Hanabi

Understanding Hanabi's core attributes is key to mastering her on the battlefield. Her design grants her significant offensive capabilities but comes with notable drawbacks.

• Strengths: Hanabi boasts high sustained area damage due to her unique bouncing basic attacks, allowing her to pressure multiple enemies simultaneously. Her ability to gain crowd control immunity when shielded provides crucial survivability against enemy CC. Additionally, with a low difficulty rating, she is relatively easy to pick up and play effectively.
• Weaknesses: Hanabi is extremely fragile, possessing very low durability, making her highly susceptible to burst damage and enemy assassins. She completely lacks any mobility or escape mechanisms, leaving her vulnerable if caught out of position. Early in the game, she can also be somewhat mana-dependent, which requires careful management of her skills.

Hanabi's kit revolves around her bouncing attacks and a unique shield mechanic that grants her immunity to crowd control. Mastering each skill's timing and purpose is crucial for maximizing her impact.

• Ninjutsu: Petal Barrage (Passive): Hanabi's basic attacks and skills launch Petal Blades that bounce up to 4 times to nearby enemies. The first bounce deals 40% of the initial damage, and subsequent bounces deal 85% of the previous. Bounces from her basic attacks inherit a portion of Attack Effects. Crucially, when Hanabi has full HP, health from Lifesteal is converted into a shield. While this shield is active, she is immune to all control effects. This passive defines her role as a widespread damage dealer and provides her primary defensive utility against CC.
• Ninjutsu: Equinox (Skill 1): This skill has both a passive and an active component. The passive makes Hanabi immune to control effects whenever she has a shield from any source. Actively, she gains a shield for 5 seconds. While this shield is active, Hanabi gains 20% Movement Speed and 25% Attack Speed, and 20% of her damage dealt to enemy heroes (10% to non-hero units) is added to this shield, up to 50% of her max HP. Activate this skill pre-emptively before engaging in fights or when anticipating crowd control to gain movement speed, attack speed, and vital CC immunity. The damage conversion encourages aggressive play to maintain the shield.
• Ninjutsu: Soul Scroll (Skill 2): Hanabi fires an energy Kunai in a targeted direction, dealing 450 flat + 80% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical Damage) to enemies along the way and reducing their Movement Speed by 60% for 1 second. Hit enemies are also marked, causing Hanabi's next bounce damage from basic attacks to deal 30 flat + 100% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical Damage) with no damage decay. This skill is excellent for poke, initiating slow chases, or following up on engages. The strong physical attack scaling makes it a potent damage source and a great way to amplify your subsequent basic attacks.
• Forbidden Jutsu: Higanbana (Ultimate): Hanabi throws a Higanbana in the targeted direction, dealing 300 flat + 50% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical Damage) to the first enemy hero hit and immobilizing them for 0.8 seconds. After 1 second, the Higanbana blooms at the hit location, dealing 300 flat + 50% scaling (Total Physical Attack, Physical Damage) to nearby enemies. Subsequent hits on the same target decay to 20% damage. Use this ultimate to initiate teamfights by locking down a key target, disrupt enemy formations, or zone enemies away from objectives. The physical attack scaling ensures it remains a threat throughout the game.

Hanabi's recommended build focuses on maximizing her physical attack damage, attack speed, and on-hit effects to enhance her bouncing attacks and sustain.

• Corrosion Scythe: This item provides extra Physical Damage and a unique passive, Corrosion, which causes basic attacks to slow targets. This is invaluable for Hanabi, allowing her to kite enemies, chase down fleeing foes, and maintain consistent damage output by keeping targets within her attack range, synergizing perfectly with her bouncing attacks.
• Swift Boots: As a Marksman who relies heavily on basic attacks and positioning, Swift Boots provide essential movement speed for kiting and repositioning, along with crucial attack speed to ramp up her damage output quickly.
• Demon Hunter Sword: The unique passive, Devour, causes basic attacks to deal 8% of the target's current HP as extra Physical Damage. This item is a core component for Hanabi, allowing her to shred high-health targets like tanks and fighters, and its on-hit effect synergizes exceptionally well with her high attack speed and bouncing basic attacks.
• Golden Staff: While Hanabi doesn't primarily build critical chance, Golden Staff's unique passive, Swift, converts 1% extra Crit Chance into 1% extra Attack Speed. This provides a massive boost to her attack speed, which is vital for her sustained damage, applying on-hit effects like Demon Hunter Sword, and generating her shield via Skill 1.
• Blade of Despair: This item significantly amplifies Hanabi's damage, especially against wounded enemies. Its unique passive, Despair, increases Physical Attack by 25% for 2 seconds when dealing damage to non-minion enemies below 50% HP. This allows Hanabi to execute low-health targets more effectively, providing a crucial damage spike to close out teamfights.
• Malefic Roar: In the late game, enemies will often build physical defense. Malefic Roar's unique passive, Armor Buster, grants up to 40% extra Physical Penetration based on the enemy's Physical Defense. This ensures Hanabi's damage remains relevant against even the tankiest opponents, allowing her to cut through their defenses.

Hanabi's playstyle revolves around careful positioning, maximizing her widespread damage, and leveraging her unique crowd control immunity. Due to her low durability and lack of mobility, awareness is key.

• Early Game (Laning Phase): Focus on farming efficiently to acquire your core items. Use your Skill 2, Ninjutsu: Soul Scroll, to poke enemies from a distance and regenerate mana. Activate Skill 1, Ninjutsu: Equinox, when anticipating a trade or gank to gain the shield, movement speed, and attack speed, which can help you win exchanges or retreat safely. Maintain a safe distance from aggressive enemies.
• Mid Game (Skirmishes & Objectives): As you gain items, your damage will start to ramp up. Look for opportunities to join skirmishes around objectives like Turtle or towers. Always position yourself behind your frontline, utilizing your bouncing basic attacks to hit multiple enemies in teamfights. Keep your Skill 1 ready to activate for crucial crowd control immunity if the enemy initiates on you.
• Late Game (Teamfights & Sieges): This is where Hanabi truly shines as a primary damage dealer. Your bouncing attacks can decimate entire enemy teams. Prioritize safe positioning above all else; avoid overextending. Use your Ultimate, Forbidden Jutsu: Higanbana, strategically to initiate fights by immobilizing a key enemy, or to peel for yourself and your team by disrupting enemy divers. Continuously weave basic attacks to maximize your damage output, especially with your on-hit items.

Understanding Hanabi's matchups allows you to play to her strengths and mitigate her weaknesses against specific heroes.

• Best Mate: Angela: Angela's ultimate skill, which provides a shield, perfectly complements Hanabi. This shield protects Hanabi from being killed before she can unleash her full damage. Furthermore, the buffs Angela provides when attaching to a hero can significantly enhance Hanabi's positioning and survivability in a teamfight, allowing her to play more aggressively.
• Restrain Hero: Zilong: Hanabi has a strong advantage against Zilong. His deadly control effects, which are a major threat to most marksmen, can be negated by Hanabi's shield effect, granting her crucial crowd control immunity. Additionally, Hanabi can effectively use her ultimate skill, Forbidden Jutsu: Higanbana, to immobilize Zilong after he uses his own ultimate, preventing him from escaping or continuing his assault.
• By Restrain: Gusion: Hanabi struggles significantly against Gusion. With his superior burst damage and high movement displacement capabilities, Gusion can quickly advance upon Hanabi and eliminate her if she makes even a slight positioning mistake. His ability to bypass her shield and quickly burst her down due to her low durability makes him a dangerous threat.

Imagine a crucial late-game teamfight breaks out near the Lord pit. Your team's tank initiates, but the enemy carries are positioned to deal massive damage. As Hanabi, your goal is to maximize your area damage and control.

First, activate your Ninjutsu: Equinox (Skill 1). This provides you with a crucial shield, grants crowd control immunity, and boosts your movement and attack speed, preparing you for the engagement. Next, identify a key enemy hero, perhaps their primary damage dealer or an initiating assassin, and unleash your Forbidden Jutsu: Higanbana (Ultimate) in their direction. This will immobilize them, dealing significant physical damage and then blooming to spread damage and immobilization to nearby enemies, disrupting their formation.

As your ultimate blooms, immediately follow up by casting Ninjutsu: Soul Scroll (Skill 2) towards the clustered enemies. This slows them down, applies a mark, and deals additional physical damage. Now, with enemies slowed and marked, unleash a barrage of basic attacks. Your passive, Ninjutsu: Petal Barrage, will cause your attacks to bounce between multiple enemies, amplified by the mark from Skill 2. Continue to reposition slightly to maintain safe distance while continuously attacking, letting your bouncing attacks shred the enemy team and maintaining your CC immunity with the shield from Skill 1.

To truly master Hanabi and dominate the Land of Dawn, keep these key decisions in mind during every match:

1. Prioritize attack speed and physical damage items like Demon Hunter Sword and Golden Staff to maximize the effectiveness of your bouncing basic attacks and the shield generation from Ninjutsu: Equinox.
2. Activate Ninjutsu: Equinox strategically before engaging or when anticipating crowd control to gain crucial immunity and enhance your offensive and defensive capabilities.
3. Utilize Forbidden Jutsu: Higanbana to initiate teamfights by locking down critical targets, disrupting enemy formations, or zoning opponents away from objectives.
4. Maintain safe positioning in teamfights, leveraging your widespread bouncing basic attacks to deal consistent damage across multiple enemies while minimizing your exposure to enemy threats.