LUNA GUIDE (by Dreamish)

• Tittle: Comprehensive guide to Luna
• Author: Dreamish

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Luna is a hero who can excel in almost any lineup due to her ability to attack both physically and magically. However, she has a few weaknesses that hinder her game somewhat.

Luna's strengths

• Highest base MS in DotA.
• Powerful at all stages of the game.
• Can push, gank, teamfight and carry effectively.
• Has a flashfarming skill later in the game.
• Is ranged. (Albeit barely).

As you can see, Luna has some incredible strengths, and when played around them, fills a niche similar to SF in having formidable early nukes, impressive teamfight potential midgame, and impressive carry abilities late. However, she suffers from some of the same weaknesses, which are listed below.

Luna's weaknesses

• Has low starting Strength and Strength gain.
• Has poor range compared to most other dominant solo heroes.
• Is highly item dependent.
• Lacks a hard disable. (Ministun from Lucent Beam is hardly applicable.)
• Lacks an escape mechanism. (Unless you count obscenely high MS as an escape mechanism.)

With great power comes obscenely low HP. While Luna has amazing damage potential, she can easily die due to her paper HP and lack of a proper escape mechanism. As such, Luna players must be cautious, especially against nukers. A couple of nukes and Luna is replaced with a respawn timer.

Essentially, Luna is a very precise hero, and in the hands of an experienced player, can be a menace even from level 1. The key to playing Luna effectively, and perhaps all heroes effectively, is knowing your limits. Luna may have a higher damage potential than Night Stalker, but she can't dive towers like he can. Luna can out last hit almost any hero in lane, but cannot handle repeated harassment from higher ranged heroes. Ways to counter such harassment, as well as other issues Luna faces will be discussed later in the guide.

Skills

 Lucent Beam

Luna concentrates on the moon's energy and channels it forcefully to the surface, damaging an enemy unit. Stuns for a short duration.

• 1. Mana 90 / Cooldown 6 / Duration 0.6 seconds / Deals 75 Damage, and a ministun
• 2. Mana 100 / Cooldown 6 / Duration 0.6 seconds / Deals 150 Damage, and a ministun
• 3. Mana 110 / Cooldown 6 / Duration 0.6 seconds / Deals 225 Damage, and a ministun
• 4. Mana 120 / Cooldown 6 / Duration 0.6 seconds / Deals 300 Damage, and a ministun

• Damage type: magical

 Moon Glaive

Allows Luna to attack extra enemies with each Glaive attack. Each enemy struck beyond the first incurs a 30% damage loss, per unit.

• 1. Bounces once
• 2. Bounces twice
• 3. Bounces thrice.
• 4. Bounces five times

• Luna's Attack does not function if she tries to attack a unit with any of the following: Maelstrom , Mjollnir , Stygian Desolator.
• Moon Glaives take precedence over the following: Feedback (Diffusal Blade) and Cold Attack (Eye of Skadi).

 Luna Blessing

Provides all nearby allied heroes with constant bonus damage as well as extra night vision for your hero.

• 1. Provides full night vision range for Moon Rider as well as +14 damage to nearby heroes
• 2. Provides full night vision range for Moon Rider as well as +22 damage to nearby heroes
• 3. Provides full night vision range for Moon Rider as well as +30 damage to nearby heroes
• 4. Provides full night vision range for Moon Rider as well as +38 damage to nearby heroes

 Eclipse

Calls on the moon's magic, summoning multiple Lucent Beams to damage targets around Luna. Damage is based on the level of Lucent Beam. Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter

• 1. Mana 150 / Cooldown 160 / Duration 1.8 seconds / Summons 4 Lucent Beams. Each target can only be hit 4 (6*) times
• 2. Mana 200 / Cooldown 150 / Duration 3.6 (4.2*) seconds / Summons 7 (8*) Lucent Beams. Each target can only be hit 4 (6*) times
• 3. Mana 250 / Cooldown 140 / Duration 5.4 (6.6*) seconds / Summons 10 (12*) Lucent Beams. Each target can only be hit 4 (6*) times

• Damage type: magical
• Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
• Beams deal damage based on the level of Lucent Beam (Eclipse will not deal damage if you did not learn Lucent Beam).
• Beams are released between intervals of 0.6 seconds.
• Beams will stop if Luna is killed.
• Unlike individual Lucent Beam casts, Eclipse Lucent Beams do not ministun.
• Will not hit invisible units.
• Turns day into night for 10 seconds

Skill Build

• 1. Lunar Blessing 1 / Lucent Beam 1
• 2. Lucent Beam 1 / Lunar Blessing 1
• 3. Lucent Beam 2
• 4. Lunar Blessing 2
• 5. Lucent Beam 3
• 6. Eclipse 1
• 7. Lucent Beam 4
• 8. Lunar Blessing 3
• 9. Lunar Blessing 4
• 10. Moon Glaives 1
• 11. Eclipse 2
• 12. Moon Glaives 2 
• 13. Moon Glaives 3
• 14. Moon Glaives 4 
• 15. Stats 1
• 16. Eclipse 3
• 17 - 25. Stats 2 - 10

This build is the optimal build for Luna. If you're having extreme difficulties in lane or in general, you can supplement stats for Lunar Blessing. However, make sure you get at least the first level of Lunar Blessing. +14 damage at level one or two is wondrous.

Item Build

Starting Items

For solo:

• Justification: You might be wondering why you haven't spent 100 of your starting gold, but the answer is simple. You don't need to. This starting build (which has been changed as of 6.73b) now includes a Slipper of Agility instead of a Gauntlet of Strength as the new item Ring of Aquila is just too good to pass up. It also provides enough regen to keep you alive until your next item (which will likely be Bottle if you're soloing mid.) Feel free to pick up some more regen, though in most scenarios you won't need it.

For dual/trilane:

• Justification: Once again we're not spending all our gold, and the only difference is a Ring of Protection is purchased instead of Gauntlets of Strength. This is simply because if you have Luna in a dual or trilane she's going to be farming, and she can very easily be on the offensive with +14 damage to her allies in lane. As such, picking up an early Ring of Basilius can help secure your lane dominance, as well as make pushing down the enemy tower considerably easier.
• Situationally, it may be more prudent to get things like Magic Stick against Batrider or Zeus, however in a general lane, you'll get your Magic Wand soon enough.

Core

 Phase Boots outshine Power Treads in almost every situation. Luna doesn't stand still hitting someone, but instead uses her high MS to animation cancel effectively against the opponent. (This technique will be discussed later in the guide.) The ability to Phase is also incredibly useful on Luna. This is because the MS boost from Phase is percentage based, thus Luna's high MS comes into play, and the zero collision size allows her to chase (especially with Eclipse) relentlessly. If you're having extreme difficulty early though and you need to boost your HP, getting Treads is acceptable. The stats are nice, the AS increase is nice, but if you're doing well Phase Boots is simply better.

 Janggo provides everything Luna wants. +9 to all stats to help fix that HP, give a little bit of damage, and give her a little more mana. The aura and active of this item also synergise well with Luna, as it makes her even faster and further boosts her chasing and fleeing capabilities. Definitely a must.

 Magic Wand is core on every hero. Luna is no different.

 Town Portals are also core on (almost) every hero.

(Also, if you got If you got  Ring of Protection, then go for a  Ring of Aquila.)

Core Extension

• The only reason these three items aren't core is due to their cost. In most situations you'll want to get Ethereal Blade first, as Luna is arguably the best holder of it in the game. The stats are fantastic for her and the active is even better. Ether Blast (the nuke) itself is quite strong in Luna's hands, but the ethereal status is what we're looking for. 44% magic damage amplification and a 50% slow is no joke, especially with Lucent Beam and Eclipse. No hero will survive this combo if they catch the full force of it.
• Manta is about as broken on Luna as it is on AM. Her Moon Glaives pass over to her images. this increases her DPS to insane levels and makes her lategame teamfighting and pushing capabilities plain scary. The stats are also fantastic on Luna as is the bonus MS. An absolute must.
• It's BKB. Almost every carry is going to get it at some point. I personally dislike BKB because it delays my EPIC PwNz0r DPS items, but it's a necessary evil, I suppose.

Luxury

 As with any other carry. Luna likes carry items. Let's see why.

• Satanic is a natural luxury for any carry who can use it (in your face, AM!) and Luna is a carry. Makes sense right? She's also kind of forced into it as it is the only orb she can use. Back to the point though. The +25 Strength is fantastic on Luna, as well as the HotD part of it. (Lifesteal is actually worth getting at this point). I'd probably aim for Satanic after I got my BKB, Eblade and Manta.
• Butterfly is another generic carry item. You benefit from every part of it and your manta illusions love it as well. God help the enemy team if you've managed to get your hands on this.
• Boots of Travel are the standard boots for lategame. 'Nuff said.

Situational

 Ahganim's certainly isn't a bad choice for Luna. It provides decent stats and a welcomed boost to your ultimate. However for the same price you could get a BKB, could almost afford a Manta or an Eblade, and generally find better alternatives. It's easy to build up though, so that may make it worth it for harder games.

 Blink Dagger is one of those items that can work, but generally is outclassed by what other items offer for Luna. You can do the ninja Eclipse blink and nab a few surprise kills, but it doesn't really offer you any favours in terms of survivability, damage, and general carry potential. Honestly, I believe your MS is mobility enough.

 Heart is a luxury but not the best option out there. If you absolutely need to tank up as hard as you can, by all means try to farm one up. However, keep in mind how much better Satanic is overall, and make your decision from there.

 Lothar's Edge is an effective item. Being able to invis gives you a (somewhat unreliable in higher level games) escape mechanism, and gives some nice DPS boosts as well. The problem with Lothar's is that it grants no survivability, and is too easily countered by competent players. However, Lothar's can still be effectively used in high level games, just don't expect it to save you every time.

 Buriza is a great carrying item, don't get me wrong. But you only have six slots, and I'd rather the core and luxuries already mentioned as they simply work better with Luna. This is because Luna will always get a Manta, and raw damage doesn't transfer to images. This is why Satanic and The Butterfly are simply better for her. That being said, Buriza is probably the next best item after them.

 Monkey King Bar is a highly situational item on Luna. The damage doesn't transfer to her images and it grants no survivability. However, against mass evasion it can be helpful. Other than that, I'd probably advise against MKB, it just isn't your thing.

 Heaven's Halberd is an interesting item for Luna. It gives a massive Strength boost and +25 damage as well as evasion which is great, and the price tag isn't too frightening. Problem is that you need a Eblade, a BKB or a Manta first, not to mention The Butterfly makes you an absolute DPS machine. It's a tough thing to decide, as Heaven's Halberd is an incredibly strong item, but whether it's worth it I'll have to test out.

Rejected

 Just no.

Gameplay

Early Game (Levels 1 - 11)

First off, choose your lane. Are you going to solo, or are you going to be in a dual/trilane? Will you need to get a BKB first, or a Manta, or an Ethereal Blade? Will you have an easy time farming, or will you need to mass HP? All of these are important questions that you must ask yourself before you leave your base. 

In the case of soloing, suss out your opponent. Figure out what kind of hero they're playing, how good they are, and how much regen they're packing. Do they have a superior laner, like Tinker or Lion? Are they a competent player? Are they last hitting and harassing well? Do they have lots of regeneration, or do you stand a chance at trading hits? Once you have these questions answered, adjust your playing stance. If you can trade hits and win from it, play aggressive. If you can't, focus on last hitting and denying, and staying out of harms way.

Also take note of Lucent Beam's range. It's utterly ridiculous. To give you an idea, this is the max range of Lucent Beam:

If you're in a dual/trilane, determine whether your lane is stronger than your opponents. Do they have a trilane or are you against a solo hero? If your lane is indeed stronger, play aggressive. Farm as much as you can, if you can grab a kill or keep an ally alive without endangering yourself, do so. These are once again questions you must ask yourself and adjust accordingly. If your lane is weaker, play defensively. A quote from Pirates of the Carribean is a perfect idea for what you should do.

Take what you can, give nothing back.

Mid Game (Levels 11 - 16)

During mid game, you have an amazing blend of mobility and DPS, both physical and magical. At this stage, you can gank extremely successfully, and farm quite well. Your ability to push, teamfight and gank is near unmatched, provided you had a decent early game. However, you're still squishier than many other heroes, and are a high priority for the enemy team. Play smart, farm when you can, gank when you can, push when you can. And make sure you have your ultimate ready for most, if not all teamfights. 

By this stage you should at the very least have your core and be well on your way to your first extension. Once you've completed it, be it any of the three mentioned, you will become an actual carry, and thus begin to overwhelm the opponent.

Make sure you use this time to make your impact, what you do now ultimately effects your end game prowess.

Late Game

Time for you to really start carrying.

If you've done well in early and mid game, you are now a DPS machine. You have immense mobility, decent HP, and you still have a powerful magical and physical arsenal at your disposal. Your physical damage has overtaken your magical damage at this point, but don't underestimate Eclipse. It will still do obscene amounts of damage if you use it at the right time. Teamfights are all the rage now, and that's just what you want. Try to fight at enemy towers, that way your Glaives will bounce on to the tower with some good positioning, chipping away at them. Remember to try and hit as many enemy heroes as you can with your Glaives, Eblade the opposing carry, make sure you Eclipse in every teamfight you can. Most of the carries in today's metagame can't stand toe to toe with you particularly successfully, not to mention you should have farmed up quite a bit more than them.

Make sure to be mindful of Roshan, and of if you can or need to buyback. Buybacks change games when used right.

Tips and Tricks

Animation Canceling

Animation cancelling is a technique used to maximise the amount of hits you can get on your opponent. All heroes can benefit from it, Luna more than most. Because of Luna's high MS, she can abuse this technique. Mormally the time between attacks is spent standing still. However, by animation canceling, we utilise Luna's high MS by moving after each attack, closing the distance between us and our prey. Proper application of this trick is what separates the good players from the average ones, as many kills can be gained or lost purely from this technique or lack thereof. Not to mention in lane skirmishes where each side trades hits, it can give you a distinct upper hand if they begin to run. 

Total Eclipses

Eclipse is a fairly straightforward skill, however the application of it can be amplified or diminished based on the use of it. If you can help it, don't eclipse near creeps, as it hits random enemies and doesn't differentiate between creeps, heroes and neutrals. 

As such, trying to catch small bands of heroes alone (1 - 3) is the most prudent way to maximise the effectiveness of Eclipse.

How to Moon Glaive

Moon Glaives are easy to farm with, but a tad trickier to use in a teamfight. As the range of the bounces, while acceptable, is by no means stellar, proper positioning is quintessential to maximising your DPS output. As such, you should focus on staying out of harms way as best you can, while being in a position capable of bouncing your Glaives onto as many of your foes as you can. Remember that the range is 500, which is pretty good.

Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com