Guide To Drow Ranger

Table of contents

I. Introduction
II. Stats' analysis
III. Skills
IV. Skill Build
V. Starting Items
VI. Core Build
VII. Situational Items
VIII. Luxury Items
IX. Rejected Items
X. Best Allies/Worst Enemies
XI. Game Walkthrough
XII. Replays
XIII. Special Thanks


I. Introduction

This guide is written by a pubber ; nevertheless, a few advanced techniques are used, so have at least a proficient understanding of the game.

Drow is the definition of the glass cannon ; fragile, but very powerful. Depending on the picks and on who's playing her, Drow can easily out-DPS the opposition or feed them with a dozen or more deaths. She can also support her team efficiently thanks to her Frost Arrows and her Silence.

Playing her efficiently needs to ask oneself the following questions :

1) Do I know her skills and stats ?
2) What's my role in the team ?
3) Is picking her a good choice depending on my team's picks and the enemy team's pick ?
4) Am I reasonably good at last hitting ?
5) Do I have an IQ higher than an oyster to understand that Drow is NOT a tank/initiator and should always enter the fray AFTER the initiator ?

After answering those philosophical questions, let's list her pros and cons.


PROS :

- Extremely strong carry hero late-game, with only a few carries to out-DPS her
- Damage, attack speed and armor thanks to her ultimate
- Trueshot Aura helps your team significantly if it has another ranged carry ; it also helps her a lot.
- Strong chaser thanks to Frost Arrows, one of the best slowing orb in the game
- Decent very early game
- Longer range than most ranged heroes
- A 275 AOE Silence, comparable to only a few heroes in DotA


CONS :

- Low strength gain, meaning she's fragile
- No escape mechanism
- Needs to farm to reveal her true potential
- Horrible attack point for early game



II. Stats' Analysis

Here are her raw stats :

* Strength: 17 + 1.9
* Agility: 22 + 1.9
* Intelligence: 15 + 1.4

* Attack Animation: 0.7 / 0.3
* Damage: 40 - 51
* Casting Animation: 0.4 / 0.5
* Armor: 2.1
* Base Attack Time: 1.7
* Movespeed: 300
* Missile Speed: 1250
* Attack Range: 625
* Sight Range: 1800 / 1700

Her stats growth seems pretty poor, but thanks to her ultimate, it brings her to a good level. In fact, taking into account her agility simply gives her the most natural Agility in the game (Don't take into account Morphling's Morph...). Indeed, with 45 of Agility coming from her 3 levels of ultimate, her Agility growth jumps to a huge value of 3.775, not taking into account the Stats bonuses. In fact, from level 1 to level 16, without taking into account Stats bonuses, the average Agility growth is 4.9, which is more than 50% more than the second highest Agility growth in the game, Terrorblade's 3.2. Intelligence growth seems poor, but it's enough for her needs. Her starting Strength is average at start for an Agility hero, and growth too. That means that early game, a well-done gank/chain stun/chain nukes can easily kill her, so be careful and keep an eye on the minimap and an ear for misses.

As you can see, her attack animation is quite poor, with a huge attack point of 0.7s. Her missile speed is a little above average to help a little bit. Damage is average and has a difference of 11 between maximum and minimum, meaning that last hitting is a little random. Casting Animation has a 0.5s backswing animation, meaning that canceling it always should be your priority ; this casting animation happens when you use her Silence. Armor, Base Attack Time and Movespeed are average.



III. Skills

Quote:

Frost Arrows Induces a freezing effect to the hero's attacks. Each attack slows the enemy's movement and attack rates. Level 1 - Slows attack rate by 5% and movement rate by 10%. Level 2 - Slows attack rate by 10% and movement rate by 20%. Level 3 - Slows attack rate by 15% and movement rate by 30%. Level 4 - Slows attack rate by 20% and movement rate by 40%. Cooldown: 0 seconds. Orb effects do not stack Buff placers do not stack Level 1: 12 mana, 0 sec cooldown. Level 2: 12 mana, 0 sec cooldown. Level 3: 12 mana, 0 sec cooldown. Level 4: 12 mana, 0 sec cooldown.

If hunting dinner with Butcher's Fresh meat didn't satisfy you because of a problem of freshness, freezing your enemies should deal with that problem. This skill ought to be skilled at least at level 1 for the simple reason that orb walking enables you to harass without triggering the creeps' aggro, and because that slow is extremely annoying, making Drow one of the best chaser in the game. Also note that at level 1, it has zero cooldown, making you chase and harass better than Viper.

Quote:

Silence Stops all enemies in a target area from casting spells. Level 1 - Lasts 3 seconds. Level 2 - Lasts 4 seconds. Level 3 - Lasts 5 seconds. Level 4 - Lasts 6 seconds. Cooldown: 15 seconds. Level 1: 90 mana, 15 sec cooldown. Level 2: 90 mana, 15 sec cooldown. Level 3: 90 mana, 15 sec cooldown. Level 4: 90 mana, 15 sec cooldown. Area of effect : 275 Casting Range : 900

This makes you the bane of spellcasters in ganks and team fights early-mid game, and allows you to easily dispatch 2 fragile heroes single-handedly late game. Because it has a 275 AoE, you should always silence the most heroes in one Silence. Its mana cost and its cooldown means that you shouldn't spam in order to stop a nuker from nuking you while farming early game. For example, at level 6, you only have a manapool of 286, so use your Silence wisely, when it's really needed. Also try to aim for the most dangerous heroes ; a Lich that has launched Chain Frost is not worth a Silence, but a Doom that's on the verge of killing one of your mates with LVL?Death is definitely worth it. Also take advantage of the 900 casting range to Silence before you get stunned/disabled. Also try to use it at the moment your iniator enters the fray or shortly after.

Quote:

Trueshot Aura An aura that gives friendly nearby units bonus damage to their ranged attacks. Level 1 - Increases base ranged damage by 7%. Level 2 - Increases base ranged damage by 14%. Level 3 - Increases base ranged damage by 21%. Level 4 - Increases base ranged damage by 28%. Passive Notes • Aura bonuses consider only unit base damage + primary attribute increases (not raw damage items).

This aura is wonderful in a team of ranged heroes. If you've got Vengeful Spirit and/or Moon Rider in your team, the synergy is so strong that all the enemy team ought to buy Ghost Scepter (Not a good idea with Eclipse...). Note that it also increases the primary attribute's damage, and since Drow has so much Agility, this skill is perfect for her.

Quote:

Marksmanship The Ranger's accuracy has increased, giving her more agility. Level 1 - +15 Agility. Level 2 - +30 Agility. Level 3 - +45 Agility. Passive

Had problems early game with last hitting/dealing damage ? Her ultimate is here to solve the problem. +15 Agility is nothing to be laughed at early game, and you definitely feel it as it reduces significantly your effective attack point. At level 16, with my standard skill build, you already have 99 points of Agility. In contrast, Phantom Assassin should be at around 72. This skill also gives you the highest attack speed in the game without buff/spells, meaning that artifacts that require attack speed in order to proc often are a viable option on her.

IV. Skill Build

Skill builds are fluid and should be adapted according to what you're facing and with whom you're laning or if you're soloing. After a lot of heated discussions and experience, I think there are essentially 2 good skill builds.

My typical solo build :

1. Frost Arrows
2. Silence
3. Trueshot Aura/Stats
4. Trueshot Aura/Stats
5. Trueshot Aura/Stats
6. Marksmanship
7. Trueshot Aura
8. Frost Arrows
9. Frost Arrows
10. Frost Arrows
11. Marksmanship
12. Silence
13. Silence
14. Stats
15. Stats
16. Marksmanship
17-24. Stats
25. Silence

The idea of this skill build is simple ; you've got the minimal help needed to survive with Frost Arrows and Silence at level 1-2, and you quickly build up your damage output. With this build, simply harass with your orb the enemy hero, and use your high damage to out-last-hit/deny the creeps so you can farm and the enemy won't. In my opinion, getting more Frost Arrows/Silence early is a waste, because you don't want to chase/gank the enemy heroes ; the high damage output through Trueshot Aura should be enough to make the enemy hero use his tangoes/salves faster than he/she expected, and with some luck, force him to go to the fountain. However, if you're facing a heavy nuker that gives you a hard time, add some Stats as shown at levels 3-5, and according to the situation, choose what skills should be leveled up later. Note that I usually don't get Silence level 4 before level 25, as I usually don't need the extra second ; if you feel you need that extra second, do it, otherwise, Stats are better.

However, when you're on a side-lane, the build should change to suit your needs. Most of the time, it's better to delay Trueshot Aura so you can get more Frost Arrows/Silence. Doing this helps your mate dish out more damage than you lose because you didn't level up Trueshot Aura. However, if your mate has a very good stun/disable/slow too, you can take less Frost Arrows/Silence, and you'd use the first skill build.

Side-lanes build :


1. Frost Arrows
2. Silence
3. Frost Arrows
4. Stats/Silence
5. Frost Arrows
6. Marksmanship
7. Frost Arrows
8. Silence
9. Silence/Stats/Trueshot Aura
10. Trueshot Aura
11. Marksmanship
12. Trueshot Aura
13. Trueshot Aura
14. Trueshot Aura/Stats
15. Stats
16. Marksmanship
17-24. Stats
25. Silence

Although I already said it, I'll repeat it again ; no skill builds should be set in stone. Lately, I played some games where Frost Arrows weren't as necessary as Silence, so I kept Frost Arrows at level 1 till level 20+ and leveled up Silence earlier. Maxing Frost Arrows/Silence isn't always necessary, so get Stats instead if you feel it can be better.



V. Starting Items



With these items, you maximized your damage potential early game while still having a lot of healings to stay in lane for a long time. You can turn these Slippers into Wraith Bands to aid with survivability and you can either sell the Ironwood Branches or turn it into a spell radar/burst healing device, a Magic Wand.

If you feel that your lane is safe enough and that you don't need a Magic Wand later, swap the Ironwood Branches for a Circlet of Nobility and drop the Healing Salve. Like this, you can get your Manta Style a bit faster. Note that you should only do this if there aren't not many spell casters in the opposite team, which should rarely happen in a 5vs5 game...

At your first trip back home (Even better if you have a Courier to deliver it near the frontline...), your items should look like this :



The STR Power Treads aren't boots only "made for walking" ; it ensures survivability while boosting your DPS, so you can wade in the remains of your enemies. Switch it to Agility late game, or if you're laning against a passive enemy. As a side note, abuse from stats manipulation with Power Treads ; if you need to regenerate some HP/mana, put it in Agility to get more from your Tangoes/Salves/Magic Wand. Wraith Bands are the obvious way to get cheap Agility while still getting some other stats. Magic Wand is great as mentioned above. TP scroll is mandatory for surviving/ganking/farming in a free lane.

Note that if your farming skills are good and that you didn't die too much, you can skip the Wraith Bands for a faster high-tier item of the Core Build.



VI. Core Build

Most of the time, this is the Core Build you should have :



With this, you've got all you need ; some HP through all those items, a lot of Agility for attack speed and damage, illusions to confuse your enemies and greatly multiply your damage output and extra movespeed for extra easy chasing. Also note that you can dodge some projectile spells (Vengeful's Spirit's Magic Missile for example) by activating Manta Style just before you get hit.

Also note that Manta Style's illusions can get their DPS boosted only through extra Agility, criticals and Endurance Aura ; notice that, relatively to Drow's DPS output, the illusions are at their peak mid-game, as you have that 4.9 Agility growth per level till level 16, and that Agility growth (with Stats bonuses) falls to 3.9 later, and that there aren't artifacts that grant huge Agility bonuses. Even the +40 from Ethereal blade isn't enough compared to what other artifacts can give. For those who want to calculate exactly the damage output, don't forget that

Just to show at which point this item build is powerful, imagine you're level 16, and followed one the skill builds. At this point of the game, you already deal 547 DPS with the illusions (PT set on AGI.). Fragile heroes, including their items, have probably less than 2500 EHP (Slayer lvl 16 with Magic Wand, Aghanim and Guinsoo has 2341 EHP.), so a level 3 Silence followed by clicking on Manta and strafing should kill them each time without any effective retaliation on their own unless the target has a Guinsoo, Eul, Ghost Scepter or Force Staff not on cooldown. Even hard tanks have to fear you if you're a little supported ; a lvl 16 Dragon Knight with Satanic and Armlet of Mordiggan activated has 4998 EHP.

As a side note, if you want to go the lifesteal way, you can get a fast Helm of the Dominator just before/after Yasha, as this item is simply extremely good for only 1850 gold : +5 armor, +20 damage and 15% lifesteal are very good stats for its price. And you can dominate a creep to help you. The only downside is that you can't orbwalk normally, and use your Frost Arrows only on Autocast. In the case you've forgotten what's orbwalking, there's a video here that shows what you have to do.

When I say "you can't orbwalk normally", there are 2 different situations. If you haven't activated the autocast for Frost Arrows and use the orb's hotkey as when you orbwalk, you don't trigger the creeps' aggro, use mana on each of your shots, and get some lifesteal. If you have activated the autocast AND use Frost Arrows' hotkey to orbwalk, you'll effectively orbwalk, but of course, no lifesteal. All of this is explained



Alternative Core Build :

However, if you prefer to surprise your enemies and/or flee, and only if you know they don't use too many Dust or Sentry Wards (Or worse, a Night Stalker with Aghanim and Gem of True Sight...), you can replace the Manta Style with a Lothar's Edge. Never consider getting Lothar's Edge if you see 2 or more of the following heroes ; Nightstalker, Bounty Hunter, Slithereen Guard and Bloodseeker. All of these heroes have some way to track you if you enter the fray visible and spare your Windwalk to flee at low health, and some can detect you before you join the battle if you got tracked a bit earlier.

It's also a good idea to take Lothar's Edge if you're facing a team of heavy AoE nukers. Taking this path means that 99% of the time, you'll need a Black King Bar to dodge some spells that you couldn't silence. Note that the Lothar's Edge/Black King Bar combo doesn't give you as much firepower as the Manta Style/Linken's Sphere combo.

VII. Situational Items

These items are useful if facing extreme harassment early game, especially for nukers. Of course, if spells are flying around you, Magic Stick is your best friend. As one of my friends pointed out, don't get Planewalker's Cloak and other Magic Resistance items on fragile heroes, as for the same money, you can be tougher with items that give you HP. Note that you should still keep some Tangoes/Salves even if you get one of these HP regen items, as they won't be enough against even moderately aggressive enemies.





Diffusal Blade is extremely situational ; if your team has no good Diffusal carrier, and if you're facing a team with dangerous heroes thanks to their buffs (Who said Ursa ?), getting Diffusal Blade can be a good idea. Drow has a fast attack rate, burning mana very quickly, and if needed, you've got a purge to debuff/keep an enemy that might escape you. The extra Agility is of course welcomed. Note that you can use your Frost Arrows only on , which should not be a problem as you should have enough attack speed at mid game to make orbwalking unuseful.






While Monkey King Bar is a great DPS item, and helps making your aim true, it's not the best Drow can get, as True Strike messes with your Frost Arrows. Only use it if there are carries with evasion.





So you silenced the enemy, nearly killed it, and he's nuking/stunning you in an effort to save himself ? Blademail is the answer. It also makes the enemy think twice before attacking you ; if he doesn't, Drow attacking during 4 seconds freely can be enough to kill a hero, sometimes 2. Blademail is more effective if you've got some HP to survive using it ; investing in some HP items is a wise idea.





The new Ethereal Blade is a situational item that requires some thinking. First, it's useful only if you have in your team heroes that deal massive magical damage, like Slayer, Demon Witch, Ogre Magi, Witch Doctor, Necrolyte, etc. Second, this item is only useful late game, as you should have around 200 Agility, meaning that combined with the Ghost Form, the enemy hero (with a normal magical resistance) should lose about 525 HP. Third, using it puts you and your target in the Ghost Form for 3 seconds, meaning you can't use your massive DPS ; even activating Manta Style doesn't change that state. However, you can still orbwalk ; it's just you've got to orbwalk another target than the one hit by Ether Blast. This means that if you're with a heavy nuker, and surprise a lone enemy hero, you can use Ether Blast so your mate can nuke him to death. In a teamfight, your team needs your massive DPS, Ether Blast should only be used if you need to survive against massive physical DPS (Void, Troll, etc...), or to finish a fleeing hero that you can't reliably get with just your arrows ; you don't want to orbwalk in a teamfight. Fourth, Ether Blast gets through the spell block of a Linken's Sphere, and puts it on cooldown. Fifth, you can get this item if you don't need the evasion given by Butterfly ; in the case you've got a Manta Style, the damage output is just slightly reduced when compared with Butterfly, and you get extra Agility, meaning armor, extra Strength, meaning HP, and extra Intelligence for a little more mana.

VIII. Luxury Items




Evasion, damage, attack speed, plenty of Agility. Nes...Butterfly, what else ?





A very good luxury item if you still don't have a survivability item. And don't forget,





So you felt you didn't do enough damage ? 80% chance to do normal damage + 20% of doing 2.4x criticals = multiplying your damage output by 1.28x. And that's not even counting the +81 raw damage...





Sadly, you don't get extra Strength for killing enemy heroes, so this item should help...





Since using Manta Style every time the cooldown is up costs a lot of mana, Linken's Sphere is the natural answer to the problem. The stats are nice and the spell block, coupled with Silence and the illusions should give you a very high survivability.





Black King Bar is needed if facing a decent team that could disable you. If the enemy team has 4 or more stuns/disables, this item is absolutely necessary after your Manta Style. Timing is crucial, otherwise you've wasted 3900 gold...





OMG, orb effects do not stack noob ! Read the again ; since Drow doesn't initiate and can silence, chances that she gets stunned are low, even more if she has Black King Bar/Linken's Sphere. Because Frost Arrows' slow lasts 1.5s, you can toggle between autocast and lifesteal in a timely manner to permaslow the enemy while regenerating HP. Satanic's Unholy Rage even allows you to return from the dead (Well, nearly.). As mentioned previously, manually casting your orb when you have a Helm of the Dominator/Satanic makes your lifestealing shots not trigger the creeps' aggro. With autocast activated, the usual orbwalk works. Another small tip for Helm of the Dominator/Satanic ; if you shoot at illusions with the lifesteal orb, you only shoot normal arrows, indicating without a doubt that it's an illusion.





OMG, orb effects do not stack, Darth noob ! Again, read > ; manual cast and autocast allows you to get your Frost Arrows again. If not needed (Or if you use your Frost Arrows every 1.5s), you can place a couple shots that may proc a Chain Lightning, allowing you to hit up to 4 enemy heroes. It's also great, because it forces the enemy to think if they must spend some money on magical resistance or extra HP. Another good point is that it triggers any Linken's Sphere with Chain Lightning or Static Charge. It's also a great counter to uberpushers like Broodmother, Enigma or Chen, or heroes with illusions/clones. And Static Charge and Axe is such a romance that it eases any (electrical) tensions you had with your enemies...





If the game drags on too long, teleportation can mean life or death to your base. The huge movespeed bonus, especially coupled with Manta Style, compenses the little loss of firepower.



IX. Rejected Items

Every sane player should know what's rejected with her, but here's a reminder :

What the hell are you thinking ? You've got an extremely good slow, and you want to reduce her DPS/early survivability by taking these boots with ? Drow isn't manly enough to deserve such boots...





HP boost : check
Good agility boost : check
Buff that's worse than your free orb effect : check





Assault Cuirass at first sight seems good, providing you a good IAS, armor, and a small negative armor aura. However, in terms of survivability and damage output, it's not as good as Butterfly, especially in the survivability department ; an extra 15 armor seems good, but it's nearly useless on a hero that gains so much armor through Agility. Indeed, late game, you'll easily exceed the 20 armor mark, and sometimes hit the 30 mark ; adding 15 armor helps little, as shown in this graph from :

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 783x600.

The +30% Evasion granted by Butterfly is simply way better, and illusions benefit from it.





I've seen so many noobs getting it on nearly every hero that I had to mention it. The stats gains are nice, but Manta Style is a so much better use of Yasha, and the orb effect is just useless...





At first, this item may seem a fine choice, because it allows you to run faster and to temporarily boost your DPS tremendously. The problem is that Drow is so fragile that the extra attack speed doesn't outweigh the extra taken damage. And another thing is that Drow has so much attack speed late game that +100 IAS isn't much to her for the price you pay (1900 gold, and more importantly, a slot in your inventory...).





+60 raw damage and -6 armor may seem good, but Drow wants something with a lot of agility or something that can proc often. And this item doesn't solve her survivability issues.





So you think that your integrated AoE silence isn't enough to the point you need an extra 6 second point target silence ? Unless all the enemy team has Ghost Scepters or there's an Omniknight with Refresher Orb, this item is completely useless. The mana regen can be nice if you use Manta Style, but you have no HP regen, and the +30 IAS and +45 damage is way too overpriced.





While Drow has a huge attack speed, there are 2 problems ; if you want to put a Divine Rapier on her and play without illusions, you should have at least a Power Treads, Black King Bar, Satanic and Butterfly, otherwise it's way too risky. Even in that case, focus firing you may kill you, and compared to the item builds you can do with a Manta Style for the same price, there is a marginal difference in firepower if you count the illusions. If you want to have Manta Style and Divine Rapier, only the original Drow will benefit from it, and getting an additional Butterfly or Buriza (stacking 2 Buriza is valid in a slightly risky item build, as it gives the original Drow +150 raw damage and gives her and her illusions a 36% chance to make 2.4x criticals, multiplying the damage output by 1.504...) instead of Divine Rapier will benefit you and your illusions, again getting a marginal difference in firepower when compared with Divine Rapier. Marginally superior firepower for Divine Rapier doesn't outweigh the facts that it's the 3rd costliest item (after Dagon lvl 5 and Eye of Skadi...) and that it drops on death...




No, no and no ! Although Drow needs to farm, she's a good last hitter after level 6, and she'll get the extra money by killing heroes. Spending time jungling is just a waste of money and experience.

X. Best Allies/Worst Enemies

Best Allies


Here is a complete list of heroes that get better when Drow is on their team :

All of them.

More precisely, good allies are good disablers such as Bane, Shadow Shaman or Treant Protector. Stunners and initiators are also very appreciated such as Earthshaker, Tidehunter, Butcher.

Special mentions for the following heroes :



Vengeful Spirit is most of the time a good pick in a balanced team, and with Drow, it's extremely good. The stun coupled with the Command Aura means death for any fragile hero in a couple of seconds, and late game, it may help you add an additional victim during a team clash. Also note the strong synergy with Drow since Wave of Terror reduces armor and the DPS of the fools trying to counter-attack you. Vengeful Spirit is also a good Stygian carrier, so -11 armor with Wave of Terror will definitely help. To get a better idea of how good such an armor reduction 





A good Templar Assassin will rush for a Stygian Desolator for an impressive -14 armor when hitting an enemy with Meld. Psionic Traps and Frost Arrows mean the enemy can't flee except by stunning/killing both heroes, which shouldn't happen because a good ambush will kill the enemies in a few seconds. Templar is also a ranged hero, so she'll love the Trueshot Aura.





PotM is such a versatile hero that it can very well support you while ganking. Her good Agility growth means she'll love your Trueshot Aura. PotM's Elune's Arrow will help you net easy kills, while Moonlight Shadow can help your whole team properly position for a gank, or helps you flee, and so you can discard taking Lothar's Edge.





The stun/nuke combo with Fireblast means you'll get an easier time killing the enemy. Bloodlust is also a significant boost to your DPS and your movespeed. Ignite with Frost Arrows will keep them close to you and will disable any Kelen's Dagger that might have been used while juking.





Here's a double-edged combo. While Bloodrage is a huge DPS boost, it also silences, meaning you can't cast Silence, and you can't cast Frost Arrows, whether manually or on autocast. So if you want Bloodseeker to Bloodrage you, analyze the situation carefully before doing so.





If Troll is at range, he'll definitely appreciate the Frost Arrows and the Trueshot Aura. Otherwise, Drow definitely loves the near spammable extra IAS from Battle Trance. In this case, getting Mjollnir is a bright idea.





His Reverse Polarity will allow him to initiate properly. Empower is also a must for Drow. Note that since the enemies are tightened in front of Magnataur when he casts Reverse Polarity, getting Mjollnir can decimate the poor enemies.





A solid initiator thanks to Black Hole, as this 4s AOE disable is as good as Magnataur's Reverse Polarity ; Mjollnir is a good idea because of this ultimate. Midnight Pulse will also soften up the enemies for easier kills, and note the synergy with Frost Arrows, because it helps keep the enemy inside it for an extra 1-2 second. Malefice and Frost Arrows work well together to keep the enemy close, and for a fast push strategy, just go with Enigma and its Eidolons and level up Trueshot Aura ; no tower can stay in your way !





A good babysitter for Drow early game thanks to Death Pulse, Reaper's Scythe will also grab a kill that you couldn't get otherwise (or give you that extra stun to make the last hit...), or late game, will allow you to switch to another target ; with normal magical resistance, a lvl3 Reaper's Scythe instantly kills any enemy that has 40% or less remaining HP.





Witch Doctor plays the same role as Necrolyte thanks to Voodoo Restoration and Maledict. It's simple ; any enemy that has a normal magical resistance and a normal health regen will get killed if before the first damage instance of Maledict lvl4 (4s after the spell was cast.) he lost about 50% of its current HP. Paralyzing Cask and Death Ward also helps in the process of sending the enemy heroes to the place they rightly belong, i.e. their fountain !





Oh, another good babysitter. And guess what's better/worse (depending on the point of view...) than the up-to-10-second-magic-immunity from BKB ? A 14-second-cooldown 12-second-duration magic immunity that frees up a slot for another DPS item that can be combined with Guardian Angel's +1000 armor !






A dual zero-CD orbwalking lane can wreak havoc on the enemy early game, and early kills will compensate the gold/exp sharing. Seems the thermal shock of Frost Arrows and Burning Spears kills. In case of emergency, Inner Vitality will keep you alive.





"Excellent choice." Indeed, laning with Juggernaut is an easy way to get a First Blood because Bladefury needs that the enemy stays near Yurnero as he's moving. In this case, getting Boots of Speed with Drow and Juggernaut at start is mandatory.





This anti-tank hero comes handy if facing heavy tanks, because his Open Wounds coupled with your Frost Arrows means no-one can escape, and his mini-BKB lets him go forward without too many risks.




A semi-tank that can chase and stun is a good hero. With Amplify Damage that reduces armor up to -15 armor, your damage output gets, well, amplified.





"I urge to destroy !". Yeah, laning a pussy and the manliest hero in DotA that still has testicles is a good idea. He tanks so you can pound the target with your Frost Arrows, and the Berserker's Call/Counter Helix combo means death for any melee hero in your lane. Your Frost Arrows also slows the enemy so he can use Culling Blade.
As soon as he gets Kelen's Dagger, he'll initiate for you for even easier kills. And Axe with Mjollnir's Static Charge is a love story.



Worst Enemies


As we all know, Drow is fragile, so stunners, nukers and disablers are your primary threat early game. Here's a small list of them :



When the enemy team picks that kind of hero, you have not to pick Drow or pick another lane. In the case you have to face that kind of hero, although Drow is a low Intelligence hero, quick mental calculation can save your life ; for example, any decent lvl7 Slayer player can place correctly a lvl4 Dragon Slave and a lvl1 Laguna Blade. That's 730 magical damage, so if you have less than 550 HP, you're definitely in danger.

Special mentions for the following high-level threats :



This hero is horrible ; awfully high DPS, tanking capability, surprise buttsex as soon as he gets Kelen's Dagger, and probably an Aegis on him for additional security, this beast should be avoided at all cost. Only engage him if he's hitting one of your tanks so you have a chance to kill him, or if he's stunned. Ask your support heroes to properly ward the map.





"Fresh meat !". That's the last thing you'll hear as you're rotting and returning to the fountain. Proper warding and rune whoring by your team are the answer. If he turns on Rot, you can Silence him so he'll rot for longer than he expected to.





Although he won't do a lot of damage early game if you're soloing against him, his Blind will leave you underleveled and underfarmed, rip to get ganked. Let a caster face him. Late game, keep him at long range ; you don't want to get nearly permastunned in hand to hand combat, as you are the Drow RANGER, and "Rangers, DON'T lead the way !"





All his skills are horrible for DPS heroes, and guess what you are ? Thunder is a decent initiating skill that slows your MS and AS, but the worst is probably Drunken Haze, slowing you and making you miss up to 75% of your attacks. And his last two skills ensure that it will take a long time to kill him. If you want to kill him, silence him first.





A swap into their team, and they made a good exchange by maybe losing a support hero while your team lost a carry that needs experience and gold. Ward before it's too late.





You're fragile enough that if you lose a little HP, Bloodseeker will track you to death. His Rupture will make you bleed to death if you attempt to run, and facing him means you'll probably die. Frost Arrows won't slow him enough too. Try to Silence him if you see him.





A decent Shadow Fiend player can solo against Drow effectively thanks to Shadow Raze and Necromastery, leaving you underfarmed and underleveled. However, you can counter him by runewhoring and calling ganks on him often.





All his skills are meant to destroy fragile heroes. Be careful.





Although he's got a smaller range, his ultimate relies on Intelligence difference, which gets amplified with Astral Emprisonment. And mid-late game, he doesn't care if you've got armor thanks to your Agility ; his orb is pure damage. Unless you're very good at harassing, don't solo against him and let a high Intelligence nuker face him.





Any decent Lycanthrope player will rush a Vladimir's Offering and a Cranium Basher. If he wants to attack you, he simply casts his 3 spells out of range for your Silence, and then runs to attack you. Retreating is not an option, as he'll run at maximum movespeed unless you stun/kill him (Frost Arrows will just slow his attack rate, not his movespeed...). He'll have so much DPS, HP, lifesteal and stun that winning in a one on one battle is about impossible. Don't let him farm at all, and try to be escorted by a stunner.





Although you love Wraith Bands, that oversized Wraith Band doesn't love you. His low HP and DPS can make you think you can go one-on-one and win, but he can make some nice mindgame by increasing his DPS while lowering yours and destroying your armor thanks to Static Link and Eye of the Storm.





Windrunner is a very potent solo early game thanks to her low Base Attack Point and her Power Shot. If you think you can kill her because she seems at low HP (yellow health for example), you may fail ; she's got a fairly good 2.5 Strength growth for a ranged hero, and combined with her Windrunner spell, she gets an impressive 100% evasion. Her Focus Fire makes her an extremely strong DPS hero, and her Shackleshot can stun you long enough to get killed. And in some cases, a good Windrunner may get Blademail or Helm of the Dominator for even stronger mindgames. Never attack her unless you can kill her while she's silenced/stunned.



XI. Game Walkthrough

Your job early game is to farm gold and experience. So unless there's a high threat that you expect soloing mid or a stronger solo in your team, grab your items and head for mid. Last hit, deny and harass mercilessly. Her attack point is high, so practice makes perfect ; you can try to fake a last hit/deny because of that high attack point, but it's difficult, and from what I've seen, even competitive players don't use it a lot. Trueshot Aura is here to get rid of that problem. Orbwalk at will for constant harassment. If the enemy has a bottle, ask your support heroes to ward at least a rune spot so you can counter his bottle, and if you're lucky, a Double Damage rune is never bad. Anyway, your support heroes ought to ward, and that should prevent a lot of ganks coming to you.

If you can't go mid, try to lane, preferably bottom for Sentinel and top for Scourge. These lanes are safer than the other side lanes with proper warding, and in the case you've got a support hero in your lane, you can ask him to creep pull/creep stack so you leave the enemy heroes underleveled and you can farm more. You can also take cover in the forest below the tower for the Sentinel (in the forest above the tower for the Scourge) in case of ganks.

Farm as much as you can, while your support hero denies and harasses if possible the enemies. A small tip for farming ; when you have to retreat (for example pushing and then suddendly realizing an enemy gank is coming), don't use the word retreat. Say that you're farming in another direction by either teleporting to a safer lane or disappearing in the jungle to farm.

When you've got at least the items of the first trip back to the fountain, you can start to gank when your help is needed. Otherwise, push the lanes and eradicate those towers. Call for misses, keep an eye on the minimap and an ear for misses. Situation awareness is a core skill in DotA.

If your team wants to kill Roshan, go assisting them. Don't go to kill Roshan if 3 or more heroes in your team are attacking him while the enemies aren't retreating/defending at all costs their towers or are dead ; any decent team will know your team is Roshing. Beg for the Aegis, you'll need it.

When you're ganking or making a team clash, let the initiator jump in first. Then cast Silence on the most dangerous heroes, generally stunners/disablers, then nukers. Cancel that casting backswing animation and start orbwalking.

In mid game, you should at least have your core items, so you can pump out some heavy DPS. At that point of the game, you should have a high enough IAS to switch from manual cast to autocast for Frost Arrows. The killing procedure remains the same as before ; wait for the initiator, Silence, "let phantom arrows fly !". Make sure your target always feel the Frost Arrows' effects, as it will keep them from fleeing and reduce a bit their DPS. If you've got another orb effect, toggle on and off your Frost Arrows in a timely manner so you can use both orbs.

At level 16 and onwards, you have to be very offensive. Indeed, at level 16, you have a peak in difference (in proportion) in DPS output with other carries, as typical Agility carries are at around 70 natural Agility, while you're approaching the 100 Agility mark.

Late game, you should at least have a luxury item, if not more, and "Triple Kills" should happen from times to times. If your team needs you for a team clash, you should be able to say "I'm here, as always." If you got fed well, getting Buriza for Kilocriticals will help the enemy team stay longer at their fountain and cause fear in their minds. Maintaining a constant fear of surprising them can help your team push on the three lanes, but only if your wards tell your team that you can do so.

If the game drags on so long that you manage to get 3 5K+ items, hitting the 1500 DPS when counting your illusions shouldn't be that hard ; some of my risky dream builds even hit the 2000 DPS mark...

When the enemy team is crippled (2 heroes alive or less), push at will and destroy those barracks. Your DPS is high, so keep an eye on any Blademail carrier.