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Dawnbreaker · Offlane (pos. 3)

Dawnbreaker Abilities and Combos

Abilities & combosData-drivenMediumPatch 7.41
3.2KUpdated

More Dawnbreaker guides

This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.

Overview

This guide goes through Dawnbreaker's kit ability by ability. The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Starbreaker, sustain with Solar Guardian and global reach with Solar Guardian. Its ultimate is Solar Guardian.

Strengths

  • Reliable stun: Starbreaker sets up kills and interrupts enemy channels.
  • Strong this patch: wins 52.2% of measured public matches.
  • Global presence: Solar Guardian reaches the whole map.

Weaknesses

  • No escape in the kit: without good positioning and vision, Dawnbreaker is easy to catch.
  • Melee: has to walk up to its target, which makes the lane harder against ranged heroes.

Build cheat sheet

Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.

Builds

Most-played build

BalancedRecommended
Open build

When to use it

The items most bought with this hero, phase by phase. Pick it when you don't have a clear reason to deviate. Built from what Dawnbreaker players buy in the public matches we measured.

Where it's played

Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.

Seen from RadiantRadiant · bottom leftDire · top right
  1. OfflaneMain90% of matchesOff lane as the space-making core (pos. 3).

Starting items

Gauntlets of StrengthIron BranchTangoQuelling BladeMagic StickFaerie Fire

Early game

Soul RingBracerBottle

Core items

  1. 1Echo Sabre
  2. 2Aghanim's Shard
  3. 3Harpoon
  4. 4Black King Bar

Boots

Phase Boots

Late game

Skull BasherAssault CuirassAbyssal BladeBlink Dagger

Skill order

Max order:Celestial Ham…›Starbreaker›Luminosity

Ability1234567891011121314151617
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Talents by level

  1. -4s Starbreaker Cooldown
    +80% Celestial Hammer Cast Range/Speed
    25
  2. +150 Solar Guardian Radius
    -1 Luminosity Attacks Required
    20
  3. -20s Solar Guardian Cooldown
    +40% Celestial Hammer Trail/Hammer Damage
    15
  4. Celestial Hammer Trail Grants Movement Speed to Allies
    +25% Luminosity Critical Strike Damage
    10

Abilities

  • Starbreaker17 / 15 / 13 / 11s110 mpDawnbreaker whirls her hammer around 3 times, damaging enemies with her attack plus bonus damage. On the final strike, she smashes her hammer down, stunning and damaging enemies in front of her.
    Combo duration
    1.1
    Swipe/smash radius
    300
    Swipe/smash bonus damage
    25·40·55·70
    Smash stun duration
    0.6·0.8·1·1.2
    Basic ability — applies a stun. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • Celestial Hammer18 / 16 / 14 / 12s100 / 110 / 120 / 130 mpDawnbreaker hurls her weapon at a target, damaging enemies struck along the way. The hammer pauses for 2 seconds at the destination before flying back to her, leaving a trail of fire that slows enemies. Dawnbreaker can recall the hammer at any time, pulling her towards it so they meet in the middle.
    Hammer damage
    50·80·110·140
    Fire trail duration
    2.5·3·3.5·4
    Fire trail radius
    200
    Fire trail movement slow
    24%·28%·32%·36%
    Fire trail burn dps
    20·30·40·50
    Cast range
    700·900·1100·1300
    Basic ability — slows. Part of your regular rotation.
  • LuminosityPassivePassive. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Converge0.25sDawnbreaker recalls her hammer, pulling them together so they meet in the middle.Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • Break of DawnPassiveWhenever the sun comes out, Dawnbreaker gains bonus base damage and vision that decreases throughout the course of the day. If Dawnbreaker causes the day these bonuses are at full power for the entirety of that daytime.
    Max damage increase
    8%
    Max vision increase
    20%
    Passive. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Solar Guardian110 / 100 / 90s150 / 200 / 250 mpCHANNELED - Dawnbreaker creates a pulsing effect at a location within 350 units of an allied hero anywhere on the map and creates daylight for 6s. Each pulse damages enemies and heals allies. After a short duration, she flies to the target location and deals additional damage and stuns enemies upon landing. Once channeled, Dawnbreaker cannot stop the ability.
    Heal per pulse
    45·70·95
    Land radius
    500
    Damage per pulse
    30·50·70
    Landing damage
    130·160·190
    Landing stun duration
    1.2·1.4·1.6
    Air time
    0.8
    Ultimate — applies a stun, heals and reaches the whole map. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • dawnbreaker_land2sBasic ability. Part of your regular rotation.

Most played skill order

The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.

Max order:Celestial Ham…›Starbreaker›Luminosity

Ability1234567891011121314151617
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Strategy

1The kit

The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Starbreaker, sustain with Solar Guardian and global reach with Solar Guardian.

  • Starbreaker — Basic ability — applies a stun. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • Celestial Hammer — Basic ability — slows. Part of your regular rotation.
  • Luminosity — Passive. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Converge — Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • Break of Dawn — Passive. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Solar Guardian — Ultimate — applies a stun, heals and reaches the whole map. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • dawnbreaker_land — Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.

2Skill order

Take Solar Guardian whenever it's available (levels 6, 12 and 18). Between basic abilities, cores usually max their damage or farming ability first and supports their disable.

3Combos

A simple sequence that follows from the kit: open with Starbreaker, follow with Celestial Hammer and Converge and finish with Solar Guardian. The disable first means everything after it lands.

4Using your ultimate

Solar Guardian is the ability the enemy plays around. Use it where it changes the fight, and remember its cooldown: after using it, you're a smaller threat for a while.

Tips

  • Land Starbreaker first: every ability after it is easier to hit.
  • Use Solar Guardian reactively, when the enemy commits.
  • Watch Solar Guardian's cooldown: fights you take without it are much harder.
  • Practise the combo in a practice game before using it in ranked.

Changelog

  1. Guide created for patch 7.41.

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