Table of Contents

• Story
• Introduction
• Pros
• Cons
• Stats
• Skills
• Skill Build
• Item Build
• How To Play Competitively
• How To Play Pubs
• Orb Walking
• How To Cast Silence Effectively
• Heroes to watch out for
• Drow's Best Friends
• Replays
• Changelog

Introduction

Drow was the first hero I ever got good at using. She is a fairly simple hero to use but i decided to write this guide to help newcomers and because not many guides have been updated to include the change to her ulti. Drow is a very good 1v1 hero has the ability to gank almost any hero.

I recommend you to play Drow if

• You need ranged heroes that deal non-magic damage.
• You want a dps powerhouse.
• You are facing an all melee team.
• You prefer solo heroes.

I do NOT recommend you to play Drow if

• Your team needs a different type of hero (tank, mass disabler).
• The other team can screw your early game up (Pick NA RIGHT NOW).

Pros

• Extremely High Dps.
• Has a reliable slow.
• Silence to counter casters.
• Great laner/farmer.
• Ranged.
• Has big range and can orb walk.
• Has 1700 sight range at night.

Cons

• Passives so not the most fun hero to play.
• Built in Orb Effect so item choices are limited
• Very low health.
• A late game hero.

Stats

Story


Summon Drow Ranger
Traxex was a skilled archer in her oppressive underground homeland, the Underdark, until she grew sick of her kin's evil ways and fled to the surface world. As a part of her resolution, she joined the Sentinel, bringing her excellent marksmanship to the fray. Some of her abilities include stripping magical beings of their voices, enchanting her arrows with an icy cold, and the ability to release each arrow with much greater precision. While such powers are valuable, her true origin will never cease to linger around in the judging eyes of others.

Strength: 17 + 1.9
Agility: 22 + 1.9
Intelligence: 15 + 1.4

Attack range of 625.
Movement speed of 300.

Base Attack Time: 1.7 secs
Base Damage: 18 - 29 (40 - 51)

Stats At Level 1

Strength: 17 + 1.9
Agility: 22 + 1.9
Intelligence: 15 + 1.4
Health: 473
Mana: 194

At Level 25 (without any worn items) Without Attribute Bonuses

Strength: 62
Agility: 67
Intelligence: 48
Health: 1328
Mana: 624

At Level 25 (without any worn items) With Attribute Bonuses

Strength: 62 + 20
Agility: 67 + 20
Intelligence: 48 + 20
Health: 1719
Mana: 891

Skills

This is just a little overview, how to use the skills is in another section
For more information click here

This is one of the best skills to orb-walk with. At level 1 it has a 0 sec cooldown so you can start orb walking the shit out of the melee heroes. It is also what makes Drow one of the best chasers other than guys with a blink type move and probably Viper as well. It is possible to use this to help escape but I do not recommend it if you are new to orb walking. It's not very reliable against many heroes anyway.

This sets Drow apart from all the other dps powerhouses. A 6 second AoE silence can completely screw up an enemy gank and stop those early deaths you tend to get with Weaver and Sniper.

A very uninteresting spell unless you decide to use the VS, Drow, Luna aura stack. In early game it is much nicer for you just to get stats but once you pick up your Butterfly or 3rd level ulti it starts to do awesome damage. At level 25 with Marksmanship and stat bonuses learned it gives a total of 44 Damage. It also helps if you are in a team of Rangers.

Since this ability changed from 20% instant creep kills, it has turned Drow into a dps machine from her beginnings as a farmer/pusher. 45 Agility is more than any item in the game gives. May seem like a pretty average ulti but when you look at the ones people barely use or with massive cooldowns and compare it to Clinkz ulti you can see its potential.

Skill Builds

The Standard Skill Build

1. Silence/Frost Arrows
2. Stats/Silence
3. Frost Arrows
4. Frost Arrows/Stats
5. Frost Arrows
6. Marksmanship
7. Frost Arrows
8. Silence/Trueshot Aura/Stats
9. Silence/Trueshot Aura/Stats
10. Silence/Trueshot Aura/Stats
11. Marksmanship
12. Trueshot Aura/Silence/Stats
13. Trueshot Aura/Silence/Stats
14. Trueshot Aura/Silence/Stats
15. Trueshot Aura/Silence/Stats
16. Marksmanship
17. Stats/Silence
18. Stats/Silence
19. Stats/Silence
20. Stats
21. Stats
22. Stats
23. Stats
24. Stats
25. Stats

Justification
Frost Arrows or Silence is taken first. You can chose either, Frost Arrows is taken at level 1 to harass earlier but note that it should always be taken first if you are in a lane against just melee heroes where as Silence is taken to help prevent First Blood at level 1 which can occasionally happen with a good ES or potm on the opposing team but it can also be used to help assist early kills in a lane against Blinkers and Windwalkers.

Frost Arrows is the first skill you are going to max because it is the best skill Drow has and in a lane and is needed for basically ever single kill you will get as Drow. 1 level of stats is needed early game if you find that you need more health.

Getting extra levels of Silence just depends on who you are facing. Judge whether its worth the extra seconds of silence against a noob Stealth Assassin or a Refresher Orb Zeus. There are many situations where you wont need silence until the massive team fights and team pushes happen so get that after Trueshot Aura.

Getting Marksmanship is a no-brainer. More agility increase your damage, attack speed and armor and at level 16 no hero can equal your agility.

Trueshot Aura should be maxed by the time you have level 3 Marksmanship because this is when Trueshot Aura should be most effective. The skill build in general is always very flexible but I generally at least stick to maing Frost Arrows first and Marksmanship whenever possible.

Item Builds

Click on the one you want to read

*Note* that you can buy Slippers from the side shop from 6.60 so that means you don't need to start with them anymore and can just start with Circlets and buy the Slippers from the side shop as you get more gold. Also other items you will need to buy for other items are all available from the side shop Belt of Giant Strength/Boots of Elvenskin and Gloves of Haste for Treads, Boots of Elvenskin for Yasha, Magic Stick for Magic Wand and may more. Also as of 6.66 you can buy boots off speed from the side shop so you CAN BE FAST because having more mooooovespeed makes you good so pick them up when you can.

*Note Note* BLINK DAGGER IS FUCKING AWESOME LIKE FOR SERIOUS GET IT IF YOU CAN.
But seriously if you don't want BoT and the extra slot isn't a problem get Treads and Blink Dagger. Treads for the cheap stats and Blink Dagger for a good escape and for surprise BUTTSEX.

Competitive Build

Standard Pub Build

Defensive Build

Optional Items

Items Not To Buy

• Orchid Malevolence, Orchid Malevolence is pretty unnecessary. First of all Drow already has a better silence already and its AoE. Second the Damage and Attack Speed is much more easily obtainable. Last of all the int and mana regen is completely wasted. She has one spell that costs 90 mana and a 12 mana orb. Get this on Windrunner. nuff said.
• Hand of Midas, Drow is ALREADY (yes caps) an awesome farmer so why waste your time with this when you have to delay your item build.
• Orb Effects, Any item that says ORB EFFECTS DO NOT STACK. Reason, they don't stack.
• LIFESTEAL NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT LOOKS ON PAPER OR ON DROW IT'S SHIT DON'T GET IT EVER.
• Radiance, Radiance is a big NO. the evasion is shit compared to butterfly, immolation aura AoE is 550 and your attack range is 600, and there are better damage items.
• Divine Rapier, You DIE easily. The item drops. The enemy gets more damage or 3k gold.
• Phase Boots, the damage it gives you is shit compared to what Treads or BoT gives.

How To Play Competitively

Early Game

As drow is a carry/anti-carry you should barely ever be the ward buyer for your team, however if you are super awesome compared to your teammates feel free to use your last hits on wards and chickens.

At lvls 1 and 2 drow is a surprisingly strong hero with silence and a 0 cd orb. At this point you should be harassing most non-double stun lanes really hard. The only hero who's lane control at this point is close is probably huskar (and you don't wanna mess with him for a while).

By the time you get to level 3 at the latest you should be harassing the enemy heroes in your lane but keep in mind they are gettin some stronger nukes. If you are up against a dual lane you should focus on just 1 hero this is usually the melee hero if there is one as he will have to come in close to last hit/deny. If there are 2 melee heroes then pick on the one with the least health or the one without an escape mechanism. The only attacking you do should be to last hit, deny or harass.

If you are in the hard lane (top sent/bot scourge) and if you are in a dual lane at around level 4/5 and a solo miss gets called be on the defensive. Once you get to around level 6/7 you should think about going back to the fountain and buying some items you should try to farm up 1k gold before you go back but if you can't it doesn't matter. The perfect amount of gold you can get is more than 1700 because with that much you can start getting your core items straight away.

If you have been holding a solo lane if you are above level 7 you might want to go gank a low level hero.

Most of the time you will want to go gank in your long lane because if they are pushing then you will be able to sneak up on them from behind and if they use a direct path to get away they will have to run past you. Note that the creeps spawn every 30 seconds this is useful because if you go in to gank when the creeps are right behind you then you might get killed (it takes around 25 seconds without creep blocking to get to the first bottom tower).

Middle Game

What you should be doing is farm A LOT without dying and get involved in ganks. You should be getting every last hit in your lane now and also remember to deny creeps when they are on low hp so you don't push too far. If you have pushed too far you will probably notice that some of the heroes have disappeared off the mini map they have probably gone to kill you. If this happens TP out as soon as possible. If there are already heroes after you then try to Silence all the heroes with stuns and TP out.

If there are team fights happening then you should get involved chuck a Silence down to give your team an edge over the other. Make sure you don't run into the action try coming in from behind and throwing down a Silence and Orb Walking their main source of damage.

The main thing is that you are weaker here than in the laning stage and you will be able to dps some heroes, but remember you are still vulnerable to nukes until you get your BKB so don't get too cocky. Its ok to be a little selfish but remember that you are doing it for your team late game.

Late Game

This is when drow shines. First when ever you see an enemy hero put Frost Arrows on Auto-Cast this is because by this time in the game you will have such fast attack speed that it is more efficient to have Auto-Cast on rather than Orb Walking.

If you find any lone heroes go around them and HUNT THEM DOWN (that's right i went there). Your teams should be in massive pushes and team fights all the time. Discuss with your team and make sure you focus fire people. You should be focusing the Carry, Disablers, Support, Tanks in that order. Without their carry they won't be doing nearly as much damage. Next you will need to take out at least one of the disablers or their radi carry if they have one. Then their team should fall apart.

Remember if you are focus firing their carry what are they going to do to you??? They will focus you first because you have massive damage now a silence and a slow so it makes sense for them to want to take you out so always be ready to use your BKB/Silence wherever you are or as a last resort run.

Its great to have disablers by your side, but you should at least be able to 2v1 int heroes within the time silence gives. Still as Drow is a fragile hero do not get into the heart of the battle where you will be destroyed by the initiators. The way Drow can destroy other carries in late game is by stopping their game breaking ultis and with her supreme dps output picks off their team 1 by 1.

Play Drow very offensively and be there for the push on every enemy tower. You can rax pretty easily.

How To Play Pubs

Early Game

Ok once you've picked or randomed the Drow, it is time to decide which item build you are going to use. If it is your first time playing Drow or if you have randomed Drow and you don't really know how to play her then go for the defensive build. Otherwise you will go for the standard build. Note that if the opposing team has more than 2 good lane controllers you may want to consider using the defensive build. Now buy what items your build requires now go into a lane. If you are a beginner then go to the long lane (bottom for sentinel and top for scourge) and dual lane but if you are more experienced with Drow you might want to solo mid.

By the time you get to level 3 at the latest you should be harassing the enemy heroes in your lane. If you are up against a dual lane you should focus on just 1 hero this is usually the melee hero if there is one as he will have to come in close to last hit/deny. If there are 2 melee heroes then pick on the one with the least health or the one without an escape mechanism. You should try to get at least 2 kills/denies every creep wave, the rest of the time you should be harassing the enemy heroes. Once you get to around level 6/7 you should think about going back to the fountain and buying some items you should try to farm up 1k gold before you go back but if you can't it doesn't matter. If you have been holding a solo lane if you are above level 7 you might want to go gank a low level hero.

Most of the time you will want to go gank in your long lane because if they are pushing then you will be able to sneak up on them from behind and if they use a direct path to get away they will have to run past you. Note that the creeps spawn every 30 seconds this is useful because if you go in to gank when the creeps are right behind you then you might get killed (it takes around 25 seconds without creep blocking to get to the first bottom tower).

Middle Game

Your MAIN job during mid game is to farm, farm and farm. By the end of midgame (level 15-18) you should definately have a Butterfly. Try solo farm whenever you can on bottom and top lanes, if you think it is safer and more efficient then you can neutral. Make sure that during this time you watch the mini-map because ganks will be coming non-stop in this phase of the game.

IF you do get into team battles try to not get in too deep. Throw in a Silence to help your team and make sure you permanently have some of their essential heroes slowed. If you are getting pummelled use your stealth axe to run away. When winning try to get the finisher on most heroes but don't KS unless its a Shadow Shaman with 6 Eul's already.

The main thing is that you are weaker here than in the laning stage and not powerful enough to out dps a lot of heroes, you are still vulnerable to nukes so don't get too cocky. Its ok to be a little selfish but remember that you are doing it for your team late game.

One more thing to remember is you should have a Lothar's during the early stages of mid game and if you ever get ganked remember to SILENCE first then Wind Walk. Silencing first will allow you to get away for sure because they won't be able to AOE snipe you if you are on low hp.

Late Game

This is when drow shines. First when ever you see an enemy hero put Frost Arrows on Auto-Cast this is because by this time in the game you will have such fast attack speed that it is more efficient to have Auto-Cast on rather than Orb Walking. If you find any lone heroes windwalk up and HUNT THEM DOWN (that's right i went there). Your teams should be in massive pushes and team fights all the time.

Discuss with your team and make sure you focus fire people. Its great to have disablers by your side, but you should at least be able to 2v1 int heroes within the time silence gives. Still as Drow is a fragile hero do not get into the heart of the battle where you will be destroyed by the initiators until you at least have a heart. The way Drow can destroy other carries in late game is by stopping their game breaking ultis and with her supreme dps output picks off their team 1 by 1.

Play Drow very offensively and be there for the push on every enemy tower. You can rax pretty easily.

Orb Walking

Orb Walking

First of all what is Orb Walking, Orb Walking is when you manually cast an orb skill on a target in this case it's Frost Arrows. Manually casting an orb is considered a spell. Casting spells doesn't trigger creep aggro so the creeps won't attack you even though you're attacking enemy heroes but if you have autocast activated it triggers creep aggro so the creeps will start to attack you.

Orb Walking should be used to chase down a hero in the early stages of the game as well as harassing. Harassing should be exclusively on melee heroes but if your enemy is uber bads or you are fighting a sort of ranged hero (Templar, Luna, Zeus) you can outrange them by almost 300. It is used to stop people from last hitting effectively and dominating the lane.

How to Orb Walk, to Orb Walk you need to cast Frost Arrows on an enemy hero and then while the arrow is flying through the air you would normally have a backswing animation but if you move then it cancels the backswing allowing you can cast Frost Arrows again.

Here is an example of Orb Walking

FrostRequiem


ironfisto


It shows how Frost Arrows can be used to chase and kill a hero. When Orb Walking with Drow you need to remember than Frost Arrows slows the enemy you are chasing so it doesn't really matter if you mess up because you should be able to catch up to the enemy hero before the slow time runs out, if you really want to practice orb walking try it with Clinkz or Silencer as they have non-slow orbs.

One more thing to remember is that Orb Walking becomes useless from around level 16 and above because by then your attack speed should be high enough that Orb Walking is slower than auto-attacking with Frost Arrows on auto cast.

How To Cast Silence Effectively

I think the best way to show you how to cast silence effectively is to show you with pictures.

How Not To Cast Silence



Ok you should be able to see the problem here. As you can see in the image if Silence was cast then only Alchemist would have been Silenced leaving Ursa free to Earthshock me and probably kill me.

How To Cast Silence



As you can see I have Silenced both Alchemist and Ursa leaving them unable to stun (Alchemist) or slow me (Ursa) and made them defenseless and getting me more gold.

Ok the point is cast Silence on as many heroes as possible don't be a knob and only Silence one hero when you can Silence more. One last note if you ever gank anyone ALWAYS start of by using Silence on them as it stops them from stunning you, wind walking away, slowing you, or blinking.

Heroes to watch out for

Nukers

Since Drow has shit hp she gets raped by heavy nukers. If you get caught with less than half health you're going to get killed. The way to counter them is easier said than done. You need to Silence them before they can kill you with their nukes and once they are Silenced you should be able to kill them.

Assassins

Pudge will be able to rape and kill you before you even know what's happening. Nerubian Assassin will be able to destroy you with your low hp 1 good combo will kill you. A good way to counter Pudge this is to Silence him so he can't turn off Rot and try to kill him. Stay away from Nerubian Assassin until you have at least a Lothar's Edge because then you will have an escape mechanism, his mana burn shouldn't be enough to stop a windwalk. Against these heroes keep an eye on the minimap at all times incase your allies don't call miss. Against a pudge its generally a good idea to keep a creep inbetween yourself and common hook spots. In any case ask a member of your team to buy wards, you shouldn't have to when saving up for big items.

Drow's Best Friends

Disablers

Shadow Shaman and Bane Elemental can hold an enemy still for 4-5 seconds. 5 seconds of free attacks for Drow can be deadly and after the disable time is up you can use Frost Arrows to stop them from getting away.

Battle Initiators

These guys can start the battle. This gives you an opportunity to aim a great silence for your team as well as clearing the creeps. This gives you plenty of room to finish heroes with your Frost Arrows chasing.

Replays

Coming soon... All my old replays were 1.23 not 1.24 and on slightly older versions.

Guide Template
Ingolf

Any Feedback is welcome