Ana Abilities and Strategy

• 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.

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.

Shrike can also be activated to trigger Aim Down Sights. While this is active, the range of both Healing Dart and Sleep Dart is increased and they pierce through the first target hit. However, Ana's own Movement Speed is impaired while under the effect of Aim Down Sights, making her an easier target for enemy Bruisers and Assassins.

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.

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 Heroes like Dehaka or Leoric.

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.

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.

Eye of Horus is an interesting Heroic Ability since it allows Ana to heal allies and damage opponents from anywhere on the map, even piercing allied and enemy Heroes (but not Structures). 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.