Dota 2 Razor Guide

Steal your enemies' edge with electrifying zeal with this Dota 2 Razor Guide, and fry any who stands in your way

With electrifying vigor, Razor rushes into every battle with deadly lighting at his command, draining his foes of power and harnessing the plundered damage against them. His delighted voice cackles with thunderous determination as he whizzes through the battlefield, reducing his foes to ash and dust. 

Razor is a ranged Agility Hero entering the battlefield with a decent 604 HP and 327 Mana. He starts with a very low 280 movement speed, later boosted by his skills. He does a mediocre damage of 48 but has an impressive starting armor of 4.

Razor is not too difficult of a Hero to master, as he is one of the few cores with most of his spells being non-targeted spells. His spells make laning easy, from stealing the enemy’s damage and turning it against him to granting him extra movement speed to help him close the gaps and chase down targets. Finally, his ultimate unleashes havoc among enemy ranks, as every zap from the storm reduces enemy armor, damaging them, and with his other abilities combined, destroys them within a moment’s notice. A farmed Razor is difficult to stop and especially face one on one. 

Abilities

The time has come to thunder into battle with Razor’s electrifying abilities.

• Plasma Field – “My rage incandesces”. Razor releases a ring of electric plasma that grows in strength as it travels outwards, dealing damage twice; once as it expands and once as it contracts. It deals a minimum damage of up to 50 (80 with level 10 talent) and a maximum damage of up to 185 (215 with level 10 talent). The zaps slow enemies by a minimum of 5% and a maximum of up to 40% for 1.5 seconds.
  

• Static Link – “Your power flows to me!”. Razor establishes a charged link with the enemy hero for 8 seconds, stealing his damage by up to 22 per second (27 with level 15 talent) and adding it to his own. Razor withholds the buff for 18 seconds and may also move and attack while draining damage. The link will break if the distance between him and his linked target exceeds 800. This ability can be upgraded by Aghanim’s Shard.
  
  • Aghanim’s Shard Upgrade: Increases cast range by 150 and adds an altercast to Static Link. When toggled on, it pulls Razor and his target closer at a rate of 100 units/s, stopping at 175 units from him. 
    

• Storm Surge – “My current flows”. Lighting surges through Razor’s body, passively quicking his steps and giving him a movement speed bonus of up to 20%. Storm Surge also has a 18% chance of releasing forked lighting whenever Razor is attacked or targeted by a spell. The lighting hits 3 targets within a 900 search radius, dealing 175 damage (218 with level 20 talent) and slowing their movement speed by 50% (75% with level 20 talent) for 1.5 seconds.
  

• Eye of the Storm – “Electric storm!”. Razor gathers a powerful lighting storm that strikes the lowest HP enemy target, reducing their armor by 1 per strike and dealing damage of up to 90 within a 500 radius. Furthermore, throughout the 30-second duration, every strike has an interval that reduces to 0.5 (0.4 with level 20 talent) and attacks a single target. This ability can be upgraded by Aghanim’s Scepter.
  
  • Aghanim’s Scepter Upgrade: Causes Eye of the Storm to strike two targets and buildings for the same damage. Only towers, barracks and the Ancient can be targeted by the strikes.
    

Talents

• Level 10 – +14 Agility or +30 Plasma Field Damage
• Level 15 – +14 Strength or +5 Static Link Damage Steal
• Level 20 – -0.1s Eye of the Storm Strike Interval or 25% Storm Surge Damage and Slow
• Level 25 – Static Link Steals Attack Speed or Creates a Second Plasma Field Delayed by 0.8s

Dota 2 Razor Guide – Tips 

Razor is a highly mobile and tough-to-kill anti-carry core who excels at stealing attack damage from his enemies with his Static Link and transferring it to himself. His adeptness in melting away enemy armor with his ultimate Eye of the Storm also aids his allies finish them off easily. 

Because of his speed and durability, Razor is played as a core, usually in the mid-lane. He does not depend on his supports, and his ability to zone out melee opponents makes him pretty self-sufficient. With proper positioning and some farm, Razor can come online quite early and start taking over the mid-game. 

A well-farmed Razor is exceedingly powerful in the mid-game due to his natural durability and burst damage potential. With a quick Aghanim’s Shard, he can also clear waves quickly and confidently take teamfights. By picking up items that enhance his movement speed further, Razor can chase down or escape enemies easily. With a few durability-boosting and defensive items, Razor needs to start taking fights and pushes to avoid the late game.

Dota 2 Razor – Pros and Cons

Here are the strengths and failings of this electrifying horror of the Narrow Maze. 

Pros:

• Hard counter of carries
• Frightening lane presence
• Good starting Agility and Strength
• Very high movement speed 

Cons:

• Heavily dependent on positioning
• Low base damage
• Countered by highly mobile Heroes
• Can’t recover from poor early game
• No hard disables

How to play Razor

This short guide will acquaint you with the basics of Razor and his lightning whip so you can master his playstyle with relative ease.

Starting Items

When heading into the lane, try to have an Iron Branch for some extra attributes. With some essential regeneration items like a Tango, Healing Salve, and Enchanted Mango for emergency Plasma Fields, laning should be easy. 

Getting Faerie Fire is also wise, as it gives bonus damage and a burst heal for sticky situations. Due to Razor’s low damage, Faerie Fires can make a difference early on. 

Early Game

Early game should be spent harassing the opposing core, especially if it’s a melee Hero, with Static Link and timely Plasma Fields. Both will make last-hitting a nightmare for your enemy as you drain his attack damage and chip away at his HP. For an eventful lane, build towards a Magic Stick, and if you are mid, pick up a Bottle. 

Pick up your Boots of Speed as early as possible, as your abilities depend on good mobility. It will help you time land your Plasma Fields for the highest damage and move alongside or chase down Heroes being drained by Static Link. Get your Phase Boots next.

Mid Game

With your Plasma Field, you should be able to clear waves with relative ease, and with your high movement speed, you will have no difficulty moving through jungle camps. Getting a Drums of Endurance and a Sange and Yasha could be good choices, as they enhance your attributes, attack speed, static resistance and movement speed. Furthermore, a Rod of Atos lets you root your enemies to keep them in range of your Static Link and Eye of the Storm. 

If you are struggling against high magic damage, build up a Hood of Defiance for magic resistance and damage absorption, or a Eul’s Scepter of Divinity to let Cyclone and drain your enemy with Static Link. A Blade Mail or Shadow Blade will help get focus off you during teamfights. Try to pick up an Aghanim’s Shard as soon as possible, as it will help enhance your teamfight impact.

Late Game

As a Razor player, you must try your best to avoid going too late into the game. Try to coordinate with your teammates and take teamfights to transition into pushes for the Throne. Pick up more durability-based items like Black King Bar for spell immunity, Assault Cuirass for armor and speed, or an Eye of Skadi for sizable attributes and slow.

Upgrade your Rod of Atos to a Gleipnir to root multiple Heroes and grant your attacks a chance to release chain lighting. A Butterfly or Hurricane Pike could also help you have more damage and survivability in teamfights. Finally, getting a Refresher Orb with your Aghanim’s Scepter gives you two instances of Eye of the Storm striking 4 targets simultaneously. 

Dota 2 Razor Counter

Here are some Heroes who can bottle Razor’s lightning spirit with ease.

• Anti-Mage – His Blink ability lets him teleport out of battle, instantly breaking Razor’s Static Link. Furthermore, if Razor tries to link with him with his Counterspell ability cast, the Static Link reflects onto Razor.
• Slark – His Pounce ability lets him jump out of the range of Razor’s Static Link, breaking it. His Essence Shift also counters Razor pretty effectively. Furthermore, his Shadow Dance can quickly turn the battle and prevent Razor from killing him.

• Viper – His Poison Attack and ultimate, Viper Strike, can significantly reduce Razor’s effectiveness by slowing his mobility. His skills all slow Razor attack speed, which reduces the effectiveness of any damage stolen by Static Link.

• Weaver – His Shukuchi ability allows him to break Static Link quickly. His Time Lapse also helps him avoid the damage from Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm. Finally, none of Razor’s spells, including Eye of the Storm, can kill his The Swarm bugs. 

Conclusion

We regularly come out with guides for favorite Heroes, so remember to watch out for more. Stay tuned, and happy zapping.