[Hero Spotlight] Slither

Slither

So while this hero does not meet too much of the basic criteria in my original "what to play build", as he doesn't have a stun or an escape mechanism, I believe slither is a very strong hero.  He doesn't carry, he is relatively easy to play, and he offers huge benefits to your team.  That said do not pick this hero if your team needs:

More stuns
Fast nuke damage
Tanky heroes

As he is vulnerable to gank, has no stuns, and most of his damage is over time.

Slither's Skills

Poison Spray - Slither sprays a torrent of toxins toward a target location, infecting any enemies that come in contact with the torrent. Infected enemies take some initial damage followed by damage over time and reduced Movement Speed.

This ability does 50/70/70/100 damage up front when maxed, and then 10/20/40/50 damage 5 times over 15 seconds.   This ability also applies a 50 percent slow that restores itself to normal over 5 seconds.

Toxicity - Slither adds poison damage to his attacks. His attacks then reduce target's movement speed, deal damage over time, and negate health regeneration.

This ability applies a 10% Movement Slow and 40%/60%/80%/100% Reduced Health Regeneration, as well as dealing 5/10/15/20 Magic Damage per second.

This ability is an attack modifier

This ability really shines in the laning phase and is good all game as the extra 140 damage per attack is amazing.  With its ability to shut down health regeneration, enemy runes of blight become worthless as long as you continue to harass. This is the first skill I max as it makes your harass in a lane almost unstoppable.

Toxin Ward -  Slither summons a ward at target location that will attack nearby enemies, dealing minor damage and slowing their movement speed. The ward is immune to Magic.

This ability summons a ward that has a sight radius of 300 and attacks near by enemies.Realize if it doesn't have something else to sight for it, it's limited by its own sight range.  If you're gonna be trying to push, max this out as soon as possible.

Poison Burst: Applies Acidic Poison to targets in a 950 radius for 12 seconds. Grants 800 day and night clearvision around Slither for 3 seconds.

Slither's Potential

This ability, Slithers ultimate, deals 36/58/81 non-lethal damage per second for 12 seconds.  Non-lethal means it deals damage till the target is at 1 HP, but won't kill them.  Either of your other damage over time effects will kill the target just fine =D.   Try saving this for engagements with multiple targets unless you really need it.

Now if you just did the math, thats right it does about  450/700/1000 AoE (read team wide) damage! That's sick!

Slither Role and Suggested Items

Slither is all of the following:

Nuker, Ganker, Pusher, Carry (kinda >.>)

Now, there are going to be different builds depending on how you're going to play Slither but the real decision you have to make here is if you're gonna try and semi-carry, or if you're going to gank/push.

If you're ganking/pushing get:

Striders

If you're gonna try and semi-carry get:

Steamboots

No matter if you're pushing, ganking, or semi-carrying the best item by far is Slither:

Geometers Bane

After this if you're trying to deal more damage and Gank get a null-fire, if you're having trouble getting nuked down get a BKB, or if you're just plain pushing a Puzzle Box is ideal.

Important Slither Facts

Your attack range is slightly shorter than most heroes (500 rather than 600), but your attack with toxicity is brutal.  You may take a hit or two to land your harass if your enemy is super aware, but it is probably worth it.

Slither has an attack modifier already, so don't build another one unless you really need it.

Stacking your dots can be brutal, and many enemies will find themselves dead without realizing where the damage came from.

You don't have a scaling skill like splitshot, and/or a crit, so you won't be anywhere near as hard a carry as others.

If your farm isn't going well, play slither as a support, get wards and buy some HP items.

This concludes the slither hero spotlight, if you're interested in another hero, let me know.  I'm going to be working on a Witch Slayer guide for my next hero spotlight!