An "always to go for " Drow ranger guide

Introduction

Drow ranger is one of the most popular heroes in Dota. As a quite expirienced Drow player,I decided to go for a Drow guide,seeing some insanely bad guides. My win rate is above 80%,following this type of playing all the way-long. This hero is considered by many a her for newbies,and while this is partly true,in order to unleash the real power of the Drow and to be maximum helpful to your team you have to do a lot more than right-click with Frost arrows on.

It's intended to be a clear and easy to understand guide.This is my first guide so please,don't spare harsh words on me. You can ask/criticize all way long,this can never be a bad thing.

I know I can improve it a lot and I am going to. Its as simple as it can be right now and that is about to get improved. Anyway,you can always have recommendations.

Starting items

Follow the in-game suggestion fully(Slipper-Slipper-Tango-Salve-Branch-Branch)
No arguments about that.You get about 67-68 damage(maximum,not average) on 1st level when you have leveled Aura! Makes last-hitting easy!

Skills

Level 1 - go for Precise aura.If you followed the starting items above,you get +6 damage on level 1! You and your entire ranged teammates. How can there be even an argue about that? I always wondered about that. Why do you need 12% slow on level one,who are you going to gank? Of course,if you go for an early team gank - you should definitely put a point in it,but otherwise - always aura. PLEASE,don't even consider leveling in stats - you are squishy and this is how it's going to be (unless of course Ice Frog gets drunk and..well,you know :D ).

Level 2 - here is something you can think about. It's a very situational thing - in the "Skill sequence" I have put Silence before Frost arrow,BUT that is totally situational. If you are againts a lane that can be killed that early on - go for Frost arrows. Otherwise - Silence. Silence has a much better chance of saving you that early on than Frost arrows.

Level 3-7(except 6) - You max out Frost arrows.That slow is insane,comes with every hit with your great 625 range. No argue about that too.

Level 8-10 - Precise aura!!!

"Man,Silence is such a good skill,shouldn't I level it before aura?" - Yes,Silence is a really good skill and there is no doubt about that,BUT it has not a really big improve over the levels,actually the only thing that improves is the time of silence. Its AoE doesn't get bigger,its cooldown doesn't get reduced,its manacost doesn't get reduced,its cast-range doesn't get reduced! Besides that early on the game,even on the start of mid-game,fights don't go for so long,but of course there is always a pros in leveling silence,just the pros of leveling aura are much better.

Here is what you do with a maxed aura on level 10 with simply Power Treads and 2 Wraith bands - 116 damage! And with just one level more - 135 damage! Yes,with even with these 2 simple items. Besides,your ENTIRE ranged teammates get + 30 damage so early in the game. Wow! Still considering it?

Level 12-14 - here is when you max out Silence.

It is quite clear what to do from here on.

Lanes

Go for the "easy" lane - bot/Radiant;top/Dire.

Please,never go middle lane with Drow. That is simply a bad choice. You are not a bottle user,all your damage is physical and enemy is nearby his tower almost always. Casters(most of the midders) easily harass you because they have bottle,to which you simply don't have answer.
That, combined with your lack of escape skills, pretty much summaries it.

But let's say - "I can handle mid againts X hero". Okay,but a midder also must gank. Not saying that Drow is a bad ganker,just the opposite,but you alone are dependent on your teammates for a really successful gank,because your slow depends on hitting - it's not a cast,if you stop hitting - you don't slow. But that's your least problem - let's say that this isn't a real problem, but the above is and you just shouldn't be playing mid

Item build explanation(why,why not,when)

Before saying anything,every game is unique,but this is mostly the best build.

Power Treads - better choice than Phase boots.It's almost even,but no. Always go Treads.
Why - gives you stats manipulation,which can ALWAYS be good. You are squishy,so it boosts your hp greatly when turned on strenght,Drow is the character who makes the best use of agility after Riki,but turn it really rarely on agility,only before level 6,after that you already have insanely good damage and attack speed for that level,and of course a turn it to intelligence when a gank is going long or onto a few heroes,you can produce quite a few more arrows. You also cast silence and with your poor mana pool - turning it to intelligence can be crucial.

2 Wraith bands - you are a hero who doesn't really have a problem with itemslot managing,so you can wear them relatively far in the game.
Why - well,let me repeat myself. You are squishy,BUT with 2 bands and Treads you get a pretty decent health pool. Always get them,getting to last more in the battle is very important for you and your "squishy-ness" makes that hard early on the game. Go for them!

** If you have really good early game and you saved a lot of money,go directly for Claymore. But build the bands later,they are essential for you.

Shadowblade - surprise,bonus damage on hit,attack speed,escape ability,bonus movement speed! Do I need to say more? Actually,I do. Buying shadowblade makes your ganking ability insane,gives you the so-wanted escape ability,BUT you need to be careful with the mana. This adds more problems to managing your mana pool and altho you kill easily,if you are forced to use it twice,you can go out of mana for Frost arrows on tougher heroes,so be more careful.There is no "why" on that item. You need it absolutely every game. It's obvious why.


Now,a really important thing is - when to buy Manta Style,if you are to buy it at all. Manta style is a great item for you,it greatly boosts everything - your survive,your agility,your movement speed and your pushing ability.So if you find your game somewhere in the section "when" - go for it absolutely everytime just after the Shadowblade.

When to go for Manta style - go for it when on the other team there is a tracker(Gondar,Slardar),hexer(Demon witch,Rhasta),one skill to kill(Slayer,Demon witch),single-target-stunner (Skeleton king,Chaos knight,regular Abyssal blade buyers...,please,don't make me say them all). This is when you have to go 100% for it.

When you shouldn't go for Manta - Tidehunter,Magnus,Nyx,Destroyer -you should have got it already - every kind of mass disable/damage dealing makes it pretty much useless.


Black king bar Why - carries need black king bar 95% of the games.Especially a carry like you - squishy. You cannot always depend on Shadowblade to survive,it can be unreliable,the more the game goes on the less realiable it's going to be.
Not only it gives immunity to most of the magics and to most of the ultimates damage,it also boost your hp and your damage. A must have,please,stop bumping damage like fools. What's the point to have ... 300 damage,when you can't imput it? If the enemy team is poor on disable - you can skip it,but what's the chance of that? Most of the games you are going to be the main target they seek to kill - because your damage imput and silence are crucial to every battle,so - BKB gives u the chance to stay up in the battle.

Crystalys - you go for it right after Shadowblade if you plan to skip the Manta and the BKB. I wouldn't recommend that,but it's not a bad idea.
Why - makes good use of your insane damage and adds plenty more to it. It's cheap and easily to build,it's most expensive part requires 1200 gold. Really good item for Drow.

*** Don't go for instant Deadalus after Crystalys. It's not the best thing you can do,although the boost is really good,there is a much better and important thing to buy and it is...

Butterfly! - this item is probably created for Drow. Absolute must-buy.
Why - you are squishy. Oh,did I say that again? Well that is because you are SQUISHY!!! Survival is your biggest,and actually only problem. Evasion boosts it a lot. Not to mention the agility bonus. Oh,God,more agility to you and more damage to your team. It has it all!

Daedalus -a little break off the survivability word.
Why - updating Crystalys is good and if you feel you can last long enough in battles - go for it immediately!

Helm of the Dominator - if you have all these items,it's already late game. Ganks are different,fights are different. Now should have Power Treads,BKB,Crystalys,Butterfly - meaning good survivability. What do you need then? He-he,you are so sweet.MORE SURVIVABILITY,cuz whatever you do,this word is always going to be your nightmare when you play Drow.
Why - well,guess,survivability and decent damage boost and quite good armor bonus(meaning you make it late game) + opens the way to ...

Note:If you follow up and buy Manta,you will need a free slot.Since it's late game,your Shadowblade is no more if such use and it is the item you should sell to get Hotd/Satanic!

Satanic - good God! The best of the best,the beast of the beasts,this is the absolute immortality item when you have the above items!
Why - its active ,combined with BKB make you as much as one can be "immortal" in that game.And yes,I am going to use it again - it boosts your survivability to the highest level.Simple as that.



If you followed up to here,your inventory should look like that - Power treads,Shadowblade,BKB,Daedalus,Butterfly and Satanic.

Note:If you follow up and buy Manta,you will need a free slot.Since it's late game,your Shadowblade is no more if such use and it is the item you should sell to get Hotd/Satanic!

You are not full-build yet. Change the boots to Travel. This is something you should to with every hero you play late game. The bonuses from every boots become useless and Travel boots provide good map control - both to attack and defend.

It's also time to say goodbye to our lovely Shadowblade. It has done it's job,no doubt about that,but it's not a end-game item,because your main purpose of it is its escape ability,which is no longer reliable. You are not initiator late game,you don't starts the fights,so unlike Admiral you don't need it. What with?

Monkey king bar - please,don't get me wrong,it's a perfect item for Drow all-game long.
Then "Why now?" - because the other items are much better for Drow,as I said,you have to get as much as survivability you can,and the item that doesn't - Daedalus is a little bit better for Drow than this one.

Very important note: You must get this instead Daedalus if the enemy team carry relies on Evasion or has a hero that implies miss-chance. This is something really important and critical for you. Please,keep that in mind.

That is pretty much everything.Now,the other part of the items explanation.

Items you should ABSOLUTELY never get!

Divine Rapier - this is the one that I must firstly and mainly have a saying.
Why not - well,all this guide I keep talking about survivability - and here we have an game-turning item that...gets dropped on death. Even with all these items - you are still squishy,all you rely on is bkb and satanic,and if you get caught when they are on cd or before you even have chance on activating them - you give the other team sweet 300 damage bonus. Definitely not,never-ever do that. You have enough damage,beign greedy for more is nothing else than stupidity.

Mask of Madness - seeing it more and more picked up.
Why not - The same thing with Divine Rapier,but only worse! God,why the **** do you need attack speed in exchange for a death in 2 hits,when you already have incredibly good and probably the best attack speed around? That is pure heretism,don't go for that,nothing can fill the hole it opens,please,don't go full ******.

Blademail - "Oh,but this item should improve my survivability,you talk about it all game!"
Why not - No,it won't improve your survivability much. It's counterable by BKB,besides your health pool is not something that you impress a lot with,all the items stated above are better and improve your survive more.All this combined makes it almost useless,you don't really need it.

Battlefury - oh,God,I am not even putting a "why not" here.

Radiance - your ganks depend on shadowblade mid game.
Why not - Radiance is a purely mid-game item,it becomes relatively useless to the max late game,and what is the situation - enemy gets burned by Radiance while you are on shadowblade - "Oh,guys,let me show you that I am here to gank you" - useless.

Pros / Cons

Pros:
-One of the best attack-range in the game.
-Huge physical damage,even very,very early on with no items.
-Good passive,boosting the whole team.
-Slow,oh God,slow.
-Ganker
-AoE silence

Cons:
-Bad initiation.Reason why you will never see Drow in competitive games.
-Insanely squishy.Reason why you will never see Drow in competitive games.
-Easily getting disabled.Reason why you will never see Drow in competitive games.
-Nothing special in farming,but very item dependable.Reason why you will never see Drow in competitive games.
-Bad stats gain.

NOTE - if you see Drow in competitive game ,there are two possible explanations.
1.You are on drugs.
2.Someone is trolling really,really hard and you should be happy watching this.

Summary

Drow is a pub-game only hero. Very easy to play with,not very fun,requires attention on Silence and Mana-managing in the first two stages of the game.You are biggest factor when the game has hit middle stage,the more you waste time,the worse. You are also really powerful on early game,because of the low armor of enemies,huge physical damage and your insane slow.

Don't get me wrong,Drow is a killing machine late game too. It just can't be compared to the factor Drow is early/mid game. Enemy team gets more disable,probably more armor/hp,which requires more attention,since you are single-targed killer.

However,Drow is perfect when you play with good players and you talk,it's the easiest hero to carry the game for you if you play even averagely well.

Thank you for reading this guide!I am going to improve it over time for sure,since this is my first guide.