Mirana, the Priestess of the Moon is one of the most versatile and iconic characters in the Dota universe. This makes it such a great decision for her to play a central role in DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. Today we’ll be exploring the best way to play Mirana for any newcomers to the game brought in by the new Netflix show.
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Where does Mirana fit in a Dota team?
Heroes in Dota 2 can be broadly divided into two major categories: Core heroes and Support Heroes. Mirana has the somewhat rare flexibility to be played in either position, however, this guide will focus on the best position for her currently, as a Support hero in the Offlane.
Core heroes kill creeps to become more powerful
Core heroes begin the game in quite a weak state and rely on the help of their support partner to survive during the laning phase so the core can successfully last hit creeps. Once the core heroes make it to the later stages of the game, their skills will synergize with the items they acquire, making them the true powerhouses who carry your team during the mid and lategame.
Support heroes enable their Cores to kill creeps
Support heroes conversely are at their strongest points early in the game during the laning phase and have a skillset that can operate successfully with very limited items. This makes these heroes ideally suited to pressuring opposing laners, and defending their core against aggression from their opponents. During the laning phase, supports selflessly pass up resources so that as much as possible can be concentrated on their core hero, who will be more impactful with additional items and levels.
Mirana’s versatile skillset is great in any situation
Starstorm is a fantastic bread and butter damage skill, which allows Mirana to rain down stars upon all enemy units in an area around her. The closest enemy gets hit by two stars for twice as much damage. This is the skill that Mirana will be maxing first in every game, for the ability to impact fights without putting herself in danger, as well as to quickly push out creepwaves during the midgame. If Mirana is able to land this spell multiple times in a big fight, the enemy will be taking huge damage and likely losing the engagement. Due to the significant mana requirements of using this spell very frequently, however, it is very important to be constantly sending Clarity Potions to yourself throughout the game to restore that lost mana.
Sacred Arrow is Mirana’s most iconic ability and the primary reason that players have been coming back to this popular hero for years. Landing a successful Sacred Arrow on a fleeing opponent is one of the most satisfying feelings in all of Dota! This ability is a skillshot, requiring the player to throw it in a certain direction, with no guarantee it will hit your intended target. The major determining factor between a great and terrible Mirana is how well they use this skill. Especially when new to Dota, Mirana’s Sacred Arrow is much better used as a follow-up stun on an opponent who has already been controlled by one of your teammates. Executing this combination makes Mirana a perfect aggressive support pairing for tanky offlane heroes with an easy stun to set up for arrows. The arrow can travel through allied creeps but not enemy ones, so lining it up to hit an opposing hero often requires Mirana to play off to the side, hidden in the trees.
Whenever you inevitably find yourself in a precarious situation, Mirana thankfully has a massive panic button you can smash in the form of her Leap skill. Holding up to 3 charges at any time, this skill sends Mirana and her mount Sagan leaping forwards in whatever direction they are facing when the spell is cast. When used correctly, this skill can get you out of practically any troublesome situation. But Mirana is still a hero with a low health pool, so you’ll have to be careful to use the skill quickly before you get burst down. While the 3 charges on this skill seem like quite a lot, they have a 45 second replenish time at level 1, so you may not have Leaps back available quickly after using them in an engagement.
Moonlit Shadow is a fantastic ultimate with an impact that is much harder to quantify when compared to other heroes. Most other ultimates have a big flashy offensive effect, whereas Moonlit Shadow turns Mirana’s entire team invisible, no matter where they are on the map. This effect is incredibly powerful and can be used for everything: from setting up a movement as a group to saving an ally who’s found themselves way too deep on the other side of the map. At lower levels of play particularly, where players are less likely to buy Sentry Wards or Dust of Appearance to reveal invisibility, turning your entire team invisible simply wins your team a large number of fights outright.
Mirana likes lane partners who can setup Arrow
Two of the best heroes to lane with a Mirana are Centaur Warrunner, and Davion himself, Dragon Knight. Mirana thrives in lanes where her partner is a big tanky brawler who can play up in the front of the opponents, using themselves as a body shield to prevent direct aggression on the squishy Mirana. Additionally, these heroes have stuns which are quite easy to land, in order to hold opponents stationary for them to be hit by a Sacred Arrow. If this combination is executed successfully, it almost always results in a kill for the Mirana lane. If you’re just getting into Dota and queuing with one of your friends, playing these heroes as a duo with Mirana is a sure bet in any game.
Harassing during the laning stage secures creeps for your core
During the laning stage at the start of the game, Mirana’s goal is to be as much of a pest to the opponents as possible, while remaining largely out of damage range herself. The hero is blessed with a great attack range and attack animation, which means she will likely be quicker at getting autoattacks out from range than her laning opponents. Repeatedly poking for a short series of autoattacks will whittle away at opposing health pools and regeneration, which will make them scared to approach the creep wave. The primary purpose of all of this harassment is to make it easy for your core to secure creep last hits uncontested. While kills are obviously fantastic, if your core is free farming while the opponents are relegated to sitting under their tower at half health, that’s just as good. Getting kills is certainly the most fun part of Dota, using them to acquire additional resources while the opponents are respawning is crucial to winning games.
Teamfighting and capitalizing off kills
While it can be tempting to try to be the player setting up a pickoff with a perfect long-range Arrow, in teamfights particularly, it’s better to wait for a teammate to initiate, allowing you to follow up with an Arrow. Mirana excels when skirting around the edges of fights, pelting Arrows at her foes while poking in and out of the engagement. As long as you’re always holding onto at least one charge of Leap, you should be able to escape most troublesome situations that arise.
After winning a fight and killing as many opponents as possible, it’s vitally important in Dota to continue pressing the issue in order to compound upon your advantage. Killing your opponents leaves many parts of their map undefended, which makes it an ideal time to quickly push down a tower as a group. Taking objectives after winning teamfights turns an unfortunate game for the opponents into an unwinnable one, as you cut off their access to resources on the map, and eventually expose their base.
With that, you should be ready to leap into some of your first Dota games as Mirana, hopefully with a friend playing Davion laning at your side!
Photo credit: DrySocket/Valve
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