With the conclusion of Dota 2's first Major of 2021, Valve has released a massive update, bringing a number of new map, mechanic, and item changes alongside a brand new hero: Dawnbreaker. Wielding a giant hammer, Dawnbreaker is the newest melee strength hero and she is described as a warrior from the Children of Light.
As always, the introduction of a new Dota 2 hero brings forward an exciting new meta for both casual and competitive players. While Dawnbreaker looks strong with her unique kit centered around healing and global presence, her role in a team composition won't be entirely clear until players experiment a little longer. Nonetheless, Dawnbreaker's abilities appear to be suited for the offlane role and her playstyle is easy to adjust to.
Dawnbreaker's Abilities
Dawnbreaker's first ability is called Starbreaker which allows her to swing her hammer around three times damaging Dota 2 enemies in an AOE. On the last strike, she smashes her hammer on the ground which stuns and damages enemies directly in front of her. While Starbreaker deals physical damage and it pierces spell immunity, the stun will not.
Dawnbreaker's second ability is called Celestial Hammer which allows her to throw her hammer at a target dealing damage to enemies along the way. By default, the hammer will pause for 2 seconds before returning to Dawnbreaker leaving a fiery trail that slows and damages enemies. However, Dawnbreaker can also recall the hammer at any time, pulling it towards her so they meet in the middle.
Dawnbreaker's third ability is a passive called Luminosity which activates after three consecutive attacks. Once activated, Dawnbreaker's next attack will be guaranteed to be a critical hit, dealing bonus damage and healing all allied Dota 2 heroes in a 650 radius for a portion of the attack damage dealt.
Dawnbreaker's ultimate is called Solar Guardian and it allows her to have global presence on the Dota 2 map. By pressing the ultimate on any allied hero on the map, she creates a pulsing effect at their location that damages enemies and heals allies with each pulse. A short time later, Dawnbreaker will teleport to the target location where she deals additional damage and stuns enemies upon landing.
Where Dawnbreaker Fits In a Team
Dawnbreaker is a bulky Dota 2 hero thanks to her high strength gain and starting armor. Combined with her healing prowess and global utility, it appears that she's best played in the offlane role where she can make space for her other cores to farm. Starting with 720 HP, Dawnbreaker is difficult to push out of her lane and can take early objectives with her team.
However, it seems that her midgame and lategame is a little weak given her poor win rate right after release. As a result, Valve quickly pushed out a small patch to buff her abilities after the patch. For now, it appears that Dawnbreaker has a ton of utility but her damage scaling isn't up to par with other heroes. Furthermore, as with all new heroes released in Dota 2, it'll take a few weeks of experimentation to discover the best items that will synergize with her kit. Nonetheless, Dawnbreaker is a lot of fun with the newest mechanic changes and her active playstyle should suit a variety of Dota 2 drafts.