What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
194 buys
2ndSecond most
81 buys
3rdThird most
77 buys
4thFourth most
75 buys
5thFifth most
52 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Slark
Melee · Agility
- Win rate
- 50.1%
- Pick share
- 1.0%
- Matches
- 472,944
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsCarryEscapeDisablerNuker
NeedsSupportInitiatorFrontlineTower damage
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 50 min + — that is where this hero measures best, at 57.3% over 850 matches.
- You are playing around Herald — its strongest medal, 52.3% over 10,269 picks.
Avoid
- Leshrac is on their side — this hero wins 37.9% of 58 matches against it.
- Clockwerk is on their side — this hero wins 32.4% of 34 matches against it.
- Spirit Breaker is on their side — this hero wins 39.7% of 68 matches against it.
194 buys81 buys77 buys75 buys52 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Slark took at each level.
QDark Pact
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.
No Target · Instant Cast · Magical damage
WPounce
Slark leaps forward, leashing and applying Essence Shift stacks to the first hero he connects.
No Target · Magical damage
ESaltwater Shiv
Slark slices the target with his salty shiv, stealing a portion of the target's movement speed, Health Regen and Health Restoration.
Unit Target · Attack Modifier · Autocast · Physical damage
RShadow Dance
When not visible to the enemy team, Slark passively gains bonus movement speed and health regeneration.
Instant Cast · No TargetMax Order
QWE
Max Q first, then W, then E. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QDark Pact
- WPounce
- ESaltwater Shiv
- RShadow Dance
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QDark Pact | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WPounce | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| ESaltwater Shiv | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RShadow Dance | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Slark performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
78 opponents · public matches40%60%Slark's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard
If this happens, use this
- They are running away
Something that holds them still, or closes the gap yourself. Matched on “leap”.
- I am being jumped
A way out, a way to shrug the debuff, or something to eat the burst. Matched on “dispel”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”.
- Stay in lane
Healing, regeneration or lifesteal — not having to walk back. Matched on “regenerat”.
- See what is coming
Vision, or true sight against something invisible. Matched on “reveal”.
By medal
- Herald52.3%10,269
- Guardian51.1%36,065
- Crusader50.1%64,612
- Archon49.4%94,050
- Legend49.2%105,172
- Ancient49.9%73,392
- Divine50.6%48,887
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min46.1%3,340
- 20–30 min47.7%7,253
- 30–40 min49.9%4,859
- 40–50 min52.2%2,132
- 50 min +57.3%850
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Slark
Abilities
Dark Pact
No Target · Instant Cast · Magical damageAfter 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
Pounce
No Target · Magical damageSlark 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 Shiv
Unit Target · Attack Modifier · Autocast · Physical damageSlark 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 Shroud
Point Target · AOE · HiddenCreates a cloud at the target location. All allies inside the radius are hidden and affected by Shadow Dance.
Essence Shift
Passive · HiddenSlark 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 Dance
Instant Cast · No TargetWhen 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.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 20 +2.1
- Agility
- 21 +1.5
- Intelligence
- 16 +1.9
- Move · range
- 300 · 150
Talents
- 4Shadow Dance DurationEssence Shift Duration
- 3Agility gain/stolen per Essence Shift StackShadow Dance Attack Speed
- 2Dark Pact DamageShadow Dance Regen
- 1Dark Pact CooldownPounce Leash
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Pounce
Provides charges and increases range.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Depth Shroud
Creates a cloud at the target location. All allies inside the radius are hidden and affected by Shadow Dance.
Sources
- Kit, talents and upgrades · mechanicalread 22 Sept 2026
Ability names, icons, behaviour, damage type and text, plus the Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard descriptions — as the game itself ships them. Nothing here was counted over matches.
- Win rate by medal · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The same hero at each of Valve’s eight medals, over 4,610,063 public matches. Each medal carries its own sample, because the eight buckets are nothing like the same size.
- Matchups and match length · counted, on a narrower windowread 16 Sept 2026
Win rate against each opponent and across five match-length bands. This channel reports far fewer games than the medal figures above: the median hero pairing is 51 matches and the largest on the whole roster is 707. Rows under 30 games are absent rather than shown small, and the ones that remain are ORDERED by a figure shrunk toward even by its own sample — the rate you see is the real one, the ranking is the careful one.
- What players build · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The five most common items in each of Valve’s four game stages, with each row’s own pick count.
- Skill order · counted, in league matchesread 3 Oct 2026
Where skill points go, read off every player's own learning order in premium and professional league matches on patches 7.41 and 7.40. Each level shows the ability most players took there and the share that did — a column only a third agree on is printed as a third, not as the rule. Heroes under 30 counted games show no path.
- Situation index · derived, and checkableread 22 Sept 2026
Each situation is a phrase match against Valve’s own ability text, and every row shows the phrases that matched. No win rate is attached, because nobody counts one per situation.
Mechanics are the ones Valve publishes for patch 7.41f. GamGem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.