Dota 2 Guide Weaver Carry 6.81 - The threads of fate are mine to Weave

Weaver Introduction

Weaver isn't capable of being in the center of a battle, but can really annoy and harass his enemies in the lane. Weaver is a difficult hero to kill due to his low-cd Shukuchi ability which grants him invisibility and movement speed, and his Time Lapse, which allows him to recover completely from a large amount of damage dealt to him. Weaver is a carry who can surprise wounded foes running away from the battle, hunt them down and disappear, avoiding the focus of the enemy team.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Extreme mobility, hard to kill.
• Versatile hero, can fit in nearly any matchup.
• Versatile as well in terms of items choices, most carry items are great on Weaver.
• Fun to play, in the end this is all that counts. Laugh as they just waste most of their spells on Weaver and Weaver just ultimate back to full HP.
• Very annoying hero with a lot of lane presence in the early game - mid game

Cons

• Low HP. He is an escape master but Weaver still have to be cautious not to get caught.
• Not good at farming
• While he can fit in any lane, in most situations he is outclassed by another hero.

Weaver Abilities

The Swarm

 Weaver launches a swarm of 12 beetles that latch on any enemy unit in their path, attacking and reducing armor until it is killed.

The Swarm, Weaver 's first ability, is pretty straight forward. Weaver should always use it in the start of an encounter, because The Swarm is more effective the longer it is latched onto the enemy.

The Swarm is Weaver's biggest DPS boost. Not many spell can get someone with as low armor as Swarm can, especially early game. Weaver can tower dive quite effectively with this spell. Not only Weaver reduce your target's armor, but Weaver also avoid 4 tower shots (assuming your opponent hasn't hit the worm). It doesn't mean Weaver should tower dive all the time.

Weaver can also use The Swarm to push or counter-push, because it takes 8 creep hits to kill the worm, making them effective temporary tanks.

Shukuchi

 Weaver shifts out of visibility, gaining the ability to move at maximum speed through physical units—doing harm to any enemies it passes through.

Another simple but extremely powerful spell. This is Weaver 's bread and butter spell, and half of what makes him the annoying bugger he is.

With Shukuchi  Weaver can harass, last hit, and get in and out of fights. It has such a low cooldown, which means it's supposed to be spammed, so don't be scared: do it! However, be careful with it, especially in the early game, even though the cooldown is low, the mana cost makes up for it, making it take a little bit of mana management. Always save at least 1 cast of this spell to escape from a sticky situation.

Geminate Attack

Allows Weaver to dispatch two swarms, attacking an enemy twice.

Second attack will proc even if first attack is done when Geminate Attack is on cooldown. Geminate Attack only checks cooldown when second attack is activated.

This one is a passive. What it does is that after Weaver level it, every time it is off cooldown, on the next attack, Weaver will send an extra attack, essentialy being a 2x critical strike.

Geminate Attack does not come with orb effects (Items that make your auto attacks have an extra effect) such as Crystalys, Daedalus, Desolator and lifesteal. Make sure to pick up a level of this at level 2 or 4 (depending on whether Weaver prefer Swarm over this), as it's a huge dps boost early game, and a mighty harassing ability. But be careful because it makes last hitting a bit harder (in my experience at least).

Weaver can just send the initial attack and target something else, because the  Geminate Attack will go out as soon as the initial attack lands, regardless of your current target. It's a bit tricky but Weaver get used to it.

Time Lapse

Weaver warps backward to whatever position it was in five seconds earlier, regaining the HP and mana from that time. No effect on cooldown, gold or exp.

Reading the spell description, it seems like such a complex spell, doesn't it? Well it isn't. It simply puts Weaver where Weaver were 5 seconds ago, and giving Weaver the HP and mana of that time.

Weaver use this spell pretty much all the time, and is the other half of what makes Weaver the slipperiest hero in the game.

• Weaver got caught and are taking lethal damage?  Time Lapse. Boom, back at full HP, Shukuchi away
• Weaver used Shukuchi to go in but Weaver suddenly stumble upon 3 enemies in their jungle?  Time Lapse before they realize what's going on
• Weaver are 1v1ing an enemy hero but Weaver are going to die? Time Lapse to turn the tides in your favor.

Pretty much  Time Lapse every time things aren't going according to plan.

Note that at its highest level, this spell has absolutely 0 mana cost. It's clear it's meant to be spammed, cautiously of course, just like with all of his spells.

IMPORTANT!  Time Lapse removes debuffs that were applied on Weaver once you cast it. Including
Dust of Appearance, making it basically useless againstWeaver  .

Recommended items for Weaver

Starting Items

 

Pretty simple, the Ring of Protection will become a Ring of Basilius, should be your first purchase.

With random gold

  

Weaver get the Ring of Basilius right off the bat. Improves your mana regen, and gives Weaver +6 damage, that helps with last hitting and gives Weaver +12 damage when harassing with  Geminate Attack .

Early game pickups

Hand of Midas: Good pickup when Weaver feel like Weaver are going to need a boost in gold and exp over the course of the game to win.

Bottle: HP and mana regen, on a hero that doesn't have a hard time at all getting runes. Get this if Weaver 're mid, or if Weaver are allowed to bottle crow.

Vitality Booster: Important item early game, just buy a casual Vitality Booster. It will help loads with your low HP.

Power Treads: Probably the best boots for Weaver . Weaver can set it to strength to tank a little bit better, or agi when harassing or if Weaver want to push an empty lane.

Tranquil Boots: Not as good after the removal of the active effect, I'd say this item is not nearly as good as Power Treads anymore. However, it gives Weaver more survivability overall.

Phase Boots:  Personally I dislike these, but a friend of mine has suggested to put these as an extremely situational pickup, in which Weaver buy the boots merely for the damage bonus. Not recommended.

Ring of Health:  Really useful for Weaver , as he has a hard time dealing with lane harass, so he needs some regen to stay in lane and farm. This item is great for that, as he builds into a Perseverance, that also gives Weaver mana regen for Shukuchi spam, and builds into Linken's Sphere, which I will cover below.

Bracer and Drum of Endurance : Great cost-efficient item, profides Weaver a little bit of everything: Survivability, damage, mana. Buy this if Weaver plan on ending the game early.

Magic Wand: Good on every hero really, it doesn't build into anything, but it provides Weaver with a HP and mana burst that can prove to be useful in many situations, especially in someone as reliant on mana and HP as Weaver .

Medallion of Courage: Armor, mana regen, and an active that reduces armor and stacks with our  The Swarm, all in one item. Great early game pickup.

Core items

Linken's Sphere: This item has been core on Weaver for ages, and for a reason. HP and mana regen, stats, and an ability that blocks a targeted spell? What's not to like?

Crystalys/Daedalus: This item is decent on Weaver , but Weaver don't get 2 crits with Geminate! Only the first attack counts. Same applies to any other orb effect item listed below.

Manta Style: Useful for farming and split pushing. Gives some decent stats, and some move speed, not that important, but every little bit counts!

Eye of Skadi: A lot of stats, HP and mana, and a huge slow. The problem with this item is that it's very expensive.

Monkey King Bar : Great item for DPS, it benefits both the regular and  Geminate Attack . Probably the go-to item for damage on Weaver .

Heart of Tarrasque: An upgrade for your early game Vitality Booster if Weaver opt for one, and even more HP on top of that, and unbeatable (when it comes to items) HP regen. This item solves Weaver 's main issue which is his low HP

Butterfly: Expensive item, but Weaver benefits from everything it offers: Armor from agility, damage, and lovely evasion so we can tank a bit more.

Black King Bar: Weaver could argue that Black King Bar is a good pickup on any carry, but even more so on Weaver  . The bonus strength in this helps a lot. And the magic immunity makes it so that Weaver can't get stopped for the duration. All they can do is take damage and wait for the avatar buff to run out.

Orchid Malevolence: Damage, silence and mana regen. Good on Weaver if Weaver plan on doing mid game skirmishes for kills.

Desolator: A pure damage item. The earlier Weaver get this the better. See the problem?Weaver   have to skip your survivability items most of the time for this. However, Medallion of Courage + Medallion of Courage + Desolator hurts!

Radiance: Same as Desolator, but even more so. It's so expensive, and there's no build up, which means Weaver are forced to save 3800 gold for the sacred relic, and then more gold for the recipe. And since Weaver have to get it as soon as possible, dying is such a stepback that Weaver might as well give up on building it. Most carries that had this as core are now transitioning to items with an easier buildup.

Divine Rapier: Don't get this when winning. Seriously. Even when Weaver have heart. If  Weaver get caught, Weaver just threw the game. Buy it as a last resort item when losing to try and turn the game around

Items Builds Carry Weaver

Early game build

This build pretty much includes the most effective items possible in the early game, in order to get an early advantage, before buying a  Black King Bar and pushing your lead even further.

Standard build

This build is the most common, and has a good balance of damage and survivability. Late game items are your choice, my personal preferences are Heart of Tarrasque

Maximize Mid Game Impact

In this build we opt for Manta Style for extra survivability, but manta also allows you to pick off heroes with targeted disables more reliably, because Weaver are not going to get disabled that easily, due to the confusion effet that the illusions provide. After Manta Style, Weaver are free to go for any other damage item, and, as always, Black King Bar if needed.

Weaver Gameplay Guides

Safe Lane solo

Weaver is an excellent safe laner, as he can safely farm with his Shukuchi. If you don't feel safe, last hit with Shukuchi, and if you are totally in danger (Agressive trilane, too much ganking focus on Weaver , Sentry Ward), it may be a good idea to lane switch or get someone to help you, or let your teammates know the other 2 lanes are more vulnerable.

Solo offlane

The most dangerous one and trickier one. If you're solo against a trilane, you're not gonna have fun. If they work well together, Weaver should be lvl 1 for 7min (theorically), and if  Weaver get close to get a last hit, you're dead. Hope that your allies are doing a good job in other lanes to make up for yours so they can come and help Weaver. Best way to come back from this is through teamfights, if won you will catch up easily. Your focus here is to try to stay alive no matter what, wasting the trilane strategy, while trying to get the most out of the lane exp wise.

Easy lane duo

Simple enough, you should be able to farm, and if anything comes, your lane buddy (hopefully a support), will be able to save you or take the blow for you. This is more up to your lane partner than you, but make sure you don't do anything dumb and blame it on him just because of it!

Solo Mid

Fast levels and solo lane gives Weaver relatively easy farm. Make sure you keep an eye out for the enemy supports' movement, because mid ganks are the norm. Buy a Bottle and get rune control, it's very easy with your max speed! That should make your lane easy.

Defensive trilane

Simple. Just farm and harass when you can, only fight when the supports initiate.

These are the lanes Weaver is most commonly found in. I was planning on adding aggressive trilane as well, but I decided not to, as Weaver isn't actually seen in one that much, due to its risk, and how much of a liability Weaver is with no items.

General Strategy

In all lane choices, your main priority is to find farm. As much as possible. If you can get a kill or two, do it, but your early game priority is to farm.

Reaching the midgame, where teams stop laning and start looking for teamfights, Weaver have 2 choices.

• Join your team in roaming, be careful not to get caught, you can scout ahead for traps. Only run into high ground if you have Shukuchi on, and if you run into their whole team, just ulti away. Their little trap is now over.
• Stay in lane to farm and splitpush. KEEP A TP SCROLL IN YOUR INVENTORY AT ALL TIMES. Farm farm farm, and if the other team is 5-man dotoing, take a free tower quickly, and then tp to help your team. However, if there's no time to take the tower, Helping your team should always be your priority.

In the transition and in the late-game, your strategy shouldn't change much. The biggest difference here is that you will most likely have a few items (1 or 2 from the list), and be able to get kills by yourself, you can try to pick off squishy heroes, or still do the cleanup-style Weaver , come from the back and kill low hp enemies that are running away.

Weaver Friends and Foes

Friends

Bane, Rubick, Shadow Shaman, Shadow Demon, Crystal Maiden

Weaver has many friends, mostly heroes that are able to keep your target in place while The Swarm works its magic, and are able to initiate early game kills.

Treant Protector

Treant Protector, the most useless hero in the past and the most imbalanced thing in the present, got a remake on his passive, that used to give global bonus armor and health regen during daytime. It is now a global spell, that applies a buff that adds 80 damage block at it's highest level, plus insane health regen, for 15 seconds, or until Weaver take 7 damage instances. Living Armor can make Weaver win any lane, as it makes harass irrelevant, and allows extremely agressive play. This hero used to be picked as a joke, or "trolling", but, at the Dreamhack 2013, Quantic picked Treant +Weaver vs Alliance, arguably the best team in the world currently, and absolutely dominated that game. Living armor made it so that towers did literally no damge, allowing evenWeaver  , one of the most squishy heroes in the game, to tower dive. After his "true potential" was shown, he is now one of the top picks in competitive Dota, and as of 6.81, a standard pick that has proven its worth after so much time being made jokes about.

Foes

Silencer, Disruptor, Axe, Bane, Magnus, Keeper of the Light, Faceless Void


Heroes that are able to keep Weaver in place, or make you incapable of using your spells turn you into free gold. Most Weaver players will build Linken's Sphere, so heroes with non-targeted (area or global) Silences are extremely effective, hence Disruptor and Silencer. Void's Chronosphere keeps you in place, defenseless, and it breaks your invisibility. Magnus has Reverse that keeps you in place, and Axe can do a similar thing, taunting Weaver, making you defenseless for the duration.

VOD Weaver

Quantic versus Alliance

 Guide Weaver By Yan and 1 collaborators

Pictures: Joindota, Gosugamer