Items
Starting items:
- Consumables are essential early game due to Windranger`s low health and the low cooldown of her spells. As such, one each of Tango Item Tango (Shared) Changelogs TangoB Forage to survive on the battlefield. Cost125 Bought FromConsumables Active Eat a Tree or Ward Charges 4 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Tango
and Healing Salve Item Changelogs Healing SalveB A magical salve that can quickly mend even the deepest of wounds. Cost110 Bought FromConsumables Active Regenerate Health Charges 1 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The are basic requirements, while a Clarity Item Changelogs ClarityB Clear water that enhances the ability to meditate. Cost50 Bought FromConsumables Active Regenerate Mana Charges 1 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Clarity is an item purchasable or two are very helpful in giving her mana to cast her spells. - Grabbing a Mantle of Intelligence Item Changelogs Mantle of IntelligenceB A beautiful sapphire mantle worn by generations of queens. Cost150 Bought FromAttributes Bonus +3 Intelligence Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Mantle of Intelligence is provides Windranger with a larger mana pool and some more base damage, and can be upgraded to a Null Talisman. Filling the remainder of your inventory with Iron Branch Item Changelogs Iron BranchB A seemingly ordinary branch, its ironlike qualities are bestowed upon the bearer. Cost50 Bought FromAttributes Active Plant Tree Charges 1 Bonus +1 Strength+1 Agility+1 Intelligence Disassemble? No es serves to give you a small amount of stats for cheap, and they can be used to build a Magic Wand Item Changelogs Magic WandB A simple wand used to channel magic energies, it is favored by apprentice wizards and great warlocks alike. Cost465 Bought FromCommon Active Energy Charge Charges 0 Bonus later as needed.
Early game:
- Boots of Speed Item Changelogs Boots of SpeedBL Fleet footwear, increasing movement. Cost400 Bought FromArcane Bonus +45 Movement speed Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Boots of Speed are an item purchasable at are essential on any hero during the laning stage. In Windranger`s case, having early boots as an off-laner greatly increases survivability as it enables her to evade ganks more easily, and increases the bonus movement speed gained from Windrun as well.
- Null Talisman Item Changelogs Null TalismanB A small gemstone attached to several chains. Cost470 (155) Bought FromCommon Bonus +3 Strength+3 Agility+6 Intelligence+3 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Null Talisman gives Windranger useful stats for a cheap price. The intelligence gives her more base damage and a larger mana pool, while the strength gives her some survivability. The Null Talisman should be sold later on for more inventory slots, as it does not build into any useful items for Windranger.
- Ring of Basilius Item Changelogs Ring of BasiliusB Ring given as a reward to the greatest mages. Cost500 Bought FromSupport Passive Basilius Aura Bonus +7 Attack damage Disassemble? Yes Alert allies? No Recipe The gives Windranger more armor, some damage and a measure of mana regen, all of which help her survive as an off-laner. Be that as it may, it should either be disassembled or sold once the laning phase ends, as Windranger can get more mana regen from the Sage`s Mask alone later on due to being an intelligence hero, and Ring of Basilius does not build into any useful items.
Core items:
- Phase Boots Item Changelogs Phase BootsBL Boots that allow the wearer to travel between the ether. Cost1240 Bought FromCommon Active Phase Bonus +24 Attack damage+45 Movement speed Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe are very powerful on Windranger, as she can take advantage of the extra damage more than additional attack speed due to her low base attack time and her ultimate Focus Fire. As well, the active greatly helps Windranger with positioning, essential for landing Powershot and Shackleshot.
- Force Staff For the cosmetic item equipped by Crystal Maiden, see Force Staff (Equipment) Item Changelogs Force StaffB Allows you to manipulate others, for good or evil. Cost2250 (400) Bought FromCaster Active Force is very effective and versatile for positioning a Shackleshot, allowing you to force a unit in front of a tree, force a creep/unit in front of another unit, or force yourself into position. The additional intelligence gives her more mana and base damage as well, and in emergencies it can be used to displace yourself during escapes.
- Town Portal Scroll Item Changelogs Town Portal ScrollBL What a hero truly needs. Cost50 Bought FromConsumables Active Teleport Charges 1 Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Town Portal Scroll is an item purchasable should be carried on all heroes. Windranger`s ability to disable and nuke down enemies should never be underestimated in teamfights or ganks.
- Blink Dagger is extremely powerful on Windranger, as it allows her to instantly re-position for her spells, especially Shackleshot. It is a powerful item to buy for initiating for your disables, or for being more evasive. May not give the extra stats provided by Force Staff For the cosmetic item equipped by Crystal Maiden, see Force Staff (Equipment) Item Changelogs Force StaffB Allows you to manipulate others, for good or evil. Cost2250 (400) Bought FromCaster Active Force but allows for faster, further, and Windrun can be activated to avoid physical damage, thus providing more opportunities to blink away from unfavorable situations.
- Aghanim`s Scepter Item Upgraded Abilities Old Abilities Lore Changelogs Aghanim s Scepter The scepter of a wizard with demigod-like powers. Cost4200 Bought FromCaster Passive Ultimate Upgrade Bonus +10 Strength+10 Agility+10 Intelligence+175 gives Windranger stats across the board, and greatly improves Windranger`s damage output using Focus Fire. As well, the cooldown reduction allows her to cast Focus Fire at will, vastly increasing her damage output and target flexibility.
Situational items:
- Desolator gives Windranger additional damage output, as well as an armor reduction debuff that can be applied to buildings as well as heroes. As Windranger is a ranged hero, she can simply "tag" multiple enemies with the debuff prior to focusing on a single target, though it is recommended to purchase Aghanim`s Scepter as well in order to maximize your physical DPS.
- Mekansm can be very powerful on a support Windranger, as it gives her stats and armor, increasing her survivability and allowing her to heal her team during teamfights.
- Scythe of Vyse is very powerful on Windranger, no matter how she is played. The extra intelligence and mana regen greatly increase her base damage and ability to cast spells, and the additional strength and agility shore up her @@@#@@@HP(hp.com)###@### and armor, granting her much more survivability. The hex can be used to instantly hard-disable the enemy`s carry in a fight, and serves as a potent complement to Shackleshot.
- Orchid Malevolence can greatly increase Windranger`s physical damage output, as she will get both more mana and base damage from the extra intelligence, and the attack speed greatly complements her low base attack time. The silence adds yet another disable to Windranger`s repertoire, allowing her to lock down enemies who rely on escape spells to survive. Later can be upgraded to a Bloodthorn.
- Rod of Atos greatly increases Windranger`s survivability as well as her damage output and mana pool. While the slow is not a hard disable, it has a very long cast range and can hold a target down so that Shackleshot may be cast from an angle of Windranger`s choosing.
- Shiva`s Guard greatly augments Windranger`s survivability against physical damage, and gives her more damage output and mana as well. The active blast can be used when chasing down an enemy with Windrun, slowing them down long enough for teammates to catch up and for Windranger to stun them with Shackleshot.
- Linken`s Sphere gives Windranger stats across the board and powerful mana regen. Its spellblock helps to make Windranger much more slippery when evading enemy ganks, or gives her a larger window of opportunity to cast her disables in a teamfight without being disabled herself.
- Eul`s Scepter of Divinity is a good cheap utility item if the aim is not to build raw damage items to fuel Focus Fire. The increased base movement speed greatly augments Windranger`s mobility in combination with Phase Boots or Windrun, and the extra intelligence and mana regen give her much more utility with her spells. The active can be used to stop an enemy in their tracks and position yourself for landing a full-duration Shackleshot, or for generally disabling enemies or giving yourself temporary invulnerability (while removing debuffs from yourself) during fights.
- Monkey King Bar greatly increases Windranger`s damage output, and synergizes well with Focus Fire. The Mini-Bash can proc multiple times during the course of her ultimate, and the True Strike allows her to ignore any evasion or blind that the enemy may have.
- If playing as a support, be sure to buy the standard support items. This means upgrading to the Flying Courier, as well as regularly purchasing Observer Wards and Sentry Wards.
- As a mid or off-laner, a Bottle is generally recommended. A mid Windranger can take advantage of the regen and runes when rotating to the side lanes for kills, while an off-laning Windranger can use the runes as a source of regen to lend her more survivability.
- Bracer can be a good alternative to purchase over Null Talisman, depending on the requirements. While Null Talisman provides more intelligence and thus damage, a Bracer can shore up Windranger`s low base strength, giving her survivability in the early game. It also builds into a Drum of Endurance, which gives her stats across the board as well as additional mobility and attack speed, both of which are important on Windranger.
- Medallion of Courage can be a useful utility item to augment Focus Fire`s effectiveness even if you are not building a physical DPS Windranger. The armor gives you more survivability while the mana helps with casting your spells, and the active allows you to deal large amounts of damage to enemies even without a lot of damage items. As well, the active can be used on allies to give them armor, and can be used to make Roshan easier to kill.
- Maelstrom is a good attack modifier item to build on Windranger, as it increases her dama
Gameplay
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Windranger Hero Strategy Counters Equipment Gear Responses Sounds Lore Old Abilities Changelogs Known Bugs Windranger 15 + 2.8 17 + 1.4 22 +  is a very flexible hero who can be played in any lane, and who can perform many roles from support-disabler to DPS carry. | |
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Videos
Info
Ability Builds
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Talents
Hero Talents Main Table of Gained Bonuses The Talent Selection interface. Talents are traits unique to each hero. They are chosen every 5th level starting at level 10, offering a permanent choice between  | ||
| 30% Cooldown Reduction | 25 | +150 Attack Range |
| +120 Powershot Damage | 20 | Windrun Grants Invisibility |
+20  Intelligence Intelligence is the attribute that grants mana, mana regeneration and spell damage amplification. For each point of intelligence a hero gets: 11 Mana 0.04 Mana regeneration 0.07% Spell damage Additionally, intelligence heroes also get 1  | 15 | +40 Movement Speed |
| +30% Windrun Slow | 10 | +4 Mana Regen |
Notes:
- The mana regen is added as a bonus and does not benefit illusions.
- Cooldown reduction affects abilities and items. Stacks multiplicatively with Octarine Core Item Changelogs Octarine CoreS At the core of spellcraft are spectrums only the very gifted can sense. Cost5900 Bought FromCaster Passive Cooldown Reduction, Spell Lifesteal Bonus +25 Intelligence+425 Health+425 Mana Disassemble? and additively with Arcane Rune Double Damage Haste Illusion Invisibility Regeneration Bounty Arcane See more: Runes#List Buff icon Arcane Play AbilityNo Target AffectsSelf Reduces cooldowns by 30% and mana costs by .
- The attack range talent also affects the cast range of Focus Fire.
Tips & Tactics
- In general, Windranger should focus on either maximizing her potential in disabling enemies, or increasing her raw damage and upgrading her ultimate for physical DPS; it is not feasible to aim for both. The former may be done as a support or core, however the latter is only feasible if Windranger is given farm priority.
- Played as an off-laner, it is recommended to get Windrun as your first skill in order to give yourself survivability against the enemy`s supports. You have decent last-hitting capability due to being a ranged hero with a low base attack time, and your escape skill can save you from ganks if used properly. Once you have enough levels, you can use Powershot to get last-hits from a safe range and to harass down the enemy heroes enough to give yourself a chance at a kill.
- As a mid, Windranger should purchase an early Null Talisman Item Changelogs Null TalismanB A small gemstone attached to several chains. Cost470 (155) Bought FromCommon Bonus +3 Strength+3 Agility+6 Intelligence+3 Attack damage Disassemble? No Alert allies? No Recipe The Null Talisman for more last-hitting power, and save up for a Bottle to give her mana for her spells. Survivability is less of an issue as the enemy`s supports will have to rotate in order to gank you, so priority should be given to beating the enemy`s mid and leveling up your nukes and disables so that you have a chance to get a kill.
- As a safe-lane support, Windranger can focus on harassing down the enemy`s off-laner using her ranged attacks, and landing full-duration Shackleshots during ganks. Priority here is given to protecting the safe-lane carry and shutting down the enemy off-laner, so nukes and disables take priority.
Shackleshot
- Shackleshot is potentially a very powerful stun depending on how well it is used. Aimed properly, it is possible to stun two enemy heroes for almost four seconds, giving your team a major opportunity to capitalize on.
- Positioning is very important when casting Shackleshot, both on yourself and the enemy. Even if shackling two enemy heroes together is not possible in a fight, tying one enemy hero to a tree or nearby creep still gives you a very long-duration disable. Always keep an eye out for possible latch targets, as Windranger has entire treelines to use when fights occur in either jungle.
- Shackleshot is very powerful when used in conjunction with any other leading disable. As smart enemies will deliberately attempt to avoid lining themselves up with creeps or trees to allow themselves to be shackled for the full duration, stopping them in their tracks first will give you much more time to re-position yourself around them and cast Shackleshot from an angle of your choosing.
- One important facet to keep in mind about Shackleshot is that you do not have to directly cast it on your target in order to disable them. If there are nearby enemy creeps, you can line up Shackleshot on them, and attempt to latch the enemy player as the spell`s secondary target. This can be a very useful tactic if the enemy is deliberately attempting to avoid putting themselves between yourself and the treeline or nearby creeps.
- In concert to the above, Shackleshot is capable of latching enemies through Linken`s Sphere in this way. By targeting the enemy player as the secondary target of Shackleshot, it is possible to stun them for the full duration regardless of their Linken`s Sphere. You can then break the Linken`s at your leisure during the stun duration using an expendable targeted ability such as Force Staff.
- While Shackleshot`s mini-stun is very weak, don`t forget that it is a mini-stun regardless. This makes it useful if you need a fast interrupting disable against enemies with powerful channeling spells such as Dismember, Death Ward, and so on.
- If there is no tree, secondary Hero or creeps near a Shackleshot target, you can still stun them long enough by using Shackleshot, then quickly use Blink Dagger and place Ironwood Branch behind them.
Powershot
- Powershot is a potent damage nuke with an extremely long range. It is generally recommended to max it out first, as its long reach allows you to harass, last-hit, scout and kill from surprising ranges.
- Powershot`s long range and nuking power makes it ideal for sniping fleeing enemy heroes, as well as hitting invisible enemies that you know the approximate location of. As well, keep in mind that you can hit multiple enemies with it at once, so it pays to line up your shots.
- Remember that Powershot grants vision over the arrow`s travel path. Use this to your advantage to scout out areas ahead of moving in, such as checking if enemies are waiting behind a certain treeline to gank or if the enemy team is killing Roshan.
- Keep in mind, Powershot`s long range allows Windranger to hit multiple jungle camps with a single cast if she lines it up properly. This allows her to farm surprisingly quickly in the jungle, or even use Powershot to draw aggro and stack more than one neutral camp at once.
Windrun
- Windrun is a very flexible spell as it provides Windranger with both movement speed and evasion, allowing it to be used both defensively and offensively. If you expect to encounter ganks from the enemy team, one early level is usually wise.
- While the primary use for Windrun is as an escape spell against enemy ganks, it also has uses as an offensive spell. Used aggressively, Windrun allows you to chase down enemies and slow and body-block them for teammates to catch up, and ignore their physical attacks if they try to trade right-clicks with you. The bonus movement speed also allows easier positioning for Shackleshot and Powershot, but mind the mana cost and cooldowns so that you don`t get caught short.
- If you are getting ganked and cannot outrun the enemy with Windrun, consider activating it once the enemy`s disables have been used and then channeling a Town Portal Scroll for escape. The enemy will be unable to hit you with physical attacks, preventing them from killing you as you teleport.
- In a similar vein, Windrun combined with Healing Salve will prevent autoattacks from cancelling the salve for its duration, potentially allowing you to survive a tough situation early in lane.
- Depending on how much of a threat you are posing to the enemy team, they may buy a Monkey King Bar to counter you. The True Strike allows foes to ignore the evasion from Windrun, so be aware of that possibility if you are relying on Windrun to evade enemy attacks in teamfights.
Focus Fire
- Focus Fire is a very potent spell that allows Windranger`s physical damage to scale. It is useful to get at least one early level no matter what role she is played in.
- An early level of Focus Fire allows Windranger to deal tremendous damage to towers if left alone, as even with a 50% reduction in damage output it can triple her overall damage output due to the attack speed alone. If possible, try to bait out the enemy`s Glyph of Fortification prior to casting Focus Fire on their tower, so that they cannot reduce the amount of damage your ultimate does to it.
- Unless you are building a DPS-focused Windranger, it is not recommended to target the enemy`s main carry with Focus Fire at the start of a teamfight, as it is not guaranteed that you will be able to do so for the full duration of the spell. While you can use the spell to whittle down lone targets during ganks, it is most profitably used against enemy towers if you cannot guarantee that it will do enough damage to the enemy`s carry in teamfights.
- Due to the amount of raw attack speed that Windranger gets from her ultimate, it may be wise to build attack modifiers with stable proc chances, so that you can proc them multiple times over the course of the ultimate. For instance, a Maelstrom has a 25% chance to proc on each attack and thus can deal a significant amount of magical damage in a short period of time, however a Skull Basher will go into cooldown for two seconds once it procs, preventing you from stun-locking a foe.
- If building Windranger for a DPS role, an Aghanim`s Scepter Item Upgraded Abilities Old Abilities Lore Changelogs Aghanim s Scepter The scepter of a wizard with demigod-like powers. Cost4200 Bought FromCaster Passive Ultimate Upgrade Bonus +10 Strength+10 Agility+10 Intelligence+175 is more or less mandatory, as it will remove the damage penalty on her attacks and reduce the cooldown such that she can have Focus Fire active constantly.
