Drow Ranger - Team Carry

Still wondering what you have to say about Diffusal Blade and Desolator...

Based on my last comment here, I made another "noobskill" build in my own guide that list items like Linken's Sphere and Shadow Blade.

In a way you could say that Linken's Sphere in your build acts like a replacement for Black King Bar for those too untrained to use BKB well. Black King Bar has a longer magic immunity, but you still need to activate it at the right time. New players often tend to forget to activate when needed and die before they think about it. I must admit, although my theory is pretty solid and should pretty much guarantee winning, my execution stays far behind and I'm not that good with BKB either. So although I think Black King Bar is a far better item on Drow than Linken's Sphere in the hands of a good player, Linkens may just be the better choice for those who are pretty new to the game. It comes at a higher price though and is more easily countered by an enemy team that really communicates. But since communication isn't that great on the lower skilllevels, you may just get away with it. Although you don't really need the mana- or hp regen, these things won't hurt you either. And the stats are better than Black King Bar. So I think Linken's Sphere may indeed be a noobfriendly alternative to BKB. And having both like your new defensive late game items suggests, will make you pretty much invulnerable to magic. Maybe at a steep cost that should be avoided, but safe anyway.

For new players, Shadow Blade is a great item too and a must-have on Drow Ranger. At the lower levels, it's hardly ever countered and when the enemy team won't bother to carry Dust of Appearance or Gem of True Sight or place Sentry Wards, this item is just great. Surprise, escape, bonus damage, movement speed, all at a price of only 3K. But at the higher levels (and I may not have reached that point myself), it is easily countered. It can work against you because of the 10% slow from Dust of Appearance. So at higher levels, Shadow Blade on Drow only results in three things: 1) You've wasted 3000 gold, 2)You've wasted an item slot and 3) You've forced one or more players on their team to save a slot for stealth detection. So at higher levels, I would advice against it. For new players it's arguably the best item you can buy on Drow though.

I am interested in your opinion on the Diffusal Blade/ Desolator in combination with Mask of Madness and Frost Arrows. I really think that when you want any of these items, you should replace Mask of Madness with Hood of Defiance (see the 5th build in my own guide on Drow). Still I'm no big fan of these items, so I stick to lifesteal myself. Just wondering what you may have to say about it.

Thanks really appreciate the comments.

All truthful tips on equipment and yes I understand your argument perfectly, no lie all my item builds are interchangeable. Its really rare to see any one person go pure offensive or pure defensive. As for linkin sphere , I use this item pro dominantly as a counter for hard CC which happens quite often if you become fed. People will focus you in the late game and save there CC's especially for you , which tends to give you a + in that. The mana regen and health regen , even if its not needed can always be a + but why I sometimes choose this item over BKB is the matter of this is self activated and refreshes frequently , and the +15 to all stats means , better in both defensive and offensive. Truth is , there both great items but I will keep both listed because in the end its a matter of where your farm is and what doese the situation call for. I also agree with shadow blade but one thing I would like to address I made this guide to more give the newer players a fighting chance. What makes drow ranger a hard carry to use is her lack of an exit strategy, i listed shadow blade because for newer players still learning the basics , it can help them out by giving them an extra hand in that. One technique though that I do use , is I will combo shadow blade and mask of madness not just for the invisibility but to split push greatly from lane to lane. The 20% movement speed , plus invisibility sure can surprise a team , especially if your filled with a lot of high HP champions within your team to stall the enemy team. For now I will trade shadow blade with the black king bar and move that towards the defensive items. I reiterate though, i mention shadow blade purely for newer players who have yet to learn the basics.

Once again thank you! and keep the comments coming. Your opinions matter.

+ rep for the tips

i really like how you mentioned the 70% thing while offlaning and the "over and out" strategy.
& i will be try to remember your tips to not block exits for either team as well.

BUT

as the person above me mentioned... the item choices could be better (or they could work wonderfully depending on skill level of your opponents)

I like the skill progression, it's the same I use in my own guide and I think that in general, this is the best skill buildup. What I don't get however, are some of the item choices. I get the mid game/offensive late game option. These are all pretty good items on Drow. I prefer the Helm of the Dominator on Drow, because of its tremendous active. It gives you control over a creep. Picking the right creep provides you with great bonusses. Like the Alpha Wolf which gives a 30% damage increase!

But having said that, Mask of Madness is a pretty good item on Drow itself. When no-one is around, it will make you melt towers or sweep away creepwaves in mere seconds. It does make you more susceptible to damage though, so your mention that it shouldn't be used in a teamfight is correct. You might want to mention the 20% increase in movement speed through its active though, because this makes up for an excellent escape mechanism.

The defensive-late game items make far less sense to me. Diffusal Blade, ofcourse is best used on the enemy heroes. But since Drow tends to use her Frost Arrows against them, it does not stack. So unless you decide not to use frost arrows when ganking (and effectively disregarding one of Drows calling cards), Diffusal Blade won't help you that much. Besides: you already have lifesteal through Mask of Madness. Lifesteal and frost arrows won't work at the same time, but as long as you don't put your arrows on autocast, lifesteal is a great orb effect on Drow. But having both lifesteal, frost arrows AND Diffusal Blade doesn't make any sense to me. When you insist on getting Diffusal Blade, at least don't get lifesteal. Get a Hood of Defiance for the regen/survivability instead. Besides, when you have Diffusal Blade, Manta Style is a must have. The illusions will profit from the manaburn too, increasing its effectiveness.

I don't like Shadow Blade on Drow either. Many guides list it as a core item, and it is awesome on noobskill level. But when facing skilled opponents, it is easily countered. Dust of Appearance even slows you down by 10%, making this 3K item work against you. Best to spend your gold on better items.

Linken's Sphere is highly unconventional on Drow, and for right reasons. You don't need the manaregen that much, since you're not that manadependant when played right. You don't need the HP regen either, since lifesteal will provide you with plenty. Stats are ok, but for just the stats, this item is far too expensive. And it blocks a spell every 17 seconds. This is nice, but only useful against certain heroes with extremely strong single target nukes or ultimates like Doom. And even then, when the enemy team communicates, they can spam a cheap spell (like Wave of Terror or Quill Spray) which is blocked and follow up with the strong nuke. If you want magic immunity, it's better to get Black King Bar. Even Manta Style (an item that really suits you) can be used because of the split second of immunity it gives when activating illusions.

In "Very Situational" is Black King Bar, which should probably be more of a core item. As Drow you naturally have a lot of armor through your agility (as long as the enemy heroes keep their distance, which you should make them) and therefore you have some resistance to physical attacks. Your hp is still pretty low, so nukes may still kill you very quickly. Stuns will disable you, making sure you won't deal damage for a few seconds and gives enemies an opportunity to get up and close to cancel your ult. BKB plays an important role in ensuring that doesn't happen. There are lineups in which you don't need BKB, but that is more situational than not needing it.

For Desolator goes the same as Diffusal Blade. Not a good idea to get 3 orb effects on Drow at the same time, so in this build, it has no real place. You might consider it when trading lifesteal for Hood of Defiance. But I'm not fond of it, because Drow in general shouldn't boost her damage through flat damage, but agility. Agility does not only give damage, but also attack speed, armor, global damage bonus to ranged units and it applies to illusions.

If you're trying to enlighten us all, you may want to reconsider some item choices or at least justify them. Besides, the guide itself is pretty short and minimalistic. Some of these item choices make me want to give a -1. but I won't give you -1 just yet. I'll give you a chance to update the guide and explain yourself a bit more first.