Imagine if Omniknight and Thor had a child. That's how Valora, the Dawnbreaker, looks like. Indeed, all of our guesses turned out to be wrong, but we're not complaining. With her glorious golden sun hair and massive hammer, she seems capable of taking on many foes at once. And that's exactly how she plays as, with her strong nuke damage and healing. She can sustain her team throughout long team fights, and she can easily turn the tide with her ultimate, Solar Guardian. Let's check out this new hero introduced in Dota 2 Patch 7.29.

IS DAWNBREAKER THE NEW CHEESE MID/OFFLANE HERO?

Dawnbreaker's kit gives her strong nuke damage with her first and second skills. Both Celestial hammer and Starbreaker can be used to harass enemies or to last hit creeps. While the mana cost for both skills and their cooldowns will limit their usage, Dawnbreaker's third skill allows her to sustain longer. Her third skill adds a critical strike and healing every fourth auto-attack. This can also be used to last hit creeps even before they reach deny range, making it an ideal pick during the landing phase. Finally, her Starbreaker first hit scales well into the late game, as long as Dawnbreaker builds up her damage and crit.

Finally, Dawnbreaker's ultimate Solar Guardian makes her a very big threat anywhere on the map regardless of where she is. It allows her to jump towards her allies, dealing damage, healing her allies, and stunning enemies who unfortunately stood too close to her ally. Once she's in the fray, she can start with Starbreaker to hit enemies who haven't run away yet, dealing high damage and piercing spell immunity. Then, she can finish off fleeing enemies with Celestial Hammer. Be sure to use Celestial Hammer wisely, though. As long as Dawnbreaker hasn't received her hammer yet, she won't be able to use her spells.

DAWNBREAKER GUIDE: WHAT ITEMS TO BUILD FOR VALORA AND WHAT SKILLS TO GET

While it'll take some time until the meta settles down, we do think that Dawnbreaker will perform best in the offlane. Her first two skills will allow you to secure last hits, while her heal will help you sustain and trade with your opponents.

When building Dawnbreaker offlane, you'd like to go 1-1-1 for the first three levels. This allows you to maximize your whole kit, giving you all the options you need while laning. Then, build up your damage with strength items and damage items. To maximize this build, it's best to get your 1st skill maxed out first. The other two don't really need to be maxed out until after you get your ult. Add more strength for your Level 10 Talent. Maximize your map presence by getting the Solar Guardian cooldown reduction at level 15.

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Franz Christian Irorita ·

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Phase Boots seem to be the best item for her, allowing you to chase down opponents. The additional damage also benefits her skills. Meanwhile, Strength and damage items like Sange and Echo Sabre helps her maximize her kit as well. Echo Sabre is extra good for her as it allows her to proc her Luminosity faster. However, there's no need to max out Luminosity or rush the Echo Sabre immediately.

Alternatively, you can build an attack speed version of Dawnbreaker with maxed out Luminosity and stats. Buy Desolator or Daedalus and go all-in with your hits. With this build, get the +20 Damage Talent at Level 15, get the Luminosity Crit at Level 20, and the longer-range Celestial Hammer at Level 25. This build makes Dawnbreaker squishier than usual, though, so make sure that a support will build for sustain to keep you alive.

Regardless, it feels like we need more time to figure out what role Dawnbreaker should have in team compositions. Her win rate paints a good picture of how well people understand the hero right now. Maybe, don't pick her yet until you've had enough practice with her?