An "always to go for " Drow ranger guide

She was added a few patches ago. She is very rarely picked up, though. Only 3 games I know of. 2 games she did poorly and one game she got fed and snowballed.

The chinese teams are the only ones I know if that have picked her up.

Her problem is she can't go many places as a compliment. She get's outclassed in mid and isn't good at controlling runes. 1v1 she might do ok but it still depends. She is really gankable and not survivable. She will still be picked but as a niche pick. I don't think Drow will see a popular rise in competitive play unless she gets a buff which she won't.

Drow is used in competitive play as a compliment to the main carry. Her aura is great and her arrows and silence all can be great in team engagements.

It's possible but she is a really rare pick. Drow relies on distance but competitive play you always have an initiator that gets right in her face which cancels her ulti. Then its really easy to kill her.

Is it even possible to use Drow in competitive play? I thought she was banned from it. Or at least just Captain's Mode or something.

I did not say "normal mid", I said "hard mid", which are heroes that basically can only go mid, similar to "hard carries" who really can only play chinese rice farmer, and hard supports who are only good at supporting and scale quickly with spells but then become useless.

And bottle, for the most part, is just straight up regen to it's highest degree. Magnus and Dragon Knight are both very good examples of this (also exactly why Bottle Crowing was nerfed). A mid wouldn't need to rune control. Actually, a mid who didn't rely on runes was often a counter to a mid who did competitively.

For a Hard mid, generally a bottle doubled as a ganking tool. Bottling a Haste or Double Damage meant you were very capable of getting a kill on either your own lane or on a side lane.

The point of a mid is to get a hero who can take advantage of levels quickly and preferably win their lane. So long as the lane matchup is favorable towards Drow Ranger, that being a melee hero or a squishy ranged hero... really so long as you can hit 6, drow is not going to be a bad mid choice simply because her ultimate gives such massive AGI bonus she will have a hard time losing the lane after that.

After all, Drow Ranger is most potent in the mid game, since her AGI growth is utter trash, but her burst AGI growth via her ult and aura is outstanding.



Stacking stat items is always going to be good early game. Now, since you didnt put up a starting item build but did allude to it... let me guess.

Healing Salve, Tango, Slippers of Agilityx2, Ironwood Branchx2.

Am I right?

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Edit: I see you have a starting items section where you list them. Yea, I was correct. Does not change what follows

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Just like every other drow ranger build on the site.

You could do that... or you could get just 1 slippers, add an ironwood, and use those to rush Power Treads into a Yasha, rather than spending 970 gold on stats that you are just going to get rid of later. Yea, it's +18 damage on 2 Wraithbands (plus some stats), but that is 820 gold that could be going towards Treads (+8 in all stats when you know how to tread switch, which I assume you do since you keep talking about skill level), which you will use all game, or a Yasha, which will build into a Manta Style and initially is more move speed (you are squishy) and +16 damage (and 31 attack speed)

Talking about "skill level", that generic build is only useful when you expect to have a very hard time last hitting in lane. Your item build, just like your skill build, changes game to game.



Similarly, I have seen pro games where one side never picks up a Black King Bar at all. Black King Bar is core on all heroes who cannot afford to be stunned in fights. Drow Ranger, with her need to stay away from enemies, will not be in the middle of the action. She could potentially get initiated on, I'll admit, but the reaction most people can perceive they are getting jumped on between that and their ability to use the active is often times not fast enough.

Generally, in a team fight, drow is not going to be the target of the disabled in the fight. Magnus is. Tidehunter is. Enigma is. The heroes who contribute to team fights are targets of high priority, not those that do burst single target damage that can be disabled from getting too close.

It depends on the disables your opponent has and the heroes you have to determine if a Black King Bar is needed.



If you don't think you can get first blood, you level the other skill then? or do you just wait until you are 2?

The orb is always going to be more potent in lane than +5 damage (regardless if you use my item build or yours).

Against an aggressive lane, they are able to overextend. A slow will be better in terms of getting first blood.

Against an aggressive lane that could potentially kill you, getting a slow and orb walking is more likely to save your life than just trying to walk away and hoping that is good enough.

Against a defensive lane, why are you getting the +5 damage aura... do you need help last hitting... on free farm...

I can't really think of a lane combination, with equal competence levels, where drow is going to need +5 damage to win the lane EXCEPT mid, where you arent going to get first blood until 6 and your goal is simply to out last hit the enemy mid (which is how you win your lane)




Oh I missed this reasoning. I have no gripe with Lothar's, but rather people using it as an escape.

Talking about competent opponents, Shadow Blade is not an escape. It is an initiation tool.

Now I am reading through your response and I am thinking.

>Ganked if you are alone? Average gankers kill you because you are squishy?

This to me says that you are not in the pub level where wards and team communication is common. I cannot remember the last time I got ganked without having some idea that something was going to happen, and it has been a while honestly, since anyone has ever actually killed me in a gank. farming in SAFE areas and not getting out of position are key to playing any hero, not just Drow

Yea, you can't farm every lane "freely" ( Dust of Appearance and Sentry Ward say 'hi') but that puts you back 2000 gold. If you want to farm safely, generally the Jungle is a good place, especially when you get +40 damage (and by extension, on your point of armor, about +6 armor against any hero that isnt melee)

http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/1011

Felt this was relevant

I don't know man... Two Wraith Bands? Why not a Blade of Alacrity and a Band of Elvenskin to build a Yasha later? Which can become a Manta Style in the late game? I think that your guide misses the point on how to build the items. You give the suggestions but doesn't explain well on how the player must plan each one of them, or in which order they must buy items early that can evolve into Core later on.

Also, why do you max out Frost Arrows first? You should have Precision Aura maxed out by level 7 because not only it helps you, but helps your team as well. Next you max out Silence because it can change the flow of teamfights in the middle game (when you have exp enough to take to the last level) and then finally you leave your arrows for last. Remember that it does not increase your damage, only the slow and 11% is enough for early and mid game.

good solid guide in general. If you're getting wraith bands for stats, why not get Bracers? for more survive ability? you're selling them after a short while anyway..
you also missed a magic wand, but they're both minor points.. +1 from me..

What is your definition of a "normal mid" - please,explain so I can answer you properly. And of course,bottle is not what defines mid,but bottle gives you both mid control and open paths for easier ganks. You copy exactly my words in other way .

Of course wraithbands are pretty handy,they give you extra hp,mana to slow spam more and damage,which comes for no gold,since you already bought 1/3 of each of them in the beginning of the game.

And I am tired of watching carries playing without Black king bar.This is the item for absolutely every carry,believe me,I've seen plenty of competitive games where even Lifestealer is forced to buy one!!! There are very little chance of a game where Black king bar is not an 100% item for you and these are probably noob games,where everyone picked carries or noone thought and initiation and disable.

About the level one skill - dude,you repeat my words again. I said - If you think you can hit first blood againts your lane - level it first,please,read well. Don't spend the point until you see your lane,it is as simple as that.

About going Yasha - Always go Shadowblade first,it is the key item for Drow ,you are a walking corpse if you are alone absolutely every gank,even average gankers will have no problems killing you,because you are squishy as hell,especially with your big mind about not going bands. You will be at 700 hp without bands on level 7. There are heroes that reach up more on level 1.Your armor is poor too. Escape skill is 100% required if you want to gain solo xp and go everywhere on the map freely.Yasha comes quickly after Shadowblade,since you are not a mouse anymore.

That Wraith Band's again... Well, let me say something to you: You buy them only, if you had a bad start! Why: There are so many other items to go, why waste gold on wraith bands, when you are a lvl 7 Drow, and the enemies are lvl 4 (except mid-enemy)?? You don't need great survability against lvl 4 enemies!

Oh god: you don't buy even a Yasha early? MAN! It gives you speed and agility! That "bit" agility is great in early/mid game!

Frost Arrows on lvl 1! Why? even with 12%-slow you can pain the enemy! you think one shot isn't enough her***? Well.. They are slowed, so why not shoot him some more?

The start items.. I mean they are ok, but i don't really like them..

I agree with you: Stats don't help you! That (maybe) 50 hp more or less.. You are still squishy, so why waste skill points on something, that won't help you? :)

Drow isn't a bad mid-hero.. Sure hard-mids are pain in the ***, but vs a normal mid hero you will survive! If pudge is going mid (enemy), don't even think about going mid-lane! He'll beat the **** out of you!

using a bottle is not what defines a mid. A mid hero is a hero who needs solo experience (or can a benefit from it in a way that will benefit the team as a whole), and a hero who can gank well. A mid hero does not need an escape to be an effective mid.

That said, hard mids like Puck or Queen of Pain will trash you.

Drow isn't a bad mid because she is a carry. She is a bad mid relative to other mids in the game.


There are some other things in this guide I disagree with, but then... this is a Drow Ranger guide. And like most of them... it is pretty bad. Not to try to be mean, I am just tired of correcting people when they say that Butterfly and Black King Bar are core, and the standard two Wraithband start I see on basically every right click carry, as if that is meant to be a cost effective build in any way or something new players just don't do by themselves because they arent sure what to buy.

And always get the slow/stun first on every hero ever in existence. I don't care if you get Precision Aura level 2 or 3 or 15... Just get a level of Frost Arrows at level 1. Always get the skill that will help get first blood.