With that said, anyone’s best guesses proved futile as Valora, the Dawnbreaker, came out of left field in all her shining glory. Not that we’re complaining though. Valora is already shaping up to be like the hammer-wielding Omniknight-like healer that Dota 2 players never knew that they needed, and she hasn’t even been out for a long time. If you’d like to learn more about Valora, scroll down below for our Dawnbreaker Dota 2 hero guide.
What are the Abilities of the Dawnbreaker in Dota 2?
The Dawnbreaker, otherwise known as Valora, is a melee strength hero in Dota 2 that wields a massive hammer to smite enemies down while providing support to her allies via healing. Here are her abilities in Dota 2:
Starbreaker
Starbreaker is the Dawnbreaker’s wave clear. It works similarly to the Anchor Smash ability of the Tidehunter. At level 4, the Starbreaker ability has an 11-second cooldown with a 170 (55 + 115) damage bonus on top of base attack damage. This makes it a very useful tool to use throughout the entire game, either for farming neutral camps, pushing out waves, as well as providing some extra damage and disable with its 1.4-second stun during clashes.
Celestial Hammer
If you thought of the Marvel Comics superhero Thor the first time you saw or used the Celestial Hammer, you’re not alone. The Celestial Hammer is essentially the Dawnbreaker’s positioning tool, allowing her to slow down enemies and make it easier for her to catch up to them (the ability leaves a trail that lowers the movement speed of anyone caught in it by 35% if not recalled) or put herself in a good position in a near-instant by recalling the hammer before the two-second timer is up. The latter is a particularly intriguing ability. As a melee hero, the Dawnbreaker needs some way to close the gap between her and other enemies. The Celestial Hammer abilities gives the Dawnbreaker exactly just that. Players can use this ability, along with Converge, to initiative fights and set up ganks by meeting together in the middle with the hammer after throwing it.
Luminosity
Luminosity is the passive ability of the Dawnbreaker and is essentially the reason why players should always strive to keep her in the front lines at all times. Basically, what it does is that it deals damage and heals allies whenever she has met the minimum number of required hits (3) before the passive ability takes effect. At level 4, Luminosity allows the Dawnbreaker to deal 180% attack damage (220% with the Talent) with a 60% Lifesteal percentage and a 35% Heal percentage on allies, which is halved if you target creeps with the Luminosity buff.
Solar Guardian
The Solar Guardian is the Ultimate ability of the Dawnbreaker. It’s basically an amped-up version of the Purification ability of the Omniknight with a global range. The main difference between the Solar Guardian and Purification is that, once targeted, the Dawnbreaker will channel for 1.7 seconds to provide healing and damage (95 and 70 per pulse at level 4, respectively) around the targeted location before flying over to deal damage (190 damage at level 4) and then stun the enemy units around the landing area (2 seconds at level 4).
What’s The Best Way to Play the Dawnbreaker in Dota 2?
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) April 9, 2021 Because her kit is similar to that of the Omniknight and the fact that most melee strength heroes often end up in the offlane role, playing the Dawnbreaker solo against a dual lane seems like the right thing to do. However, because she has both an escape ability and sustain, as well as a starting HP of 720, we reckon that she’ll thrive even when up against a trilane. Another reason why you’d want to play the Dawnbreaker in the offlane is because of her map presence via her ultimate, Solar Guardian. The sooner that you get her to at least Level 15 (+8 Strength Talent at Level 10 and -20s Solar Guardian cooldown Talent at Level 15), the more she’ll have an impact in time fights. On the other hand, she does lane well mid for all the same reasons. She won’t need to go back to the fountain anytime soon and the earlier that she gets her Level 6, she becomes an immediate threat in the side lanes. As for items, we see her benefitting well from a quick Magic Wand pick-up, as well as Phase Boots for the added damage and movement speed. From there, you can go with the Echo Sabre, so you can stack Luminosity faster and for added Mana regen. After this, it’s completely up to you. You can get a Radiance if you’re in the lead and for added damage. You can also get a Black King Bar if your team needs sustainability. Basically, your goal with the Dawnbreaker is to go online and make plays all over the map as fast as possible.
Is the Dawnbreaker a Good Dota 2 Hero for Beginners?
Not exactly. The Dawnbreaker is tanky. She won’t go down easily. At least, not without putting up a good fight. However, her kit isn’t exactly what you’d refer to as beginner-friendly. For starters, you’ll need good aim to throw the Celestial Hammer properly. You’ll also need decent mechanics to react fast enough to use Converge after throwing the Celestial Hammer for proper positioning. Plus, you also have to know when to throw the Celestial Hammer and when it’s best to Converge. We recommend the Dawnbreaker to players who already know how to make plays all over the map. This isn’t something those new to the game can do particularly well as it requires a lot of gameplay experience and quick decision-making skills.
