THE PAS WAY OF PLAYING LYRALEI

(6.81 buff, also removes damage penalty from orbs and item actives)

This item is really, really underrated, it's very good, but it's rarely picked up, with it, you can position shackles so easily, and also euls that annoying Nightstalker/Bloodseeker/Spirit Breaker. Or look cool disjointing a stun or dodging a magnus ult. Gives tons of mana regen which Lyralei loves, and along with that awesome movespeed which synergizes well with her windrun

This is the one of the most commonly built items on Lyralei, and for good reason, since it has so much utility, like saving an ally with it, force staff into shackle or forcing an enemy towards you. Also, it saves you from clockwerk should you get stuck in his cogs. Overall, a great item even after its nerf(s)

Kinda 50/50 on this. On one hand, it allows you to get perfect shackles, but it doesnt grant any stats. It was recently buffed to have no mana cost, making it more efficient. Problem is, Blink dagger is terrible against enemies with damage over time effects , heroes like Pudge, Venomancer will always disable your blink. Or Radiance Carriers like Terawrblade or Naga will disable it with the burn.

Its still good though, but situational

Am I getting nuked/locked down too easily?
Black King Bar (3975)

The only item in the game that gives spell casters the "D"

Do I want to see big red numbers?
Daedalus (5750g)

Crits :D

Do I want to win and still see big red numbers?
Divine Rapier (6200g)

Use with caution. One slip and it's GG/Good Game

Do I want to be a machine gun?
Aghanim's Scepter (4200g)

Please note that if you do pick up scepter, either have an orb like Desolator or Maelstrom for it to be worth the cost.

What other defensive options can I buy?
Armor Options:

Blade Mail(2200g)

Blademail is great as last resort against anyone if you're behind. But please note that it does not affect magic immune targets.

Assault Cuirass (5250g)
Assault Cuirass, although expensive, it's a great aura item, reduces armor of enemy units and structures, along with granting some attack speed and armor bonuses on my allies. I only get it if my carry is already 6 slotted or someone already has a shivas guard.

Magic resistance:
Pipe of Insight (3628g)
Great against magic heavy lineups, with heroes like Zeus, Queen of Pain and Shadow Shaman.

Other:
Heaven's Halberd (3950g)
Grants a lot of HP , and the disarm is great when you're up against an extremely fed carry, plus the evasion is a little bonus as well

Ghost Scepter(1600g)/ Ethereal Blade(4900g)
Gives all rounded stats, and a great active when facing enemies who rely on autoattacks to deal dps, upon upgrade, this serves as a powerful nuke which can enhance your Dagon and Powershot

Other offensive options:
Diffusal Blade(3300g)

Great against casters, can slow enemies, purge off their buffs + debuffs, and kill summons (Warlock Golems for example), also, you become the ranged Anti-Fun.

Doesn't really boost your damage potential by much, this is more of wraith king/Omniknight/Warlock counter measure if no one on your team is a valid diffusal holder to counteract said heroes

Shadow Blade
Self Explanatory. But this option is bad since at higher mmr games, people will buy and use detection. Use at your own risk.

Dagon
Usually gotten when snowballing. Does 400 magic damage at Lv1 , 800 magic damage at Lv5


Cheap Items that boost my utility?
Urn of Shadows

A welcome item if you decide to leave lane to roam, gives some hp and regen, some heals and damage with charges

Medallion of Courage

Great for taking early roshan, gives mana regen along with some armor (when off cooldown) and helps with solo kills, with your ult/autos

Drum of Endurance

Cheap and easy buildup, gives a great movespeed and attackspeed aura, and is cheaper than an ultimate orb, a terrific mid game item, should you need the assortment of stats

Vladmir's Offering
Very, very situational as an item, it's only gotten when I'm playing as a hard support, and my melee carry(s) can benefit from the lifesteal, and damage bonus. It doesn't do much for you since you're ranged.

Need a cheap source of mana?
Soul Ring
Gives regen in lane and powershot mana at demand if you need to clear waves.

Skull Basher/Abyssal Blade does not use Pseudo-random distribution, it has exactly 10% chance to proc per attack (Unless on cooldown).

You can't cleave, on any of your autos since battlefury's effect only works with MELEE

Basically, this build focuses heavily on Powershot as your main waveclear and primary source of obtaining CS, this is one of the more common skill builds you see in games, and it's pretty obvious why.

With Powershot, not only are you getting last hits, you are also harassing the enemy at the same time, if your Powershot connects with the enemy laner, but there is a downside since it pushes the lane, and you have to be mindful when you want to use it in lane.

Out of lane, you are able to secure kills that are escaping at a distance (for example a Crystal Maiden running away at 30% health around their mid tower and you are around yours), or chip away the enemy team with a well place powershot.

Your next skill that you max is Shackleshot. Why you may ask, why not windrun? Well, windrun is pretty powerful for one point, and maxing it out ensures that you have a very low chance of dying (unless you get chain-stunned), but this limits your potential in fights. Around the 10 min to 20 min mark, teamfights usually happen and you're not going to be very useful with only powershot and an escape which ensures your survival. A 3s stun is far superior than a 4.25s windrun. A lot can happen in 3s, in which case, will usually result in a kill

Windrun, albeit extremely powerful early on, is better left at one point , then you max your other spells. Also you need to consider this- why would you max windrun if the enemy is heavily spell reliant? would you max windrun at the expense of having a weaker nuke/stun?

Focus Fire in this build is generally gotten later due to where you are laning, in which case, the offlane. Generally in the offlane you aren't going to be getting much farm due to the supports actively zoning and pulling creeps (pulling can be stopped with ward blocking, but they can deward), and the creep wave being in control of them most of the time.

But- Lyra is a flexible hero and focus fire can be gotten earlier. Situations I would get focus fire:

We need to demolish towers, fast (because the enemy comp has a far superior late game than ours)

We have heroes that can amplify our auto attacks (ancient apparition with his Chilling Touch or drow with her aura for example)

There's a solo enemy laner which I can kill with level 4 shackle and focusfire.

Build 1 & 2 aren't much different. The only difference is what items you get and you can get focus fire much earlier on due to the level advantage being mid provides.

Build 3 is the poor man's build for Lyra. This build is usually used when 1) there's a teammate (who is playing a core role) in your lane ( most notably in pubs) 2) there's already quite a few cores in your team and you need to have someone to fill out the support role.

Maxing shackle ensures that your ally, can kill the enemy with ease, and also allow them to escape with impunity.

Powershot is maxed second, you aren't really going to use this much, just to make sure lane equilibrium is on your territory, to ensure your teammate can farm.

windrun is still gotten at one point.

Focus fire is still situational as a supporting role, but generally getting skill points over it is ok.

I would like to thank:

The members of the PAS Dev Dota 2 Board,
Especially Legion Commander for spurring me to write this guide,
Zorjeff, Avidity for helping me with editing

Gamefaqs for motivational support and etc

Dotafire.com for hosting this guide

and you the reader, for taking you time to read my guide <3