Guide to 6.85 Windranger

Introduction

Hello, I am AlphaStrategizer, and I am new to DotaFire...in fact, this is my first guide, not so ironically, this is also my favorite hero, so I suppose that's rather fitting. I have to admit, that as I do not live with internet, and I only do weekly voyages to a relative's house for internet, I do not get as much online time as others, however, I do excel in knowing the strengths and weaknesses of various heroes, and I often spend my time offline playing Dota 2 against bots and identifying good strategies, but they are bots. What do bots know? Therefore, I create hypothetical strategies, test them against bots, and when I go on my weekly expedition, I test them online. Windranger is my favorite hero, tied with Tinker, because of how versatile and powerful she can be. So, what's so good about Windranger? Windranger is an insanely powerful hero, capable of tearing apart a singular target, and has the potential to have insane scaling late game. She is extremely adept at eliminating priority targets at any stage of the game, once she has Aghs and a select damage item, which includes enemy hard carries. She has access to an insanely powerful stun, a nice damage nuke, and a handy escape tool. Her best skill, however is Focus Fire, an ability that, once combined with Aghs, has insane damage and a low cooldown. Since you can use this ability against towers, split pushing is an insanely powerful strategy, as you can do insane ddamage to the towers, and then run away from anyone threatening to kill you. Or, you can be more teamfight oriented, stunning then killing an enemy carry or dangerous support, or rushing into an advancing team, killing one of them, (normally a squishy support) then running off. Overall, Windranger is an extremely versatile hero, capable of fulfilling the carry portion of every role relatively well, and is almost always an excellent addition on your team.

Pros v. Cons

Pros...

Ability to quickly escape ganks and death.
A powerful Early game nuke.
Insane 1v1 potential.
Powerful Split Pusher
Priority Target Eliminator
Insanely Dangerous Stun
Effective Assassin
Tower Melter
Insane Scaling for a Semi-Carry

Cons...

Entirely reliant on fast Aghs...( I am serious, if you have a late Aghs, then you are worthless...
Insane problems with choosing what to have/Slot Problems/Sometimes, no regen.
Squishy when Windrun is off cooldown.
Shackleshot is not very reliable.

As you can see, Windranger has a lot of Pros, and only a few cons, one of which about the fact that she's so powerful, she has problems choosing how to kill people.

Windranger, Windranger, Wherefore art thou Windranger?

So, where should the ever flexible Windranger be? Windranger can fill relatively any spot comfortably, although I am excluding jungling. As a support, a comparitively poor choice but semi effective, Windranger can slow enemies with her Windrun and stun them with Shackleshot, setting up easy kills for the carry, but, I am not like that. I do not play support Windranger. Carry, however, is much more effective. The ability to do insane damage with Focus Fire, have a dangerous stun with Shackleshot, and an effective flee with Windrun if you're in danger makes her an elusive yet lethal carry, capable of striking fast and hard, before ditching her opponents, whether by running away, or killing them, then putting their bodies in a ditch.
Offlane Carry is probably the best. You can have a good hard carry in the safelane, a decent midlaner like Puck or Shadow Fiend in midlane, and then there's you. The forgotten carry. But being forgotten doesn't make you unimportant. As an offlane Windranger, you have on job. Make the enemy's hard lane carry miserable. Spam Shackleshotsand auto-attacks. Hit them with a Powershot whenever they try to last-hit. Focus Fire them and give them the choice of fleeing or dying. (Not quite to that extreme, if they or the support have a stun, but still very dangerous.) Your job is simple, get as much farm you can while denying them their's. If you aren't too worried about ganks, then take a point from Windrun and stick it in Powershot for even more annoyance.
Offlane Solo is relatively similar, but mostly more dangerous, yet more rewarding. The ability to have more levels can give you insane potential, and access to Shackleshot means you don't need a support to set up kills, and Windranger has Powershot, which is great harass. However, if you are on your own, don't mess around with Windrun. You will get points ASAP into Windrun, as it is the only thing protecting you from any ganks or an aggressive lane. There is no safety net. However, as a solo offlaner, yo uare giving the potential to your team to have a Tri-lane, to give your hard carry even more late game potential, or have a powerful jungler, such as Ursa, Axe, Chen, or Enchantress.
Then we have Mid. Mid lane is if you already have an infamous offlaner, such as Broodmother, or Clockwerk, and you won't go as a support. Mid is generally relying on getting levels and farm, simple as that, but putting more points in Powershot gives you much more offensive potential. This means you can grab an easy First Blood on enemies like Storm Spirit, or Shadow Fiend. Ironically, Mid is probably your least ganking lane as Windranger. Generally, you should go for a fast Hand of Midas, then try to get as much farm as possible. After you get to mid game, shift into another lane, and keep lanes that the rest of your team isn't pushing pushed up. Feel free to farm to your heart's content.
Finally, we have Safe Lane. Imagine this. You are in a match, but...wait, no one on your team has picked a Hard Carry? You've already picked Windranger because she is an insanely flexible hero, but you just so happened to get team mates who never play carries? EGADS!!! You're done...game over...gg no re wp gtg syl. Wait, don't throw in the towel. Although Windranger should generally not play Safe Lane Carry, that doesn't mean she's miserable at it. Just treat it like offlane, except your job is even more important when it comes to getting farm, and even less important when it comes to denying creeps. However, I would recommend actually going Safe Lane Windranger if you are dealing with an extremely dangerous solo offlaner. Broodmother and Clockwerk, whilst mentioned earlier, are also extreme threats that can hurt your team just as much as help it. (Wait, a good hero can be used against you? SHOCKING!!!) Broodmother is exceptionally weak to a fast Maelstrom over Boots or Aghs, and your Windrun gives you temporary immunity to her spiderlings. Clockwerk is more of a problem, but just stay away from him, and remember that if he has Hookshot, you have Focus Fire, which when combined with Shackleshot and Windrun, can normally keep you alive, along with doing immense damage and possibly even killing him. Overall, remember that Windranger is an excellent 1v1 hero, so enemy solo offlaners are very vulnerable.

Items

Starting Items:

This is probably the most straight-forward of my areas. A combination of Tangos (Tangoes? Tongoos? Tengas? Who knows?) and a Salve can give you more then enough regen to survive early game. The two Mantles give you some mana to spam Powershot, and some additional last hitting potential. Finally, a Clarity can help you keep up those Powershots.

Early Game:

Depending on what lane you're in, this will change. If in Mid, you should go for a fast Hand of Midas, as this allows you to farm quickly and take more risks thanks to that juicy reliable gold. Then a Bottle with Two Talismans should give you more than enough mana to continously Powershot your way through enemies, before it gets late enough in the game that the damage Powershot does is less effective. In Offlane or Safelane, it is essential to grab a fast Phase Boots, which help for escaping, chasing, or simply getting to the battle after respawn much faster.

Mid Game:

You have one priority. I don't care if you have to kill a nun, rob a bank, and/or sell your soul to the Devil, you have to get a fast Aghs. If you were in Mid Lane, then shift to one of the lanes that there isn't much action in, and farm there. If you were Offlane or Safe Lane, then continously gank. Gank. GANK!!!! After that, you have to get some damage. I normally recommend a Monkey King Bar first, as the bonus damage and beautiful mini-stuns will serve you well. However, if facing down enemies that use lots of illusions or minions... Phantom Lancer, Broodmother, Chen... then go for a Maelstrom, then a Mjolnir. The chain lightning will tear through them like butter. The active also give your enemies some reasons to not attack you, which increases your survivability, or will give the enemies a reason to not attack your teams tank, for the same reason. However, if you want to be a threat early, and you love fast mini-stuns, then a Skull Basher will server you well. Next, you're going to want one of the survivability options, personally, I normally go with Linken's, for the simple fact that you normally won't be hit with multiple targeted stuns while ganking, but a Shadow Blade into a Silver Edge can let you be sneaky and catch opponents by even more of a surprise. After you get your survivability, it's normally the start of late game.

Late Game:

You're going to want to start by getting one of your next damage items, but the question is... Daedalus or Desolator? Daedelus is generally what you get if the enemies don't have any tanks. The Crits help you melt through enemy squishies like a hot knife through butter. Desolator generally halps if you're having problems with a tank. The additional armor reduction will help your team take him down, or at least make you have the ability to kill them faster. Finally, you're going to want your last item. Another survivability. Vladimir's is nice, as the additional damage is very noticable, and the health regen is insane. Blink Dagger and Force Staff have the same role. Get you out of the battle ASAP. BKB is generally not used as much as Linkens, but it is still very effective if the enemies have decided that you're the biggest threat on your team. (And why wouldn't they? A fully farmed Windranger is an insanely terrifying sight.) However, I generally think that Linken's is more reliable, as the most dangerous stuns are when you don't know they're coming.

Situational:

There are only two items that I haven't covered yet, and those are the Octarine Core, and the Boots of Travel. Since you have insane problems with slot space, you may ask yourself...why use an Octarine Core. Simple, the Mana Boosts and the Cooldown timer. In Dota, one second can mean the difference between life and death. A rampage or a ticket to respawn. So the ability to take 3 seconds off of your stun and ultimate is insanely effective, but also very situational. Probably my least used of all of the situational items, this item normally doesn't stack up to the competition, but when it works...IT. WORKS!!! Finally we have the Boots of Travel. The Boots of Travel provide an additional 50 Speed, but they take away the ability to run through people and have an additional speed bonus. It's ultimately up to you, but I personally think that the Phase Boots are much more reliable.

Friends and Foes

Friends...

Drow Ranger.

Drow Ranger is probably the best teammate you could have as a Windranger. Why, you may ask? Simple. A world-wide aura, capable of boosting your ranged damage, not as a flat figure, but a percentage. This gives you even more flexibility and damage, as this could give you the potential to trade out one of your damge items for survivability.

Crystal Maiden

Another amazing Aura user, Crystal Maiden has the ability to give you insane spammability with a giant bonus to your mana regen, but if you two are laning together, you can do insane damage. You both have movement inhibitors ( Shackleshot and Frostbite) along with Slowers ( Windrun and Crystal Nova) so she can help you keep up your Focus Fire, in an extremely lethal way. Overall, she is a solid team mate early game and can help immensely.

Venegeful Spirit

Another Aura User. This much is clear. However, Venegeful Spirit has the potential to help you do insane damage. Although she is much less effective, as you have to be in her radius to gain the effects, you can be just as dangerous. If you combine Vengeful Spirit and Drow Ranger, then you are effectively a monster on a leash, capable of melting anything that gets in your way.

Alchemist

I have only one thing to say about him. Aghs. The ability to give you an additional spot not wasted by Aghs is astonishing, and it an give you an additional escape, or even more damage. Definitely a great ally.

Foes...

Winter Wyvern

Winter Wyvern is probably your hardest counter. Why, you may ask? Simple, her Ice Cocoon gives an ally invulnerability to to your Focus Fire long enough for them to rally, and gives you the inability to eliminate priority targets in a team fight. Also, Winter's Curse makes you die. Simple as that. You are squishy without Windrun, so your allies attacking you will be a giant threat, meaning that unless you two are alone, there is going to be death. Normally yours.

Linkens and BKB

These two items do one thing, one thing that can cause giant problems for you. Prevent your Shackleshot. Without your Shackleshot, enemies can fight back, and if enemies can fight back, then you are in trouble, especially early game.

Ghost Scepter and Ethereal Blade

These two items are insanely dangerous against you, as they don't allow your Focus Fire to hit them, similarly to Ice Cocoon, except these items can be used by anyone. Ethereal Blade is even more of a threat, as now you are very vulnerable to nukes and you can't fight back.

Conclusion

Well, I hope you learned something. I really do. Windranger is an often underestimated hero and I truly hope that you now have a better understanding of how she works. If you have any comments, please place them, as I really want to have feedback. However, if there is criticism, please have it be constructive. Please don't say, " YOU *********** ******* WHY DID YOU ********* BECAUSE SUCH AND SUCH HAS TO BE HERE YOU ************!!!!" Please respond along the lines of, "I disagree with you... because I believe that...would be better." Please tell me what I should change, as this is my first guide, and I want to better myself. Have a Nice Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night, and thank you for reading my guide.