Luna : The Basics

Introduction

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be a pro guide, or written by a pro, but more intended for new Luna players or pub games.

Hello and welcome to Tenbrion's guide on how to play Luna. Luna is a hard carry with suprisingly strong nukes and passive abilities. There are many different playstyles to Luna, but in this guide we'll focus on farming like a classic carry. Mmkay? Mmkay.

I don't claim to be an awesome Luna player at all, but with sufficient farm, you'll be racking up kills like a pro. (Hopefully.) So, how do we play Luna? Well, first, let's look at her :

Pros / Cons

PROS:

Strong late-game carry
Manta Style illusions do massive damage with bounced glyphs
Powerful nukes
Damage aura
Strong ganker early-game
Fastest base movement speed of any hero

CONS:

Item dependent
Short stun on her nuke
Needs HP in order to not get focused down when ulting
No escape mechanism

Skills

Lucent Beam
Luna channels a concentrated beam of lunar energy at an enemy, stunning and dealing damage.
Range: 800
Stun duration: 0.6
Damage: 75/150/225/300
Cooldown 6 Mana 90/100/110/120

A powerful nuke when fully leveled, couple with a low mana cost means you can use it either to poke and whittle away at enemy health, to stun an enemy during a chase, or to pick off low-health enemies.

moon glaiveMoon Glaive
Allows Luna's glaive to bounce to enemy units near the attacked unit. Each bounce deals less damage.
Bounces: 1/2/3/4
Radius: 500
Damage reduction per bounce: 30%

This skill is what makes Luna great, in my opinion. You can farm a creepwave in seconds in the lategame, you can hit fleeing heroes by hitting a nearby tower/creep, the possibilities are endless. (Not really, but there are a lot.) The best thing about this skill, and the reason Manta is core, is because the illusion's glaives bounce too. By this method, I've killed enemy heroes by popping a Manta next to their tower and going to town on the tower, killing the hero in the process.

Lunar Blessing
Grants bonus damage to nearby allies, while blessing Luna with extra night vision.
Bonus damage: 14/20/26/32
Radius: 900
Night vision: 1800

This aura is substandard in my opinion, when compared to percentage auras like Vengeance Aura or Vampiric Aura. However, the aura can still be an excellent ganking tool due to the night vision bonus, allowing for unexpected rushes out of the fog. Fun for the enemy team.

Eclipse
Calls an eclipse that follows Luna, striking units with her current level of Lucent Beam. A single target can only be hit a maximum times. Unlike individual Lucent Beams, Eclipse does not stun. Eclipse turns day into night for 10 seconds.
Radius: 675
Lucent Beams summoned: 4/7/10 (4/8/12*)
Duration: 1.8/3.6/5.4 (1.8/4.2/6.6*)
Strike interval: 0.6
Maximum hits per target: 4 (6*)
Cooldown 160/150/140 Mana 150/200/250
*Stats with Aghanim's Scepter

This ult is just beyond words. The damage you can do to a single target or to an enemy team with both Lucent Beam and Eclipse maxed is a whopping 1200 max per unit, or with aghanim's, a whopping 1800! That will halve the hp of all but the tankiest heroes, and outright kill the squishier ones. It also adds the nice perk of turning day into night, giving you increased vision but blinding your enemies.

Items

So this is where I justify my item choices, right? Right.

Early Game

Alright, so right out the gate we're going to want to grab a Tango, Healing Salve, and three-four Iron Branches. The tango and salve are obviously for healing when you are harassed, and the branches are to provide some last-hitting power, and will be later turned into a Magic Wand. During this stage of the game, you basically want to hunker down and farm as much as possible, getting your early game items. Only go for a kill if it is a inevitability, if not stay back and farm, maybe throwing in a nuke or a few rightclicks.

Mid Game

By now you should have your complete early game items, and have your Power Treads done. After this is finished, work on getting your Helm of the Dominator done, and possibly doing a bit of creepstacking to grab your Yasha. By now you should be contributing to every teamfight, popping your ult either out of the gate or when the enemy team is fairly low-health. If need be, you can use it to burst down a particularly tanky hero. Try to push the creeps forward a bit, take a few towers to put more gold towards your Manta Style and the game closer to your team's victory.

Late Game

Get your Manta Style. This is the most important part of being a successful Luna during the late game. The pushing power and damage you recieve from it is phenomenal, and the harassment from all the bouncing glaives should keep melee heroes away, for as long as your illusions last. You should be popping your ultimate in every teamfight, and tearing the face of your enemies with your Manta. If needed, buy some situationals. If not, save your money for buybacks, and enjoy your GG.

Situational Items

As the heading says, all of these items are situational and listed for the various situations one can fine themselves in during a game of Dota 2.

If you:

are getting burst down by nukes- Black King Bar
want insane lifesteal- Satanic
need an escape mechanism- Shadow Blade
are getting harassed out of lane early game- Urn of Shadows
are getting hit by spells, but not burst down immediately- Hood of Defiance
want insane hitpoints and regen- Heart of Tarrasque
want to be baller- Aegis of the Immortal
want some criticals- Daedalus
are tearing it up with your ultimate- Aghanim's Scepter

Friends and Foes

Friends:

Anyone with major stuns, such as Earthshaker, skeleton king, etc.
Powerful auras, such as Vengeful Spirit's , skeleton king's, or Rubick's.
Babysitters, like Dazzle or guardian wisp.
Possibly Pugna, because he amplifies magical damage.
Spirit Breaker, because he makes Luna go zoom-zoom.


Foes:

Burst damage. Notable heroes would include Lina, Zeus, and Storm Spirit
Anyone with invisibility, since your ult does not affect them.
Phantom Lancer, because his douchebag illusions absorb your ult.
Major disable, such as Shadow Shaman, windrunner, or Faceless Void.
HARDER CARRIES. Luna is in no way the hardest carry in the game, and will be outclassed fairly easily.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my guide for Luna. She is a strong carry and a strong nuker, and with the correct items she can dominate a game. Enjoy playing her with this build as much as I enjoyed writing it. ;)

This is my first guide, so feel free to offer some criticism. I'm open to ideas/changes.