Drow Ranger

For the race in Dota 2 lore, see Drow.

Hero

 

Strategy

 

Counters

 

Equipment

 

Gear

 

Relics

 

Responses

 

Sounds

 

Lore

 

Old Abilities

 

Changelogs

 

Known Bugs

 

Drow Ranger
17 + 1.9 19 + 2.2 15 + 1.4
Level Base 1 15 25 Health 200 506 974 1316 H. regen amp 0% 9.35% 23.98% 34.43% Magic res. 25% 25.9% 27.08% 27.92% Mana 75 255 483 651 M. regen amp 0% 27% 62.28% 87.48% Spell dmg 0% 1.05% 2.42% 3.4% Armor -3 0.8 6.96 11.36 Att/sec 0.59 0.73 0.95 1.12 Move sp amp. 0% 1.19% 3.11% 4.49% Damage 25‒36 44‒55 74‒85 96‒107
Base health regen 1.75 Base mana regen 0.9 Movement speed 285 Turn rate 0.7 Vision range 1800/800 Attack range 625 Projectile speed 1250 Attack animation 0.65+0.3 Base attack time 1.7 Collision size 24 Legs 2  Gib type Default

Traxex, the Drow Ranger, is a ranged agility hero whose greatest assets are her incredible damage and ability to keep threats at bay. Traxex is a carry who, though lacking survivability, provides a worthwhile contribution through her damage alone. The Drow Ranger can be extremely powerful at any point in the game.

As an agility hero, Traxex's damage is based largely on her basic attacks and is among the greatest largely due to the massive amounts of agility she gains from her passive ultimate, Marksmanship. The Drow Ranger also adds ranged damage to teammates with her global Precision Aura. Despite her lack of escape spells, Drow Ranger can keep herself relatively safe from enemy spellcasters and melee heroes using her Gust and her Frost Arrows, respectively. Frost Arrows infuses her attacks with ice, greatly slowing down her enemies. Since it can be manually cast, Frost Arrows can be used to harass her foes in the early game without drawing the creeps' attention. Gust is a great counter to enemy spellcasters as well as melee heroes as Gust pushes heroes away from Drow and prevents them from casting spells, who might threaten her life in battles. Position is of utmost importance as Traxex is quite vulnerable in close combat and the agility bonus from Marksmanship is removed when enemies come near her. This means she struggles against melee heroes with high mobility.

Bio

Traxex, the Drow Ranger

Play "I walk alone, but the shadows are company enough."

Lore:

Drow Ranger's given name is Traxex--a name well suited to the short, trollish, rather repulsive Drow people. But Traxex herself is not a Drow. Her parents were travelers in a caravan set upon by bandits, whose noisy slaughter of innocents roused the ire of the quiet Drow people. After the battle settled, the Drow discovered a small girl-child hiding in the ruined wagons, and agreed she could not be abandoned. Even as child, Traxex showed herself naturally adept at the arts they prized: Stealth, silence, subtlety. In spirit, if not in physique, she might have been a Drow changeling, returned to her proper home. But as she grew, she towered above her family and came to think of herself as ugly. After all, her features were smooth and symmetrical, entirely devoid of warts and coarse whiskers. Estranged from her adopted tribe, she withdrew to live alone in the woods. Lost travelers who find their way from the forest sometimes speak of an impossibly beautiful Ranger who peered at them from deep among the trees, then vanished like a dream before they could approach. Lithe and stealthy, icy hot, she moves like mist in silence. That whispering you hear is her frozen arrows finding an enemy's heart.

Voice:

Gin Hammond (Responses)

Abilities

Frost Arrows

Play

Q

R

Ability
Target Unit / Autocast

Affects
Enemies

Adds a freezing effect to Drow's attacks, slowing enemy movement. Lasts 1.5 seconds on Heroes, and 7 seconds on creeps.

Cast Range: 625

Move Speed Slow: 16%/32%/48%/64%

Hero Slow Duration: 1.5

Non-Hero Slow Duration: 7

0

12

Slow persists if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.

Modifiers

Frost Arrows Slow: Dispellable with any dispel.

Ice-encased arrows pierce the silence, chilling their victims to the core.

Notes:

• The slow from successive casts does not stack, only the duration gets refreshed.

• The attacks first apply the debuff, then their own damage.

• Treats creep-heroes as creeps.

Gust

Play

W

E

Ability
Target Point

Affects
Enemies

Releases a wave that silences and knocks back enemy units. Knockback distance is relative to how close they are to you.

Cast Animation: 0.25+0.6

Cast Range: 900 ( 1450)

Travel Distance: 900 ( 1450)

Effect Radius: 250

Max Knockback Distance: 350 ( 900)

Knockback Duration: 0.6/0.7/0.8/0.9

Silence Duration: 3/4/5/6 ( 6/7/8/9)

16/15/14/13 ( 8/7.5/7/6.5)

90

Knockback and silence persist if debuff was placed before spell immunity and when not dispelled.

Modifiers

Wave Of Silence Knockback: Dispellable with any dispel.

Silence: Dispellable with any dispel.

Traxex is rather fond of the tranquility of physical combat, calling on her Drow heritage to end the incantations of opposing magi.

Notes:

• The wave travels at a speed of 2000, reaching max distance in 0.45 ( 0.725) seconds.

• Reaches up to 1150 ( 1700) range away (travel distance + effect radius).

• The knockback distance is based on the distance between Drow Ranger and the hit enemy. The closer they are, the further they get knocked back.
  • The knockback is strongest when the distance between Drow Ranger and the enemy is 1 range, pushing the enemy 350 ( 900) range away.
  • Each additional range of distance between them affects the knockback's distance, reducing it by 0.39 ( 0.62).
  • However, the knockback values are truncated, so that the knockback distance decreases by 1 for every 2–3 ( 1–2) range between Drow and the enemy.
  • Due to this, the minimum knockback distance is 1 range.
  • When standing at the exact same location as Drow Ranger, no knockback occurs, since the formula then multiplies by 0, which results in 0 knockback.

• Since the knockback distances are the same on each level, and the knockback duration increases per level, the knockback speed gets lower on each level.
  • Therefore, the maximum knockback speed is 583.33/500/437.5/388.89 ( 1500/1285.71/1125/1000), while the minimum speed is 1.67/1.43/1.25/1.11.

• Can push units over impassable terrain. Any tree a knocked back unit collides with gets destroyed.

• Units are not disabled during the knockback. They can still turn, attack and use items. Channeling items are not interrupted.

• Does not affect Roshan.

Precision Aura

E

T

Ability
No Target / Aura

Affects
Allies

Adds bonus damage to the physical attack of allied, ranged Hero units on the map based on a percentage of Drow's agility. Affects creeps for 30 seconds when cast.

Cast Animation: 0+0

Radius: Global

Agility as Ranged Attack Damage Bonus: 10%/20%/30%/40% ( 30%/40%/50%/60%)

Aura Linger Duration: 0.5

Active Duration: 30

100 ( 50)

Still disabled when the active component is used.

Modifiers

Trueshot Aura: Undispellable.

Trueshot Global: Undispellable.

Traxex' time spent alone in the forests of her Drow home has allowed her to teach other archers how to improve their bow skills.

Notes:

• Interrupts Drow Ranger's channeling spells upon cast.

• Only affects ranged units. Does not affect wards and buildings.

• Checks Drow Ranger's agility periodically and adapts the bonus damage instantly.

• Activating Precision Aura does not place a buff on lane creeps and summons, it instead makes the aura affect them as well.

• This means that creeps summoned or spawned after the activation still get the bonus for the remaining duration.

• Active aura persist through Drow Ranger's death, however, it does not provide the bonus during her death.
  • This means when reincarnating with Aegis of the Immortal, or buying back, the aura is bestowed for its remaining duration.

• The buff lingers for 0.5 seconds. This goes for both, the passive aura for heroes and the active aura for creeps.

• Treats creep-heroes as creeps, so they are only affected when activating the aura.

Marksmanship

R

P

Ability
Passive

Affects
Self
( Enemies)

Drow's experiences in battle improve her accuracy and effectiveness in combat, providing a passive bonus to Agility. Grants no bonus if there are enemy heroes within 400 range.

Enemy Hero Search Radius: 400

Agility Bonus: 35/55/75 ( 55/75/95)

Splinter Search Radius: 0 ( 375)

Max Splinter Targets: 0 ( 2)

Splinter Damage Reduction: 0 ( 50%)

Causes Drow Ranger's attacks to splinter on the target, hitting nearby units with normal attacks that deal reduced damage.

Particle effects still react on enemy proximity. Splintering arrows are not disabled and fully work.

Modifiers

Marksmanship: Undispellable.

Marksmanship Reduction: Undispellable.

The Drow Ranger is the epitome of archery prowess.

Notes:

• An icy particle effect is visible on Drow Ranger while Marksmanship is active.

• Checks for nearby enemy heroes (including invulnerable or hidden ones) in 0.1 second intervals and adapts the bonus accordingly.

• Does not react on the presence of illusions and creep-heroes.

• Effectively grants 7/11/15 ( 11/15/19) armor, 2.19%/3.44%/4.69% ( 3.44%/4.69%/5.94%) move speed, 43.75/68.75/93.75 ( 68.75/93.75/118.75) attack speed and 35/55/75 ( 55/75/95) attack damage.

• This is how much extra damage Precision Aura grants in conjunction with Marksmanship's agility bonus: [?]
  • Marksmanship Level 1: 3.5/7/10.5/14 // 10.5/14/17.5/21 ( 5.5/11/16.5/22 // 16.5/22/27.5/33)
  • Marksmanship Level 2: 5.5/11/16.5/22 // 16.5/22/27.5/33 ( 7.5/15/22.5/30 // 22.5/30/37.5/45)
  • Marksmanship Level 3: 7.5/15/22.5/30 // 22.5/30/37.5/45 ( 9.5/19/28.5/38 // 28.5/38/47.5/57)

• The Aghanim's Scepter upgrade requires Marksmanship to be learned and causes Drow Ranger to perform instant attacks on 2 random enemies around the primary target.
  • This means the splinters are regular attacks, using Drow Ranger's 1250 projectile speed and being disjointable.
  • It also means that they can proc any attack modifier or any on-hit effect like a regular attack.
  • The splinters are only released if the primary attack successfully hits a target. This means missed or disjointed attacks do not release any splinters.
  • If Drow Ranger is blinded, the splinters can miss, unless she has True Strike. They can also miss to evasion.
  • The splinters originate from the primary target's location, not Drow Ranger's location.
  • Since the splinters are independent attacks, their damage does not depend on how much damage the primary target took.
  • The damage penalty only applies to the attack damage and any bonuses. Damage dealt in separate instances is unaffected (e.g. Maelstrom procs).
  • The splinter arrows do not target couriers, buildings and wards as splinter targets, but can splinter off of them to nearby valid targets.
  • They also completely ignore invisible, invulnerable and hidden units, as well as units in the Fog of War.

• When using Frost Arrows manually, then the resulting splinters apply the slow as well.
  • However, when using autocast, the splinters only apply it when having it on autocast as the splinters hit their target.
  • Either way (be it manually used, or via autocast), it drains mana upon hitting the target, and not upon splintering.
  • Therefore, it only drains mana upon successfully hitting the splinter targets. Missed attacks do not drain mana.

Talents

Hero Talents
50% Cooldown Reduction	25	+20% Precision Aura Damage
+3s Gust Silence Duration	20	+20 Marksmanship Agility
+550 Gust Distance/Knockback	15	+25 Attack Speed
+5 All Stats	10	+20 Movement Speed

Notes:

• The all stats talent effectively grants Drow Ranger 90 health, 2.75% health regen amplification, 0.4% magic resistance, 1 armor, 6.25 attack speed, 0.31% movement speed, 60 mana, 9% mana regen amplification, 0.35% spell damage and 5 attack damage.

• The cooldown reduction talent stacks multiplicatively with Octarine Core and additively with Arcane Rune.

Recommended items

Starting items:

• Healing Salve gives Drow Ranger a massive boost of health regeneration in one go.
• Tango provides Drow Ranger health regeneration in the early game.
• Iron Branch provides a cheap a boost to Drow Ranger's attributes, and builds into Magic Wand.

Early game:

• Boots of Speed give Drow Ranger a speed boost which can be helpful for getting around.
• Magic Wand can be a good idea to pick up if the enemy is using a lot of spells, as the burst heal can help her survive or win early fights.
• Ring of Aquila provides Drow Ranger with bonus attributes which can be helpful in the early game. It can be sold in the late game.

Mid game:

• Power Treads provide Drow Ranger with attack speed and additional attributes.
• Dragon Lance provides useful stats for a highly cost effective price, and the increased range allows Drow Ranger to easily achieve good positioning. It also allows her to out-range towers and destroy them without much risk. Upgrades later into Hurricane Pike.
• Shadow Blade provides mobility and stealth for Drow Ranger, allowing her to approach an ideal position for team-fights. It also provides some useful attack speed and damage.
• Mask of Madness is a good source of lifesteal, and is useful for farming. It also provides a nice boost to Drow Ranger's attack and movement speed, but it comes at the cost of being unable to use her Frost Arrows.

Late game:

• Butterfly provides ever-useful agility for Drow Ranger. It is usually picked up to help Drow Ranger defend against efficient backline attackers.
• Black King Bar is important if Drow Ranger is facing a team with many disables, giving her enough time to deal at least some damage.

Situational items:

• Silver Edge builds naturally from Shadow Blade, providing valuable stats and break. It can be disassembled to build another item with the Ultimate Orb.
• Diffusal Blade allows Drow Ranger to ambush an enemy hero with Gust, then quickly burn away their mana during the silence period.
• Aghanim's Scepter causes Drow Ranger's attacks to splinter, hitting two random units near the primary target. Alone, it can be a weak upgrade, but combined with several attack modifier items, it can allow Drow to heavily damage a grouped up enemy team.
• Mjollnir is typically picked up if planning to build Aghanim's, as it speeds up her early farming ability, and the secondary splinter shots will be able to proc Chain Lightning.
• Satanic provides Drow Ranger with a huge amount of lifesteal for a short period of time, allowing Drow Ranger to stand her ground and regain practically all of her health with just a few shots.
• Manta Style provides Drow Ranger with mobility, stats, and the ability to dispel debuffs and create illusions of herself. Because her illusions benefit from Marksmanship, Manta Style provides Drow Ranger with a large damage increase, especially when sieging buildings.
• Eye of Skadi gives a decent stats boost, and stacks with Frost Arrows, making it possible to reduce most enemy heroes to minimum move speed.
• Monkey King Bar provides an excellent damage boost, as well as a counter against evasion heroes. However, it has no defensive bonuses, and makes Drow Ranger into even more of a glass cannon.
• Daedalus provides Drow Ranger with a critical strike chance, which synergizes well with the attack speed and damage she gets from her abilities, maximizing her damage output.

Gameplay

Roles:	Carry Disabler Pusher
Complexity:	★☆☆
Playstyle:	Dwelling deep within the forest, few have ever caught glimpse of the solitary and impossibly beautiful Drow Ranger. Her presence was known only from the chill of Frost Arrows, driving deep into her enemies' hearts. Named and raised by the sympathetic Drow, Traxex draws on her heritage to send forth a powerful Gust, silencing and repulsing assailants who venture too close. Her expertise influences her allies, greatly increasing their ranged attacks with Precision Aura. None would ever match the Drow Ranger herself, however. For with each passing skirmish, her supreme Marksmanship grows ever more peerless.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio

Responses

Sounds

History

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment

Drow Ranger Equipment (expand sets) Sets Algid Falcon Black Wind Raven Death Shadow Set Eldwurm's Touch Gifts of the Shadowcat Set Guise of the Winged Bolt Jewel of the Forest Set Sentinel Set Spikes of Frost Set Sylvan Guard's Finery Set The Boreal Watch Set The Frostborne Wayfarer Tools of the Master Thief Set Wyvern Skin Weapon Bow of the Crystal Caves Bow of the Frostfangs Bow of the Howling Wind Bow of the Lone Traveler Cold Case Bow Great Grey Owl Bow Ice Crystal Bow Jeweled Longbow Monarch Bow Pincher Bow Shade of the Ranger Head Dark Ranger's Headdress Lone Traveler's Beret Loner's Vanity Mania's Mask Back Golden Silent Wake Silent Wake Silent Wake of the Crimson Witness Steamcape Taunt Taunt: Keep an Ear Out

Trivia

• Traxex's original design was slightly different from the one now; aside from the same hood, her white hair was not present, and her eyes were completely white. Her outfit was also slightly more revealing.
• From her transition to Dota 2, the name of her aura changed from "Trueshot Aura" to "Precision Aura".
• Drow Ranger's response "I quiver with anticipation." references a line in The Rocky Horror Picture Show "I see you shiver with anticipation."

Gallery

• 

  Drow Ranger's original artwork

• 

  Old face textures, with tattoos

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Concept art

• 

  Drow Ranger cartoon art

• 

  Drow Ranger, Pudge and Slark in a cartoon scene

• 

  Ability icon progress

• 

  Hero icon progress

• 

  Drow Ranger illustration

• 

  Drow Ranger T-shirt design