Slark
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Version Control
This article is mostly accurate for the latest version of the game (7.37), in which this hero/item was changed.
It has no changes in the current game version — 7.37e.
Slark
20 + 2.1
21 + 1.5
16 + 1.9
| Grants the following bonuses per attribute point: | |
|
+22HP and +0.1HP regeneration |
|
+0.17 armor and 1 attack speed +1 Main Attack Damage |
|
+12MP and +0.05MP regeneration +0.1% base magic resistance |
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0 Projectile Speed
| ||
120 (141)
(1.7 BAT) | ||
0.5 + 0.3
| ||
0.7
| ||
Default
Gib Type | ||
2012-11-15
Released | ||
2009-12-23
(v6.65) | ||
Competitive Span
2013-04-25 — 2013-10-21 2013-12-12 — Present |
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| Slips in and out of skirmishes. | |
|---|---|
| The only prisoner ever to escape from Dark Reef, Slark's abilities and ruthlessness are without equal. Pouncing into danger then slipping back out is what Slark does best. With every swing of his barnacle encrusted dagger, Slark steals his target's Essence, converting them to render himself more agile, striking harder and faster. He forges a Dark Pact, sacrificing his own lifeblood to dissipate negative energies that damage foes, and frees him from magical constraints. Concealing himself as he Dances through the Shadows, the Nightcrawler presents no visible target to would-be attackers. Hidden and Shrouded in this black haze, Slark escapes the inescapable and is always ready to to gut his enemies with little risk of retribution. | |
       | |
| Roles: |  Carry  Escape  Disabler  Nuker |
| Adjectives | Aquatic, Nose Legs ( 2 ) |
Facets[edit]
Leeching Leash
Pounce applies Pounce stacks when striking enemy heroes.
Dark Reef Renegade
Barracuda lingers after being revealed to the enemy if Slark is not nearby allied heroes.
Upgrades[edit]
Aghanim's[edit]
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
Increases leap distance, and replaces its cooldown with a charge restore time.
Grants the Depth Shroud ability.
Creates a dark cloud at the area-targeted location.
All allies within the radius are affected by Shadow Dance's corresponding level.
Creates a dark cloud at the area-targeted location.
All allies within the radius are affected by Shadow Dance's corresponding level.
Talents[edit]
 | ||
|---|---|---|
| +40s Essence Shift Duration | 25 | +1.25s Shadow Dance Duration |
| +90 Shadow Dance Attack Speed | 20 | +1  Agility Change per Essence Shift Stack |
| +50 Barracuda Regen | 15 | +70 Dark Pact Damage |
| +0.5s Pounce Leash | 10 | -0.5s Dark Pact Cooldown |
| ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ +2 All / / Attributes | ||
Bio[edit]
If I'd known I'd end up here, I'd have stayed in Dark Reef Prison.▶️Slark, the Nightcrawler
Lore:
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.
Voice:
Innate[edit]
Barracuda[edit]
Barracuda 
Passive
Affects
Self
When not visible to the enemy team, Slark gains bonus movement speed and bonus health regeneration.
Effect Delay: 0.5
Move Speed Bonus: 6%/24%/36%/48%
Health Regen Bonus: 10/70/100/130 (
60/120/150/180)
60/120/150/180) 
This ability has a fixed downtime and does not grant its bonuses when Slark is damaged by neutral creeps.
Downtime: 2
This ability levels up with Shadow Dance.
Details
slark_barracuda (1375)
Dark Reef Renegade
Barracuda lingers after being revealed to the enemy if Slark is not nearby allied heroes.
Allied Hero Linger Search Radius: 900
Linger Duration: 1.5/2/2.5/3
Linger Duration: 1.5/2/2.5/3
- LEVEL 1This
innate ability starts with the first ability level unlocked.
- The 0.5-second effect delay applies in the following conditions:
- Getting in or out of the enemy's
vision radius. - Upon the following abilities cast:
- Getting in or out of the enemy's
Abilities[edit]
Dark Pact[edit]
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.
Cast Animation: 
0 + 0
0 + 0Damage Radius: 
325
325 Effect Delay: 1.5
Damage Intervals: 0.1
Total Damage: 75/150/225/300 (
145/220/295/370)
145/220/295/370) Pulses Duration: 1
The damage on self is less effective.
Self Damage Factor: 0.3
9/8/7/6 (
8.5/7.5/6.5/5.5)
8.5/7.5/6.5/5.5)
65
Slithereen are capable of quickly regrowing appendages, in case of critical injury, to save their own lives.
slark_dark_pact (5494)
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
- Interrupts Slark's
channeling abilities upon cast. - Applies a
strong dispel on Slark in 0.1-second intervals, a 10-instance total.
- Interrupts Slark's
- The
magical self-
damage (before reductions) is non-lethal.
- Both the ability's visual and sound effects during the effect delay has the following properties:
- Are only visible and audible ally-only.
- Are only visible and audible enemy-only after the effect delay.
- The ability visual effects are visible even when Slark is
invisible, but not in the 
Fog of War.
- The ability visual effects are visible even when Slark is
- Recasting the ability during the effect delay cancels the previous cast and starts a new cast.
modifier_slark_dark_pact
Hidden modifier
modifier_slark_dark_pact_pulsesHidden modifier
- Deals the following amount of magical spell damage in 0.1-second intervals within the radius:
- 7.5/15/22.5/30 ( 14.5/22/29.5/37).
- For Slark: 2.25/4.5/6.75/9 ( 4.35/6.6/8.85/11.1).
- 7.5/15/22.5/30 (
Pounce[edit]
No
Affects
Enemy Heroes / Self
Leaps forward and grabs the first enemy hero he connects with and applies Essence Shift stacks.
That unit is now leashed, and can only move a limited distance away from Slark's landing position.
That unit is now leashed, and can only move a limited distance away from Slark's landing position.
Cast Animation: 0 + 0.53
Leap Distance: 700 ( 900)
900) Latch Radius: 120
Leash Radius: 400
Duration: 2.5/2.75/3/3.25 (
3/3.25/3.5/3.75)
3/3.25/3.5/3.75) 
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade
Increases leap distance, and replaces its cooldown with a charge restore time.
Increases leap distance, and replaces its cooldown with a charge restore time.
Cannot recast the ability while the Pounce buff is active.
Downtime: 0.75
( 12)
12)
( 2)
2)22/18/14/10 ( 0)
0)75
Time in the Dark Reef made Slark a dangerous assassin; aggressive and fearless.
slark_pounce (5495)
Leeching Leash
Pounce applies Essence Shift stacks when striking enemy heroes.
Stacks Applied: 1/2/3/4
The aforementioned sources cannot break the 
leash, if cast before the leash debuff applied.
leash, if cast before the leash debuff applied.- The leash mechanic has the following properties:
- Checks the affected enemy unit's position and
facing angle per server tick to the center of the leashed point, and specifically sets the enemy's 
movement speed to a certain value when it is facing away from the leashed point center. - The set movement speed value are not displayed on the HUD and it reduces linearly toward the 120-latch radius edges.
- Mechanic interactions with
forced movement sources:
- Can break the leash when forcefully moving beyond the leash radius, except Force Staff-based items.
- Leash nullifies the forced movement source when the
debuff expires while the forced movement source is happening. - However, Force and Hurricane Thrust (Ally) may only break the leash if the affected target did not move after being leashed.
- Checks the affected enemy unit's position and
The latch component only affects enemy heroes:
- Can latch on enemy heroes 820 ( 1020)-distance away.
- Considers
clones as heroes, 
illusions and 
creep-heroes as creeps. - Disables certain movement abilities.
- Affects the following units:
- Invisible units.
- Does not affect the following units:
Hidden units.
Invulnerable units.
- Slark is ordered to attack the target upon contact.
- Can latch on enemy heroes 820 (
-
- Does not disjoint incoming
projectiles upon cast. - Applies the following ability effects on Slark:
Disarm- Upward movement on Slark over other units and over impassable terrain.
- Leaps forward the full distance, over a fixed 0.75-second duration, and toward the current facing angle.
- However, it does not lock Slark's facing angle while leaping.
- Hence, Slark can
turn and cast abilities.
Trees within 100 radius are destroyed when landing.
- Does not disjoint incoming
- The ability effects are applied as follows upon latching an enemy hero:
- The leash debuff.
- The Essence Shift stacks corresponding of its level.
- One 0-damage instance, fully procs all on-damage effects.
- The
- Does not affect
debuff immune units.
- The ability has no max leash distance. Debuff immune units can move any distance without breaking the leash.
- However, if the enemy unit loses the debuff immune sources, Pounce leashes them again.
- The ability has no max leash distance.
-
Root sources do not cancel Pounce while already leaping.
- Requires drafting Essence Shift for its corresponding component to work.
modifier_slark_pounceHidden modifier
modifier_slark_pounce_leashLeashed: Leashed to Slark, can only move a limited distance away.
- Has a 933.33-leap speed.
- Has a 1200-leap speed.
- The ability leap speed is fixed. Therefore, increasing the leap distance increases the leap speed, and is defined as:
- EXPR
AghSpeed = AghLeapDistance / (LeapDistance / LeapSpeed)
- Has a
- The Pounce buff is on a non-resettable cooldown which is bound to the leap buff.
- The ability's leash mechanic has the following properties:
- Sets the affected enemy unit's movement speed to a max 140 upon applying the leash debuff.
- The distance between the affected enemy unit and the leashed point is 360-distance.
- Pounce applies a 4 set movement speed reduction per 1-distance away from the leashed point, up to a min 0.1-set movement speed value.
- Hence, the ability formulas are defined as:
- EXPR
When 360 < (AffectedUnitPosition - LeashedPoint) < 394.975, SetMS = 1580 - 4 × (AffectedUnitPosition - LeashedPoint) - EXPR
When 394.975 < (AffectedUnitPosition - LeashedPoint) < 400, SetMS = 0.1 - EXPR
When (AffectedUnitPosition - LeashedPoint) = 400 , Inactive - EXPR
When (AffectedUnitPosition - LeashedPoint) ≤ 360 , Inactive
- Sets the affected enemy unit's
- Acquiring the ability upgrade immediately grants 1 extra charge.
Essence Shift[edit]
E
N
Essence Shift
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.
attributes and converting them to bonus agility.Enemy Str Loss per Attack: 1
1 Enemy Agi Loss per Attack: 1 (
2)
1 ( 2) Enemy Int Loss per Attack: 1
1 Self Agi Gain per Attack: 3 ( 4)
3 ( 4) Duration: 20/40/60/80 (
60/80/100/120)
60/80/100/120) If affected enemy hero dies with the Essence Shift debuff, Slark permanently steals that enemy hero's agility.
agility.Enemy Death Radius: 300
Enemy Agi Loss: 1
1 Self Agi Gain: 1
1 With each strike at his adversaries, Slark's knowledge of their weaknesses improves.
slark_essence_shift (5496)
Leeching Leash
Pounce applies Essence Shift stacks when striking enemy heroes.
This ability component levels up with Pounce.
This ability component levels up with Pounce.
Stacks Applied: 1/2/3/4
- Essence Shift cannot reduce any attributes below 0.
- However, the ability continuously grants agility per successful attack.
- The applies to the following ability components:
- Both the enemy and Slark's temporary attribute loss and gain respectively.
- Both the enemy and Slark's permanent attribute loss and gain respectively.
- However, the ability continuously grants
- Each Essence Shift stack places a new stacking buff and debuff on Slark and the affected enemy hero respectively, with their durations independent of each other. This affects the following things:
- Upon the affected enemy hero's
death, Essence Shift restores the enemy hero's attributes back to the original values. Slark keeps the bonus agility values for the remaining duration. - Upon Slark's death, he loses all temporary attributes, while the affected enemy hero loses the attributes for the remaining debuff duration.
- This ability component considers clones and allied heroes as heroes, illusions and creep-heroes as creeps.
- Upon the affected enemy hero's
- Permanent stolen agility is removed from the enemy hero's bonus agility, then added to Slark's.
- Grants a stack of permanent bonus agility in the following conditions:
- Upon the enemy hero's death, including from
denies, within the death radius while having the debuff, regardless if Slark is still alive or not. - To permanently steal bonus agility outside the death radius, Slark has to be credited for the kill, excluding Slark's
player-controlled units. - Can steal independently from each Meepo Clones as long as it fulfill the conditions above.
- Upon the enemy hero's
- Does not grant a stack of permanent bonus agility in the following conditions:
- Killing an allied hero with the debuff.
- From
reincarnation sources. - From enemy illusions, the Spirit Bear or
The Double.
- Killing an allied hero with the
- Does not work for illusions.
- They have no stacks and do not copy the temporary attribute changes.
modifier_slark_essence_shift
Essence Shift: Stealing x agility.
modifier_slark_essence_shift_buffHidden modifier
modifier_slark_essence_shift_debuff_counterEssence Shift: Losing x of each attribute.
modifier_slark_essence_shift_debuffHidden modifier
modifier_slark_essence_shift_permanent_buffPermanent Agility: Gained x permanent Agility.
modifier_slark_essence_shift_permanent_debuffHidden modifier
- attribute math table
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
- Removes the bonus attributes per attack.
- Grants Slark the bonus attributes.
- Slark's attack instance.
- Removes the bonus
Depth Shroud[edit]
D
F
Depth Shroud
Area
Affects
Allies
Creates a dark cloud at the area-targeted location.
All allies within the radius are affected by Shadow Dance's corresponding level.
All allies within the radius are affected by Shadow Dance's corresponding level.
Cast Animation: 0.1 + 0.8
Cast Range: 
600
600 Aura Radius: 250
250 Effect Delay: 0.7
Duration: 3
Aura Linger Duration: 0.033
Attack Speed Bonus: (
90)
90) 75
75
slark_depth_shroud (729)
- Acquiring
Aghanim's Shard unlocks this ability in the fourth ability slot.
- 3 seconds after cast, the
depth_shroud buff applies the following components of Shadow Dance within the 
aura radius:
- Invisibility with True Sight immunity.
- Flat bonus
attack speed. - All aformentioned bonuses do not stack with Shadow Dance.
- Does not affect the following allied units:
Buildings- Hidden units.
- Invulnerable units.
Ward-type units
- All allied illusions benefit only from the invisibility component.
- Acquiring Aghanim's Shard while drafting Shadow Dance unlocks this ability.
modifier_slark_depth_shroud_thinkerOn hidden entity
modifier_slark_shadow_dance_visualOn hidden entity
modifier_slark_depth_shroudDepth Shroud: Hidden in Slark's Depth Shroud.
- Directly uses Shadow Dance's ability values, it does nothing if Shadow Dance is not learned upon cast.
- Has a -second aura linger duration due to the server tick limit, despite the duration being set as 0.01 seconds in the backend ability files.
Shadow Dance[edit]
No
Affects
Self
When activated, Slark hides himself in a cloud of shadows, becoming immune to both vision and True Sight.
Attacking, casting abilities, and using items will not reveal Slark within the duration.
Attacking, casting abilities, and using items will not reveal Slark within the duration.
Cast Animation: 0 + 0
0 + 0Aura Radius: 0
Fade Time: 0
Duration: 4/4.25/4.5 (
5.25/5.5/5.75)
5.25/5.5/5.75) Aura Linger Duration: 0.033
Attack Speed Bonus: ( 90)
90) 50/40/30
100
The hidden Thirteenth is a slippery foe.
slark_shadow_dance (5497)
- The ability has the following properties:
- The invisibility is granted by an aura, and does not affect invulnerable units.
- Does not grant
phase movement.
- The
- The following sources reveal Slark:
- When Slark is affected by invulnerable sources.
- Snowball
- When Slark is affected by
- Grants the following passive ability effects upon cast immediately:
- Invisibility with True Sight immunity.
- Flat bonus attack speed.
- All aformentioned bonuses do not stack with Shadow Dance.
- Slark's illusions benefit from the invisibility component.
modifier_slark_shadow_dance_passiveHidden modifier
modifier_slark_shadow_danceShadow Dance: Invisible within your cloud of smoke.
modifier_slark_shadow_dance_auraHidden modifier
modifier_slark_shadow_dance_visualOn hidden entity
- The dark cloud ability effects is visible to everyone.
Recent Matches[edit]
Main Article: Slark/Matches
| Date | Tier | Tournament | Picks | Score | vs. Picks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 10, 2025 - 20:00 AST | Qualifier |   | DreamLeague S25 MESWA CQ |      |   | 1 : 0 |   |      |
| Jan 10, 2025 - 18:30 EET | Qualifier |  | PGL Wallachia S3 EEU OQ2 |   |  | 0 : 1 |  |      |
| Jan 10, 2025 - 19:10 SGT | Qualifier | | PGL Wallachia S3 SEA OQ2 |     |  | 1 : 0 |  |      |
| Jan 08, 2025 - 16:00 PET | Qualifier | | DreamLeague S25 SA CQ |    |   | 0 : 1 | |    |
| Jan 08, 2025 - 19:50 CET | Qualifier | | PGL Wallachia S3 WEU OQ1 |  | | 0 : 1 | |  |
Recent Changes[edit]
Description
- Increased base attack damage from 34‒40 to 37‒43.
Talents:
- LVL 20 +80 attack speed bonus during Shadow Dance increased to +90.
- LVL 25 +1s Shadow Dance duration increased to +1.25s.
- Barracuda Dark Reef Renegade
- Reduced ally search radius from 1000 to 900.
- Increased bonus linger duration from 0.5/1/1.5/2 to 1.5/2/2.5/3.
- Barracuda
- Increased health regeneration bonus from 10/60/90/120 to 10/70/100/130.
- Reduced Dark Reef Renegade ally search radius from 1200 to 1000.
- Reduced Shadow Dance cooldown from 60/50/40 to 50/40/30.
Dota Plus Progress[edit]
Main Article: Hero Challenges
Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.
| Slark's Relics | Voice Lines | |
|---|---|---|
 Leashed Enemies Debuffs Purged Damage While Invisible Teleports Leading To Kills Physical Damage Damage From Invisibility Triple Kills Mega Kill Streaks Kill Assists Kills |
 Bronze |
|
 Silver |
||
 Gold |
||
 Platinum |
| |
 Master |
| |
 Grandmaster |
| |
Equipment[edit]
| Sets | |
|---|---|
| Weapon | |
| Head | |
| Back | |
| Taunt | |
| Kinetic Gems | |
Trivia[edit]
- Slark is named after a rare murloc in "World of Warcraft".
- His 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.
- ▶️ "Met you once, cut you twice." is a reference to the carpentry phrase "measure twice, cut once.".
- ▶️ "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[edit]
Splash artwork
Concept art
Slark cartoon art
Drow Ranger, Pudge and Slark in a cartoon scene
Ability icon progress
Hero icon progress
