Nortrom – The Silencer
Primary Attribute: Intelligence
Primary Role: Damage Dealer/Support


Introduction:
Using the Silencer effectively requires a lot of practice. It is very easy to mess up his build, especially if you decide to change it in the middle of a game, since you’ll end up messing the delicate balance that way. Being a Blood Elf, mana is extremely precious to Nortom, since his Glaives of Wisdom can suck up your mana in no time, with a high attack speed. Once you have enough mana, you will be helping your team mates as a disabling supporter, and a ranged damage dealer. One thing I’ve noticed while playing him, is that you enemies will target you first whenever possible, since Nortom deals a lot of damage, he disables spell casters, and he can be easy to kill. So there are two things you shall focus on while playing Silencer, which are – Survivability and team-support.

The Good:
Glaive of Wisdom can do unreal amounts of damage
A good mix between Damage dealing and support
You get +1 intelligence permanently for each hero kill
Excellent attack range

The Bad:
Has no escape skills
No stun/disables
Crappy movement speed

Curse of the Silent (Mana Cost – 105/115/125/135 / Cooldown – 25 Secs)
Description: A hero afflicted with this curse loses mana and hp per second for 10 seconds, or till he casts a spell. The damage/mana taken per level of the skill are 10hp/5mana, 20hp/10mana, 30hp/15mana and 40hp/20mana.

Most average players know that this spell can easilty be countered by casting a low mana using spell, so it’s not very helpful. However, if you have Lifestealer in your lane, he gets completely owned by this skill, as he has no spells to cast. Other than that case, I recommend that you do not use this spell, since it has high mana cost, with low returns, and can be easily countered. It’s not very useful in mid/end game either.

Glaives of Wisdom (Mana Cost - 15/ Cooldown - 3 Sec./ 2 Sec./1 Sec./0 Sec.)
Description: The glaives increases the damage of Nortom’s attacks by 15%,39%,45% and 60% of his maximum intelligence.

This skill is the reason that he dishes out so much damage. Although intelligence is important, do not sacrifice on HP in the bargain, so your best bet are items that give you int and HP (Necronomicon for instance). Once your intelligence is really high, you will be able to do a lot of damage with this spell, but make sure you have enough mana to spam it.

Last Word (Mana Cost – N/A / Cooldown – N/A)
Description: Silences any unit that casts a spell in the effect area of the spell, for 1 Sec., 2 Sec., 3 Sec. and 4 Sec.

Although the few seconds it silences heroes doesn’t sound like much, this skill is critical in huge team battles where every second counts.

Global Silence (Mana Cost - 250/ 350/ 450/ Cooldown - 120)
Description: Silences enemy heroes all over the map for 3, 4 or 5 seconds.

This spell is amazing in team battles. Along with Last word, you gain two really effective silence abilities, which are enough make sure that you can be a bit more effective than your foes in battle.

Level 1 – Glaives of Wisdom
Level 2 – Stats
Level 3 – Glaives of Wisdom
Level 4 – Stats
Level 5 – Glaives of Wisdom
Level 6 – Global Silence
Level 7 – Glaives of Wisdom
Level 8 – Last Word
Level 9 – Last Word
Level 10 – Last Word
Level 11 – Global Silence
Level 12 – Last Word

Get Curse of the Silent maxed out next, before you take the bonus stat points.

Early Game:
Items you should buy:



Nortom can be a very good harasser early on. He has 600 range (which is slightly better than most range heroes), and an attack that does some major damage (Glaives of Wisdom). Keep the Glaive on auto cast and make sure that you only try to last hit creeps, deny creeps, or attack heroes. Since you don’t have any other mana using skills at this stage, your mana will be primarily for Glaives, so use it when needed. The first item you should pick up is a Sobi Mask, an Ancient Tango of Essifation and a Chicken. Make sure you don’t get hit much in the first few levels, so that you don’t have to regenerate your health by using your Tangos. As soon as you have enough cash, use the Chicken to buy yourself a Ring of Regeneration, and then a Belt of Giant strength. If you still have enough cash, get yourself Boots of Speed and you’ll be set for this stage of the game.

Mid Game:
Items you should buy:



Now that you’ve maxed your Glaive’s level, your damage should be pretty impressive. Get yourself a Staff or Wizardry and a Necronomicon quickly, so that you can take maximum advantage of the damage boost, from your high intelligence. Participate in all team battles, and all team pushes, and don’t forget to use the Mana burn from you necronomicon summon, on low mana heroes. When you have another chunk of cash, make yourself an Oblivion Staff, so that you have a lot of mana regeneration, and an increased attack speed to allow you to spam Glaives. After that, collect enough to make your Eul’s scepter of divinity, so that you have at least one disable that you can depend on. With these items, your glaives should do a decent amount of damage, and at the same time, you will have two summons to deal damage, a mana burn ability, and a disable; along with your silencing skills, you will prove to be very useful to your team.

Late Game:
Items you should buy:



At this point of the game you need a better disable, so start collecting for a Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse. This won’t be too hard, considering your excellent farming abilities. You’ll be able to dish out a lot of damage at this stage, so make sure that you never miss any team battles. Get yourself Boots of Travel to make sure that you can outrun heroes while chasing them, or running from them. Upgrade your Necronomicon too, since the upgraded units will dish out more damage. Play carefully, and ensure that you’re always around to support your team to the best of your ability, by which, you’ll be able to usher your team to victory.

Optional Item(s):