Windranger is soaring in Dota 2 Patch 7.33c. The fast-footed hero’s win rate in high-level matches has spiked significantly this week, and it’s thriving in every role. In just the last eight days, it has featured in a huge 4,965 matches with an average matchmaking rating above 7,000 and has won 57.3 percent of them.
It has been the most successful as a carry, where it has been picked 605 times and won 62.8 percent of them, according to Dota2ProTracker. Even Arteezy has embraced it to the point where it has become the eighth-most-picked hero on his main Dota 2 profile.
Interestingly, it has actually been picked more often as an offlaner and midlaner, which is its more traditional role, and its win rate in them is equally impressive.
Last patch, Windranger was primarily a soft support due to how useful Gale Force was. It still is a viable pick in that position with an above-average win rate, but it’s less effective at securing a win compared to being a core.
A big part of that is because it was changed to a Universal hero in Dota patch 7.33, meaning it no longer has a primary attribute and instead gains 0.6 damage (later increased to 0.7 in 7.33c) from each stat of any attribute. This means it scales better into the late game than before.
Powershot was also buffed to deal more damage, Shackleshot was tweaked to be more reliable, and the Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade was changed to apply to Winrun, making it slow enemies in the area even more and reduce physical damage by 50 percent while active.
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The optimal build isn’t too different from Windranger old core builds. Players start with Tangos, Iron Branches, and a Circlet, and build into Bracer, Wraith Band, and Magic Stick. Bottle is essential if played as a midlaner. After that, they get Power Treads, then Maelstrom and Rod of Atos built into Gleipnir. Black King Bar or Linken’s Sphere are also common pick-ups depending on the enemy draft, and then Aghanim’s Scepter to round it off.
Aghanim’s Shard, Blink Dagger, Daedalus, Diffusal Blade, Hurricane Pike, and Manta Style also seem to be bought on a situational basis, but they’re far less common.
