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16 Votes

Good Razor Guide

September 26, 2013 by edwardrgb
Comments: 13    |    Views: 158980    |   


Build 1
Build 2
Build 3

Recommended

DotA2 Hero: Razor




Hero Skills

Plasma Field

2 4 5 7

Static Link

1 3 8 9

Storm Surge

10 12 13 14

Eye of the Storm

6 11 16

Talents

15 17 18

When to pick

Good Against:
-melee or short ranged heroes such as Luna, Sven, Templar Assassin
-carries generally
-heroes that try to run away generally
-when they have a jungler, as three heroes on their team are going solo instead of one (the jungler, the mid hero, and one of the lanes)

Bad against:
-long range heroes (honestly Sniper hasn't been much of a problem, you can kill him easily if he is alone and you have as much farm as he does, but with his allies he can be trouble)
-numbers. Teams that stick together will not give you an opening. This is partly why Razor is not played often
-heroes that punish or prevent movement like Bloodseeker

Role

Razor is not a hard carry. He's a wonderful anti-carry. He is a very unnatural choice for support since his skills don't really help anyone else. However, you can buy a Mekansm in certain situations. He is a good ganker, but similar to Riki, he's one of those carries with mid-game ganking potential that is nevertheless completely useless later without items. Good heroes that are gankers but not carries should have an enduring role into the late-game, such as initiator or disabler; Razor can do neither of these. So while you can choose between staying in lane to farm or roaming to gank during the early mid-game, you basically have no choice but to think semi-carry as Razor. Unless you honestly just want to be the guy who killed a few guys in the midgame then started to do nothing (or worse, feed).

He can be built as a pusher, but you need to be sure your team can hold its own, or at least trade evenly in a 4v5, and you had better hope to accomplish something while split-pushing. Razor is not great in a teamfight, however, so maybe this isn't that bad.

Method to this Madness

As Razor, your primary modus operandi is to exploit Static Link to increase your damage by 228. Because it takes 8 seconds to get there, you ideally want to pass the time, either by running from someone chasing, or chasing someone running.

Regardless whether you are doing the chasing or are being chased, Static Link and Eye of the Storm works to turn the tide to your advantage, as long as you keep your enemy close. After a few seconds, you will have stolen hundreds of damage from their right-click, reduced their armour, and dealt some damage. Then, it only takes a few of your right clicks at this point to kill them.

This basic tactic requires two things: speed and durability. You need to keep up with your enemy, since most of the time you will be chasing while using your skills. You need to survive while chasing or being chased. Unfortunately, Razor is very fragile without items. That's why as Razor you do not go for usual carry items such as Daedalus, Abyssal Blade etc. Going for +damage items instead of speed and druability is the best way to make yourself irrelevant in the late game, because you don't wield those as well as Drow Ranger or Kunkka, and you are dead before your Static Link and Eye of the Storm have a chance.

How do I stay relevant into the late game?

Simple. Don't take farm from your main carry, and don't buy items that are only for +damage.

The foundation you set for yourself in the early mid game just gets worse/better with time. You reap what you sow. If you made yourself chunky/tanky then the other side won't focus you down right off the bat; they'd go for the dps of your team (your main carry usually) while you steal your damage using Static Link and reduce armour with Eye of the Storm. But if you bought damage items you are as squishy as Drow Ranger (probably more in many ways) but with much less damage. Play Drow if you just want to right click some serious damage with items like daedalus and MKB. You'll be useless in the late game as a squishy Razor. Your late game carry role comes from being able to "take over" the battle from your team's main carry if they die(in some cases after a few seconds of battle you take over like a boss even if they live, by being both more tanky and temporarily having more damage). Would you rather have bought damage items and be the first to die, or take 8 seconds for +224 damage (static link) and live? I know that's too simplistic and sometimes things don't go well, but you get the picture: always go durability before damage as Razor. And go move speed before durability if you want to take a risk for more ganks.

EDIT: if you really are sure you won't die, and have time to steal 224 damage (8 seconds), you could consider getting dps items such as Mjollnir and deadalus. This will tend to only be in situations where you are playing with a protective hero such as Dazzle or Omniknight working closely with you.

How do I survive as Razor?

Simple. Run! Often versus a melee hero, Static Link then run. If they chase you, you'll probably get to kill them. Eye of the Storm as well if you can spare a brief delay.

Beware of ranged heroes. Often it's best to just run since you must turn to face them to static link.

If the enemy has slows or stuns, always static link and eye of the storm before running.

Movement speed increases will help you greatly here, which is why I cannot recommend it enough. It saves your life (as with any hero), but it also secures kills when you are the one chasing. If move speed is how you plan to survive, anyone with a long-lasting slow is dangerous, as well as speacialty anti-escape skills like Rupture. Stuns are less problematic.

Maximizing your activity while surviving, as with any hero, takes experience and judgment.

Skills Description

Razor's skills are all very good, they have good synergies and they scale so well that it's hard to know what to get.

Plasma Field is one of the game's most overpowered nukes. Large range, splash damage, no need to target anyone, affects invisible heroes, up to 740 damage. The only challenge is to hit enemy heroes at the very edge of the ring to deal the maximum damage. This is easy with some experience, but it's even easier the more speed you have. Max this one first. During laning, only use it if you can kill an enemy hero as it pushes the lane. Also avoid using it until you have at least 3 points in it, as it costs quite a bit of mana for Razor. Later on, it fades in importance.

Static Link is your signature spell. It drains damage from an enemy hero, up to 224 by the end of 8 seconds. It keeps working come hell or high water (literally) as long as you remain close to the target (and both of you remain alive). Use it liberally. In team fights, it can be hard to maintain a link as the linked enemy immediately backs off and it is too dangerous to follow. Try to link someone who is less likely to be able to run away (they are at the sidelines or they are melee carries), and avoid linking enemies that your teammates will kill right away. It's a bit of a challenge to use this in a team fight.

Unstable Current gives you 3% bonus movement speed per point. That's the most important part. It also gives a little bit of revenge damage and purges when you get targeted by enemy spells. The purge is very good when you are chasing and the enemy turns around to stun you; they are slowed and you can thus recover some of the lost ground.

Eye of the Storm drops lightning bolts to the enemy or neutral unit nearby with lowest HP, and reduces their armour by 1 each time. Like Static Link, it keeps going even if you are disabled. Your ultimate is great but doesn't scale as well as the other skills, so I just get one point in it at level 6 or 8 and then wait to max my other skills first. Enemy creeps with their lower HP will tank these bolts, so it is most effective when there are no enemy or neutral creeps around.

Stats: Razor has horrible stat growth so once you start getting stats you feel much stronger every level. Supplement your stats with items such as Eye of Skadi.

Putting it all together:

Use static link whenever it might possibly be of use. Usually by the time you find out for sure it's too late. Use eye of the storm as soon as it will probably be useful (will likely hit an enemy hero at least once).

Skill Order

Skill Order

For general purposes, always max Plasma Field at level 7. It is one of the most powerful nukes, but you need to hit enemies at the very edge of the range to maximize damage. Great for finishing off enemy heroes, and when some splash is necessary. Generally not great for harass as it pushes the lane.

I love the speed from unstable current. Unfortunately however, it's just not good enough compared to Static Link.

Some people max static link first. It really is insanely powerful to drain 28 damage a second at level 7. However, I don't agree because it can make you too aggressive when you're still vulnerable to getting killed by creeps and nukes (or the enemy's lane partner). Even if you are careful with your own life, you won't be able to get a kill early on against cautious opponents. I have placed Static Link first under the anti-jungler build, as it indeed would be really helpful if you picked Razor to assassinate their jungler (don't get hit by jungle creeps).

Some people like to get the best of both worlds and max them both, getting your ultimate at level 9. This is okay, and perhaps even ideal, as long as all the enemies are still in their lanes, because your ultimate is not very good during the laning phase with all those enemy creeps tanking the lightning bolts. However, if the opposing team pushes together before this, you'll want your ultimate available to strike them while you run away.

Items

As discussed, speed and durability are the primary things you need, unless you have dedicated protectors such as Omniknight, in which case you may be able to carry because you have more time to steal damage. This guide presumes that you are playing with strangers, so you have to rely on yourself more.

Wraith Band Last hitting with Razor is hard. He has horrible stats and horrible stat growth. Helpful for last hits and some more health. Very cost efficient.

Ring of Aquila It makes last hits slightly easier, and Razor can have mana problems. Toggle it off so that your creeps do not get 2 armour and push the lane.

Boots of Speed is obvious and even better than 4 points on unstable current (see what a ****py skill it is, worth only 450 gold at first, maybe 2000 g later.)

[Magic wand is great because often fighting with Razor or against Razor is about snap judgments about who will die fist (confounded by the fact that one is gaining damage and the other losing damage). The wand allows you to surprise with a bit of instant HP. However, the sooner I get Phase Boots the better for both my last-hitting and my ganks.

Power Treads is what you will wish you had when you are carrying in the late-game, but before that it isn't as helpful because it hardly gives any movement speed. During chases it is movespeed not attack speed that will help you land a lot more hits.

So instead I get Phase Boots almost everytime. It's an average 8% movement speed increase (by constantly spamming it), and allows you to pass through creeps. The 24 damage is cost-efficient but pretty useless for Razor. This without Yasha in my opinion is the cheapest acceptable amount of speed you need.

Tranquil Boots is interesting in that it gives some protection and some HP regen, perfect during intense laning. It also gives more speed that standard boots. Finally, it is just plain cheaper, and can be disassembled. I recommend it for anti-jungling and ganker/pusher because of its low cost (you gank as soon as you get it).

Boots of Travel is magnificent, but it takes too long. It is much better than Yasha in terms of speed. For the price of a Yasha you can get another 50 movespeed (as opposed to Yasha's 35), compounded by the 12% movespeed bonus with your skills and a possible 10% from a possible Yasha. As an added bonus, you no longer have to buy or carry scrolls of TP and can TP to the frontlines. This is something you'd get instead of Yasha any day, but the problem is you should only get one pair of boots and Phase boots is just more cost-efficient. In games where your team is doing really well, with plenty of kills just during the laning phase, and you are rich, you may get this and even top it off with a Yasha, giving you 479 movement speed (after Unstable Current is maxed) ALL THE TIME. But in 9 out of 10 games this isn't a viable choice in the beginning. For the ganker/pusher build, this becomes vital later; as towers fall you need to be able to TP to creeps.

Early Extensions Explanations

You have to know the items and use your brain. The guide would be too long if I stated the nuances of why certain items are in certain builds, such as don't build Mek in ganker/pusher because 1) not enough mana regen to use its active 2) you aren't teamfighting in ganker/pusher 3) getting ag's means that it will probably be too late for mekansm to be as effective as it should be.

Hood of Defiance is useful if you are getting nuked. You don't fear physical damage in a 1v1 as much. Solves your HP regen problem.

Mekansm solves your HP regen problem. It is also amazing for your team, because it's simply an amazing item. Also it surprises people and throws off their judgment of whether they can win the 1v1, just like a Magic Wand. It does take quite a bit of mana however, so your mana regen problem will last longer.

Rod of Atos is decent but not amazing on razor, because it is 1 part HP and 2 parts intelligence. Gives HP and solves mana problems. You usually don't need that much intel. The active is helpful, and it is cost-efficient: just slow the fleeing enemy when you have stolen enough damage to kill. If you choose this, you should not get the Skadi extension because Rod duplicates Skadi's role far too much, with the intel and the slow that you do not need twice. It's pricey though, and the only reason why it is under early extensions is because you would make the decision to go for it at around the same time that you consider the others in this list. It is a cheaper Eye of Skadi that is a prequel to the Alternative Extensions. Alternatives: A naked Vitality Booster for durability, then get Skadi, then build the vitality booster into Heart of Tarrasque. Good alternative when mana regen isn't a problem

Yasha give overall good stats: 16 damage, 31 attack speed, and just over 2 armour, which is all pretty respectable. The biggest selling point is its 10% movespeed boost.

Medallion of Courage will help you solve your mana problems in the absence of Rod of Atos or Eye of Skadi. It also gives you a killer boost in damage when you use it on someone, especially if you have reduced armour by some other means too. Ideally you would use it when you've stolen enough damage and are ready to strike; hence it is fitting for Razor. I wouldn't get it if you are going to take the Skadi based extension, and conversely it would be brutally good if combined with Assault Cuirass or Desolator. Once you get enemy armour into the negatives, you will be amazed at how small hits (even from creeps), deal big damage.

MANA PROBLEMS: You won't have any if you are doing the anti-jungler build. With a ring of Aquila and sparing use of your nuke, you should be fine in any case. Nuke sparingly, only to finish people off, or when you are pushing, only to clear a wave.

The Skadi Set Extension and the Alternative Extensions

Razor as I said builds very flexibly. (There are SO many choices it's pretty overwhelming, and to avoid overwhelming you, I will present my two best ideas.)

Skadi-based set extension

PROS: -high HP means no fear of nukes -great stats -slowing attack
Do this extension when: -there's lots of enemy magic damage -there's lots of enemy stuns (NOT slows) -there's very squishy enemies

Eye of Skadi allows you to add insult to injury when you slow enemy heroes with every attack. The slowing effect means that your speed advantage widens even further in chases. You can also pick off strays that have drifted a litle too far from their towers and their teammates. And the stat gains and HP max gains all in one item slot are simply terrific. Almost 700 HP. Can't argue with that.

Blade Mail With the HP from Eye of Skadi, this gives you the protection of deterrence. The less people are inclined to fight you the more inclined they are to run. And you know they can't run without making things even worse for themselves. Still be careful though, as 2 or 3 high dps heroes can still kill you by spreading your damage reflection between them.

Heart of Tarrasque allows you to happily take damage and reflect it with your blade mail. You just run from a fight and return a few seconds later. It gives 1000 HP, a LOT for Razor and his poor Strength gain. The point is that with this kind of durability you don't need to fear disables and spell damage. Instead of a Black King Bar you could buy most of your Heart. It's never too late to get a Hood of Defiance if you are getting focused by nukes. Mind the situation as well before buying Heart hwoever: if your T3s are down or vulnerable you may need to save money for buybacks instead.

Alternative Extensions
Instead of the Skadi set extension you can mix and match these alternatives.

Assault Cuirass is simply amazing when you are alone and outstanding in team fights, for any hero built tanky. Highly recommended. Your main carry will appreciate you being around.

Butterfly is very good against physical damage, sort of like a second assault cuirass in that it reduces damage you take from physical attacks and greatly increase dps. Buy only after assault cuirass if assault cuirass really hit the spot, OR if someone else on your team got or is getting Assault Cuirass. This is because if you factor in the fact that assault cuirass benefits your entire team, it is simply a much better item; I honestly think someone should get AC every game if possible.

Satanic gives 500 HP and lifesteal, which is good in this build where DPS and protecting against HP loss is emphasized. Remember to use the active!

Sange and Yasha is a mediocre item, but it is helpful for Razor if you already got a Yasha, since a little more durability and a chance to slow wouldn't hurt. Ultimately it is vastly inferior to Eye of Skadi apart from the movespeed. It's only a possibility if you got a Yasha and don't plan to follow the Eye of Skadi route. The stats are actually pretty good for its cost, essentially 26 agility and 16 strength, but low compared to what else you could fit into an item slot. This is probably a go-to item if you bought a Yasha but the tide is turned against your team; in those cases it's hard to get a whole AC or Skadi. Only another 2050 g, and more useful to a Razor than mana-hungry manta style (the illusions can't steal damage anyway).

Situationals

Desolator is a possible replacement for medallion in the late game, or it works wonderfully with other armour reduction. There is seldom such thing as too much armour reduction; you never really hit the limit of -20. Armour reduction increases damage exponentially.

Ethereal Blade is a suggestion I stole from another guide. It is used as a nuke or escape, but it doesn't give very much HP or durability however, making you vulnerable to burst damage (can't pop this if you get chain stunned then focused). I haven't tried and I don't like the idea since I think Razor's high movespeed with durability is a better bet for survival, and worst of all, you cannot attack in ghost form, which means you've given up the opportunity to turn around and kill. Ghost sceptre does the escape job with decent mid game stats even though it alone is a terrible waste of an item slot by late-game. Note that magic damage is increased in ghost form so definitely do not get these if magic damage will be a problem.

Black King Bar I don't like this item. It's just very expensive and Razor's fights last a LONG TIME. For carries that can kill the entire enemy team in 5 seconds flat this is what they need. Razor needs 8 seconds just to steal 228 damage. Before then he wants to delay combat by either running or chasing (or Eul's or some other protection). Because commenters and the general public are convinced of its efficacy I have included this item. But I would maintain that it is not very good for Razor (Razor is a very special kind of carry), and so this item is very situational. You can have 75% of your Heart of Tarrasque instead.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity This was suggested in early comments. As the whirlwind does not break Static Link (nothing but death or distance does), it is helpful for making sure that the enemy doesn't break your link. I have tried this item before writing this guide and was not very impressed with the results. It is great for chasing because as soon as they might break the link and escape you can tornado them and give yourself time to catch up. It can be used to escape from a single enemy. These features weren't good enough for me when I tried it because the thing just costs too much money and most of it is sunk into mana regen and worse, an expensive recipe. Buy this as a late-game item only. It was suggested to me that it helps keep the enemy's main carry from attacking for 2.5 seconds during a team fight while you steal damage and your team focuses others, making the carry much more harmless by the time they land. This sounds good to me as it solves a major problem for Razor trying to participate in a team fight: you want to link someone who uses their right click, but not someone who will be focused down by your team too quickly. [color=#ffff00]So in conclusion, this is a late game item![/color] Downside of too much spent on mana regen remains and is even worse in the late game when your mana problems have solved themselves.

Lanes/Builds

Going safe lane, I would play the recommended build (anti-carry, semi-carry). I do not recommend safe lane because it should be given to a hero that needs it (fragile hard carry that can't do anything in the beginning)

Going mid-lane, ganker/pusher becomes more feasible.

Going suicide lane, you may use any build. This is the only lane you can use anti-jungler.

Lane with a support who will not steal your last hits.

The anti-jungler and ganker/pusher builds are very situational, and so should be used with caution.

For the recommended build, start ganking at around level 6/7, only if the opponents are vulnerable. You wont' be strong enough to dive past towers or creeps, but your nuke can really finish most people off at 1/4 HP, and you can use the element of surprise if you roam to a different lane. If the opponents are strong, just keep laning until you have some durability items and have maxed both of your primary skills. If you are doing this in the suicide lane, ganking mid is very do-able and looks very pro: just nuke the enemy hero and a fresh wave of enemy creeps. A stun or slow or nuke from the mid hero should be enough to kill or force a retreat to the fountain (either of which is good).

For the anti-jungler build, ward the camp closest to the rune spawn location (the one furthest from the lanes). You skill differently as static link needs to be as strong as possible for a 1v1. Attack the jungler when you know they are fighting the easy camp (or better yet, when they are not attacking any camp), as you don't want powerful creeps turning on you, and you want to be far from where his allies are.

For the ganker/pusher build, you get similar early game items as the anti-jungler build, minus the wards, eul's. You have similar skills as the recommended build. You gank at around level 6/7. If you are suicide lane, gank mid. If you are mid, gank whichever lane needs it. You use whatever gold you get to rush aghanim's. It becomes your durability item. Once you have it, TP to undefended towers, use your splashy Plasma Field to clear enemy creeps fast, and then use Eye of the Storm. Ag's allows it to strike buildings, increases frequency by almost 20%, and it reduces armour by 1 each strike. This should allow towers to go down fairly fast. A Desolator reduces the armour of towers by 6 and gives good damage, while a Boots of Travel obviously helps you by giving speed and cutting the costs of TP scrolls. In this build you only join your team when the team needs to defend an enemy push, as Razor isn't a great teamfighter anyway.

Tips

1) Don't be afraid to hit during a chase or even without any chase. I wrote as if you always wait to max out damage from Static Link, and that you always chase or run. There's nothing wrong with hitting while the link is working; often if you run they will not chase unless it looks like you are dying. Time is sometimes of the essence during a chase, every second you delay in killing them increases the chances their allies will arrive in time to help. So attack if you are sure you will not break the link. Dont' be afraid to get back without a kill.

2) Thanks to ajdeemo for writing this in the comments below. Right-click the ground near an enemy hero if you just want to follow them, instead of right clicking the hero. Right clicking the hero will cause nearby enemy creeps to attack you and will also cause Razor to attack as soon as he is in range of the enemy, which increases the distance between the two of you and may break a static link.

3) It is possible to hit an enemy with Plasma Field so near the edge that you get 370 magic damage but that's it. No second hit of 370 damage in the return. At least I've seen it happen to me when used on some creeps (ranged creeps usually die if hit near the edge, but this one survived with half-health and was not a mega-creep. So don't fret if you didnt' hit them right on the edge

4) Plasmas Field can kill even at level 1 (around 300 damage at the edge). I said not to use Plasma Field unless you have at least 3 points. Ideally it is best to wait until you have 4 points to give the enemy a surprise. But basically the rule is to use it only to kill, in the beginning when you don't have much farm or tankiness to fight normally. Unfortuantely enemy heroes with Tangos and Salves heal very fast; I often see them surviving with a sliver of hp after a Tango was used.

5) Physically block fleeing enemy heroes, while static link and eye of the storm are working.

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