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Silencer · Hard Support (pos. 5)

Silencer for Beginners

BeginnersData-drivenEasyPatch 7.41
365Updated

More Silencer guides

This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.

Overview

Silencer is a ranged Intelligence hero that Valve tags as Disabler, Initiator and Carry. It is played mainly as Hard Support (pos. 5): 58% of the public matches we measured, by starting lane and starting items. In this guide you play it as Hard Support (pos. 5): your job is to keep your carry safe in the safe lane, buy the wards and give up farm so the cores can have it. Silencer is of average difficulty: learn the basics below and it rewards you quickly.

Strengths

  • Reliable silence: Arcane Curse sets up kills and interrupts enemy channels.
  • Long attack range (600) to harass and last hit safely.
  • Heavy magical burst: Valve lists it as a Nuker.

Weaknesses

  • Low base armor (0): vulnerable to physical harass early on.
  • No escape in the kit: without good positioning and vision, Silencer is easy to catch.

Build cheat sheet

Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.

Builds

Simple build

BalancedRecommended
Open build

When to use it

The most-bought items without the situational ones: buy them in this order and focus on playing the hero.

Where it's played

Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.

Seen from RadiantRadiant · bottom leftDire · top right
  1. Safe laneMain59% of matchesSafe lane next to your carry, as Hard Support (pos. 5).
  2. OfflanePriority 232% of matchesOff lane next to your offlaner, as Soft Support (pos. 4).

Starting items

Iron BranchTangoBlood GrenadeFaerie FireObserver and Sentry Wards

Core items

  1. 1Force StaffYour first big item.
  2. 2Glimmer CapeSecond: buy it right after.
  3. 3PaviseThird: completes your core.

Boots

Arcane Boots

Late game

Refresher OrbAghanim's Scepter

Skill order

Max order:Arcane Curse›Last Word›Glaives of Wi…

Ability1234567891011121314151617
●··········●·●●··
·●●·●·●··········
···●···●●●·······
·····●······●···●

Talents by level

  1. +2s Global Silence Duration
    +30% Glaives of Wisdom Damage
    25
  2. +40s Glaives of Wisdom Int Steal Duration
    250 AoE Last Word
    20
  3. -15s Global Silence Cooldown
    special_bonus_unique_silencer_arcane_curse_duration
    15
  4. +25 Attack Speed
    +7% Suffer In Silence Silenced Target Damage
    10

Abilities

  • Arcane Curse22 / 20 / 18 / 16s120 / 130 / 140 / 150 mpCurses the target area, dealing damage and causing enemies to take damage over time and slowing their movement speed. Anytime affected enemies cast a spell, the duration is increased. The duration is paused as long as the target is silenced.
    Damage
    16·24·32·40
    Initial damage
    20·40·60·80
    Radius
    350
    Base duration
    6
    Movement slow
    -16%·-19%·-22%·-25%
    Penalty duration
    2
    Basic ability — applies a silence. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • Glaives of Wisdom12 / 14 / 16 / 18 mpSilencer enchants his glaives with his wisdom, stealing his target's Intelligence with each hit and dealing additional damage based on his Intelligence.
    Int to damage
    35%·50%·65%·80%
    Int steal
    2·3·4·5
    Int steal duration
    10·20·30·40
  • Last Word22 / 18 / 14 / 10s100 / 105 / 110 / 115 mpEnchants a target, providing vision of them and causing them to be damaged and silenced if they cast a spell or if the enchantment timer expires. Deals extra damage based on the difference in intelligence between Silencer and the target.
    Base damage
    120·160·200·240
    Int diff multiplier
    1·1.5·2·2.5
    Enemy cast timer
    4
    Silence duration
    3·4·5·6
    Aoe
    0
  • Suffer In SilencePassiveSilencer takes less damage from and deals more damage to silenced targets. If an enemy Hero dies within 925 range of Silencer or was debuffed by Silencer at the time of death, Silencer permanently steals 1 Intelligence from them. If the victim was silenced, steal an extra 1 Intelligence.
    Silenced target damage
    5%
  • Global Silence120s300 / 450 / 600 mpSilencer stops all sound, preventing enemy heroes and units on the map from casting spells.
    Duration
    4.5·5.25·6
    Ultimate. Plan your fights around its cooldown.

Most played skill order

The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.

Max order:Arcane Curse›Last Word›Glaives of Wi…

Ability1234567891011121314151617
●··········●·●●··
·●●·●·●··········
···●···●●●·······
·····●······●···●

Strategy

1What Silencer does

Silencer is a ranged Intelligence hero that Valve tags as Disabler, Initiator and Carry. It is played mainly as Hard Support (pos. 5): 58% of the public matches we measured, by starting lane and starting items. The kit brings crowd control (silence) with Arcane Curse. Its ultimate is Global Silence.

2The basics

In this guide you play it as Hard Support (pos. 5): your job is to keep your carry safe in the safe lane, buy the wards and give up farm so the cores can have it.

  • Vision: a ward in the right place saves more lives than any spell.
  • Positioning: you are the easiest kill on the map, so stand where the enemy can't reach you first.

3Common mistakes

Most new players lose games with the same few mistakes. Avoid these and you'll already be ahead:

  • Taking last hits from your carry.
  • Placing wards during the fight instead of before it.
  • Standing in front of your cores in fights.

4Your first games

Position 5 starts in the safe lane with your carry: their last hits come first, so harass the enemy offlaner, pull the small camp when the wave needs resetting and buy the wards nobody else will. Use the simple build in this guide and don't worry about situational choices yet.

Tips

  • Vision: a ward in the right place saves more lives than any spell.
  • Positioning: you are the easiest kill on the map, so stand where the enemy can't reach you first.
  • Check the minimap every few seconds: most deaths come from heroes you didn't see coming.
  • Learn what Global Silence does before anything else: it's the ability that wins fights.

Changelog

  1. Guide created for patch 7.41.

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