Why is Slark considered overpowered?
- Slark is a snowball carry, and he is able to make a fortune by farming squishy heroes around the map. The same counts for many heroes in DotA, like Rikimaru or Storm Spirit. However, these heroes all share a common weakness - their weak early game. This does not seem to be the case for the deadly fish, as he possesses a very long early-game crowd control spell, a passive that makes him deadly in a 1v1 scenario, and the ability to debuff offensive/defensive spells thrown on him. Left unattended, Slark can become a pest, extremelly difficult to control during the middle game.
- Shadow Dance allows Slark to weave in an out of combat with ease, and can quickly heal his wounds while being out of enemy's sight. This means that Slark can roam non-stop, given that he has solved his mana problems. Thus, unless you kill him, he can always come back and try to take you down, and this can be overwhelming - especially for new players.
- Shadow Dance is a panic button. Since its rework, it can now make Slark untargettable for four seconds, and he can only be controlled by AOE crowd control or Chronosphere. For many, this change was more of a buff than a nerf, as Slark can now focus his target with no interruption, making tunnel vision viable and even suggested.
Slark's statistics in competitive and public matches
| 6.80 stats (as of 3/18) | Public Games | Competitive Games |
|---|---|---|
| Times Picked | 6,163,552 | 143 |
| Win Rate | 50.62% | 47.6% |
| Average Kills | 9.12 | 7.0 |
| Average KDA | 2.67 | 4.98 |
| Average GPM | 398 | 440 |
| Average XPM | 506 | 511 |
In public games, Slark's statistics are pretty much expected for the snowball nature of the hero. His XPM (Experience Per Minute) is one of the highest at the moment, which shows that Slark players like to kill a lot, often gaining a significant experience advantage when things go as planned. The above fact is confirmed by checking his average kill count, which is also very high (9.12).
In competitive games, Slark's popularity is average (143 compared to Mirana's 334). His winrate is not very encouraging, which seems strange considering his other statistics are quite solid. This shows that Slark can be very powerful individually, but he is not a reliable carry if the game lasts for too long. It also indicates that organized teamplay cripples his snowball potential, turning him into a less impactful fish.
How does Slark compare to other snowball heroes in pubs?
| 6.80 stats (as of 3/18) | Slark | Storm Spirit | Rikimaru | Bloodseeker | Legion Commander |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times Picked | 6,163,552 | 3,634,602 | 8,011,508 | 7,503,422 | 5,815,419 |
| Win Rate | 50.62% | 44.95% | 53.36% | 52.71% | 44.83% |
| Average Kills | 9.12 | 7.92 | 11.35 | 10.51 | 6.37 |
| Average KDA | 2.67 | 2.73 | 3.07 | 2.57 | 1.95 |
| Average GPM | 398 | 383 | 394 | 418 | 403 |
| Average XPM | 506 | 479 | 520 | 518 | 485 |
There is certainly a paradox in these numbers. With a quick look, one can notice that Rikimaru and Bloodseeker kill way more than Slark, they have a higher win-rate, higher XPM, and about the same or higher KDA. So why there are so many fierce nerf discussions about Slark and none about Riki and Seeker?
This is an immediate result of the vast skill difference between the brackets of public games, as well as the heroes themselves. No matter how many buffs Riki and Seeker get, their counters will always be the same : Riki gets countered by True Sight and early game pressure, while Seeker gets crippled by TP scrolls and the "S button". Those who do know these techniques will always find ways to take the two heroes down, while those who don't will just feed.
Another thing we realise from the numbers is the huge distance between public and competitive games. Storm Spirit's statistics in pubs are not very encouraging, with a measly 44,95% winrate and the lowest GPM of alll five heroes. However, Storm is the most picked and most successful of the five heroes in competitive games, being useful in numerous different strategies and scenarios. (Legion Commander has not been introduced into Dota2's Captain's Mode yet, so we do not know how big her impact will be)
The tools of the crime
There are certain items bought by 'Slark Pickers' that enhance his ability to murder squishy heroes with characteristic ease. These items are usually purchased right after the boots upgrade (mostly Power Treads), and the sooner they are completed, the bigger impact they have.
Shadow Blade gives Slark another on-demand invisibility, that synergizes with Shadow Dance. This means that Slark can now spot Sentry Wards as well as Observer Wards, and gets another 'panic' button for fights if True-Sight is not available for the enemy team. Shadow Blade also helps Slark's initiation, helping him sneak behind low-hp heroes and land an easy pounce on them. Shadow Blade is usually the first choice for the 'pubstomper' Slark item build, being quite strong when finished the first 15 minutes of the game.
Orchid Malevolence is another viable choice for the predator fish. Basically, it allows Slark to spam his spells without worrying about his mana, which is a big issue for Slark during the early game. The damage/attack speed boost it offers works very well with the hero, but it does not increase his HP/Armor so he is still pretty squishy. Last but not least, Soul Burn practically makes Slark's target unable to react when combined with Pounce, while Slark's two nukes and high right-click damage get even scarier due to damage amplification.
Orb of Venom is a cheap solution to aid Slark's chasing abilities. The hero's base movement speed is above average (305), so the presence of the Orb in his arsenal can make it quite difficult for the enemy to escape Slark's continuous attacks, unless they possess some sort of tool to prevent Slark from attacking or escape his grasp. Orb of Venom can be upgraded to Eye of Skadi, offering the valuable Cold Attack and a significant improvement to Stark's stats.
In the end, is the hero too strong?
Judging from the statistics of the hero in Public/Competitive matches, and his item selections, it seems that Slark is another one of those cases when a hero's skillset allows them to turn into roaming meat machine. We have seen it with Rikimaru, we have seen it with Pudge, and now we see it with Slark. The difference here is that most of the roaming assassins can probably be countered by a set of Observer/Sentry wards, whereas Slark needs well-timed TP support and proper teamplay. One can easily understand what this translates into : in the average pub game, it is harder to counter Slark that actually play and win with him. This is due to the natural lack of coordination and cooperation between randomly matched players.
Since his dominance does not reach the levels of the old Earth Spirit or other cases of ridiculous imbalanced heroes, IceFrog can probably get Slark to acceptable strength levels with a few minor tweaks (inrceased Dark Pact / Pounce cooldowns etc). Even without changes, I believe it is only a matter of time until players start figuring more and more ways to control the hero-eating fish. We can just sit back and observe as Slark gets devoured by the meta and replaced by some other source of complaints!
>> April 2014 - Place GosuBets on Dota 2 matches, win Lockless Luckboxes!
