The original background of the video is actually wishmaster by nightwish. I prefer the previous background music than the recent one coz its really suited to the plot and sequence of the scenes. I really dont know whats the reason behind the changes but i think its probably due to copyright issues. Well anyways, this video inspired me during my early dota days to use mirana. Mirana is my favorite hero together with Pudge because they are challenging and fun to use as they needed above average player skills and experience in order to become effective and fully utilize their full potential. This video shows how cool it is to land an arrow. Its really amazing to hit an opponent when you know you did anticipate it and not merely rely on luck or maphack. It is also fun to be accused of being a maphack user when you really arent using them as it is the highest form of flattery coz its simply means you owned them hard. rofl. ^O^
ThePriestess of the Moon is known for her deadly Arrow, which while difficult to land, will stun a target longer when fired from further away. She can send Stars down upon enemies around her to deal damage, and land an additional Starfall to one target at her feet. Mirana can also Leap small distances to escape or chase, and when she touches down, allies in the area are enchanted with movement speed. Her ultimate Moonlight Shadow enables her to briefly render her entire team invisible, for a group surprise attack or retreat. While always hard to catch, Mirana is most deadly and feared when keeping her own prey from fleeing.
A matriarch and high priestess of Elune's blessed order, Mirana Nightshade serves as a light in darkness for the front line of the Sentinel ranks, raining arrows and falling stars alike upon the shambling undead masses of the Undead Scourge, while her very presence is said to be so holy that it melts away the fatigue of nearby allies, giving them greater haste on the battlefield. In times of need however, she can fade herself and others around her into the safety of invisibility, making her a potent supporter matched by few.
Mirana is really a versatile hero. She can adapt really well depending on the situation. Stars (*) represents the degree of mirana's effectiveness based on my experience and my opinion alone. Her role/roles in the team can be any combination of the following.
***** Ganker
Mirana is very effective being a ganker. Her set of skills are well suited for the job. She has nukes such as Starfall and Elunes Arrow, a setup skills such as Moonlight Shadow or Elunes Arrow, escape mechanism in a failing gank with leap and Moonlight Shadow.
***** Semi-carry
Mirana is a good semi-carry. Given the proper items, she can semi-carry and help the hard carry win the game. Her attack speed late game without items is above average with 0.83 attack speed. Being a ranged hero and her set of skills really makes this hero a force to be reckoned with, if given the proper items late game.
***** Chaser
She is an excellent chaser. Killing escaping heroes is her specialty. Her signature skill Elunes Arrow in the hands of a pro does the job pretty well. Leap, with the added movement speed and the ability to traverse terrains is excellent for the job. Items such as eyes of skadi, diffusal blade etc. does help her chasing capability by a mile.
***Initiator
She is a decent initiator. With a long range elunes arrow that stuns a target for a duration is a great initiating tool during small ganks/clash. Her Moonlight Shadow if timed correctly can initiate a surprize gank and clash.
*** Roamer
Roamer is almost the same as a ganker but the difference is that a roamer doesnt stay too long at one place and always roams around looking for a kill or assist. I only place 3 stars mainly because once she fails in the thing she does, she will most likely end up underleveled and most likely fail bigtime. The videoshows a good example of a roaming mirana played by Mski.Rhom.
To view a larger view of the youtube clip you can either click "click me" (click "Unlock Click Me" first to open spoiler tab to enable the function) then click the "show" button to open the tab then click "previous button" that can be found below the 1st larger version youtube clip to get back where you left off. OR click the "Watch on Youtube" which can be found on the right bottom corner of the smaller version youtube clip.
Here is a video by bloodymassacre featuring Mski.Rhom starting at 2:15 in the video. Click Me ^_^
** Pusher
Mirana can also function as a pusher when it needs to. Starfall being an aoe skill does the job pretty well. Any hero with proper items like for example, maelstorm and boots of travel can do this job.
** Support/Baby Sitter
With proper items she is a decent support hero/babysitting a carry. Moonlight shadow, Elunes Arrow, and Leap for boosting allied movement speed are her tools for supporting a carry. She doesnt excel in this area but if your playing pub and it happens to be no existing support hero in your team then might as well consider this option.
* Tank
Your thinking wtf a tank mirana? Your right wtf! ^_^ But items could help you attain a tank mirana. Just forget about it. Its merely for fun anyways ^_^
* Hard-carry
Mirana can never hard carry. Yes she can semi-carry but never hard carry. A true hard carry given the same items will win 100% over a semi-carry like mirana, period. ^_^
Pros:
Aoe nuke for killing, harrassing, farming and pushing.
She has above average nuke damage. Basically she has 2 nukes at her disposal. Starfall with 300 damage plus a random target around 175 aoe will take 150 damage and an elunes arrow at 360 damage. Both of which have average cooldown which is not bad imo.
3 escape mechanism skills such as leap, moonlight shadow, and elunes arrow.
being a ranged hero (600 range), though there are advantages and disadvantages of being ranged hero. I still consider it as more of a pros than cons. Being ranged is more advantageous in harrasing heroes specially in early part of the game against a hero with shorter range as you could distance yourself and still hit and harrass them.
initiating skill with elunes arrow and moonlight shadow
with proper items she can semi-carry a team.
able to chase escaping heroes with elunes arrow and leap
fun hero to use
versatile hero
average movement speed early game at 300ms is good compared to other heroes.
Decent attack animation speed.
Above average sight range at night.
Cons
Fragile Hero. Low strength gain. Low starting armor compared to most agi heroes.
Slow missile speed at 900. Although it is the standard missile speed for most ranged hero, I still consider it as a disadvantage specially when you faced a ranged hero with a faster missile speed. This disadvantage is evident in last hitting creeps. It can be countermeasured with proper timing though and skill wise in last hitting.
Low Starting Damage. Ranged hero has a relatively low damage than a melee hero. Plus compared to other ranged hero, her early damage is subpar.
Requires experience and player skills to fully utilize her potential.
Her nukes relatively becomes less damaging in later part of the game. As we all know nukes are stronger in early part of the game.
No hard carry potential
No reliable stun, meaning her stun doesnt mean 100% success compared to other stuns
Popular hero. Your probably thinking why I placed it on cons rather than Pros. Mainly because players know already her potential and most players really knows how to deal with her. So with that in mind, i think you need to levelup your game as mirana user.
Mirana Nightshade
Priestess of the Moon
Jumong
Starfall
Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: T
Calls down a wave of meteors to damage each nearby enemy. One random enemy unit within 175 aoe will get hit again for half the damage.
Elune's Arrow
Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Point
Ability Hotkey: R
Fires an arrow to a location with deadly precision, dealing large damage and stunning the first unit it strikes. Stun duration increases based on how far the target is, ranging from 0.5 to 5 seconds. Has 3000 range.
Leap
Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: E
Mirana's wild Frostsaber leaps forward into battle, empowering allies with a ferocious roar upon landing. Speed bonus lasts 10 seconds.
Moonlight Shadow
Ability Type: Active
Targeting Type: Instant
Ability Hotkey: W
Turns Nightshade and all allied heroes invisible. If Invisibility is broken, it gets restored after the fade time during the shadow duration.
This is the standard mirana build. Basically Elune's Arrow is gotten first for possible 1st blood kill or assist. You may take and choose to level up Leap first, if you think your opponent would attempt and make you their 1st blood, early gank, or you think your opponents will be aggressive in the 1st encounter. You may leave your skill unlevelled until your sure you gonna need that skill 1st. So it is best if you know your shorcuts well. Press "O" to level up a skill and press the shortcut key (hot key) for your skill of choice. Leap also helps in early kills as it helps you to chase and dish in extra hits. Starfall is maxed as soon as possible, as it is more reliable source of damage and it helps you harrass and score desperate last hits. It is also good in side lanes where there are dual opponent heroes or at times trilane heroes where your aoe damage is really valuable. Ganking sidelanes with higher level of starfall in conjuction with other team spells is nice.
This build is mainly used to score early kill. This is also used to harrass your opponent early on and take advantage from there. It will establish lane dominance if done properly. This build is rarely used and to be honest it is quite risky, as you dont have any means of escape unlike the early builds. But the good thing here is that if you know your opponent well and you know you can score that kill then do so. It is best used on opponents that has low life and no escape mechanism. Again it is best to assess the situation 1st before leveling up any skill.
1. Elunes Arrow/Leap
2. Leap/Elunes Arrow
3. Elunes Arrow
4. Starfall
5. Elunes Arrow
6. Starfall/ Leave unlevel up for the moment
7. Elunes Arrow
8. Starfall/ Leave unlevel up for the moment
9. Starfall/ Leave unlevel up for the moment
10. Moonlight Shadow/Leap
11. Moonlight Shadow/Leap
12. Leap
13. Leap/Moonlight Shadow
14. Leap/Moonlight Shadow
15. Stats
16. Moonlight Shadow
This build is not used often mainly because arrows are not reliable source of damage compared to starfall. But if your skilled wise and lucky enough to hit opponents everytime you launch an attack then this is the build for you since elune's arrow has more damage on a single target than starfall. Starfall only out damages elunes arrow if you manage to hit that starfall twice. You can used this build if there are invisible opponents in your lane or lane next to yours. It is also not rare to find a hero running for his life, and elune's arrow can dish out that finishing blow. This build is mainly used if you are in side lanes and your having mana problems. Elunes arrow mana cost is only 100 even at level 4. Starfall at level 1 does have the same amount of mana cost at 100 but as you level up the skill the amount also rises. I mentioned about leaving starfall at level 1 and leaving it unlevel up until you want. This is used if your main goal is farm early game. Though I must admit that last hitting is the best way to farm but if you find your self out laned (your harrassed or opponent out damages you etc) and cant find that last hit for your self then this is the desperate build for you. 100 mana for 75 damage that is aoe is not bad for desperate last hitting creeps. Better hit atleast 2-3 creeps below 75 hp for better result.
But to tell you frankly this is my staple build and used 85% of the times. I use the standard orthodox build only when im against nevermore or tinker in midlane. Coz you will need to keep up with opponent harassment and harrass him toe to toe. Though sometimes orthodox aggressive build will win you the lane but you must execute the kill at level 3 always and still be extremely cautious. But still I personally at best with this build than standard orthodox.
Any builds above or any combination you wish for as long as you level up Moonlight Shadow at 6 and 11. This build is mainly for initiating ganks early so your teammates can position themselves and do a surprise gank. Moonlight shadow early is used to support hard carry escape ganks which is your top priority next to other teammates. This may also serve
as scouting tool and avoiding warded spots. This also aid in warding and dewarding. It also supports channeling teammates channel their spells like sandking, rylai, witch doctor, enigma, rhasta etc.
Although this is a good semi/full support build for mirana.. the other skill builds can be used. Because a support mirana mostly relies on items to become a support hero and his arrow for some cover. Although its true that mirana is an underated hero as a supporting cast. You may find yourself in a situation wherein there will be no support hero that would play the role. A situation that can happen in a pub game and friendly game.
1. Leap/Elune's Arrow
2. Stat
3. Elune's Arrow/Leap
4. Stat
5. Stat
6. Moonlight Shadow
7. Stat
8. Leap
9. Stat
10. Leap
11. Stat
12. Moonlight Shadow
13. Stat
14. Leap
15. Stat
16. Moonlight Shadow
17. Stat
18. Elunes Arrow
19. Stat
This build is for fun anyways so feel free to play with it and combine it with fun items such as blink dagger and force staff. Lols.. but be ready to be flamed haha... But at level 9 you got yourself a free ultimate orb lols..
Level
Standard Orthodox Build (SOB)
Orthodox Aggressive Build (OAB)
Unorthodox Conservatory Build (UCB)
3
165 dmg (75 dmg AOE) / 200 mana
240 dmg (150 dmg AOE) /220 mana
180 dmg / 100 mana
4
240 dmg (150 dmg AOE) / 220 mana
240 dmg (150 dmg AOE) /220 mana
255 dmg (75 dmg AOE) / 200 mana
5
315 dmg (225 dmg AOE)/ 240 mana
315 dmg (225 dmg AOE)/ 240 mana
360 (75 dmg AOE) /200 mana
6
405 dmg (225 dmg AOE)/ 240 mana
405 dmg (225 dmg AOE)/ 240 mana
420 dmg (150 dmg AOE)/ 220 mana
7
480 dmg (300 dmg AOE)/ 260 mana
480 dmg (300 dmg AOE)/ 260 mana
510 dmg (150 dmg AOE) 220 mana
Pros
Best at harassing multiple enemies in conjunction with last hitting creeps at level 4 and above due to high level AOE nuke.
Most used build.
Used in any game setup.
With escape mechanism and chasing power at low levels due to leap.
More reliable damage than conservatory build
Best at harassing lane at level 3 to established lane dominance at this stage due to high dmg output.
Best at harassing multiple enemies in conjunction with last hitting creeps.
Best used in middle lane but not bad in sidelanes.
Else after level 4, same as Standard build.
Best at finishing low health opponents.
Best at finishing low health invisible opposing units at early game(ex. Gondar, Broodmother, Clinks, Dominated creeps).
Can be used in any situation.
Low mana cost with higher killing potential.
Cons
High mana requirement than unorthodox
No escape mechanism at level 3 below which is quite risky
High mana requirement than unorthodox
High player skill required.
Unreliable source of damage if your skill is just average
Personal Preference:
Unorthodox Conservatory Build. Why? Because last hitting and harassing enemies can be done manually by using your normal attacks. Although spell harass has its benefits but other build cant kill invisible units at early game like unorthodox conservatory build does. Besides that, most of the time you will only need to use one spell only to kill an enemy unit at 3000 range using only 100 mana! Also, most of the time you will need to land an arrow to kill an enemy by yourself. So if you max Starfall early your just wasting mana coz you need to still combo it with elunes arrow where is if you manage to level elunes 1st there will be times that starfall wont be needed to kill an enemy thereby saving mana in the process. See it this way, if you manage to land a level 4 elunes, you had 360 damage and had stunned the enemy probably hitting thrice or four more times if you animation cancel quickly (depending on stun duration though) and at early games sometimes it does net you the kill without using starfall. While if you max level Starfall, yes you can harass because of low cooldown but a setup skill which is elunes arrow is still needed thereby you need to use 2 spells requiring higher amount of mana. Here’s the good news, if you manage to net a kill with only an elunes arrow (100 mana) without using starfall (100 mana lv 1, 120 mana lvl 2); you have just earned another mana to kill another hero using only elunes arrow “early game”. Also there are times that its risky to go into positions and use starfall to harrass or kill wherein elunes arrow is good at.
Although I am not saying that the standard build is not good, it is just maybe the playing style of a player comes into place. Standard build is very good at harassing lanes at the same time last hitting creeps in the process. It is also good in combination with other team spells specially ganking sidelanes but so does elunes arrow. Standard build also has the edge on damaging multiple enemies. Anyway, that’s just not my style. Coz my playing style is more of a roamer ganker and so maybe we can say that this build is more fitted at ganking/roaming.. nah its just me.. just use whatever you think suites you.
It simply means that you must learn how to adapt your self depending on the situation. Being formless may also mean you to be unpredictable.
So before buying anything else you need to assess the situations first.
There are many factors that you must consider in buying items. I will list some but I may miss some, so its up to you to find out.
how well do you farm?
whats your playing style: ganker/support/carry?
who are your opponents?
what are their strengths?
what are their weaknesses?
who are your teammates?
what role/s do they play?
what items may synergize with their items and abilities?
are you feeding? need cheap items to cope up?
Here are my thoughts not necessarly true to you but it is to me.
There is no perfect build.
There are versatile builds that can adapt well in most situations.
Even you messed up your build there is still a chance that you will do well depending on how you play the cards in your hands.
Pub builds doesnt necessarily mean its a weak build.
But there are builds proven to be effective enough with a high percentage of success at high level of play.
Cookie cutter pro build doesnt garantee a win.
Even without items you can still net a kill depending on the situation and how skillwise you are as a player.
Even without items, underleveled, and cant net a kill, you can still be productive for your team.
So before buying things or doing anything for that matter, think first.
Be water my friend
Starting Items
In this guide we will pressume that the game would start with 603g (5v5 starting money in -ap or -cm).
salves and tangoes can be interchange.
salves are generally better in terms of efficiency against nukers while tangoes against damage over time opponents. both do well against normal harrassments.
1. Common Build
| | | | | | or
+6 dmg total, +6 agi total (+6 aspd,+0.84 armor), +3 other stats, + 57hp, +39 mana, plenty of survival items
build used if you plan to create a and a .
plenty of survival items for laning.
2. Aggressive Build
| | | and or and or
+9 dmg total, +9 agi total (+9 aspd, +1.26 armor), ample amount of survivability items. Upto +10 dmg/agi total, +10 aspd, +1.4 armor, +19 hp, +13 mana if w/
this build is used if you plan to create (3) or (1) and .
build used to help you last hit against better last hitting heroes.
this also used if you plan to harrass your opponent and look for the 1st blood
the downside of this build is that it has low survivability items.
3. Common Build 2 / Semi-Aggressive Build
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+8 dmg total, +8 agi (+8 aspd), +2 other stats, +38 hp, +26 mana adequate survivability items
(2) or (1)
or SELL
4. Bottle-Crow Rush
| or
this build is centered in rushing
If you have confidence in last hitting and think you could out last hit your opponent then this build is feasible.
This build is more effective if you solo a lane or solo mid lane or in a trilane or dual lanes that would let you get all the farm which is inapparent in pubs. This allows you to do bottle-crow technique to farm/harrass/gank effectively ASAP.
Although this build is used mainly in pubs because in higher competitive gameplay, you will be outlaned immediately knowing you dont have starting items to support your laning (max hp, base damage, heal)
remember to upgrade into
5. Versatile Bottle-Crow Variation
or | | | | | or
+6 dmg total, +6 agi total (+6 aspd, +0.14 armor), +3 other stats, +57 hp, +39 mana. If with upto +114 hp.
this build is like build #3 except that you have sub par stat and damage gain and 1 healing item.
you may opt to rush if you wish (bottle-crow technique is feasible)
mainly used in pubs where no one will provide courier for you.
remember to upgrade into
into
into , if your planning to beef up your hp early on as well as assemble a
6. Sidelane Thread Rush
| or
+9 dmg total, +6 agi total (+6 aspd, 0.84 armor), +3 other stats, +39 mana, +57 hp, ample amount of survivability items.
although you rarely see this as a starting item. I find it really useful in starting game as it offers good base damage and stats plus you can focus on building power threads right away and you can build it in side shops easily. Completing this core is easy and fast.
this build is used in side lanes wherein you have access to side shops and continue building rush powerthreads from there.
you just have to know how to distance and position yourself. You need to know other laning techniques in order to survive using only this item which will be mentioned later on.
+3 dmg total, +3 agi total (+3 aspd, +0.42 armor), +3 str (+57 hp, +3 int (+39 mana, +0.24 mana/min).
almost the same as #4 except that we will buy ring of protection instead of courrier.
this is mainly used in high level competitive play wherein there will be support hero that will provide courier for the team.
is bought to be upgraded into later on.
while the 3 to be upgraded into
into
into , if your planning to beef up your hp early on as well as assemble a
The builds above are the popular and personal builds used in pubs and serious games most of the time and I find these builds more effective at most situations than other starting builds. But sometimes I play around with other starting items and just goof around
You are free to use other starting items as needed. As Ive mentioned before there are no wrong builds. Assess the situation and do as you please. Because sometimes early dust, sentries, smoke of deceit is what you need. Against invisible heroes like broodmother, a setry ward is a must otherwise she will out lane you. But sometimes you can live with out it and so be it.
8. Support - [Ganker|Roamer|Jungler|Semi-carry|Babysitter] Starting Builds
Mirana is versatile if you know how to play your cards. She can be an early support-jungler-ganker, support-roamer/ganker, babysitter-ganker then transition her game into a semi-carry.
| | or |
+6 str (+114 hp), ample survival items
|
provides for the team and controls it to supply | | | other items
helps your allies heal after ganks as well as provide damage over time spell during ganks
| or
+6 dmg, +1 armor, +0.65 mana regeneration (900 AoE), +2 armor (900 AoE), with ample amount of survivability items.
nothing much to say about this starting item but it provides brilliance aura which is good early game, and a toggle-able armor aura which can help during early push.
although you have subpar healing items, if you know how to lane with this build then there's nothing to worry. Plus if your in a competitive game wherein a full support do provide for the team and does fetch your healing items later on.
you may quickly transition as a ganker/semi-carry role if you wish or be a full time support or maybe just delay being a semi-carry just a bit more.
an underrated starting item but the +3 regen aura specially in trilane so early in the game is just so good.
the bad thing about this is that it only works in a team oriented scene where there will be a full support hero that will provide the for the team because you need to fetch some healing items as the game drags on.
| | | or or
providing courier for the team, some observer wards, and smoke of deceit for early ganks
can quickly transition into semi-carry role or stay as a support-ganker and delay just a bit more before transitioning or be a full time support.
| | | | | | |
early is bought to help allies survive early ganks in other lanes.
(2) is bought to heal self or allied units
(5) for self replenish or for allies.
this build is for support-roamer-ganker into semi-carry mirana users though not popular coz no early stat boost but hastens overall supporting and roaming abilities of mirana early game if your map-awareness and overall ability as mirana is good.
1. Wraithband Variations
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| | | |
| | |
| | | |
| | | | |
| | | |
| | | | |
| | | |
Transitions:
or or
Optional Removal:
2. Thread Rush
| |
Optional Additions:
3. Linken Rush
|
Optional Additions:
or or | and/or | and/or / | and/or
4. FreeStyle
| | | | or |
| | | or |
or | | | | or |
or | or | | SOLD | SOLD | or |
Optional Additions:
5. Janggo Mode
| | or | or |
Optional Additions:
Transitions:
6. Early Ownage
Starting Items | 2100g | 2+ kills |
Optional Additions:
wait till 2200g
wait till 2600g
wait till 2700g
wait till 3300g
wait till 3800g
or want to have fun go with
During early game, always assess how the game is going on.
Check what items are your opponents building.
Check how farmed are your opponents.
Check how farmed are you and your team.
How many lanes have been pushed.
How many lanes have you pushed.
Check the scores.
Check whos owning in their team and in your team.
In short, check everthing you could possibly check.
Then be a water and adjust.
If your in pub, try to advise teammates. If not, just make sure your teammates know what are your thoughts of the game but "no blaming" or any sorts coz trust me.. it doesnt help either.
Situational items are situational obviously ^_^ but sometimes you can live without it. Never ever sacrifice your main build and waste precious gold buying things you can live without. Sometimes everything goes wrong at 1st but eventually goes right without you changing anything. You decide. Feel the game.
Your team is being ganked a lot?
Pub is no excuse. It doesnt mean that you are the one to provide it but atleast your team must have.
Also take into consideration if your teammate knows how to ward the proper places. Else, either you or they provide the observer ward, then you plant them on your own. And dont just ward randomly. Know their patterns, What lanes have been pushed, What lanes should be safe for farming etc.
Or maybe, your team doesnt have this and doesnt help each other.
| | | | other juking items
Or maybe you need some juking items such as these. If you have read my other guide you will have an idea of how can these change the game.
Your ganks fails??
Maybe they have planted observer wards of their own. So your team needs to deward.
Observe their reactions when you or your team position your selves in a certain place. Or you have observed something went wrong to your own ganks and think your pathways you went and guess which might be the probable warded spot.
Sometimes you cant guess which part are warded thus this item is useful.
Although gem is not advisable because it cost too much just to counter wards but if it happens that you really need to buy a gem early to counter invisible units, take into consideration that you may also use it if your opponent is warding the place.
Invisible Opponents?
Sometimes you need this to kill invisible units sometimes not if your good enough.
But take these into consideration against invisible opponents or traps.
Too Much Nukes and Stuns!!!
Beef up. Increase your HP but dont sacrifice your main build that much.
Its either rush the tank item recipe that you would later build anyways or just add a couple cheap tank item such as a single bracer or two.
A simple planeswalker may do the job. You could see this often in competitive scene.
You may not need to upgrade the item. Cheap yet effective against team of nukers.
If you haven't gotten a bottle, now maybe you should consider coz a juking maneuver plus a quick heal can change the outcome of the fight.
Sometimes you manage to survive the barrage of nukes simply because you have beefed up your HP but the problem is that you cant farm and get close in laning due to possible 2nd barrage of nukes coming. This is where this items will help you without taking much time such as tangos.
against stunners and certain spells, this is a good investment.
Although you had leap, against chain stunners and team combo stunners, this might help if your good.
You could also help your teammate evade spells if you time it right.
Countering Opponents
Looking at items of opponents and knowing your opponents as a whole with their heroes and item preferences, you would know how to counter them.
Sometimes as early as early game you and your team need to prepare and buy the item to counter their core items and items they will build as well as spells at hand.
Ex. If your opponent had a and his hero is . Most players will build a But I know my opponent, let us say he is your friend and he always build with it, then you could actually prepare your before hand and be on the upperhand in the endgame. Although, it doesnt necessarily means that you should replace your game plan item core but take it into consideration.
Other items you should consider (not a must) to prepare for mid-late game to counter certain opponents are: multi-purpose (debuff, slows, mana burns) good against
for evasion against hard hitters against casters, blinkers, or any heroes whos skill is very or medallion of courage against heavy tanks disable and nuke heavy opponents. for pushing and anti-push to counter opponent strategies if you plan for a full support build then sometimes you need to prepare and work for it as early as early game. Either buy 1st and assess from there coz is versatile and your opponent cant read your gameplan either as it can transform into
counters mana burners like but against and users, sometimes you need to juke a bit in order to have mana for the leap
A simple can counter sprout. Also, but not advisable coz it cost much but the good thing is that it doesnt run out of supply when it matters.
not advisable but it do wonders early game. Specially against and low hp heroes. Mostly for fun but can be decent item if you farm well.
or as spell detectors. Specially against illuminate
others: not advisable but if your planning to make their upgrade components then do so. Like early into against hard hitters like . Not advisable coz there are other ways to counter without changing your item core.
like , counters lot of spells if timed right.
counters heroes without anti-channeling spells or items (stuns, mini-stuns). ex. . Use it wisely coz there might be other opponents that can interrupt your channeling. You may try to juke 1st then town portal to safety or tp immediately as soon as possible but making sure than you can still tank his damage for 3 more secs.
against blinkers to chase better and escape against gank heavy opponents.
against enchanted creeps, illusions, or summoned creatures accordingly.
: and orb of venom to counter dagger users (orb of venom requires also constant contact damage every 4 secs but it is crucial if your opponent wise up and juke you before using his dagger. Atleast you have 4 more secs to find him and rebuff him with poison attack. Sadly urn of shadows cannot cancel dagger anymore.
Core Extensions
Situational Items
Mirana's Arsenal
Starfall
@5:16 Tews: Leap evading the magic missile and does the back arrow.
Mirana's gameplay actually varies depending on the role/s your gonna play.
Being the versatile hero that she is makes this hero so fun to use. As her playing style can be in any combination in which she can develop from a ganker into a semi-carry later on (most effective transition for mirana in my honest opinion) or from a roamer into a semi-carry or ganker into full support or baby sitter to a full support/utility hero.
Due to her skills and choice of items she also has the capability of being a pusher and initiator in between her game. She can be semi-tank/decoy if you wish to.
It is important for a mirana player to know the basics of playing DOTA. If one wants to succeed in using this hero and anyhero for that matter must know the basics of playing DOTA. This guide doesnt cover much but i will try to include links and give some thoughts that will help you improve in those aspects.
Knowledge of the game and experience can come into play but its how you execute your gameplan really matters.
Also after knowing the basic knowledge, it is important for any player also to levelup your game. So how do you that? Practice. You need to perfect every aspect of what you know. (ex. perfecting your last hitting, perfect execution of everything etc.). Though it is easier said than done, but it is vital for a pro player.
"If you know your doing it wrong.. then change it.. change it now."
There are a lot of ways and approach of how to lane using mirana.
I also do suggest you to visit Lycan's guides which will help you improve laning aspects as well as improving your game as a whole. Here's the link: Forming and Becoming a Pack 1 - DotA Guides
1. Harrasing
Farming/Jungling
1. Normal Last Hitting
2.Choke Point Jungling Here is a guide made by Luminous about choke point jungling. Luminous is famous for commentating dota replays (mostly high level pro games). I do advise you to visit his youtube channel as you would learn more by watching pro replays.
Although there are other heroes that benifits more using this technique but it may be useful on mirana's gameplay once in a while. There will be situations that you may find it useful too like when engaging 2 melee enemy heroes wherein you can take advantage of the chokepoint but make sure you have leap or you are sure than you will win in that situation otherwise your just asking for trouble.
3. Lane Hold Farming Here is a video by neqoxec showing how to lane-hold farming method.
Here, he uses creeps aggro to himself and lure the creeps away from the tower until the next allied creep waves arrive. It will be easier for you to last hit without the threat that your own tower will out last hit you. But its uses has its limits as most of the time you cant do this with enemies in front of you. But there will be occasions that this technique would be useful.
4. Creep Aggro to Your Advantage
This technique utilize the creep aggro command. It is done by attacking your opponent so that the creeps will set their aggro on you and lure them in the position you want specifically behind tower or behind your creeps (if you back off long enough the aggro will set off to your creeps since they are aggro to the one attacking allied hero which is you). This time it will be safer for you to last hit because if your opponents normally attacks you, your creeps in front will be aggressive and will hit them before they can back out immediately (most effective against melee opponents since they need to come nearer to you thus your creeps will deal more damage by the time they reach you). Luring creeps behind your towers can also be done if you dont have creeps around and opposing creeps is attacking your tower, by luring them behind your tower until your next creep wave meet them will render safer farming. The drawback is that your tower may out damage and outlast hit you. But if you practice well enough and know the damage of the tower you can out last hit your own tower by timing and damage management. It can be attainable thru practice.
7. Manual Dominated Creep Pulling/Controlled Unit Creep Pulling
Almost same as above except that your doing it manually using a dominated allied creep (by using helm of dominator or dominated creep by your teammate) or allied creep (allied spiderling for example that is shared control for you) by timing it and pulling the creeps in their camp at X:52, X:54, where "x" is the minute and number after ":" is the seconds in dota time.
8. Starfall Fast Farming
It is done by hitting all the creeps available until their health will be low enough for the starfall to wipe out the creeps. It is mentioned earlier that the conservative build would still benefit during early game if your concentrating last hitting only during desperate times. But if you know how to use your starfall and when to use it well, you can harrass your opponent and last hit creeps at the same time.
9. Starfall Tag Team Variation
It is done if you have a teammate that is willing to use an AOE spell to help or aid you in farming. Example forked lightning (rasta) followed by starfall equals instant wipe out. You can alternate turns. Best done if you can manage to solve mana issues, like if your support hero would provide arcane boots or you are using bottle-crow technique. Though you can use this technique when situation offers itself but it is not a bad technique so that perfect creeping would be achieved. Take note that by doing this you are also pushing the lane this way. So if you really dont plan to push a lane then dont do this.
10. Combination: Creep Stacking|Creep Pulling|Starfall (w/ or w/o tag team)
Creep Stacking is when you try to pull the creep out their camp zone in the exact timing so that another creep will spawn. You may also do allied creep pulling to aid you during farming and using starfall during farming. This technique utilize the starfall powerfull aoe to kill as much creeps you can gather so that the mana spent for starfall would be maximized. You can pull 2-3 creep camps with the aid of an allied hero or controlled unit by your ally or yourself (like dominated creep, spiderlings etc which can shared control by your teamate for you to use or for them to control and help you). Best pulled at timing X:52 or X:54, where "x" is the minute while the number after ":" is the seconds in dota time. Your teammate can also help you initially damage the creeps and you then starfall or manually last hit them. Sometimes you need another teammate to pull another creep camp while you pull the other together with your allied creeps so that all will meet in half way and you time it perfectly and use the starfall. So even though the creeps didnt die, atleast the damage dealth would still be significant and the starfall damage and mana spent would not be wasted.
11. Hero Kill Farming/Assist
Nothing much to say about this. This is used if your playing a roamer mirana (full gank type). Wherein it is more beneficial for your teammate to get the farm and experience in the lane than you. Jungling and Hero Killing as well as taking down towers will be your main priority as this will be your source of gold and experience. Room for failure gank will mostly mean you will also be underfarmed and useless though. Items that can help you achieve this are hands of midas (if you can farm it enough, it will aid you in farming as a full time ganker), poor man shield, bottle, urn.
12. Luminous farming Guide "How to AFK Farm"
Juking- is a maneuver which is also considered an art of dota designed to decieve opponents by using the terrain, fog characteristics, items at hand, as well as skills left and use it as an advantage not only to escape but to do counter attack.
Standard build also has the edge on damaging multiple enemies. Anyway, that’s just not my style. Coz my playing style is more of a roamer ganker and so maybe we can say that this build is more fitted at ganking/roaming.. nah its just me.. just use whatever you think suites you. 
| 
| 
| 
| 
and a 
.
.
(2) 
| 
| 
, if your planning to beef up your hp early on as well as assemble a 
| 
later on.
| other items
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| 
| 
| 
| 
or 
or 
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| other juking items
and his hero is 
. Most players will build a 
But I know my opponent, let us say he is your friend and he always build 
with it, then you could actually prepare your 
before hand and be on the upperhand in the endgame. Although, it doesnt necessarily means that you should replace your game plan item core but take it into consideration.
multi-purpose (debuff, slows, mana burns) good against 
against casters, blinkers, or any heroes whos skill is very 
or medallion of courage against heavy tanks
disable and nuke heavy opponents. 
for pushing and anti-push to counter opponent strategies
if you plan for a full support build then sometimes you need to prepare and work for it as early as early game. Either buy 
but against 
and 
sprout. Also, 
illuminate
into 
against hard hitters like 
. Not advisable coz there are other ways to counter without changing your item core.
. Use it wisely coz there might be other opponents that can interrupt your channeling. You may try to juke 1st then town portal to safety or tp immediately as soon as possible but making sure than you can still tank his damage for 3 more secs.
against enchanted creeps, illusions, or summoned creatures accordingly.
: and orb of venom to counter dagger users (orb of venom requires also constant contact damage every 4 secs but it is crucial if your opponent wise up and juke you before using his dagger. Atleast you have 4 more secs to find him and rebuff him with poison attack. Sadly urn of shadows cannot cancel dagger anymore. 
+ 
combo.
Mirana Nightshade the Priestess of the Moon
