Dota 2

Slark

Agility melee hero, often played as a carry, escape hero or disabler.

Slark
Agility

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Full history

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Since you last played

Reworked in 7.40

Reworked in 7.40 Dec 2025

Slark changed enough that old habits may not hold. The kit further down is how Slark plays now.

  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv New basic ability. Passive, auto-cast attack modifier
  • ◆
    Essence Shift Now an innate ability. Passive, improves with Slark's level
  • ▲
    Pounce Now applies 1/2/3/4 Essence Shift stacks when leashing an enemy hero
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Now passively grants 24/36/48% movement speed and 60/90/120 health regen when unseen

7 buffs and 4 nerfs since the rework: trending stronger.

Biggest ability changes

  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Cooldown decreased from 14/12/10/8s to 12/10.5/9/7.5sadjusted 16 times across 4 patches, net buff
  • ▼
    Essence Shift Duration decreased from 12.5s + 2.5s per level to 10s + 2.5s per leveladjusted 2 times across 2 patches, net nerf
  • ▼
    Shadow Dance Bonus Movement Speed decreased from 24/36/48% to 20/30/40%
  • ◆
    Essence Shift Info Effective values are not changed
Talents changed
  • ◆
    Lv20 talent Essence Shift Duration decreased from +25s to +20s
  • ◆
    Lv25 talent +35s Essence Shift Duration replaced with +1 Agility gain/stolen per Essence Shift Stack

Most recent change patch 7.41d, Jun 2026

  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Cooldown decreased from 14/12/10/8s to 12/10.5/9/7.5s
Current abilities
  • Dark PactAfter 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. Slark only takes 30% of the damage. DISPEL TYPE: Strong Dispel
  • PounceSlark leaps forward, leashing and applying Essence Shift stacks to the first hero he connects. That unit can only move a limited distance away from Slark's landing position.
  • Saltwater ShivSlark slices the target with his salty shiv, stealing a portion of the target's movement speed, Health Regen and Health Restoration. These effects stack independently.
  • Depth ShroudCreates a cloud at the target location. All allies inside the radius are hidden and affected by Shadow Dance.
  • Essence Shift innateSlark steals the life essence of enemy heroes with his attacks, draining 1 of each of their attributes and converting them to bonus 3 Agility. If Slark kills an affected enemy hero, he permanently steals 1 Agility.
  • Shadow DanceWhen not visible to the enemy team, Slark passively gains bonus movement speed and health regeneration. If Slark is damaged by a neutral unit, the passive movement and health regeneration bonuses are lost for 2 seconds. When activated, Slark hides himself in a cloud of shadows, becoming immune to detection. Attacking, casting spells, and using items will not reveal Slark, but enemies can see the cloud itself.

What players buy on Slark

Starting items

Early game

Mid game

Late game

Most bought first, from item purchases in recent professional matches (OpenDota, Nov 2026). Public games can differ.

Every Slark change, patch by patch

All 162 changes Valve listed for Slark since patch 7.10, newest first. Reworked in 7.40 (Dec 2025). Last changed in 7.41d (Jun 2026).

Patch 7.41d

  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Cooldown decreased from 14/12/10/8s to 12/10.5/9/7.5s

Patch 7.41b

  • ▼
    Essence Shift Duration decreased from 12.5s + 2.5s per level to 10s + 2.5s per level
  • ▼
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent Essence Shift Duration decreased from +25s to +20s

Patch 7.41a

  • ▼
    Shadow Dance Bonus Movement Speed decreased from 24/36/48% to 20/30/40%
  • ◆
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent +1 Agility gain/stolen per Essence Shift Stack replaced with +25s Essence Shift Duration
  • ◆
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent +35s Essence Shift Duration replaced with +1 Agility gain/stolen per Essence Shift Stack

Patch 7.41

  • ◆
    Essence Shift Duration changed from 15s + 2.5s per level up to 12.5s + 2.5s per level
  • ◆
    Essence Shift Info Effective values are not changed
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Stacks now have independent durations and don't refresh previous ones
  • ▼
    Saltwater Shiv Cooldown increased from 10/8/6/4s to 14/12/10/8s
  • ▼
    Saltwater Shiv Mana Cost increased from 20 to 25/30/35/40
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Cast Range is now Slark's attack range + 50
  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Restoration Steal increased from 2/4/6/8% to 4/8/12/16%
  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Regen Steal increased from 2/4/6/8 to 4/8/12/16
  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Speed Steal increased from 2/4/6/8 to 4/8/12/16
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Now also modifies incoming healing
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv As a result of Health Restoration changes

Patch 7.40c

  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Restoration Steal rescaled from 3/4/5/6% to 2/4/6/8%
  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Regen Steal increased from 2/3/4/5 to 2/4/6/8
  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Speed Steal increased from 2/3/4/5 to 2/4/6/8

Patch 7.40b

  • ▲
    Saltwater Shiv Duration increased from 6/8/10/12s to 12s
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Regen Steal rescaled from 3 to 2/3/4/5
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Stack Speed Steal rescaled from 3 to 2/3/4/5

Patch 7.40 Hero rework

  • ◆
    Removed Leeching Leash and Dark Reef Renegade facets
  • ◆
    Removed Barracuda innate ability (effect moved to the Ultimate)
  • ◆
    Essence Shift Now an innate ability. Passive, improves with Slark's level
  • ◆
    Essence Shift Duration rescaled from 15/35/55/75s to 15s + 2.5s each time Slark levels up
  • ▲
    Pounce Now applies 1/2/3/4 Essence Shift stacks when leashing an enemy hero
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv New basic ability. Passive, auto-cast attack modifier
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Slark slices the target with his salty shiv, stealing 3 Movement Speed, 3 Health Regen and 3/4/5/6% Health Restoration from them with each attack. Subsequent use of Saltwater Shiv refreshes the duration of all shiv stacks. Steal duration: 6/8/10/12s. Mana Cost: 20. Cooldown: 10/8/6/4s
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Not Breakable. Disabled by Silence. Has no stack limit. Ignores attack backswing
  • ◆
    Saltwater Shiv Enemies with Health Restoration below -100% will not lose health from health restoration sources
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Now passively grants 24/36/48% movement speed and 60/90/120 health regen when unseen
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Previous Barracuda rules and mechanics unchanged
  • ▼
    Depth Shroud Duration decreased from 3s to 2s
  • ▼
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent Dark Pact Cooldown Reduction increased from 0.5s to 0.75s
  • ◆
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +50 Barracuda Regen replaced with +30 Shadow Dance Regen
  • ▲
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent Shadow Dance Duration increased from +1.25s to +1.5s

Patch 7.39b

  • ▼
    Barracuda: Health Gained per second decreased from 10/70/100/130 to 5/70/100/130

Patch 7.39

  • ▼
    Essence Shift Duration decreased from 20/40/60/80s to 15/35/55/75s
  • ▼
    Depth Shroud Cast Range decreased from 600 to 400

Patch 7.38

  • ◆
    Facet Barracuda: Now causes Slark's attacks to apply non-stacking debuff that reduces the target's armor by 1/2/3/4 for 2s
  • ◆
    Facet Debuff is applied only when Slark is under the effect of Barracuda
  • ◆
    Facet Barracuda: Linger Duration rescaled from 1.5/2/2.5/3s to 2s
  • ▼
    Depth Shroud Radius decreased from 250 to 225
  • ▲
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent Shadow Dance Attack Speed increased from +90 to +100
  • ▼
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent Essence Shift Duration decreased from +40s to +35s

Patch 7.37

  • ▲
    Base stats Base Damage increased by 3
  • ▲
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent Shadow Dance Attack Speed increased from +80 to +90
  • ▲
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent Shadow Dance Duration increased from +1s to +1.25s

Patch 7.36c

  • ▲
    Facet Barracuda: Linger Duration increased from 0.5/1/1.5/2s to 1.5/2.0/2.5/3.0s
  • ▼
    Facet Barracuda: Linger Search Radius decreased from 1000 to 900

Patch 7.36b

  • ▼
    Facet Barracuda: Linger Search Radius decreased from 1200 to 1000
  • ▲
    Barracuda: Health Gained per second increased from 10/60/90/120 to 10/70/100/130
  • ▲
    Shadow Dance Cooldown decreased from 60/50/40s to 50/40/30s

Patch 7.36a

  • ▲
    Barracuda Bonus Movement Speed increased from 4/24/36/48% to 6/24/36/48%
  • ▲
    Barracuda: Health Gained per second increased from 8/60/90/120 to 10/60/90/120

Patch 7.36

  • ▼
    Base stats Base Health Regen decreased from 1.75 to 0.25
  • ◆
    Barracuda New Innate ability. Passive, levels up with Shadow Dance
  • ◆
    Barracuda When not visible to the enemy team, Slark gains bonus +4/24/36/48% Movement Speed and +8/60/90/120 Health Regen
  • ◆
    Facet Applies 1/2/3/4 Essence Shift stacks to enemy heroes caught by Pounce
  • ◆
    Facet Barracuda: When revealed by enemies, Barracuda effect lingers for 0.5/1/1.5/2s when Slark is not within 1200 units of any allied heroes
  • ▼
    Pounce No longer applies Essence Shift stacks by default
  • ▼
    Pounce Aghanim's Scepter range decreased from 1000 to 900
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Passive Movement Speed and Regen bonuses moved to Innate ability
  • ▲
    Shadow Dance Mana Cost decreased from 120 to 100
  • ▲
    Shadow Dance Cooldown decreased from 75/60/45s to 60/50/40s
  • ▼
    Depth Shroud No longer stacks with Shadow Dance
  • ◆
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +50 Shadow Dance Regen replaced with +50 Barracuda Regen

Patch 7.35c

  • ▼
    Pounce Cooldown increased from 22/18/14/10s to 24/20/16/12s

Patch 7.35

  • ▲
    Base stats Strength gain increased from 1.9 to 2.1
  • ▲
    Base stats Intelligence gain increased from 1.7 to 1.9
  • ▲
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent Shadow Dance Regen increased from +40 to +50

Patch 7.34d

  • ▼
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent Essence Shift Duration decreased from +50s to +40s

Patch 7.34

  • ▼
    Depth Shroud Linger Duration decreased from 0.5s to 0.01s

Patch 7.33c

  • ▼
    Pounce Aghanim's Scepter Distance decreased from 1100 to 1000

Patch 7.33

  • ▼
    Dark Pact Damage decreased from 90/160/230/300 to 75/150/225/300
  • ▼
    Depth Shroud Cast Range decreased from 800 to 600
  • ▲
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent Shadow Dance Attack Speed increased from +75 to +80

Patch 7.32e

  • ▼
    Pounce Cooldown increased from 20/16/12/8s to 22/18/14/10s
  • ▼
    Pounce Aghanim’s Scepter Distance decreased from 1200 to 1100

Patch 7.32c

  • ▼
    Depth Shroud Radius decreased from 300 to 250
  • ▲
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent Dark Pact Cooldown decreased from -1s to -0.5s

Patch 7.32

  • ▼
    Base stats Agility gain decreased from 1.7 to 1.5
  • ▲
    Base stats Base Attack Speed increased from 110 to 120
  • ▼
    Pounce No longer deals direct damage
  • ▲
    Pounce Now applies 0/1/2/3 stacks of Essence Shift
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Health Regen per second rescaled from 5/6/7% Max Health to 60/90/120 Health
  • ◆
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +1.5% Shadow Dance Regen per second replaced with +40 Shadow Dance Regen per second

Patch 7.31d

  • ▲
    Base stats Base damage increased from 53-61 to 55-61
  • ◆
    Essence Shift Duration rescaled from 15/30/60/100 to 20/40/60/80

Patch 7.31c

  • ▲
    Dark Pact Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 65
  • ◆
    Dark Pact Outgoing Damage rescaled from 75/150/225/300 to 90/160/230/300

Patch 7.31

  • ▼
    Base stats Base Strength reduced from 21 to 20
  • ▲
    Pounce Now deals 40 damage on contact
  • ▲
    Pounce Latch Radius increased from 95 to 120
  • ◆
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent +8 Agility replaced with +0.5s Pounce Leash
  • ◆
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +50 Shadow Dance attack speed replaced with +1.5% Shadow Dance regen
  • ◆
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent +0.8s Pounce leash replaced with +75 Shadow Dance attack speed
  • ▼
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent +55s Essence Shift duration reduced to +50s

Patch 7.30c

  • ▼
    Base stats Base Attack Speed reduced from 115 to 110
  • ▼
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent +65s Essence Shift Duration reduced to +55

Patch 7.30b

  • ▼
    Dark Pact Mana Cost increased from 60 to 75
  • ▼
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +80 Dark Pact Damage reduced to 70

Patch 7.30

  • ▲
    Dark Pact Self damage reduced from 50% to 30%
  • ▲
    Shadow Dance Cooldown reduced from 80/65/50 to 75/60/45
  • ◆
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent +9 strength replaced with -1s Dark Pact Cooldown
  • ◆
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +18% Lifesteal replaced with +50 Shadow Dance Attack Speed
  • ◆
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent +20 Attack Speed replaced with +80 Dark Pact Damage
  • ◆
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent +120 Dark Pact Damage replaced with +1 Agi per Essence Shift stack

Patch 7.29

  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Movement speed rescaled from 20/35/50% to 24/36/48%
  • ▲
    Aghanim's upgrade Reworked Shard upgrade. Grants Depth Shroud. Creates a 300 AoE cloud at the target location for 3 seconds. All allies inside the radius are hidden and have increased regeneration and movement speed. Cast Range: 800. Cooldown: 75. Manacost: 75
  • ▲
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent increased from +7 Agility to +8
  • ▲
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent increased from +15% Lifesteal to +18%

Patch 7.28b

  • ▲
    Aghanim's upgrade Fish Bait shard attack speed bonus increased from 50 to 75
  • ▲
    Aghanim's upgrade Fish Bait shard cooldown reduced from 12 to 9

Patch 7.28a

  • ▼
    Aghanim's upgrade Fish Bait shard manacost reduced from 100 to 50
  • ▲
    Aghanim's upgrade Fish Bait shard cooldown reduced from 20 to 12
  • ▲
    Aghanim's upgrade Fish Bait shard duration increased from 4 to 6 seconds

Patch 7.27b

  • ▼
    Base stats Base attack speed reduced from 120 to 115

Patch 7.26c

  • ▲
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent increased from +5 Agility to +6
  • ▲
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent increased from +8 Strength to +9
  • ▲
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent increased from +0.8s Shadow Dance Duration to +1s

Patch 7.25

  • ▼
    Pounce Scepter distance reduced from 1200 to 1100

Patch 7.24

  • ▲
    Pounce Scepter replenish time increased from 20/16/12/8 to 10
  • ▼
    Pounce Scepter range reduced from 1400 to 1200
  • ▼
    Lv15 talent Level 15 Talent reduced from +30 Attack Speed to +25

Patch 7.22f

  • ▼
    Base stats Base damage reduced by 1
  • ▼
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent reduced from +1.25s Pounce Leash to +1s

Patch 7.22b

  • ▼
    Essence Shift Level 4 duration reduced from 120 to 100

Patch 7.22

  • ▲
    Base stats Base attack speed increased from 100 to 120
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Passive health regen rescaled from 3/5/7% to 5/6/7%
  • ▲
    Shadow Dance Scepter range increased from 325 to 425

Patch 7.21b

  • ▲
    Base stats Base armor increased by 1

Patch 7.21

  • ▼
    Pounce No longer does 30/60/90/120 damage

Patch 7.20e

  • ▼
    Talent Level 20 talent reduced from +1.5s Pounce Leash to +1.25s

Patch 7.20d

  • ▲
    Leash distance increased from 350 to 400
  • ▼
    Shadow Dance Movement speed reduced from 30/40/50% to 20/35/50%
  • ▼
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent reduced from +100s Essense Shift Duration to +80s

Patch 7.20c

  • ▼
    Pounce Duration reduced from 2.75/3/3.25/3.5 to 2.5/2.75/3/3.25
  • ◆
    Dark Pact Manacost from 55/50/45/40 to 60
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Duration from 4/4.5/5 to 4/4.25/4.5
  • ◆
    Base stats Agility steal now also occurs when an enemy dies within 300 units from you with the debuff, rather than only when you get the killing blow
  • ▼
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent reduced from +8 Agility to +6 Agility
  • ▼
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent reduced from +2s Pounce Leash to +1.5s
  • ▼
    Lv25 talent Level 25 Talent reduced from +120s Essence Shift Duration to +100s

Patch 7.20b

  • ◆
    Now only steals agility when he kills the enemy himself
  • ◆
    Pounce Leash duration from 3.5 to 2.75/3/3.25/3.5
  • ◆
    Pounce Leash range from 325 to 350
  • ▼
    Shadow Dance Cooldown increased from 60 to 80/70/60
  • ▼
    Lv20 talent Level 20 Talent reduced from +3s Pounce Leash to +2s

Patch 7.20

  • ▲
    Base stats Turn rate improved from 0.6 to 0.7
  • ◆
    A hero dying with Essence Shift debuff on them causes Slark to permanently steal 1 Agility
  • ▲
    Pounce Now applies a Leashed state to the target, disallowing teleportation and mobility based abilities
  • ◆
    Shadow Dance Duration rescaled from 4 to 4/4.5/5

Patch 7.18

  • ▼
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent reduced from +10 Agility to +8

Patch 7.16

  • ▼
    Pounce Damage reduced from 40/80/120/160 to 30/60/90/120

Patch 7.14

  • ▲
    Base stats Base HP regen increased from 2.75 to 3.25
  • ▲
    Shadow Dance Move speed bonus increased from 30/35/40% to 30/40/50%

Patch 7.12

  • ▲
    Base stats Base HP regen increased from 1.5 to 2.75
  • ▲
    Base stats Turn rate improved from 0.5 to 0.6

Patch 7.10

  • ▲
    Lv10 talent Level 10 Talent increased from +8 Strength to +10