Drow: From Farmer to Fierce (6.84)

The General Idea

I like to think of Drow Ranger as a glass cannon... powerful, but squishy. Add to the fact that Drow can be quite farm-dependent, and a general strategy emerges.

• Maximize your attack and movement speed, while constantly increasing damage
• Increase survive-ability
• Money Money Money Money!

The first two points are very dependent on the 3rd (MONEY!), so early game farming is important. However, when I say farming, I also include the farming of XP in that equation. Drow skills, particularly her Ult, greatly increase damage and speed... which help address point #1 above.

For XP, you need to maximize your time in-lane, which means not dying and not waiting for items. This guide maximizes the use of the Side Shop as much as possible, reducing XP and Gold-getting downtime by keeping you in-lane.

One key point before beginning: work on your Last Hit timing for Drow. Won't matter much in mid/late game due to your damage, but is VERY important early game as every last bit of gold helps. Drow attacks are ranged (so they take time based on your distance to target), and the pre-shot animation takes time.

Pre-Game

As stated before, the Drow is very squishy. Worse, she is slow in the early game. Add that to the farm-dependency, and you really want to be in the safe lane. This means BOTTOM lane for the Radiant, and TOP lane for the Dire.

Due to this positioning, we can make use of the side shop and eliminate the "waiting for courier" issue. Or, if your support guys aren't particularly smart or experienced and your team starts without a courier - this lack of courier won't be an issue for your first several items.

Start with the following:

• Tango
• Circlet
• Iron Branch
• Recipe: Wraith Band
• Observer Ward

Your first purchase once the game starts will be the Slippers of Agility, completing the Wraith Band - which is why you spend gold on the recipe at the start. Note: the Slippers are in the Side-Shop, so a very quick upgrade to the Wraith Band.

Why not simply buy Tangos and a Wraith Band right at the beginning? You do have enough money - but you NEED the Observer Ward, so you delay the Wraith Band slightly in order to get the Ward.

Early Game

Once the horn sounds and the creeps show up, you need to place the Ward. The weakness of the safe lane is what I call the inner path. That side path that exists inside the main lane that the creeps follow: where a sneaky enemy hero can get behind you and get a quick gank off. I therefore place the Observer Ward right on the edge of the river after the inner-path forks off the main lane. This lets you see if anyone is trying to get behind you... or if an enemy Hero is coming along the river to overload and push the lane.

For optimal ward placement, get there early (pre-horn) and use your character to check all the sight-lines. Whichever sight-line is has the least obstructions and lets you see the river, the inner path and possibly part of the main lane... THAT's where you drop your ward once the horn goes.

When the creeps show up, get behind them and start trying to get last hits. Your melee creeps will take on their melee creeps, so getting last hits here may be tricky. Instead, try and solo down a ranged creep while cherry-picking off the melee creeps when they get low. If the enemy Hero opposite you is hanging back and only ducking in and out, targeting down the ranged creeps should be workable. As always, deny creep kills whenever possible.

Once you hit 150 gold, head to the side shop and get your Slippers of Agility to complete your Wraith Band... the start working on building your Power Treads. For the Treads you will need:

• Boots of Speed (+50 movement)
• Gloves of Haste (+20 Attack Speed)
• Band of Elvenskin (+6 Agility)

Note: All 3 of these items are available in the Side Shop... so once you have the gold, don't wait for the courier - walk into the Shop and buy them.

I suggest getting the boots first, as you need the speed increase to get away from enemy Heros and get to the safety of your tower. After that, it is your call if you want the Attack Speed increase or the added agility.

Once you have built your Power Treads you have one of two options. You can leave them on the Agi buff, or you can swap them for Str. This really is a judgement call on your side, but as Drow Ranger can be quite squishy in the early and mid game, I would suggest putting these to Str and leaving them that way until the mid/late game.

After Power Treads you're working towards Crystalys, for which you will need the following, in the order listed.

• Blades of Attack (420g, +9 damage)
• Broadsword (1200g, +18 damage)
• Recipe: Crystalys (500g)

Get your Blades of Attack first... because they're cheap, AND they're available from the Side Shop. They will give you a nice damage boost, improving your ability to farm and making it easier to get the next two ingredients.

Broadsword and the recipe are both from the main shop, so unless you die and can pick up the broadsword early, load up the courier with both and have them show up at the same time.

Voila: you now have Crystalys, with a +30 Damage modifier and a 20% Crit chance. Farming will be easier and quicker now, which is good...because you're gonna need it.

For me, Obtaining your Crystalys marks the end of the Drow's early game.

The Mid-Game

The Mid-Game is actually pretty simple: Your objectives are to get Shadow Blade and Helm of the Dominator.

The Shadow Blade has a nice Damage and Attack Speed buff, but the real reason to get the Shawdow Blade is for the Invisibility. It allows you to get away if you get ganked, or get into position to support a gank of your own.

The Helm comes with a nice buff to regen and damage, and a helpful +5 to armor. The key item here is the 15% Life Steal. With a fast attack speed and hard hitting shots, you can actually keep yourself topped up while farming and while in combat, not to mention pulling in a neutral creep for scouting and such.

Mid-Game is when you also can start ganking... though until you get Shadow Blade you can easily be targeted and there's not much you can do about it. Don't gank alone... and remember to Silence as you start your attack.

Once you have the Helm and Shadow Blade, you'll be able to take on whole creep waves solo, tackle even the toughest neutral creeps, and start holding your own against other Heroes.

Also... by now, if you've not taken one of two enemy towers, you're not trying hard enough.

Finally, it is at this point you'll start seeing gold coming in easier. In Pubs, don't count on others to put up wards and cover for you... take this responsibility upon yourself. Put some wards around the map, don't let people sneak up behind you if you're in-lane and pushing a tower, and be ready to leave your lane to help around the middle of the map as needed.

Here ends the mid-game.

Late/End Game

If you have followed my build order, at this point you've got:

Wraith Band (or Ring of Aquila)
Power Treads
Crystalys
Shadow Blade
Helm of the Dominator


That only leaves you with one open slot before you need to start looking to drop things, so I suggest upgrading instead.

Crystalys to Daedalus
Shadow Blade to Silver Edge
Helm of the Dominator to Satanic

Both Satanic and Silver Edge give you nice Strength bonuses... which is great for making her less squishy. If you've not yet done so, switch your Power Treads to Agi once you get either Satanic or Silver Edge.

If you find that you don't need as much health right away, go for the Daedalus. If you want more health, go for one of the other two.

Another item which would be very helpful is the Butterfly. It gives you Agi, damage AND attack speed, which giving you damage mitigation with the 35% evasion. This is a great option, and I would either make this your 6th slot item, or drop the Wraith Band/Ring of Aquila and replace it with the Butterfly.

If you've still got space, Desolator is a great 6th slot option, and Manta can replace your Power Treads.

As far as play style goes, you shouldn't be in the lanes as much here. Get gold from killing towers and other players... but if you find yourself near a lane or come across some jungle creeps, don't turn down free gold.

Work with your team, and because you shoot fast and hard, primary down the other "squishy" support casters on the other team before targeting the melee Heroes. If you see team mates trying to run, throw a frost arrow their way to slow the people chasing, and just focus on doing the max DPS you can.

Have Fun!