Itemization on a Drow Ranger

Drow Ranger is one of my go-to heroes when I'm bored, and I've experimented a few different item builds on her.

I wanted to have a discussion on how to itemize her.

1. Mask of Madness or not?
This item is, in my opinion, one of the most situational items on a Drow. It can either make or break the game. I usually only go for a Mask of Madness if I have a beefy initiator that can make double sure that the enemies' attention stays off me during a fight i.e. I have either Tidehunter, Axe, Centaur Warrunner or Clockwerk on my team.

In any other scenario, I don't feel comfortable making an already squishy hero even squishier, and worse, painting a bull's eye on my head (being the highest damage dealer in mid game combined with easy-to-kill is just asking the enemy team to initiate on you).

In all other cases, I pick up a naked Morbid Mask and build it into a Satanic for late game.

2. Agility items or not?
This is one area where I differ from most popular or accepted builds. Usually, I see a Manta Style as being core on Drow Ranger, since it boosts her agility. The way I play Drow, I pick up 2-3 Wraith Bands early game (one of them goes towards an Aquila) to give myself and my team the DPS advantage during the early/mid game. Once I have these, I go straight for a Daedalus. The reasoning here is that, with the agility boost from Marksmanship, Power Treads and Wraith Bands, Drow hits like a truck during the early/mid game. Rushing a Daedalus can turn mid game teamfights. To give an idea, on average, a Drow hits for about 200 damage with a level or two in Marksmanship. Daedalus lets you get 500 damage crits. Two or three of these is more than enough to kill pretty much any hero, let alone supports.

After the Daedalus, I build a Butterfly. This is pretty much the only Agi item I pick up on the hero; it's almost like the item is built for a Drow.

3. Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger or Mask of Madness?
These three items can fall under positioning, initiation or escape, depending on the situation. I usually go for Shadow Blade. For reasons mentioned already, I don't like MoM in most cases. In about 80% of games, I go Shadow Blade. The reasoning here is that, with a decent start, I can get this at ~12 minutes, making pickoffs easy. Shadow Blade hit into Gust into Frost Arrows results in an easy kill.

Blink Dagger is my choice only if I'm pushing with my team a lot. In this case, I don't need the initiation from Shadow Blade, and the Blink can help me position better in the fight.


These are my thoughts on her items. I'd like to hear what others think about these decisions.
1. Mask of Madness or not?
2. Agility items or not?
3. Shadow Blade or Blink Dagger or Mask of Madness?

Strange that you didn't go over the possibility of getting a Maelstrom. I feel it's really good because it works toghether with Frost Arrows and it accelerates her farm.

It probably cause yasha kinda fills the same role, and that gives agi.
Personally i think you should build her for earlygame, since she falls off after 25 min against almost every lineup.

To me, Drow Ranger is a hero you pick because of Precision Aura. Which means you want to stack Agility items on here. And just general stats. If you aren't getting maxmimum value from the aura, then really why pick Drow Ranger, and not some other better scaling pushing carry?

You don't need to build DPS on her (Beyond maybe Mask of Madness), because she gets most of the damage she needs from Marksmanship. Stats let her sit there, sustain and right-click for longer, as well as giving her team more effective right-click from it.

Blink Dagger is a good pick-up if you need to position yourself well in the game in question.

Because Drow Ranger has a fairly specific timing window, in that you aim to kill all the outer towers and be pressing high-ground by like 20-5 minutes I think it is? Because she usually starts dropping off after that. So at that point I don't think you need a Daedelus, and instead Manta Style just lets you siege better. (As well as making you slightly more tanky, and a faster farmer)

Gotta go with Timm on this one, you want to win the game before 25:00, so getting an alternative that helps you get around the Map faster might be better, i.e. Yasha, Mask of Madness, Blink Dagger.

Drow Ranger should only really be picked for Precision Aura since the only way to be effective with her is to jump in, Gust and Right-Click someone into oblivion.

Early Game, you need Magic Stick/ Magic Wand + Power Treads (Tread switching to conserve your HP/Mana)/ Phase Boots (Phase for chasing down Heroes that stray far from their Towers). Don't buy 3 Wraith Bands, Wraith Band into a Ring of Aquila is enough, you're just delaying bigger Items by buying more. Giving your allies a bit more Damage is nice, but the amount of Damage isn't exactly game changing, so the extra Wraith Bands aren't worth the cost.

Mask of Madness gives you some extra DPS, Lifesteal, Mobility and Farming Speed. Honestly, I would say it's Core on her since you have to play Aggressively to make her work at higher skilled games anyway. Follow it up with a Blink Dagger if you can still jump people and Gank them for the next 10 minutes after you get it. Manta Style is the way if your only option is to Split-Push. Black King Bar may also be necessary if you're getting Locked Down too much, but the Purge and Immunity (if you got skill 8{D ) from Manta Style should usually be enough.

Shadow Blade only works against scrubs, walk under a well positioned Sentry Ward and you're dead...

As for Agility Items, as already mentioned, game should be over by 25 minutes, but if you have a Ranged Hard Carry, you can always just buy Stats to Boost their Damage in the Late Game letting them go full Utility without losing out.

I do agree that the Precision Aura is a big part of a Drow centered lineup. However, what I'm trying to get at, is that, with 3 Wraith Bands, you do get as much agi as you would from a Yasha.

Once you have a good chunk of agility, the question is, which benefits you more? More agility or crit?

I'm leaning towards the crit, since level 2 Marksmanship's 60 Agi bonus is quite significant that your crits would deal more damage.

Considering a ~600 gold difference between a Manta Style and Daedalus, let's compare the relevant stats they give: (Let's assume a 200 damage drow at level 11, which is usually the average, with a couple WBs and treads)

Manta:
26 agility = 9 damage bonus to your team
190 HP
Dispel silences
35 damage, 41 attack speed

Daedalus:
81 damage
25% chance to do 675 damage

If the "dispel silence" part doesn't play a big role in the game (no orchid carriers or other silences), wouldn't Daedalus be a superior option?

If Precision Aura is the argument towards a Manta Style, does the 9 teamwide damage bonus contributed from Manta outweigh the potential to 3 shot heroes with a Daedalus?

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1. Mask of Madness is fine, you just have to be very careful.

2. Does your team have at least 2 other ranged heroes? If so, you want to buff them as much as possible with your aura. If not it can be a little more flexible, but I'd still say get a Manta. Remember, the illusions now get Marksmanship so they can be very strong. So no, I don't think Precision Aura is the argument for manta style. it's a versatile item that can help you in a lot of scenarios.

3. No Shadow Blade. MoM helps a lot with positioning, that's normally all I need to get in the right spot. However, Blink Dagger can be helpful, especially now that we have gust in our toolbag its almost like being Clinkz. Blink on some support, silence them and push them out of your aura, and destroy them in 6 seconds or less.

Ignore the Stats, they're aren't what's important. What is important is what the Item allows you to do that you couldn't do without it.

Daedalus only lets you Burst down Heroes faster with your Right-Click. It is only a good Item if you can guarantee that you can stand there and Right-Click for a few seconds without interruption. You need a huge advantage before you can start thinking about standing still and Right-Clicking for more than a couple of seconds.

Manta Style provides Mobility, Illusions and a Purge. Mobility and Illusions allow you to Split-Push much more effectively, MObility and a Purge can better enable you to get into Position without getting Locked Down. It's a much more useful Item overall and can't be made useless by a long Disable (hell, with reflexes you can even dodge a lot of them using the Invulnerability).

I've only just started playing Drow, but i think generally i go for a Blink Dagger early (after Aquilla) if I'm doing OK. If i am not and i need to catch up i go Shadow Blade. It let's you sneak around the back and burst one enemy support down, but if you are on top and being the aggressive team it gives a lot less. You cant sneak around the back of their high ground.

Hmm none of your items even out her squishiness, so any sneaky nuker will probably kill you. Manta is definately the safer option. for your items I feel you would need a good support that weeps you alive against a competent nuker.