Silencer

Nortrom the Silencer is a ranged Intelligence hero who can be played as a Support, Carry or Initiator. He is one of the minority of Intelligence heroes who truly benefits from Intelligence items and is effective against Heroes who rely mostly on spells, as he can silence them while stealing their Intelligence and adding it to his own. He is a notorious anti-caster hero who can disrupt the magical abilities of his enemies and cripple spellcasters throughout the game. Arcane Curse causes enemies to lose health for a set duration, but increases with each spell the enemy casts, forcing them to either wait and cast no spell until it expires, or cast spells and prolong the debuff and thus take more damage. Last Word places a curse on Nortrom's target that damages, silences and slows for a long duration if the target casts a spell. If the target does not cast a spell before the curse duration ends the effects are the same. Glaives of Wisdom is an active attack modifier that deals a percentage of Nortrom's intelligence as pure damage. Nortrom's ultimate, Global Silence, silences all enemy units on the map for a few seconds. A well-timed Global Silence can be used to save yourself or an ally, initiate a teamfight, or ruin the enemy's initiation.

Silencer has the unique innate ability, Intelligence Steal, which permanently steals the intelligence of enemy heroes that die near him or are directly killed by him and adds it to his own. This rewards his presence in teamfights, also making his Glaives ever stronger as the battle goes on.

Tips

 * Silencer can be played as a carry or support. As a carry, he focuses on taking fights and getting kills and assists with his spells, dealing tremendous damage with his auto-attacks while using his spells to prevent the enemy from easily retaliating. As a support, he focuses on harassing the enemy with his spells and building support-utility items while reserving his ultimate for major teamfights.
 * allows Silencer to reduce enemy heroes' base intelligence simply by being nearby when they die. This means that Silencer benefits greatly from showing up to fights and ganks, even if he does not actually directly contribute to kills. The earlier he begins acquiring Intelligence Steal stacks, the more easily he can capitalize on the stolen stats and gain an early advantage no matter what role he is played in.
 * It is possible to proc Intelligence Steal from outside of its radius if Silencer gets kill credit on the enemy. This means that kills using Last Word or Arcane Curse, which do not immediately kill their targets, can still award Silencer with stolen intelligence even if the enemy manages to escape to outside the radius.
 * Your team benefits much more if you manage to steal intelligence from heroes with already small mana pools such as, , , and so on. As such heroes are already hard-pressed to cast their spells on a regular basis, reducing their intelligence further still can render them almost impotent in fights, or force them to build intelligence items just to ensure that they can cast spells, wasting their inventory slots.
 * is a decent harass spell as it costs little mana to use and can either prevent enemies from casting spells for a while and deal some damage, or force the enemy to take much more damage if they dare to cast spells during it. Its area-of-effect nature and high cast range allow Silencer to apply the debuff to multiple enemy heroes at once, or cast it from a safe range by edging the enemy with the far end of the effect radius.
 * The spell has a pseudo-silence-like effect on enemies; Although enemies are free to cast spells, they take a penalty for doing so, taking more and more damage from the curse for each cast they do.
 * In teamfights, harassing the enemy with Arcane Curse before the engagement can severely change the outcome of a battle, depending on what the hit enemies decide to do: Either they hesitate to cast spells in order to prevent its duration from stacking up, or they decide to cast spells and therefore take much more damage and possibly die to the long duration of the curse they stack up. This is especially effective against heroes who heavily spam their abilities in fights, like or, dealing either tons of damage to them, or rendering them useless in a fight for several seconds.
 * Try to cast Arcane Curse on enemies before they cast their spells when laning. This ensures that they take much more damage from the spell or possible prevent them from farming if they use spells to do it. In some cases, it is even possible to apply the curse on enemies during their cast times, but this only works against abilities with a long cast time (e.g. ) and requires quick reaction from the player.
 * is what allows Silencer to become a powerful right-click carry, normally something that intelligence heroes cannot do. As its Pure damage scales with Silencer's intelligence, he can inflict large amounts of damage with his auto-attacks by building up enough intelligence, whether through farming items or via Intelligence Steal.
 * In the laning stage, it may be beneficial to get one early level of Glaives of Wisdom, as Silencer can deal around 8-10 bonus Pure damage with an attack, useful for last-hitting as a carry. As well, the attack modifier can be manually cast to harass the enemy without drawing creep aggro, whether as a support or carry.
 * curses Silencer's target to be faced with unfortunate consequences. If they cast a spell during the debuff duration, they are immediately silenced, slowed and take damage, useful for breaking the spell combo of enemies like and.
 * The slow from Last Word can place the enemy in a disadvantageous position as they are unable to easily chase or escape. Choosing to not cast a spell prevents them from decisively nuking or disabling the enemy for the trade-off of not being slowed, which eventually happens at the end of the delay. This can cause enemies to reconsider their options, as choosing to continue engaging the enemy can lead to them being slowed and silenced at an inopportune time, while choosing to disengage removes them from play anyways as they cannot re-engage easily because of the slow nor cast any spells due to the silence.
 * Last Word's silence proc follows the same rule as Arcane Curse, and only procs on spells requiring mana or which are not toggle-able.
 * In general, Last Word is used best against spell casters, as they suffer the most from the silence, and the slow hinders their ability to chase or flee and get in position for their spells once the silence wears off. Physical attack carries do not often have to cast numerous spells, however the slow can hinder melee carries who depend on movement speed in order to prevent themselves from being kited.
 * Last Word is a powerful harassing spell in-lane, as it can force the enemy to retreat from the lane even if they do not cast a spell. If the enemy does not retreat, they are slowed and silenced near the creep wave, allowing them to be chased down and killed.
 * Remember that Last Word has a very long cast range, and thus can be targeted on fleeing enemy heroes. If you manage to cast it on an enemy who is already very low on health, you can secure the kill as he will most likely die to the damage at the end of the delay, proccing Intelligence Steal at the same time.
 * Last Word can be highly effective against heroes with two-spell combos or single spells with two parts, as they are only able to cast the first part of their combo but not the second due to the silence. This is particularly effective against combos such as 's Avalanche-Toss, 's Illuminate, 's Astral Spirit into Echo Stomp, ' Icarus Dive, and so on.
 * is a powerful initiating and counter-initiating spell that can be cast no matter where Silencer is. However, keep in mind the spell's long cooldown, as using it ineffectively gives the enemy a window of opportunity where they can engage your team in the knowledge that you do not have your ultimate.
 * Global Silence can apply its debuff through spell immunity and invulnerability. This means that it is able to silence enemies even after they activate a Black King Bar, and even through spells like . However, it is also a purgeable debuff, meaning that activating Black King Bar or Manta Style after being afflicted with Global Silence removes it. As such, it is important to time your use of the ultimate wisely.
 * Silencer on his own is not an initiator; if you try to initiate with Global Silence alone, the enemy team can simply disengage and wait out the silence. However, Global Silence can synergize extremely well with almost any initiator. When someone on your team initiates (or immediately before), activate Global Silence. The other team will be helpless as you collapse on them.
 * Silencer's spells can combo in many useful ways.
 * Last Word can be applied to an enemy during Global Silence, ensuring the silence and slow at the end of the delay. This can extend the duration of silence on a single enemy, as well as adding slow to the mix.
 * Global Silence is usually used in team fights, at times where the enemy usually wants to cast spells. Applying Arcane Curse on enemies in such situations can greatly increase the damage they take, or prevent them from casting spells even further. Arcane Curse's effect even stacks with itself, so when having Global Silence upgraded, placing 2 curses on enemies can have devastating outcomes.
 * Due to being able to be played as a support or carry, Silencer can build many different types of items.
 * When played as a support, Silencer should carry at least some of the support duties. This means assisting the team's other supports in purchasing the, starting , upgrading to the , and so on.
 * can be beneficial on Silencer if he is played as a mid carry, as his harass spells do not cost large amounts of mana. The health regen also allows him to stay in lane longer.
 * is a powerful mobility tool, no matter what role Silencer is played in. As a support he can easily position himself to cast his disables on the enemy, as well as use it to evade enemy ganks. As a carry, it gives him strong positioning, allowing him to move quickly into a fight to attack after disabling the enemy with his ultimate. Or to simply blink in to steal intelligence from dying enemy Heroes.
 * is highly beneficial on a support Silencer, who does not rely on his right-clicks in order to be effective. Becoming immune to physical damage allows Silencer to get his spells off more easily, and buys him time if the enemy's carry jumps on him. This can be upgraded to which gives him agility for more attack speed and armor, and if Silencer has stolen a substantial amount of intelligence, Silencer can easily nuke down weakened or low-leveled Heroes with its active Ether Blast. And if Ether Blast is used in tandem with a  Silencer further increases his killing power, provided he has stolen plenty of intelligence.
 * is a powerful survivability item that can either be used for utility on a support Silencer or more staying power as a carry Silencer. The extra HP and evasion give Silencer more survivability against physical damage, and the active can be used to disarm a target on top of silences, rendering enemies completely unable to do anything.
 * is an unorthodox item to build on Silencer but serves him extremely well as a carry. The agility gives him much more attack speed and some armor, and the intelligence firms up his mana pool and increases Glaives of Wisdom's effectiveness. However, the main utility is that the mana burn stacks with Glaives of Wisdom, allowing Silencer to deal large amounts of Pure damage and destroy the enemy's mana with each attack, creating powerful synergy all the silences Silencer has, so that he can burn their mana with attacks, before they can spend it. The active ability is also very powerful in removing debuffs from Silencer or other allies, or removing buffs from enemies while holding them in place to eviscerate them with your right-clicks.
 * is a situational weapon to build on a carry Silencer. While it is a Unique Attack Modifier, it does not completely override Glaives of Wisdom, only when it procs, allowing Silencer to continue to deal Pure damage with his attacks while throwing chained magical damage into the mix. The vastly increased attack speed allows Silencer to output a lot of damage with his physical attacks, and the shield can be used on himself to deal out even more physical damage or on a highly durable ally who can tank on the front lines.
 * can be a powerful utility item to purchase on a support Silencer if the enemy is mostly reliant on their usage of spells in a fight. The ability to inflict up to 12 seconds of silence to the enemy in a teamfight, through spell immunity and invulnerability, can prevent them from retaliating effectively against your team, securing a victory.

Trivia

 * Unlike most heroes, Silencer's attack projectiles actually use the model of his equipped cosmetic weapon.
 * Like, and , Silencer received a color palette change, changing his model and icons, having his former red armor replaced with violet.
 * Before his palette change, newer players would occasionally mistake Silencer for, and he would sometimes be referred to as "The other Dragon Knight". Even after the palette swap, some older players may refer to him as "Purple Dragon Knight".
 * Silencer's spell sound effects are based on some of his voice lines. Arcane Curse debuff sounds is based on " Silen ability curse 03.mp3 Curse you!", Last Word is based on one of his laughing lines and Global Silence is based on Silen ability silence 04.mp3 this.
 * is a member of the Knights of the Fold which would make him an enemy to Silencer based on Silencer's background. Despite this, there is no dialogue between the two heroes.

Balance changelog
{{Update History| 6.87
 * {{Ability ID|Arcane Curse|Silencer}}
 * Now slows affected enemies by 9%/12%/15%/18%. [{{tooltip|?|Like the damage, multiple instances of the slow stack. Unlike the damage/duration, the slow is not paused when the target is silenced.}}]
 * Reduced base duration from 7 to 6.
 * Increased cooldown from 18/16/14/12 to 20/18/16/14.
 * {{Ability ID|Last Word|Silencer}} no longer slows the target by 14%/16%/18%/20%.

6.86
 * Replaced with {{Ability ID|Arcane Curse|Silencer}}
 * {{Ability ID|Arcane Curse|Silencer}}:
 * Curses the target area, causing enemy heroes to take damage. Anytime affected enemies cast a spell, the duration is increased.
 * Cast time: 0.3
 * Cast range: 1000
 * Radius: 425
 * Damage per second: 14/21/28/35
 * Default duration: 7
 * Penalty duration: 4
 * Mana cost: 75/95/115/135
 * Cooldown: 18/16/14/12
 * Notes: When affected enemies are silenced, the damage and duration are paused. Affects creeps. The penalty has no stack limit. Each cast adds 4 seconds.


 * is no longer a Unique Attack Modifier.

6.85
 * Fixed {{Ability ID|Last Word|Silencer}}'s initial debuff not being dispellable.

6.84
 * Reduced movement speed from 300 to 295.
 * {{Ability ID|Last Word|Silencer}}
 * Reduced initial debuff duration from 5 to 4.
 * No longer disarms the target for the silence duration when the initial debuff expires.
 * Now slows the target for 14%/16%/18%/20% for the silence duration.
 * The slow is always applied, not only when the initial debuff expires.

6.83
 * Increased intelligence as damage from 30%/48%/66%/84% to 30%/50%/70%/90%.
 * Reduced {{Ability ID|Last Word|Silencer}} cooldown from 36/28/20/12 to 30/24/18/12.
 * {{Item ID|Aghanim's Scepter}} no longer increases duration from 4/5/6 to 5/6/7.

6.82
 * Increased intelligence as damage from 30%/45%/60%/75% to 30%/48%/66%/84%.
 * Increased mana cost from 250/350/450 to 250/375/500.

6.81
 * Increased agility gain from 2.1 to 3.
 * Reduced cooldown from 20/18/16/14 to 20/16/12/8.

6.80
 * Reduced cooldown from 140 to 130.

6.79
 * Intelligence steal is now an innate ability of Silencer, instead of being bound to.

6.78
 * now affects invulnerable units.
 * Added {{Item ID|Aghanim's Scepter}} upgrade for Silencer: Causes to apply the current level of  on all affected units and increases duration from 4/5/6 to 5/6/7.

6.76c
 * Increased {{Ability ID|Last Word|Silencer}} mana cost from 100 to 115.

6.76
 * Increased base intelligence from 21 to 27.
 * Reduced base attack damage from 22-36 to 16-30 (total attack damage is still 43-57 due to the increased intelligence).
 * Increased damage per second from 20/30/40/50 to 20/35/50/65.
 * Increased mana drain per second from 10/15/20/25 to 8/16/24/32.
 * Rescaled duration from 5/6/7/8 to 6 on each level.
 * Now steals 2 intelligence from an enemy hero when it dies within 900 radius around Silencer, or when Silencer kills a hero, regardless of distance.
 * Reworked Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Old Last Word icon.png Last Word:
 * Causes any unit under the effect of this aura to become silenced after it finishes casting a spell. If an enemy hero dies when under this aura, Nortrom will permanently steal 2 intelligence from it.
 * Radius: 750
 * Silence duration: 0.75/1.5/2.25/3
 * Notes: Silences units as soon as they reach the cast point of a spell. Waits for channeling spells to end or get canceled. Does not trigger on items.
 * Silence duration: 0.75/1.5/2.25/3
 * Notes: Silences units as soon as they reach the cast point of a spell. Waits for channeling spells to end or get canceled. Does not trigger on items.


 * New {{Ability ID|Last Word|Silencer}}:
 * Causes the target enemy to take damage and become silenced and slowed as soon as it casts a spell or when the duration runs out.
 * Cast range: 900
 * Damage: 150/200/250/300
 * Debuff duration: 5
 * Silence/Disarm duration: 3/4/5/6
 * Mana cost: 100
 * Cooldown: 36/28/20/12
 * Notes: Provides vision over the target as long as it has the debuff on. Does not trigger on item usage. Waits for channeling spells to finish or to get canceled.


 * Increased duration from 3/4.5/6 to 4/5/6.
 * Reduced cooldown from 160 to 140.
 * Reduced cooldown from 160 to 140.

6.75
 * Increased strength gain from 1.7 to 2.2.
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word now always steals 2 intelligence if an enemy hero dies in its radius, instead of 1, but 2 when Silencer makes last hit.
 * Increased duration from 3/4/5 to 3/4.5/6.

6.73
 * Increased intelligence as damage from 30%/40%/50%/60% to 30%/45%/60%/75%.
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Is no longer disabled while Silencer is silenced or stunned.
 * No longer triggers on any item ability.

6.72
 * Reduced movement speed from 300 to 290.
 * Reduced cast range from 900 to 800.
 * Reduced cooldown from 2/0/0/0 to 0 on each level.
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Is now also disabled when Silencer is stunned (previously it was only disabled when he was silenced).
 * Now steals 2 intelligence if Silencer gets the last hit on the enemy hero within the aura's radius.
 * No longer triggers on active attack modifier.
 * Reduced radius from 900 to 750.

6.70
 * Increased cooldown from 14 on each level to 20/18/16/14.
 * Increased intelligence as damage from 15%/30%/45%/60% to 30%/40%/50%/60%.
 * Reduced cooldown from 3/2/1/0 to 2/0/0/0.
 * Reduced cooldown from 3/2/1/0 to 2/0/0/0.

6.67
 * now displays a debuff in the status bar, visible to everyone.
 * now mutes all sounds for its duration.

6.65
 * Rescaled base attack damage from 18-40 to 22-36 (total attack damage is now 43-57).

6.63
 * Increased cast range from 650 to 900.
 * Reduced damage per second from 50 on each level to 20/30/40/50.
 * Reduced mana loss per second from 25 on each level to 10/15/20/25.
 * Increased duration from 2/4/6/8 to 5/6/7/8.
 * Reduced mana cost from 105/115/125/135 to 75/95/115/135.
 * Reduced cooldown from 20 to 14.
 * Reduced cooldown from 20 to 14.

6.61
 * Increased damage per second from 10/20/30/40 to 50 on each level.
 * Increased mana loss per second from 5/10/15/20 to 25 on each level.
 * Reduced duration from 10 on each level to 2/4/6/8.
 * no longer causes Silencer to steal 1 intelligence whenever he kills an enemy hero.
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Now causes Silencer to steal 1 intelligence from any enemy hero which dies within the aura's radius.
 * Increased radius from 700 to 900.
 * Increased radius from 700 to 900.

6.60
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Now triggers right upon reaching the cast point, instead of when the backswing finishes[{{tooltip|?|Canceling the backswing caused the aura to not register the spell cast. Still waits for channeling abilities to finish or get canceled.}}]
 * Now displays intelligence stolen as numbers above Silencer and the dying enemy hero.
 * Fixed some bugs with Last Word while Silencer is dead.
 * No longer triggers on {{Ability ID|Rot|Pudge}}
 * Reduced silence duration 1/2/3/4 to 0.75/1.5/2.25/3.

6.59
 * }
 * Increased radius from 300 to 350.
 * Reduced cooldown from 25 to 20.

6.58
 * is now a ground targeted spell with a 250 radius, instead of single target.

6.57
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word no longer triggers on.

6.51
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word no longer triggers on, , and.

6.50
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Fixed triggering on when it blocks a spell.
 * Fixed Last Word causing Electric Rave to get toggled off when getting triggered.

6.44
 * Enemy heroes affected by can now be denied when their health drops below 25%.
 * Fixed Last Word icon.png Last Word stealing intelligence from allies upon denying them.

6.35
 * Fixed night vision being 1400 instead of the standard 800.

6.34
 * Reduced movement speed from 300 to 290.

6.33b
 * Fixed doing extra damage when combined with  or in Same Hero mode.

6.33
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word is now disabled while Silencer is silenced.

6.31
 * Rescaled Last Word icon.png Last Word radius from 500/600/700/800 to 700 on each level.

6.30
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word no longer triggers on and.

6.27b
 * {{Ability ID|Global Silence|Silencer}}
 * Increased mana cost from 150/200/250 to 250/350/450.
 * Increased cooldown from 120 to 160.

6.25
 * Fixed a bug with which caused it to deal extra damage sometimes.

6.19b
 * Reduced mana cost from 30 to 15.

6.19
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * now silences upon finishing a spell cast, instead of upon reaching cast point. [?]
 * Increased radius from 350/450/550/650 to 500/600/700/800.
 * Increased silence duration from 0.75/1.5/2.25/3 to 1/2/3/4.

6.17
 * Fixed dispelling {{Ability ID|Curse of the Silent|Silencer}}.
 * Fixed not working for multiple Silencers in a match.
 * Reduced intelligence as damage from 20%/40%/60%/80% to 15%/30%/45%/60%.
 * {{Ability ID|Global Silence|Silencer}}
 * Fixed Global Silence disabling Silencer during the cast time.
 * Reduced silence duration from 4/5/6 to 3/4/5.
 * Reduced silence duration from 4/5/6 to 3/4/5.

6.16
 * Increased attack projectile speed from 700 to 1000.
 * Reduced {{Ability ID|Curse of the Silent|Silencer}} mana loss per second from 10/20/30/40 to 5/10/15/20.
 * Reduced intelligence as damage from 30%/60%/90%/120% to 20%/40%/60%/80%.
 * Reduced mana cost from 50 to 30.
 * Reduced cooldown from 4/3/2/1 to 3/2/1/9.
 * Last Word icon.png Last Word
 * Reduced radius from 500/550/600/650 to 350/450/550/650.
 * Reduced silence duration from 1/2/3/4 to 0.75/1.5/2.25/3.
 * Reduced silence duration from 1/2/3/4 to 0.75/1.5/2.25/3.

6.15
 * Reworked Silencer (To view the old Silencer, see here)
 * Rescaled base strength and gain from 16 + 2.1 to 17 + 1.7.
 * Increased base agility and gain from 14 + 1.4 to 16 + 2.1.
 * Reduced base intelligence and gain from 23 + 2.7 to 21 + 2.5.
 * Increased attack range from 450 to 600.
 * Increased movement speed from 280 to 300.
 * Replaced Star Storm with {{Ability ID|Curse of the Silent|Silencer}}
 * {{Ability ID|Curse of the Silent|Silencer}}:
 * Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. The target will lose health and mana per second until it casts a spell.
 * Cast range:
 * Damage per second: 10/20/30/40
 * Mana per second: 10/20/30/40
 * Duration: 10
 * Mana cost:
 * Cooldown:
 * Notes: The curse instantly ends when the target casts a spell.


 * Replaced Healing Wave with {{Ability ID|Glaives of Wisdom|Silencer}}
 * {{Ability ID|Glaives of Wisdom|Silencer}}:
 * Nortrom's glaives are enchanted by his experience in magic. If he kills a hero, he will permanently steal 1 intelligence from it.
 * Cast range: 600
 * Own intelligence as damage: 30%/60%/90%/120%
 * Intelligence steal: 1
 * Mana cost:
 * Cooldown: 0
 * Notes: Is a Unique Attack Modifier, which adds damage to Silence attacks based on his intelligence. Steals 1 intelligence when he makes a kill, regardless of how he makes it.


 * Replaced Rain of Chaos with Last Word icon.png Last Word
 *  Last Word icon.png Last Word:
 * Causes any unit under the effect of this aura to become silenced after it casts a spell.
 * Radius: 500/550/600/650
 * Silence duration: 1/2/3/4
 * Notes: The spell which triggers Last Word is still executed.


 * Replaced Silencer with {{Ability ID|Global Silence|Silencer}}
 * {{Ability ID|Global Silence|Silencer}}:
 * Stops all enemies on the map from casting spells.
 * Radius: Global
 * Silence duration: 4/5/6
 * Mana cost:
 * Cooldown:
 * Notes: The silence goes through spell immunity, but is dispelled by it when becoming spell immune after cast.

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