Moodkill's Non-Shadow Blade core Drow guide. [6.82]

Intro

*So hawt <3

Drow Ranger is a ranged agility "glass cannon" type of carry that is sort of infamous. Why? Because she gets picked in almost every amateur pub match. Many beginners like playing Drow Ranger with Shadow Blade then Manta Style but as you get used to this build and progress into higher ranked matches, you tend to feed sometimes and eventually quit playing drow. This build is focused on drow with more "teamwork" compared to the standard Shadow Blade drow.

Pros and Cons

Pros
-Deals very high damage
-Not too shabby in teamfights because of Gust
-Easy to learn
-Decent armor
-Lots of sets :D (Potential con, will make you run out of steam wallets)

Cons
-Fragile (Very)
-No escape ability other than Gust (doesn't do much)
-Considered a hero for noobs(not true)
-Requires snowballing(Gaining early advantages) in order to be more useful

Drow's skills

Adds a freezing effect to Drow's attacks, slowing enemy movement. Lasts 1.5 seconds on Heroes, and 7 seconds on creeps.

Range: 625
Duration: 1.5 (7 on creeps)
Movement Speed Slow: 15% / 30% / 45% / 60%

Ice-encased arrows pierce the silence, chilling their victims to the core.

Notes:

The slow will not increase by successive casts, it will only be refreshed.
The slow is a unique attack modifier and conflicts with lifesteal, both when used automatically and when used manually.
It works on siege creeps.
Mana cost: 12


This ability is what makes drow a living hell in pub games. It slows the enemy by A LOT and sounds baller as $@#&. I do not recommend taking this at lvl1 because a slow generally doesn't do that much early game especially if it's only 15% unless a Crystal Maiden sort of walks right into your face. The mana cost is pretty decent but I suggest practice using the hotkey to activate it instead of auto-cast as you need the mana for your silence.

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Releases a wave that silences and knocks back enemy units. Knockback distance is relative to how close they are to you.

Range: 900
Radius: 250
Duration: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
Knockback duration: 0.6 / 0.7 / 0.8 / 0.9

Traxex is rather fond of the tranquility of physical combat, calling on her Drow heritage to end the incantations of opposing magi.

Notes:

Doesn't stop usage of items.
Knockback distance is inversely proportional to travel range, 350 at closest, 0 at 900.
Does not interrupt channeling of items.
As with all silences, it will not stop Wraith King's Reincarnation.
Disables Riki's Permanent Invisibility.
As this ability has the power to knockback enemies it will also cancel Templar Assassin's Meld, as the knockback forcibly changes her position if it hits her.

Mana Cost: 90 Cooldown Time: 13


Gust is an AOE silence that looks sort of like a.... gust. It knocksback enemy heroes and disables Riki's invis, pretty dope. It also does a 6 second silence which is insane, time this ability nicely and your team should be able to pwn in fights. You can also use Gust as an escape mechanism like IE: --> Gust a ganker-->TP out to safety.

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Adds bonus damage to the physical attack of allied, ranged Hero units on the map based on a percentage of Drow's agility. Affects creeps for 30 seconds when cast.

Radius: Global
Range Damage Bonus: 18% / 24% / 30% / 36%
Duration: 30

Illusions can carry the aura, but can't make use of the bonus damage.

Traxex' time spent alone in the forests of her Drow home has allowed her to teach other archers how to improve their bow skills.

Notes:

Only affects ranged units.
Can be cast manually to affect creeps globally for 30 seconds, with a 120 seconds cooldown.
Because its activation grants an active buff to creeps instead of an aura effect, bonus damage from creeps will persist until the end of the duration even if Drow Ranger dies.
Creeps that spawn after the activation will not gain the bonus damage.
Bonus damage is NOT considered base damage (contrary to what the buff tooltip says).

Cooldown Time: 120

"Range Damage Bonus: 18% / 24% / 30% / 36%", seems insane right? But the best thing is that it's global. Many players tend to forget the active ability of this aura, when you activate Precision Aura you buff ranged creeps which might not look like a drastic difference but it is a great pushing tool. Note that this aura only effects ranged units.

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Passively provides bonus agility. If there are nearby enemy heroes, the bonus agility is removed.

Agility Bonus: 40 / 60 / 80
Deactivation Radius: 400

The Drow Ranger is the epitome of archery prowess.

Notes:

Effectively gives Drow Ranger 40 / 60 / 80 attack speed, 40 / 60 / 80 attack damage and 5.6 / 8.4 / 11.2 armor, as well as an additional 14.4 / 21.6 / 28.8 damage from level 4 Precision Aura.
An icy particle effect is visible on Drow Ranger while Marksmanship is active.
Bonus agility and particle effect is lost if an enemy hero (not illusions) comes within 400 range of Drow Ranger.

This passive ability is what makes drow such a damage dealer and should be taken whenever you have the chance to, it not only increases your damage but your armor too. It all seems amazing and all but this ability has a catch, when enemy heroes get close to you the ability turns off (Don't get me started on Drow rule 34). So if a Riki goes invis and is attempting to gank you, you'll notice that the ice particles on drow will disappear which is why I recommend Blink Dagger for the players with fast reaction time.

Skill Build Justification

Build#1

-Drow will need an early point in Precision Aura to help your allies and yourself in last hitting/denying.
-She also needs a silence at level 5 because that's the time the enemy mid hero starts to gank.
- Frost Arrows are great for ganking.
-Ult should be taken whenever you have the chance.

Build#2

Well this is.... embarrassing.
- Frost Arrows are neglected if you have 3-4 heroes that can slow.
-Rush items like Drums or Blink if you need the positioning
- Precision Aura further increases your damage and Gust protects you while farming.

Lanes [What to do]

Drow can go to 3 types of lanes, aggressive tri-lane, safe lane and lastly mid.

1.Aggressive tri-lane

In an aggressive tri-lane you are supposed to disrupt the enemy "safe tri-lane". It is a high risk reward strategy but requires you to maybe get a kill or prevent the enemy carry from farming. The problem with this strat is that your team will have a very hard time in the mid game if you do not exceed or match the farm of the enemy carry. Radiant aggressive tri= top lane, bottom for dire.

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2.Safe tri-lane

Usually placed for the traditional hard-carry like Morphling or Faceless Void but Drow Ranger can fit in the role pretty well. Basically what you do is just farm and try to break the tower. Your supports should be protecting you and looking for an opportunity to gank the offlaner. Radiant safe tri=bottom, top for dire.

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3.Mid

The most popular lane for a pub drow is of course mid. Drow is not really the best mid hero but she does need to gain early levels so technically she is an okay mid laner. The main problem with mid drow is that it's quite situational depending on the enemy picks. I will try to list out a few scenarios.

Heroes that drow will probably face in mid ( and the difficulties )

-Easy/Mediocre

Just try to dodge the hooks and report missing. Wards are important.


Shadow fiend isn't a really hard mid hero to fight against. What you must do is deny all the creeps, otherwise he will eventually outlane you.


Another melee mid hero, his movespeed is pretty shabby so you can play safe enough to avoid his Dragon Tail. Always be careful though, if there is a roaming support trying to gank you IE: Vengeful, Lion, Shadow Shaman then you kinda want to lay back a bit. Dragon Knight is a tricky enemy just be alert.


-Medium/Pretty Difficult

Well this guy has Shockwave and once he gets his bottle he can pretty much spam it.


I wouldn't say he is too hard but he is sort-of medium. His Waveform can open up gank opportunities for his allies as the damage is pretty high. Killing him would take a lot of effort too. Just remember to get your silence on him before he escapes.


A pretty rare mid hero but a good one indeed. His tankiness and Quill Spray make him a foe you want to be careful of.


I would say he is on the "pretty difficult" part. If you are not careful with your positioning he can Thunder Clap and easily kill you solo as long as he gets lucky crits.


This is when he slowly gets his farm. His right click will average around 100 damage and you pretty much cannot stop him otherwise you call for a gank.


Razor is a pretty big pain in the @$$. His early nuke damage Plasma Field and damage sucking abilities (wtf) Static Link can easily kill an inexperienced drow player. Also he sounds kinda disgusting. A good Razor player can pwn a drow but a good drow can do the same. Take an early point of Gust if against a razor.

-Hard/Living Hell

His damage over time(DOT) abilities are really annoying. I'd suggest only experienced players lane against him or risk giving the first blood away.


"Living Hell". burning spears is a pain in the a$$ early game and his tankiness makes him hard to kill. Be careful of him once he hits level 6 though.


Against a good tinker player, the laning stage isn't particularly hard but the stress of him getting good/decent farm is intense. You'll probably get scolded for 'failing mid' because Tinker got fat.


Ohhh my don't get me started with this b@stard.


A popular pick in the competitive scene nowadays. Her nuke is really painful and movespeed is just too high for a level 1 frost arrow to make a big difference.

Gameplay

Well drow is a carry so she needs
-Lots of farm
-Good supports


In the early game what you should focus on is farming/killing. Get your 6-8 minute Hand of Midas if possible, drow needs the levels to be active in the mid game.

You might want to casually sit back and farm but that isn't as effective but it can be done. What I prefer is a gank/farm drow. You smoke in with 3-4 teammates then gank a farming hard carry then proceed to push the tower. If you can't get the hero then you can try to push the tower(risky) or farm for a few minutes.

In the late game though drow might be out-carried by the standard hard carry like Naga Siren or Faceless Void. This is why you should try to end the game before 50 minutes else the enemy will eventually be able to shut you down. Black King Bar is absolutely core on drow especially in the competitive seen unless you can manage to achieve the perfect positioning in fights or have heroes like Omniknight to back you up.

In teamfights however you want to be creative with your Gust. Let's say you see 4 enemies clumped together and looks easy to kill right? Your initiator goes in and stuns everyone and you try to do some follow-up damage but then, BAM Ravage from the last enemy happens. Your whole team gets caught because you were too rushed and didn't be cautious of a hero that can change the "tides" of battle ( was that good ? ). On a serious note, if your team lacks communication you should aim to prevent any dangerous skills being cast. As Drow Ranger you most probably want to lay back a bit and use Gust when necessary, your ultimate also disables when enemies are near you.

Support Drow

Oh yes, support drow this matter has been discussed a lot and tried out in many games (sometimes working) but let me give my two cents on this role for drow.

Let's take a look at drow's abilities first:

- Frost Arrows can be a good support skill because of the slow.

- Gust is a great skill for a support.

- Precision Aura is even greater if you have a ranged carry like Razor in your team.

-However, Marksmanship just doesn't really fit the image of a support hero.

When playing support Drow, I suggest you to have at least 1 or possibly 2 supports in your team. This is to avoid being a starved support and delaying items such as Mekansm or Force Staff.

The skill build for a support drow would most likely be maxing Frost Arrows and Gust or you can choose to max Precision Aura first depending on the enemy and your team lineup.

What to do as a support drow? Slow any fast moving heroes that can potentially damage your carry especially someone like bloodcyka or maybe Batrider if he doesn't have a BKB. Gust should always be ready in teamfights and the right timing for it is important, counters a Tinker pretty well.

So in conclusion, drow support is okay but it isn't really recommended IMO because her abilities fit a carry role more, it can be done much like a Wraith King support but maybe a bit less effective.

Items

A note before you read this section, all items are situational you cannot follow guides exactly. These are just items that you can consider into buying and items that I strongly recommend. Always make the decision yourself.

Starting items

Pretty standard but in the mid lane you might want to ask for shared tangos instead.


Situational unless you are going the 2-1-2 laning style or if the enemy has dangerous early game gankers.


Great stats in the early game and can be built into Ring of Aquila

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Mid game items

I prefer these over Phase Boots because drow might need the str from it and attack speed too.


Might save your life.


She is a glass cannon but why MOM you might ask? This item is for burst damage that you might need especially in a hit-and-run strat. You can opt to ignore this item if you want to(when you already got shut down).


Like a Sven you should get this not too late. You can't get aimed in fights in crucial moments, always consider this item before any big ones.

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Luxury/Late game items

LATE GAME TIME TO R@$%


The crit sounds are awesome and the damage is too. Strongly recommend this item after maybe 30-40 minute?


If you are fighting against maybe a Sven you might want to dodge a few hits and force him to maybe buy an MKB.


Reliving the Ti3 Alliance rat dream. TP in and rekt their towers if you plan on doing a base race.


Moar pushing power, moar damage, moar drow's, moar stats. You get the point


Can finally hit that Brewmaster properly. (Doesn't work on faceless void)


Well you got nothing to buy already right? You're probably 5 slotted if you ever even consider this.

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Situational items

Couldn't wait to talk about this baby. Ever seen blink on Sniper? Yeah it pretty much works the same and you can now dodge abilities like Magic Missile and look swag while you're doing it.


If you want to downvote this because I didn't add this as core PLEASE don't I can explain. SB is really good in 2-3k mmr games and I admit it but once you play more matches you start to realize that it itsn't as effective anymore. Good players will ward and carry dust to counter this item. Just look at it like this 180 gold item > 3000 gold. You can consider this but I do not like it.


Get this under 8 minutes if you can otherwise turn the Gloves of Haste into a Power Treads


Counter that annoying Wraith King and purge that warlock golem.


If you check out my other guides, I have at least one drum mentioned so don't hate jsut a drum fanboy here.


Why didn't I put this on luxury you ask? Because she typically won't really need it unless you snowball so hard your score is like 20-5 in 20 minutes then get this so they can't kill you AT ALL(probably).


Great tool for farming creep waves quickly and also spot the real hero from the illusions IE: Phantom Lancer.

Friends and Foes

Friends


What happens when these 3 are in your team? Free MOM and extra damage!!


Buffs are always good for you.


More armor reduction YAY!!


Well this might sound ridiculous but remember 6.82 aghanims? Yeah.


My gosh that slow is so good.

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Foes


Ugh just stop.


After the great 6.82 these guys really can gank.


Turns your MOM into tiny-like attack speed(without aghs or drums)


Surprise MOFO


While you're running to base and BAM! Need I say more?


Well you can't outrun him right? And he can silence too.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed reading my guide on Drow Ranger. Feel free to give suggestions and I hope my opinion on drow is actually good (No hate pls)

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Cheers **Spamming the lines because I'm bored LOL
drunken haze