So to continue with my posts of characters who don't get alot of play.....

Slarder

I have only seen him a handful of games that I have played in, so I figured I would try him out!
I was a big fan of his Armor Debuf, and the very low mana cost was nice.....hmm after Venge and Dazzle, it seems I have a thing for armor modification.
His stun was pretty bad ass.....
Being able to slither around at blazing speeds? Check.
Chance to stun on right-click attacks? Yes Please.

So I am sure there are obvious reason why he doesn't get played ever, but I enjoyed him.

Any tips/tricks? Should I not bother trying to play with him as he is a terrible character?

Slardar is a weird hero. He has decent mobility, which causes him to take more damage. His stun is nice, but needs a set up, or he needs a blink dagger. The minus armor is nice, with the added benefit of giving true sight.

In my mind, Slardar is a jack of many trades, but master of none. He can tank up decently and deal pretty good damage, but I think there are other heroes that does what he does better.

Slardar is a very strong hero in conjunction with someone like Templar Assassin who deals a lot of burst physical damage.

He has a few problems that prevent much play: He has no abilities that allow him to farm more quickly (Luna, Sven, Gyro, Anti-mage), his mobility spell (sprint) also makes him take significantly more damage.

Barring the above, his ult is ridiculous and makes him do significantly more damage. It also reveals invisible units, but you shouldn't pick slardar to "counter" invis heroes. In addition, if you win a teamfight with Slardar in the midgame, then you can easily take rosh with Amplify Damage.

My build on slardar: Treads -> Blink -> BKB if you want to initiate or Treads -> Armlet -> BKB if you want to do dps/semi-carry.

Slardar is rediculous if you put him with the right lineup

He isnt a hard carry really but hes super strong when you pair him with other physical damage dealers like people are saying

Hes amazing in the age old "minus armor strategy" because of his ult, it can get pretty rediculous.

Power Treads -> Armlet -> Vlads is a great core item build on him.

After that its really up to you BKB and AC are great

Ive been playing around with Shiva's guard on him just because it solves his mana issues and more armor never hurt anyone, the AOE slow is another plus too!