Dota 2

TAY

You and I Know
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Phase Boots or Arcane on Clock? I've used both and Phase is nice for setting up Cogs + damage, but Arcane is also good so as to always have mana. What should I get more often than not though?
Phase boots are not particularly good on clock. Moving through units in your cogs to escape is the only real application; the bonus damage is good during a manfight in your cogs, but you'll probably win that with your Q anyway. I usually get tranquils and disassemble them to make mekansm, or just make the mek and keep tranquils. Tranquils are pretty damn good.

To fix mana problems you can get soul ring or bottle (though if you aren't getting mek then you shouldn't get soul ring since clock's spells are very cheap. Urn of Shadows is a good choice in that case.) The main issue is getting clock items to be able to stay out on the map indefinitely. With a low cd ult you want to go back to base as little as possible. Arcanes, traquils, soul ring, bottle, and urn all solve this problem in one way or another.

As far as maxing rocket or battery assault goes, I prefer to max the battery assault. Battery assault allows you to more easily get ganks once you hit 6 since it does a ridiculous amount of damage. The rocket's main utility as an offlane clock is allowing you to get some gold when your opponent pulls, which is fantastic, but clockwerk's role is generally such that he starts ganking at level 6 or 7 to kill the opponent's mid or carry, and the battery assault is much better for that. An 80 damage level 1 rocket is completely acceptable for last hitting in lane from afar.

A level 4 battery assault does 75 damage per hit, which is 375 damage even if you only get the 5 hits while your opponent is trapped in the cogs (and you will likely get several more hits than that). IMO the power is better than the utility from rocket, but maxing rocket first isn't bad at all. A lot of people tend to get it first because it's his only nuke (for only 200 damage but w/e); just keep in mind that there are other options.

...but don't max the cogs.

Typically I will go:

cogs
rocket
battery assault
battery assault
battery assault
hookshot
battery assault
rocket
rocket
rocket
 
question, i got dota today and played drow for a few games. late game when i had a bunch of attack speed, when i tried to alternate moving backwards then right click/auto attacking it seemed that the rate that my attacks actually got out was way lower than if i just stood there right clicking. (1) is this intended or am i doing something wrong if so how do i fix it (2) if it is intended, how do you deal with dudes running at you if you can't run and shoot at the same time.
 

Kaphotics

Remodeling Kitchens
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Position yourself better, it's one of the skills you have to learn. Re-positioning yourself is time spent not attacking, so overall you'd attack less. If you were efficient with moving (like canceling the backswing of an attack animation and stop moving to attack when the attack cooldown is up) you'd do the same amount of damage as just auto attacking, but you'd hardly move.

As for clockwork, rocket first is a pretty handy tool to scout early game. If the enemy is roaming at the start you may be able to spot a gank, or you can scout out lanes or block a key jungle camp (Axe's easy camp) at the start. Assault is only good if you're able to hug the hero for long periods of time. If they have any sort of escape mech you're better off maxing rocket instead. Don't depend on cogs to hold them in place for long. Phantom_IV has the most ideal build. Treads are pretty ideal because he has relatively low mana costs and if mid he can bootcycle to get the most out of a bottle. Plus you're gonna need a lot of survivability if you hook to initiate fights.
 

Pidge

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question, i got dota today and played drow for a few games. late game when i had a bunch of attack speed, when i tried to alternate moving backwards then right click/auto attacking it seemed that the rate that my attacks actually got out was way lower than if i just stood there right clicking. (1) is this intended or am i doing something wrong if so how do i fix it (2) if it is intended, how do you deal with dudes running at you if you can't run and shoot at the same time.
In DotA, heroes have turn rates. So it's only natural that when you turn around to attack, and then turn around again to run away, you're attacking at a slower rate. And I guess to answer the second question, don't let yourself get into that situation. Drow should be able to kite heroes with Frost Arrows one on one. In larger fights, she should try to stay behind her allies to safely deal out big damage to the enemies.
 
when you say she should be able to kite heroes 1v1 do you mean: (1) standing still and autoing while they run and get pretty close, then turning for a few seconds and resume autoing, or (2) alternating running and autoing with every attack basically keeping the bad dude at max attack range? I was trying to do #2 but it felt very clunky, I guess due to turn rates?

positioning is pretty irrelevant to me at this point since I've played two games and both didn't have a proper teamfight; this is more of an abstract dota engine question than anything else.
 
First thing is that you should never auto cast your frost arrows because that draws creep aggro where as manually casting doesnt. This inherently makes your attacking feel less clunky because you have to do several small actions just to attack.

Theres also orb walking which ties into manual casting. Orb walking is the idea that you can move and attack at no loss to your damage output. To do it you have to start moving(in the direction your hero is facing) immediately after your attack is released which will cancel the backswing of your attack animation. The amount of space you close on your opponent is very minimal but it is more efficient none the less and will make your attacking feel less clunky.

Turn rates will slow down your attack rate so as far as defensive kiting its really just about timing how long your frost arrow debuff is on the enemy hero and refreshing it whenever it runs out.
 

TAY

You and I Know
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question, i got dota today and played drow for a few games. late game when i had a bunch of attack speed, when i tried to alternate moving backwards then right click/auto attacking it seemed that the rate that my attacks actually got out was way lower than if i just stood there right clicking. (1) is this intended or am i doing something wrong if so how do i fix it (2) if it is intended, how do you deal with dudes running at you if you can't run and shoot at the same time.

Late game you will virtually never kite with drow. You will cast your silence and then autoattack. The kiting is more for earlier in the game, when a melee hero is trying you kill you and you are trying to deal damage without taking any. It is situational and doesn't work well without several points in frost arrows.

Also you should not use the frost arrows autocast. Manually using the skill by pressing Q and left clicking on your target is optimal. This is mainly because when you use frost arrows, you do not get any other orb effects (they are called "unique attack modifiers" in dota 2). Helm of the Dominator, a very common item on Drow, is an orb effect which grants lifesteal. Typically players will decide when attacking whether they want the lifesteal or the slow effect on each attack. If you opponent is running towards you or away from you, you want the frost arrow. If they are already attacking you, then you want the lifesteal. Drow's turn rate is pretty horrible so you should try to frost arrow -> turn and run -> frost arrow etc later in the game.

"Orbwalking" as described by jonnyrolo is an important skill in dota and is an integral part of certain heroes' power (mostly viper, drow ranger, clinkz, silencer).
 
On top of that, manually casting frost arrows, lets you autoattack past Crystal Maiden's Frostbite and similar disarm effects, because you're not technically attacking.
 
* Tranquil Boots disabled speed reduced from 50 to 25

oh shit

btw, i'm zoro17 on steam so add me if you want to
 
BB is pretty flexible item-build wise, but you generally want items that contribute both bulk and damage. The problem with items like Vanguard/Heart (at least as a first item) on him is that you don't have the right ratio of survivability to damage - you don't deal enough damage to justify opponents attacking you and thus won't be as effective.

Core items:
Treads/Wand

Great Small Items:
MoC, Urn, OoV, Drums

Extensions (game-dependent):
Hood/Pipe, Halberd, Blademail, Armlet, Basher

Luxuries:
Mjollnir, AC, Radiance, Abyssal Blade, Heart, Shivas

In terms of skillbuild, you always want to max Quill Spray out first with a single level of Goo. Bristleback is maxed next, and finally Goo, taking ult whenever possible. TBH, I absolutely hate Goo as a skill. The first point is okay, but overall the skill is very low-impact for the amount of time and effort it takes to get stacks. At only 600 cast range and .3 cast time, it has roughly 1/3 the impact of Napalm. You could definitely justify leaving Goo at 1 and taking stats over it, but it's not recommended for most players.
 
What a surprise to see Lifestealer picked so much... such an annoying character. Open Wounds + right clicks, throw in a stun from his lane support and it's a kill every time. Free BKB every 15 seconds.

I don't even watch competitive games where he gets picked anymore, not even fun to watch. >_>
 

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