Peppo_o'Paccio's guide to Razor: you can't escape the Underscape [REMASTERED]

Introduction

I'm Peppo_o'Paccio, this is the second guide I write on DotaFire (the first one was Peppo_o'Paccio's guide to Chen, the Holy Knight): in this guide I'll talk about Razor, an underestimated semi-carry or even ganker.

Razor is an agility Hero who usually covers the role of carry, semi-carry or even ganker: in fact he has his own role, as he could be seen as an "anti-carry", meaning that he can easily disrupt a carry's power in a matter of time.

Razor is always built as a tank, so that he can survive while connecting the enemy with his Static Link and auto attacking or nuking with his Plasma Field.

Useful Terms and Links

Creep pulling:

to "drag" a neutral creep camp to your lane at the right time (about X:15 or X:45) to make your allied creeps attack the neutral camps.

Creep blocking:

to place yourself in front of the incoming creep wave so that when they will reach the enemy creeps you'll be closer to your tower. Video.

Animation cancelling:

to attack while moving in order to increase your damage per second (DPS) and chase fleeing enemies.

Ganking:

to kill an enemy Hero (or two) in a numbers advantage.

Pros and Cons

Pros Can absorb up to 224 damage Awesome chaser Very tanky, if built correctly Easy to play Can potantially kill anyone in a 1vs1 fight One of the fastest Heroes in the game

Cons Squishy in the early game Item dependent Not so good at last-hitting creeps Poor damage without Static Linking

When to pick him

Razor is best picked if you expect that the enemy carry is going to be fed (maybe if your enemies have a good trilane) and if you need a solo/mid laner with a lot of mobility. Remember, though, that this Hero can't stun or disable enemies in any way, so don't pick him blindly.

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Summarizing, pick Razor if:

• You expect that the enemy carry will be fed;
• Your team needs a mid/solo laner with high mobility;
• Your team already has initiators and disablers;
• Your team needs a tank.

Also, don't pick Razor if:

• The enemies are opting for a pushing strategy (no hard carry);
• You can't last hit at all;
• You don't know the difference between pushing and farming;
• You aren't confident with solo laning;
• Your team needs an initiator or disabler;
• Your team doesn't have any support Heroes;

Abilities

Razor focuses on using the strength of an enemy to his advantage: he has a powerful nuke which has a very wide range and hits twice (useful for farming, too), a non-channeling spell that literally absorbs the strength of an enemy Hero and an interesting passive which slows and damages the attacking enemies while increasing Razor's speed. His ultimate continuously hits any enemy low on health near him through a cloud over his head.

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Plasma Field is Razor's bread-and-butter skill: it has an enormous range of 795 units and hits twice: the more distant the enemy, the more damage they take. Players usually cast it to last hit enemies while ganking or to initiate a teamfight after an AoE stun (such as Slithereen Crush, Hoof Stomp and obviously Ravage). It's maxed out first because of its usefulness in the early-mid game.

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Static Link could seem a bit useless because of the long duration of the link, but it's actually the only ability in its kind. It steals the damage of an enemy for a maximum of 26 seconds and gives that tamage to Razor: if the link is interrupted the buff will still be applied, but the damage reduction and gain will be less. Mind, anyway, that it has a pretty big range and you can still autoattack or cast spells while linking: if used on the right Hero, it can turn the tide of a fight in your favor. Obviously, the more a Hero relies on his/her damage, the more useful is this skill: it scales terrifically well in late game.

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This is Razor's passive ability, and one early point on this is compulsory: when maxed out it lets you run like nobody else while slowing and damaging the enemies who hit you. Unstable Current is the main reason why he is chosen as a viable solo laner: its speed coupled with the tankiness of a Vanguard and the speed boost of the Phase Boots make Razor a really elusive Hero to deal with. Unstable Current is always good, from early to late game.

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This ultimate is powerful if used at the right moment, but your enemy can easily make you waste it: try to use it when you are sure your gank will be succesful or when there is a teamfight going on. Don't use it to push as it will make your last hitting a lot more difficult and won't deal damage to structures (unless you have Aghanim's Scepter). Mind that the mana cost will be increased by 50 when levelling it up so, if you are low on mana, always keep an eye on its cost if you want to use it.

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Razor doesn't really need stats because of his tanky build and good mana regen: if you are going for stats it means you are underfarmed (maybe you died too many times in the hard lane) or you have already maxed out all your skills.

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Items Explanation

Razor's core items are mainly three: a Ring of Aquila, a pair of Phase Boots and a Vanguard: they improve Razor's strengths and cover his weaknesses. When choosing a late game item players usually build an item that increases strength (besides his damage or agility) or his HP.

Town Portal Scrolls

Generally speaking, every hero should carry at least one Town Portal Scroll when he reaches mid game. If you have already built a Magic Wand you won't find difficult to fit a Scroll in your backpack, as your Branches will be crafted together and you'll have more space.

Starting items

When starting with Razor, make sure you buy a Healing Salve and at least one Tango to ensure you stay in lane even if you get harassed. You need at least two Iron Branches so that your overall stats will increase, you will turn them into a Magic Wand later. And remember, they are the most cost-efficient item! As Razor's early game damage is not that great, two pairs of Slippers of Agility give you enough Agility to deal consistent damage to creeps. If you feel your last hit abilities are fine without them, you may pick a third Iron Branch and a Ring of Protection instead, which will be turned into a Ring of Aquila anyway.

Remember, when you solo lane always take more regeneration items: two sets of Tangos and a Healing Salve should be enough, but use them carefully. You need as much survivability as possible, the Iron Branches are the best way to get cheap stats. Always remember to fill your inventory with them. Again, pick Slippers of Agility to get more last hit capabilities, but you might want to get a Ring of Protection instead if you need a quick Ring of Basilius.

This is the most used mid lane item set to rush a Bottle: you need roughly four/five last hits to get a bottle this way, after which you don't need any other regeneration items and you can start getting your boots and Ring of Aquila. Three Iron Branches will be turned into a Magic Wand and give you a big benefit for their price. Never underestimate them.

Early game items

Don't take the Bottle if you are not mid laning: you would just waste precious money. On the contrary, when you are playing in mid lane always pick it as first item: never forget about it, ever! These early game items are very cheap and are made to improve your early game weaknesses: the Boots of Speed make you a threatening chaser even in the first levels thanks to your passive ability, in which you should have put one early point. You should try to take a Magic Wand very soon because the Iron Branches might obstruct your inventory and you might need burst healing or mana before getting a Ring of Aquila. The Stout Shield covers most of the damage of the creeps (and ranged enemies) and will be turned later into a Vanguard, so it's a must.

Core items

If you get enough farm and manage to gank succesfully, you won't find difficult to get a quick Ring of Aquila: especially while hard laning or trilaning you will benefit a lot from it. Alyways keep it turned off, unless you want to push the lane (for example, if you are mid laning and the enemy is ganking). Next, you can choose between two pair of boots: pick Phase Boots if you want to freely chase your enemies while not dying because of towers or while Static Linking. It also lets you pass through units, so you can use it for escaping while a creep wave is coming, too. Pick Power Treads if you are the only person in your team who can carry or if you are planning to build damage-increasing items (because Treads give attack speed and a bit of surviavbility). Also, they synergize very well with the Bottle, as you can tread switch to gain more benefits. Vanguard is the only effective tanky item for Razor: even though he is a ranged Hero and the damage reduction is halved, he benefits a lot from its health regen and HP increase. Also, remember that your Static Link drains damage from your enemies which, coupled with the damage block from the item, will make them deal little to no damage.

Core extensions

This is the default core extension for Razor, though more and more people try to avoid it: it's true that it gives little damage for its cost, but remember that this Hero needs tanky items and/or speed increasing items; Sange and Yasha give both HP and movement speed, and you can even disasseble it into a Heaven's Halberd and a Manta Style!

If you are one of these guys that avoid Sange and Yasha, you should really focus on getting a Heaven's Halberd: not only it gives you damage, evasion and HP, but it even disables enemies while you Static Link them, so that when you finish linking they will be left with almost no damage.

Another item that gives you good things: if the enemy towers are still up, this should be your main choice. Agh's gives you a lot of stats (which means more HP and tankiness) and improves your ultimate: many people think that it only makes the Eye of the Storm damage structures, but in fact Aghanim's Scepter makes it even deal more strikes in the same amount of time.

Late Game Items

This is what makes Razor a serious threat in the late stages of the game: since you gain damage from Static Link, you can build tankier without sacrificing your damage output. The Heart of Tarrasque give you a ton of survivability and makes you soak up all the stuns and nukes before your teammates engage a teamfight.

This item is usually underrated on Razor: if you get lots of stats, your illusions will benefit from them, too: they will deal little damage (as they can't absorb the damage from Static Link as you do), but they will still be very, very tanky. Also, it's worth noting that when you activate Manta Style your debuffs will be removed: you can dodge stuns with it, too!

I don't really recommend it, unless you already have a Heart of Tarrasque or a Satanic (or if you simply have a lot of stats). First, remember that its evasion does not stack with the one from Heaven's Halberd, so don't buy both in the same game. Secondly, remember that Razor doesn't rely that much on attack speed and damage, but more on tankiness: nonetheless, buy it if your team's carry can't keep up with the enemies.

This is pretty strange, but the Blade Mail is considered a late game item (instead of a situational item, as with most Heroes) on Razor: it adds insult to injury (or better, injury to insult), because your Unstable Current already punishes people who attack you. It adds a bit of fun if the enemy carry keeps on attacking you even after being slowed, damaged and Static Linked.

This item is almost never used on Razor, but it gives many benefits: if you can attack fastly, you will deal more damage that you steal with your Static Link. Furthermore, the Assault Cuirass gives a lot of armor to you and decreases the enemies' armor; it even gives attack speed to your allies.

This item is one of the two Unique Attack Modifiers (or Orbs) mentioned in this guide (the second being the Satanic): it helps a lot for orb-walking and gives a lot of stats. It isn't cheap, but it's really worth it. I recommend this if you have enough farm to skip the Heart of Tarrasque or you simply want more stats.

This item gives an orb effect, so don't buy it if you already have a Unique Attack Modifier (such as Eye of Skadi). This item gives you a lot of HP and an active skill that gives you a percentage of healing based on the damage dealt to the enemy: if you Static Link and enemy and then activate the Satanic you will gain a huge amount of HP. It also gives you a bit of damage, which is never useless.

If your enemies keep damaging you with spells, you should buy a Hood of Defiance immediately after your core items and extensions: not only it gives you magic resistance, but it even makes you regenerate health incredibly fastly. Normally you shouldn't make it into a Pipe of Insight, but if you have bought one or more late game items you should consider to upgrade your Hood: its active ability is really noticeable in teamfights, and you will gain even more HP per second.

Why are these items less useful?

This item is one of the most effectives in the entire game, but if taken on Razor it will obscure his main role: if you are invincible the enemies won't cast their stuns and nukes on you, therefore your tank role would be useless. Think about taking this only if you are your team's main carry (which you shouldn't be in most of the games) or if you already have a tank in your team.

This item is one of the most cost-efficient Unique Attack Modifiers, and it's commonly taken as a core extension on many carries. So, why shouldn't you take it? First, because Razor doesn't rely on heavy damage, but this is a minor problem. Mainly it's because your Eye of the Storm already reduces armor, so it becomes kind of useless on this Hero. Still, if you have many armor-reducing skills and items in your team ( Weave, Gush, Medallion of Courage...) you can abuse of this and even buy a Desolator.

Skill Build

This is the standard build for Razor, it should be always used when solo laning (both in mid or in hard lane) and when you want to keep a balanced playstyle. After maxing out Plasma Field you want to level up Static Link, so that you can easily kill your enemy when he doesn't care about what you're doing.
Usually when you use this skill set you should try to kill an already weakened enemy, so, in order to kill the other mid laner you have to harass him first (which shouldn't be difficult) and then try to outsmart him with your damage absorption and your powerful nuke. With your speed and your early Vanguard components you shouldn't find difficult tower diving while orb-walking to kill the enemy. Your ultimate, Eye of the Storm, makes it all a lot easier.

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Plasma Field
Unstable Current/ Static Link
Plasma Field
Static Link/ Unstable Current
Plasma Field
Eye of the Storm
Plasma Field
Static Link
Static Link
Static Link
Eye of the Storm
Unstable Current
Unstable Current
Unstable Current
Stats
Eye of the Storm
Stats

The level 1 of Unstable Current and Static Link can be interchanged, it's personal preference.

Plasma Field is obviously your nuke, and as all nukes you must max it out by level 7. It does a fair amount of damage in the early to mid game, don't underestimate it.

Static Link is your main source of both harass and damage: if you take all the damage from the enemies they won't be able to farm properly while you will easily last hit creeps. It's very useful when solo laning, since the enemies' hard carry will have a hard time trying to last hit dealing little damage.

Unstable Current is simply your best way to chase enemies or run away, since it gives you a ton of mobility. Plus, when the enemies attack you they will be slowed down, making even more difficult a chase.

Eye of the Storm should be taken as soon as possible, because you don't know when you might need to activate it. Take it at level 6, 11 and 16.

Playing Style

This Hero is played differently than the other carries or semi-carries: this chapter is divided in the following paragraphs

• Mid laning
• Ganking*
• Solo laning
• Teamfighting

*Optional: you can (and you must) gank only if you are mid laning.

Mid laning

Razor excels at mid laning because his high mobility allows him to pick runes and gank enemies in very a short amount of time. Also, he doesn't need much farm in order to gank.

When you mid lane pick either the "Starting items for mid lane" or "Starting items for bottle rushing" mentioned in this guide and be prepared to creep block at 0:00.

Your main goals when you are mid laning are the followings, in this order:

• Harassing the enemy if he's melee
• Ganking after level 6
• Farming
• Picking runes before the enemy
• Harassing the enemy if he's ranged

Ganking (only while mid laning)

After reaching level 6 or 7, your main objective is to gank the enemy Heroes: whenever you see that an enemy lane is pushing towards yours, head to it and hide behind the trees, ready to gank: when your teammates throw their stuns, go ahead and immediately Static Link and autoattack the enemy.

When ganking, make sure your allies initiate the fight with their stuns! If you use your Plasma Field and the enemies can react, they will immediately back up. Also, remember to use your Eye of the Storm to reduce the enemies' armor.

Solo laning

Usually, your team might want you to solo the hard lane: in this case, pick the "Starting items for solo hard lane" and go to spot the rune or to creep block.

If you want, you can ask your support to let you place their wards: you can put one into the creep pull camp so that the enemy support won't be able to pull, or you can place them near the rune spot so that your mid laner will easily pick it.

Always play safely and don't overextend: you are an easy prey if you get chainstunned. Don't overrate your Unstable Current, since it won't stop enemies from chasing you.

Try to harass the enemy hard carry with Static Link, so that he will mess up all of his last hits.

Teamfighting

When one of more towers are down, you should begin to act as a tank in teamfights: be the first one to engage a fight, absorb all damage from the enemy carry and let your teammates kill the key targets.

When the enemies are trying to run away always follow and kill them! With your high mobility and your Static Link you will easily chase and kill fleeing enemy Heroes.

If you get ganked, rely on your high mobility and slow from your passive ability to escape: don't teleport away but always run and head to your towers.

Friends and Foes

Razor can be a threat even without help, but when teamfights start he needs someone to disable or stun the enemies. These Heroes can do that very effectively:





Also, you might want someone in your team to carry a Gem of True Sight if there are invisible enemies: if you can't chase them, they have the upper hand.






Mostly, Razor's foes are those Heroes that can shut him down very quickly before he gets tanky items. In the early game, you should pay attention Heroes that can chain their nukes:

Update History

12-28-2012: Completely re-written the guide from scratch.

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11-02-2012: Added some minor changes to the item build.
11-01-2012: Added the "Useful Terms and Links" chapter.
11-01-2012: Finished to write the guide.
10-31-2012: Wrote the first part of the guide.