I'm nothing special by any means, but I love playing SK and do pretty well, especially in terms of contributing to the team. I usually am the one that buys the courier and/or wards, as SK can still be plenty useful w/o the farm.

My typical build order is to level Burrow Strike (Q) and then Sand Storm (W), and then take Epicenter (R) when available (Q/W/Q/W/Q/R, etc.). I then follow up with Caustic Finale (E) and then stats. I would avoid leveling Caustic Finale early, unless you are laning against pushing heroes like Broodmother (spiderlings) or Venomancer (Venom Wards) where it can be more useful. Even then, I prefer to just adjust my build to level Sand Storm quicker (i.e. Q/W/W/Q/W/R, etc.). Keep in mind, Sand Storm works as a great escape/dodge ability too...learn to love it! Caustic Finale IS great for farming and pushing lanes, but you don't really want that early (unless you're going for an early push strat). By the time you reach late game, you should be one of the best lane pushers in terms of killing creeps. BS coupled with CF can kill a wave near-instantly.

Now, as for items:

· Starting: Donkey or Wards, Tango, Salve, 2x Clarity, Gauntlet (+3 str) ==> You can substitute however many clarity potions for branches if you want. I personally go clarity for more early-game harass and potential first-blood opportunities.

· Rest of game: I don't like to specify early/mid/late because it will vary game-to-game in terms of timing and how much supporting you're doing. Essentially, get your boots, finish bracer, upgrade boots (Arcane), Blink Dagger, Aghanim's Scepter, Heart of Tarrasque. I find it very rare that I don't at least have a completed Agh's before the game ends. Keep in mind, this is with getting almost no farm early game (usually laning with a carry). Our farming power increases greatly later on. If you're in mid-game and aren't getting much in the way of ganks, you can stack the neutral camps and then SS them for easy, relatively quick farm (not worth it until at least lvl 3 SS). Another note, if you feel like your survivability is waning and aren't getting much income, don't hesitate to build a second bracer. It will help you more than you think.

Playstyle: Harass/Gank/Initiate.

· Harassing will basically be on a case-by-case basis depending on what you're facing in lane. This is where having those clarity potions will come in to play with BS. Use your judgement. This will be done a lot easier vs. melee hero's. The key is to make them think twice about having a go at you or your lane mate...and make them antsy about last-hitting.

· Ganking will play a big part in your ability to earn gold for the early-mid/mid game. Be smart, sneaky, and memorize your ranges for the various levels of BS. Remember to coordinate with your teammates, as your solo-killing power is horrible (until late-game). Also, don't get prideful, and be willing to take a chance and possibly sacrifice yourself with a clutch BS to save your carry. If they're any good, it'll pay off in the long run. Remember to use SS to help yourself get out of sandy (ha!) situations, and that BS can go through trees, up cliffs, etc. Use the tools available to you. Keep in mind, your ganking will be limited by mana, so being successful and getting your Arcane Boots will help immensely.

· Initiating will be a huge contribution to your teams success. Honestly, IMHO, you cannot really effectively initiate team fights until you get your blink dagger. Standard procedure is to set-up, start channeling your Epi, shift-queue your blink dagger, then once you blink, BS. This is an incredibly effective, and deadly combination, especially once you get Agh's. Remember, you can use SS right after to help you escape.


Sorry for the general sloppiness of this post, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. Feel free to nit-pick/ask questions.

I just wanted to say hi to everybody. Seems like a good thing going on here. To keep things short, I'll just mention that my main MOBA background is from playing HoN. I received my Dota 2 beta key back before TI 1, but unfortunately have not played very much due to various reasons. I think part of it was the fact that I was burnt out from the HoN community, and I didn't feel like dealing with the potential DOTA elitists at the time.

Anyways, as I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to get my friends to play/keep playing, this seemed to be a good place to turn to for meeting other players to play with in a non-rager environment while I re-acquaint myself with the genre. I wouldn't call myself a complete noob, but I definitely need a lot of work. I look forward to playing with you guys.

I don't know man, a lot of children like to do puzzles.

Welcome! I just hooked up with these guys as well. Biggest thing I can say is to not be shy. Everyone is friendly, so don't be afraid to ask if people are looking to play a game. Also, join the "Dota Noobs" channel in-game (hit the little + sign at the top right of chat box).

I'm down for feeling inadequate. lol