Harley was first introduced in Mobile Legends in 2017. A Mage/Assasin-type hero that has burst-type damage, He is one of the difficult Heroes to play especially when he first Debuts in Mobile Legends.
With several tweaks made on him through the years, He is mostly used as a Jungler with his insane magic damage skills and his teleport ability.
For him to be one of the top heroes to be banned in higher-ranked games, that in itself is impressive considering the current Roster of Mobile Legends has reached 117 heroes.
In this Guide, we will be looking at one of Mobile Legends Mage Assasin Heroes and Heir to Castle Grandrock, the elusive Mage Harley in Mobile Legends.
How to Play Harley in Mobile Legends
The Hero Harley is one of the few Heroes that Deal Magic Attack Damage in his basic attacks. This is what sets him apart from other Mages since most of them deal physical damage on basic attacks and magic damage on active skills.
Harley has 1x passive skill, 2x active skills and an ultimate skill in his arsenal.
Passive Skill
Harley’s Passive skill is called Magic Master. His Basic Attack is modified to deal 60 (+50% Physical Attack) (+60% Magic Power) Magic Damage.
Whenever Harley damages an enemy, he will also reduce the enemy’s Magic Defense by 2 points for 3 seconds, with a maximum stack limit of up to 10 times.
Skill 1 Poker Trick
Harley shoots 3 / 3 / 4 / 4 / 5 / 5 rounds of 3 cards forward, dealing 130 / 146 / 162 / 178 / 194 / 210 (+25% Magic Power) Magic Damage on the first enemy hit and increasing his attack speed by 10%, stacking up to 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 or a maximum 40% / 40% / 45% / 45% / 50% / 50% Attack Speed for 3 seconds.
Skill 2 Space Escape
Harley teleports in a designated direction, leaving a magic hat at his place and increasing his movement speed by 30% for 2 seconds. Use again within 4 seconds to return to where the hat is.
Ultimate
Harley shoots a magic fire ring to a designated enemy hero (can be blocked by other heroes), dealing 200 / 300 / 400 (+60% Magic Power) Magic Damage and slowing by 40% for 1.5 seconds. The ring remains for 4 seconds for which Harley can deal damage by hitting the ring with his skills.
At the end of the duration, the ring deals 100 / 150 / 200 (+30% Magic Power) (+50% of the damage dealt during the ring’s duration) Magic Damage.
Battle Spell
Harley usually shines best when played in the jungle lane. With this in mind, you will default to the retribution battle spell to give him a faster chance of clearing jungle objectives.
When playing him as a Mage, use flameshot which can deal high damage when equipped by magic users since their magic damage enhances the overall damage of this ability as well as provide a skill knockback which is disruptive to enemies who have dash-based attacks or enemies who rely on close range to deal damage.
Emblem Set
The Mage emblem works well with Harley. Level up movement speed and magic penetration which gives him added move speed as well as magic penetration which will come in handy while chasing down opponents and dealing extra magic damage with magic penetration.
For his last talent point, spend it on magic worship to further increase the final damage output.
Item Build
For items, go for arcane boots to give you movement speed and extra magic penetration. Calamity Reaper to boost magic stack damage on your basic attacks, Holy crystal to give you another boost for your magic damage output, Shadow Twin which is useful for magic damage Assasins and Divine Glaive for added damage and magic penetration.
If you have problems against burst damage opponents, swap out your shadow blade for a winter truncheon to increase your life and give an active frozen skill where you cannot be damaged for a short duration.
Using its active skill immobilizes you yet disrupts combination attacks. This is useful when timed right. Use the winter truncheon right after your 2nd skill is in cool down to give you extra time to set your second skill back to active.
Once you are released from being frozen, use your second skill to dash away from the fight or lead opponents to chase you and teleport back to your hat and make your escape.
Immortality is another item you can swap instead of the truncheon, aside from giving you an extra life, this gives you an added physical as well as magical damage reduction which increases your survivability. The item also resurrects you after being killed which is a good addition as you plan your next move after being killed to either escape the area or give you the chance of killing enemies if their health is low enough after they kill you.
Skill Combo
Your go-to skill combination will be skill 2, Ultimate, basic attack, skill 1 and basic attack.
Use skill 2 to get yourself close to your opponent then use your ultimate to mark your target. Use basic attacks to trigger your item passives then skill 1 as you chase the enemy.
By this time, your ultimate would have detonated and if the opponent is still alive, deal a few more basic attacks to seal the deal and earn the kill.
For squishy enemies such as marksmen, mages or assassins, one combination set is sufficient to kill them so you should learn to execute this kill combination for quick kills against these types of enemies.
Pro Tips
For the skill upgrade order, focus on getting your first skill up. Spend one skill point to get your teleport skill at skill 2 and upgrade this skill last. Spend skill points on your ultimate whenever it gets available.
Early game position and objectives
When you start as a jungle, take note of where the lithowander is summoned. If it’s on the red buff lane then proceed to kill the jungle monster that drops the red buff then hurry to the mid-jungle to grab the lithowander. If it is spawned in the blue jungle lane then clear the Monster to get the blue buff and contest the lithowander in its area.
Farm to level 4 then proceed to gank while waiting for your jungle monsters to respawn
Once you reach level 4, you can start ganking enemies. Communicate actively with your teammates and always check your map for gank opportunities. Roam around the map until your farm monsters respawn.
When this happens, clear your jungle and prepare to gank again. If the turtle becomes available, focus on killing it for the team. The added gold and damage buffs will be useful for you and your team as well as deny.
Master your Teleport to learn how to chain your moves effectively
Harley, in the hands of a pro player, is deadly. And the reason for that isn’t because of his high damage output or his insane ability to kill jungle creeps with ease.
It’s all in part because a pro-Harley Player knows how and when to use his second skill. Poking enemies with hit-and-run tactics or coming in out of nowhere to unload combos and darting away unscathed is a nightmare for teams on the receiving end of Harley attacks.