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Wraith Band
Tango
Bottle
Phase Boots
Ring of Aquila
Magic Wand
Manta Style
Maelstrom
Mjollnir
Butterfly
Boots of Travel 2
Manta Style
Mjollnir
Butterfly
Satanic
Monkey King Bar
Desolator
Diffusal Blade
Eye of Skadi
Drum of Endurance
Linken's Sphere
Black King Bar
Daedalus
Divine Rapier
Power Treads
Sange and Yasha
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2 | 3 | 7 | 8 |  |
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1 | 5 | 9 | 10 |  |
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4 | 12 | 13 | 14 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
Hi, thanks for taking a look at this build. I wrote this guide before the new Aghanim's Sceptre update for Mirana. As such, the way I play Mirana is different to how it is described below.
If you read on you will see how to build Mirana if you go for DPS, which I still enjoy doing a great deal, but I do less often now because the new Mirana Aghs is disgustingly overpowered. As such, I barely ever build Mirana as described in the roaming utility build, which is still perfectly valid, since even when roaming I rush the Aghs and go 
Boots of Travel and Linken's Sphere from there, finishing up with a Dagon or [Ethereal Blade]] or both with a possible 
Octarine Core to finish.
My skill build when going down the Aghs build is also different; I still max Starstorm, but max Leap instead of Sacred Arrow next.
I may write a new guide for the new way of playing Mirana since it requires more than just a couple of small edits to this guide, but I still recommending playing Mirana as described below if you do not wish to play the nuke build. I think either build is valid, but the nuke build does seem very very strong at the moment.
Welcome to my guide for playing Mirana, Princess of the Moon, a hugely versatile hero, and the best hero in Dota 2!
Mirana is personally my favourite, and probably my best, hero to play in Dota 2. I started playing her when I first got in to Dota and it is my most picked hero. I most like to play Mirana in the mid-lane where I think she is highly underrated, although this tends to be taken a lot these days by your more typical heroes like 
Storm Spirit, 
Queen of Pain, 
Ember Spirit and 
Templar Assassin, for example. As a result, I find myself playing her quite a lot in the offlane, both solo, as the farmer, or the support in a dual lane, where I still think Mirana is strong. Of course, Mirana makes a very good roamer and ganker in all lanes, and can help your mid have a much easier time.
You will see many guides suggesting Mirana as a hard carry - I disagree with this. I don't agree with people who say Mirana makes for a weak carry - I often find myself dealing huge amounts of damage late game, killing heroes like Medusas and Spectres all over the place, but I do think that she is a poor choice for your safelane, because, to be honest, she just doesn't need it, she can do so much more not permanently stuck in lane, and so many heroes benefit much more from having safelane farm.
This guide aims to discuss the two main ways of playing Mirana in my opinion, the role of a semi-carry, position 2 (maybe position 3), my preferred play style, and the role of semi support, (maybe position 3) but usually a position 4.
Be prepared to play Mirana as a hard support. There are, in many people's opinion, more favourable midders, carries and offlaners, so don't be surprised if you have to be your team's hard support. Mirana CAN take safelane farm, but as I said, only do it if you have no other viable option for carry - it isn't recommended.
Mirana has most potential, in my opinion, as a position 2 or position 3, midder or offline/ganker. Don't pick her if you wanna play hard carry, that's pretty unlikely anyway, if you're playing hard carry you've most likely picked Ebolancer, I mean Cancer Lancer, or Magina haven't you, you disgusting hero picker!
It is very unlikely that you will play Mirana as carry in 6.84, but if you do, make sure you are getting last hits, proceed to build late game items after a farming item like Maelstrom, or even a 
Hand of Midas. Be sure to join in big team fights, however, and be ready to leave the lane when you are needed. Don't forget how strong Mirana is early, and don't squander that potential by playing Mirana like you would 
Medusa.
Mirana can be an amazing mid hero if you know what you're doing. She can win match ups against pretty much any mid hero, as she as great early killing potential, and if she gets the upper end, you might as well surrender mid lane to her since Mirana is hard to come back against. A 
Huskar, 
Silencer or Queen of Pain might cause you some problems, but you can usually stand your ground.
If mid lane is unavailable, you can offline quite happily, offline is her most popular position at the moment, and can cause a lot of problems for the enemy safelane, killing supports and maybe the carry if you get some early levels and have a good duel lane partner who can fight early, especially good are things like 
Crystal Maiden, 
Bane is the classic combo partner, 
Tusk, 
Lina and 
Spirit Breaker. After a while, you can move away from your lane and start ganking and killing elsewhere, such as slowing down the farm of any enemy junglers, and help your midder by setting up kills with a good arrow.
Of course you may just wanna roam from the start. My advice is that if you are not having much fun or farm in lane, and are not levelling quickly, give up all farming rights and just roam and go for arrows. Change your build - instead of going carry items go for support, ganker and utility items.
Be prepared to play as a support. Mirana is a versatile hero, and therefore you should be willing to change your role in the team depending on how the game progresses.
Here we go with some standard pros and cons that you should know when you pick Mirana.
Pros.
1. Very versatile hero, works in many roles.
2. Is a very good support killer, and can kill anyone she wants really for a long period of the game.
3. Incredibly good stun, one of the best in the game.
4. Has a great escape/initiation spell.
5. Nice farming mechanism with Starstorm, which is also a pretty hefty nuke.
6. Great ult for getting in place for teamfights and for escapes.
7. Doesn't really need items to be strong, but with items will destroy people.
8. Strong at all points in the game.
Cons.
1. People like to moan about her, admittedly, pretty pathetic starting damage.
2. She is squishy, you should be able to play around this, however, and learn your limits.
3. Not fun being silenced and permastunned and bashed as Mirana, play carefully against Silencer and Spirit Breaker.
4. Fairly bad starting mana and does suffer a bit from high mana cost spells.
5. Can struggle against illusion based heroes
6. Not the strongest hero in the game at the moment.
7. Shouldn't really be able to carry against your typical hard carries like 
Chaos Knight, 
Tiny, 
Faceless Void, her ally/arch-enemy 
Luna, Medusa and 
Naga Siren who have similar farm.
8. Takes some practice, skill and good game knowledge to play well; not as hard as 
Meepo or 
Earth Spirit, of course, but still has a pretty high skill cap and a noob Mirana is worse than useless.
Starstorm Q
Mirana brings down stars to hit all enemies within 625 range for 300 damage, and hits the closest target within 325 range for another nuke.
- Starfall can deal a huge amount of single target nuke damage if you can land the second starfall. Getting kills early will often rely on you landing the second starfall, but if you can manage it, you can kill most heroes in the game early to mid game.
- Great for farming lane and killing creep waves, though the mana cost is quite high so be sparing when using it early on.
- The damage increases a lot as you level it, and it is the spell I recommend you max out first, though if you are landing a lot of arrows and other heroes on your team are the ones doing the damage once the target is stunned then you may want to level arrow up more first.
- Can deal a lot of damage in teamfights if you get in amongst the enemy, but be careful when doing this as Mirana is quite fragile, and you may suddenly regret being surrounded by 5 enemy heroes.
Sacred Arrow W
Mirana's iconic spell. She fires a massive arrow at up to 3000 range that at long distances deals 420 damage and stuns for a huge 5 seconds.
- How good you are as a Mirana is shown how good your arrows are.
- Hitting an arrow at early rune fights is often a guaranteed first blood for your team. On radiant, I like to go top rune and shoot the arrow from by the ancient camp, or by the secret shop, and on dire, I tend to go bot rune and stand roughly in-between the secret shop and the ancients.
- An amazing arrow can often be the way your team can take a teamfight, an arrow on a key target for 5 seconds can win you the fight and you can often get chains of pick offs because you hit an arrow.
- Remember to scout the Rosh pit with arrow, an arrow plus ult is a great way of moving in for a fight in the rosh pit.
Leap E
Mirana leaps in and out of danger, giving allies a fairly decent movement and attack speed bonus, and disjointing projectiles.
- Your main combo with Mirana, not something you have to stick to, but a rough guide, is to land an arrow, leap in and land basically on top of the stunned target, and hit a double Starstorm on the target. This should be enough to kill most people early, but a lot of the skill with Mirana is knowing when you have enough damage to get the kill - leaving them with just a small amount of health could lead to them turning the engagement around and killing you with the help of a rotating support.
- Leap is also great for dodging stuns and projectiles. Be patient when using leap, and time it so you get the maximum effect and efficiency when using it.
- Leap will allow you to escape from most heroes since the leap distance and the bonus movement speed will be enough to get you away from most heroes. However, to heroes like Storm Spirit and 
Bloodseeker, jumping a short distance and running a little bit faster is nothing and they can kill you quite happily anyway, so don't let yourself get caught out.
Moonlight Shadow R
Mirana causes her, and her allies, to go invisble for 15 seconds. While under the effect of moonlight shadow heroes can use spells and attack and fade back into the shadows after a short fade time.
- This ult can be amazing to help your team to start a favourable teamfight, and a massive help to heroes like 
Magnus and 
Enigma for hitting big ults themselves.
- This spell can be used to help allies escape, but PLEASE don't waste it trying to save a Crystal Maiden who has 50hp.
- Be aware that Moonlight Shadow has a fairly long fade time, so make a decision early when you or a friend are being ganked whether you are going to use it or not, and stick with that decision.
- PLEASE don't use it when allies are visible to the enemy. If the enemy see that you have ulted they will back right off and can counter initiate against you and ruin your day.
- Be wary of wards and remember that as an escape tool it is easily countered by some 
Dust of Appearance.
If you're reading this guide, it may well be because you are struggling to hit arrows or want some help doing it. Here are some of my tips to hitting arrows:
1. First of all, DO NOT BE TOO HARD ON YOURSELF IF YOU MISS AN ARROW.
- Sacred Arrow is a SKILL-SHOT. It is not supposed to be an easy spell to land. If hitting a 5 second stun was easy everytime then Mirana would be stupidly overpowered. You are bound to hit and to miss arrows. Don't let that sarcastic 'Well-Played!' RUSSIAN SPAMMER get to you. Just say your arrow was meant for 'Zoning purposes'. You need to stay relaxed and calm while playing Mirana, so if you miss an arrow, think about where you should have shot it, and then simply MOVE ON and hit the next one.
2. Secondly, wait to shoot arrow until you are sure to hit it if needed. Wait until the enemy is in a position where they cannot possibly dodge it, even if they do see it coming.
- A good example of this are places like the path leading North-West from the Radiant secret-shop. When playing Mirana you should have good map-awareness and BE PATIENT, wait until the perfect time to use Sacred Arrow. DO NOT LET THE RUSSIAN PING SPAMMER PUT YOU OFF!!!!!
= If you have a hero that you can combo stun/disable with, let them use their spell first, your spell is harder to land, make life easier for yourself.
3. BE UNEXPECTED.
- When ganking mid lane and other places early on in the game, try to shoot arrows from behind and other unexpected positions. If you are Dire ganking Radiant Mid there are so many good positions to shoot arrows from side-on and from behind at their midder that will make it much harder for them to dodge, such as by the radiant ancient camp and by the neutral camp closest to the lane. For Radiant, the high ground just North-West of lane is a good place to shoot arrows from, as is the spot by the Dire Secret-Shop. Use 
Smoke of Deceit to get into position if you need to.
4. YOU SHOULD BE AMBITIOUS!
- I know it's easy to say, hard to do, but you should be ambitious when trying to hit arrows. The enemy is always gonna dodge those arrows that they can see coming from miles away. You're an idiot if you get hit by a face-on arrow, but getting hit by a 5 second arrow outta nowhere is the kind of thing you commend the enemy Mirana for.
- Do you really think Singsing is somehow naturally a genius at playing Mirana and is more likely to hit arrows than you are? Of course he is a damn good POTM player, but he hits amazing arrows because he takes a chance. Have a smart guess at where the enemy might be if shooting blind and shoot. Sacred Arrow doesn't have a high cooldown or particularly high mana-cost, so just take a punt every now and then.
- You aren't gonna hit MIRACLE level arrows or DENDI level 
Meat Hooks unless you try.
5. Mirana is much easier to play if you play with friends.
- As often as I do stomp when playing Mirana solo, I have had A LOT of practice and Mirana is my best hero. Playing in a party and communicating with your team over voice chat improves your team co-ordination hugely and means you can land arrows and combos reliably.
I DON'T THINK MIRANA WAS PICKED ONCE DURING TI-5!
THIS IS BECAUSE AS GOOD AS ARROW IS WHEN IT LANDS, IT IS UNRELIABLE. IF YOU CAN PLAY MIRANA AND HIT ARROWS YOU ARE A MASSIVE ASSET TO YOUR TEAM. YOU CAN INCREASE MMR AND WIN HARD GAMES AGAINST IMBA AND OP HEROES IF YOU ARE A GOOD MIRANA.
I DON'T EVEN CARE WHEN THE ENEMY PICKS BLOODSEEKER, LESHRAC, STORM, PHANTOM LANCER AND LINA BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN BEAT THEM ALL ON MY MIRANA.
Items for the Right-Clicky, Importantish, Carry, Midder, Whatever Mirana Build.
Starting Off.
-Nice and simple, get a Wraith Band and some Tangos. You shouldn't need a salve or whatever with an early bottle.
Early Game.
-Get a Bottle to get you going. You should be competing for runes and you will need the regen since your spells are high mana cost.
- Phase Boots is the way to go. I don't care what you saw some bloke get on YouTube, or what Watchamagama or that tosser ***** build, or if you think you are some kind of tread-switching god, it's easy, just get Phase Boots. Singsing gets phase boots, Miracle gets phase boots, trust me, get phase boots.
- Ring of Aquila is just a thing you do. Get an aquila - nice mana regen, maybe unnecessary if you have a KotL who keeps giving you mana but it's not exactly expensive is it.
Progressing into Mid Game.
- Drum of Endurance is a pretty solid choice for an early fighting hero like Mirana, although a lot of the time I skip it and choose not to bother with it, I probably should get it, but meh, it's only Drums, not exactly game-changing mate.
-
Yasha is a must. Get it every game. Get it just after you finish your cheep early game items. It gives some nice damage, attack speed and movement speed and you will build it into a Manta Style later.
-Note: Lots of people get a Sange and Yasha on Mirana, which I really don't like. Yeah, it's not that much more to chuck in a 
Sange but I just don't see the point, Mirana, despite being a squishy hero, isn't one that needs to build strength items until later since if you are playing her well she shouldn't be taking that much damage anyway. You're welcome to get one if you want to but it is something I would never ever, EVER buy on Mirana. It's as disgusting as getting power treads on her, don't be that guy. There is ALWAYS a better choice.
-A Maelstrom is a popular pick up on Mirana. It works well to give you some damage and attack speed and the lightning procs help for farming a lot. Get it if you feel you wanna farm for a while, or desperately need some right click ability. Also get it against illusion based heroes, and get it defensively to help push lanes out. I usually get a Maelstrom, but I'm not really in a big hurry to get one. Instead of a Maelstrom at this stage you might wanna get a:
- Desolator. Mirana is a pretty good desolator carrier, and if you have won mid or are slaying them a lot and wanna push towers and end early a desolator is a better choice than a maelstrom. The armour reduction scales into late game and the recipe price drop is a great reason to pick one up. Make sure no-one else in your team has one or is going one first though.
Moving into Late Game - Luxury Items
Manta Style
- Manta Style is a must for Mirana. It's like getting 
Battle Fury on 
Anti-Mage or 
Blink Dagger on 
Puck. You just do it. You build it from your Yasha and it gives nice stats, some illusions, and a way to dispel silences and other nasty debuffs. I usually get it after Yasha and one other middish game item. I also quite like how Mirana says 'Manta Style' when you buy it.
Mjollnir
- There will rarely be a game I play as Mirana that goes late when I don't get a Mjollnir. It gives amazing attack speed and damage increase, and a great way to spread your increasing DPS over multiple units. You can farm quick with it and it is a MUST if you find yourself behind or defending with a lane or two lanes of rax down.
Butterfly
- Butterfly is one of the last items you will get as Mirana. It is a great items for any agility carry and works great on Mirana. It really turns you into a proper carry. If their carry has a Monkey King Bar, then I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait til next game to get one. I gotta say a butterfly looks badass in your items slots.
Eye of Skadi
- Eye of Skadi is an item I never used to get when playing Mirana, but that was back when you would only really buy it on Slark. In 6.84 in particular you see loads of different heroes getting it, and it works great on Mirana as well. I often go for one after a Manta and Maelstrom instead of a Butterfly.
Monkey King Bar
- Something I have done in a few games of Mirana that has worked well is to rush a Monkey King Bar straight after a Yasha, even before a Maelstrom or Desolator. It gives you a hefty load of damage, and the no-miss effect is, of course, perfect for dealing with enemy evasion carries. It is also a top pick up against those tryhard supports and offlaners these days building 
Solar Crest. Also, it's orange and looks cool in your inventory.
Satanic
- You most likely won't play for long enough to get a Satanic, but if the game lasts that long and you are carrying hard, you should pick one up for the lifesteal and for the god-mode.
Special Considerations/Situational
Linken's Sphere
- Sometimes, it may be a good idea to rush a Linken's Sphere after early game items and a Yasha. You have to pick and choose the times to buy it, however. If they don't have cheap way of breaking it and they have a Lina, Bloodseeker, 
Doom (hahaha - who even picks Doom these days) etc.... then it is a great item to get to block annoying @%&$ like 
Laguna Blade and 
Rupture. However, don't be an idiot and get it when they have a 
Phantom Assassin or something like a 
Bristleback who can just snot on you (
Viscous Nasal Goo) or chuck a 
Stifling Dagger.
Diffusal Blade
- I think there was a time when you would always get a diffusal blade on Mirana, and I think it is still certainly viable. It is a great way to slow down high movement speed heroes and burn away the mana of heroes like Storm Spirit and 
Leshrac. As was pointed out to me, Diffusal is actually a lot better than I previously thought. Get it instead of, or alongside a Yasha, but be wary of making yourself a bit of a glass cannon if you get both. The slow is a great way to land mid-range arrows, and can be used after the leap-starfall combo to stop them getting away so you can right click them some more to get the kill. The purge is also great for dispelling various things, like 
Track, and is a good choice to use offensively against 
Omniknight and 
Warlock. I would strongly recommend at least considering getting a Diffusal Blade, think about what heroes the enemy has, and if you do plan to get a Diffusal, you may want to consider the dreaded Power Treads over Phase Boots, god I can't believe I just said that, so you have more strength when you need it. If you feel your movement speed is a bit slow then you can build Drums or go back for a Manta afterwards.
Black King Bar
- I must admit, it has been a very, very long time since I bought a BKB on Mirana. As Mirana, the enemy usually has a bigger fish to deal with, and the way Mirana bounces in and out of fights, blowing people up and disappearing, it just really doesn't feel like I need to get one. If you find yourself taking a lot of damage from magic, however, or getting continually disabled, then of course, get one.
Daedalus
- I suppose Daedalus is a great way to increase your DPS, but it's not something I usually do. I will have to try it some more and see if it is a good choice.
Mask of Madness
- Mirana works on the principle of trying to blow up their heroes before they can hurt you, so Mask of Madness is an obvious choice of item. I often pick a cheap MoM later when I start feeling the need to lifesteal, and when my team is desperately trying to defend against a lot of creeps. Mask of Madness is to be bought as you move into the late game, if you need to defend against lots of creeps, or can afford to take the extra damage penalty. Do not always get one. Often should get a 
Helm of the Dominator instead. Don't take mask of madness that seriously, but it can be handy in a sticky situation.
Divine Rapier!!!!!!!!!!!
- If the game goes on for long enough and you have basically finished your build, Mirana is an excellent rapier carrier. Admittedly she isn't 
Weaver, 
Kunkka or Medusa, but she can still carry a Divine quite well and keep hold of one for quite a while. You always will have Leap to get away if you need to, and to go in for kills.
Items for not-so-much-right-clicky-more-supporty-utility-position-4-ish Mirana
- 
Arcane Boots should be bought if you're not core Mirana. They are a good way to keep yourself and allies topped up on mana, and are especially good due to the high mana cost of your spells.
- 
Urn of Shadows is good for a roaming Mirana, giving a modest strength boost and some nice mana regen. You should always have charges since you should be ganking and involved in lots of kills.
- 
Medallion of Courage is a fantastic item to get on a support Mirana. You will be setting up kills for you midders, offlaners and carries, and casting valor on them helps out massively in getting kills and protecting them from physical damage. If the enemy team relies upon physical damage then you should definitely consider getting a medallion, even when playing core Mirana. Medallion of course can be upgraded into a Solar Crest, a great item for all you tryhard supports out there.
Force Staff
- Force staff is always a strong item, great for extra mobility and for saving allies from sticky situations. If the enemy team has a 
Riki, or some other kind of hero that keeps you in place and silences you, then force staff is great for saving you from spells like 
Smoke Screen.
Glimmer Cape
- Glimmer Cape is downright IMBA at the moment, if the enemy has high magic damage or a 
Necrophos, then pick a glimmer cape for a small amount of gold.
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
- is a good item for a support Mirana. It gives a good way for you or allies to set up stuns and ganks, a handy way to purge silences and other nasty stuff, gives good movement speed, and means you never have to worry about mana issues again.
Orchid Malevolence and 
Scythe of Vyse
- Orchid and Hex are good choices in case the enemy has heroes that rely on crucial spells at certain times, or have annoying, stupid, heroes like Storm Spirit that you could really benefit from having some kind of disable to deal with them. Orchid is a great choice earlier on, giving you some level of damage while solving your mana issues, and Scythe of Vyse is a better version for late game that can use not just against Storms but also against agility carries, and generally any hero who is much less harmful when hexed up.
Assault Cuirass
- AC is your very late game and luxury item as a support Mirana. I used to consider it for core Mirana, but recently I choose to get other items that I feel are better for a core Mirana, and save Assault Cuirass for when I play other heroes like Phantom Assassin and Luna. If you have committed to helping out your teammates, then Assault Cuirass if the way to finish this build because of the extra attack speed allies will gain, and the armour effects it gives. It also gives Mirana the ability to help out damage wise later on.
When playing this kind of Mirana, you should be ready to consider lots of different items based upon the particular game you are playing. As well as building a selection of the items listed above, remember to help out with 
Observer and Sentry Wards, Smoke of Deceit and Dust of Appearance when necessary.
Vladmir's Offering
- Get one of these to give your team some lifesteal aura. Good for when you have carries like Anti-Mage. Build one late, maybe at the time they sell theirs.
Mirana is very versatile and strong without having to rely on other heroes to make her effective; however, these are some of the heroes she works well with - please note this list is not exhaustive.
Friends
- Luna (if purely for Lore reasons)
- Bane
- Crystal Maiden
- Naga Siren
- 
Axe
- 
Oracle
- Magnus
- Enigma
- 
Venomancer
- 
Shadow Demon
This list is made up of heroes that make landing arrows much more reliable, and those heroes who can land amazing ultimates like 
Reverse Polarity and 
Black Hole off the back of Moonlight Shadow. Obviously there are other heroes that Mirana combos well with that I just didn't think of when writing this list.
Foes
- Spirit Breaker
- Silencer
- Riki
- 
Bounty Hunter
- 
Zeus
- 
Phantom Lancer
- Bloodseeker
- 
Broodmother
This list gives examples of heroes that can make life difficult for Mirana. Some of these heroes are good at killing Mirana like Riki and Bloodseeker and some others limit the effectiveness of your ultimate, like Zeus and Bounty Hunter. You will have to play well and smart to beat these heroes.
I hope you read at least some of this guide and feel like you understand how to play Mirana better. Mirana is a very fun hero to play and is well worth the effort it takes to get good at her, and if you haven't already you should definitely give it a try.
This guide is new, and is coincidentally my first guide on this site, so please do leave feedback in the comments section.
If you have any questions about any items or anything else in this guide, or if you play Mirana differently please let me know in the comments.
PLEASE DON'T DOWN RATE WITHOUT AT LEAST TELLING ME WHY!!!!
Thanks for reading, and happy hunting.
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