How to play on Drow Ranger in Dota 2

Drow Ranger is a ranged hero of agility. Most often acts as a carry. She is extremely strong in late and can deal a lot of physical damage, but she has low mobility and depends on items.

When to pick Drow Ranger:

It is important for Traxex to have heroes on her team that can initiate battles and have her back. In addition, because of her innate ability, she pairs well with ranged characters, especially agility or universal. Thanks to her ultimate, which allows her to partially ignore misses and armor, she is a great counter to those who rely on those two for survivability.

It is uncomfortable for Drow to play against heroes that quickly shorten the distance, have a lot of control, high mobility or are able to deal a huge amount of magic damage. Read more about Drow Ranger counterpicks here.

Drow Ranger Features:

• Drow Ranger is a good counterpick against characters with invisibility. In addition to being able to reveal a hero in invisibility with Gust, when an invisible hero leaves the area of her ultimates deactivation, an extremely noticeable visual effect is triggered.
• If you use the first ability as a directed ability by pressing the appropriate key rather than automatically applying it when attacking, lane creeps won't aggro onto you. This is extremely useful on lane, as it will allow you to harass the enemy effectively.

What to collect on Drow Ranger:

• Dragon Lance - Will allow the Drow Ranger to take a more favorable position in combat.
• Hurricane Pike - Increases mobility and will allow you to break distance quickly.
• Manta Style - Also makes the Drow Ranger more mobile and, in some situations, will help you escape. In addition, the Drow Ranger's illusions are extremely powerful due to the huge amount of agility.
• Shadow Blade/Silver Edge - Shadow Blade performs similar functions to Manta Style and Hurricane Pike, while Silver Edge is needed if the enemy team has survivable characters to disable their passive abilities.
• Butterfly - Thanks to Traxex's innate ability, gives significantly more agility, and thus more damage, armor, and attack speed.
• Black King Bar/Linken's Sphere - Items for defense.
• Daedalus/Nullifier/Satanic/Swift Blink/Sange and Yasha - Situational items, acquired only when needed in specific game situations.

How to play the Drow Ranger:

Early game:

Drow Ranger is pretty weak before getting ultimate, but she is able to harass the enemy pretty well with Frost Arrows. In games where your support can't provide you with mana, get Falcons Blade (unless you plan on buying Linken's Sphere, which also significantly increases mana regeneration). With the ultimates gained, you can start pushing lane and farming jungle.

Mid-game:

Until you get a save and mobility item that will allow you to take a better position (such as Hurricane Pike, Manta Style, or Shadow Blade) it's best not to engage in battles, as a vulnerable Drow Ranger is easy to kill. Concentrate on farming, and when you acquire key items, look for opportunities to realize them. These include Aghanim's Shard, which gives the Drow Ranger a lot of buffs: bonus attack range, high ground advantage (25% miss chance from units at the low ground), truestrikes, flying vision, and bonus Multishot arrows per wave. Don't forget that her ult also will allow you to kill Roshan relatively early and start playing more aggressively, setting the tempo in the game.

Late Game:

Drow Ranger is one of the strongest heroes in late, but also one of the most vulnerable. She can easily take out single targets, but you're unlikely to have a successful fight against an enemy team when you're outnumbered. Always keep a good position and count on your allies in battle. In most cases, you should not attack the Drow Ranger first, but rather wait for a good moment and take a favorable position. Be sure to purchase the necessary items for save based on the enemy pick and the artifacts they have acquired.

Basic Game Principle:

The key to successfully playing on Drow Ranger is skillfully compensating for its main drawbacks: low mobility and survivability. Good farming in the early game, timely implementation of timings and choosing a good position in battle will significantly increase your chances of victory.