Windranger

History

Alleria Windrunner is a Warcraft II hero unit and sister to Sylvanas Windrunner. The Warcraft III DotA mod used Alleria as one of its heroes. When Valve adapted the hero for Dota 2 they renamed her to Lyralei the Windrunner (Lyralei being a near-anagram of Alleria). On November 21st, 2013 Valve changed her name to Lyralei the Windranger, likely to avoid copyright issues with Blizzard Entertainment.

Gameplay Style

Windranger feels like an Agility hero due to her speed but she is classified as an Intelligence hero due to the disabling and nuking abilities in her skillset. Lyralei uses her Windrun ability to increase her speed and stay out of her opponent's reach. She can use her Shackleshot ability to aid in her escape or keep them stunned long enough to wind up her Powershot for a nice chunk of damage.

She is often played in the offlane solo due her long ranged attacks and escape ability but can fill many other roles like lane support, midlaner or roamer, she can even be played as a carry with the right build.

Abilities

Shackleshot

Windranger fires thick ropes that attach to units or trees behind the target, stunning attached units. If the ropes are unable to attach to another object the target is stunned for a much shorter period.

Powershot

A single powerful shot is charged for a second before firing. The shot goes through multiple units but does less damage for every successive unit and can fell trees. The shot angle cannot be adjusted while charging but the shot can be cancelled for less damage.

Windrun

Windranger drastically increases her speed, adds evasion from physical attacks and slows the speed of enemies in her wake.

Focus Fire

Windranger's damage is reduced but her attack speed is greatly improved. The ability is a bit tricky to use correctly in a fight but it makes short work of unguarded towers.