Drum of Endurance Vs Ultimate Orb

So a lot of the times people build drums is because they're trying to help the mana pool of Str heroes, like Bristleback, or the HP pool of Agi heroes like Mirana and Luna. But Luna and Mirana are both natural Manta builders, so would it be better to get a casual ultimate orb instead of a casual drums? Orb costs more, has significantly worse build up, gives slightly better stats, but it builds into things like manta, sheep, skadi and linkens. I did this in both games I've played Ember Spirit so far, and it seems like a good idea, it's way more efficient with your money, it does speed you along significantly towards your tier 3 item, while also causing you to not lose as much and in some cases even benefit more. So, Drums or Ultimate Orb?

It's a fair question - the general rule is that cheaper items are better value for money...but higher tier items are more inventory efficient. While the general stats of Drum of Endurance aren't quite as good, the item is cheaper, and the big thing really is the movement/attack speed boost aura - giving it team utility as well as stats.

Ultimately it depends on your role and the game situation - if you feel you need to be involved early, the game is very ganky/lots of early fighting, then generally you want to go for the "right now" item - in this case the drum, as you can build up easily and start getting partial benefits earlier.

In games that look to be going longer, rushing bigger items soon can be better.

Depends on the hero. Drums is always better on supports because you won't be needing an orb anyway (unless you are a really fed support and think you can go scythe soon) mostly because of its composition (Bracers are enough for some time) and that you are highly unlikely to get the 2100 for the orb as a support.

As a carry this depends on the phase of the game, and the hero itself in terms of what items are fit for the situation.

i would also say that it depends on the hero. While its a good item on some strength heroes like Lifestealer or Dragon Knight, as they need to get close to the enemy to unleash hell, i really dont see the point on getting them for Mirana, as she already has a gap-closing ability and her stun has a huge range - also this hero really relies more on her burst than consistent autoattacks (imo she really isnt that good of a carry). As you mentioned Luna on the other hand, i personally think that Drums are a good choice. Her Attack range in tiny and the bonus movement speed really helps her to chase her targets down ....especially if Eclipse is active.

As a rule of thumb id say that Drums is genuinely a good choice for any hero that needs to stay close to an enemy or has to chase long distances for consistent damage output.

Well, I think I'm the only one saying the Drum of Endurance is (almost) always better, then. I'd rather have Drums and Yasha instead of a full Manta Style simply because they are cheaper (1225 less gold, that's significant), are more cost-efficient and are built with small items (the most expensive one costs 1000 gold only; all the others except the recipies cost 450 gold or less). The Drum of Endurance also helps a lot in ganks, teamfights and pushes thanks to its aura and active ability.
TL;DR: I think having auras, movement speed and overall good stats is better than having good stats, a bit more movement speed and illusions for 1225 gold more(!).

Also, most of the time I go for a BKB after Yasha, so I don't really feel the need to get a quick Manta unless the enemies have silencers. I honestly can't think of a Hero that benefits more from a quick Manta: the closest examples that come off my mind - even though I still think getting Drums first on them is better - are Mirana (she really needs the mana from the Drums but doesn't need extra movement speed because of Leap) and Weaver (doesn't need the movement speed and the extra mana given by the Ultimate Orb is usually enough; if you go for a Linken's first a Drum would be definitely redundant).
I think all those Heroes that can easily get fed really need a Drum of Endurance to ensure kills (the active ability works wonders) and get early advantage: some of them are Luna, Slark, Juggernaut and maybe even Gyrocopter (and Chaos Knight, Kunkka, Lifestealer and Wraith King when talking about STR Heroes, too).

The Drum of Endurance is a better item that ultimate orb overall, its only problem being that it cannot be made into any item.The ultimate orb, even thought being more expensive just offers +1 to all stats but can be made into some of the best and most flexible items in the game (in case the **** hit the fan...)

I like drums more because it gives the aura boost like everyone else says and can make pushing and taking down towers a breeze!

Drums as an early item obviously. You could build a luna or gyro for instance like: treads drums yasha manta and throw a BKB in somewhere if needed. But you are not going to build luna like: treads ult-orb manta BKB somewhere.
Becouse yasha make you farm much faster.

You build a drum as an item that gives you more early HP and some mana.
A naked ultimate orb is not going to make your hero much better.

I would almost never have an ultimate orb in my inventory, unless i have the space for it while getting manta, or as a first piece on squishy int hero building a hex.