SvenRogue Hero Slaying Knight

By lopche

As of v6.59

http://planetdota.blogspot.com

Contents:1. Author Forwarding

2. Svens Features3. Building Sven

4. Strategy5. Hero Info

6. Questions and Answers7. Extra Facts8. Conclusion

__________1.Author Forwarding__________:

Hey readers! Thankyou for spending your time to actually click and read my guide. People call me Lopche on WC3 and Im not famous. I still attend HighSchool in the LA. I joined the DotA community at 2006. I started reading other guides for fun and some seemed really intresting, exspecially the ones up on Premiums. Then after a while since I had alot of time, I decided to

make a guide on Sven. This is my Second guide(first guide wasnt succesful ). I also decided to make this guide because most of the guides out there are either outdated or it doesnt prove Sven strong enough. Sven I say can be really hero-killer, but hes still not the best compared to other heros to admit. Sven is not simple to handle since he is missing most features that most heros have so I garuntee you if your new with Sven, youll usualy lose/die with this hero real often unless your up with noobs. This hero also aint the funnest either since its skills are just common and doesnt have any special looking spell. Then you ask why even make this guide? Because even though Sven is really hard to master and plenty people look down upon him, I think he can still rise as a star up against most heros on my point of view, but its not easy either and it also aint the best. I also want to get this on Premiums, but now it seems harder then I though, but i cant give up on something I started on. So now that you understand me more, I hope you read my guide. Its going to be long but ill make this guide worth as much as it can be. I hope you read my whole guide and please and comment it. Thankyou and enjoy.

__________2. Charater Features__________

Stats:

LVL 25:

LVL25 Maxed:

Skills:

StormBoltA magical hammer is thrown at an enemy unit, causing damage and stunning the target for 2

seconds.

Level 1 - 100 damage. Level 2 - 150 damage. Level 3 - 200 damage.Level 4 - 250 damage.

Cooldown: 8 seconds.

Level 1: 140 mana, 8 sec cooldown.Level 2: 140 mana, 8 sec cooldown.Level 3: 140 mana, 8 sec cooldown.Level 4: 140 mana, 8 sec cooldown.

QUOTESvens only EarlyGame killer skill. Cheap and AVG damage, become a useful chasing skill when

the game continues on. This is a non-harrasment skill so please dont spam this.

GreatCleaveSven strikes with such force that all nearby enemies take damage.

Level 1 - 10% damage is splashed. Level 2 - 20% damage is splashed. Level 3 - 30% damage is splashed.Level 4 - 40% damage is splashed.

Passive

QUOTEOne of Svens best features separating him from being a normal hero. A built in Pusher, easily

preparing him for late game pushes instead of buying expensive items.

Toughness AuraSven is here to pump you up!

Level 1 - Increases base armor by 2. Level 2 - Increases base armor by 3. Level 3 - Increases base armor by 4.Level 4 - Increases base armor by 5.

Passive

QUOTEAnother one of Svens good features, a skill Aura able to support teamates during the

MiddlePhase when needed, allowing your team to overpower other teams.

God's StrengthSven gets pumped up! Adds bonus damage for 25 seconds.

Level 1 - Adds 100% damage. Level 2 - Adds 125% damage. Level 3 - Adds 150% damage.

Cooldown: 120 seconds.

Level 1: 100 mana, 120 sec cooldown.Level 2: 150 mana, 120 sec cooldown.Level 3: 200 mana, 120 sec cooldown.

QUOTESvens signature move, increasing Svens atack dramaticly at such low levels.

DownSides are:- Only increases by the number of Svens STR.

- Makes DPS items useless.- Easily to be countered with skills.

- Pretty high cooldown for such a vulernable skills.Thus making GodsStrength only a AvgRate ultimate compared to other heros.

Pros

- Very Powerful Ult- Obtains useful Passive skills

Cons

- Pretty Low IAS/MS- Defenseles

- Posses no passive combat skills- Stat increasement aint to high

- GS skill really fragile- DPS items dont work with sven

Overall: This hero wont be to intresting to play and can be countered easily by other heros.

Then why even bother to look at this hero?

Well I picked Sven because he could be a real devastating hero if used correctly. I also found DotA with hardly any good guides for Sven and I dont want any people thinking Sven is that bad of a hero. Another thing that also makes Sven intresting is his GodsStrength. A real killer skill that can take down heros easily, but its easily countered and that makes me mad. But if you listen to my guide and fix and tweak Sven a bit up, hell be really powerful and counter back almost every hero in DotA. Now listen!

__________3. Building Sven__________

Alright now its to what you people want to know, how to build him. Well lets get facts on Sven straight first, he is a Ganking and a Tanking machine and nothing else so we will build him that way. He has the ability with a smal nuke and a stun so hes perfect in ganking. He also has a toughness aura that provides him some tight defense making him a succesful tank. And he has the ability to mow down HP like nothing. Sven also has the ability to push with a cleave skill, but this guide aint on a pushing Sven, so that wont be useful.

3b. Skill Build

Main BuildStorm Bolt

StatsStorm Bolt

StatsStorm Bolt

God StrengthStorm Bolt

Stats Stats

StatsGod Strength

Toughness AuraToughness AuraToughness AuraToughness Aura

God StrengthStatsStatsStats

GreatCleaveGreatCleave GreatCleaveGreatCleave

Stats Stats

StormBolt Your early game killing spell. Since its Svens cheapest damage spell, theres no reason not to max it first, since it helps in ganks, and bigger chances of first blood.Stats Since toughness aura/great cleave become useful only in mid game, stats will benefit Sven more. Itll supply Sven with more HP/MANA to survive and control his lane easier. Also gives Sven a small boost in damage.GodStrength GodsStrength should be gotten at lvl 6 to start ganking right away and overpower most heros. Mana shouldnt be a problem since you would have a bottle by then. Its best to take advantage now, before your enemys farm up better defense items since GS is really powerful.ToughnessAuraGotten as the game edges to the mid phase, to help you and your allies in ganks. You are going to be a gank initiator and getting TA would really improve your DEF so you take less damage.GreatCleaveOf course is gotten at lvl 20 since team pushes will come into play more often. Also to improve your farming capability to farm for your next core items.

NEW! ANTI - Harras/Nuke Build

StatsStorm Bolt

StatsStorm Bolt

StatsStorm Bolt

StatsStorm Bolt

GodsStrength*

StatsGodsStrength

StatsStatsStats

Toughness AuraGodsStrength

Toughness AuraGreatCleaveGreatCleaveGreatCleaveGreatCleave

StatsStats

Toughness AuraToughness Aura

Since almost 75% of the comments have a topic about Sven about dissabling problems, i created this to explain it more clearly.This Build is only up against a majority of heros with Nukes/Harrases/Disabling abilitys. You may also get this build if laning up with strong types of these heros also. If you dont know what heros I mean, then refer to the Hero Info section.Stats Since Sven will have no other way to reduce damage from spells, we can only play smart and increase Svens HP/Mana highest as it can be during early game so getting Stats first would be more important then maxing Bolt first. Itll boosts Svens hp and mana to reduce the damage Sven recieves and lane much longer.Storm Bolt Ofcourse is still leveled early to give you a chance to pick out any hero kills or to assist your partner. There would be no other skill to get after stats except for this so you wont be actually missing the chance of first bloods still.Gods Strength Recommended at lvl 9 since youll be getting harrased alot, that means youll be forced to stay back alot. Better to max strombolt first since its ranged and not melee.Toughness Aura Getting more armor wont reduce damage from spells so maxing TA wouldnt be effective. At lvl 2 itll be enough since youll still encounter some physical but not to much since your up with nukers more. Getting stats would be more effective.GreatCleave This of course is gotten at the regular level since pushes will start as early as this. Youll need the splash to gain more gold to farm for your late game items whitch are really important. Skipping this skill will actually reduce the amount you get.

3c. Item Build

Start off build:

If Harrasing becomes a problem:

ChickenSince your core will consist of many small parts, getting a chicken will supply you in health so youll be stay longer in your lane instead of heading back to the fountain.Boots of SpeedOf course this is gotten early outrun most heros earlygame for stuns or escapes.Gauntlet + CircletThis will be gotten right when your hero is selected so youll be farming for your bottle quicker and youll be supplyed with extra stats.

Core:

If dissabling/nuking becomes a problem

(Eliminate one bracer from the core)To decrease your chance of getting ganked or to gank more often:

2 Bracers Enough to keep Sven alive for lane control/early game. Supplys Sven with extra mana/hp/damage.BottleAfter some tryouts, bottles can be really usefull for Sven. It helps Sven with ganks/escapes early game since Sven is so vulernable early game he will be a big target to enemys. Supplys Sven with extra hp/mana regen for more Stormbolt casts and to handle lanes easier and saves time from going back to the fountain.First bloods shall come more often with this item.TreadsYes. I was a fool about not getting this. To take advantage of Svens strong GodsStrength its best to increase his IAS ealy game to deal more damage and chop heros down Early-Mid game. Its also cheap alowing you to farm for your core items faster. The small MS boost can also help for

chases/escapes also.DaggerOfEscapeSven really cant protect himself and he only has 1 skill of chasing and since hes low on mana and really slow, most of the time his preys get away. Dagger would be one of the best gifts for Sven. It provides Sven with a 2 in 1 package item, to Chase and EsCape the things Sven really lack on the most. BD helps you escaping ganks easily instead of having to outrun them whitch is hardly possible due to the fact that your MS is below avg. BD also expands your range of chasing giving you a total range of almost 1000* to chase down your enemys with Stormbolt amking BD really beneficial to Sven. Your mana will garuntee be enough by the time you finish farming this item so that wont be an excuse.SatanicWell Satanic has 495 HP less then what a HoT gives and 10 less normal damage, but the fact that Satanic has 45% lifesteal, it will never be looked down upon. Lifesteal regenerates your hp while atacking enemys whitch allows you to actually overpower exspecially with your high damage and pretty fast IAS with treads (maybe AC) so the lifesteal is more important then just 495 HP and 11 HP regen. It also gives you 5 Armor like another toughness aura so its like Toughness Aura + Satanic Aura and it even stacks with Asualt Curias armor aura making it really effective. A chance of having 40 defense is real efective. Also the cool downs only 50 seconds so you can use it anytime in and out of battle. So overall explanation, Satanic is mroe effective then a HoT with Defense+Offensive tatics making it real worth getting for Sven.

3d. Recommendations After Core

These are just accesories after your core build and these would benefit you the most compared to other items. I picked items that would match and also benefit you. Theres about only 3 ways to further boost Sven efficiencey without wasting money.

Asualt Curias

PURE TankOne of the most useful items Sven can farm after the core. IAS boost can benefit Sven alot by making lifesteal more effective and deal damage faster when GS is on or off. The armor exspecially stacked with Satanic, stats and toughenss aura makes you nearly invincible. At lvl 25 you will atleast have 40 armor, reducing your opponents damage more then 50% making you a strong ass tank. AC will also improve your farming and make you a real useful hero in team battles with the -5 armor aura.Trying to find wheter Armor or HP would benefit more?Click Here for an Armor/HP graph!

Buriza-do Kyanon

PURE FirePowerI thought you said not to get DPS items? Well the chance to do 2x extra damage is really davastating unlike a 100 damage ministun or 35 damage imolation. Youll be able to overpower heros easily while restoring your hitpoints quickly. A 20% chance to do 1000 damage is nothing to mess with.

Heart of Tarrasque

FirePower/TankSome extra tanking items can be useful. A big boost of 900 HP and 11 HP regen is really beneficial to Sven, allowing him to tank much easier with lifesteal. Also 32 damage can be useful exspecially when it synergies with GS boosting both types of damage.

BlackKingBar

Gives a small boost in 190HP and 28 Damage whitch is really small so it aint worth getting just for the damage/stats it gives. The only useful thing is the Avatar, but 10 seconds just aint enough. 10 seconds will prablably help in solo ganks, but not in team ganks whitch usualy happens. When you activate BKB with GS, youll be left atleast 8 seconds of Avatar, whitch is only enough to throw 1 bolt, and whack them atleast 3 times before your back to normal and thats not enogh to get anything done, unless your up with noobs. Real pros would just back away until your bkb is gone, then dive for you.To find out more on about what BKB does, click here!(Thankyou sin-jackinn for the link!)

Cranium Basher

If bashing/massive DPS heros will overpower you, then this item is recomended. Of course, the only way to counter stunners, is to stun them back to. Having a chance to stun them for a second or maybe more is helpful since youll be able to recover and still do alot of damage while there disabled. Other then that, dont get this item for fun or for damage, this is just a counter item.

3e. NonRecomended Items

QUOTEORBSSange and Yasha

This item proves really useless to sven. But yes, 16 Str and 10 MS/IAS can be useful since Sven is really slow and a horrible chaser, but Blinkdagger well substitute for that and BoT will improve MS. 16 Str for 5.1k gold is really not worth it. The agi + 16 damage well just go all to a waste and AGI for the IAS you say? But youll alreay have bracers + Stats and Asualt Curias will replace the problems.

Eye of Skadi

25 Stats to STR is usefull, but 25 AGI+INT goes to an waste.Frost Orb doesnt slow the IAS of enemys, so that wont increase your chance of living. But the frost helps chase? Well you already an every 8 Second stun, plus a Dagger to chase them down so to get Skadi for chasing wont be needed.The health of 250 is good but it wont be enough for late game. Also the damage Skadi gives is to low. And all this for 7k gold is not worth itWhile a Satanic give 25 STR, + 5 Armor, and Unholy Rage activation with a 30+ damage and 25% lifesteal and 40% during activation.

Desolator

Nice -6 damage orb and cheap damage. Itll alow you to do more damage, but your armor problably wont be high enough yet and it also doesnt synergy with GS making it not useful. Satanic gives you a little bit less then 60 damage with a 45% lifesteal, allowing you to overpower and gain back your hp the same time. It also synergies with GodsStrength making it more effective then a desolator. Also satanic provides you with another +5 defense aura and some big boost in hp unlike desolator.

Manta

Diffenetly not nescessary on Sven. The AGI + INT goes to a waste so the only benefit would be the feedback, images and 250 HP boost. 5500gold for weak images and feed back orbs arent worth it and it wont allow you to tank/overpower.

MaskofMadness

This item just messes Sven up more. Svens made to tank/overpower, 20% increase intake just kills it and the 17% lifesteal aint enough. It gives a nice IAS/MS but as the game progresses everyones IAS goes up no matter what so as the game goes on itll lose its usefulness. Getting BKB to substitute that fact will only help during Mid Game but during Late itll be useless since 190 HP and 28 damage is useless. MoM just takes up space in your inventory and prevents you getting better items. Everyone knows Satanic is better.

Linkens Sphere

This item is good for its spell negation, but if the enemys smart, they would throw a bait spell just to use up ur Linkens Negate, then stun you or zap you with the real spell. This also wont help if you become ganked because it only blocks one spell, while BKB blocks all for 10 seconds. If your getting this not for the purpose of Spell Negating, but for the HP/Mana Regen + 15 Stats, thats useless because the AGI and INT goes to an waste, and its so costing for something that doesnt help you that much. Bracers will replace the stats, no the whole thing, but almost the whole thing for an 85% cheaper price.

DPS items

How come these but not Buriza because these items dont benefit Sven at all. The Divine Rapier will benefit a bit, but its so costing and drops when killed so its not woth it. Mkb gives 15% IAS, some thing that can help Sven, +75 damage and 30% for ministun and 100 damage, Radiance gives 60 + 30 damage IMO, but can all that do more then 250-500 damage extra? NO! At lvl 25 Sven will be able to do 1k damage with Buriza and GodsSTR making no other items better then buriza.

Battle Fury

60 damage is nice + regen, but you can get something better that actually matches you and synergies with gods strength. Sven is also build with a pushing skill, but better making this item

useless then Sven. Svens goal is to tank/overpower, not to farm with splash.

ArcaneRing

Sven is not an int type of hero. The armor can be gotten with a better item like satanic or even toughness aura. Sven is a TANK/OVERPOWER machine, not an bolt spammer. Bottle will fix mana problems.

__________4. Strategy__________

4b. Early Phase LVL 1-5

Lane Control is the most important thing during your early phase. Its important to get as much EXP as you can to rush for GodsStrength to start the fun. So for now just farm up and get your bottle as fast as you can for better survival or chance of getting first bloods and reduces trips to the fountain. Also keep an eye on your chicken, dont want to waste 200 gold or more. When getting items from your chicken you should get out of your enemys sight or make sure your enemys are still busy farming so make item transfers more succesful.

Farming depends on whitch heros your up against. If your up with Heavy Nukers or anoying dissablers, then of course you should be smart and stay back as much as you can. Wise harassers can take you down easily early game. If your up with 1 range hero and 1 melee, then you can creep much easier. Just make sure your not to close sometimes since youll become a target. If your up with 2 melee heros, then go step up and feel safer. Dont get too close, but close enough to deny or last hit because melee heros wont usually harras you.

Soloing will be hard so if your not experienced of confident enough of doing this, then I recommend you lane with a friend. Soloing gives you more exp and usually ull be closer to your tower and safer, but youll lack backup and that makes you stick out more as target. Also if they were pros, they would just deny and draw you out in the open to gank you, since you cant do much but just run or stun them. So if soloing, just stick to your tower more often when there your

enemys arent farmer, and dont stay to close to creeps.

Tower Hugging is real fun exspecially soloing of allying with another ranged stunner. Tower Hugging is benefcial, but the chance of doing this is low, unless soloing. To do this, you need atleast 1 cast of a bolt, and make sure the enemy creeps are gone, or out of your towers range. Itll usually happen when your hp is low so your opponent can chase you. Once you see some one in tower range, bolt them so theyll be stuned for 2 seconds under atk by the tower.

1. My health is low, im staying near my tower and axe comes in the kill creeps.

2. Since hes crazy to kill, he runs towards me thinking hell be able to kill me underatk by the tower.3. I run back a bit then axe notices he doesnt have enough HP to be able to chase.4. I stun axe.5. With some help from the tower, I finish him with a wack.

4c. MidPhase LVL 6-16

Ganking starts right when you have skilled GS. Since you have a pretty useful stun, youll be a gank initiator.To Gank with Sven, make sure:1. You have GS2. You have a bottle, atleast half.3. Your Heath and Mana is atleast 75%.4. Your enemy wont be able to get away. (EX: Blink, WW)5. Your gank is even. (EX: You vs Enemy or You & Ally vs Enemy NOT You vs Enemy1 & Enemy 2.)Heres an example of your power at lvl 10 with GodsStrength and what youll be able to do.

1: After wating for pink to push in deep, I run into with GS.2: Making a big mistake, I stun the image instead wasting my bolt so I have no other choice but to fight back blind, but I foudn the real one after looking at the MP. A few creeps and his images start to focus fire on me. 3: 2 hits with GS and Pink starts to run.4: A few more hits and i halt his ass with a bolt.5: I end it with one more whack and take my prize. Notice after taking all that damage, i still have atleast 50% left.

Morale: Dont be scared to solo a hero one level higher with you with 0 mana. Activate GS outside of sight to trick them into thinking theyll be able to overpower you.

When to use GS is also a problem to other Sven users. GS is a valuable skill with insane damage and a 2 minute cooldown so wasting GS will be harmful. If your Initiating a gank solo, then activate it out of sight from your prey your about to gank so youll trick them into staying because they dont know about your heavy damage yet. If your gank is assisted with allies, then GS should be activated during the gank and not before because you and your allies might just harras/nuke your prey to death. If one of your enemys teamates jump in and start atacking your allies back, then GS can be activated since theres another hero in the gank to kill and for you to overpower him.

Tricking with GS is another type of way to initiate a gank. Almost everyone knows what GS does once its activated so people will usually run to aviod heavy damage while noobs will still stay not knowing the diffrence. You prablably havent farmed up Dagger yet, so you wouldnt want the enemy to run. Inorder to do this this type of trick, make sure you have GS and atleast 2 bolts to cast, with treads and a bottle. This can also be dangerous, but benefits well if succesful. The main thing is to let your opponent bring down your health a bit. When your health reaches 40% and the opponents one reaches 55% (without GS), that means youll be able to overpower GS. If your health reaches 40% before your opponent reaches 55%, then I suggest you run because you might not have enough time to overpower them with GS before theyll be able to overpower you. If your enemys HP is at 55% while your at 40% then activate GS and fight back, dont stun them imeadately right after GS ( If you full mana then you can) because they might just run and youll have to wait 8 seconds before you cna stun them again. The reason why to lower your health down to 40% is to trick your opponent thinking theyll be able to overpower you.

1. Meepo and Nevermore just finished a pushed and starting to head back.2. Meepo got away while Nevermore was to slow, so I bolt him down.3. Whith a whack from me and a throw from silencer, his hp was down and ready to run.4. Noticing his friend was in danger, he came back and started atacking me, but i ended it with a Bolt.5. Now im fighting meepo, and my health seems to be dropping a bit faster. 6. Meepo got me down to 40% while hes at 50% and he nets me down so i cant run. So now I activate GS and start fighting again.

7. Nets gone and it was to late for Meepo to know his HP was dropping faster and he cant get away since he knows I have bolts.8. While Meepo helpless, he just stays till the end and I whack him down to claim my prize.

4d. LatePhase LVL 16-25

Initiating a TEAM BATTLE is not realy good for Sven, since Sven is a DPSER with massive damage and valuable time. You wouldnt want to be a initiator since you want as much HP/TIME you have to kill your enemys. If there is no other tank, then you must be the initiator then. Just grab a BKB and continue the fight and since you have Blinkdagger, just blink out when in trouble.

Blinkdagger is pretty easy to use. Just dont waste it to get to them for heros like magina. Blinkdagger should be used only to chase or escape. Initiating a gank using BD will waste it since youll have nothing to chase your enemy down. Also for heros like magina or sandking, never using to initiate, always use it for the purpose of chasing.

1. Im farming and Magina aproaches.2. I stun him imeadeately.3. Whacked him 5 times and this was his health.4. He thinks he can get away by blinking.5. I blink with him.

6. Stun.7. Take my gold.(GS was not activated)

BKBs avatar is real precious skill. Since it only lasts 10 seconds, you cant aford to waste time. When about to gank or enter a team battle, never activate it before starting any gank/teambattle since youll waste time because disables wont be thrown at you yet. Once you engaged combat and activated GS, then they would know its time to disable you to reduce damage, and thats when BKB should be turned on. So the most accurate time to use BKB is right after GS is used, or in the middle of the gank. It wont matter if its used in/out of sight from your enemys since Avatar increases your size and everyone knows that it shold be BKB.

1. I encounter Rhasta and i stun him and activated GS.2. Whacked him 3 times and he casted me into a frog.

3. He thinks its time to eat me up so he casts wards.4. Once free, I imeadately activated Avatar.5. Rhasta cant do anything since im spell imune, so he sits there while im whacking him.6. I take my prize.Knowing when to BKB can save a life or get you an easier kill. Its best to understand your enemy first for an example like Rhasta. Everyone knows hell usualy cast wards to finish enemys off then net you, so the best time to cast BKB on Rhasta is after summoning his wards.

4e. Replays

#1 Replay InfoRate: CWinning Team: SentinelScore for Sven: 10 Kills- 0 DeathsType: AP PUB Game.Time: Around 50 minutes.Briefing: A useful replay to further help you understand how to build Sven with certain items. Item Build went as far as the CoreBuild only. Also a few examples on ganks and team support battles. Opponents werent really skilled. 56 Second solo with Roshan.To download this replay:Click Here!

#2 Replay InfoRate: BWinning Team: SentinelScore for Sven: 5 Kills 1 DeathType: APEM PUB GAMETime: 1h 15 MinBriefing: Great replay! Further boost your understanding on how to use BKB and BlinkDagger more effeiciently. Build went 1 item pass the core build. Teammates left, leaving us with 3 SENS VS 5 SCOURGES. Teamates were skilled, while enemys were a bit less skilled. Had alot of strategic ganks and team battles. No solo with Roshan.To download this replay: Click Here!

__________5. Hero Info__________

Last step.Now that you get the picture on how vulernable Sven is and the ideal of how to get buffed up, its time to know how to counter heros and people who can help. Its also important to know what kind of enemy heros youll be facing because youll be able to find right partners to

counter them and reduce your chance of just getting harrased early game. I find this a need-to-know part because these heros can either really help you, or stop you progressing at all. Once you get these facts youll fully know how to play Sven

5b. Allies

Mana Regneration Heros

These heros can help you Early-Game with FirstBloods since youll be able to have enough mana to cast several StormBolts, due to the fact that you have heros who can regenerate your mana fast. Any other hero with an RingofBasilus would be recommend to. I find getting mana regen more important then allying up with heros who have healing skills(Purist) because it increases your chance of getting first blood.

HealerOnly against Nukers.

If partnered up with these heros, your chance of living will slightly increase, since these heros HealingSkills will take a while before they can actually really help, but it also reduces the chances of you getting Early-Hero kills. If your not up against nukers/Harrasers, then i would recommend you partnering up with them.

Ranged Stuns

Any hero and Sven that can stun up to 4 seconds or more from 2 heros are really helpful for killing heros during early game since 4 seconds can be a harm. I choose ranged stunners and not like DKs stun because its a bigger chance of getting them from standing in one place but Dk is a melee stun so youll have run up and take damage. First Bloods shall occur real more often.

Observer Wards

Since GS usefulness starts to die out as the game progreses since opponents will gain

higherarmor, its best to gank as much as possible to put GS to its full use. Placing watchers over the map can also protect your team and allies from getting ganked exspecially for you when you havent farmed your blinkdagger yet.

5c. Enemys

This part is also important. Most heros in DoTa are able to counter Sven Easily, due to the fact that Sven lacks combat skills that most heros in DoTa have.

Slowing heros

These heros will really become a problem to you early game exspecially when your MS is below average making it worse. Make sure your with a stunner or healer to make it easier handling these type of skills.

Passive Critical/Evasion/Stun Heros

These heros can really mess you up during the whole game due to the fact that they are equiped with passive combat skills and you only have one whitch is your ult every 120 secs.If these heros get fed or farm up to certain levels with there skills maxed, they will ruin up your game and counter you easily.

How to counterWarden+Faceless Void+BountyHunter+ Juggernaut+Troll

These heros aint that much of a problem in early game, but in late game they can be anoyying if farmed up. The only way to counter there Evasion/Criticals/Stuns is only to farm up yourself. Sven is really vulernable and doesnt have the potential skills to counter these types of heros.The only way to overpower these heros are to OverFarm and buy a BlinkDagger. If you overfarm them, youll be able to require stronger items to overpoqer them.Blink Dagger boosts your chance of suriving if your about to die or get away while being chased.If the enemys Evasion keeps kicking in or the enemys Bash are becomming unstopable, then the only way is to get a basher yourself. Getting a butterfly to counter Evasion is to costy and the only thing that benefits you is the Evasion+ atk speed while the rest goes to an waste.

SpiritBreaker: Spirit breaker can be a real devasting hero when farmed because of his chance of permanent stun. Sinces hes god at chasing down enemys and can Charge down maps in just a few seconds, i recomend getting an BlinkDagger during the middle of the CoreBuild and some TeleportScrolls so if low on hp woull be able to telelport back to your base without getting stuned.

EarlyGame Nuking/Harrasing

EarlyGame Nuking/HarrasingThese problems arent to bad to worry about since they only bother you during early game, but they can affect you by no allowing you to cast at all due to the fact that your HP will be always dropping low since there. If that keeps happenning, you wont be able to farm up for the Mid phase whitch will put you in trouble.

How to counter INT Nuking Heros

The only way to counter these heros are by staying back on you creeps. If possible still try to last hit but i doubt itll be to sucesful to do that. If money is comming in low and Heros just keep spamming nukes on you, then make sure you have atleast 2 bracers + boots and rush an BlackKingBar. Also remember to change lanes if you have to with an healer or some other type of hero that can help you prevent becomming nuked everytime. If you died just once or twice and you just reached mid game, it shouldnt be a problem anymore with nuking since of your hp and youll be able to overpower there Nukers back.

NerubianAssasin + BloneFletcher

These heros just lover to harras or turn you into an sitting duck or early game. Nerubian assassin will be a harm through your whole Early- late MID game since he can always null your mana. If laned up with this hero then i recommend building up with Circlets to boost your mana more also, and buy more Tangoes about 3 or 4 sets or they keep harrasing, then a blink dagger just incase if you get stuned or your on the chase. If your up with the fletcher then i recommend building up with Gauntlets first and everything above with Nerubian assasin so those items will keep your health in shape. Also remember to ally with a healer if possible.

Medusa, Gorgon

If this hero is selected then Sven is going to be really countered, but youll still have a chance so dont give up. Theres actually nothing much to do. Medusas ult comes every 12 seconds and itll dispell Svens GodsStrength. Also now with new updates, itll even go through BKBs avatar making it really hard to overpower medusa. The only ways to avoid this hero is to just overfarm and to aviod her. Shell also really mess up your builds but there is ways to still counter her. Its important to make sure she doesnt farm so performing ganks would be effective on her. Once shes allowed to farm up then shell be able to take down Sven with no problem so make sure she doesnt get buff. Also dont waste your money ok BKB with her because he ult now goes through BKB and nullifys GS so its useless. Just go Satanic with Asault Curias, the mainstay to overpower her.

QUOTEThanks to sin-jackinn, A6a-man, Tfiws dna eliga for informing me on this new problem.

Other Disablers

The worse things youll ever face with Sven.

How to Counter:These heros have just the thing to take out the chance of you overpowering heros. First is panda, he is combat hero with passive Crticals/Evasion whitch is already a problem for Sven when maxed. Then he has Drunken Haze whitch just makes it impossible to take out Panda or any other hero for early game. After that we have the Shaman, and once he shackles you it starts to waste precious time in yoour GodsStrength and youll prablably get ganked since you cant move. Also The only way to counter these heros is to also rush BlackKingBar to make sure DrunkenHaze or Shackle and another disabler doesnt get through GodsStrength since GS is your only way to inflict many damage and a Blinkdagger to avoid death if overpowered. Be aware of laning with these heros.

Storm Spirit

This hero I just included because he can also be a problem with you. StormSpirit is a anti-nuke machine, so that means all your StormBolts damage will go to waste. First make sure if Storm Spirit is actually lvling up Barrier. If he is, then leave StormBolt only at lvl 1 and go for Stats

and Toughness Aura. A lvl1 barrier already blocks 150 damage and it take a lvl 2 StormBolt to do 150 damage, making no use to lvl stormbolt. Youll lose your only nuking skill(stormbolt), but youll have more hp and mana to cast stormbolt so youll be able to stun him several times allowing you to atack him and chase him. Since he has overload, it can be a problem to you, since overload is an AOE damage youll be getting hurt while trying to harvest gold yourself a bit. Make sure he doesnt overfarm to much because hell be to buff and hard to kill once that happens and youll just get harrased by him. If this does happen then get an Dagger and thatll fix the problem a bit so overload doesnt get you anymore and youll be able to run, but if he grapples then you better run.

__________6. Questions and Answers__________

Q: Whitch Orb would benefit Sven the most?A: Lifesteal. Sven is a tank so he needs to overpower other heros. Frost, Maim, Manta Orbs dont make Sven overpower period. Lifesteal allows Sven to deal damage and gaining some of it the same time, making it the most effective orb for Sven. Sven does not need more chasing like Maim or Frost.

Q: Are you just getting BlinkDagger just to make Sven cool? ( I encountered this question in a game.)A: No. BlinkDagger gives Sven 2 things that he cant really do, to chase and escape. Sven doesnt have no escape skill to avoid ganks but to just outrun it, while he has a below avg MS to making ti imposible so BD will fix it. Also Sven is pretty much slow and once he activates GS and the oppoent was Smart, hed run and Sven with low MS wouldnt be able to catch his prey. With BD itll fix that problem and expand Svens range exspecially with Blink and a Ranged Storm Bolt.

__________7. Extra Facts__________

A organized section about other random facts that Sven can do with his skills/items.

7b. Creep Taming

Creep Taming is done by using your Helm of Dominator to take advantage with the power of this item. Theres certain creeps that can really benefit you for some time.

Lanecontrol/Pushes/Farming

These creeps can be really useful in lanecontrol or farming. These heros wont be to useful since the 100 damage nuke will be really degraded from hero armor so i only recomend it in farming. The MS provided from the other creep is also useful since its a pretty big aura itll boost your lane and pushes. Also the Unholy Aura can be really useful exactly like an RoR aura that also supports your team mate and creeps for pushes.

Hero Tools

These types of creeps are recomended for ganks. Centaurs 15% IAS can be really useful giving your more firepower exspecially when GS is on. The stuns from the centaur can also be useful since its duration is normal, with cheap mana costs but low damage. The Purge can also be useful in chasing/debuffing heros so youll be able to power them all easily.

7c. Roshan Soloing

Dont think anyother guide with Sven will be able to do it faster.(In this one my Centaur accidently died, roshan soloing can be done at 16)This is an average amount of time Roshan should be killed if done correctly soloing.

QUOTE

Before

After

Requirements:LVL 3 GodsStrength Helm of DominatorCentaur Neutral Creep

This is an example of soloing roshan at lvl 16. Youll actually need 2 bracers, an HelmofDominator. The Dagger aint really needed. Youll have to tame one of those Centaur Creeps. He has the SpeedAura whitch grants you atk speed with a stun so thatll help since your IAS wont be to fast yet. Heres some tips on what roshan does and how to solo him easier in atleast 56 seconds :

QUOTE-You 2 go in, Centaur first but not to apart. -Do not imeadetly activate GodsSTR once you hit Roshan, hell stun you then youll be wasting 3 seconds of precious GodsSTR. Activate it after the first stun, so you dont waste time with GodsSTR. Youll be stuned atleast 5 times soloing roshan.-Now you 2 are fighting. When he stuns you, hell stop atking you and go for the centaur. When you get stuned, use the centaur and stun him back. When roshan hits the centaur, let him only hit it once, then move the centaur away, and once you do that, Roshan will start hitting Sven again and THEN move the centaur back. Now keep doing the same thing over again when you are stuned. Make sure you dont get the centaur killed or youll lose the aura and itll take you atleast 5 more seconds to kill it.-IF your centaur is about to die, run him away make sure you used all those stuns to, and put him behind Sven not to far away but close enough for the Aura to help Sven. And now you just battle him down. If you have HelmofDominator, you should be really low on health after killing roshan.If you have Satanic, then you should have half or more hp left.

7d. Tower Hunting

Due to the fact that Sven has the ability to do massive damage we can also use it for another reason instead of fighting, but tower hunting! Youll be able to take down massive towers in no time in low levels, giving you alot of gold to farm items faster. Heres an example. This is just an option.

If your just farming and have a extra skill of GS to use, then be smart to go take donw a tower since its 400+ gold. It should be atleast 19 seconds with a full health tower and even much faster if its lower. This screenie is done at lvl 11 with treads and a lvl 2 GS. This wont only work on noobs to but exspecially if your opponent is in team battles, theyll leave that lane open so ull be able to go in and take out that tower easily.During this MidGame might be a trouble if your dont have town scrolls, but during late game youll be safe.

7e. Farming/Splash

At lvl 17 GreatCleave should be leveled(unless your using the anti build) and pishing starts. Heres an Example of Svens GreatCleave radius:

This image is kind of messy sorry about that. This fully shows Svens Splash damage when facing 1 creep so now you should know powerful and how lucky Sven is actually built with this skill. For farming with greatcleave, it should take atleast 8 seconds with treads to clear out 1 wave on your own and maybe faster. Killing creeps should be easy to.

__________8. Conclusion__________

Alright now that you learned most of my skills and ways of fighting with Sven, put it to use! You didint read this just to rate it, you read it to bring Sven out again and kick ass! Now you should be scoring hero kills with your new learned builds and your DotA skills. Dont back down and use everything you read and take advantage of it, exspecially like Roshan Soloing or using creeps for assistence. But this aint the end of the things youll be learning. Ill still be updating this as long as other people enjoy reading my guide so if you are bored of something, come back and I might have something new in store for you. Well goodluck with my guide in your hands and have fun in DotA. Thankyou for reading. Also thanks to everyone who helped me improve my guide. ;]

Still not satisfied with this guide? Heres others:Click Here For noobasaurusREX Sven Guide! (Outdated but still useable)Click Here for MattDamons Sven Guide! (UnderConstruction)Click Here for [DIVA]PurpleCow Sven Guide! (Abandoned?)Click Here for PieMongers Sven Guide! (Abandoned)

Since I spent alot of my time creating this guide, it would be really nice for a comment/rating atleast so I know how people think of it and to improve it to make you guys happy.Thankyou!

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