Ana Abilities and Strategy

1. Ana's Tips and Tricks

• Ana's talent tree is very situational. For instance, if the enemy team composition features lots of Slowing effects, choose Purifying Darts, whereas Smelling Salts excels against Stun heavy Heroes.
• Due to her limited self-healing capabilities, Ana needs to pay special attention on where she positions herself during a team fight.
• Nano Boost's duration of 8 seconds is quite long, so do not be too hesitant to cast it at the beginning of a team fight.
• Use Ana's superior Basic Attack range to consistently harass opponents in lane.

2. Shrike (Trait)

Shrike (D) Ana

• Passive

Basic Attacks apply a Dose to enemies, dealing an additional 40 (+4% per level) damage over 5 seconds, and stacking up to 5 times.

Every 0.5 seconds, Ana is healed for 50% of the damage dealt by Shrike.

Shrike allows Ana to harass opponents in lane due to her superior Basic Attack range while at the same time healing herself for a considerable amount. Since every stack of Shrike refreshes the poison's duration, there is no need to frantically attack at all cost. It is usually more recommended to maintain a healthy distance and strike when it is safe to do so.

3. Healing Dart

Healing Dart (Q) Ana

Fire a dart which heals the first allied Hero hit for 205 (+4% per level) Health. Does not affect full Health Heroes.

Healing Dart is Ana's primary healing ability which requires good aim in order to hit the intended target. Despite being a skillshot it should be used frequently, since it comes with a short 2-second cooldown.

It is crucial for Ana to fire Healing Dart from the right angle in order to hit the desired target. If Ana does not pay close attention to her own position, there may be other allied Heroes intercepting the Healing Dart by accident.

4. Biotic Grenade

Biotic Grenade (W) Ana

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 16 seconds

Toss a Grenade at the target area. Allied Heroes hit are healed for 166 (+4% per level) Health and receive 25% increased healing from Ana for 4 seconds. Enemies hit take 60 (+4% per level) damage and receive 100% less healing for 2 seconds.

Biotic Grenade is an incredibly potent ability during team fights. When using the grenade Ana needs to carefully assess the course of battle and decide whether it should be used to prevent enemy Heroes from healing or to boost her own healing. As a rule of thumb, it is usually better to heal your allies than shutting down enemies. However, preventing 100% of all healing (that includes self-healing) done to enemy Heroes can be incredibly powerful, especially against self-sustaining Warriors like Dehaka or Leoric.

5. Sleep Dart

Sleep Dart (E) Ana

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 14 seconds

Fire a dart that puts the first enemy Hero hit to Sleep, Stunning them for 3 seconds. Sleep's effects end instantly if the target takes damage after the first 0.5 seconds.

Cannot be used on Vehicles.

Sleep Dart is best used against enemy Warriors and melee Assassins, who will likely try to pressure Ana. The fact that it guarantees at least a 0.5 Stun, provides Ana with a bit of time to get some distance between herself and the pursuing target. However, Sleep Dart can also be used offensively when disabling an enemy target in order to allow your teammates to catch up and execute it with combined efforts.

6. Nano Boost

Nano Boost (R) Ana

• Heroic
• Mana: 60
• Cooldown: 70 seconds

Instantly boost an allied Hero, restoring 200 Mana. For the next 8 seconds, they gain 30% Spell Power and their Basic Ability cooldowns recharge 150% faster.

Cannot be used on Ana.

Nano Boost is the ultimate weapon when your team features one or several ability damage heavy Assassins like Alarak, Kael'thas, or Kel'Thuzad in your roster. Since the ability comes with a relatively long duration of 8 seconds, make sure to cast it at the beginning of a team fight rather than keeping it for too long.

7. Eye of Horus

Eye of Horus (R) Ana

• Heroic
• Mana: 45
• Cooldown: 45 seconds

Assume a sniping position, gaining the ability to fire up to 6 specialized rounds with unlimited range. Rounds hit the first allied or enemy Hero or enemy Structure in their path. Allies are healed for 285 (+4% per level) and enemies are damaged for 166 (+4% per level). Deals 50% less damage to Structures.

Ana is unable to move while Eye of Horus is active.

Eye of Horus is an interesting Heroic Ability since it allows Ana to heal allies and damage opponents from anywhere on the map. However, the global range comes with a major drawback: it forces Ana to temporarily take on a stationary position, rendering her vulnerable to any form of crowd control and damage.

8. Changelog