In Mobile Legends Bang Bang, Harley is one of the strongest mages with an insane amount of burst damage,
poke, and mobility! This magician can come out of nowhere and be a nightmare for all the squishy heroes!
Once he becomes level 4 he can start team fights. He is one of the oldest heroes in the game with lots of adjustments from the time of his release. Recently few magic items in the shop got adjustments and buffs and with those items, Harley has become a killing machine! In this guide, we will cover how to build and play Harley in Mobile Legends, starting from her skills, to emblems and spell recommendations, and finally to items and gameplay tips. Now without further ado let’s just jump into the MLBB battlefield with Harley.
We have previously discussed how to master playing with other Mobile Legends heroes like Miya, Ling, Wanwan, Pharsa, Carmilla, Silvanna, Hayabusa, Atlas, Luo Yi, Yu Zhong, Aurora, Khaleed, Freya, Khufra, X.Borg, Lesley, Tigreal, Hylos, Valir, Cecilion, Lylia, Uranus, Barats, Odette, Angela, Vale, Rafaela, Hanzo, Esmeralda, Brody, Lapu-Lapu, Nana, Benedetta, Hilda, Mathilda, Selena, Miya, Jawhead, Chou, Paquito, Thamuz, Lunox, Yi Sun-Shin, Yve, Gatotkaca, Karrie, Ruby, Beatrix, Gloo, Argus, Baxia, Granger, Phoveus, Hanabi, and Alpha. So make sure to check these hero guides as well. For now, let’s focus on Harley.
Skill Analysis
Harley is a hero with the common four skill sets of one passive and three actives. In this Harley guide, let’s see his abilities in Mobile Legends, and when you can use which skill to get the best out of him.
Passive – Magic Master
Harley’s basic attack deals 60 (+50% Total Physical Attack) and (+60% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage. Damaging Enemies decreases their Magic Defense by 2 for 3 seconds, capped at 15 stacks.
Skill 1 – Poker Trick (AOE)
CD – 6.0 Mana – 90/95/100/105/110/115
Type – Magic Skill
By pressing the 1st skill Harley throws 3 rounds of Cards forward dealing 150 (+25% Total Magic Power) and (Magic Damage) to the first enemy hit by cards( Damage will decay if the same target is hit more than 3 times) and will increase his attack speed by 5% for 3s each hit. This effect can stack up to 8 times. You can perform the following to utilize this skill better.
- Use the first skill to spam enemies.
- Use it to poke the enemies continuously.
- This skill can be casted while walking making it possible to hit enemies while walking!
- Use this skill to jungle faster early game.
Skill 2 – Space Escape
CD – 13.0/12.0/11.0/10.0/9.0/8.0
Mana – 60/70/80/90/100/110
Type – Blink
Harley blinks in the designated direction, leaving a magic hat at his place, increasing movement speed by 30% for 2s. The 2nd phase of this skill can be used again to return to where the hat is. Perform the following moves using Space Escape with Harley in Mobile Legends.
- Use this skill to escape from high CC enemies.
- Camp using this skill and make a sneak attack on enemy damage dealers.
Skill 3 – Deadly Magic (Burst)
CD – 36.0/33.0/30.0 Skill Cost – 120/160/200
Base Damage – 200/300/400 Added Damage – 100/150/200
Type – Magic Skill
Harley shoots a magic power ring at the designated enemy hero( which can be blocked by other enemy heroes), dealing 200 (+60% Total Magic Power) slowing that particular enemy hero 40% for 1.5s. The fire ring stays for 4 seconds. Harley can deal more damage by hitting the fire ring with his 1st skill and basic attacks. At the end of its duration, the ring deals 100(+30% Total Magic Power)+ 50% of the target’s damage taken during the skill’s duration as Magic Damage. Use Deadly Magic in the following way to your advantage.
- Target enemy damage dealers mainly mages, marksman, assassins using this skill.
- Use the 3rd skill then spam first skill and the basic attacks which will trigger more damage to the enemy enemy inflicting more burst from the fire ring.
Skill-up method for Harley
Maximize the 1st and 3rd skill in the early and mid-game respectively with the 2nd skill later. Priority should be 1st and 3rd skill as it has a lot of poke and burst.
Best Emblem Set and Spells for Harley in Mobile Legends
Emblem Set
Harley is a burst mage with an insane amount of damage. While playing him as the core/ jungler it’s important to build him with the items as soon as possible. With a Custom Mage emblem with greater agility and Mystery Shop as the talent, You can set him up like this:
- Agility (+3) ( Extra Movement Speed +6.00%)
- Observation (+3) ( Magic Penetration +6.00)
- Mystery Shop (+1) (Purchase the equipment of 90% of its price)
Alternatively, one of the other popular ways by which Harley can be used is as a sideliner. For that the Emblem setup should be like this:
- Agility (+3) ( Extra Movement Speed +6.00%)
- Observation (+3) ( Magic Penetration +6.00)
- Magic Worship (+1) ( It will give a passive of extra magic burn dealing 82-250 Magic Damage)
Battle Spells
Retribution
When using Harley as the core or jungler it’s important to use the Retribution spell to farm and to level up faster. Do remember while playing him as jungler it’s important to focus on jungler creeps and not minions which will greatly affect his gold.
Execute and Flameshot
Other spells with Magic Worship as the talent can be used are Execute and Flameshot. Both have different values for different situations. Make sure to use the correct spell after seeing the enemy composition in the draft. For players in Grandmaster or below use any of them for Harley’s side, it will help. Check the spells out below!
Best Builds for Harley in Mobile Legends
Harley is a mage with high burst damage so at first, we build Ice Hunter’s Arcane Boots with Ice retribution as a blessing. These boots give Harley extra +15 Magic Penetration followed by Genius Wand. Genius Wand is one of the core items for burst mages right now due to the buff it received in the last patch. It gives added penetration and its unique passive reduces the magic defense of the enemies by 3-10 for 2s.
This item is followed by Calamity Reaper which gives +70 magic power +100 Mana and +10% CDR. It is followed by Holy Crystal which gives +100 Magic Power. Then we make Divine Glaive for its penetration. We are not making any defense item as Blood Wings got a change in the last patch which along with +150 Magic Power gives a shield of which is equal to 200% Magic Power and +500 HP. The Build should be therefore as follows:
Additionally, while playing him on the side you can build him like this:
This build is mainly for Late Game so in the sidelane he would need to survive and stay in high gold compared to his Enemy Sidelaner.
Mobile Legends Harley Gameplay Tips
According to recent changes and updates Harley belongs to the S-tier getting banned mostly from legend + up ranks. If you are lucky try to get Harley and play him as the core/jungler and be the nightmare for your opponents! Harley is mainly an early to mid-game hero but that doesn’t mean he is useless in the late game. Build and ambush him in a way with proper map awareness, he can be quite decent in late-game too. According to his gameplay, we can break it down into three phases. Our Mobile Legends Harley guide includes the perfect game plan for the early, mid, and late game.
Early Game
Harley is a very strong mage from the early game so the objective would be to get to level 4 as soon as possible so that he can participate in team fights. Always focus on jungle creeps in the Early game and avoid minions in any lane when you’re playing him as the jungler it will then not delay his farm and gold. Once you get to level 4 Gank any lane and try getting the first blood. It will give an added advantage to your team in terms of gold and experience.
Always remember to ambush and do a sneak attack when you’re at an advantage in terms of gold and experience from your opponent! Perform the following skill combination to gain an upper hand early on.
Skill 2 + Skill 3 + Skill 1
Mid Game
Harley is super strong in the mid-game if you are able to get those early kills and get the turtle as many times as it spawns. He will become the killing machine which would be a nightmare for your opponents. Don’t forget to take your buffs and if possible try to sneak and take the enemy’s buff too which will weaken their jungler and giving your team and you the added advantage! Skill combos remain pretty much the same just have map awareness and target their damage dealer! Keep in mind, Sneak attacking is the Key!
Late Game
While the game gets dragged over 20 Mins. Harley won’t be effective as he was in the early and mid-game. That time the priority will be fulfilling the objectives of the game like pushing, staying with the team, and telling the tank to give vision so that You don’t get one shot by Zilong or any of the Marksman. Ambush and sneak attack their core.
| Heroes that counter Harley | Heroes Harley can counter |
| Zilong | Layla |
| Hayabusa | Miya |
| Hanzo | Karrie |
| Saber | Bruno |
| Cyclops | Pharsa |
| Kadita | Cecilion |
| Eudora | All Marksman and Mages with less mobility |
| All CC heroes and tanks as Harley is weak against CC |
Final Thoughts
As discussed earlier, Harley is one of the best picks in the current meta. With high penetration and insane burst damage, he can carry the entire game single-handedly. So if you’re thinking to buy him this is the time. . These tips will surely help you to guide easy wins with Harley in Mobile Legends. You can also refer to our latest tier list to know more about the revamped meta heroes in this current season.
That’s all for today’s Mobile Legends Harley Guide. Do you prefer to use Harley in any other way? Let us know in the comment section below!
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