or loses the health regen and movement speed bonus 0.5 seconds after getting in or out of enemy vision, or casting Shadow Dance.
  • If Slark is damaged by a neutral creep, the health regen and movement speed bonus are lost for 2 seconds.
  • When casting Shadow Dance, he turns invisible and cannot be revealed by anything. However, the black cloud created is visible to enemies.
  • The invisibility is granted by an aura, its buff lingers for {{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value5#}} seconds.
    • When not upgraded, the buff immediately disappears as soon as Shadow Dance expires. When upgraded, it lingers out when expiring.
    • This means Shadow Dance effectively lasts Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". (Talent Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".) seconds when upgraded, even for Slark.
    • When not upgraded, the aura affects the caster only. When upgraded, it affects allied heroes, illusions and creep-heroes as well.
    • The aura only provides the invisibility. Therefore, allies do not receive the passive health regeneration and movement speed buff.
    • The aura does not affect invulnerable units, so even if Slark turns invulnerable during it, he gets revealed.
  • Restores health in the form of health regeneration, so it regenerates Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "( {{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value4#}}*0.1 )*100". of max health in 0.1 second intervals.
  • Regenerates a total of Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "( {{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value4#}}*{{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value6#}} )*100". (Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "( {{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value4#}}*{{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value6 tal#}} )*100".)(Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "( {{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value4#}}*({{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value6#}}+{{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value5#}}) )*100"., Talent Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "( {{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value4#}}*({{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value6 tal#}}+{{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value5#}}) )*100".) of Slark's maximum health while active, considering the regeneration is not prevented.
  • Can possibly restore 100% of Slark's health on its own within Lua error in Module:Calculate at line 35: in expression "ceil (10000*(1/{{#show:#Shadow Dance|?value4#}}))". seconds.
  • Health regen bonuses which are based on maximum health are not amplified by strength.


  • Shadow Dance does not allow Slark to walk through units.


Talents

Hero Talents
+120s Essence Shift icon Essence Shift Duration25+1s Shadow Dance icon Shadow Dance Duration
+3s Pounce icon Pounce Leash20+150 Dark Pact icon Dark Pact Damage
20% Lifesteal15+30 Attack Speed
+8 Agility attribute symbol Agility10+10 Strength attribute symbol Strength
Notes:
  • Stacks additively with other lifesteal sources.

Recommended items

Gameplay

The only prisoner ever to escape from Dark Reef, Slark's abilities and ruthlessness are without equal. The Nightcrawler Pounces on his foes, leaping over obstacles and pinning them to the ground. With every swing of his barnacle encrusted blade, Slark steals his target's essences, converting them to render himself more agile. He forges a Dark Pact, sacrificing his own lifeblood to dissipate negative energies that damage foes, and frees him from magical constraints. Concealing himself with Shadow Dance, the Nightcrawler presents no visible target to would-be attackers. Hidden in this black haze, Slark escapes the inescapable, and returns to gut his enemies with little risk of retribution.
Roles: Carry Carry Escape Escape Disabler Disabler Nuker Nuker
Complexity: Hero Complexity
Adjectives: Legs ( 2 )


Audio

History

Equipment

Trivia

  • Slark is named after a rare murloc in World of Warcraft.
  • Slark's murloc heritage was completely removed in the transition to Dota 2 to avoid copyright issues, since the murlocs are an existing race in the Warcraft universe.
  • Slark's response ▶️ "Met you once, cut you twice." is a reference to the carpentry phrase "measure twice, cut once".
  • Slark's respawn line ▶️ "Griefer madness..." is a reference to the propaganda film Reefer Madness. As well, a griefer is a role a player assumes while in a multiplayer game to deliberately irritate other players.
  • Slark's weapon, a shiv, is the traditional prison weapon and is a reference to his backstory.

Gallery

de:Slark

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