Sven


 * Difficulty: Low
 * Skill Curve: Low

Sven has somewhat of a simple playstyle but the playstyle is very effective. He is a melee ganker/Semicarry DPS hero that can choose to either stay in the lane or roam early in the game to score easy kills. He is somewhat mana intensive for a strength hero so he will often be out of mana or barely have enough, which will make or break battles. His first skill is a Storm Bolt that has a medium range that fires a bolt at a unit, dealing damage and stunning for 2 seconds to it and nearby units. His third ability is Warcry which is simply a low mana, medium cooldown AOE spell that increases allies' movespeed and armour. His Ultimate, which grants him percentage-based bonus damage, is powerful when paired wisely with Storm bolt and Warcry.

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Strategy
Sven is a very item dependent hero, so getting the right setup is crucial to victory. During the early stages of the game, players should get items that provide a way to regain mana, such as a Magic Stick which can be later turned into a Magic Wand, Ring of Basilius or the player should rush for Arcane Boots. These items will make sure you will have enough mana when it's needed and would make early ganks easier. During the middle-game phase, the player should base his item setup on the opposite team's hero lineup. If the enemy team has potent disablers, such as Shadow Shaman or Crystal Maiden, then getting Black King Bar would allow you to decimate your opponents without getting disabled constantly. If the enemy team has Carry heroes, like Drow Ranger or Spectre, then getting item's like Vanguard or a few Bracers would be a good investment.

Now Sven shines with the use of his ultimate, God's Strength. However, it only lasts for so long and Sven, being a strength hero, has low attack speed. A great way to compensate this, is by getting Mask of Madness early on. It would provide an immense attack speed boost, along with lifesteal, making Sven dish out a ton of damage in a short time and heal himself if need be. To further capitalize on his ultimate, getting Crystalys and later upgrading it to Daedalus, would allow you to dish out insane amounts of damage during the span of his ultimate and Mask of Madness' attack speed boost.

Of course, alternate item builds are possible and encouraged, but the item build above synergizes with his skill set very well.

For the late game, item's that solidify Sven are very welcome, such as Assault Cuirass or Heart of Tarrasque. Getting items to increase his damage even more is also a good idea, items like Monkey King Bar, Skull Basher, Radiance and Desolator assuming you have don't have mask of madness as that would conflict with the lifesteal orb effect.

Tips

 * You are useless early on without mana, so focus on building some mana boosting items.
 * Just farm the best that you can, maybe even try for firstblood if you have an ally with a disable to help you
 * Drum of Endurance is a great item as synergies well with Sven's role and play style.