Do you want to know how to play Drow Ranger in Dota 2?
Drow Ranger is an Agility-based Core hero that has the power to command both the Mid and Late game. Her massive single-target damage is enough to render entire teams useless. Furthermore, she can also chase down heroes with her abilities. It is important to learn how to play Drow Ranger in Dota 2 to win easy games.
Her impressive abilities not only benefit Drow Ranger herself but also benefit other Ranged Heroes. Apart from this, she is an efficient farmer and can match many of the game’s top Cores in Farming speed. Her balanced arsenal also has a slow silence, making her a hero who can contribute to fights.
With her simple skills that pack a punch both in terms of utility and damage, Drow Ranger is quite dangerous. Her low Skill Cap makes it easy for all levels of players to win games and bully enemies. Moreover, her exceptional physical Damage output is a massive nuisance. This is also why one should learn how to play Drow Ranger in Dota 2.
Due to her buff to ranged teammates as well as her low-maintenance gameplay, Drow Ranger works well with many heroes. Some of these heroes are Medusa and Vengeful Spirit. In contrast, the heroes she counters include Rubick, Weaver, and Anti-Mage. She can shut down their escapes and burst them down easily.
Drow Ranger’s Abilities
His first ability, Frost Arrows are an Attack Modifier and consume Mana to increase the potency of Drow Ranger’s Attacks. With each Frost Arrow she fires, she slows the enemy for 55% of their movement speed. Moreover, these attacks also have a Base Damage that is additional Damage on top of her own Attacking capabilities.
Drow Ranger’s Gust, her second spell, is both a disable and a tool for her to use while escaping fights. With Gust, she can release a rush of air, that knocks enemies back and silences them simultaneously. This wave travels for 900 units and can affect enemies in a decent 250 units. It also consumes just 70 Mana at all stages, making it quite efficient.
Multishot is another Target-Point ability that allows Drow Ranger to fire successive arrows at a point. She channels this spell for a maximum of 1.75 seconds and fires three waves with four arrows per wave. These arrows are more potent than her own attack and have bonus damage. Additionally, it also slows the enemies it hits for up to 3.5 seconds.
Drow Ranger’s ultimate ability, Marksmanship, grants her an aura to shoot piercing arrows. These arrows have additional damage while also using a percentage of her agility as a bonus to the damage. The ability only works if no heroes are present within a 400-unit range of Drow Ranger herself. It is a passive ability and works by using percentages.
How to Utilize her Abilities
Though quite simple, Frost Arrows are still a spell players can misuse and not realize the full potential of. One needs to know that in the Lane, manually casting Frost Arrow allows her to hit enemies without drawing Aggro. Furthermore, one should note that alternating attacks on retreating enemies can stop all the enemies from running away.
Drow Ranger lacks crucial defense mechanisms and thus should conserve her Gust for the right situation. If enemies initiate on Drow Ranger herself, she can easily use Gust to knock them back and run away. Gust is also of use when during fights, a hostile can escape or use an ability that can win team fights.
Multishot is what one often regards as Drow Ranger’s main farming tool in the Lane and later on. With Multishot, one can hit multiple camps at once and is also able to finish entire Creep Waves. Besides this, the ability’s extreme range is exceptional in eliminating heroes or harassing enemies from a distance.
As the text states earlier, the ability does not work when enemy units are present in 400 units of Drow Ranger. She should use this spell with her frost arrows and Gust to keep enemies away from herself. Moreover, she has a massive power spike at level six, making her capable of Lasthitting and getting kills efficiently.
Item Build
Drow Ranger is not weak in the Lane like other carries, and thus, only needs to amplify her stats. To do this, she should start pursuing Wraith Bands and needs to purchase a few Iron Branches as well. Moreover, succeeding in the Lane requires healing such as Tangoes, Healing Salves, Clarities, and Faerie Fires.
As the Laning Stage develops, she should be in the process of making up to three Wraith Bands. Alongside these, a Magic Wand should also be in the works, as it increases her survivability. The Magic Wand also helps supplement her attributes, making her even more potent at harassing enemies.
By the end of the Laning Stage, Drow Ranger aims to finish her Power Treads as well. These are integral as they provide essential durability and mobility. Next up is the Dragon Lance, which is essential for her survival in the game. The Dragon Lane provides her with Attack Range as well as bonus damage, allowing her to kill units much easier.
Towards the end of the Late Game, there are many choices for what Drow Ranger can build. Most of these amplify her insane damage output like the Butterfly, Daedalus, Satanic, or even the Monkey King Bar. She can also pursue mobility with items like the Silver Edge, Hurricane Pike, or even a surprise Blink Dagger.
Laning Stage and Gameplay
One of the most threatening Cores in Lane, if the right Support joins her, Drow Ranger can be a menace. With her Frost Arrows and solid Attack Animation, most Offlaners are no match for the amount of harassment she outputs. To ensure she succeeds, she has to prioritize quite a few things, like securing the appropriate creeps.
Firstly, her role as a Carry is to ensure she gets enough Farm from the Laning Stage. To do this, she has to focus on getting enemy creeps while denying her own from the enemies. The most efficient way is to deny and secure the Ranged Creep, which provides the most benefits. Moreover, staying under the tower is also beneficial for her Range.
As she slowly moves on from the Laning Stage towards a crucial Mid Game, her first priority is getting Farm. Both by killing neutral camps and pressuring Lanes, she does a lot as a Passive Carry. Her best bet is to stay near the Sidelanes, killing creeps and landing hits on enemy towers. These are ideally from a safe distance, away from vision.
Even with as little as two essential items, Drow Ranger is quite useful at devastating enemies. Thus, she should utilize these opportunities to Gank enemy Jungles with her Offlaners and Midlaners. Even one successful attempt at a Gank can lead her team to a massive gold lead. This can also be a determining factor for an easy win.
Drow Ranger is quite popular among the lower brackets due to her relaxed playstyle and Minimal Skill-Cap. This does mean, however that most of these players cannot utilize her correctly and end up wasting her potential. As a result, this guide encompasses everything on how to play Drow Ranger in Dota 2 while winning games simultaneously.
