Razor Overview

Lore & Bio

"I bring my lightning whip not to punish souls, but only to hasten them toward the inevitable exit."

The Underscape is a home of the dead souls after passing through the Narrow Maze, a complex system of twisted passageways. Besides,It’s also a home of the emblematic powers working as guardians of the Narrow Maze. The guardian’s day-to-day tasks are to sort the newly deceased souls based on different criteria such as innate intelligence, cunning and persistence to decide where they are in the Underscape, the bright and luminous exits or the deep darkest pits. 

Among the guardians, the notorious and most feared one is Razor. Razor, the owner of the lightning whip, hovers above the perplexed souls, uses his lightning whip to punish the souls or hurry them up to decide their destiny. Razor is an immortal entity that represents the superior power, abstract and dispassionate in using its power. Anyone seeing him can sense his satisfaction of working as a guardian and soul executioner.

In-game,  Razor is described as: 

“With a deadly lightning storm at his command, Razor charges into battle. Deploying a sweeping ring of electrified plasma to fry his enemies, he links with foes to drain them of their power and use it against them.”

Attribute & Stats

• Strength: 22 + 2.8 each level;

• Agility: 22 + 2.6 each level;

• Intelligence: 21 + 2.2 each level;

• Health: 640;

• Health regeneration: + 3.2 each second;

• Mana: 327;

• Mana regeneration: + 1.05 each second;

• Damage: 45 - 47;

• Amor: 2.67;

• Magic Resistance: 25%;

• Turn Rate: 0.6;

• Attack Range: 475;

• Projectile speed: 2000;

• Attack Animation: 0.3+0.4;

• Movement: 290;

• Sight Range: 1800/800;

• Base Attack time: 1.7 seconds per attack;

• Damage Block: 0;

• Collision size: 24.

Abilities & Talents

Notes:

• By receiving 9 Agility when reaching level 10, Razor is granted with 1.5 armor, 9 attack speed, and 9 attack damage.

• By receiving 14 Agility when reaching level 15,  280 health and 1.4 health regeneration.

Skills building guide

In this build I will focus on guiding you how to play Razor in the mid lane.The first ability I recommend you max out is Static Link as It is useful to be dominant in the lane by stealing the damage of the opponent and giving it to Razor. The enemy hero will deal nearly zero damage on you when you cast Static Link. 

The second ability to max out is Storm Surge. The reason why you should max out this ability is because of the movement speed increase which is extremely important when chasing opponents and preventing them from getting out of the active range of the Static Link. And we should max out Plasma Shield at the end because this ability is more useful in the teamfights which occur more frequently in the mid or in the late game. 

Unlike most of the other heroes when updating the talent in level 10. You might consider updating talents later after maxing out the abilities as the agility and strength granted are more valuable in the late game when Razor needs to survive better in the combat.

Abilities

Plasma Field

Plasma Field (No Target, Magical)

Effect: Razor radiates a circular electrical pulse that expands and contracts after reaching its end. Any enemy units caught in the way will be dealt damage and slowed. The further the enemies are from Razor, the higher damage and slow debuff they receive.

Mana cost: 125 / 125 / 125 / 125

Cooldown: 13.0 / 12.0 / 11.0 / 10.0

Cast Animation: 0+0

Max Extension Radius: 700

Damage Width: 100

Min Damage: 35/40/45/50

Max Damage: 80/115/150/185

Min Move Speed Slow: 5%

Max Move Speed Slow: 25%/30%/35%/40%

Slow Duration: 1.5

Notes:

Undispellable

When Plasma Field is casted, other Razor’s channeling abilities, which are activating, are disrupted.

The Plasma Field’s expanding and retracting speed is 636. With the 700 radius, Plasma Field takes 2.2 seconds to expand and return in total.

Razor is the center of a circular wave of energetic plasma during Plasma Field is casted.

• Grants flying vision with 700 radius and lasts for 2.2 seconds. As Razor is the center when Plasma Field is cast, the granted vision will follow and last for 2.0 seconds.

The Plasma Field‘s effect area is shaped like a ring with 100 range width.

• At the beginning,the ring surrounds Razor with 105 range and can expand up to 700 range which means the total distance is 805.

• The total range that can deal damage is up to 905.

The ring only deals damage in the 105 range around Razor regardless of the visual effect.

Both expanding and returning waves apply the slow debuff and damage and slow debuff can be stacked if enemies are hit twice.

• A total damage and slow debuff any enemy units receive if being hit twice by the wave are: 70/80/90/100 - 160/230/300/370 damage and 10%- 50%/60%/70%/80% movement speed reduction.

The further the wave travels, the higher damage and slow debuff it causes. And the maximum damage and slow effect can be reached at the range of 805

• 105 Distance:35/40/45/50 damage and 5%/5%/5%/5% movement speed reduction.

• 205 Distance:41/51/60/69 damage and 8%/9%/9%/10% movement speed reduction.

• 305 Distance:48/61/75/89 damage and 11%/12%/14%/15% movement speed reduction.

• 405 Distance:54/72/90/108 damage and 14%/16%/18%/20% movement speed reduction.

• 505 Distance:61/83/105/127 damage and 16%/19%/22%/25% movement speed reduction.

• 605 Distance:67/94/120/146 damage and 19%/23%/26%/30% movement speed reduction.

• 705 Distance:74/104/135/166 damage and 22%/26%/31%/35% movement speed reduction.

• 805 Distance:80/115/150/185 damage and 25%/30%/35%/40% movement speed reduction.

• 905 Distance:80/115/150/185 damage and 25%/30%/35%/40% movement speed reduction.

Static Link

Static Link (Unit Target)

Effect: Razor projects a lightning streak toward an enemy hero which steals that hero’s damage and uses this damage against this hero.Razor can move and attack the enemy while electricity streak is channeling.

Cooldown: 40/35/30/25

Mana Cost: 65

Cast Animation: 0.2+0.5

Cast Animation: 0.3+0

Cast Range: 550

Link Break Distance Buffer: 250

Attack Damage Stolen per Second: 7/12/17/22 (Talent: 12/17/22/27)

Link Duration: 5/6/7/8

Buff Duration: 15/16/17/18

Notes:

Nothing can interrupt the Static Link except the death of Razor or connected units and out of the active range (more than 800 range).

•  The distance will be checked before any damage steal intervals occur. If the distance exceeds the active range, the link is cut.

• The cast range increasing effect granted by items or allies also increases the active range of Static Link.

The connected target will share the vision with Razor during the spell duration.

The Static Link won’t stop stealing damage even when the target’s damage is 0.

Every 0.25 seconds, the Link sucks out 1.75/3/4.25/5.5 (Talent 3/4.25/5.5/6.75) damage and starts 0.25 seconds after cast which ends up in 20/24/28/32 instances.

• The amount of  damage Static Link can steal is up to 35/72/119/176 (Talent 60/102/154/216) damage if the link reaches its maximum duration.

Right after the spell is cast, Razor immediately attacks the target and every time he moves.

• Razor can move while attacking the linked target.

This spell can be used on heroes, illusions and creep-heroes.

Static Link will be stacked if it is casted several times and each cast will apply each own debuff and damage on target and buff on Razor.

• The vision granted by Static Link does not stack, It disappears when the first link reaches its ends.

• While moving, Razor might attack the first linked target.

Storm Surge

Storm Surge (Passive, Magical)

Effect: Razor’s movement speed is increased permanently.

Self Move Speed Bonus: 12%/16%/20%/24%

Upgradable by Aghanim’s Shard:

• Effect: Razor releases lightning that strikes, deals damage and slows the enemies when they attack or cast the spell upon Razor.
• Forked Lightning Proc Chance: 18%
• Search Radius: 900
• Number of Targets: 3
• Damage: 150
• Enemy Move Speed Slow: 50%
• Slow Duration: 1.5

Notes:

Undispellable

With Aghanim’s Shard, only the hit attacks or projectiles applied on Razor can proc, regardless of the distance:

• Attacks from buildings or wards do not proc.

• Attacks from allies can proc and they will get hits but the second and the third targets to get hit are the enemy units.

• Immediately trigger the lightning strikes if enemies cast the single-target spells on Razor.

• Spell Reflection and Spell Block do not affect the lightning strikes from Storm Urge. When the projectile-based abilities are cast, they will trigger the lightning strikes immediately, not wait until the projectiles hit Razor.

The lightning strikes of Storm Surge are triggered right after the abilities take effect.

• This means regardless of the HP status of the casting units, the lightning strikes still affect them.

The casting units are the center of the searching radius, not Razor.

• The lightning hits the targets randomly without any arrangement.

• If Storm Surge is triggered, It only hits the visible targets within the range.

The damage will be dealt first then the debuff.

The procs chance of Storm Surge is controlled by the pseudo-random distribution mechanism.

Eye of the Storm

Eye of the Storm (No Target, Physical)

Effect: Razor assembles a layer of dark threatening cloud hovering above his head strikes lightning out which deals damage and reduces armor towards the enemy with the lowest HP state. 

Mana cost: 100/150/200

Cooldown:80/70/60

Cast Animation: 0+0

Radius: 500

Number of Targets: 1 (Talent 2)

Strike Interval: 0.7/0.6/0.5 (Talent: 0.6/0.5/0.4)

Damage per Strike: 60/75/90

Armor Reduction per Strike: 1

Duration: 30

Upgradable by Aghanim’s Scepter:

• Number of Targets: 2 (Talent:3 )

Notes:

Casting Eye of the Storm will disrupt other channeling spells currently active.

Within the active radius, the enemy with the lowest current health will be locked on.

• In cases there are many enemies with the same lowest healths in the active range, Eye of Storm will single out arbitrarily.

• If any enemies in the active range have been linked and shared vision with Razor via Static Link, the storm will strike on these enemies despite their current health.

• If there are multiple enemies which have the shared vision with Razor via Static Link, the storm will strike randomly among these enemies.

Evasion or Damage Block do not affect the damage dealt from Eye of the Storm as the lightning strikes are not categorized as instant attacks nor regular attacks.

• That means other heroes who have on-attack effect abilities can not take advantage of this skill such as Counter Helix (Axe), Moment of Courage (Legion Commander) and Reactive Armor (Timbersaw). Besides, these lightning strikes can not break some item’s activation of the enemies such as Tranquil Boost.

• The armor is reduced first then the slow is applied when the enemies get hit by the strikes.

The armor reduction debuff will disappear when the storm stops or Razor dies.

Courier, Roshan, invisible units and units in the Fog of war are immune to the strikes.

Before any reductions, the total damage that the Eye of Storm can cause are 2520/3750/5400 (talent 3000/4500/6750) and the number of strikes when the spell is cast are up to 42/50/60 (talent 50/60/75) times.

When Razor is invisible, Eye of Storm is invisible too. Despite that It will automatically strike the nearby enemies without their vision or hearing.

When Razor dies, Eye of Storm disappears too.

With an upgrade from Aghanim’s Scepter, It does not reduce the armor on the buildings but deals damage.

• The priority of the strike will be enemy units first then the buildings but not the filler buildings.

• It can strike 2 to 3 targets simultaneously on each interval: The same goes for the extra Eye of The Storm target with level 25 talent.

• The strike will hit each enemy once per instance.

Effective items guides

Early game

Enchanted Mango

Enchanted Mango restores a large amount of mana instantly which helps him cast the spells without hesitation.

Tango

Tango keeps Razor in lane longer by regenerating his health within a specific period.

Faerie Fire

Faerie Fire is a reliable source of HP restore.

Iron Branch

Iron Branch: a great combination with Tango in terms of healing and also add some attributes to Razor stats.

Healing Salve

Healing Salve restores health immediately.

Magic Stick

Magic Stick instantly restores mana and health which helps Razor to cast more Plasma Field and Static Link.

Bottle

Bottle is a must have item for the mid laner because of its instant health and mana restoration.

Boots of Speed

Boots of Speed: increases mobility.

Mid game

Magic Wand

Magic Wand is a valuable upgrade from Magic Stick with more bonus attributes.

Phase Boots

Phase Boots grant a great amount of movement speed and combine with the bonus movement speed from Storm Urge’s, enemies will find it difficult to get away from Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Rod of Atos

Rod of Atos: a powerful tool for Razor to root the enemies preventing them from running away the Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Drum of Endurance

Drum of Endurance grants attack and movement speed besides the bonus attributes.

Sange and Yasha

Sange and Yasha provides a wide range of bonuses, especially movement and attack speed.

Late game

Black King Bar

Black King Bar: the immunity granted from BKB can prevent Razor from being rooted, stunned or other disables by enemy heroes which means they can easily get out of the active range of Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Butterfly

Butterfly: with the high percentage of evasion granted by Butterfly, the opponent’s carry will struggle to take down Razor in the team fight. Besides, the bonus attributes also help Razor survive longer and deal more damage.

Aghanim's Scepter

Aghanim’s Scepter: an significant upgrade for Eye of the Storm which can hit more enemies in combat and deal more damage and also a great tool to demolish the buildings faster.

Situation items

Hood of Defiance

Hood of Defiance: If the opponent team has many sources of magical damage, Hood of Defiance will protect Razor by granting him magic resistance and temporarily creating a magical absorbing shield.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity creates a cyclone and hovers the enemy into the air which gives Razor enough time to deal maximum damage from Static Link and Eye of the Storm. Besides, It also grants some bonus attributes that are really useful.

Helm of the Dominator

Helm of the Dominator: Besides all the bonuses it grants, Helm of Dominator gives Razor a creep to scout the region in the map that doesn't have the vision. Therefore, he can avoid the gank and play aggressively or rigorously as he knows how many enemies he is gonna encounter.

Blade Mail

Blade Mail reflects the damage from the enemies which discourage them to attack Razor and give him more space and time to deal more damage by casting Static Link and Eye of  the Storm.

Shadow Blade

Shadow Blade grants invisibility to Razor which combines with Eye of the Storm and Static Link can surprise the enemies as they have know idea where the lightning strikes come from.

Hurricane Pike

Hurricane Pike: Besides all the bonuses, the attack range increase synergizes well with the Static Link which makes enemies difficult to escape from this spell.It also a tool to escape and position himself in the combat.

Shiva's Guard

Shiva’s Guard grants great bonuses and slows enemies down so that the damage dealt from Static Link and Eye of the Storm can be maximized.

Assault Cuirass

Assault Cuirass synergizes well with the Eye of the Storm by reducing the enemy’s armor.Its activation grants Razor and nearby allies more armor and attack speed which means they can survive better and deal more damage in the teamfight.

Eye of Skadi

Eye of Skadi expands Razor’s health and mana pool besides other bonuses. Furthermore, its activation slows the enemies which keeps them in the active range of Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Heart of Tarrasque

Heart of Tarrasque increases the great amount of health pool as well as the strength which helps Razor survive longer in the combat while casting Eye of Storm and Static Link.

Refresher Orb

Refresher Orb makes all the items and abilities available to use instantly which doubles the damage and debuff.

Enemies & Allies

Allies

Death Prophet

Death Prophet: Exorcism synergizes well with Eye of the Storm and both can deal tons of damage on enemies and buildings.

Shadow Demon

Shadow Demon banishes the enemies by using Disruption which gives Razor more time to steal damage with Static Link.

Outworld Destroyer

Outworld Destroyer banishes the enemies by using Astral Imprisonment which gives Razor more time to steal damage with Static Link.

Bane

Bane’ Nightmare and Fiend’s Grip can set up a great position for Razor to steal damage with Static Link.

Naga Siren

Naga Siren roots the enemies by using Ensnare which gives Razor more time to steal damage with Static Link.

Winter Wyvern

Winter Wyvern: the AoE damage from Winter’s Curse can synergize with the Eye of the Storm and deal a lot of damage. Besides, it can be a perfect setup for Razor to cast Static Link. Cold Embrace guards Razor against incoming damage from the enemies especially when he already casted the Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Counters

Anti-Mage

Anti-Mage can break Static Link easily by using Blink and reflect the Static Link on Razor with Counterspell.

Chaos Knight

Chaos Knight creates illusions by casting Phantasm which confuses Razor so the Static Link and Eye of the Storm can’t hit the right target.

Centaur Warrunner

Centaur Warruner’s Stampede can be used to break the Static Link or escape from Eye of the Storm. It can help other allies to escape the Static Link due to its slow debuff.

Earth Spirit

Earth Spirit: the silence and slow debuffs from Boulder Smash and Geomagnetic Grip make Razor difficult to keep the enemy in the active range of Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Huskar

Huskar: with the outburst damage and burning effect from Life Break and Burning Spear, Huskar can quickly execute Razor before his Static Link gets into action. With Berserker’s Blood, Huskar can return a lot of damage while Static Link is active.

Morphling

Morphling’s Waveform can break Static Link of Razor easily and Morph can help him take back all the stolen damage.

Necrophos

Necrophos: while casting Ghost Shroud, Razor can not deal damage on Necrophos with Static Link. Besides, Reaper’s Scythe can stun Razor and prevent him from escaping with his high movement speed.

Outworld Destroyer

Outworld Destroyer relies on Arcane Orb to deal damage so stealing attack damage has no meaning to him. The banished debuff from Astral Imprisonment gives him and allies enough time to escape Static Link and Eye of the Storm. Due to Razor ‘s low HP pool, Sanity’s Eclipse can deal a lot of damage to Razor.

Queen of Pain

Queen of Pain: with Blink, she can easily get away from Static Link and Eye of the Storm. As Queen of Pain can deal magical and pure damage by casting her spells so she can fight back even when her physical damage is drained out by Static Link.

Slark

Slark: with Bounce, he can quickly widen the distance between him and Razor which breaks the Static Link easily. Essence Shift gives Slark a leg up in dueling with Razor. Razor can not attack Slark when Shadow Dance is in duration even with Eye of the Storm.

Sniper

Sniper can harass and kill Razor from a long distance without being affected by Static Link or Eye of the Storm. Besides Headshot procs slow and knowback debuff which is also a burden towards Razor if he wants to get close to cast or endure Static Link or Eye of the Storm.

Viper

Viper’s Poison Attack and Viper Strike slow Razor down as well as the attack speed.

Weaver

Weaver: with high movement speed granted from Shukuchi, Static Link can be broken easily. Time Lapse can make all the damage from Static Link and Eye of the Storm wasted and be used to dodge the Plasma Field. The bugs created from the Swarm are immune to Eye of the Storm.

Items Counter

Town Portal Scroll

Town Portal Scroll: As Razor has no tool to disrupt channeling abilities so he can’t prevent a healthy opponent from teleporting.

Linken's Sphere

Linken’s Sphere: Its activation disables Razor completely from dealing damage.

Lotus Orb

Lotus Orb reflects the Static Link on Razor.

Force Staff

Force Staff and Hurricane Pike instantly increase the distance which disrupt the Static Link and Eye of the Storm.

Favorable Matchups

Bristleback

Bristleback is less tanky when getting hit by the Eye of the Storm due to the armor reduction. Bonus damage granted by Warpath is the ideal target for Static Link.

Earthshaker

Earthshaker: Bonus damage granted by Enchant Totem is the feast for Static Link until Aghanim’s Scepter or Force Staff is purchased. Earthshaker’s Blink Dagger is disable when Eye of the Storm and Static Link are active which prevent Earthshaker from initiating the combat.

Lifestealer

Lifestealer: Rage or Infest can not break the connection from Static Link. Besides the movement speed granted to Razor by Storm Urge makes Lifestealer difficult to catch him or to escape from his Static Link or Eye of the Storm.  Spell immunity granted by Rage can not guard Lifestealer against the damage from Eye of the Storm.

Monkey King

Monkey King: Static Link reduces the damage from Boundless Strike and Wukong Command, steals bonus damage from Jingu Mastery. Using Tree Dance or Mischief can not help him from escaping due to the shared vision effect from Static Link. 

Plasma Field can stop Monkey King from casting Tree Dance and Mischief. Armor buff from Wukong’s Commander is disabled by Eye of the Storm. When Wukong is casting Mischief, He is still hit by the Eye of the Storm.

Phantom Assassin

Phantom Assassin: By stealing the base damage when using Static Link, Razor makes Phantom Assassin’s Coup de Grace dilute and can not deal a lot of damage.Using Blur doesn’t help Phantom Assassin dodge Eye of the Storm. 

Phantom Assassin relies on the BKB because of its spell immunity but this item does not guard her against Static Link and Eye of the Storm damage.

Phantom Lancer

Phantom Lancer: Phantom’s illusion will be cleared up by Plasma Field and Eye of the Storm. Casting Doppelganger does not help Phantom Assassin break the Static Link which means Phantom Assassin is spotted out easily among illusions and his base damage is also drained by the Static Link. Even with Phantom Rush, Phantom Assassin never has a leg up in chasing Razor due to Razor’s high mobility.

Spirit Breaker

Spirit Breaker: Static Link can not be broken by Nether Strike and reduces physical damage from Spirit Breaker. The high armor of Spirit Breaker won’t stand a chance against Eye of the Storm which makes him less tanky.

Troll Warlord

Troll Warlord: Static Link is the counter toward Troll Warlord as he relies on attack speed to deal damage. When Troll Warlord is using Battle Trance, It is nearly impossible for him to break Static Link.

Windranger

WindRanger: Focus Fire will deal less damage when it is affected by Static Link. Windranger can not dodge the Eye of the Storm strikes even when Windrun is active.

Game plan

Early game

Like other heroes in the early game, farming is always Razor’s priority. However, He can use Static Link to harass the enemies and cause difficulty when they try to last hit creeps . If you are dueling with a mobility hero in your lane, Static Link will be less effective but with the help from jungle or roaming support with disable abilities, you can cast Static Link on the enemy and secure the kill. 

Keep in mind that you are quite fragile and weak in level one so you must be careful when trying to last hit a creep. Your power will get accelerated in level three so don’t be hasten.

Mid game

With some items and maximized Static Link, you can start to roam to other lanes to support and secure the kill. Only roaming when you already clear the creep waves in your lane, execute the opponent’s mid laner or have an advantage by destroying the tower. To optimize the efficiency, getting back to your lane right after the gank is a must. 

With the movement speed increase from Storm Surge he can roam and get back the lane within a short amount of time. Of course don’t forget to control the runes as they are useful resources so that you can spend more time on the lane instead of the fountain.

Late game

Your objectives in the late game are quite the same with the mid game but this time you and your team might play around the keys objectives like Roshan and towers. Your mission in the late game is to find a great position to catch the carries of the opponent team and cast Static Link and Eye of the Storm on them. 

You can use Plasma Field to slow down the enemies trying to escape. Depending on the rival  damage, you should consider various items to purchase that can help you survive longer in the team fight and deal more damage.