Slither build.

[Scawt]

What exactly are the best builds for Slither in varying situations? :slit:

I remember we used to see every slither max wards first, and spam them in lane just outside of tower range to keep the creep wave right at the enemy's tower, but we don't see this so much anymore. Really the only change that was made was the ward sight, so I'm guessing this didn't fall out of favour so much because it was nerfed, but because a more powerful build emerged.

Lately, we see people max Toxicity and Poison Spray first, getting wards last, and taking ult when possible. Is this build actually better?


I'm really more interested in the skillbuild of Slither, as I'm quite confident with item builds, no matter what role I put Slither in.
Please also include reasoning as to why you should build Slither a certain way. :)

I'm specifically interested in how Slither counters "everymidinthegameperiod."
But seriously, I saw another forum in Strategy and people were saying Slither counters a lot of mid heroes, especially melee ones. I'd like some elaboration on this too. :)

:slit::slit::slit:

[azuresou1]

People stopped maxing Wards early because the huge nerf in sight range means you can no longer get such a massive amount of map awareness/control just by tossing on in the woods. As such, getting 2 ward charges half as helpful as it used to be.

Poison Spray on the other hand is still great in general.

My skillbuild in general:
Tox
Spray
Tox
Ward
Tox
Spray
Tox
Spray
Spray
Ult
Ult
Ward x 3
Stats
Ult
Stats x 9

Slither rapes lots of mid heroes, especially melee, because landing a single hit means that you apply Toxicity, which cancels out their regen from trees, prevents them from potioning or bottling, and oh, deals assloads of damage. I mean, at Level 5, a hit from Slither means that you are taking ~ 150 total damage.

[Pandabro]

Maxing wards can still be very good depending on your situation. If you are soloing and the enemy goes to gank you can get a early tower very easily if you throw points into wards.

If I'm solo I usually go: 1/2/2/3/2/3/2/4/3/3/4

If I'm laning I usually go: 1/2/2/1/2/4/2/3/3/1/4

Item builds are pretty situational but HotBL is always a solid option if you can get it early enough. Otherwise you can make just about ANYTHING work on slither. Seriously, besides something dumb like Insanitarious you can build Slither in any way the game needs you to. I've gotten geos, puzzle, nomes, tablet, barrier, portal, Savage, wingbow, etc. I'd even entertain the idea of Sheepstick or storm spirit without batting an eye.

[etspaceman]

Usually I play Slither as a hard-support. Work towards a Nomes early on, maybe get a Helm first for survivability. I tend to max out spray as the range/damage increase is extremely handy when locking up ganks. For Toxicity vs. Wards, depends on what team you've got. If you have a hard pusher (Defiler/Polly/Tort), go wards to maximize pushing potential. If you are more of a turtle team, go Toxicity to dominate the lane.

The nice thing is, you can max out any skill first on Slither and still be very effective, so don't limit yourself to one build. Slithers can semi-carry in one game, and hard support in another. With semi-carry, you'd probably want to get a Helm very early (as Slither has horrid survivability), and go for something like Geo's or even Spellshards. He's probably the most flexible hero in the game. Problem is, he's kind of mediocre in every role. Still, he can be a very good asset to your team if played according to the circumstances.

[Ankkastorm]

I found it very effective to get helm and spellshards early as i kinda pwned ppl.
Easily took down ppl like armadon and legionnaire alone.

[`AngryJaCky]

Here again it depend on the situation .

if u midle / solo with it better up the 3 nd skill first .

if u lane or try to gank before the game start rather up the first skill .

By the way if u solo sidelane u gotta up ward max asap .

[SmashFiles]

I usually build up support, or a very light semi-carry build. Usually start with steamboots, and then build HotBL, and then Nomes. After that it depends. If we're doing well, i go for firebrand and then build up geo, so i can spread my Toxicity around better. Spellshards/Staff are also good if you want to increase youre magic damage.
In rare cases, if youre scared of running into the middle of the fight build up a shrunken head. It's all really situational.

As for skill build, i try and get toxicity up first, and spray. Normally no ult til lvl 9 or 10, but if i can see a team fight coming, then i'll level it up earlier. Superb early game harassment. Wards are also really good, but you have to have a good understanding of when and where to build them up at, which i sadly do not have.

[Talak_Hallen]

which cancels out their regen from trees

I had recently heard that this isn't true anymore. I think that Runes of Blight were changed so that they no longer increase health regeneration and instead just heal the character at 7.18HP/s for 16 seconds. It's virtually the same thing except for this specific case with :slit:. I might be wrong but I think I've tried it and found it to be true.

Toxicity is an amazing ability to harass with though and it does interrupt other forms of healing and regeneration.

I usually max Toxicity and Poison Spray first when I'm roaming around and ganking... or just harassing in lane. And for some reason people always try to run away when you Poison Spray them instead of turning and fighting so you just get several free auto attacks on them.

[special1]

if you dont max toxicity first you're doing it wrong. that's slither's bread and butter and what makes him op. early game you just auto atk people and watch their health disappear. mid game/late game when you have your ult just walk into a group of enemies, ult, and atk as many different people as you can (1 hit each) so your toxicity will kill them (remember your ult doesnt kill them, it will bring them to 1hp unless you get them with toxicity)

skills:
lvl 1: spray
lvl 2: toxicity
lvl 3: toxicity
lvl 4: spray
lvl 5: toxicity
lvl 6: ult
lvl 7: toxicity
rest in spray, then wards last.


my item build depends on the other team, but i usually go ghost marchers, null stone/shrunken depending on their team, helm for survivability (optional), then geos (or if farm is bad, null blade), then null blade (or geos if i got null first), then staff. by this point the game is already over.


last night i had an extra 6k so i got a mock and it actually worked kind of well. fun for joke games.

[MrBrightside]

As stated before,
if mid solo (or solo on other lanes) i would skill like this:
1st: Toxicity
2nd: Spray
3rd: Toxicity
4th: Wards
5th: Toxicity
6th: Ult
7th: Toxicity
from here max wards, then spray. The crazy harassing ability that comes with toxicity combined with the distance you can keep with wards up is essential in solo lanes. When solo mid, your main goal is to get the tower quickly, which ofc the wards can do.

If you're in a dual lane, basically skill
1st: Toxicity
2nd: Spray
and keep leveling them in that order (with 6th being ult ofc) until both maxed, then wards.
If you face Vindicator on lane, put an early point into wards to avoid his curse.

[Mankrik]

Not necessarily true about solo mid, MrBrightside. Slither is often a counter to SS where your goal is to kill him as frequently as possible even when it means you die, too, but he still dies from your dots. Or at the very least to prevent him from grabbing all the runes and achieving excellent earlygame farm. Take his tower down and it just means he'll hold the line closer to his second tower and be virtually ungankable.

But just to clarify, slither used to max wards because a) they spawned multiple sets at one point, b) you used to be able to have 3-4 sets, and c) rank 1 poison spray had max range and slow and only went up in damage so it was sufficient. Nowadays you need to max burst for the range and wards are significantly less powerful.

Edit: Poison spray, not burst.

[Karming]

I've still been dominated by Poison wards. Usually enemy trilanes and slither solos vs two, wards seem weak for the first few levels but when he finally gets them up hes virtually unpushable, and any strider heroes just get screwed off by the incredible annoyingness of wards.

I still prefer spray/toxiciy, but I think I'll start trying Ward/toxicity strats now.

KT

[Shocker420]

People stopped maxing wards when the poison spray was nerfed. Now you need to get levels to it to get max range.

[Epidemilk]

These days I go:
Tox Spray Tox Ward Tox Ult Tox Ward Ward Ward Ult Spray Spray Spray

Plated Greaves and Nome's Wisdom are my usual priorities. But most likely it's just a piece here and there as I can get it in between wards..

[Ogrim]

though it is somewhat situational, i still chose to max up wards first, regardless of the sight issues.

i usually build

2/1/2/3/3/4/3/3/2/2/4/1/1/1/stats/4 (sometimes i go spray first for gank, but since the rune nerf, i prefer having level 1 toxicity for early harass to establish dominance.)

basicly, i find that with ghost marchers, im perfectly capable of nailing that spray. Its also easier to land the slow if you throw wards to put an initial slow on the target.

The immense pushing power, security and combined damage that wards give is awesome when spamed. By security, i mean that wherever i am, im throwing out wards, and if you stay in any spot for more than 15 seconds, you should already have 3 wards right by you. When a fight goes down, those wards do crazy damage. To accomplish this, i generally go marchers first, then get a buckler and life tube and a ring of the teacher, and then finish the helm. After that i build steam of ghost and after finish nomes. Steams is better all around for many reasons, buts ghost marchers will help you nail your level 1 spray early game.

Maxing wards also gives you the ability to quickly farm up those items at the end of the early game into the middle game.

Edit: plated grieves seems interesting... but ghost marchers positioning power is solid, and since i build helm anyway... it seems like overkill.

[Lyall]

Does Plated apply to Toxic Wards?

[giully]

The best way to play slither imo (and dont even dare 2 start the fcking psr flame just giving my expirience from noob 2 noob) is as a tank: max ur nuke first, toxic second take ult everytime possible. I go steamsboots, hotbl, shamans and then what my team needs: if we need more carrypower i take wingbow if we need more suport u can take sotm or if u need more survivability take deamonic. Btw this build is often played by some rly badass players like trixi and co.

[Chinekafon]

a friend of mine goes mid and:
skill build: max toxicity first, spray second with one or two lvl of ward getting ult whenever.

item build:
:DuckBoots::DuckBoots::MinorTotem::MinorTotem::Run esOfTheBlight::HealthPotion:

then in this order:
:IronShield: > :Steamboots: > :GeometersBane: (:BlessedOrb: > fire brand) > spellshards(belive it works! toxicity(for u and illu)+ult+spray with -magic armor)

[JoOKie]

If I go for levels on spray i never take ult at 6

[special1]

a friend of mine goes mid and:
skill build: max toxicity first, spray second with one or two lvl of ward getting ult whenever.

item build:
:DuckBoots::DuckBoots::MinorTotem::MinorTotem::Run esOfTheBlight::HealthPotion:

then in this order:
:IronShield: > :Steamboots: > :GeometersBane: (:BlessedOrb: > fire brand) > spellshards(belive it works! toxicity(for u and illu)+ult+spray with -magic armor)

this would only work if the other team doesnt attack you.
id suggest getting survivability item/s after steamboots so you dont get destroyed in fights and can sit around to get your toxicity on as many people as possible.

[etspaceman]

Geometers is a pretty big survivability item with the activatable ability, and so is Steamboots/Agi Shield. Still not a fan of carry Slither though.

[Epidemilk]

Still not a fan of carry Slither though.

There IS no carry Slither, just people who shouldn't be picking him, and a lot of vocal ignorami who accept any agi hero as a carry but demand Tort, SR, Vindi, Puppet, or Doctor buy wards.... even if there's a much better candidate for the team's "item independent" slave*****

[Farosarg]

There IS no carry Slither, just people who shouldn't be picking him, and a lot of vocal ignorami who accept any agi hero as a carry but demand Tort, SR, Vindi, Puppet, or Doctor buy wards.... even if there's a much better candidate for the team's "item independent" slave*****

What is this I don't even...

Slither benefits from items a lot more than your bread and butter supporters. Getting survivability, manaregen and later on damage makes him a beast in teamfights. I play him as both carry and support, depending on the situation and team composition but I very much prefer to have him farmed up as he can match even Thunderbringer and Torturer in hero damage.

[Epidemilk]

What is this I don't even...

Slither benefits from items a lot more than your bread and butter supporters. Getting survivability, manaregen and later on damage makes him a beast in teamfights. I play him as both carry and support, depending on the situation and team composition but I very much prefer to have him farmed up as he can match even Thunderbringer and Torturer in hero damage.

Nome's, Plated, and a Helm are kinda nice to have, but Slither can man up and ward. Get pieces when there are wards up already and you can afford it. If you're stomping hard (or somebody else is actually stepping up and investing in team safety for once) and have money burning a hole in your pocket for some reason, whatever, get a Geometer's, Shrunken, whatever the ****...but really it doesn't take much to make Slither at least a really effective pusher. Toxin Ward spam is helpful and not mana intensive.

And no, a farmed Torturer is definitely scarier.

Let me also add that none of those I mentioned are "bread and butter supporters" in any way. It seems like more people understand this about SOME of them now, but still nobody seems to realize Vindicator makes a terrible support (no stun, no slow, no heal, no bursty nukes, etc) and will hit like a train if allowed to farm a bunch of utility items (Tablet, Nome's, Hellflower, Sheepstick, Frostfield, whatever, tons of **** with int on it).

[Purdy]

Do spellshards scale with his ultimate and toxicity dot from auto attack?

[showdown11]

Playing at the level I do, I usually ward no matter what hero I play nowadays. Anyway...Slither has wards as recommended item, so it's a shame when a slither don't want to ward, i ward entire game when i play him. I know i have bad mmr and such, however I do got like a 70 percent win percentage with this hero. Toxcitity rapes hard in lanes, max it out first, ulty and auto attack and spray gaurantee someone is dead even if they tp to the fountain they will still die with a level 4 toxicity. I've tried a lot of ways to get the most of my slither, i tried maxing out wards first, and i'm like meh..it's hard to get kills with wards and other combinations. Then i tried maxing out spray with then toxicitiy, it was okay, i still had a harder time getting kills with that build. Then i went back to my old way and just maxed out tox first then spray, this imo is the best way to get a kills early on and help the team. Maxing out wards first is a joke, a enemy hero can just kill it in one hit and get gold and exp from it, also if they got a mana battery they will just get mana and health almost equal the mana cost of planting a ward, then putting one level in the ward just makes your other skills less powerful thus making you a liability in team fights.
Shrunken, nomes, helm nullblade, staff, spellshards void talismans are prety much the only items i get on him. To all the people say slither isn't a carry, yes he is, he's one of the best early gamers in the game, yet he's just not as strong end game, that's why you got to take advantage of a early game! ward, catch people alone spray and auto them to death they will die unless they got some sort of escape mechanism.

[PrestonLee]

1232242333411101

cheap slither:
:Steamboots: :PowerSupply: :FortifiedBracelet: :MysticVestments: :HomecomingStone: :WardOfSight: :Glowstone: (-> :StaffOfTheMaster: if game goes on longer) go around roaming and diving people with auto attack and killing them all game. push tower after gank. gg your carry is farmed, early concede.

alternatively, if you get lots of early farm: :EnhancedMarchers:/:PlatedGreaves: :RingOfTheTeacher: :HelmOfTheBlackLegio :NomesWisdom: :NullfireBlade: :GeometersBane:

-

if you're playing with downsbaby 1300psr's and get 500 gpm carry slither:
:PostHaste: :GeometersBane: :StaffOfTheMaster: :NullfireBlade: :Puzzlebox: Spellshards

alternative luxuries: :KuldrasSheepstick: :FrostfieldPlate: :Mock: :Riftshards: :Wingbow: :ShrunkenHead: :SavageMace: :SymbolOfRage: