Luna Moonfang is a stalwart and devout follower of the Moon Goddess, Elune. She fights alongside the Sentinel in the never-ending battle to cleanse the land of the unholy Scourge. Through her valiant efforts, she has been granted small portions of Elune's mystical power. Luna uses this gift to cut a swath through her enemies. It has been said that Luna is able to call down the very light of the moon, and is always surrounded by a glowing aura, as though in moonlight herself. Luna is a shining beacon for the Sentinel, an ever vigilant protector.
Strength 15+1.9
Agility 22+2.8
Intelligence 16+1.85
You can find Luna in this tavern:
Agility 22+2.8
Intelligence 16+1.85
You can find Luna in this tavern:
Detailed stats can be viewed here.
Hero Introduction
Luna Moonfang may look and feel soft and tender, but she can deal great amounts of damage to both single and multiple foes. Her Lucent Beams inflict ample damage from high range early on, and her ultimate Eclipse fires multiple beams rapidly at random targets around her, making quick work of isolated opponents. Her glaive attacks passively bounce from one target to the next, allowing her to deal damage to a number of units, and can become extremely powerful if enough damage is acquired. She passively empowers herself and nearby allies with a Lucent Blessing, which amplifies fixed amount of damage as well as granting herself further sight at night. The Moonrider needs to be kept down, and to bring her down one must approach with caution, precision or backup.
She's a dominant carry in competitive games before 6.60. Eclipse and Moon Glaives are nerfed now, but she is still a powerful hero in terms of dps dealing. Lunar Blessing has received what I'd call a buff as of 6.67c. Luna also gains slight buffs to her Eclipse and Lunar Blessing in 6.68. The Moon Rider has Agility as her primary, somewhat okay Intelligence growth and a weak Strength. That pretty much tells that she is a dps hero that uses spells in combat, and need items to be effective late game. She mainly deals dps with spells early game, and heavy dps late game when combined with her physical attacks.
Quote:
| 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. Notes * Damage type: magical * Posseses a mini-stun, allowing it to effectively interrupt the target. |
Quote:
| Moon Glaive Allows Luna to attack extra enemies with each Glaive attack. Each enemy struck beyond the first incurs a 35% damage loss, per unit. Notes * Luna's Attack does not function if she tries to attack a unit with any of the following: Maelstrom , Mjollnir , Sange , Sange & Yasha and Stygian Desolator. * Moon Glaives take precedence over the following: Feedback (Diffusal Blade), Orb of Venom, and Cold Attack (Eye of Skadi). |
Quote:
| Lunar Blessing Provides all nearby allied heroes with constant bonus damage as well as extra night vision for your hero. Notes * Aura bonuses consider only unit base damage + primary attribute increases (not raw damage items). |
Quote:
| Eclipse Calls on the moon's magic, summoning a multiple Lucent Beams to damage targets around Luna. Damage is based on the level of Lucent Beam. Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter. Notes * Damage type: magical * Targeting range: 700 AOE * Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter. * 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. * (6.68) Turns day into night for 10 seconds. |
Quote:
| "Unlike most carries, however, she has two skills that allow her to control a lane, gank, and even defend herself against ganks. She's a carry hero who has skills to help her when she's at her most vulnerable: earlygame. You're not a hinderance in a lane, because you can actually help control it with a Lucent Beam here and there. If someone attempts to gank you, Eclipse can very well turn the tides on them. Luna has the best of both worlds; the potential to carry lategame, with some caster potential early to offset the carry niche's usual weakness." - Killer Draco |
1 Lunar Blessing
2 Lucent Beam
3 Lunar Blessing
4 Lucent Beam
5 Lucent Beam
6 Eclipse
7 Lucent Beam
8-9 Lunar Blessing
10 Moon Glaive
11 Eclipse
12-14 Moon Glaive
15 Stats
16 Eclipse
17-25 Stats
Skill Build Justification
Lucent Beam is maxed early for a few reasons. Eclipse's damage is based on Lucent Beam's level, so you want Lucent Beam to be maxed asap so Eclipse can hit its full potential asap. It's also a 6 seconds cooldown single target nuke which deals 300 damage when maxed, has quite a long casting range and is the only reason for Luna to put her mana to use other than Eclipse. As a bonus, it has a mini-stun that comes in handy against tp users and channelers. Level Eclipse asap because it's the only reason enemies are afraid of her. Eclipse can sometimes turn a 1v2 battle to a double kill for Luna, if timed right. You should also know that when Luna is only level 6, Eclipse can already dish up to 900 magic damage on a single target. That's a whopping 675 damage after heroes' natural magic resistance and it's almost always a guaranteed kill whenever a lone hero is caught off-guard with Luna. If he isn't dead, cast that single Lucent Beam already.
Now that Lunar Blessing's reworked, it's more worthy of early levels for it's constant damage bonus. Likewise, constant damage bonus scales poorer into late game, and hence should be taken advantage of early game. Maxing Lunar Blessing early right after Lucent Beam also allows Luna to benefit from the bonus night sight as early as during the first night. Enemies fall to Eclipse early game and having extra sight at night could really help Luna to position better for it. Also, Luna has no escape mechanisms and she can't afford deaths early game, so the extra sight will come in handy to spot incoming enemies at night and escape before they can see you.
Moon Glaive is maxed from level 10 onwards, it's the trademark ability that makes Luna farms a lot better and with the +24 damage from Lunar Blessing it's much better. Moon Glaive significantly increases her dps against multiple units, hence you should be cautious not to overuse it in lanes, unless you want to push the lane far ahead. If you use it to fight lane creeps, attempt only last hits. 'Neutral stacking' or 'jungle stacking' is a term referring to stacking multiple neutral creep spawns in their camps. This will be explained later.Remember to level up Eclipse whenever possible. Proceed with stats for the remaining levels.
Now that Lunar Blessing's reworked, it's more worthy of early levels for it's constant damage bonus. Likewise, constant damage bonus scales poorer into late game, and hence should be taken advantage of early game. Maxing Lunar Blessing early right after Lucent Beam also allows Luna to benefit from the bonus night sight as early as during the first night. Enemies fall to Eclipse early game and having extra sight at night could really help Luna to position better for it. Also, Luna has no escape mechanisms and she can't afford deaths early game, so the extra sight will come in handy to spot incoming enemies at night and escape before they can see you.
Moon Glaive is maxed from level 10 onwards, it's the trademark ability that makes Luna farms a lot better and with the +24 damage from Lunar Blessing it's much better. Moon Glaive significantly increases her dps against multiple units, hence you should be cautious not to overuse it in lanes, unless you want to push the lane far ahead. If you use it to fight lane creeps, attempt only last hits. 'Neutral stacking' or 'jungle stacking' is a term referring to stacking multiple neutral creep spawns in their camps. This will be explained later.Remember to level up Eclipse whenever possible. Proceed with stats for the remaining levels.
Startup
If nobody buys a courier, get one yourself. It will serve you well because you should always try to stay within grasp of gold and exp, and you are always one step ahead of the enemy who doesn't have one. Grab 2 branches, and spend the remaining gold on tangoes + clarities. Stats and health regen are basic needs while clarities will provide the necessary mana regen for you to use Lucent Beams. Share the chicken, and ask for a contribution to upgrade the chicken.
Why HotD?
For 1850 gold, Helm of the Dominator gives Luna a usable orb, which is lifesteal. Lifesteal helps to boost her field staying power so she doesn't need to go back to fountain. Going back to fountain means loss of precious time to farm for exp and gold. HotD also has the active skill Dominate which lets you to dominate a creep under your control. This can be used to Dominate a neutral creep to tank for you and it can also be used to assist you in creep stacking. In the buildup, you should always buy Helm of Iron Will before Mask of Death, because helm gives you +3hp regen and +5 armor, which is always better than 10% lifesteal where you don't attack often, as you mostly aim for last hits. As a bonus, HotD also provides 20 damage, which is always a good thing.
Why Power Treads?
Boots of Travel is good if you get easy games and lots of farm, otherwise just stick to Scroll for teleports or changing farming lanes because 2200 gold is not a small amount. 6.68 introduces the Arcane Boots, which is 50 gold cheaper than Power Treads, and solves most of low INT casters mana problems. Some players might prefer the benefit of having endless supply of mana to support Lucent Beams/Eclipse, but I personally prefer Power Treads more for the dps bonus, as Luna doesn't really have much of a mana problem to the extent of needing extra mana support.
Phase Boots on the other hand, gives +25 damage, but it's still not that useful. Seriously speaking, Power Treads is still better. Why? This is because Luna doesn't need the active ability Phase. She has one of the highest base ms of 330, and with the new Treads it's already 400. It's also 500 cheaper now, so you can get the stat bonuses earlier, either for survival, for Lucent spam or just for the +10 AGI. +10 AGI already gives +10 attack and +10 IAS (on top of the +20 IAS from the item itself) for Luna.Toggling from Str/Agi/Int will work for Luna in terms of surviving/attacking/spell-casting.
Why BKB?
Killing Luna in the shortest time possible is the only way to get rid of Eclipse, and the only way to do this is by using nukes. BKB's precious few seconds of magic immunity will let Luna unleash a total Eclipse without interference. You can already enjoy the HP boost as early as when you get its buildup part, Ogre Axe. BKB also further boosts her damage by 24. In lower level games where there are less co-ordinated fights, you can actually skip BKB and go straight for a Manta Style. The farming ability that Manta Style gives will skyrocket your gold compared to your enemies.
Scroll of Town Portal
Luna needs it, so remember to carry one at all times, it's cheap, it's worth it, and you'll never know when you'll need it.
Bracers
Bracers provide cheap Str and some stats. Get them if you have trouble surviving, or Wraith Bands for some stats and early dps. If you can rush a Belt of Giant Strength and Ogre Axe though, you can skip them as you wish.
Yasha
You get extensions if the game doesn't seem to be ending even after you've gotten your core items. If the game is difficult and farming is tough, you may consider getting Yasha. It boosts Luna's dps and gives a 10% increase in movespeed, which makes her have 418 ms, when equipped with Power Treads together. Speed helps to get her in position for a good Eclipse, and contributes in both chasing and escaping.
Manta Style
Manta Style is a cheap and good choice if you managed to get some kills and decent farm. It's a powerful item against single targeted spells since it gives you images to confuse enemies. The stats it gives are all very useful for Luna, boosts her dps and survivability at the same time. Its active skill Mirror Image further boosts her dps with illusions, which are excellent in pushes and combats. It can also be used to dispel some negative buffs off you. The best thing however, is that Moon Glaive works with illusions, which means more bouncing glaives, more dps to multiple enemies! Just remember that casting Eclipse/BKB with your illusions around will give away your identity, although in most cases enemies won't have enough time to retaliate against your combo.
Examples of total DPS boosting (rounded numbers)
Max Moon Glaive only
Base damage + stats = 100 damage
Total including Moon Glaive = 252 damage
Max Lunar Blessing only
Base damage + stats = 100 damage
Total including Lunar Blessing = 132 damage
Max Moon Glaive + Max Lunar Blessing only
Base damage + stats = 100 damage
Total including Moon Glaive = 252 damage
Total including Lunar Blessing = 284 damage
Max Moon Glaive + Max Lunar Blessing + Manta Style's Images
Base damage + stats = 100 damage
Total including Moon Glaive = 252 damage
Total including Manta Style = 418 damage
*(Lunar Blessing does not affect illusions.)
The Butterfly
With the farming ability that Manta Style is able to give you, you should have no problem getting The Butterfly if the game drags on. The Butterfly increases your dps tremendously as well as boosting your effective HP. Since it boosts your AGI, it reaps more bonus from what Moon Glaive gives. It further strengthens your role as a carry by being a multi-unit dps monster in a team fight. In an impending team fight, you should always time your entry. Luna doesn't have any escape mechanism so if you're going into the fray, make sure it counts and timed wisely, because once the enemies see you, they will focus fire on you to eliminate your dps threat. Try to anticipate combo spellcasters like ES or Enigma and let them exhaust their combos before going in, or else use BKB.
Satanic
Satanic is another extension that you may consider getting if you need more HP. Other than boosting your passive Lifesteal, its active skill that boosts your Lifesteal to 150% is no joke. If you're not disabled, it's practically a free heal for you as you're fighting. Your Manta images also benefit from the HP boosts since it's based off STR.
Situational
If you solo mid, you can get Bottle to help you rune-whore and have adequate Lucent spamming. If you're playing side lane however bottle is not that useful for Luna because unlike Morphling/Mirana, she has no efficient ganking/escaping mechanism, thus she won't roam the map much, more so the river as she needs to be in her lane/jungle to farm constantly. Stick to consumables otherwise.
The Ethereal Blade is really not a bad item at all for Luna. This is because Luna is an AGI hero that can deal high spell damage. Both conditions fit the use of an Ethereal Blade perfectly. The reason I consider it a situational item because you can't really opt out any of her cores (HotD,BKB,Manta) before this. This item can easily replaces BKB as core if only the majority of matches don't have nukes/disables (which is not the case!) and if it's cheaper. However, Ethereal Blade can really come in handy against a farmed physical carry of the other team which you can't out-dps by means of physical damage alone. By turning a physical duel into a magical duel, odds can really stack on your side with Eclipse, since a 4-hit Eclipse + 1 Lucent Beam = 2100 damage (1575 after hero's natural magic resistance) is not an amount of damage to be kidded, and that's not taking the 2.5x of your AGI's Ethereal Blast into account. The Ethereal form which you can cast on yourself could also save you from the likes of physical dps monsters such as PA, Troll, Ursa, etc.
Some players like to incorporate Lothar or Dagger as their core, and although it has its uses, it's purely situational. Both items provide an initiation and escape mechanism, which serves to assist Luna in positioning/chasing with Eclipse and to provide an escape in sticky situations. While these builds are outright effective in low level games where map awareness is almost inexistent, Lothar / Dagger will not contribute much in higher level of play where wards are aplenty and enemies will not linger in situations that provide opportunities for a missing Luna. Getting any of this item will delay BKB, which enables Luna to fight in team battles as she's usually a focused target due to her dps potential. Dagger does not serve well in escaping in midst of battle and Lothar can be countered by wards/dust/skills. BKB on the other hand, almost guarantees an uninterrupted Eclipse while giving her the needed health and damage boost passively.
Aghanim's Scepter boosts Moon Rider's ultimate, as well as giving good stat bonuses, it may be purchased if you're farming well and the game progresses in your team's favor. Otherwise, getting the extensions such as Satanic/Butterfly are much more beneficial since they give constant passive bonuses that increases Moon Rider's dps and survival significantly.
Quote:
| "Aghanim would be nice but her aghanim ultimate was nerfed and now no longer gives shorter cd. Caster Luna is still sub par in the end considering all the nerfs her ultimate had taken like no more ministun, lowered dps, and aghanim no longer granting shorter cd. If you want to play a caster I think there are much better alternatives than Luna." - AzureD |
Heart of Tarrasque is a purely survival item in Luna's case that bolsters your health and hp regen by a good amount. It's a famous item to increase survival and tanking capability but it doesn't come cheap either. If you have Manta/Satanic and Butterfly, you shouldn't need it. If you want some sort of extra protection against spell damage, a cheap Planewalker's Cloak should work, if not Hood of Defiance or Khadgar's Pipe of Insight, all of which are much cheaper than a HoT.
Since Diffusal Blade's separation from Manta Style, it is no longer a core item for Luna. As the feedback orb is overridden by Hotd's lifesteal on ranged heroes and Moon Glaive itself, the cost of the item will include something you can't benefit from. Situationally though, you can be asked to carry a Diffusal if nobody else suits for it in special cases (i.e. against Warlock, Omniknight, Sven). It does provide a good slow and Agi boost, which benefits Luna.
Rejected
Yay slow multiple enemies? Nay it doesn't work.
Non-stat items such as Radiance, Burize or MKB are sub par items and can be neglected in favor for Satanic, BKB, Manta and Butterfly. They aren't cheap either so it's not wise to spend that much gold for inferior items when you can simply have better items.
Eye of Skadi, although gives great stat bonuses and a somewhat workable Frost Attack buff placer, it simply takes too long to be farmed and is not really practical to be aimed for unless you're playing low level games.
Maelstrom , Mjollnir , Sange , Sange & Yasha and Stygian Desolator are all items that causes Luna's attack to malfunction, hence you should not buy them.
Level 1 - 5
With your startup items, head to the long lane (bottom for Sentinel, top for Scourge). If you know the lane opponent isn't going to be aggressive, you can opt for a solo. Otherwise, a babysitter like Warlock or a nuker like Slayer can give you a good early laning phase. Remember to block creeps with Luna to bring creep clashes nearer to your tower, as she has a quite large collision size. Despite your stat bonuses, Luna is still a soft hero, thus be wary of enemies' movement at all times. Prioritize last hitting over denying, and you may also use your ranged attack and high base ms to your advantage when harassing melee heroes. Use Lucent Beams wisely and remember you can always save it to use only when you can no longer hit your enemy with physical attacks, because it has 800 casting range.
Notice the cast range of Lucent Beam. Use it to suppress your lane opponent.
To learn more about lane control, click here.
To learn more about soloing, click here.
To learn more about blocking, click here.
Level 6 - 10
When you've got your Eclipse, you are much more threatening. Enemies will tend to stay away from being caught isolated, so use that psychology to your advantage, playing mind games with them. You can pretend you're going to use that Eclipse just to scare them away so you can farm comfortably. If opportunities present itself, you can also kill with Eclipse, as most enemies at this level cannot stand the total damage of Eclipse + Lucent Beam. Pick your enemies well and study the map for missing heroes so you don't fall into an obvious trap. You should have already stacked some creeps and obtained HotD by now, so it's time to put your Moon Glaives to good use. Farm the neutrals with it, using a Dominated creep to tank. Dominated creep choice is pretty much situational, but for a recommendation, take the Centaur. It has high hp and armor to take damage, as well as Chaos damage to boot. It can stun for 2 seconds when you need it to escape an ambush or to setup a gank, and it has the aura that increases your attack speed. This is also the phase where ganks happen a lot, so be extra watchful for missing enemies in the minimap and know when to retreat to safety. Not dying is always better than getting one or two creep kills. Keep in mind that smart enemies will not let a Luna farm, especially creep stacking.
Luna ambushing a retreating Admiral with Eclipse from behind enemy lines, and killed Admiral.
To learn more about jungling and creep stacking, click here.
Level 11 - 15
Continue with the creep stacking and farming whenever possible, and occasionally help out team mates in the lanes nearest to you. If situation calls for it, you may need to defend or counter gank around towers when you have your Eclipse ready. Otherwise try to judge whether it's better for you to continue farming or joining battles with just Lucent Beam up your sleeves. A favorable situation to join a battle is when your team's disablers are ready and you can support with a Stun/Slow from a Dominated creep such as Centaur/Furbolg. In some games, pushes and defenses can happen as early as this phase. Luna's early dps capabilities enable you to participate and contribute. If your team is doing well, you can continue to finish your core and even possibly farm up an extension earlier than enemies can. This is the optimal time when you can start killing Ancient creeps. Ancient creeps are the toughest creeps excluding Roshan, but Luna with a Dominated tank, HotD, Power Treads and Moon Glaive are capable to take on stacks (remember to stack them!) of Ancient creeps, which is a feat that very few heroes can do. This gives her and her team an upper hand in farming.
Assisting ganks and team battles with Eclipse.
Quote:
| "the biggest advantage luna offered to her team was her supplemental farming via stacked ancients (something other heroes couldn't do solo, or at least not as soon as she could) which in turn bolsters the available farm to your entire team." - Xenterex |
By now, the tide of the game should be obvious. If you're farming well, get a good extension and join your team in pushes and battles. Battles off lanes have better advantage with no enemy creeps around. Do not let enemies to catch you off guard, but try to catch them off guard with BKB-Eclipse combo. A well executed Eclipse guarantees 2 deaths of soft heroes (Int/Agi heroes). Remember to pick your enemies. Don't forget you have Lucent Beams too, use it as mana permits, just remember how much you need for BKB or Manta Style. With some kills and pushes, carrying your team to a win is within your grasp.
Luna farming with Manta Style. Notice the multiple Moon Glaives. You can use your illusions to hold/push a lane.
If the game is not in your favor however, farm wisely and defend as needed. Try your best to spot an opportunity where you can deal the most damage to the enemy team, and hopefully your team mates can follow up. Losing and winning is part of the game and if you've done what good Luna can do, you know you've done your best. Practice more with Luna and your team, carry your team and execute more feats!
Notice that even though Luna's team lost the game, Luna had the highest farm. She's a carry with strong innate farming ability.
Should Luna solo a lane or take a dual?
Luna can solo or dual a lane. Solo means you get all the farm and faster levels to Eclipse, but more vulnerable to harassments with aggressive opponents. If you want to suppress a particular lane opponent, cast Lucent Beam on him whenever its ready. Remember it has 800 casting range, which means you can always cast it when your physical attacks cannot reach him. Use Luna's high movespeed to your advantage, apply orb-walking and animation canceling as you attack the enemy hero, preferably a melee hero. Priority should be given to last hitting over denying and remember not to cause unnecessary creep-aggro because Luna has little health to spare.
Should I be focusing solely on farming?
Partly yes, most of the times Luna needs to keep farming to reach her core fast. A BKB will ensure Luna can wreak havoc in battles whenever BKB-Eclipse is ready. However, Eclipse and Lucent Beam are both powerful nukes that are devastating in early-mid game, which you should always use them to your advantage. If opportunities present itself where you can land that Lucent Beam for extra firepower in a gank, or an Eclipse trap, go for the kill. Killing is a type of farming too, and the best thing is it denies your enemy exp and gold at the same time. Just remember that Luna is a soft hero and you are practically a free food for the enemies without your Lucent Beam/Eclipse to threaten them. Pick your enemies well, be very watchful for nukers / disablers. Not to be mean, but as a carry hero that isn't farmed, it's better to leave your ally getting killed rather than go in and have both of you getting killed.
How do I use Eclipse to its full potential?
Eclipse has an AOE of 700, so it's possible to hit your enemy in an isolated manner if you positioned yourself well. Do not get nervous and cast Eclipse as soon as you see an enemy. Study the enemy lineup and who can counter your Eclipse. Any hero with an immediate escape ability or magic immunity can counter Eclipse, and you will waste it just like that. Such abilities are Blink, Waveform, Leap, Wind Walk, Repel, Rage, etc. There are also anti-death abilities that you need to take note, such as Borrowed Time and Shallow Grave. Using Eclipse here will negate the effect. The best victims for Eclipse are usually heroes with naturally low health that don't have an escape mechanism. Remember that Eclipse will still damage your enemy even when you get disabled. It will only stop either when it has completed its beams or when Luna dies.
Can I use Lucent Beam to harass?
Lucent Beam is a low cooldown, long range nuke, so it can definitely be used to harass, weaken your enemy in an attempt to exhaust their regen items or send them back to fountains. As of 6.63, Lucent Beam now stuns for 0.6 second at all levels. You can use the 0.6 second to your advantage in shortening the distance to land more hits, or for a Eclipse. Luna however, doesn't have the capacity to spam Lucent Beams so use it wisely. Feel free to use it whenever your mana pool is full so mana regen is not wasted, and you might want to save some mana for an extra Lucent Beam in case needed. Always make sure you have enough mana for Eclipse when it's available to be used. Smart enemies will study your mana pool and you will let them know that you don't have Eclipse to stop them in case they try to intercept you.
Why Moon Glaive is skipped in earlier levels?
Moon Glaive is a good ability no doubt about that, if fact it can be argued that it works at earlier levels, however you need to know that Eclipse depends on Lucent Beam to deal damage, it's a nuke, and Lunar Blessing gives fixed damage bonus. Nuke and fixed damage bonus are only useful as soon as you get it, and their power gets weaker as the game progresses. That's why we should take advantage of them at their best times, which is early game. Since you can't control how Moon Glaive hits, it will push your lane too far too early if you get it early, which could prove dangerous.
Who are good allies for Moon Rider?
Babysitters, nukers and heroes that can isolate a target from other enemies for a good Eclipse.
Who are potential victims for Moon Rider?
Most AGI and INT heroes with low health and have no effective escape mechanism fall fast to a good Eclipse. These are the enemies that Luna should have no trouble killing when opportunity arises. Luna can take on more enemies as she gets her extension items.
What are the heroes that counter Luna?
Heroes that have immunity to Eclipse in some form. Your only chance is to try catching them when they have used their magic immunity.
Blinkers or pseudo-blinkers escape Luna as easy as they catch her. If Eclipse is to be used against them, make sure they are either disabled, run out of mana or their blinking skill is in cooldown.
Heavy nukers can focus their spells on you and bring you down very fast due to your naturally low health. Don't let them catch you off guard, but if you have BKB ready however, that precious few seconds should be enough for you to take them out, since casters are particularly susceptible to nukes themselves.
Heroes that can go invisible can easily waste your Eclipse. They are also sneaky and most are hunters, that will hunt you relentlessly. Farm wisely and take caution.
Luna and the new heroes, and not-so-new heroes.
As ally, Thrall can remove 1 enemy hero from battle (situationally), giving the tactical advantage of using Eclipse. His Kinetic Field is useful in most situations too.
As enemy, Thrall can remove you from the battle (ironically), and thus wasting your Eclipse if you're in the midst of casting it (and that's why you need BKB!)
As many would agree, Io as an ally is an awesome support hero, which is fortunately even better for Luna. Io can seriously increase Luna's attack speed at very early levels, and the Relocate ultimate ability combined with a Tethered Luna can let you earn some reliable gold just by hunting for lone enemy heroes with a pre-emptive Eclipse.
Io as an enemy is a hero that Luna should have no trouble dealing with. Io's naturally low health will need to cope with Luna's nukes. Just remember that Io can escape an Eclipse with his long range blink Relocate, although Io's likely to take serious damages before taking off due to the delay of Relocate.
Luna's new tavernmate seems to be taking the community by storm with his high carry capability and powerful nukes. Not much for an ally, but he poses a threat to Luna as an enemy though. The thing with Gyrocopter is that he also favors to deal with a lone enemy, which is a feat that Luna excels at. With a BKB, fighting Gyro should not be a problem. Engage him at your own discretion!
The Gnoll. A quite popularized new hero, and a cunning one at that. His Disruption can give u a temporary Manta early game which could also works against you (fighting 2 of your own copies!) Soul Catcher is great any time against a lone enemy, but it hurts if you're against him.
Murloc Nightcrawler's Pounce is useful as a disable that lets you pound on an enemy, but if you're facing him as enemy, be sure not to let him farm by harassing him with Lucent Beams and attacks. His Shadow Dance can escape your Eclipse so time well. If you can avoid his Pounce, you should be ok. Use the might of your Eclipse to make short work of him before he could steal enough AGI to out-dps you with his Essence Shift.
The Ancient Apparition is a nice ally to have, but a strong opponent to face. He has 600 attack range, nice animation, an annoying nuke, a slow, a dps increaser and a magical 'Coup de grâce' ultimate. Try teasing him with your Manta illusions, engage with a BKB and you should be fine. Don't let him caught you off-guard farming in jungle with low-hp because his ultimate hits hard and you can easily fall with your naturally low HP.
Luna can solo or dual a lane. Solo means you get all the farm and faster levels to Eclipse, but more vulnerable to harassments with aggressive opponents. If you want to suppress a particular lane opponent, cast Lucent Beam on him whenever its ready. Remember it has 800 casting range, which means you can always cast it when your physical attacks cannot reach him. Use Luna's high movespeed to your advantage, apply orb-walking and animation canceling as you attack the enemy hero, preferably a melee hero. Priority should be given to last hitting over denying and remember not to cause unnecessary creep-aggro because Luna has little health to spare.
Should I be focusing solely on farming?
Partly yes, most of the times Luna needs to keep farming to reach her core fast. A BKB will ensure Luna can wreak havoc in battles whenever BKB-Eclipse is ready. However, Eclipse and Lucent Beam are both powerful nukes that are devastating in early-mid game, which you should always use them to your advantage. If opportunities present itself where you can land that Lucent Beam for extra firepower in a gank, or an Eclipse trap, go for the kill. Killing is a type of farming too, and the best thing is it denies your enemy exp and gold at the same time. Just remember that Luna is a soft hero and you are practically a free food for the enemies without your Lucent Beam/Eclipse to threaten them. Pick your enemies well, be very watchful for nukers / disablers. Not to be mean, but as a carry hero that isn't farmed, it's better to leave your ally getting killed rather than go in and have both of you getting killed.
How do I use Eclipse to its full potential?
Eclipse has an AOE of 700, so it's possible to hit your enemy in an isolated manner if you positioned yourself well. Do not get nervous and cast Eclipse as soon as you see an enemy. Study the enemy lineup and who can counter your Eclipse. Any hero with an immediate escape ability or magic immunity can counter Eclipse, and you will waste it just like that. Such abilities are Blink, Waveform, Leap, Wind Walk, Repel, Rage, etc. There are also anti-death abilities that you need to take note, such as Borrowed Time and Shallow Grave. Using Eclipse here will negate the effect. The best victims for Eclipse are usually heroes with naturally low health that don't have an escape mechanism. Remember that Eclipse will still damage your enemy even when you get disabled. It will only stop either when it has completed its beams or when Luna dies.
Can I use Lucent Beam to harass?
Lucent Beam is a low cooldown, long range nuke, so it can definitely be used to harass, weaken your enemy in an attempt to exhaust their regen items or send them back to fountains. As of 6.63, Lucent Beam now stuns for 0.6 second at all levels. You can use the 0.6 second to your advantage in shortening the distance to land more hits, or for a Eclipse. Luna however, doesn't have the capacity to spam Lucent Beams so use it wisely. Feel free to use it whenever your mana pool is full so mana regen is not wasted, and you might want to save some mana for an extra Lucent Beam in case needed. Always make sure you have enough mana for Eclipse when it's available to be used. Smart enemies will study your mana pool and you will let them know that you don't have Eclipse to stop them in case they try to intercept you.
Why Moon Glaive is skipped in earlier levels?
Moon Glaive is a good ability no doubt about that, if fact it can be argued that it works at earlier levels, however you need to know that Eclipse depends on Lucent Beam to deal damage, it's a nuke, and Lunar Blessing gives fixed damage bonus. Nuke and fixed damage bonus are only useful as soon as you get it, and their power gets weaker as the game progresses. That's why we should take advantage of them at their best times, which is early game. Since you can't control how Moon Glaive hits, it will push your lane too far too early if you get it early, which could prove dangerous.
Who are good allies for Moon Rider?
Babysitters, nukers and heroes that can isolate a target from other enemies for a good Eclipse.
Who are potential victims for Moon Rider?
Most AGI and INT heroes with low health and have no effective escape mechanism fall fast to a good Eclipse. These are the enemies that Luna should have no trouble killing when opportunity arises. Luna can take on more enemies as she gets her extension items.
What are the heroes that counter Luna?
Heroes that have immunity to Eclipse in some form. Your only chance is to try catching them when they have used their magic immunity.
Blinkers or pseudo-blinkers escape Luna as easy as they catch her. If Eclipse is to be used against them, make sure they are either disabled, run out of mana or their blinking skill is in cooldown.
Heavy nukers can focus their spells on you and bring you down very fast due to your naturally low health. Don't let them catch you off guard, but if you have BKB ready however, that precious few seconds should be enough for you to take them out, since casters are particularly susceptible to nukes themselves.
Heroes that can go invisible can easily waste your Eclipse. They are also sneaky and most are hunters, that will hunt you relentlessly. Farm wisely and take caution.
Luna and the new heroes, and not-so-new heroes.
As ally, Thrall can remove 1 enemy hero from battle (situationally), giving the tactical advantage of using Eclipse. His Kinetic Field is useful in most situations too.
As enemy, Thrall can remove you from the battle (ironically), and thus wasting your Eclipse if you're in the midst of casting it (and that's why you need BKB!)
As many would agree, Io as an ally is an awesome support hero, which is fortunately even better for Luna. Io can seriously increase Luna's attack speed at very early levels, and the Relocate ultimate ability combined with a Tethered Luna can let you earn some reliable gold just by hunting for lone enemy heroes with a pre-emptive Eclipse.
Io as an enemy is a hero that Luna should have no trouble dealing with. Io's naturally low health will need to cope with Luna's nukes. Just remember that Io can escape an Eclipse with his long range blink Relocate, although Io's likely to take serious damages before taking off due to the delay of Relocate.
Luna's new tavernmate seems to be taking the community by storm with his high carry capability and powerful nukes. Not much for an ally, but he poses a threat to Luna as an enemy though. The thing with Gyrocopter is that he also favors to deal with a lone enemy, which is a feat that Luna excels at. With a BKB, fighting Gyro should not be a problem. Engage him at your own discretion!
The Gnoll. A quite popularized new hero, and a cunning one at that. His Disruption can give u a temporary Manta early game which could also works against you (fighting 2 of your own copies!) Soul Catcher is great any time against a lone enemy, but it hurts if you're against him.
Murloc Nightcrawler's Pounce is useful as a disable that lets you pound on an enemy, but if you're facing him as enemy, be sure not to let him farm by harassing him with Lucent Beams and attacks. His Shadow Dance can escape your Eclipse so time well. If you can avoid his Pounce, you should be ok. Use the might of your Eclipse to make short work of him before he could steal enough AGI to out-dps you with his Essence Shift.
The Ancient Apparition is a nice ally to have, but a strong opponent to face. He has 600 attack range, nice animation, an annoying nuke, a slow, a dps increaser and a magical 'Coup de grâce' ultimate. Try teasing him with your Manta illusions, engage with a BKB and you should be fine. Don't let him caught you off-guard farming in jungle with low-hp because his ultimate hits hard and you can easily fall with your naturally low HP.
No comments:
Post a Comment