Strategy Guide for Anub'seran the Nerubian

Weaver
by Kai- (as of v6.60)

Visit http://planetdota.blogspot.com/ for your Dota needs!

:. Pros:
1. Above average early game(HAPPY NOW???...meanies)
2. Free maphac Observer wards.
3. Really cool ulti

:. Cons:
1. Low-ish range
2. Horrible stat growth
3. Horrible base stats
4. The watchers get wtfowned by Radiance now.

:. Skills:

Watchers
Raises an invisible Watcher from a corpse. Watchers do not have truesight, has 1 HP
and get wtfpwned by Radiance
Level 1 - 2 maximum.
Level 2 - 4 maximum.
Level 3 - 6 maximum.
Level 4 - 8 maximum.
Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 20/15/10/5

Pretty neat skill, gives you the free maphac observer wards that everyone loves so much. Also note that the Watchers can move
at 522 MS, giving them a far larger effective vision range than wards have.

Also note that now the Watchers can get hit by spells, which is extremely lame, since it means that they can get hit by Radiance
 as well.

Shukuchi
Nerubian Weaver becomes invisible and has 522 move speed for 4 seconds. Any units
passed through will take damage.
Level 1 - 90 damage.
Level 2 - 100 damage.
Level 3 - 110 damage.
Level 4 - 120 damage.
Mana Cost: 60
Cooldown: 13/ 11/ 9/ 7

A skill that maxes your movespeed, and lets you move from one side of the screen to the other in its duration. Also lets you
dodge spells, like I do in my video.

Geminate Attack
Occasioanlly the Nerubian Weaver will send out two swarms, attacking an opponent
twice.
Level 1 - 7 second cooldown.
Level 2 - 6 second cooldown
Level 3 - 5 second cooldown
Level 4 - 3.5 second cooldown
Orb effect.
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A

Makes you shoot 2 attacks whenever you attack if the skill isn’t on cool down. Great for harassing and last hitting.

Time Lapse
Warps the Weaver 5 Seconds back in time, reseting HP, Mana, and position. Does not
effect cooldowns, gold, and XP.
Level 1 - 150 manacost.
Level 2 - 75 manacost.
Level 3 - 0 manacost.
Mana Cost: 150
Cooldown: 120/ 90/ 60
Teleports Weaver to where he was 5 seconds before. A great skill to use in the middle of a fight for mana/hp boost, also can be
used after Shukuchi is over to send you back where you started Shukuchi.

2. Skill build
1. Shukuchi
2. Geminate Attack
3. Shukuchi
4. Watchers
5. Shukuchi
6. Time Lapse
7. Shukuchi
8. Stats
9. Stats
10. Geminate Attack
11. Time Lapse
12. Geminate Attack
13. Geminate Attack
14. Watchers
15. Stats
16. Time Lapse
17. Stats
18. Watchers
19+. Watchers

I get Shukuchi at level one just incase the opponent does some sort of lame 3 man
gank strategy on your lane.

Geminate attack to help with last hitting and harassing at early levels. Maxed at level
13, since that is around the time you should be able to get Radiance if you’re doing
good(Or SR if your doing not so good), so the dps bonus will be more helpful then.

Shukuchi to help with harassing, I have it maxed at 7 so you can easy escape and
harass with this skill.

A level of Watchers are gotten at level 4 so that your team won't have spend money
on early observer wards. Feel free to replace it with stats if you think your team isn't
worth the time.

Watchers are gotten in mid game, since that is when map control & map awareness is
most important. Stats and Watchers are gotten at alternative levels since Stats are
very important to Weaver cause Weaver has shit stats.
Time Lapse at levels 6/11/16 since it is uber hax.

You can get a level of Watchers at level 4 if you think you might get ganked in early
game. Or if your allies ask for it. I don't really recommend it though.

3. Item Build
:. Core Items:

Basic early game items -> 2 gauntlets of Giant Strength -> Radiance -> 2 Bracer +
Boots of Travel -> Linkens Sphere/Heart of Tarrasque -> Whatever

Note: Get boots anytime, depending on personal preference. If you think you can go
through early game without boots, then do so.

Boots Of Travel | 2700 gold

Boots of Travel are insanely good for any hero, Weaver included. Better than treads
because Free Teleport > All.

I get boots after Radiance, because that is around the time when your team will start
to push, so you need the extra map control & teleport ability.

Radiance | 5350 gold

The best damage item there is(Other than Rapier). Does linearly(I really can't get over
how lame that sounds as compared to exponentially =[) more damage the more
targets are in range. Also helps in both pushing and countering pushes, and it will
allow you to do lots of damage when chasing with Shukuchi. Radiance is better than
Buriza and MKB, since it allows you to utilize Shukuchi to its maximum potential,
since you can Shukuchi, while running along side the hero your chasing, and you do
damage. Something that you can't do with MKB/Buriza.

I prefer Radiance over Butterfly as a first item because it is cheaper, meaning you
become useful to your team faster than if you were to go butterfly, and also the
Sacred Relic adds a large amount of damage, which will aide you in last hitting and
denying. The Radiance aura is also better in chasing and in team battles than the
Butterfly.
Radiance is still good even after the .42 nerf, since you buy it mainly for the hax aura,
not the damage.

Bracer | 510 gold

Bracers are gotten early on in the game to help boost your poor health pool. Better
than Wraith Bands & Nulls because of the larger health boost.

:. Other Possible Items:

Linkens Sphere | 5500 gold

Linkens gives good stats in STR and AGI, which means more HP so that you aren’t as
fragile, and more damage/attack speed, which is good since you have low AGI gain.
The spell block allows you to escape a situation that you would normally die to, since
it blocks the initial spell(Usually a stun) so you can then Shukuchi away. Either get this
or Heart of Tarrasque right after you finish radiance so that you aren’t such a glass
cannon.

Heart of Tarrasque | 5500 gold

This will make your hp not suck nearly as much ass, which means that you will live
longer in team fights. Always get either this or Linkens Sphere after you finish
Radiance + BoT.

Note: You MUST get either linkens or heart, because otherwise you will NOT have
enough hp to survive in fights, and stuff like that.

The Butterfly| 6350 gold

Even though it is rather expensive, it is an extremely powerful item on Weaver, since

Butterfly is now the best DPS-based item for agility heroes(I call Radiance an
exception though, since Radiance is more useful in team fights & in pushing/farming).
Will make your DPS skyrocket after you have your other items. The butterfly is also
good because it gives lots of IAS, something which my build lacks.

Perserverance | 1775 gold

A ok item on Weaver if you already have your Radiance, although I find a Sobi Mask &
a few Tangos as good as getting a Perserverance, while also being far cheaper unless
your aiming for Linkens Sphere, in which case GO FOR IT! Don't get Perservance
before Radiance since it will set it your Radiance back too far.

Eye of Skadi | 7050 gold

I really prefer Linkens or Heart over this item for a heath boosting item simply
because Heart adds more HP, if that is what you need & Linkens blocks spells, which is
extremely useful against a team with single target stuns(Vengeful Sprit, Skeleton King,
Sven ect). Skadi isn't as good at adding raw HP as Heart, and it isn't as useful as a
utility item like Linkens since it can't block spells. Also it costs around 1500 more gold
than Linkens & Heart, which means that you will be stuck farming for longer, which
can be bad at times if your team needs you quick. Although, I don't really like it, feel
free to get this if you think you can farm it, and you don't think that Heart or Linkens
would benefit you more.

:. Items to Avoid:

Divine Rapier is not really viable at the moment, since Aegis charges are few
and far between. And farming for 35-40 mins on a gamble that you will be able to get
Aegis is not really a safe strategy.

Treads suck as compared to BoT. Ok, maybe not quite true, but I still find
BoT more effective in mid->late game since the TP ability is so dam haxly.
 If you think this is good, go shoot yourself now.

See: Battlefury

Bracers are better. If you feel the need to get a wraith band, get a bracer
instead.

Orb Effects They make weavers attacks

do funny things like make Geminate Attack not work properly and stuff like that.

View that image to see what exactly does, and does not work
with weavers attack.

Special Note for Eye of Skadi: The frost orb effect works fine, as long as you order the
attack(As in, you click on someone to attack them. If they just run past you, and you
hit them it doesn't have the frost effect).

4. Strategy
VERY IMPORTANT: View THIS youtube video, as it is important in explaining some of
the things in the guide.

:. Early game .:

Item Order

2 Circlets

2 Tangos
2 Gauntlets of Strength

(Optional: If you find yourself running out of mana for Time Lapse or Shukuchi, make
a bracer and get a Sobi Mask)

1 Boots of Speed

1 Sacred Relic

|| General gameplay ||

Get Shukuchi at level one and whatever items you wanna get(I recommend 2 Tangos +
2 Circlets, and I will do my item order as if you got those items) then head to your
lane. Try to get solo if possible, Weaver is strong solo hero unless your against a top
tier solo(Viper, Tinker, ShadowFiend ect). Use Geminate Attack powered attacks to
last hit creeps, and hit the enemy hero if they are out of place(EG - Melee hero going
into last hit a creep, or a range hero hugging the creep line for a last hit).

At level 3 or so, depending on the opponents(EG - Don’t do this against heroes with
stuns or heavy nukes, or something else lame like that) you can use Shukuchi, hit
them with that, then run back to near the creep line, hit them once or twice(You
have to hit them twice if you break Shukuchi with an attack in order for Geminate
Attack to work, since it doesn't work if you breakShukuchi with an attack) then fall
back to the range creep.

Also note that if you break Shukuchi with an attack, it doesn’t draw creep aggro(But
the second hit will). If the opponent is someone like Enchantress or Viper(any hero
with an auto cast orb effect) you can dodge it by using Shukuchi before it hits

you(Like in my video ). You can also dodge some single target nukes where the
projectile moves slow(EG - Storm Bolt) but you can’t dodge AoE by being invis.
Weaver can easily outlane most enemies other than Tinker, Viper and other top tier
solos. Viper since he’s just plain imba, and tinker since his nukes insta-jib weaver so
dam easy. Be careful if your soloing against those heroes, or if your in a 2v1 lane.

In summary: Don’t go out and gank in other lanes, as farming is more important at
this stage since you are probably the main carry. But at the same time, don’t
hesitate to call your allies into your lane to gank your lane enemy if your having
trouble with them, since this will allow you to farm more easily.

Once you have level 4 Shukuchi, what you can do to harass is - Hit them once, then
Shukuchi past them and the creep wave, so that you are behind them, then hit them
more, then Shukuchi again to chase for the kill, or to go back to farming. Only do this
against enemies that are weaker than you though, since it is suicide to do this against
Viper or Tinker or something like that.

:. Mid game .:

Item Order

1 Radiance (Forms Radiance)

2 Bracers (Forms 2* Bracer)

1 Boots of Travel (Forms Boots of Travel)

|| General gameplay ||

If you can finish radiance by the 30-35 minute mark in a game where the opponent
doesn’t suck ass, you can say that you are doing good(20-25 mins for the average
pub). Once you have Radiance, you can safely go ganking and hero hunting, since you
have good damage with Geminate Attack/Shukuchi/Radiance DoT. Hunt mainly low
armor/hp heroes or heroes that lack disable. Also, don’t forget to farm a lot if the
enemy has put up wards or something like that, since you really need to get the
Linken’s Sphere or the Heart ASAP.

Farming with Radiance is easy if you know how much extra damage Radiance does on
the creeps, so that you can time it even with the Radiance aura. To make it easy, just
imagine that all of the creeps have an extra range creep hitting them.

In team fights, target whoever looks weak(EG - A Rhasta using net on someone). If you
get focused, wait until your near death and then use Time Lapse, and start the fight

over (Don't worry about dieing cause you used Time Lapse too late, it has like a
0.1 sec cast time, so you should be fine unless your in lag). Use Shukuchi + the
Radiance effect to do mass damage to the enemy team, and cut down any heroes that
try to do a runner with Shukuchi.

:. Late game .:

Item Order

Heart/Linkens is recommended, followed by something like MKB, Buriza, the

Butterfly(Recommended) or something like that.

|| General gameplay ||
Well, I'm sure people know how to play heroes that have good items, and if you don't,
this is how its done.

You can push with your allies, to go for towers and raxes', or you can farm like a little
mofo and get even more bbqpwnage items.

Fights are pretty much the same as in mid game, except now you have slightly more
HP thanks to heart.

In the event that you were severely

5. Skill/Item usage

VERY IMPORTANT: View THIS youtube video if you didn't watch it before, and if you
did, its probably a good idea to watch it again now.

Geminate Attack: Use this to last hit or harass in early game, and then later on use it
whenever you want. It’s a passive ability, you’d have to be brain dead to not use it.

Shukuchi: You can use it to dodge spells(like in the video. WATCH IT DAM YOU!!!), and
to chase/harass/escape from enemy heroes. The range of Shukuchi is from the bottom
left corner of the screen(Just above the mini-map), to the top right corner of the
screen(Around where the scoreboard arrow is).

Its hard to explain in words how to dodge spells, so I just won't bother. Look at the
video. Its only like 10MB if you use direct download, not much.

Watchers: Use them like portable observer wards. Put them in the river and the forest
to look out for ganks. They are most effective when put in patrol mode, since they
can cover more area per watcher.

Depending on what lane you are in, place the Watchers in different areas.(You can
find the positions I talk about in the video, which means you gotta watch it. LINK)

Top Lane: Positions 1 & 2 (Top lane rune & in the forest under the first scourge tower)
Middle Lane: Positions 1 & 5 (Both rune positions)
Bottom Lane: Positions 5 & 6 (Bottom lane rune & the forest above the first sentinel
tower)

Place the rest of the Watchers as you get them in the areas you think the opponent is
most likely to move in.
If you haven't watched the video, and you need more information look at this guide to
placing wards by Bryan: LINK TO WARD GUIDE
You can put a watcher in any of the places he looks at in his guide. But watchers are
even more effective since you can put them on patrol to cover even more area.

Time Lapse: Use it when you take heavy damage or have a nasty status effect.

Also can be used to reposition yourself not unlike how blink is used. EG - You come
from behind the hero with Shukuchi and attack a bit, then the hero runs, then you use
Time Lapse to reappear in front of the hero, attack a few more times, then Shukuchi
to chase some more.

If you think a hero with a stun(Vengeful, ect) will stun you, preventing you from
getting off the vital Time Lapse, use Time Lapse a bit earlier to make sure you get the
benefit & survive.

6. Best Allies & Worst Enemies

Best Allies

I'm only going to post specific synergies here, since pretty much every hero works
good with Rhasta/Bane/Omniknight or heroes like that.

Lord of Avernus: This guy works with Weaver not unlike how he works with
QoP. Shield Weaver, then Weaver uses Shukuchi to get near the enemy heroes and
starts hitting them. If they hit back, the shield explodes and you just Shukuchi away,
and if they don't, you get more free hits. If the shit hits the fan, get the LoA to use
death coil for the heal.

Pudge: Your Watchers give vision, so even if the enemy *thinks* they are in
FoW, pudge can still hook with perfect vision.

Vengeful Spirit: Your Watchers can scout out the enemy team, allowing for
an easy swap for the VS.
 Furion: Your Watchers can explore the map for him, allowing him to Teleport
wherever he wants.

Worst Enemies

Bloodseeker:(This guy counters you so well, he gets his own section) Perfect
counter to you. Rupture stops Shukuchi from working well, and then when he has you
on the ropes, he can use his silence thingy to stop you from using Time Lapse to heal,
or Shukuching to run away. And even if you did, Thirst would allow him to chase you
down like np anyway.

Any hero with Silence: These guys can stop you from getting the vital Time
Lapse/Shukuchi off, which majorly fucks you over. Not much you can do against them,
except for try and juke the silence(In the case of Drow & Death Prophet), or just last
through it(Silencer ect)

Tinker, heavy nukers in general: This guy can easily insta-jib you in the
early game due to your shitty hp. Use Watchers or have extra good reflexes to get
away before he can use both laser and missile.

7. Useful tips & Info

Watchers: Your allies can Teleport to Watchers, making them an valuable map
control/gank/backdoor tool.

Time Lapse: If you have been Ruptured(Bloodseeker's ultimate), using Time Lapse
does not remove the Rupture effect.

Links to Video:
Youtube
Direct

8. Replays
Pub

QUOTE
I played in this pub game, I didn't get Watchers early game since I don't care about my
allies in pub games and I was confident of my ability to not die early game.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Inhouse

QUOTE
This is a game played by Kleech, he plays a good weaver and displays good usage of
Watchers to scout, and also Shukuchi to dodge Clinkz’s searing arrows in the early
game.

DOWNLOAD HERE

League

None yet

9. Special Thanks & Change Log

Special Thanks to:
-Paladin_Knight for playing with me for the video
-Fridged00d for whining incessantly

Changelog:
-21/3/07: Posted HGC updates in normal guide section.
-31/3/07: Fixed alot of typos, added strategy,
-30/3/07: Fixed a BBcode error, and a few typos
-29/3/07: Fixed a bunch of typos, added strategy, added item reasoning, changed skill
build, and did some other stuff
-20/3/07: Added stats to skill build, changed some strategy, added some strategy,
added item reasoning, fixed a typo.
-15/3/07: Added title, edited Watchers description, changed item build & strategy a
little, fixed a few typos, made guide look better in firefox(For some reason all my
guides have problems with FF), added LoA to best allies
-2/3/07: Made a bunch of typo fixes, added worst enemies, added orb effect thingy,
added some extra strategy
-1/3/07: First posted on the sites

Visit http://planetdota.blogspot.com/ for your Dota needs!