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Mirana is one of the most versatile and fun heroes to play in Dota 2. Her Sacred Arrow spells is every bit as potent as it is infuriating. Moonlight Shadow gives you a global presence while forcing enemies’ support to continuously buy wards guessing your team’s movements.
In this Mirana Dota Guide, we will take a look at the hero, her abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
Basic Spells
Although this character doesn’t have strong passives or good nukes, it has a spell that can potentially disable an opponent for up to 5 seconds. Mirana’s whole gameplay revolves around your ability to hit a Sacred Arrow. In that sense, it is somewhat similar to Pudge’s Meat Hook.
If you manage to hit this spell, you can Leap to your target and cast Starstorm for an additional burst of magic damage. Mirana’s spell kit allows you to easily kill off a lot of heroes during the early and mid game. This is especially true if you have allies nearby who can also take advantage of this long disable.
Leap and Moonlight Shadow spells make the hero very elusive throughout the game. Furthermore, these abilities can also assist your allies, allowing them to escape near-death situations.
Starstorm
Starstorm is Mirana’s primary burst damage spell and is an important tool for ganking. It deals 300 damage in a small area around the hero. As such, it has a limited ability to kill off creep waves.
Overall, the magic damage is rather lackluster. Most AOE spells in the game provide additional effects, with the same or similar damage, rendering Starstorm subpar by comparison. However, there is one thing that makes it just a bit more useful.
When you cast Starstorm, every enemy around Mirana will be hit by a falling star that does 300 damage. One of these enemies will be hit by two sets of stars, with the second wave doing 75% of damage (in total, they will receive 525 magic damage).
This makes Starstorm very potent if you can isolate your target. Otherwise, with every additional creep or enemy hero nearby, the chance of hitting your main target twice is reduced. Because of that, Starstorm is great when you’re ganking in woods or river.
Sacred Arrow
All 3 Mirana’s basic spells work in unison and are meant to kill isolated opponents. Unlike Starstorm, which loses its potency as the game progresses, Sacred Arrow is an ability that never becomes obsolete.
As the name implies, Mirana will launch a direct arrow that travels a long distance. If the arrow hits, it will stun the opponent for 0.01 second to 5 seconds, depending on the length of its flight. Mirana players usually try to get the longest-possible five-second disable.
While the disable is very potent, it is also very unreliable. The spell is much better during the earliest phases of the game when the opponents still don’t have boots. It can also work well when the enemies start grouping up as they are often clumped up, making it easier to land the spell.
Unfortunately, if you don’t connect with the Sacred Arrow, your usefulness in the teamfights can be very lackluster. This is why the hero has fallen out of grace as of late.
Another thing worth noting is that the ability gives you vision, which can be a great perk for scouting.
Leap
Leap can be used both offensively and defensively.
The ability allows the hero to jump a short distance, providing attack speed and movement speed buff upon landing. The buff lasts only 2.5 seconds, but it can make a difference during early game ganking as it would allow you to get a few more auto-attacks on the target.
What’s even better is that Leap comes with 3 charges. So, as soon as the first buff wears out, you can jump once again to increase your movement/attack speed. After hitting a long-range Sacred Arrow, you can use Leap to shorten the distance and start attacking the opponent immediately.
Moonlight Shadow (Ultimate)
Most Mirana players use Moonlight Shadow before the mid game and late game engagements. The buff provides invisibility and movement speed to your whole team, allowing you to sneak up to enemies. Even in professional games, you can catch opponents off guard and make a valuable pickoff.
Perhaps the biggest issue with this spell is that it’s very similar to Smoke of Deceit, a 50-gold item that makes you and your allies invisible for a short period of time. And like with Smoke of Deceit, you will also lose the movement speed buff upon revealing yourself. Because of that, your ultimate often feels redundant.
What makes it a bit better is the fact that you can turn invisible once again if you stop attacking and casting spells. When that happens, you will also regain the movement speed buff. In other words, if you start losing a teamfight, the ability might help you escape.
Given that this is a global spell, you can also use it to help a single ally (usually carry or mid lane core) escape from pursuers. To be honest, this is what separates it from Smoke of Deceit.
Mirana has a lot of different things to offer. Unfortunately, this often works to her detriment as she is not amazing at any specific thing (except for her escape mechanisms). Nowadays, Mirana is rarely played as a core as there are more viable options. As a support, she is dependent on landing arrows, which is why you will rarely see her in professional games.
Laning
In a few patches, Mirana was a very popular mid lane pick. However, throughout Dota 2’s history, she was almost never played as a carry.
In the last few patches, she is mostly utilized as roaming support and almost never as a core. While she can scale nicely with physical damage, there is no point in making these kinds of builds on support Mirana, as you will never have enough money to be effective.
When laning, you can play as either soft or hard support. No matter which role you take, it would be much better to support offlane core as it allows you to rotate towards mid. Well-placed Sacred Arrow on an opponent can get you some easy kills and open space for your ally in the middle lane.
Another great feature of Sacred Arrow is that it can instantly kill non-ancient creeps. This is especially amazing for support Miranas as it would allow them to gain levels and farm without soaking experience from your core.
During the laning phase, you should try to land a few arrows on the opponents. Due to its long stun, every Sacred Arrow that connects can potentially lead to a kill. However, when doing so, you should avoid hitting any lane creeps as this would effectively reduce the core’s farm while pushing the lane.
A lot of players have the urge to roam mid or might go woods to get some creep farm. Depending on the lane’s difficulty, you should try to stay close to your core. A common mistake occurs when Mirana overuses the arrow for killing wood creeps, and when the opponent engages their core, they don’t have any spells to help him out.
If you have already decided to spend extended time in the woods, you should try and stack creep camps for your carry and mid.
Mid Game
During mid game, Mirana has more opportunities to roam around. Sacred Arrow’s vision can be great for dewarding and scouting. Given that most teams won’t buy Gem of True Sight so early, you can make some nice Moonlight Shadow engagement with your team.
Positioning is very important for support Mirana. The hero has very low health, so, unlike the early game, when you can hit an arrow and Leap into an opponent to cast Starstorm, you need to be very careful during this period. The majority of your gameplay will revolve around Moonlight Shadow initiation and hitting Sacred Arrows from afar. If you decide to jump into several opponents to cast Starstorm, you will likely die.
And this is why the hero is rarely picked in the current meta as you have very little to work with. Even if you hit a maximum duration arrow, you can rarely follow it up.
Things are a bit better for core Mirana. However, as you will likely start with magic or physical damage item, you probably won’t have Black King Bar during the middle game. Because of that, you again won’t be able to jump in and utilize Starstorm. Alternatively, if you get Black King Bar as the first item, your total damage will be low as you will lack damage items, and your spell kit doesn’t provide enough.
Late Game
As you progress through the talent tree, you will get a few Moonlight Shadow talents that will improve your utility. Mirana can be very troublesome at level 25 when she gets triple Sacred Arrow. This would make it easier to land a long-range arrow, but you can potentially land two arrows on two different heroes, which should win a lot of teamfights.
The great thing about the hero is that you can build it as either a magical or physical damage dealer (when you play a core). However, support Mirana should mainly be built as a utility character.
The hero doesn’t change much in terms of its main purpose from early to late game. You are still very reliant on connecting with these arrows. However, as the game progresses and enemies get a Gem, your Moonlight Shadow should be negated for the most part.
Itemization (Core Items)
Arcane Boots
Arcane Boots are very useful for any Mirana, regardless of a build. They are especially great for supports as you need restoration and a larger mana pool. When you play a core, Arcane Boots allow you to farm more efficiently by spamming Starstorm. Furthermore, you can later on use them for Lotus Orb.
Mekansm
Although it might seem like a good idea to go with items such as Veil of Discord, Kaya, or Aghanim’s Scepter, they are not very efficient due to low magic output. Instead, it is much better to go with things such as Mekansm. At least if you’re playing a support role.
Pipe of Insight
The Pipe is another great utility item that you can build in almost any situation. Besides the magical damage block, it also provides a magic resistance aura. Check whether the item is viable in your particular game.
Maelstrom
If you wish to build a physical damage dealer or magical hybrid, Maelstrom would be a great choice. It will help you clear waves much faster, boosting your ability to farm. It is especially great with Leap, given that this spell provides increased attack speed for the duration.
Black King Bar
While the hero can stay on the outskirts of a teamfight, you still need Black King Bar to utilize its full potential. The hero is very fragile, so you must have defensive items. With this item, you can Leap into the fray without having to think whether someone will disable you during the buff. It works in a similar manner for Starstorm.
Itemization (Optional Items)
Aghanim’s Scepter
This is one of the less popular Scepters in the game. When you cast a Sacred Arrow, a Starstorm will fall on passing by creeps and heroes. This can be a good farming item if you wish to skip Maelstrom.
But it also means you would have to use both Sacred Arrow and Starstorm to kill off a wave, which costs a lot of mana. The additional magic damage is nice in teamfights, but it wouldn’t justify the purchase of the item (especially on support).
Manta Style
Back in the day, this was one of the more popular items for Mirana. Although it has fallen off in the last few years, there might still be some merit for purchasing it for a core build.
Rod of Atos
Some players like to buy Rod of Atos on this hero. It works well for rooting an enemy, so you can follow it up with an arrow. Additional stats on the item also help.
Talent Builds
Level 10 (+100 Leap Distance OR -2 Seconds Sacred Arrow cooldown)
Having an increased Leap distance is always a nice perk, especially when you’re trying to run away from pursuers. On the other hand, Sacred Arrow talent will reduce the spell cooldown from 16 to 14, which might not be enough to cast 2 arrows during a teamfight. Both of these are minor boosts, which won’t improve your hero by a lot.
Level 15 (+80 Leap Attack Speed OR +20 Evasion During Moonlight Shadow)
Whether you choose first or second talent depends on your build. +80 attack speed on Leap is simply amazing. Although the buff lasts a short while, you can use it three times (four times with Aghanim’s Shard). Moonlight Shadow talent is much better for support Mirana as it effectively increases the total health of your team.
Level 20 (+20 Mana Break During Auto-attacks OR -20 Seconds Moonlight Shadow Cooldown)
Again, the first talent is more suited for a carry build, while the second one is better for support. Generally speaking, the first one should be much better as it scales well with your Leap. Even if you go support, it should significantly improve your damage output. Moonlight Shadow talent is very situational, and it won’t be a game-changer.
Level 25 (+200 Starstorm Damage OR +2 Multishot Sacred Arrows)
Speaking of game-changers, multishot Sacred Arrow is something that can win you teamfights. As mentioned, the talent increases the likelihood of hitting at least one hero, and it can potentially allow you to hit two opponents.
However, Starstorm can be very potent if you have Aghanim’s Scepter. With this item, you will be able to cast two volleys of stars (one with Sacred Arrow one with Starstorm), making a total of 1,000 magical damage.
FAQs
Question: How Do You Use Mirana in Dota 2?
Answer: Mirana is a ranged hero that works best as a support. She is dependant on hitting her long-duration stun called Sacred Arrow. Her Moonlight Shadow ability gives her a global presence, while Leap allows her to escape sticky situations.
Question: Is Mirana a Hard Carry?
Answer: Although you can build physical damage items on the hero, Mirana was never considered a hard carry in the traditional sense of the word. However, she can scale pretty well if you go with magic damage build.
Question: Is Mirana a Good Support?
Answer: Mirana is mainly played as a support and can have a major impact in certain games. However, she is not the most reliable hero especially if you’re trying to help carry.
Last Considerations
Although very fun to play, I don’t recommend Mirana if you wish to gain MMR. Not only is the hero unreliable, but it is also relatively weak in the current meta. Due to low health, low base damage, and unreliable main spell, you have a good chance of losing the laning phase, which can spiral the whole game out of control.