Assassins Shroud or Portal Key for SoulStealer?

[BlueHabit]

I am curious as to what the community thinks the proper item of the two is for soul stealer. On one hand Assassins shroud builds in manageable pieces but is more expensive, and can be countered by 200g (dust or sentries), while portal key is more expensive and harder to counter. Both provide great positioning for ultimate, its a tough choice in my inexperienced eyes.

[[LC]pk_thunder]

situational

bad farm? shroud!
epic farm? pk!
only carry? shroud!
already invis heroes on ur team? pk!

[Drasha]

portal key all the way it allows you to instantly get into the perfect position for an ult as well as a slew of other awesome things and it costs less then assassins shroud on top of are you ready for this? being uncounterable short of a few heroes ults.

since you know all of this i am going to have to say the main thing is instantly getting where you need to be vs walking there every one might have a preference but i find walking to slow when i see the perfect set up for an ult.

[[TGCH]DemoniWaari]

Yeah I'm with PK all the way, used to make shroud but then it's just way too easy to counter. With PK and shrunken head you can initiate whenever you want to.

EDIT: Though at your psr levers shroud is very viable choice too, because wards are hardly seen at that level.... yet

[[LC]pk_thunder]

Yeah I'm with PK all the way, used to make shroud but then it's just way too easy to counter. With PK and shrunken head you can initiate whenever you want to.

EDIT: Though at your psr levers shroud is very viable choice too, because wards are hardly seen at that level.... yet

ustOfRevelation:

[TreeHorse]

Got a good initiator/follow-up initiator that you trust? Pkey.

Got nothing except your iron will and manly biceps? Shroud.

[[AKAU]Rilian]

Portal Key.

[[TGCH]DemoniWaari]

ustOfRevelation:

I didn't mean that, sure you can counter the SS from getting away with dusts. But countering with wards prevents SS from initiating, which is the real thing that you want to counter.

[shiN3]

portal key isnt counterable whereas shroud is.

[[BADS]cute]

portal key isnt counterable whereas shroud is.

portal key is counterable.

[apot]

:Mock:





pk is more fun though, and near impossible to counter
shroud is pretty good in pubs, but remember that if you have another invis on your team it's pretty likely that your opponents will buy an eye or wards

[[E]Tripwyr]

Please keep these discussions civil. If you have an opinion, please explain it. If you're not going to explain it, keep it to yourself.

[ImASurgeon]

Got a good initiator/follow-up initiator that you trust? Pkey.

Got nothing except your iron will and manly biceps? Shroud.

This. If your on a team that you cant trust (95% of all pubs) then go shroud. Why? Easier to build, damage bonus, pseudo-escape mech, decent positioning.

With portal key, the idea is that YOU initiate, then everyone else jumps in blowing stuns every 2 seconds in order to keep you alive to do DPS and nuke. This works great if you can at least rely on someone, but if no-ones got your back, go shroud.

[[T50]Pandabro]

Situational.
Push team? Portal Key, Assassin's Shroud doesn't do jack if all the fights take place at the tower.

Gank team? Assassin's Shroud will give you more damage and probably won't be countered as much. Get Assassin's if they have as strong gank team as it allows you to escape far better than a portal key will.

Keep in mind that Assassin's Shroud is about 1k more gold than a port which significantly delays getting your Shrunken Head.

[Proxymate]

Portal Key works better in most cases. When people have Puzzlebox 3 and a ton of wards, shroud won't do much.

[Sauron`]

Portal Key works better in 99% of cases. but ill explain anyways for fun considering SS is my highest played hero.
key points:
*Shroud is counterable
*Portal key is cheaper
*-important* People can SEE you building up shroud, so they KNOW what to get to counter you
*Portal Key gives you better positioning as you dont have to wait for the rest of your team
*Portal Key is simply better for chasing low hp hero's. Shroud gives you speed, but nothing beats blinking to that low hp hero
*Portal Key is ALSO great for escaping: Port Behind Trees-->TP out. Shroud does not let you do this


I think that just about covers it

Also I dont see how Shroud is "easier to build" one of the items is 1400. thats only about 700 away from portal key.....which for SS is easy to farm in a matter of minutes

[F1]

Portal key is harder to counter IMO

[Proxymate]

I guess Shroud might be better for ganks, but if you are trying to push/defend, a Portal Key works a lot better.

If your team is absolutely moronic and nobody is initiating with a stun, get shroud.

If your team is initiating with a stun, follow up with shrunken head + pkey port.

You definitely need DECENT teammates if you're going pkey. A good player will disable you right when you blink (considering you dont have bkb yet). Ask a teammate to stun them first and jump in for the ult

[scarekrow1]

If your team is absolutely moronic and nobody is initiating with a stun, get shroud.

You definitely need DECENT teammates if you're going pkey. A good player will disable you right when you blink (considering you dont have bkb yet). Ask a teammate to stun them first and jump in for the ult

tbh i have never seen a SS getting disabled right when they blink in, no one has reacted that fast in any of the games i've played.