Mana



Mana (also known as MP, which is short for mana points) represents the magic power of a unit. It is used as a cost for the majority of active and even some passive abilities. Every hero has a base mana pool of, while most non-heroes only have a set mana pool if they have abilities which require mana, with a few exceptions. The mana values are set and can't be altered. This means a unit's maximum mana pool can never drop below its set value. However, a hero's mana pool gets bigger for every point they have. Each point of intelligence increases a hero's mana pool by. Since every hero has some base intelligence and gains intelligence as they level up, their mana pool gets bigger the higher their level is. A hero's base intelligence cannot drop below 1, however, it is possible to reach 0 with the help of negative bonus intelligence.

Note: Although gaining/losing intelligence usually does not increase a hero's current mana, some abilities which grant/reduce intelligence are coded so that they also increase/reduce current mana, instead of only maximum mana.

Display
The mana of a unit is displayed in the HUD. For some units, it also may be displayed in the game world.

HUD mana bar
Mana of the selected unit is displayed in the HUD as a blue bar at the bottom of the screen. The left number at the center of the bar is the unit's current mana points and the right number is its maximum mana points. Though not displayed in the HUD, a unit's total mana does use decimal numbers. The visible numbers in the HUD are always rounded up.

The mana regeneration value is visible on mana bars in the HUD of every unit. Though the HUD shows only one decimal for mana regeneration, it uses more decimals. The value in the HUD is rounded up.

Over-head mana bar
The mana bar of heroes and creep-heroes are displayed right above their heads, below their health bar. Even when a creep-hero has no mana pool, a mana bar is still drawn below their health bar above them. Other units do not have an overhead mana bar.

There are no different types of mana bars. They do not have lines like the health bars and do not differ from each other in any way.

Modifying mana
Some heroes, units (neutral creeps and summoned units) and items have abilities that can affect the mana pool of one or multiple units.

Current mana increasing abilities
Just like healing health, a unit's current mana can be increased by many abilities, mostly referred to as restoring mana. Restoring mana cannot increase the unit's mana beyond its maximum mana pool. Spells may restore mana in a burst on a target, restoring an amount of mana in an instance, or restore mana over time, where the amount is split up in multiple instances. The difference between restoring mana and regenerating mana is that restoring is independent from the regeneration ticks. Unlike regeneration, the restore intervals can vary. Restoring mana is not reflected in the regeneration number on the mana bar.

There are several other abilities which are able to increase a unit's current mana, but these effects do not count as restoring. This means, similar to how damage flagged as HP Removal does not react on on-damage effects, these abilities fully ignore abilities which react on restoring effects, like.

The following abilities are able to increase unit's current mana:

Current mana reducing abilities
Most active and some passive abilities need mana in order to be used. This includes item abilities. The mana cost of such are displayed at the bottom left corner of the ability icon in the HUD, and once more inside the ability description in the bottom left corner. Most abilities have a fixed amount of mana cost, but some are dynamic (e.g. based on mana pool, or costing mana over time).

Besides using mana, there are many abilities capable of reducing mana, referred to as burning if it causes damage based off mana removed, draining if the mana is stolen and given to the caster or removed if the mana is simply reduced.

The following abilities reduce a unit's current mana:

Maximum mana affecting abilities
Besides and raw bonuses from items, there are only very few abilities which can alter a unit's maximum mana.

This list does not include intelligence affecting sources.

Mana granting items
Many items grant their owners a mana bonus, increasing their maximum mana when equipped, either by increasing their intelligence, or by just giving them a flat bonus. In either case, the current mana percentage stays the same.

The following items increase a unit's maximum mana pool. The affects are limited to the item's owner, which must have the item equipped.

Mana restore manipulation
Similar to how incoming damage can be manipulated (reduced, amplified or negated), mana restoring effects can also be manipulated.

The following abilities are able to manipulate mana restoring effects

Mana loss manipulation
Several abilities are able to reduce the amount of mana a unit loses. This includes the mana cost of abilities, and mana lost, burned or drained by abilities.

Some abilities reduce mana regeneration, like. In this case, mana loss manipulation works only when the total mana regeneration is negative.

It does not affect mana changes caused by losing or gaining intelligence. Current mana percentages are kept equal upon gaining or losing intelligence, regardless of mana loss reductions. It also has no effect on effects which set a unit's mana to certain values, like.

Mana loss reduction is applied as very last, after the spell causing it fully resolved. This means when a spell has extra effects based on the mana loss, these extra effects are not affected by mana loss reduction. For example, Mana Break abilities deal full damage, despite burning less mana. Mana draining effects still restore the same amount, despite their targets losing less mana.

Mana regeneration
Mana Regeneration determines the amount of mana a unit regains each second. It is shown as a small number with a + sign at the right side of the unit's mana bar.

Version history
Mana Мана 魔法值