Crystal Maiden

Rylai, the Crystal Maiden, is a ranged intelligence hero who uses the power of frost and ice to cope with her foes.

Renowned as a well-balanced hard support, Crystal Maiden possesses strong nukes and disables that allow her to apply strong slows to enemies. Crystal Nova is a powerful area-of-effect nuke that slows both attack and movement speeds of enemies within an area for several seconds, while Frostbite encases an enemy in a block of ice for several seconds, immobilizing them and dealing moderate damage per second. Combining these two abilities together along with a laning partner's own spells is often enough to bring an enemy hero to their knees. Her Arcane Aura passive will also regenerate mana for Rylai and her allies, greatly boosting their ability to cast spells in the early game. Although her strong early game presence can be countered by her extreme frailty and poor mobility, she can still inflict a heavy amount of damage in teamfights later on if she is able to channel her deadly ultimate, Freezing Field. Her global mana aura, strong disabling and nuking prowess, simple spell layout, and almost complete lack of item dependence make Crystal Maiden a reliable support caster that can be a strong asset to any team, and judicious use of her ultimate allows her to lay waste to her enemies when used properly. With protection from her team and appropriate item selection, she can be the only support any team needs.

Gameplay
 Strategy & Tips Counters & Matchups

Audio
 Responses Sounds

History
 Lore Old Abilities Changelogs

Trivia

 * Rylai is one of the oldest heroes from the original DotA in Reign of Chaos DotA. Her title used to be Frost Maiden.
 * Rylai's name in Warcraft DotA was Rylai Crestfall. Her surname was removed in the transition to Dota 2 for the implementation of her sibling rivalry with Lina.
 * Crystal Maiden's used to be named Brilliance Aura.
 * In early versions of DotA, Crystal Maiden and used to share the same  ability (although they were both named Frost Nova). However, in later updates, Crystal Maiden's Frost Nova was changed to Crystal Nova, turning it into a free-cast area-of-effect ability, while Lich kept the original effects.
 * In Warcraft DotA, Crystal Maiden's can freeze the enemy's Fountain and the duration was counted as creep.
 * League of Legends features an item called Rylai's Crystal Scepter, a homage to the Crystal Maiden from the original DotA.
 * In World of Warcraft an alliance NPC is named Rylai Crestfall, a homage to the original Crystal Maiden from Warcraft III's DotA.
 * Crystal Maiden's leveling-up response cm levelup 03.mp3 "Is it cold in here or is it just me?" is a reference to the action movie Demolition Man.
 * Crystal Maiden's respawning line cm respawn 03.mp3 "You only live ice..." is a reference to the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice based on the novel of the same name.
 * Crystal Maiden's line cm battlebegins 01.mp3 "It's all fun and games until someone's frozen solid." is a reference to a novel written by Christopher Brookmyre entitled All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye.
 * Crystal Maiden's rare response cm rare 02.mp3 "Can you guess my... favorite poet?" is a reference to Robert Frost due to his last name.