Rylai Crestfall

Rylai Crestfall The Crystal Maiden

Adept in the manipulation of frost and ice, Rylai is the very image of elegeance and grace. Trained by a renegade wizard deep in the heart of Winterspring, Rylai brings to the Sentinel her prowess in the arts of magic. With a vast arsenal of spells, she wreaks havoc upon her foes - be it with powerful blasts of frost to send them fleeing in panic, or be it by rendering them immobile in ice. Her foes tremble in fear as the ground beneath implodes in mighty novas of frost in a dazzling array, obliterating all who dare oppose her.

Items



Bracers are absolutely necessary for Crystal Maiden, and I hope this game proves it. Being an Intelligence hero with Brilliance Aura means there is little need to worry about mana or regen. We don't just stop there, we head immediately to Black King Bar, which provides huge protection against DoT, nukes and stuns, and is pretty much vital in pulling off Freezing Field freely. Afterwards, you'll likely want to get Boots of Travel for the convenience and giving her some much needed movement speed. For my game, I felt it was relatively over so I went ahead and just made Shiva's, which can be used during her ultimate.



These are the items you can consider otherwise, especially if you farm them well without roaming much. Dagger is great: I opted for BKB because I wanted to have usage of FF but in most cases I would probably have gotten Dagger in 6.48b for placement/escape/ganking. BoT gives extra mobility and a movespeed boost. Scepter is a well-rounded lategame luxury in most cases and for sexy animation effects. That alone justifies it. I do not recommend getting Euls because Dagger and BKB are more important early on, and lategame it pales in comparison to Guinsoo, although to farm up Guinsoo parts is rather difficult and do not provide you with protection like Soul Booster or Scepter does. If you are going to get Guinsoo, rush it.

Skills

Level 1: Frostbite
Level 2: Frost Nova
Level 3-5: Brilliance Aura
Level 6: Frostbite
Level 7: Brilliance Aura
Level 8-9: Frostbite
Level 10-11: Freezing Field
Level 12-14: Frost Nova
Level 15: Stats
Level 16: Freezing Field

I think 1 level of each Bite and Nova are pretty self explanatory, one for disabling, one for a 4 second slow. Brilliance Aura was maxed first because of how much the team benefited from that immense global aura. I prioritized Frostbite over Nova because a longer disable is more useful than a higher damage nuke since my roaming style relies on teammates for damage/placement; you can get Nova instead. Naturally I got FF at your typical levels, so there's nothing really new there. In a game where your lineup isn't optimized, you may get Nova/Bite first for excellent laning results.

Game Strategy

Laning: I laned with CW at the start at bottom against WD and Venomancer. CM needs either a sturdy strength hero like CW or Tiny, or a dual nuker like Morphling, Lina, Leshrac. In my kind of a lane, which hero do you think they will focus on? That is why early hp is absolutely necessary. Being Crystal Maiden, it is important to initiate for other heroes like Leshrac, CW, Lina and Tiny. You will see some impressive HP-DMG analytics, a fancy way of describing my decision to either run or fight. With heroes like Zeus, PotM, Jug on my team, maxing Brilliance Aura comes in handy.

Roaming/Ganking: After I get to about level 5, I basically don't hit another creep unless I am repelling, defending or pushing the lane. I play her as a roamer and constantly just go around the map. You either prepare ahead of time and tell your lanes to be ready, or you have another roamer come along with you exacting wrath upon your opponents. Start with Bite as a homing disable for hopefully another follow-up stun, and as they are fleeing, Nova for a few extra hits. I am fortunate to obtain BKB, the only item she needs, at around 30 minutes. Afterwards, I just try to instill in Scourge that I'm sort of suicidal, but I like it.

Lategame: Once you have BKB (and/or Dagger), have someone like CW, Mag, Treant initiate for you for placement during major battles. Otherwise, keep spamming your skills, prioritizing on carries and casters. When playing with a hero like Crystal Maiden, it is important to constantly push and keep pressure in the lanes.

thx to 1st post UTDC.Justin@dota-allstars.com