Foreword
Welcome to my guide on Rylai Crestfall, the Crystal Maiden.This guide is for newbies and for advanced players, I hope you like it! To fully understand this guide basic knowledge of DotA, its Gameplay Mechanics, Items, Heroes, etc. is required. By the way, you can click on the titles in the Table of Contents to get to that part. Things, especially items, which I mention often (such as Bracers or Observer Wards) are colored.
Please PM me (n!ght) if you found a mistake. Thanks!
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Table of Contents
1. Informations about the hero
a) Attributes2. Skillorder & Variations
b) Miscellaneous
c) Pros & Cons
d) Skills
a) Skillorder3. Items
b) Variations
a) Early to Late Game4. General play style
b) Coreitems (Summary)+ Variations
a) General5. Friends & Foes, playing against Crystal Maiden
b) Warding
a) Friends (Combos)6. Replays
b) Foes
c) Playing against Crystal Maiden
7. Credits
8. Changelog
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Alt-tab Miniguide:
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1. Informations about the hero
1.a) Attributes
Advanced Statistics
Affiliation: Sentinel
Attack Animation: 0.55 / 0
Casting Animation: 0.3 / 2.4
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Missile Speed: 900
Sight Range: 1800/800
Damage: 38-44
Armor: 1.3
Movespeed: 280
Attack Range: 600
1.b) Miscellaneous
Other names for Crystal Maiden
CM, crystal, rylai, maiden, manafountain, et cetera et cetera.
Crystal Maiden is located in the Sentinel's Light Tavern.
Background Story
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.
1.c) Pros & ConsPros
| [ + ] Ranged |
| [ + ] Very powerful ultimate |
| [ + ] The best passive ability in DotA |
| [ + ] Not really item dependent (except for Freezing Field) |
| [ + ] 1 semi- disable and 1 (2) powerful slows |
Cons
| [ - ] Bad Attackdamage |
| [ - ] Very Fragile |
| [ - ] Items needed to use the ultimate fully |
| [ - ] Very slow, only techies are slower |
| [ - ] Can't farm that good, only 1 (bad) farming spell |
| [ - ] No real disable |
1.d) Skills
Crystal Nova:
Blasts enemy units around a target point with a wave of damaging frost that slows movement speed and attack rate for 5 seconds.
- Damage type: magical
- Will slow the affected units' movespeed by 30% and attack speed by 20%.
- Doesn't stack with slow effects from: Freezing Field, Eye of Skadi, Lichs Frost Nova, Frost Armor, Dual Breath, Frost Breath, Shiva's Arctic Blast
- AoE: 400, Casting Range: 700, Cooldown: 15 Seconds, Allowed Targets: Enemy Units;
This spell is mainly used to slow the enemies in a big radius (Got buffed in 6.60). You may use it too for farming and laning, because Crystal Nova slows also the Attack rate.
[Level 1] - 80 Damage, 15 seconds cooldown, uses 100 Manapoints, applies chill Effect to the targets
[Level 2] - 130 Damage, 15 seconds cooldown, uses 120 Manapoints, applies chill Effect to the targets
[Level 3] - 180 Damage, 15 seconds cooldown, uses 140 Manapoints, applies chill Effect to the targets
[Level 4] - 230 Damage, 15 seconds cooldown, uses 160 Manapoints, applies chill Effect to the targets
Frostbite:
Freezes the target in a case of ice, prohibiting movement and attacking. Deals 70 damage per second.
- Damage type: magical
- Breaks channeling spells
- The unit inside the iceblock gets damage after a full second, that means that Level 1 Frostbite deals the same damage as Level 2 (140/140); level 3 deals the same damage as Level 4(210/210).
- Some "movement" spells work inside the Iceblock, those are:
Blinkstrike/ Phantomstrike (Nessaj, Rikimaru and Mortred), Waveform (Morphling), Timewalk (Void), Leap (Mirana), Nether Swap (Vengeful Spirit), Poof (Meepo), Morph Replicate (Morphling), Haunt/Reality (Spectre) and Illusory Orb (Puck). - You can use Invisibility-Skills, but CM's team has TrueSight while the Frostbite effect is on you.
- Lasts 10 seconds on creeps level 5 or lower. Also disables summons like Furion's Treants or Invoker's fire minions for 10 seconds. You can kill (for example) a 'Centaur Khan' with every rank of Frostbite, it lasts always 10 seconds. With this knowledge you can easily kill that Centaur Khan on Level 1/2
Due to Spirit Bear's "Resistant Skin", he's disabled for the normal time. - Single target, 500 Casting Range, 10 seconds cooldown;
- Illusion spells like Manta Style or Naga Siren's/ Chaos Knight's illusion abilities break Frostbite
- Time Lapse (Nerubian Weaver) and Bladefury (Juggernaut) break Frostbite too
- Everything except Blink and Metamorphosis-based Skills can be used under the effect of Frostbite! (For example: Vengeful Spirit's 'Magic Missile', Tinker's 'Laser', Windwalk, etc.). Spells that cant be used in the iceblock: Magina's & Queen of Pain's 'Blink', Furion's 'Teleportation' etc.
Chemical Rage (Alchemist), Shapeshift (Lycanthrope), Metamorphose (Soul Keeper), Flesh Golem (Undying), Spirit Form (Keeper of the Light), True Form (Syllabear) Burrow (Weaver's Scarab) Firefly (Batrider) Split Shot (Medusa) Elder Dragon Form (Dragon Knight) Berserker Rage (Troll Warlord) can't be used while bitten. - You can't use Frostbite on Units that are 'flying' (movetype: flying, for example Batrider using Firefly)
- The bitten unit forgets his last order, such as spells
We use this spell to keep enemies from running away. It helps us to use our ultimate, but the Hero inside the iceblock is still able to cast spells!
To damage the bitten enemy you should cancel your animation. (After you used Frostbite click fast on the ground to cancel your animation, then again fast on the bitten enemy)
[Level 1] - 1.5 seconds Duration, 10 seconds cooldown, uses 115 Manapoints (70 damage every second)
[Level 2] - 2 seconds Duration, 10 seconds cooldown, uses 125 Manapoints (70 damage every second)
[Level 3] - 2.5 Second Duration, 10 seconds cooldown, uses 140 Manapoints (70 damage every second)
[Level 4] - 3 Second Duration, 10 seconds cooldown, uses 150 Manapoints (70 damage every second)
Brilliance Aura:
Gives additional mana regeneration to all friendly units on the entire map.
- Stacks with the Brilliance Aura given by Ring of Basillus
- The bonus mana regeneration is not considered for percentage mana regeneration increases
- This spell affects all friendly units with a manapool (Global)
- Got nerfed in 6.60 from 0.75/1.5/2.25/3 to 0.5/1/1.5/2
- When the Crystal Maiden turns invisible (Invisibility Rune, Lothar's Edge) the the Aura is disabled. So you can know if Rylai is invisible
Since this ability was made 6.49 to a global effect, CM was banned (or picked, when not banned of course!) nearly always in competitive matches. This spell is very strong, it helps your whole team and it's still active when CM left the game (when she's frozen in her circle, only important for public games, you could think of a strategy which is skilling up the Aura if it's not already on Level 4). Heroes like Zeus or Storm Spirit can spam their spells early, this is a big advantage on every lane (take a look at point 6.a).
[Level 1] - Adds 0.5 Mana Regeneration
[Level 2] - Adds 1 Mana Regeneration
[Level 3] - Adds 1.5 Mana Regeneration
[Level 4] - Adds 2.0 Mana Regeneration
Freezing Field:
Causes many random icy explosions in an area surrounding Rylai. Enemy units in the Freezing Field are slowed. Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter.
- Damage type: magical
- The slow is applied on all enemy units within an AoE of 635, even if they aren't hit by any explosion (lasts 1 second).
- Every 0.1 seconds one explosion is made, for a total of 40 explosions.
- Area of Effect: 635. Every single explosion has also an AoE: 190.
- Hits invisible Heroes
- Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
- Doesn't stack with Freezing Field, Eye of Skadi, Lichs Frost Nova, Frost Armor, Dual Breath, Frost Breath
[Level 1] - Each explosion deals 105 (170*) damage, 150 seconds cooldown, uses 300 Manapoints, 4 seconds Duration
[Level 2] - Each explosion deals 170 (250*) damage, 120 seconds cooldown, uses 400 Manapoints, 4 seconds Duration
[Level 3] - Each explosion deals 250 (310*) damage, 90 seconds cooldown, uses 600 Manapoints, 4 seconds Duration
This spell is incredibly strong, but has also a very high Manacost. With this ultimate you can easily win teamclashes, but normally it gets cancelled very fast. You will need Black King Bar & maybe a dagger to position Freezing Field right. More to that in the items section. Freezing Field hits also invisible Heroes and slows them, you can use this ability to finish invisible heroes with low health off.
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by Lycan
2. Skillorder & Variations
2.a) SkillorderNormally you should skill like this:
[Level 1] Frostbite / Crystal NovaA little Q&A to this Skillorder:
[Level 2] Brilliance Aura / Frostbite
[Level 3] Brilliance Aura
[Level 4] Crystal Nova
[Level 5] Brilliance Aura
[Level 6] Frostbite / Freezing Field
[Level 7] Brilliance Aura
[Level 8] Frostbite
[Level 9] Frostbite
[Level 10] Freezing Field
[Level 11] Freezing Field
[Level 12] Crystal Nova
[Level 13] Crystal Nova
[Level 14] Crystal Nova
[Level 15] Stats
[Level 16] Freezing Field
[Level 17- 25] Stats
Q: "Why do we skill Frostbite on Level 1 and not Brilliance Aura?"
A: We don't need Brilliance Aura on Level 1. Normally you are level 2 after 30 seconds on the lane. We also use it for early clashs (rune clashes, early gangs etc.).
Q: "Why do we skill Crystal Nova on Level 4/ Level 12-14 and not Stats?"
A: => Variatons
Q: "Why don't we skill Freezing Field on Level 6?"
A: We won't need it that early. We just don't have the manapool, and we won't use it because clashes aren't that early. In some cases you need Freezing Field earlier, for example, when your facing invisible heroes. Just swap it with the last levels of Frostbite.
Q: "Why do we max Brilliance Aura first?"
A: Brilliance Aura is our main spell to assist our teammates, 2.0 Mana regeneration is a lot.
I prefer going on Crystal Nova on Level 1, Frostbite on Level 2 and then the normal way.
That's completely situational, if you think you can kill your lane enemies early with your mate, you should go on Frostbite Level 2. It also depends on the enemie's lineup.
3. Items
3.a) Early to Late Game
Obviously you won't have that much gold to spend in a competitive game. But that's not the point, you should always focus on getting the best items fast.
You can find anything about Items here.
Startitems:
Most of the time you buy the Chicken, so buy it for your team and dont forget to write -courier and share it with your teammates. After the chicken we get 4 Ironwood Branches. Then we buy 1 stack Tangoes of Essifation & 1x Healing Salve to regenerate our HP on the Lane.
Example of a good startinventory
Again a little Q&A to this startitem build:
Q: "Why Ironwood Branches and not Circlets of Nobility? Won't we need them later for Bracers?"
A: That's right, we need them later for Bracers. But the cost/ performance ratio of Ironwood Branches is much better. Plus you may need the Ironwood Branches too, if you'd like to build Mekansm. Ironwood Branch: 19 Gold per stat point, Circlet of Nobility: 31 Gold per stat point. (If you are german you can read this topic on dotasource.de)
Earlygame Items to Midgame Items
or 
or 
You should buy 1-2 Bracers, Crystal Maiden is a Low-HP Hero.
Keep 2 of the Ironwood Branches if you want to build Mekansm!
Get Observer Wards (you will probably need 4-8 stacks if you are alone with warding, this depends on the game length and the necessity). The guide in the Warding section shows you where to place them. Buy a Magic Stick and upgrade it to a Magic Wand if you want to. Get either Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards if you have to counter invisible heroes.
I suggest that you just buy some Boots of Speed. If you want to upgrade those, buy Power Treads (which is normally not needed, I usually just use the normal Boots for the whole game) or Phase Boots, Crystal Maiden makes good use of them, the 24 damage bonus is awesome for harassing and additional hits on a Frostbitten target, and the Phase ability lets you escape better. Never buy Boots of Travel, they just cost to much. You can make better use of the gold. Town Portal Scrolls do the trick.
With 6.65 we got a nice new support item: the Urn of Shadows. Mostly gankers/ roamers and/ or supporters buy it. Only one in the team should have the Urn, only one Urn will gain charges so a second one is useless. With the +6 strength it provides you can skip either both or only one Bracer (depends, if you want even more survivability get Urn & 2 Bracers). The use is quite obvious, we heal ourself and our teammates with it after ganks.
We should get Urn before the midgame, but rushing it isn't that good too. If you think it's already to late or you just don't need it (you just have no chance to use the charges), skip it.
+
=
You should get Mekansm, due to it's high support it's a high priority item for Crystal Maiden!
I mentioned the single parts because they give also good support bonusses without being together as Mekansm.
Optional:
Get Vladmir's Offering if your carry/ carries skip it. (Ring of Basilius' Aura and Vladmir's Offering Aura stack with Brilliance Aura)
You think that it's crazy to buy Vladmir's for a ranged hero, since they don't really benefit from it? Nope, that's just wrong. You are a support hero, means that you buy support items. And Vladmir's Offering is one of the best support items, since it gives several auras and (additional) lifesteal.
The ghost scepter is actually one of the most underestimated items in DotA. I don't really know why, it's the best item versus Heroes like Ursa or Mortred. They just can't do anything against it. Plus, for 1500, it gives additionally 7 statpoints which is good too. Well, the negative part is that it uses an item spot, which you will probably need for other things.
Late game
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/
In long games you can try to get Black King Bar & Kelen's Dagger or Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse.
3.b) Coreitems (Summary)+ Variations
or or Optional:
/ 
Sidenote:
Your teammates can push you with the Force Staff while you're channeling Freezing Field. But care! That doesn't mean that you can push yourself, the channling will break then.
Variations (or: Items to buy in pubs)
There are no real variations, it depends all on your team and your enemies.
So I'll give you some examples for possible public builds:
4. General play style
4.a) General
Early Game:
Most of the time you are in a double lane with a hero like N'aix, Yurnero or Tidehunter. Let your carry block the creeps and go to the rune Spawnpoint, you can see the runes from this ledge in the sentinel's forest. The first rune spawns at 0:00, they respawn every 2 minutes.
Let your carry always get all of the lasthits, and don't waste your manaregeneration by not using your mana to harass the enemy. Of course you may also harass with normal hits (which works very well with Crystal Maiden's animation). Always try to denie and protect your carry.
Mid Game:
Use Frostbite and Crystal Nova to disable your enemy and slow their movement speed. If you are Level 10+ use your ultimate to deal great damage with a big slow. You can easily kill high Level Creeps with Frostbite, like the Centaur Khan. Level 1 Frostbite and a few hits are enough to kill him.
Late Game:
Dagger in the enemies, activate Black King Bar, use Crystal Nova a single time, and use Freezing Field. When anyone gets out of this deadly combination try to finish him with another Crystal Nova and/ or Frostbite. If everything goes well you may win a clash very easily with this rotation. Without Black King Bar you normally die very fast, Crystal Maiden is just to fragile. Don't be ashamed when you have a bad score in the end, that's normal, just be happy if your team wins!
Additional:
This video shows some great ultimates:
made by ShUp & rCarr0w
Animation Cancelling
Taken from the Learn 'Dota- Animations' section
After you casted a spell, such as Frostbite, just give your hero the command to move. Right click a bit next to your hero to do so, then cast your next spell or attack the enemy.
"Tower Targeting Cycle Trick":
Runes
- Haste: You mainly use this rune to run away/ get close to the enemies to cast Freezing Field. Let your ganker get this rune if you don't need it.
- Invisibility: Take this rune always when your Freezing Field Cooldown is finished. If not, let someone else in your team take it. (Ganker/ Roamer, Carry)
- Double Damage: Don't take the Double Damage rune, your carry really profits more from it.
- Illusion: Use it to bait/ scout.
- Regeneration: Decent rune for Crystal Maiden. You already have a good Mana regeneration and without a bottle (which you shouldn't have) the Regeneration rune is nearly senseless.
4.b) Warding
Wardposition Guide - DotA Guides explains everything about warding very well. Impossible to add anything to this.
I can only give you a tip: Fking buy wards for your team! You don't need those ImbaWTFBBQ Items, seriously. Just let your carries get all gold and support like hell. That's your role, that's what you should do.
5. Friends & Foes
5.a) Friends (Combos)
Heroes with a high mana consumption
Those heroes profit a lot from your Brilliance Aura.
Yurnero
Perfect synergy with your slowing & disable spells!
Heroes with big AoE Disables
With their AoE Disables you can cast your ultimate without getting damaged.
General stunners/ slowers
Doubleslowed/ permadisabled heroes are an easy target for your team.
Carries
Crystal Maiden isn't really item dependant, so your Carry may get every lasthit on the lane.
5.b) Foes
1 Hitkiller
You have no chance to survive if you are alone.
Harasser
They kill you easily, it's hard to stay in the EXP range with a harasser on your lane.
Permadisabler
You are an easy target if you're disabled.
5.c) Playing against Crystal Maiden
Crystal Maiden is a low HP & Low MS hero. You can kill her easily when Frostbite & Crystal Nova are on Cooldown. Chasing is the best way to kill her, or just nuke her down. Getting stunned is a deadly moment for Crystal Maiden. Normally she dies very fast, so try to gang her very often before she gets Kelen's Dagger and/ or Black King Bar. If Crystal Maiden activates her Ultimate, Freezing Field, try to get fast out of the area. Don't forget that Freezing Field is a channeling spell, you can easily break it by stunning her.
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