Raynor Build Guide “Hit 'em hard and fast.”

Raynor is a Ranged Assassin who relies on his hard-hitting Basic Attacks and long range to fight his enemies from a safe distance. He combines plain abilities with simple mechanics, however, he requires good positioning and map awareness in order to unfold his true strength. Since Raynor lacks any form of innate escape mechanism, like teleports or dashes, knowing when to take a fight and when to retreat is crucial to achieve good results when playing this Hero.

Strengths

• Strong Basic Attacks
• Low learning curve
• Good self-sustain through Talents and Abilities
• Decent PvE damage with Exterminator
• Long range

Weaknesses

• One-sided playstyle
• No innate escape mechanisms
• Blinds greatly reduce his effectiveness
• Requires good positioning

Penetrating Round Build

Recommended

Level 1 ? ?

Level 4 ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ? ?

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The Penetrating Round Build is designed to amplify Raynor's damage while also giving him good survivability. At level 1, Exterminator will drastically increase Raynor's PvE damage. It should be picked in Maps where waveclear and mercenaries are essential, or in Battlefield of Eternity, to greatly increase damage on immortal. At Level 10, both Heroic Abilities are viable, however, we recommend Raynor's Raider as the main option, while Hyperion can be a great option to push Forts, Keeps or to control Objectives in Volskaya Foundry or Infernal Shrines.

Adrenaline Build

Situational

Level 1 ? ?

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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The Adrenaline Build greatly amplifies Raynor's self-sustain from Adrenaline Rush, and Attack Speed during Inspire. This build may not have a good early game and mid game, but it becomes extremely good at level 20 with Raiders Roll.

We recommend this build if you are in maps that will often reach Level 20, such as Volskaya Foundry or Alterac Pass.

See our Talents page for further information »

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Raynor synergizes with

Raynor excels if played with Heroes that can easily protect him, while also creating space so he can deliver more Basic Attacks. Beside the tanks with decent peel capabilities, Thrall is a good teammate, since Earthquake's slow will not only assist Raynor against engages, but will also allow him to play freely in fights.

Raynor is countered by

Since Raynor relies completely on his Basic Attacks, Blinds are his worst enemy. As a result, Heroes like Johanna, Artanis, or Cassia can really cripple Raynor's combat performance.

Raynor's stronger maps

Raynor's average maps

Raynor's weaker maps

None

Raynor usually performs decently on most Maps, however, he is slightly more efficient on push-heavy Maps, such as Infernal Shrines or Dragon Shire. The more opportunities he gets to attack his opponents from a safe distance, the better. Try to avoid getting caught separately from your team when playing Raynor, as his escape potential is rather limited. Raynor should not be played in the sofflane, instead, try to be part of rotations and stay behind your Warriors at all time while moving from lane to lane.

• Movement is crucial when playing Raynor, since he lacks any gap-closing abilities. Thus, make sure to constantly keep stutter stepping in between each Basic Attack even while fighting Minions in lane.
• You can manually reassign a new target to your Banshee by hovering your cursor over the desired target and pressing R again.
• Penetrating Round can be used to Knockback enemies away from you. Sometimes it can also be used to knock enemies towards your teammates.
• Inspire also works on Minions and Mercenaries. Use it during pushes to take down enemy Structures more quickly.
• With Exterminator, Inspire should be used every time you move closer to a wave or friendly mercenaries, because it will not expire.

Raynor is a solid pick on most maps, but he particularly shines on smaller ones like Towers of Doom, Infernal Shrines, or Tomb of the Spider Queen, which focus heavily on pushing and fighting in narrow spaces. His conservative playstyle and powerful Basic Attacks make him a stereotypical Ranged Assassin that fits into many team compositions.

Although most of Raynor's abilities are fairly easy to understand, it is extremely important to know when to use them. Penetrating Round can be used to Knock engaging enemies away from him, but it can also be used to harass and damage opponents in lane. Inspire can be a valuable tool to push your lane by increasing your own and your allies' attack speed, but it can also be a necessary to provide you with more mobility. The same applies for Raynor's Heroic Abilities. While Raynor's Raider is a formidable way to further push his damage output on single targets, Hyperion allows him to damage several enemies and Structures at the same time. Thus, Raynor remains a solid Hero that is easy to learn yet hard to master.