This is Getting Absurd.

What is this guide for and a little about myself.

Hello fellow Sven players.
I'm new to Dota 2 I have played Dota and League of Legends but I recently received my Dota 2 beta key from a friend and I started playing and I liked it alot so Ive decided to make a quick guide about my favourite hero in Dota 2 Sven.One of the main reasons why i have decided to make this Sven guide is because most Sven guides aren't that good.I've just made this guide and explained everything important u need to know to play Sven and to carry ur teammates.

Hero Information.

Sven,The Rogue Knight

Role :Disabler /Initiator /Carry /Support

Stats:
Level : 1
Hit Points : 587
Mana : 182
Damage : 54-56
Armor : 1.94
Attacks / Second : 0.71
23+2,7
21+2
14+1,3


Lore : Sven is the bastard son of a Vigil Knight, born of a Pallid Meranth, raised in the Shadeshore Ruins. With his father executed for violating the Vigil Codex, and his mother shunned by her wild race, Sven believes that honor is to be found in no social order--but only in himself. After tending his mother through a lingering death, he offered himself as a novice to the Vigil Knights, never revealing his identity. For thirteen years he studied in his father's school, mastering the rigid code that declared his existence an abomination. Then, on the day that should have been his In-Swearing, he seized the Outcast Blade, shattered the Sacred Helm, and burned the Codex in the Vigil's Holy Flame. He strode from Vigil Keep, forever solitary, following his private code to the last strict rune. Still a knight, yes...but a Rogue Knight.

Skills.

Storm Hammer

Type: Targets:

Active Enemy Units

Sven unleashes his magical gauntlet that deals damage and stuns enemy units.

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This is your main disabler and your main securing a kill ability.Always level this on level 1 and never I repeat never use this ability as a harassment ability .This mass stun should always be used to CC or Kill never to harass .When you spawn the first 10 minutes this spell will eat ur entire mana pool so always save it for a killing opportunity(or in order to escape a gank).
Note : Storm Hammer cannot be dodged by any means. (blinking , moving away, going invisible)

Great Cleave

Type: Targets:

Passive Enemy Units

Sven strikes with great force, cleaving all nearby enemy units with his attack.

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This spell is awesome its like a free Battle Fury without the hp/mana regen and the damage.In my opinion its even better than Battle Fury (for Sven) cause it grants you 65% cleave damage while Battle Fury offers you only 35% .This spell makes you an awesome team fighter and an awesome jungler.Dont level it early game ur damage is low and the Cleave wont matter as much and more importantly you will push ur lane and thats not good.
Note : Great Cleave stacks with Battle Fury and goes through magic immunity.

Warcry

Type: Targets:

Active Friendly Units

Sven's Warcry heartens his allies for battle, increasing their movement speed and armor.

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This is Sven's defensive spell.The reason why I level this on level 3 is pretty simple .Most smart people when they see they are against a Sven they will TRY no they wont try they WILL 99% of the time come and gank your lane and this ability is a great escape especially if you make a combination with your Storm Hammer there is no way you will get ganked (unless their entire team shows up).
Note : Fully stacks with other movement speed and armor items.

God's Strength

Type: Targets:

Active Self

Sven channels his rogue strength, granting bonus damage

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I dont know what to say about this ability .Its basically ridiculous amounts of damage it doenst have a long cooldown (80 seconds in my opinion thats not a long cooldown).Always use it when u engage in a team fight or in a 1v1 fight .NEVER I repeat NEVER leave a fight with ur God's Strength unused.
Note : You cannot be Purged and you can dodge stuns while transforming.

Items.

Power Treads

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Cost: 1400 gold These are your normal boots not much to say about them their passive give you 8 attribute points(you can choose from Strength,Agility,Intelligence),30 attack speed and 55 movement speed .I like building these mainly because of the attack speed and strength bonus(which is mainly damage + hp)they boost your damage and survivability in the early levels.I reccomend these boots.

Mask of Madness

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Cost: 1900 gold Why Mask of Madness you say . Well if you ask me this is a very,very risky item you do **** loads of damage with it and you take **** loads of damage with it.The main reason to why I like picking Mask of Madness as part of my main item build is because it doesnt cost much and around the 10-20th minute when your Mask of Madness is finished you will be able to burst down most heroes in a matter of seconds with a God's Strength, Mask of Madness, Storm Hammer combo.Also I would like to add that this item stacks with your Warcrywhich means that if you decide to go jungling this will help you clear creep camps a lot faster .Another thing I would like to mention is that if ur running from someone and ur on low hp using Mask of Madness(+30% increased damage) and Warcry may result in your death if the enemy team has a Zeus,Sniper or any other hero that has a long range ultimate.

Black King Bar

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Cost: 3900 gold Insane item for Sven .Deffinetly a MUST HAVE .I usually played without it but recently I started meeting teams that have **** loads of CC and I couldnt do anything against them .I started building Black King Bar after I have built my Mask of Madness.These two items have insane synergy.When you are immune to all kinds of spells the 30% damage taken from Mask of Madness you will barely feel it .There is absolutely no possibility for you to die while Black King Bar is active.

Heart of Tarrasque

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Cost: 5500 gold This item is 100% needed for a Sven to carry good in my opinion or atleast with my build. Heart of Tarrasque is a defensive item you people are probably wondering why did I even put it in a Sven guide for carrying .Well like I already said after u get Mask of Madness you WILL burst people down pretty fast BUT you will die pretty fast aswell this is why we need Heart of Tarrasque cause it gives u alot of HP + HP regen it works like this . You as a Sven enter a fight you get focused you notice that you will die if you stay in this fight you use War Cry and run away wait 4 seconds so that your Heart of Tarrasque can start regenerating hp and when you feel safe and that you are ready to get into the fray again just rush back in with your War Cry.

Daedalus

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Cost: 5750 gold After your done with building Heart of Tarrasque its time for some damage.When you buy this item (if you are playing with Sound) Sven says "This is getting absurd".I completely support him on that the moment u get Daedalus you just some form of a Mass CC (like your Storm Hammer) to completely destroy atleast 1 hero of their team .You crit like crazy with this item and when it is combined with ur God's Strength and Mask of Madness it really gets absurd .It is another MUST HAVE item for Sven late game .

Abyssal Blade

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Cost: 6750 gold With this item if ur enemy has a lets say a Life Stealer and that guy is fed and is tanky as hell this item will make u destroy him .This item works like a second Storm Hammer of yours except its not a mass stun its a 1 target but its still amazing (Im talking about the on Use effect).Heroes that do **** loads of damage and dont die really get ****ed up by this item cause of the times heroes that dont the reason is: 1st:insane dodge 2nd:too much life steal and as a Sven you need to kill those other carries that are destroying your team and this item will help u alot I dont know many things that can survive from a Storm Hammer+ Abyssal Blade stun + God's Strength+ Mask of Madness combo.

Armlet of Mordiggian

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Cost: 2600 gold This item is pretty nice aswell.It gives Armor,Attack Speed,HP regen and some damage while passive.When you activate it gives 31 damage,25 strength and 10 attack speed but it drains 40 hp per second.That is the only reason I dont like it because it drains ur hp but the damage it gives you early game is amazing.Still I would preffer getting Mask of Madness , Heart of Tarrasque and then getting this item because with Heart of Tarrasque and the attack speed + life steal from Mask of Madness you will barely feel the hp drain from the Armlet of Mordiggian.

Assault Cuirass

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Cost: 5350 gold I do not recommend this item .For me this item should be bought by Sven only if you are playing as a support.Which means you are wasting his entire potential to do Rampage's.Buy this item only if you dont have anything else to buy and you think that some extra attack speed on your team will be good or for a support Sven.There are no other scenario's in which I would buy this item.

Divine Rapier

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Cost: 6200 gold This item is just for the lolz honestly if you have the previous 5 items listed in my guide ull be a Unstoppable Truck but if u feel like one shotting everything in the game while ur God's Strength is active this is the item you should get. Note : Like I said this item is for the lolz if both team have equal kills and team fights are like 5-5 dont make this item cause if u die in a teamfight and their carry gets it its GG for you guys.

Hand of Midas

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Cost: 1900 gold This is a jungling item which isnt that bad on Sven.It gives 30 attack speed passive and you can use it every 100 seconds for bonus experience and gold to instantly kill a creep(doesnt work on ancints).It deffinetly pays out for its price especially if you have a Mask of Madnessto clear creep camps fast + 190 gold every 100 seconds and 30 attack speed isnt that bad .I recommend this item if you decide to jungle with Sven.ONLY if you decide to jungle if your focusing on ganking the other team dont buy this item cause then it wont pay off and it will be a waste of your money.

Satanic

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Cost: 6150 gold This item comes very very late game.In my opinion you should only buy this and replace Mask of Madness with it if the enemy team has for instance 2 casters and 3 melee's .Why's that?Well if they have 2 casters and 3 melee's if those melee's are fed they will bring you down in 1,2 stuns and if you use ur Black King Bar you will be immune to stuns and CC but the moment you activate your Mask of Madness you will get focused and die pretty fast because of the melee's .That is why you need to replace it with Mask of Madness. Satanic you Black King Bar=immune to CC and heals for **** loads and since you will already have your Daedalus you will probably crit for alot 1,5k,2k you will heal for alot thanks to Satanic's active.Overall the 25% passive lifesteal + 25 str,20 damage,5 armor isnt that bad so yeah.Get this item if you can outheal while you are using Mask of Madness.

Battle Fury

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Cost: 4350 gold This is not a bad item for Sven.Although I think that most people will disagree on that I think its not that bad it gives you 65 damage,6 hp/regen,and 150% mana regen.Its a good investement mainly because of the damage mana regen and oh wait...I missed the best part 35% cleave damage . Note : Great Cleave and Battle Fury stack.(making it a total of 100% cleave damage)

Monkey King Bar

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Cost: 5400 gold This item is pretty nice aswell it has no active and his passive's are awesome.It gives you 88 damage,15 attack speed,True Strike(you can't miss those annoying agility carries that buy Butterflyand a Mini Bash which doesnt stun for a lot but deals 100 bonus Magical damage.And still the mini bash aint that bad it might be 0.1 second but its still enough to interrupt a channeling ultimate.

Blade Mail

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Cost: 2200 gold This is another nice item for Sven.Passively it gives 22 damage,5 armor and 10 intelligence.All of these stats are nice for Sven.When active(on use) it grants you 30% damage reflection for 4 seconds which is really nice.If you are getting focused alot and you cant lifesteal out of it buy this and laugh at them while they blow all of their damaging abilities on you.

Blink Dagger

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Cost: 2150 gold This is a pretty nice item for chasing people.I dont usually use it because Sven has alot of speed boost from his Warcry, Mask of Madness .I recommend this item only if your enemies are running away from you or you are having a hard time aquaring kills.

Arcane Boots

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Cost: 1450 gold These Boots are the other option that works pretty well with Sven.You can build them early on and you can harass as much as you like with your Storm Hammer.And since you are giving mana to your lane partner aswell you can do some nice combos depending on what he is .Although I would recommend that you buy Power Treads and ask for your lane partner to buy Arcane Boots.

Note: These are the items Sven works well with if I have missed an item or you would like me to give an opinion about another item that you think would work well on Sven type it in the comments and I will look into it,try it out in game and I will add it in my guide. :)

Pros / Cons.

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Pros + Insane Damage + Very Mobile + Awesome Stun + Amazing Support Early Game

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Cons - Mana Dependant Early Game - Item Dependant Late Game - Ultimate Dependant For Doing Damage - Very Risky Hero

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Game Phases.

Early Game

Ok so as I have listed in the pros/cons Sven is item and mana dependant so that means that until u get your Mask of Madness you will be more of a "support" for your lane partner and that is not so bad help him get those early kills u will be a bit pissed I guess cause if you Storm Hammer a Drow Ranger you will take half of his hp down but since u dont have damage your lane partner will probably get the kill but like I said that is not so bad there is nothing wrong with having another fed team member except Sven on your team cause when I play with my girlfriend she plays with Bane and Im Sven and like 50,60% of the time people that are on our lane leave the game or switch partners cause the damage is ridiculous especially after she gets to level 6 I just stun she ult's and if the target is not dead she just uses the spell that steals HP from her target and gives it to her so yeah that is a very good combo.

Mid Game

This is where you should have Mask of Madness , Power Treads/ Arcane Boots and Reaver which means u do **** loads of damage and u can kill anyone in a stun (yes I do mean everyone)ofc I mean in a 1v1 situation without Heart of Tarrasque and Daedalus Sven doesnt have enough survivability and life steal but yeah in this phase of the game in my opinion u should leave ur lane and focus on ganking (mid ,top,bot) everywhere depending on when ur lane is and dont be afraid to turret dive Mid Game Ive been playing with different characters lots of time and there are alot of Strenght heroes that are afraid to turret dive around the 20th-25th minute of the game that is a big mistake chase him into their fu**** base if you haveto.

Late Game

This is where Sven shines and his true power is revealed you can do whatever u want kill roshan,push towers,try and kill 3 people at the same time ,like literally everything is possible ,you can even go for a 1v5 if u want to just have an Aegis of the Immortal and have someone to back u up if they start bursting u down too fast .DONT think ur immortal or something like that . Sven IS NOT IMMORTAL.You will be carrying ur team but if there isnt anyone that u can engage in a team fight chances of u winning a 1v5 are around 15,20% (thats not little most heroes dont even have a point in that matter)but yeah play it safe and kill people dont play it reckless.

Laning

Focus on last hitting ,denying,not pushing your lane,helping your lane partner acquire some kills early game all of those.And ofcourse play it SAFE.As a carry you need to have as little deaths as you can .The reason is pretty simple death = - gold + loss of experience.
Which means that you will fall back in level and loose gold advantage that you might have had.

Jungling

Sven is an awesome jungler mid game.You can kill creep camps in a matter of seconds with Great Cleave + Mask of Madness.Although I recommend that you jungle only if you like need 500,600 gold to finish your item or something like that .

Ganking

Sven is an excellent ganker mid game .You can stun God's Strength + Mask of Madness and with the help of the person whose lane you are ganking the target should be dead .I preffer that you focus on this phase mid game instead of Jungling or Laning.Main reason for that is that kills give alot of gold ,creeps give alot of gold aswell BUT there is nothing better than getting alot of gold and stopping someone from the enemy team from getting gold.

Friends/Foes.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

You are probably wondering why did I name it like that well its pretty simple. Sven is hard countered by CC'ers and Ranged Carries.But thats the thing.Heroes that have CC and/or are ranged work perfectly well with Sven aswell.There are just too much friends/foes that Sven has so Ill just point out the main ones.

Friends

Lion - This guy is just an amazing lane partner for Sven.He has a stun,2 CC'es and a Ultimate that one shots every agility intelligence hero on level 6.If someone picks this guy deffinetly go and lane with him .If he knows what is he doing you will be surprised what a fast and fun game it will be .

Pudge - What can I say this is such a troll lane that you need to experience it to see what I mean.If Pudge is played good every person he hooks after level 6 should be a dead man walking .I have experienced this combination and I can tell u that it really is ridiculous.

Bane - I already talked about this combo ,I'm not going to repeat myself (Read Game Phases - Early Game).Only thing I can add is if you loose your lane as Sven/ Bane and you are not getting ganked one of you is doing something terribly wrong.

Note : I am not thinking of updating this section because its pretty simple if your laning partner has a stun,silence some form of CC its a good combo if your laning partner is for instance Undying it wont be that good of a combo cause you are the only one with CC and your damage early game sucks a bit.I will be constantly updating the Foes section for the Friends Ill leave it like this.

Foes

Drow Ranger - Your worst nightmare .If she gets a Shadow Blade and she is on your lane you are fu****.Ask your lane partner to buy a Gem of True Sight because with her slows and her ability to go invisible everytime she engages in a fight make her terrible laning enemy.But dont worry late game you will one shot her.

Sniper - Same as Drow Ranger .Only bad thing is that this guy does not slow you he mini stuns you .And the worst thing is you can't run away from him because of his Ultimate.

Bloodseeker - This guy isnt exactly your counter but he is pretty annoying .If you see this guy in the enemy team deffinetly build a Black King Bar late game .One of the reasons why this guy is annoying is his silence ,his silence gives you % damage but if he manages to silence you before you have used Storm Hammer, God's Strength, Mask of Madness you are basically ****ed but if he silences you after you have used those spells his entire team is basically ****ed xD.Anyway the main reason why this guy is annoying is his ultimate .Its like a counter to 90% of the melee characters in my opinion because ,if a melee character cant move he is practically useless .So yeah buy a Black King Bar if you see this guy on the enemy team and laugh in his face after he ults you.

Anti-Mage - Pretty annoying hero if you ask me .He can literally destroy your entire mana in a 2 second CC and the worst part is that after he is done with ur mana even if you have managed to get him down to lets say 200,300 hp he will just blink away drink a potion and after 5 seconds he will blink back in and kill you .Your team needs to focus this guy constantly in team fights and my personal advice is do not engage him 1v1 you will probably die .

Razor - Another annoying hero for Sven this guy is annoying for the sole reason that he Steals damage from you with his Static Link its not that much of a problem because you can focus him and kill him pretty fast but if by any chance you let this hero steal damage from you without bashing damage onto him yourself its a bad team fight for your team .

Faceless Void - Awful foe for Sven.This guy literally disables you in almost any team fight.You need to have your Black King Bar in order to out carry Faceless Void.And also you might wanna switch your Abyssal Blade for a Monkey King Bar because if this guy manages to build Butterfly with his 2nd passive .You will barely hit him.

Note : I will be updating this section ,I have started this guide some days ago and I am constantly updating it ,when a friend,forum member type to me or I see someone saying something in the comments he dislikes.

Updates.

Added More Items : 02.02.2013
Added Game Phases : 03.02.2013
Updated Friends/Foes : 04.02.2013
Updated Skill's Section : 05.02.2013
Added Hero Information : 05.02.2013
Updated Foes section : 05.02.2013
Added Black King Bar to My Full Build : 07.02.2013
Updated Item's Section : 07.02.2013
Added Faceless Void to the Foes section : 07.02.2013
Updated Pro's/Con's section : 08.02.2013

Ending.

Well this is my guide for Sven I hope you enjoyed reading it and if u feel the guide is incomplete and/or needs information about something else about Sven type a comment and consider it done.I would like to ask everyone for a favor if you see any mistakes in my guide please dont downvote because of that Im a really fast typer and I dont even notice when I do mistakes send me a PM and I will fix them . :) And as I said above if there is something you would like me to add to the guide comment/PM and consider it done. :)
If you decide to downvote my guide please type your reasons in the comments below.
This is me doing an Ultra kill with Sven using this particuluar Guide/Build .Im not advertising or anything Im just showing it as proof that it really does work . Play Video If you wanna play together or smth add me in steam : viewfive.