[Guide] Windrunner

I. Introduction
Windrunner is the most versatile hero in DotA. She can function as a carry (albeit poorly), as a pure support, or as anything ranging in between. She can simultaneously act as a marvelous ganker and an amazing escape artist. In team fights she can initiate through her arguably broken disable, deal large amounts of area of effect (AoE) damage, or (quite literally) focus fire down one hero. She works well as a solo mid, hard (long) lane solo, babysitter in a dual lane, or trilane member. Windrunner doesn't need much farm to be highly effective, yet she can be very deadly with items. In short, Windrunner is the definition of utility, and after reading this guide, you'll come to agree with me when I say that no team is worse off with a well-played Windrunner.

II. Mentality
One of the reasons I enjoy playing Windrunner is that no matter what everybody else on your team picks, you will have a role. DotA is a team game, so don't go in with the mindset that you have to single-handedly win the game (though that's how many pubs treat it). Look at your team, assess its strengths and weaknesses, and fill the role that is most needed. Is your team lacking physical DPS? Farm up, procure damage-dealing items such as MKB and Daedalus, and carry lategame through the power of your arrows. Does your team need a purely supportive member? Buy wards, roam around, gank, keep your carry safe, and get the cheap utility items such as Urn or Force Staff and stats-boosting items such as bracers and null talismans. Does the team need somebody in between? Opt for a mixed role: farm efficiently, gank when necessary, and opt for a mix of supportive items, such as Mekansm, utility items, like Force Staff, and offensive items like Scythe of Vyse. Remember, there are virtually no limitations on what a Windrunner can do: it's up to you to decide what path to take, and the difference between winning or losing might be on your shoulders.

No matter what role you choose, stay aware and be focused. Look for opportunities. Don't cross the river by yourself. Keep in communication with your team.

If you're the carry, play it safe as as you farm. Keep an eye out on the minimap, and be prepared to teleport in after team battles have started to pick kills with your ranged attack and insanely long-range Powershot. Stay alive, and utilize your amazing abilities to do so. As an Intelligence hero, Windrunner is not as good of a lategame carry as the standard Agility ones (due to her poor Agility growth, she's needs a lot of items to actually carry), but she can still pack a punch and be game-breaking in the right hands. However, if a team needs a "pure carry", there are many heroes better than Windrunner.

If you're supporting, you're not going to acquire many big-ticket items early on. Take some creep kills early on and look for some cheap-yet-useful items. Babysit. Roam. Ward. Counter-ward. Gank the opposing carries. Keep a teleportation scroll on you at all times, and look for team battles. Initiate with Shackleshot, distract with Windrun, and be prepared to sacrifice yourself for your team's carries. Remember, Windrunner does not need farm to be effective. She scales relatively well into the lategame, and can make amazing use of simple items. However, if a team needs a "pure support" role, there are many heroes better than Windrunner.

If you're something in between, farm when you can and gank when the opportunity presents itself. Use discretion and maximize your gold-earning time. This Utility role is what defines Windrunner as a hero. As such, this guide will primarily focus upon what to do as a "3" (meaning you're not the primary carry, but you're also not exactly a support) Windrunner. As a utility hero, there is no hero better than Windrunner.

So this guide is going to talk about what to do as a utility hero. Short sections will be dedicated to describing what to do as a carry or support, but that's not what you should be focused on as a Windrunner. After all, you can play Crystal Maiden as a carry--but that's inoptimal.

Remember, what I am writing is just a set of guidelines. You will be reading a recipe for success with the necessary ingredients, yet the timing and order of everything is up to you. Feel free to substitute my ideas for some of your own, and above all else, have fun. Aside from just being plain useful in any case, Windrunner is one of the most fun heroes to play as, and I hope that, in time and with practice, you will come to agree with me.

III. Stats, Pros, and Cons
Windrunner | Strength: 15 + 2.5 | Agility: 17 + 1.4 | Intelligence: 22 + 2.6

Starting Hit Points: 435
Starting Mana: 286
Starting Damage: 44-56
Starting Armor: 1.38
Base Movespeed: 295
Attack Range: 600
Base Attack Time: 1.5
Missile Speed: 1250
Sight Range (Day): 1800
Sight Range (Night): 800

Pros	Cons
Good STR gain Somewhat item-independent Extremely versatile Low Base Attack Speed (BAT) Effective in all stages of game Fast missile speed Good base damage	Lowest starting STR of any INT hero Below-average INT gain for INT hero Slightly below-average base INT for INT hero Low AGI gain, even for an INT hero Poor starting armor Below-average movespeed Mana- and ability-dependent

IV. Skills
Windrunner has an amazing skillset. Actually, pretty much any hero with four active skills is quite fun to play, but Windrunner's skills make her very diverse. This section will cover the basics of Windrunner's abilities, and I will leave the [slightly] more advanced tactics for a later section. Also, the highlighted red letter in each skill name represents the hotkey from WCIII DotA that was used in conjunction with the skill. DotA 2 defaults all skills to QWER, but if you choose to use Legacy keys you'll be wanting to hit the ones marked in red.

Skill #1 (Q): Shackleshot | Active: Unit

Level	Mana Cost	Shackle Duration
1	90	1.5 seconds
2	100	2.25 seconds
3	110	3 seconds
4	120	3.75 seconds

Shackleshot is Windrunner's disable, and it has a nice casting range of 800 and a short 12 second cooldown at all levels. However, this is no ordinary stun--Shackleshot has the potential to "shackle" two enemies together, stunning them both. The way this works is you select one enemy target to fire Shackleshot on. After the stun arrow makes contact with the initial target, it will search behind the first target in roughly a straight line. If there is another enemy or a tree within 500 units of the initially stunned target, Shackleshot will link the initial target to that, stunning both. If there is no secondary target, then Shackleshot stuns the initial target for 0.75 seconds at all levels. Shackleshot is Windrunner's primary method of initiating team fights, and it's quite a good one. A correctly-positioned Shackleshot can turn a team fight from a 5v5 to a 5v3 for three seconds, which is generally enough time for one side to gain a decisive advantage.

Skill #2 (W): Powershot | Active: Point

Level	Mana Cost	Initial Damage
1	90	120
2	100	200
3	110	280
4	120	360

Powershot is Windrunner's nuke, which has an impressive cast range of 1800 and a low cooldown of 9 seconds. After targeting, Windrunner will channel for a short period of time, and then Powershot flies off at an insane speed (3000 units/second), dealing magic damage to everything it comes in contact with. The Powershot arrow will hit a box of 125 units wide and 1700 units long, and a bit of precision is needed to hit far-away foes. However, this skill does make for an excellent harassment device; it's always fun to be able to hit an enemy when he/she cannot even see you. Powershot also destroys any trees it hits, and the arrow provides vision as well. These two little "bonuses" can prove invaluable in certain situations. However, there is one downside to this amazing nuke: the initial enemy takes full damage, but each successive enemy Powershot hits afterward takes 10% less damage (before factoring in magic resistance) than the one before it. This means that if you're trying to get a long-distance kill on a fleeing enemy at low HP you should try to avoid hitting other targets beforehand. The arrow also slows down a tiny bit each time it passes through an enemy or tree, but the speed decrease is negligible.

Skill #3 (E): Windrun | Active: Instant

Level	Duration	Effects
1	2.75 seconds	50% MS increase and 8% slow on enemies
2	3.5 seconds	50% MS increase and 16% slow on enemies
3	4.25 seconds	50% MS increase and 24% slow on enemies
4	5 seconds	50% MS increase and 30% slow on enemies

Signature skills are always fun, and Windrun is no exception. For a mana cost of 100 and a cooldown of 15 seconds at all levels, Windrun allows Windrunner the ability to move at a 50% increased move speed for a short duration of time, and enemies chasing after Windrunner will be slowed if they follow in her footsteps even if they are magic immune. If this in itself as an escape skill wasn't enough, Windrunner also grants complete physical evasion from enemy attacks (unless an enemy has a Monkey King Bar), meaning that while Windrunner is running away with Windrun it's nigh impossible to hit her with physical attacks. Magic damage and stuns will still hit, however, so the timing of utilizing Windrunner is important. Conversely, this skill can also be used offensively as a means to pseudo-tank physical damage and to chase after enemies.

Skill #4 (Ultimate) (R): Focus Fire | Active: Unit

Level	Mana Cost	Damage Reduction
1	200	50%
2	300	40%
3	400	30%

Focus Fire is Windrunner's ultimate, and it allows her to attack faster than any other hero in the game under certain conditions. After you choose a target (both enemy units and buildings are selectable) to Focus Fire, Windrunner will attack that chosen target at maximum attack speed for up to a 20 second duration (time starts as soon as first arrow is fired). This means you can still kite around, use your other spells, and then continue hitting your target at a blindingly fast rate for 20 seconds. Sounds nice, right? There are a few drawbacks (or as I prefer to call them, "balancing factors"). First, if you end up changing targets by attacking something else the Focus Fire is broken. Second, even though you are attacking with maximum attack speed you are attacking with reduced damage--Focus Fire basically allows you to attack faster but for less damage per shot. Third, the mana cost is relatively high: Windrunner will generally be expending most of her mana on the first three skills, meaning that there oftentimes you won't have enough mana to cast Focus Fire. Aghanim's Scepter decreases the cooldown of Focus Fire at all levels from 60 seconds to 15 seconds (and changes a little bit of the damage mechanic for lifesteal--that will be covered below) but that doesn't solve the mana cost problems. All in all, Focus Fire is useful, but not as useful as Windrunner's first three skills.

V. Skill Builds
Depending on what role in the team you choose to take with Windrunner, your skill build may vary. Here I will provide a basic (example) skill build for each general role you can take. Remember, these are not set in stone: each game is unique and there may be outstanding circumstances in which you will need to deviate from a preset path. Use these builds as guidelines, not as absolutes. Pirate code? In cases where there's more than one choice listed, the first skill listed is the one I would "recommend".

For the most part, you want to max out the first three skills before taking Focus Fire. For the most part, I recommend maxing Powershot first. As with most nukes, it does comparably more damage earlier on. Afterward, max either Shackleshot or Windrun--it's up to you to read the flow of the game to decide which one to strengthen first. In general, max Shackleshot if your team is lacking in disables, and max Windrun if your team has enough stuns yet no chasing power.

+ Show Spoiler [Carry Windrunner Build] +
Justification: This build stresses three things that effective Carries in today's metagame possess: a farming tool, a kill-stealing/sniping technique, and an escape mechanism (survivability). Powershot fulfills the first two requirements, allowing Windrunner to accelerate her farming by nuking down creep waves as well as sniping hero kills from afar without putting herself in danger. For your first level-up, a defensive level 1 Windrun first makes it incredibly tough to first blood Windrunner early on without overwhelming numbers. After Power Shot, Windrunner is maxed to increase survivability. Since you are playing the carry role with this build, you want to balance Windrun and Shackleshot, so skill them equally. Once again, it's up to you to decide which one you need. I enjoy picking up Focus Fire at 10 and 11 so you can take towers quickly. In the event that you find yourself playing as a Carry Windrunner, you'll often find yourself alone with enemy towers while the other nine players are off playing on the other half of the map. Ninja these towers quickly with Focus Fire, and back out. Seeing as how all of Windrunner's skills are so amazing, Stats is only taken when there is nothing else to take.

If you are playing a game where there's a paucity of supportive characters, use this more team-oriented skill build.

+ Show Spoiler [Support Windrunner Build] +
Justification: A support-based Windrunner is a team player. Shackleshot is taken at level 1, since the stun is useful both for the pre-spawn ganks as well as for protecting your team's carries. As a support, you should not be afraid to die so that your carry may live. After that, depending on the laning situation level up either Powershot or Windrunner next. Take Powershot if you feel like your lane is going to look to be aggressive, and opt for the more defensive Windrunner if you find yourself on the back foot. In any case, choose whichever skill you didn't take at level 2 when you hit level 3. Afterward, it's a matter of alternating between Powershot and Shackleshot until both skills are maxed. Personally, I like maxing Powershot first because I use it quite liberally to maintain lane control, but the extra stun duration of a higher level Shackleshot may prove useful. Once again, this is up to you--if your team already has a decent number of stuns, taking Powershot for the extra nuke damage is the better choice. If you find the onus of being the main disabler falling upon yourself, max Shackleshot first. Windrun is a good tool to distract, but as a support you'd be more valued for your stun. Focus Fire shouldn't be taken till other skills are maxed.

And what if there's a good mix of carry/semi-carries and supporting heroes on your team (hint: that makes for a good team)? Take the middle route, be a Utility Windrunner.

+ Show Spoiler [Mixed Windrunner Build] +
Justification: This build is great for farming in the early stages of the game, and with good farm early on the midgame ganking phase becomes that much easier for a strong Windrunner. As with the Carry Windrunner build there's a choice at level 1 between Windrunner and Shackleshot. An aggressive Windrunner will choose Shackleshot, while the Windrunner who is more cautious picks Windrunner. If you're on the hard lane (especially if you're alone), you have to play defensively. I almost always get Windrun first. These days, I'm almost always playing a Utility Windrunner, and I'm primarily on the hard lane. since the early game goal is to farm quickly and efficiently. By the time midgame comes along, you should have your core items (generally Phase Boots and Mekansm) and should be ready to start pushing team fights. As with the Carry build, Powershot is maxed first in order to dominate the lane as well as to nuke creeps down for farm quickly. When Powershot is maxed at level 7, two levels of Shackleshot and one level of Windrun should be picked up. You may want to switch this up (two in Windrun, one in Shackleshot) if your team has an adequate number of disables. Remember, farm early game, dominate midgame. Max Shackleshot by 10, and start looking for fights. Once again, don't level Focus Fire until all other skills are maxed.

VI. Item Builds
There are currently 123 purchasable items in DotA. That is a lot of items. And of those 123, I am not joking when I say that Windrunner can use a majority of them, and can use them quite well. As such, it would take an inordinate amount of time for me to meticulously detail out different item builds (and who would want to read all that anyway?), so I'm going to just write a few item builds for each type of Windrunner role. As with everything else in this guide, you can deviate. My builds are those elicited from watching professional games and my own personal games, but what works for me doesn't necessarily have to work for you.

Instead of separately listing out items for a "Carry Windrunner", "Support Windrunner", and "Utility Windrunner", I'm instead going to define item classes by what they offer. Remember, you are utility, you are the missing link--if a team needs an item, you can get it.

Starting Items
This guide assumes that you did not random Windrunner. Therefore, you start with 603 gold.

If you can help it, don't buy wards or a chicken. In an "optimal" game, there will be two other supports that will buy these. Of course, if nobody buys a chicken man up and buy your own. And if somebody buys a chicken and nobody buys wards, man up and buy your own. Wards are especially useful if you're alone on the hard lane, where you can ward the pull and the rune spot to afford yourself some protective vision. Any remaining money should be invested into stats items and regeneratives. I will detail a few starting item combinations below and explain the viability of each one.


There are other starting item combinations to choose from, of course. I have listed the four that I choose most commonly when playing Windrunner. With the Ring of Protection in Option 1, Windrunner takes much less damage from physical enemy hits. The two Ironwood branches provide some good stats and go into the Magic Wand or Mekansm, and there's plenty of regeneratives in the two Salves and Tangos. Furthermore, the Ring of Protection can be later upgraded into a Ring of Basilius with the purchase of a Sobi Mask for some nice mana regeneration and increased pushing capability through the armor aura. Option 1 is the one I go with the most, since I tend to trade a lot of physical hits early on.

Options 2 and 3 are stats-heavy builds. With the Circlet of Nobility and three Ironwood branches in Option 2, your opponents will be very hard-pressed to take you out early in the game. The +5 to STR in early game can't be overlooked--that's an extra 95 HP right there, and the +5 to INT means you have 65 additional points in mana to work with from the get-go. The Circlet can be turned into a null talisman or bracer later or sold. Again, a salve and tangos are purchased--it is imperative you keep yourself healthy in terms of HP. Option 3 is more of an Intelligence-focused build. The two Mantles of Intelligence along with the Ironwood branches provide you an additional 8 damage and 104 mana to start out with--that's an extra Windrunner, Powershot, or Shackleshot right off the bat. The Mantles can later be upgraded to Null Talismans (and potentially Dagon) if the game isn't going well, or can be sold to make room for larger items.

Option 4 is probably the least common of the four listed, though it can be very useful. I buy the Magic Stick if I can guess that I'll be facing a lane with heroes that like to spam spells (Batrider). That way, the Magic Stick can reap early dividends in providing me with extra health and mana. And with the three Ironwood branches, the Magic Wand for early game items is just a recipe away from being complete.

Options 5 and 6 are taken if you have to "man up"--and by that, I mean your teammates are lazy and selfish. If you're on the hard lane by yourself (which will be common if your team picked a jungler), get those wards. Do not buy both wards and courier, since you still want some starting items.

Early Game Items
You've ventured out into the big, bad, world and have started farming your lane away. You've dominated your lane through coordinated ganks and ceaseless harassment with your Powershot and there are wards in place to keep you in the loop as to what your enemies are up to. Or perhaps you've had trouble--you've been by yourself and the enemy has kept you away from farming. Below I will list some of the potential items you should consider getting with explanations. And remember, just because these are listed does not mean you should get any of them (besides Boots and Magic Wand). The longer you spend farming for early game items, the more your core items will be delayed.


Almost every hero should get Boots of Speed in an expedient fashion. Windrunner is no exception, as she can use the increased movement speed to greater effect than other heroes because of the 50% increase from the Windrunner ability. Eventually, the boots should be upgraded, and there are four options. Before moving onto the discussion and justification of other early game items, let's talk about the boots dilemma.


My personal belief from playing and watching professional games is that for Windrunner, there are two optimal choice in terms of selecting which set of boots to upgrade to from normal Boots of Speed. To arrive at such a conclusion, I will rule out inferior choices.

Let's start with Boots of Travel. For carries, Tinker, and the lategame, these boots are certainly useful--you'll be able to teleport at a whim to a large mass of enemy creeps for farm. The +100 movespeed is nice, but the main drawback for these boots is that they are prohibitively expensive early on. With the advent of the item Smoke of Deceit (which allows for invisible ganks undetectable by Observer Wards), the current metagame became one of very aggressive ganks-into-pushes. It'd take a very long time to farm up the 2000 gold required for the recipe when it could be going into core items. Thus, we rule out Boots of Travel as a viable early game item for Windrunner. After all your item slots are maxed out, you can trade your Phase Boots in for Boots of Travel, thus freeing up the slot no longer held by the teleportation scroll.

Arcane Boots look nice on paper. Who wouldn't want an extra 135 mana every 45 seconds? Arcane Boots are also team-oriented, which is something Windrunner espouses to be. However, generally heroes that get Arcane Boots lack other forms of mana regeneration. Windrunner will normally have a Ring of Basilius, Sage's Mask, or Void Stone. Rule Arcane Boots out, and let your supports purchase them. You may consider getting these if you're going for an extremely aggressive pushing strategy (or if there's a particularly annoying Invoker on the other team).

The new Tranquil Boots provide a cheap heal and +80 MS, which looks really nice. However, Windrunner will often get a Mekansm and/or Magic Wand so there's all the regeneration you'll need. I wouldn't recommend these boots on Windrunner--much like Arcane Boots, Tranquil Boots are more useful for roaming supports without some other form of regeneration.

So I rule out Boots of Travel, Tranquil Boots, and Arcane Boots. You now have a choice of Treads or Phase Boots. For the most part, get Treads when you desperately need to be a bit tankier (and there's not such an emphasis on chasing), and Phase Boots elsewise.

Power Treads are versatile. In STR mode, you add 152 HP to your HP pool, and in INT mode you add 104 mana as well as a bit of damage (+8). The increased attack speed is nice as well. However, Power Treads do not synergize with your ultimate, which already gives you maximum attack speed. What you really need is damage. Now, Power Treads can't be completely ruled out--in a tough game when you fear for your life an extra 152 HP can mean the difference between death and survival.

Lastly, there are the Phase Boots. Phase Boots are amazing for Windrunner. The +24 damage works so well with her ultimate Focus Fire, and the Phase ability on the Phase boots allows for even faster overall movement. Let's do some math: Phase Boots give +60 MS, so on top of Windrunner's 295 base MS that is 355. Activating Windrunner brings that to 355 x 1.5 = 533, which will be capped at 522. Along with Power Treads, Phase Boots give Windrunner all the movespeed she needs while Windrunning to escape almost anything. On top of that, the Phase ability lets you Windrun through creep--making it that much harder for enemies to kill you. Utility Windrunner also focuses on "hitting hard, but slowly". Phase Boots gives you the damage, making each arrow hurt a bit more.

Get Phase Boots. If you can finish them quickly, get them right after your Magic Wand or Ring of Basilius. If you aren't farming that well, try to get a Mekansm first and then try to upgrade your boots later.

Speaking of Magic Wand, this is must-have item not only on Windrunner, but on pretty much every hero. As an early-game item it's amazing. The potential burst heal of +225 HP/+225 MP is an excellent way to stay healthy and assist in juking, and the +3 to all stats is a nice bonus. Depending on whether or not you're facing opposing heroes who enjoy spamming their spells, you may or may not get a Magic Stick/finish your Magic Wand before you get boots. If your opponents are liberal with their mana-spending, get the Stick and upgrade to Wand first. If you're facing relatively passive opponents, get boots first. You may not even want to upgrade to the Wand, since the Stick itself is so cost-efficient.

Ring of Basilius is a nice, relatively inexpensive item to consider, especially if you walked out of your base with Option #1 in the starting items section. The +.65 mana regeneration per second is so good if you're sitting in your lane using Powershot for farm. And if you get a chance to push (say you can see four or five enemy heroes on the opposite side of the map), turn on the +2 armor aura to help your creeps. If I grab a Ring of Protection right off the bat, Ring of Basilius is normally the first item I finish.

Null Talismans are a good, cheap way to give yourself stats and damage. Each Null Talisman gives +57 HP, +78 MP, and +9 damage for Windrunner. If you went for Option 2 or 3 with starting items you've got at least one component for a Null Talisman right there. Null Talismans can be held onto until you need the space, and if the situation arises you can make a Dagon for burst damage out of a Null Talisman as well... though that's not something I would generally recommend.

Bracers provide similar bonuses to Null Talismans. You get a bit more HP, a bit less mana, and a bit less damage--but Bracers go into Drums of Endurance. And Chinese people love Drums.

The Soul Ring is an amazing item. It's pretty much a free Powershot every 25 seconds. It's a free activation of Windrun when you find yourself low on mana and needing to get out. However, Windrunner already has a pretty low HP pool--even though the Soul Ring provides some nice regeneration, using its active ability takes away a hefty chunk of your life (250 HP). It doesn't matter how fast you can run if you are going to get stunned and nuked down. I rarely buy Soul Ring, but if you are very confident in your map awareness and just want that extra Powershot to farm, be my guest.

Magic Bottle is a really good regenerative item, and at 600 gold is well worth its cost after a short while. One full bottle (three charges) will restore 405 HP and 210 MP, which is the equivalent of a salve and two clarities (or about 200 gold), so using it fully three times already recoups its market price. However, Magic Bottle isn't that useful if you're not getting the runes. If another hero on your team (normally the solo mid) gets a Bottle, don't bother getting one. But if you're the solo mid, get this first.

Core (Midgame) Items
After you quickly get whatever early game item(s) you do so desire, you should be starting to buy the bigger items. Windrunner's core choices can be pretty extensive, though as I stated above each set should have Phase Boots (occasionally Power Treads) and a Magic Wand. There is two more items I consider absolutely core (though you may not always get both) on Windrunner, and those two are Force Staff and Mekansm. Both provide you with some nice numbers and an awesome ability. With Force Staff you get a bit more mana, a bit more attack speed, +20 damage, and most importantly, the pushing ability. Windrunner already has an innate escape mechanism. Add in the Force Staff ability and you'll be ridiculously hard to kill. Mekansm is treated in a similar fashion: the stat padding is nice, the armor boost helps for pushing, and just like Force Staff it's a team-based item. The burst heal is invaluable. So, your four core items:


These items are not that expensive: Phase Boots costs 1400 for all the components, a Magic Wand is 509 gold, Mekansm is 2306, and the Force Staff is 2200. If you're farming well, you should be able to get at least one of Mekansm or Force Staff during the midgame. Force Staff has so many cute uses as well--you can set up Shackleshots with it (suddenly there's an angle!).

If you have both Mekansm and Force Staff, your opponents will fear you as "the red-headed ninja". It's so damn hard to kill Windrunner with those items.

Oh, and how silly of me to forget...


Always carry a Scroll of Town Portal (better known as a TP scroll). Always.

Post-Core (Lategame) Items
So we've gone through starting items, early-game items (Magic Wand, Null Talismans, Bracers, Soul Ring, Ring of Basilius), and core (midgame) items (Phase Boots/Treads, Mekansm, Force Staff). With Ring of Basilius, Phase Boots, Mekansm, Force Staff, and Magic Wand, Windrunner is both a nigh-unkillable hero as well as a powerful team player. But where do we go from here?

Item choices will be divided into "classes" now. There are items that focus on adding damage, items that add disables, items that help tank... Some of these items have multiple functions, so I'll list them where I think they're more applicable. Potential choices for each class of item are listed and discussed below. Remember, you fill the role your team lacks. Find a need and fill it with appropriate items.


A "standard" Windrunner is extremely powerful after she finishes Mekansm, then powerful again after Force Staff. After completing Scythe of Vyse (also known as Sheep stick or Hex stick), she is truly a power to be reckoned with. The disable can set you up for shackleshots, and it provides needed mana regeneration and some good stats (as well as +35 damage through the +35 INT). The ability to sheep someone and open fire with Focus Fire will make even BKB-wielding heroes fear you.

Orchid Malevolence (Silence Stick) is the item to go for if your team needs a disable but you can't farm consistently enough to get to a Scythe of Vyse. Orchid is quite a bit cheaper than Hex and the components are cheap to acquire, since you can build each Oblivion Staff separately. Each Oblivion Staff alone gives you some nice bonuses: +6 INT, +10 AS, +15 damage (so really +21 damage total per Oblivion Staff on Windrunner), and +75% mana regeneration. The numbers from a completed Orchid are amazing: +25 INT, +30 AS, +30 damage (+55 damage total), and +150% mana regeneration. The Attack Speed boost is nice and will improve your overall DPS by a noticeable amount even when you're not using Focus Fire. This all pales in comparison to Orchid Malevolence's active ability, Soul Burn; Soul Burn is a five second silence and a 25% amplify damage on top of an opponent, allowing you to kill somebody faster. Orchid can also be used as a defensive item. If you're getting ganked by more than one enemy hero, silence the more dangerous enemy, Force Staff yourself out, and start Windrunning. Remember, Windrunner is optimally played as a hero that just won't ever die.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity (commonly shortened to "Eul's" or known as "Cyclone stick) is a cheap item that isn't as good as a Hex or Orchid, but it still has its uses. The mana regeneration and +25 MS boost is really nice (this allows you to move even faster when Phased), and the active helps you dodge enemy skills, stall until Windrun comes off cooldown, or cyclone an enemy to set up an easy Shackleshot.

I haven't yet gotten the new Rod of Atos item on Windrunner, but now that I think about it it's pretty good. The HP boost is nice, and the 50% slow is just devastating--especially if you're running at max MS (through Windrun). This item can allow you to chase effectively and circle for Shackleshot positioning.


I said above that Mekansm is core on Windrunner. However, it's also "core" on other heroes--so if somebody else is making a Mekansm, you can get a Pipe first. Windrunner is a great hero for Pipe, considering she can Windrun in to get somebody in the buff. The increased magic resistance is also great, since magic damage is the true way to take out Windrunner early on (she laughs at your physical hits with her 100% evasion).

Drum of Endurance (I still personally call it its DotA 1 name, Janggo) is the go-to item in Chinese play these days. It costs less than an Ultimate orb, is easily assembled, and gives great bonuses (+9 all stats, +9 damage, +5% MS, +5 AS), and the active charge benefits your whole team in a fight. Drums synergize well with Phase Boots as well--once again, we're setting up Windrunner as a ridiculous chaser and escape artist.

Necronomicon was the Drum before Drum was the drum... The AS/MS boosts from the Archer are nice, and the two little minions are so useful (consider getting Necronomicon 3 as a countermeasure to invisible enemies). Necronomicon also gives you additional STR and INT, helping you tank up and become wiser at the same time. Still, the item is quite expensive, and it's not that useful in the later stages of the game.

Windrunner is a good hero to hold a Gem of True Sight, especially since with some good items she is so hard to kill.

You can also get items such as Urn of Shadows and Medallion of Courage on Windrunner, but those are early game items that would delay her core of Phase Boots/Mekansm/Force Staff.


Monkey King Bar (MKB) is such a fun item, and it's so wonderfully amazing on Windrunner. The +88 damage and +15 AS as well as a mini-bash (35% to add 100 damage and interrupt channeling spells) really emphasizes the power behind each arrow. Your shots are going to hurt, and an enemy caught under Focus Fire will go down quite quickly. True Strike is also granted, and this allows you to go toe-to-toe with an Agility carry that builds Butterfly. If your team needs you to step up and deal some heavy damage, MKB is the way to go. MKB also completely shreds towers, and with True Strike you can siege them from the (relative) safety of low ground.

Crystalys (lesser crit) and its bigger brother, Daedalus (greater crit) add damage and a critical strike to your hero. With its 20% chance to deal 1.75x a normal attack, Crystalys will increase your DPS by more than 15% (0.2 x 1.75 + 0.8 x 1 = 1.15) after factoring in the +35 damage. Daedalus is even more of a monster. 25% for 2.5x means your raw DPS goes up by way more than 42% (0.25 x 2.5 + 0.8 x 1 = 1.425) after factoring in the whopping +81 damage. The nice thing about Crystalys is that it's relatively cheap as well (2150), though I suggest getting Crystalys/Daedalus after you've increased your base damage more through other items. After all, you'll get a bigger critical hit if you have higher base damage.

I don't ever really get this item, but I can see where it would have a niche role. Skull Basher gives you +40 damage, a little bit of strength, and a 10% chance to bash (stun) enemies for 1.4 seconds. There is a cooldown of 2 seconds, meaning you can't permabash enemies, but you can come close. Basher is a nice way to focus down enemy supports quickly under Focus Fire.

Lastly, there's the godfather of all damage-dealing items: the Divine Rapier. The +300 damage is almost guaranteed to end the game... one way or the other. Be careful with this! If you die, you'll drop it and the enemy can potentially pick it up. However, if the game has drawn out very, very late and your team is going for a final push, picking this a Divine Rapier as a surprise may just let you end the game then and there. Watch an enemy carry quickly melt under your Focus Fire... or watch yourself get chain stunned into oblivion. Purchase at your own discretion.

Assault Cuirass makes it in here as a special mention. While Windrunner normally doesn't emphasize attack speed, it can't hurt--and the minus armor makes each arrow extremely painful. The armor is also really nice since Windrunner (without Windrun) is pretty vulnerable to physical damage.

Aghanim's Scepter decreases the cooldown on your ultimate to 15 seconds, making Focus Fire a normal spell... with a high mana cost. Still though, if you can support the mana drain, it's an item to have. On top of improving your ultimate, you'll be padding your stats quite a bit (+10 to all your attributes as well as +200 HP and +150 MP for an overall +390 HP and +280 MP). There is one downside to Aghanim's though (at least in TFT DotA, haven't tested it in DotA 2 but I'm pretty sure it's the same): after you get Aghanim's if you also have lifesteal you will heal less when Focus Firing targets. Even though this is slightly more advanced (and is generally a trivial consideration), I'll explain anyway: without Aghanim's Scepter, when you Focus Fire somebody damage is calculated on a pre-triggered heal basis. Basically what this means is you do full outgoing damage with your arrow, but the enemy heals before the arrow hits. However, since lifesteal is calculated on your damage going out, you will lifesteal the "full" amount. After Aghanim's is purchased, your outgoing damage is decreased by the Focus Fire amount, so you only lifesteal 50%/60%/70% (depending on level of Focus Fire) of the amount you would normally lifesteal without Aghanim's. All other orb effects and trigger chances (such as MKB's mini-stun proc) are actually improved (no longer reduced by Focus Fire) through getting an Aghanim's Scepter, so this reduction is only a consideration if you get a lifesteal orb.


These next items are primarily defensive in nature. Shiva's Guard gives you 30 Intelligence (and damage through this) and +15 armor. Furthermore, the Freezing aura reduces all enemy AS by 25, meaning your whole team will stay alive longer. The active Arctic Blast is nothing to laugh at either. At the time you get Shiva's in-game, 200 magical damage is relatively trivial; however, the 40% slow for 4 seconds can be immensely useful in messing up your enemies' positioning. Get this if the enemy team is full of right-clicking damage dealers. For Windrunner, Shiva's increases your mana pool by quite a bit (you will never run out of mana), and the extra armor will go a long way in keeping you alive.

Blade Mail is the item you get when your enemies consistently find a way to target you to bring you down. The big spikes pretty much scream "target me and take your own damage back" at you. The +10 INT, +5 armor, and overall +32 damage are nice as well, especially since Blade Mail is a relatively cheap item at 2200 gold.

Black King Bar is made when your enemies have a lot of magical damage. If their game plan is to nuke you into oblivion, stand tall (literally) and slice them down with your magical immunity. Remember, certain ultimates may go through BKB, so take that into consideration. The +10 STR makes you a bit tankier and the +24 damage is nice as well. Generally speaking though, Windrunner isn't normally the "stand there and right-click" type of hero, so BKB is not often a frequent choice.

Back in the days of long, drawn-out farming games, Linken's Sphere was the go-to item. Decent stats, nice regeneration (Windrunner can make excellent use of both the HP and MP regeneration), and the spell block are all very useful. However, it doesn't provide enough in terms of damage, and since games are shorter these days carries need to ramp up to damage-dealing mode faster. Linken's takes a long time to farm, so you may not have time to get Linken's and some other high-class before your enemies are knocking on your front door. If you can though, go for it. Windrunner already has a survivability, and Linken's Sphere takes it to a whole new level. Of course, your enemies are just going to ignore you if you don't have other items.


Unique Attack Modifier (Orb Effect in WCIII DotA--I still refer to them as this) items are generally purchased by quick-attacking Agility heroes, since having higher attack speed means being able to get more out of your orb. However, a Windrunner built with AS items such as Orchid or Assault Cuirass can get quite a bit out of these as well.

While I don't normally get an orb effect item on Windrunner, when I do it's generally lifesteal through Helm of the Dominator. The +20 damage and +5 armor are nice, and the ability to dominate a creep either for ancient stacking (ancients are the strongest neutral creeps that spawn once a minute; use a dominated creep to pull them away at around X:55 to force a second set of ancients to spawn) or for aura benefits (alpha wolf gives attack damage aura) is cool as well. 15% lifesteal will keep you in the battle longer as well. If you are at low life and spot an opportunity, Focus Fire somebody to watch your HP bar rise.

If you do choose lifesteal through Helm of the Dominator as an orb, you can later (when I say later, I mean late, late into the game) upgrade Helm to a Satanic, which will make Windrunner much more tanky through the +25 STR (+475 HP). Furthermore, the active ability Unholy Rage will allow you to lifesteal not 15%, but 175% for 3.5 seconds. You hit an enemy a few times and your life is back to full. If they bring you low again, pop Focus Fire for yet another full heal. Just remember that lifesteal and Aghanim's Scepter aren't exactly compatible together. Getting both still works, but will cause you to lifesteal less.

The orb effect/buff placer from Diffusal Blade completely demolishes low-mana pool heroes. At 20 (36 when upgraded to level 2) mana burn a shot (which translates into +20/+36 physical damage on each of your arrows), supports will find themselves out of mana quickly when you target them. What's even more fun is Focus Firing somebody (perhaps the enemy carry) and watching his/her mana bar drop to zero almost instantly. The purge is useful against summoned units (Necronomicons minions and Warlock's Infernal in particular) and for debuffing heroes such as Lycanthrope/Night Stalker. So when do you get Diffusal Blade? Purchase one when the enemy team is rolling in summons or has heroes that rely on mana to do damage/survive, such as Morphling (needs mana for morph) or Storm Spirit.

Maelstrom and Mjollnir are, quite literally, electrifying. The chain lightning orb/buff placer does quite a bit of damage and can help with pushing, and Mjollnir's defensive Static Charge buff that you can place on yourself or on a teammate basically says "attack me and get zapped for 200 magical damage". Mjollnir is especially effective against an enemy Radiance carrier, since the constant burn damage from Radiance will trigger the Static discharge more often. The +25 AS from Maelstrom (a whopping +80 AS from Mjollnir) is always welcome as well. Consider buying Mjollnir as an orb when you need an extra defensive measure (if you see somebody with Blade Mail and Static Charge active, are you going to damage them?), if the enemy carry has a Radiance, or you just want to fry some people randomly with Chain Lightning. Mjollnir turns Windrunner into a machine gun, and with Focus Fire an electrified machine gun.

The buff placer from Eye of Skadi slows both the movespeed and attack speed of your target by 30% and 20, respectively. And if you get hit by an Eye of Skadi carry with high AS you're not getting away. Skadi also provides a sizable boost to all stats: +25 STR, AGI, INT, +200 HP, and +150 MP means you'll be tankier (+675 HP), wiser (+475 MP), faster (+25 AS through the AGI), and better-armored (+3.6 armor from AGI). And the best thing? Ranged Eye of Skadi counts only as a buff placer. And lifesteal from Helm/Satanic is only an orb. What does this mean? You can get both Eye of Skadi and Helm/Satanic for massive damage/healing/slow/tankiness. While this is prohibitively expensive (and not very worth it on Windrunner), it's an option if the game draws out very, very long.

Rejected Items
Some items just don't work well with Windrunner. I'll list a few of the more notable ones.


Blink Dagger is expensive, takes up a slot, and you already have Force Staff and Windrunner for mobility. No need for a Blink Dagger, especially since they can be made unusable for three seconds through damage (and despite being ranged, Windrunner so often finds herself in the thick of things)

Ghost Scepter makes you immune to physical damage and prevents you from attacking... yet you already have Windrun. Ethereal Blade is an even bigger waste of money.

You can't spam Focus Fire, nor can you use it twice in rapid succession. The rest of your skills have sub-15 second cooldowns. No need for an expensive Refresher Orb.

Shadow Blade is just a terrible item. It costs 3800 gold and can be countered by 180 gold Dust. The movespeed doesn't stack with Phase Boots or Windrun either (since if you pop either you reappear from invisibility).

Armlet is for Strength carries with lifesteal. Windrunner is not one of those.


Stygian Desolator used to be viable, but now cheaper minus-armor can be found through a Medallion of Courage, which a support can get. It doesn't cost much more to get an Assault Cuirass, and its damage is outweighed by better items such as MKB and Daedalus.

Manta Style gives you illusions and can help you dodge a stun, but you don't have enough agility or tankiness in general to merit having illusions. Leave this for Agility carries. The movespeed increase is also not that relevant, since you already move at maximum movespeed with Windrunner. Your illusions won't do that much damage either because DPS Windrunner builds pure damage-adding items, and pure damage doesn't translate to illusions.

Mask of Madness increases your AS, but also makes you take more damage. Not good on a frail hero like Windrunner, since there are better ways to get Attack Speed without the negatives of a Mask of Madness (hint: Focus Fire).

Sange and Yasha is not an orb effect (used to be back in WCIII DotA) anymore, but still isn't worth its cost for Windrunner. The item doesn't synergize well: the greater maim isn't that useful since you could have a Rod of Atos instead. The movespeed increase is relevant, but isn't worth 4400 gold. The extra STR is good but other items listed above can compensate for that. Build SnY on fast STR or AGI carries. Windrunner is not one of those.

Butterfly grants evasion. So does Windrun. 100% > 30%. The extra Agility is mostly wasted on Windrunner as well.

Abyssal Blade (more like Abysmal Blade) is pretty much only for melee heroes. You have a 600 range attack. Why would you bother moving in to 140 range to cast your expensive disable?

Fully Equipped Examples
I'm just going to provide some examples of a fully equipped or nearly-fully equipped (late, late game) Windrunner. Note that many games you may not reach this stage of farm. And remember, as I keep saying: Windrunner can make use of so many different items. I doubt you'll find yourself building the same set of items each time.

VII. Special Tactics
Windrunner's skills can all be used in more than one way. I'll talk about different utilizations for each of Windrunner's abilities, then give a detailed breakdown of what you should do during the laning phase and in typical team fights. As of now, I don't have any screenshots to use; perhaps I'll printscreen some stuff later or go stalk pubs.

Shackleshot
Shackleshot can be a pretty difficult stun to land, but when utilized correctly it can provide up to 3.75 seconds of disable on two people. Making a fight a 5v3 sounds fun, right? I could attempt to explain to you the mechanics behind Shackleshot, but I'll let Wolfos of Playdota do the talking from his excellent guide, Make Your Own Path:



I'll now list some tips and general notes for using Shackleshot:

• When you're chasing an enemy, try to hold off on using Shackleshot until there's a tree or another unit if you can.
  
• Sometimes the mini-stun is all that's needed. The .75s mini-stun makes landing a full duration Powershot easier or can allow allied heroes to catch up to the fleeing enemy.
  
• You can take an enemy by surprise and indirectly shackle a hero by targeting the creep in front of them. This is harder to do than the standard Shackleshot.
  
• If you shackle two objects (trees, units, heroes) together, even if one of the objects is removed (dies) the stun duration stays the same for the other.
  
• Shackleshot has an awesome cast range of 800, meaning you can effectively use it while still hidden in the fog of war.

Powershot

• Remember that you can release Powershot early. This may catch enemies by surprise, and it definitely helps with aiming (no point charging a full 1s Powershot to kill an enemy 1000 units away with 80 HP).
  
• Powershot does 120/200/280/360 * [charge time]/1s magic damage to the initial target.
  
• In the laning phase, when harassing with Powershot try to time it so you get one or two creep kills in addition to damaging the enemy hero(es).
  
• Since Powershot grants vision, if you have the mana to spare and you don't have a ward up nearby, fire a Powershot into the darkness to check if hostiles are around.
  
• When farming with a level 4 Powershot, hit each melee creep two or three times and the ranged creep once. You'll more effectively clear off a wave (and be able to clear up low-HP melee creep with physical hits) this way.
  
• Powershot is an amazing anti-pushing tool. Since you can fire it from 1800 units away, you can stay clear of the horde of enemies pushing up toward your tower. A maxed Powershot will fell a creep wave in two or three charges.
  
• With minor powers of prediction, you can snipe fleeing enemies with Powershot.
  
• Powershot can clear trees, so you can escape from Furion's Sprout easily even if you don't have tangos.
  
• Ferrying yourself Clarities for Powershot can be useful when faced against heavy pushing pressure from enemies early on.

Windrun

• Windrun at level 1 pretty much ensures you won't be first blood. Just make sure the enemy isn't packing multiple slows.
  
• Because of the 100% physical evasion, you can go toe-to-toe with an enemy and come out ahead if (s)he's already used damaging spells.
  
• You can use Windrun to save allies from enemy heroes. Turn on Windrun, hero block the enemies, and use the slow to let your allies get away. Make sure you can survive though afterward!
  
• I see a lot of people use Windrun to evade tower hits. Instead of burning your ability, just get the tower to shift targets (a-click an allied hero or creep).
  
• Windrun does not dodge enemy abilities. Do not activate it when a stun is flying toward you, otherwise you'll have wasted your Windrun. Instead, wait till after the stuns are done, and then run away when enemy spells are on cooldown.

Focus Fire

• People are wrong when they say "wait till you have more damage to take Focus Fire. Focus Fire isn't dependent upon damage; the DPS increase is based upon attack speed.
  
• I'm going to do some math here. Some people say Focus Fire isn't worth it at level 1 (for its mana cost) and that it barely does more damage than your regular attack and it's better to leave Focus Fire for later. I say otherwise--Focus Fire disregards damage and increases DPS by a higher amount the lower your attack speed is.
  + Show Spoiler [Justification] +
  Attack damage: X
  Instant Attack Speed: Y (as a percentage)
  Attacks per second = (1 + IAS)/BAT
  
  Windrunner normal DPS
  DPS = X * (1 + Y)/1.5
  
  Focus Fire level 1 Attack damage: X/2
  IAS: 4 (maxed, as a percentage)
  
  Focus Fire (level 1) DPS: X/2 * (1+4)/1.5
  
  Normal DPS - Focus Fire DPS
  X + XY = 2.5X
  1 + Y = 2.5
  Y = 1.5
  
  Therefore, regardless of your attack damage, when you have less than 150 points in IAS (in DotA 2 this is represented as 250) Focus Fire at level 1 increases your DPS over that of a regular attack. And if you take Focus Fire at level 6, a naked Windrunner will have 24 IAS points. Conceivably, you won't have any more than 20 (and that's being extremely generous--two Nulls and a Wand give you +9 IAS), which will give you an IAS. Therefore, Focus Fire level 1 increases your DPS by (2-1)/(1+.44) = 73.6%. Even though you have low damage at that point, it's still a huge increase and allows you to take down towers much faster.
  
  Level 2 Focus Fire and Level 3 Focus fire require 200 and 250 IAS points respectively to do less damage than normal attacks.
  
  I may actually be crazy. According to Playdota mechanics, max IAS is 400. However, maybe it's actually max attack speed (a sum of 1 + IAS as a percentage) that is 400? Even so, in that case...
  
  Windrunner requires 100 IAS points for Focus Fire level 1 to do less damage.
  Windrunner requires 140 IAS points for Focus Fire level 2 to do less damage.
  Windrunner requires 180 IAS points for Focus Fire level 3 to do less damage.
  
  To put this in perspective, a level 25 Windrunner with an impressive item set (let's say Phase, MKB, Orchid, Mekansm, TP scroll, Force Staff) has 17 + 1.4*24 + 20 + 15 + 30 + 5 + 10 = 115.3 points in IAS.
  
  
• Despite this fact, you don't really take Focus Fire early because of the prohibitive mana costs. Level 1 mana cost is 200, and having extra mana for your other skills is more important.
  
• With a bit of damage behind it, Focus Fire mows down towers really quickly. Windrunner can backdoor an enemy T3 if left alone for just a little bit.
  
• In fights, Focus Fire is really good at zoning enemies. If you target a hero that's a bit too far forward, that enemy will have to spend time backing off and repositioning.
  
• Focus Fire + Double Damage rune can be a really quick free Rosh.
  
• Focus Fire negate's Enchantress' Untouchable, so she is a prime target to be Focused.

What to do in the Laning Phase
Windrunner can effectively work in all sorts of lanes, be it solo mid, dual top, or trilane bottom. I'll talk about soloing Windrunner mid, dual lane play, and solo hard lane (top for Radiant, bottom for Dire). With her high base damage, ranged attack, good attack animation, escape spell, AoE nuke, and disable Windrunner is a really, really good laner.

Solo Mid

• Take Powershot at level 1 to better vie for early lane control.
  
• Bottle first and use Windrun to gain an advantage for going for runes.
  
• Use Powershot from your high ground so opponent has a harder time dodging.
  
• Beware of inbound enemies trying to gank you. Windrun out before they can get to you
  
• It's hard to kill as a solo Windrunner. Try to land a creep-hero Shackleshot (meaning you target the creep and get the hero as a the secondary stun target)
  
• When ganking a side lane, don't throw your stun until you have a good angle.
  
• If you land a successful shackle, use physical hits first to weaken the enemy and then use Powershot as a finisher.
  
• If you find you have extremely good farm early on (quick Phase Boots) and your opponent leaves the lane to go gank, feel free to take an early level in Focus Fire to pressure the enemy mid T1.

Dual Lane

• Regardless if you're farming or not, be aggressive. Few heroes can afford to trade blows with Windrunner because of her base damage.
  
• Don't tank the creep--your base armor sucks, so you'll eat a lot of creep damage.
  
• Don't back off first when trading blows: (s)he who turns his/her back first takes an extra hit.
  
• Use Windrun when trading blows to come out far ahead.
  
• When in a dual lane, you don't have the high ground advantage for hiding Powershots. Release at unpredictable times to keep your enemies honest.
  
• If enemies go on you, save Windrun till after you've been stunned. For long-lasting slows, it doesn't matter when you use Windrun.
  
• If your lane also has a stun, notify him or her that (s)he should allow you to set up Shackleshot first (as there won't always be a good angle) if possible.
  
• If you're on the lane where the enemy can pull/stack, you can sometimes steal neutrals with Powershot.
  
• Use Windrun to evade tower hits when slightly diving for wounded enemies.

Solo Hard

• Windrunner is a great 1v1 hero. If you're facing against only one enemy play it like you would similar as solo mid. Beware of junglers.
  
• If playing against multiple enemies, you will most likely be zoned. Let the zoner push you off the lane, and turn and hit him/her once or twice when he/she backs up.
  
• Stay within EXP range. It takes quite a bit to bring down Windrunner with Windrun.
  
• Do not pop your Windrun when exchanging hits. This is an indication to the enemy that you won't be able to stay in lane until the next Windrun cools down.
  
• Always leave mana for Windrun.
  
• Shackle is not as important as it is in dual lanes since there is nobody else that can follow up on it.
  
• Use Powershot for getting last hits and for harassing.
  
• Buy your own wards if nobody else will. That 200 gold spent is much more important to see who's coming (and know you're safe when you're getting experience) than not getting any experience.
  
• Start denying early when you can to pull the wave closer to your tower. Windrunner has amazing base damage and a good attack animation so it's relatively easier last-hitting under a tower with Windrunner than with other heroes.

What to do in Team Fights
With four active skills, the trick is knowing what to do when. Windrunner's skills (with the exception of Focus Fire) all have short enough cooldowns that you might be able to use them twice in a fight.

If you have a good angle, try to shackle two heroes. Even shackling one is often an excellent form of initiation. Shackling two can pretty much signify a won fight (assuming nobody on your side does anything stupid). Don't blow your shackle early without a good angle unless you have to cancel an important channeling spell (Enigma's Black Hole, Warlock's Upheaval, Witch Doctor's Death Ward, etc.).

Line up your Powershot early and try to hit as many enemies as possible. When it cools down again, look around at the enemies. If you see a fleeing enemy, snipe him or her with Powershot. If everybody is still relatively healthy (doubtful), fire it again into the mass.

Don't blow your Windrun early. If you find yourself focused (initiated upon), Windrun out, reposition yourself, and join the fight again. Use Windrun at the end to either escape a losing fight or to chase after a successful engagement. Use it if everybody is right-clicking you (it's fine in these cases to use it right before being stunned, since you'll often be dead by the time the stuns are done) in order to pseudo-tank.

Focus Fire is a one-trick pony skill. Don't blow it too early. Use it on somebody that will be disabled for a while (due to Beastmaster's Primal Roar, Batrider's Flaming Lasso), a support that hasn't yet cast spells (and as such is hanging around the fight to do so), or a glass cannon carry (deals a lot of damage but isn't very sturdy). Don't get "dragged" by enemies running away from your Focus Fire. Remember the buff lasts for 20 seconds and as long as you don't attack another enemy (say you need to throw a Shackleshot or use Powershot) you maintain the buff. If you're fighting under an enemy tower that's relatively low, you can try to ninja it in the chaos if your skills are on cooldown (though you should prioritize helping your team).

Make sure you use your items! If you've been following this guide, you'll have a bunch of team-oriented items. Pop that Mekansm as soon as your team takes AoE damage. Use the pipe when you anticipate large swaths of magical damage coming in (Chain Frost, Epicenter). Force Staff somebody that's being focused down, or use it on yourself for better positioning. Hex/silence an important enemy caster. Pop Drums right at the beginning for the MS/AS bonuses. Do the same for Shiva's.

You might find yourself overwhelmed in battles sometimes. I often have 5 or 6 active items and I suck at using them all effectively. The best you can do is just prioritize stuff. Remember: Shackle if you can, hold it if you can't. Powershot as soon as possible and whenever it's off cooldown. Don't use Windrun unless you have to. Focus Fire either to zone or to deal damage to somebody that won't be able to get out of the way quickly. Use items (normally only one use per fight since items have decently long cooldowns) when you need to use them.

VIII. Friends and Foes
Lastly, let's talk about some good allies and powerful foes Windrunner has. After all, you should know thy enemies.

The Friends: Furion, Sven, Slardar, Earthshaker, Beastmaster, Death Prophet


Everybody. And I mean every single hero in DotA. Windrunner doesn't have many weaknesses, but she doesn't excel at any one thing either. She is a natural complement to most heroes. She's great at setting up DPS heroes with her Shackle. She can chain her stun with other stunners. She doesn't have a hard-to-land nuke, yet she doesn't do much right-click damage. Every hero is Windrunner's friend. In particular, some heroes complement Windrunner (and vice versa) more than others though.

Furion is an excellent ganker with Teleport and Sprout. As Windrunner, you can chain your Shackleshot together with Furion's trees, and since the enemy is surrounded by trees in every direction, your Shackleshot is guaranteed to latch with a full stun.

Heroes such as Sven and Slardar have relatively long stuns that can hit multiple enemies. These stuns can help you position yourself better to follow-up with a Shackleshot on two heroes. Heroes like Earthshaker can clear enemy creep so you can better shoot for a two-hero Shackleshot.

Earthshaker is great also because he can help Windrunner counterpush. Powershot is an amazing skill, but it takes two charges to take down a creep wave. Other anti-push heroes such as Beastmaster and Death Prophet (which also need two nukes to bring down a creep wave) can team together with Windrunner to instantly wipe out an advancing enemy front.

The Foes: Crystal Maiden, Tidehunter, Lion, Beastmaster, Doom Bringer, Invoker

Killing Windrunner during the laning phase is hard--it takes multiple disables. Crystal Maiden has two. Nova is already an annoying harass, and it's a deadly slow. When Crystal Maiden and her team goes on Windrunner, the redhead is in trouble. Once she Novas you you'll be slowed, and after you pop Windrun she freezes you with Bite. Dead Windrunner.

Tidehunter and other heroes with lost-duration slows can beat Windrunner. Gush has a 4 second 40% slow, which will allow enemies to keep pace with Windrunner even if she's Windrunning. A Windrunner that can't run away is a gal in peril.

An equally-leveled Lion has two disables and one whopping nuke. Lion can instantly kill Windrunner if she's even a bit low, and with teammate support Windrunner doesn't stand a chance. Beastmaster is similar to Lion: strong stun, powerful nuke, and the pig is extremely annoying due to the inbuilt slow.

Everybody hates Doom Bringer and Invoker. Being Doomed means you can't use any skills or items, and Windrunner is entirely skill- (if not item-) dependent. And Invoker just sucks when he's against you.

IX. Final Words and Q&A
I hope you enjoyed this guide on Windrunner. While this guide wasn't meant for completely new people or seriously competitive players, I'd like to believe it's still informative for people getting used to DotA. Remember, Windrunner is a team-based hero: don't be selfish (don't hog the CS), don't be too altruistic (screw sacrificing yourself, just get on out of there if things go sour), and above all else, don't be rambo.

If you have any questions that weren't covered by this guide, post them here. I'll try to answer to the best that I can, and there are plenty others on this site who are more knowledgeable about DotA than I am that can help you as well.

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